24 December 2021
Shamila Ntokozo Mdlongwa
Honourable Minister of Women Affairs, Community and Small and Medium Enterprises Development, S’thembiso Nyoni has called for the arrest of a Chinese national who married an underage girl from Sanyati District under Chief Neuso in Mashonaland West.
The Minister, in an interview with NewsDay stated that marrying off a person under the age of 18 is a violation of the constitution.
‘The minor is under 18 years and it is unconstitutional. Those parents must be brought to book and the Chinese national must be arrested over the matter. This is unacceptable!” said the Minister.
Zimbabwe’s 2013 constitution prohibits boys and girls below the age of 18 from marriage.
The minor is 15-years-old and has since dropped out of school at Tomdrayer Secondary School where she was doing Form Three after being married off by parents to the Chines miner.
The Chinese national who is employed at Ringxin/Mambo Mine as an engineer is said to have paid US$2 000 bride price in November to the girls parents.
The parents who sold their daughter are reportedly considering swapping the victim’s identity with that of an older sibling.
This is similar to what the family of 15-year-old Anna Machaya did. When they deliberately concealed her real name and age and swapped it with “Memory Machaya” the older sister.
Karen Mukwasi, a human rights activist started a petition titled:
“A call to action on Chinese nationals and child sexual exploitation”.
Mukwasi said,
“The police need to close in on the Chinese perpetrator. Locals have reported that the family is considering swapping the victim’s identity with that of an older sibling and police need to close in and prevent any cover-up.”
The child is not safe in the custody of parents who voluntarily exploited her for financial gain and, therefore, police should work with relevant departments to remove the child to a safe environment until the case is concluded.”
African Union goodwill ambassador on ending child marriages, Nyaradzayi Gumbodzvanda said,
“Such dangerous criminal behaviour must be nipped in the bud. Government must review the terms and conditions of some of these investors to ensure compliance with the laws of the country.”
The unfortunate part is that the current Constitution of Zimbabwe does not have explicit marriage laws that outlaw child marriage.
Zim GBC news