Nyore Madzianike Manicaland Bureau
Laws that deal with child marriages and the legal age of consent need to be urgently aligned to the Constitution, Mutare South legislator Cde Nyasha Chikwinya has said. Speaking at a meeting held to sensitise traditional leaders on child marriages recently, she said there was need to decisively deal with the scourge of child marriages.

“Early child marriage is tantamount to murder, that is why we came up with a law that says put those guys that marry children below the age of 18 in prison,” said Cde Chikwinya.

“Yes, they say it has to be the alignment of the Marriage Act and the age of legal majority so that we come up with a full package of ending child marriages.” Cde Chikwinya said she was happy that some families, especially those from apostolic sects were now appreciating the value of the girl child. The former Minister of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development said traditional leaders needed to be sensitised about child marriages.

“We called all the traditional leaders and sensitised them on the dangers of early child marriages. I told them it is like killing them mentally, spiritually and physically. I said it is tantamount to murder because you would have ruined someone’s life,” she said. Although Cde Chikwinya said the law was helping fight the problem, they were still encountering challenges in dealing with members of some apostolic sects.

“The problem that we have is that our constituencies have people from some apostolic sect churches that are yet to accept that there is a law governing marriages. I am happy that it has worked for some sects because we have some families and men who now see the value of the girl child,” she said.

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