FORMER Minister of Lands and Housing Development, Professor Anna Tibaijuka has called on the Tanzanian Catholic Women's Association (WAWATA) to invest more efforts to fight and combat violence against women and children in the Lake Zone.

Prof Tibaijuka made the remarks recently at a Sunday Mass to mark the 50th anniversary of WAWATA in the Lake Zone regions held at the Virgin Mary Heart of Mercy Parish in Geita Catholic Diocese.

She said it shocks to see there are still incidents of murder of elderly people, based on superstitious beliefs, using the red-eye criterion, something that should be opposed by every person.

She said, WAWATA as a Catholic Church community, in its position, should invest more strength and support fight against any form of violence through women's fora.

"We should now say no to deaths resulting from violence against the children, women and elders. This should be a commitment for all of us as in WAWATA and Geita as a whole to end any sort of violence," she insisted.

Speaking after the Sunday Mass, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Mwanza, His Eminence Renatus Nkwande, said the root cause of violence against women and children is poor family upbringing and values.

Archbishop Nkwande urged Catholics, especially mothers to play their roles in the families to strengthen the upbringing and protection of children, who if nurtured in Church values, would help reduce the incidents of violence in the community.