Culture minister blames poverty on large families

The Minister of Culture and Sports Joseph Habineza has urged Ngororero residents to adopt family planning in order to produce a number of children they can manage.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

The Minister of Culture and Sports Joseph Habineza has urged Ngororero residents to adopt family planning in order to produce a number of children they can manage.

The Minister said parents were largely to blame for the many problems facing children, and urged couples to discuss matters of family planning together.

Habineza was last Friday addressing residents at a ceremony organised by members of the Unity Club under the theme, ‘handle every child as your own.’

The Minister also urged opinion leaders to lead by example saying it was outrageous for a teacher or religious leader to have many children.

He criticised residents who feel family planning campaigns are government programmes. "You need to feel ownership of these problems. You refer to them as government programmes, they are not government programmes. They are your own programmes," he said.

During the same function, members of the Unity Club donated Frw200,000 to an 18-year old girl whose father deserted the family after the mother passed away. Girls were urged to legalise their marriages and to avoid cohabiting with men who have deserted their families. Women were urged to avoid being used by men but stand up and make independent decisions.

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