Child marriage and Teenage pregnancy are the lead cause of poverty in the Savannah Region
The Youth Chief of Damongo, Nyiribiwura Yakubu Jaga Alanchan said teenagers betrothed to chiefs should be quashed as it amounts to early marriages.
Joana Somiah 
A prominent Queen mother for Bridge, a section of Buipe under the Buipe traditional area, Bridgewuriche Barchisu Mankir has alluded to teenage pregnancy and child marriage as the lead cause of poverty in the Savannah Region.
She made this known in a seminar organised by a non-governmental organization( NGO) called Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency (SWIDA-GH) in collaboration with the World Vision International at Damongo to dialogue and plan for ending child marriage now in the Region.
The seminar was attended by over 100 participants made up of traditional rulers, religious groups, women leaders, youth groups and relevant government departments.
Bridgewuriche Barchisu said, improper parental control among many other factors resulting in teenage pregnancies which end up many of these young girls travelling down to the South for Kayayei and other menial jobs.
The Queen mother said parents are not taken their wards education seriously hence leads young ones into early marriages.
Bridgewuriche Barchisu added that there are women who are of age but not married yet the young guys prefer to subject the innocent ones into teenage pregnancies instead of going in for those ready for marriage and appealed for an end to the menace.
Meanwhile, Bonyantowura Koja, who represented the Busunu traditional area at the seminar added his voice by calling on his colleague Chiefs to support the call to end the risk of child marriages and teenage pregnancy.
He said the day's Chiefs marry many wives are over and that much emphasis should be placed on setting educational endowment funds to support especially the girl child since poverty is also one of the problems leading to the threat.
Bonyantowura Koja further suggested that by-laws should also be put in place to help in the fight against the peril.
The Youth Chief of Damongo, Nyiribiwura Yakubu Jaga Alanchan who was also part of the panel at the seminar suggested that no underage should be betrothed to a chief since that also amounts to early child marriage.
Abdul Sammed Gurundari North East Region
