By Bida Elly David
The national minister of Environment and Forestry has slammed parents against auctioning their daughters for pre-matured marriages to meet their financial demand exempting them from attaining academia.
Speaking to the gathering during the Centenary celebration last Sunday in Torit, Minister Josephine Napwon, echoed that parents who value money to their daughters are failures.
Josephine blasted the leadership for not taking tragic matters on gender related matters on deliberation. She advised that the practice should be prohibited through serious laws.
The minister underscored her plans formerly to become a Catholic Nun – saying that she couldn’t make it because of the existing persistence from men.
“When I was young, I had wanted to become a reverend sister but later on you know well. These stubborn men could not give us the chance. I advise the young girls to become nuns because it helps you to serve the Lord with full heart,” she said.
She noted that most young girls have severally been dictated by their parents against freedom to decide what they could do better but they became voiceless.
“Parents across the Country are using their daughters as sources of wealth instead of developing them to better people. Most of these young girls are capable of demonstrating their skills in various areas. Some want to become nuns but parents don’t give them their freedom of worship,” she said.
Josephine said that the tendency of parents marrying young girls off at early age has been guided and exercised based on unjustified norms driven from a culture that gives no definition to humanity.
“These girls are humans who need to be given their rights without force. We should stop traditions that dictates girls and women against their choice. You parents should raise them with proper care to ensure that they become important people in the society,” Josephine added.
However, Josephine called on the governments of the greater Equatoria especially Central and Eastern Equatoria to speedily resolve the cattle raiding saga caused by people who come from other states.
South Sudan among other Countries has been rated in the top list with the culture of marrying-off girls with the intention of getting rich.
The Country also practices expensive marriages where bride price and dowry is charged highly without brainstorming on its cost.
Despite the expensive charges, men continue to marry without rating the impediments and unpredictable consequences.