“Please Stop Using Family Planning”: ZANU PF Women’s Boss Explains Why
ZANU PF Women’s Affairs Secretary Mabel Chinomona has urged Zimbabwean women to stop using contraceptives and have more children, saying the country’s falling birth rate is becoming a concern.
Chinomona, who is also President of the Senate, made the remarks at a ZANU PF Women’s League event in Murehwa West. She called on women to reconsider family planning methods and increase the number of children they have.
Chinomona’s Message On Contraceptives
The senior ZANU PF official said Zimbabwe needed more people to take up important roles in the future, including in the military, agriculture and healthcare.
Chinomona said:
“Women, please stop using family planning; please go and give birth.”
She added:
“Our soldiers are now few; we need farmers, doctors and nurses while you are busy swallowing those pills.”
Chinomona also questioned the growing trend towards smaller families, asking why some young people believed having one child was enough.
Zimbabwe’s Birth Rate Has Declined
Zimbabwe’s fertility rate is currently estimated at about 3.7 children per woman. This is significantly lower than the approximately 6 children per woman recorded during the 1990s.
Economic pressures, education and easier access to family planning have been cited as factors behind the decline.
Chinomona said government assistance could help families meet the costs of raising children.
“We will ask that government assist in raising our children. There is a country that is now paying women to give birth.”
She also argued that concerns about feeding additional children should not necessarily prevent women from having larger families.
The remarks have placed contraceptive use and Zimbabwe’s declining fertility rate at the centre of the latest population debate.
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