Call for Gvt to take decisive action on child marriages

Providence Moyo 

BULAWAYO – The heart rending death of Memory Machaya, a 14 year old girl who allegedly died while giving birth at a Johane Marange shrine  last week, has prompted human rights organizations to call for decisive action from the government against the perpetrators and the entire child marriage system. The proponents of child rights also urged the government to prioritize the  protection of children from abuses steeped in religion and culture.

Speaking to Community Podium, Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights ( MIHR) Coordinator, Khumbulani Maphosa said swift and uncompromising measures must be taken against all culprits involved in child marriages that include the victims’ guardians and parents who are usually complicit to the crime as well as  the men who marry the minors.

” There has to be swift action taken against child marriages. The victim’s guardians, parents and the ones who marry those children must be prosecuted because this is gross abuse of children’s fundamental rights that include the right to life, education and employment,” said an unamused Maphosa.

Maphosa highlighted that  once a child gets into such a marriage, their  right to education, human dignity and health are violated as they are also stripped of their freedom.

” We are far from being a developed country and as such cannot claim to be a civilised people when such crimes are blatantly committed without consequences. We can’t be marrying our children,” Maphosa added.

He impelled communities to be responsible and report cases of child marriages as “it takes a community to raise a child.” Maphosa said one of the reasons why  some cultural and religious leaders have the temerity to abuse children in this manner is due to the belief that they possess some “supernatural powers, ” and therefore not answerable to any other authority.

Concurring with Maphosa was the Communications Officer of Matabeleland Council for the Welfare of the Child, Nokulunga Mpofu who said the issue of child marriages is an indictment on the justice system and society at large and undermines development while reversing the gains made as far as the girl child is concerned. She added,” We cannot claim to be a normal country when such abominable practices remain prevalent in our midst.”

Mpofu said communities must prioritize the prevention of child marriages rather than react to the consequences.. She asserted that such reactions are tantamount to shutting the stable door long after the horse has bolted. “Such reactions are futile as in most cases, the damage would have already been done to the child,” she said.

Meanwhile, the United Nations in Zimbabwe issued a statement in the wake of Machaya’s demise which called upon the government to expedite the adoption of a Marriage Bill to specifically deal with child marriages.

“We call upon the Government of Zimbabwe to fast track the adoption of the Marriage Bill which recognizes child  marriage as a crime and to intensify the roll out of the National Action Plan on ending child marriages,” read part of the statement.

The UN statement said that Memory, the last born child in a family of six, was forced out of school while doing Form One in Mhondoro to get married to a grown man. The damning statement condemns  the surrounding circumstances leading to the premature death of 14-year-old Machaya.

Reports as at 2017 claimed that 32% of girls are married off before the age of 18 while 4% are married before they turn 15. According to the report, approximately 1 in 3 girls in Zimbabwe are married before age 18.