Theresa Kachindamoto is a Malawian paramount chief (Nkosi) of the Dedza district in the central region of Malawi who is said to have informal authority over about 900,000 people. In 2012 a United Nations survey showed that more than half of the girls, mostly in the rural areas of Malawi get married before the age of 18. This survey ranked Malawi as one of the countries with the highest rate of child marriages in the world, where girls as young as 7 years old are exposed to sexually abusive practices (often taking the form of initiation camps/rites).
Disturbed by this fact, Kachindamoto was able to garner the support of 50 sub-chiefs in her district to abolish early marriages as well as nullify existing ones. Despite all her efforts, many parents were still in support of the practice and although in 2015, child marriage was officially abolished in Malawi, the customary law still permitted it as long as the parents of the children involved were in support of the union.
It is no wonder that Theresa Kachindamoto is well known for her role in ending child marriage. Let’s explore other fun facts about the gallant Nkosi.
Interesting Details To Know About Theresa Kachindamoto
1. She is the youngest of 12 siblings
With 11 older siblings comprising of seven brothers and 4 sisters, Theresa has managed to prove that the last shall indeed become the first.
2Her family name means “do not mess with fire”
Theresa’s family name “Kachindamoto” is said to mean “don’t mess with fire” in the Malawian language, Chichewa. It is no wonder then that she has taken on a fiery approach towards dealing with issues that bother her, even at the risk of facing death threats.
3. She is known as the “Terminator”
Because of her role in ending child marriages, she has earned herself the name of the “Terminator” of child marriage. In her quest to end child marriage, she is reported to have annulled 330 marriages where in her words “175 were girl-wives and 155 were boy fathers”. In more recent reports, the number of annulled child marriages has been put at about 2,549. Not only has Kachindamoto managed to annul these marriages, but she has also succeeded in sending the children back to school.
4. Theresa Kachindamoto has always enjoyed the support of a loving family
Considering that Theresa herself comes from a community where child marriage is the norm, one cannot help but wonder if she was ever involved in child marriage or any of the sexual practices that come with the tradition.
Sources have it that Theresa’s father had made sure she was able to complete her education and this even helped her to get a job while in her early 20s. Her level of education could most probably have been one of the reasons she was picked to succeed her older brother as the next Nkosi, after his demise.
5. She was born into a “royal family” (family of chiefs)
In spite of her background, Theresa said she had no expectations of becoming a chief, she has served in various capacities and once worked as a secretary in a local college for about 27 years before her people found her worthy of leading them as their Nkosi. She was literally forced to return to her hometown at Monkey Bay, in order to accept the seat of leadership in 2003.
6. Theresa was featured among Africa’s most powerful women
In 2020, she was named one of the most powerful women on the African continent on a list which was compiled by Forbes. It had women who were drawn from various walks of life including politics, sports, business, and science among other spheres of life.
She was the only Malawian woman that featured among other African countries including Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Egypt.
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7. She has fired and hired just to prove a point
Going down to her own district, Kachindamoto took the bull by the horn, firing nothing less than four of her sub-chiefs who still had child marriages going on in their domain, and on the flip side, she re-instated some of those chiefs who later went ahead to dissolve such marriages.
She made it known that when she came, she dismissed any village headman that allowed for child marriage completely.
8. Theresa Kachindamoto helps women to establish small businesses
Also in her bid to end child marriages, she has worked with women to establish small businesses. More often than not, she is being confronted by the mothers of those children whose marriages she has terminated, they outrightly ask her if she is going to help them financially since she is the reason the marriages were terminated.
Those marriages were usually done as a form of poverty alleviation for their families and now with the annulment, the kids are forced to enroll in school, when they do not have enough finances for their education. In her own way of helping to solve the resulting problems, she has helped set up the small businesses for them.
9. She is married
Although we do not know who exactly the man behind Theresa Kachindamoto is, we do know that she is married and the union is blessed with 5 sons.
10. The Terminator has helped women to rise to become chiefs under her
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiGV27LFA24
According to Theresa Kachindamoto, when she became chief, there was no other woman that attained the same feat. Hence she made it a duty to encourage other royal houses to also consider women. Thanks o this, more than 50 women became small chiefs under her reign.
