Thirteen years ago, Theresa Kachindamoto worked as a secretary at a city college in Zomba, a district in Southern Malawi. It had been her job for 27 years. The youngest of 12 children, she was born into a family of chiefs — Malawi’s traditional authority figures — but she never expected to become a senior chief to more than 900,000 people. But when the chiefs called, telling her to pack her bags and come home, she did. She had been chosen as the next senior chief.

She was shocked when she saw girls as young as 12 with babies and teenaged husbands, and after her coronation rites, she was soon ordering the people to give up their ways and terminating underaged marriages.

A 2012 United Nations survey found that more than half of Malawi’s girls were married before the age of 18, especially in rural areas where parents are eager to get girls out of the house to ease their financial burden. It ranked Malawi 8th out of 20 countries thought to have the highest child-marriage rates in the world. Last year, Malawi’s parliament passed a law forbidding marriage before the age of 18. But under the customary law of the traditional authorities, and the constitution, Malawian children can still marry with parental consent.

Early marriage wasn’t the only practice Chief Kachindamoto was against, she also banned sexual initiation rights and sexual camps. In these rural areas, parents also send their underaged children (as young as age 7) bound for marriage away to camps for “kusasa fumbi” – which means cleansing. Reportedly, at these sexual initiation camps, the girls are taught ‘how to please men’ by performing titillating dances and sex acts.

Some children “graduate” only by having sex with the teacher. Others return home untouched, only to be preyed on by a local “hyena” — men hired by parents to take their girls’ virginity — or by prospective husbands to impregnate them. In a country where one in 10 people have HIV, these rites of passage — which rarely involve the use condoms — are sentencing girls to a lifetime of trauma, and, in some cases, early death.

One in five Malawian girls is a victim of sexual violence, as is one in seven boys, according to the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF. And a lot of Malawian traditions promote sexual abuse within the family. If a girl’s aunt or older sister falls sick, she can be sent to look after the household, and in some cases will be expected to have sex with her uncle or step-brother.

Chief Kachindamoto has faced a lot of pushback. Many parents did not want to hear her pleas to keep their girls in school or her assurances that an educated girl would bring them a greater fortune. The common response was that she had no right to overturn tradition, nor, as the mother of five boys, to lecture others on the upbringing of girls.

Realising that she couldn’t change the traditionally set mentality of parents, Kachindamoto instead changed the law, by getting her 50 sub-chiefs to sign an agreement to abolish early marriage under the customary law and annul any existing unions in her area of authority.

And when she learned that child marriages were still taking place in some areas, she fired four male chiefs responsible for these areas. They returned months later to tell her that all marriages had been undone. After sending people to verify this, she hired the chiefs back. She then drew community members, the clergy, local committees and charities together to pass a bylaw that banned early marriage under the civil law.

Over the past four years, Kachindamoto has broken up more than 850 marriages and sent all of the children involved back to school. She often pays for, or finds other sponsors to pay for, the schooling of girls whose parents cannot afford to pay school fees.

In East African business circles, few entrepreneurs shine brighter than Njeri Rionge. One of Kenya’s most successful and revered serial entrepreneurs, Rionge has co-founded multi-million dollar companies in quick succession. She co-founded Wananchi Online, a leading Internet service provider which has gone on to become East Africa’s leading cable, broadband and IP (Internet-based) phone company. Wananchi has become immensely successful, so much that it has raised close to $60 million in growth capital from a consortium private equity firms. She also founded Ignite Consulting, a thriving business consultancy; Business Lounge, Kenya’s leading startup incubator; Ignite Lifestyle, a health care consultancy; and Insite, one of Kenya’s most successful digital marketing outfits. She now divides her time between homes in Nairobi and Toronto where she runs her diverse business concerns.

Read excerpts from her interview with Forbes, below:

Let’s take a little trip down memory lane. When did you start your first business venture, and what was it?

As a twenty year old, my first business involved selling yogurt to the International School Of Kenya and Loretto Convent Musongari High School over their 10am and 4pm school breaks. I sold the yogurt from the car trunk which belonged to a friend of mine with whom I had partnered. We picked up the yogurt from a farm in Limuru (a town in Kenya) at 6 am and returned back every second day for more stock. Throughout this period I was employed as a hairdresser with a clientele consisting largely of high net worth individuals. Recognizing yet another opportunity, I traveled to London on a regular basis using discounted courier tickets to purchase re-sale luxury merchandise which were not available in Kenya at the time. I sold this merchandise to my clients.

You seem restless. Why do you keep creating companies serially rather than just sticking to one, and milking it for all it’s worth?

I create companies serially because I believe that Africa is the next economic frontier and we must build indigenous organizations that will support this growth.

Of all the companies you’ve built, which was the most challenging and the most fun?

Wananchi was a roller coaster ride in which we sought to challenge the assumption of regulators, the government officials and competitors that the Internet was not only relevant for the elite. Ignite has been the most challenging but Wananchi Online was the most fun of them all. I am now focused on my Nairobi and Toronto business locations for the wholly owned companies. Ignite Consulting has had a long development process which has taught me the true benefits of project management, performance management and time management without which a consultant can easily go-out of business. On the other hand, it is important to manage timely exits and succession.  I intend to hand over the businesses to business drivers to take them to the next level through a management sale or recruitment of a CEO.

What have been the biggest impediments you’ve encountered in all your years of doing business?

The greatest impediments I have encountered personally are managing the brand value and promise of each brand while building a business. The Internet and social media present great opportunities to quickly communicate developments, changes in activities and interests. If these communication pieces are ignored or not managed they tend to bring about confusion within organizations and with their customers. The rules of engagement have shifted and yet much of our organizational cultures remain rooted in outmoded styles of operation that have little relevance in a globalised market place.

When you’re in business you are responsible for the good, the bad and the ugly, pay attention at all times and take responsibility for all that you and your organization does throughout its tenure.

What is your philosophy in business and in life?

I judge myself based on my performance vis-à-vis today’s challenges and opportunities. I am passionate about growth in others and myself. I am humbled and gain enormous strength from the many young dynamic people I have had the privilege of working with over the years. Success for me is defined by increased value – not simply financial rewards.  This is still to be tested in this phase one and the follow up phases.

 

In a nutshell, what is the most important piece of advice you’ll give to young, entrepreneurial inclined individuals out there- particularly the ladies?

Ladies, it’s like learning to ride a bike or driving a car. You need only to believe in yourself, trust your gut feeling and develop a clear plan or strategy, keep it simple and implement that plan step by step with courage, conviction and love above all. Ultimately be open minded and flexible to change course when needed and listen to your customers.

Learn more about Njeri Rionge at www.njeri-rionge.com

Credit: Forbes