News / National
Zimbabwe to curb fake marriages
27 Mar 2012 at 13:07hrs | Views
The Registrar General's Office is working towards crafting stringent measures which are expected to plug up holes in the Marriages Act, in an attempt to discourage marriages of conveniences which are being used by some unscrupulous foreigners to acquire citizenships.
Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede, who was speaking to marriage officers from various institutions, said reviews have been made and some of the measures being put in place will see foreigners who want to marry Zimbabweans having to produce clearances from their countries.
Under the new system, officers solemnising marriages involving foreigners are required to ask them to produce a non-marriage certificate from his or her country of origin, clearance letters from the police and immigration departments and must be a holder of a valid passport.
A Zimbabwean who intends to marry a foreigner must produce a non-marriage certificate from the Registrar of Marriages.
Culprits mostly from Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola among other countries enter into marriages of convenience and marry more than one wife using different names to secure Zimbabwean citizenship.
Recently, a Masvingo court blocked Dzivarasekwa legislator, Evelyn Masaiti's marriage to a 37-year old Cameroonian who is alleged to have failed to produce an original certificate of clearance from his home country certifying that he is indeed a bachelor.
Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede, who was speaking to marriage officers from various institutions, said reviews have been made and some of the measures being put in place will see foreigners who want to marry Zimbabweans having to produce clearances from their countries.
Under the new system, officers solemnising marriages involving foreigners are required to ask them to produce a non-marriage certificate from his or her country of origin, clearance letters from the police and immigration departments and must be a holder of a valid passport.
A Zimbabwean who intends to marry a foreigner must produce a non-marriage certificate from the Registrar of Marriages.
Culprits mostly from Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola among other countries enter into marriages of convenience and marry more than one wife using different names to secure Zimbabwean citizenship.
Recently, a Masvingo court blocked Dzivarasekwa legislator, Evelyn Masaiti's marriage to a 37-year old Cameroonian who is alleged to have failed to produce an original certificate of clearance from his home country certifying that he is indeed a bachelor.
Source - zbc
