News / National
Zimbabwe unveils new marriage certificate
28 Mar 2012 at 05:24hrs | Views
THE Registrar-General's Office has unveiled a new marriage certificate and measures to curb marriages of convenience.
The highly-securitised certificate comes into force with immediate effect.
Old marriage certificates, however, remain valid while marriage officers have been given a month to surrender old certificates they have not yet issued out.
The Government last month introduced measures to flush out foreigners and Zimbabweans who have been abusing the country's marriage laws.
Such measures included computerised and serialised marriage certificates to curb multiple marriages, marriages of convenience and immigration fraud.
Foreigners, mostly those from Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, enter into marriages of convenience and marry more than one wife using different names to secure Zimbabwean citizenship or residence permits.
In most marriages of convenience, women are lured with money or property.
Addressing marriage officers yesterday, Registrar-General Mr Tobaiwa Mudede said no grace period will be given to the marriage officers to continue using the old certificates.
Some pastors had asked for a grace period, saying they had weddings lined up for this weekend but were advised to obtain the new document.
He said the new document had security features, making counterfeiting impossible.
It also has space for thumb prints of the couple, space for full names and national identity numbers for witnesses and the marriage officer's date stamp.
"We are fighting this nuisance of marriages of convenience. Marriage officers will have to comply with this and, if you don't, the jail is waiting for you," Mr Mudede warned.
"We are the first in the world to fight marriages of convenience. This is a securitised document that can never be forged. We have gone biometric and pastors, if you don't comply with the law, you will face the consequences."
The new certificates, Mr Mudede said, were now ready for collection at his office while others will be sent to provincial offices countrywide.
He said marriage officers will be required to produce a practising certificate and letter of confirmation from their head of denomination before they can be given the new certificates.
The requirement is meant to weed out bogus marriage officers.
Mr Mudede said some marriage officers were conducting marriages of convenience for monetary rewards.
"Magistrates have also been found wanting on marriages of convenience, but the biggest problem comes from reverends who have sworn to serve God in truth but do these things.
"Why do you do such things, reverends? We know money is the source of all evil because we have reverends who connive with some women to marry them to their husbands.
"Some pastors are taken to hospital to wed husbands who are on their deathbed so that the women can claim all the inheritance when he finally dies. It is devilish, why is it coming from men of the cloth?" Mr Mudede queried.
Head of Marriages in the Registrar-General's Office Mr Gorden Tsuro said there were also new measures for foreigners intending to marry Zimbabweans.
He slammed marriage officers who solemnised marriages involving foreigners whose papers were not in order.
Mr Tsuro said a foreigner who intends to marry a Zimbabwean is now required to produce an original non-marriage certificate from his or her country of origin.
"He or she must have clearance from police and immigration departments. For a Zimbabwean who intends to marry a foreigner, he or she must also produce a non-marriage certificate from the Registrar of Marriages.
"Any marriage register forwarded to the Registrar of Marriages without having met the above listed requirements will not be accepted," Mr Tsuro said.
Dzivaresekwa legislator Ms Evelyn Masaiti (MDC-T) is one of the victims of the new measures after a Masvingo magistrate, Mr Jabulani Mzinyathi, early this month refused to solemnise her nuptials to Mr Prorais Pentecote Ayina who is a Cameroonian.
Mr Ayina did not have an original certificate of clearance from his home country.
He had a scanned clearance certificate, but the Marriages Act stipulates that foreigners should produce original documents.
Mr Mudede said marriage officers had no authority to upgrade marriages from Customary (Chapter 5:07) to Civil (Chapter 5:11).
He said the two marriages could not be interfered with because they were statutory marriages.
Mr Mudede said if couples wanted to upgrade their marriages, they were first supposed to divorce and re-marry under Chapter 5:11.
He said the law did not allow mass weddings.
The highly-securitised certificate comes into force with immediate effect.
Old marriage certificates, however, remain valid while marriage officers have been given a month to surrender old certificates they have not yet issued out.
The Government last month introduced measures to flush out foreigners and Zimbabweans who have been abusing the country's marriage laws.
Such measures included computerised and serialised marriage certificates to curb multiple marriages, marriages of convenience and immigration fraud.
Foreigners, mostly those from Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, enter into marriages of convenience and marry more than one wife using different names to secure Zimbabwean citizenship or residence permits.
In most marriages of convenience, women are lured with money or property.
Addressing marriage officers yesterday, Registrar-General Mr Tobaiwa Mudede said no grace period will be given to the marriage officers to continue using the old certificates.
Some pastors had asked for a grace period, saying they had weddings lined up for this weekend but were advised to obtain the new document.
He said the new document had security features, making counterfeiting impossible.
It also has space for thumb prints of the couple, space for full names and national identity numbers for witnesses and the marriage officer's date stamp.
"We are fighting this nuisance of marriages of convenience. Marriage officers will have to comply with this and, if you don't, the jail is waiting for you," Mr Mudede warned.
"We are the first in the world to fight marriages of convenience. This is a securitised document that can never be forged. We have gone biometric and pastors, if you don't comply with the law, you will face the consequences."
The new certificates, Mr Mudede said, were now ready for collection at his office while others will be sent to provincial offices countrywide.
He said marriage officers will be required to produce a practising certificate and letter of confirmation from their head of denomination before they can be given the new certificates.
The requirement is meant to weed out bogus marriage officers.
"Magistrates have also been found wanting on marriages of convenience, but the biggest problem comes from reverends who have sworn to serve God in truth but do these things.
"Why do you do such things, reverends? We know money is the source of all evil because we have reverends who connive with some women to marry them to their husbands.
"Some pastors are taken to hospital to wed husbands who are on their deathbed so that the women can claim all the inheritance when he finally dies. It is devilish, why is it coming from men of the cloth?" Mr Mudede queried.
Head of Marriages in the Registrar-General's Office Mr Gorden Tsuro said there were also new measures for foreigners intending to marry Zimbabweans.
He slammed marriage officers who solemnised marriages involving foreigners whose papers were not in order.
Mr Tsuro said a foreigner who intends to marry a Zimbabwean is now required to produce an original non-marriage certificate from his or her country of origin.
"He or she must have clearance from police and immigration departments. For a Zimbabwean who intends to marry a foreigner, he or she must also produce a non-marriage certificate from the Registrar of Marriages.
"Any marriage register forwarded to the Registrar of Marriages without having met the above listed requirements will not be accepted," Mr Tsuro said.
Dzivaresekwa legislator Ms Evelyn Masaiti (MDC-T) is one of the victims of the new measures after a Masvingo magistrate, Mr Jabulani Mzinyathi, early this month refused to solemnise her nuptials to Mr Prorais Pentecote Ayina who is a Cameroonian.
Mr Ayina did not have an original certificate of clearance from his home country.
He had a scanned clearance certificate, but the Marriages Act stipulates that foreigners should produce original documents.
Mr Mudede said marriage officers had no authority to upgrade marriages from Customary (Chapter 5:07) to Civil (Chapter 5:11).
He said the two marriages could not be interfered with because they were statutory marriages.
Mr Mudede said if couples wanted to upgrade their marriages, they were first supposed to divorce and re-marry under Chapter 5:11.
He said the law did not allow mass weddings.
Source - TH
