ZANU PF national commissar and Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere has blasted the use of contraceptives and urged Zimbabwean couples to have as many children as possible in order to grow the country’s economy.
By Taurai Mangudhla/Everson Mushava
Officiating at a tobacco outreach meeting in Rushinga on Sunday, Kasukuwere criticised couples with two children or less, while also attacking men for always flocking to beerhalls and abandoning their marital roles to have as many children as possible.
He said contraceptives were decimating the country’s population and source of labour.
“Nowadays, these younger men embarrass us with only one or two children. Surely that’s nothing for a grown man. Let’s increase our families and work hard in our fields,” the Zanu PF national commissar said.
“Guys, let’s be strong. Let’s be strong because this is embarrassing. Each day, you are at the local bar drinking beer and even complaining about the cost of beer. Go home and make babies!”
He added to wild cheers: “Another thing that I observed when children made their presentations earlier on is that there were a lot of girls and only three boys. Let us drink less beer, guys.”
The Local Government minister jokingly said at the rate at which people were giving birth, government may be forced to shut down some schools because there would be no children to enrol. “This is one area I agree with members of the apostolic sect,” he said.
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Members of most white-garmented apostolic churches allow polygamy and normally have as many children as possible.
Kasukuwere then asked an elderly man in his 70s only identified as Karikoga to give testimony of his family structure, encouraging couples to emulate him.
Karikoga said he has 29 sons, 13 daughters and was still going strong, sending the crowd into wild cheers.
Not to be outdone, Kasukuwere then went on to chant slogans in praise of President Robert Mugabe and against the use of contraception.
“Forward with President Mugabe, forward with growing our population, down with the use of contraceptives!”
He recommended men to use sex aids if they were facing problems in the bedroom in order to grow the country’s population.
A census conducted in 2013 showed that Zimbabwe has about 13 million people and the population had been stagnant for more than a decade.
Traditionally, men would have as many children as possible in order to have labour for agricultural purposes.
Kasukuwere’s call for use of aphrodisiacs comes at a time Women Affairs minister Nyasha Chikwinya brewed a shocker over the weekend by distributing sex-enhancing drugs at a Zanu PF campaign rally in Gokwe.
Encouraging farmers to improve production, the Local Government minister then urged the people to migrate from the politics of hate, attacking each other on social media and focus on the politics of the stomach.
Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede early this year advised against the use of contraceptives, saying he was worried about the lack of population growth for the past 10 years which had created a serious generation gap.
“What I am saying is that Zimbabwe needs more children. There has not been any meaningful population growth 10 years going back and what this means is that there is a serious problem of generation gap,” Mudede was quoted in the media as saying.
“People seem to be comfortable following birth trends of more developed countries and having only one or two children, but more children are needed in this country so that the generation gap does not continue to widen.
“Instead of using modern birth control methods, people can resort to natural methods such as menstrual cycle and the withdrawal method. They can also use safe condoms that are well packaged and are sold in pharmacies.”
