“Guardians Who Receive Lobola For U-18s To Be Arrested”- Vice President Mnangagwa

Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa who is also the overseer of Ministry of Justice, Legal & Parliamentary Affairs yesterday told Parliament that Guardians who receives Lobola for under aged children should be arrested.

“Government was not waiting for a constitutional court ruling outlawing child marriages in order to act, but had already identified several pieces of legislation that ought to be aligned with the constitution” he said.

The Vice President said the act should make it an offense for a guardian or other person to enter into a Lobola agreement or other customary marriage arrangement or ceremony in respect of a person under the age of eighteen.

“Section 20 of Marriage Act providing in for solemnization of marriage of a minor with the consent of the guardian or of the high court would be repealed”, said VP Mnangagwa.

He said the Subsection should be amended to provide to provide that no person under the age of 18 years shall be capable of contracting a valid marriage. Subsection (2) and (3) which envisages that the Minister can give permission to persons under the age of eighteen to marry should also be repealed.

“Section 70 of the criminal law codification and reform act,which criminalized extra -marital sex so as to make it an offense in all case to have sexual relationship with a young person, government would consult the age of consent as the judgement did not require the legislature to take any action in that since it observed pregnancies below the age eighteen years were a social issue.”

The Vice President said despite the fact that they have identified the sections that need to be mended, it would be noble to conduct consultations to analyze the consequences these amendments would make on children who are already part of child marriages.