Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema has urged his countrymen to stop checking on the phones of their spouses. His comments were part of a plea to try and curb divorce rates in the country.
Records indicate the country recorded over 22,000 divorce cases last year alone, statistics that the president described as unfortunate.
Lack of conjugal rights, adultery, gender-based violence, insults and cruelty were among the major reasons people cited in courts for seeking divorce.
“We marry for love, we don’t marry to go and check each other out, or to go and point a finger,” Mr Hichilema is quoted by local outlets as saying when he hosted a local monarch.
He reportedly added: “Freedom means responsibility to limit our freedom, not to tamper with the freedom of others. Be tolerant, be understanding.”
Statistics from the last 12 months showed the shortest marriage in the country lasted for 30 days while the longest was 65 years.
Welcomed HM Paramount Chief Mpezeni and Chief Maguya of the Ngoni-speaking people to Community House. Acknowledged the importance of working with our traditional leaders & agreed to continued cooperation as we work towards bringing #Development to all our citizens. #Zambia pic.twitter.com/nkMaipDsvM
— Hakainde Hichilema (@HHichilema) January 22, 2023