Staff Reporter |Opposition People’s Democratic Party leader, Tendai Biti has charged that President Robert Mugabe is responsible for  child prostitution in the country, a result of his 36 years of maladministration.
Biti, who was addressing his party supporters in Harare’s Budiriro high density suburb at the weekend, said young girls were being forced into prostitution by the harsh economic environment created by Mugabe.
“Girls as young as 16 years are being forced into prostitution because of just one man – Robert Mugabe,” said the former finance minister.
The number of child sex workers has reached an alarming stage in the country as the girl child resort to the oldest profession because of poverty.
Last month a young women’s sexual rights lobby NGO, Katswe Sisterhood director Talent Jumo conformed that more girl children in the country were being forced into prostitution because of the debilitating economy.
She said that the situation was also affecting their health as they were exposed to unprotected sex because of lack of safe sex negotiating skills.
“There is a lot of exploitation in the streets and you find that their clients know that these young girls have much lesser power of negotiating for safe sex and we have encountered lots of such cases where they are abused,” she said.
Biti also said that President Mugabe had turned industries into churches.
“Right now, industries are being turned into churches.  In Bulawayo people are praying in factories as companies have closed because of Zanu PF.  At least 91% of the people are unemployed and spend their time as vendors selling tomatoes, bananas and airtime cards,” he said.