One more dance with Theresa Kachindamoto, the terminator

One of the internationally known rappers Nas did a tender tribute called Dance to his beloved late mother.

The beauty about this song is that it talks about how lovely it could be for one to have one more laugh or how life could continue with a beautiful soul which had gone to the Lord forever.

And here I am, too, lamenting the lack of one more dance with good people I have lost. These include the late Senior Chief Kachindamoto of Dedza District who was a respected gender activist at grassroots level.

The dignity, protection and empowerment of every person are paramount. However, when death strikes one of the persons who champion that fulfilment, it is a big blow.

Love, kindness and care are big gains in life. And indeed, we mourn the deaths of those who contributed meaningfully to our lives and society as a whole. And perhaps we mourn the big gap they left.

But I am here to celebrate the legacy of Kachindamoto who passed away on Wednesday at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe.

I wish I could have one more fruitful connection with her. I will celebrate her endlessly because of her passion and unwavering efforts towards the fight against child marriage crisis in Malawi.

Born Theresa Chidyaonga, Kachindamoto was a trailblazer in the fight against child marriages and promotion of girls’ education in the country. 

She was devoted to it and regarded every girl as her own. She was a type of figure every girl and woman needed.

In fact, late Senior Chief Kachindamoto reminded me of my departed sister Beatrice, who was kind and the first to sow seeds of kindness and protection in me way back in Ntchisi District. How I wish had one more dance with her, too! Heaven gained a beautiful soul.

Fighting child marriage is one of the effective ways to eradicate intergenerational poverty and inequalities.

Kachindamoto is on record to have terminated over 5 000 child marriages and facilitated thousands of other girls and boys to go back to school.

No wonder, she earned herself an international title of ‘terminator of child marriages.’

I had a chance encounter with the late chief on a girls’ empowerment project called Enabling Girls Advance Gender Equity/Equality (Engage) which was being implemented by Girls Empowerment Network (Genet) in Phalombe and Thyolo districts few years ago. 

The project sought to empower girls and women to fight gender-based-violence particularly child marriage. One of the objectives was to amplify girls, women and community leaders’ voices to become gender equity and equality champions.

As one of the local inspiring chiefs championing the gallant fight against child marriage nationally, Kachindamoto was engaged to inspire and motivate traditional leaders in one of the project impact areas in Traditional Authority Chiwalo in Phalombe.

During a community leaders’ workshop in Phalombe, participants were inspired by Kachindamoto’s strategies on ending child marriages.

One significant strategy was reformation and use of bylaws to modify harmful cultural practices that fuel child marriages.

She challenged local leaders to modify kulowa fisi (cleansing), kusasa fumbi and kulowa chokolo that risked women’s lives.

She said: “Culture is good, but harmful cultural practices are bad because they rob our women and girls of their human rights and bright future. Let us work together to root out all cultural practices that expose women and girls to sexual abuse, unwanted pregnancy and forced marriages.”

Kachindamoto emphasised that educating and empowering girls and women were key to achieving sustainable development both at household and community levels.

She said: “We have seen how much child marriages have ravaged our children and communities. Every day we are becoming helpless and poorer because of child marriage induced poverty. So, let us try education and other empowerment programmes to help girls rise up.

‘My fellow community leaders, it is only when we stand firm against harmful cultural practices that fuel sexual violence and inequalities that we will be able to extricate ourselves from the trap of poverty which has been tormenting our communities for a long time.”

Born on November 23, 1958, I will remember and celebrate Kachindamoto’s legacy as a symbol of a resilient mother and community leader who dedicated her life to protecting girls from violence and putting them in school instead.

She perpetuated goats and chickens fines on perpetrators of child marriage to stop the vice.

And today, Malawi has registered tremendous impact in the combat against child marriage partly because of Kachindamoto’s interventions.

She also partnered with government, Oxfam, Unicef, UNFPA, World Vision Malawi and Plan International (Malawi) to mitigate the impact of child marriage.

She was declared champion of the fight against child marriage by the Malawi Government and several organisations.

Internationally, she received a joint honorary doctorate from KU Leuven and UCLouvain at the African Genius Award in 2024.

She also received the Global Leadership Award in Public Life in 2017 from the Vital Voices Global Partnership’s 16th ceremony in Washington D.C.

I totally subscribe to the idea of promoting education of children because it is a vital aspect of enlightenment.

Education is also essential for economic growth because it breaks the cycle of poverty and inequalities.

For example, educated girls are likely to delay sexual debut, pregnancy and child marriage, leading to healthier communities.

Lastly, let the community, national and international leaders intensify the reinforcement of policies and laws towards educating and protecting children in Malawi.

Rest in power Theresa Kachindamoto. How I wish I had one more dance with you mama!