Customary marriage law challenged

Two female teenagers forced into early marriages through the unregistered customary law union have approached the Constitutional Court challenging the constitutionality of the Customary Marriages Act.

The applicants; Loveness Mudzuru (19) and Ruvimbo Tsopodzi (18) have cited the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, the Minister of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development and the Prosecutor General as the respondents in their bid to seek the court's intervention.

In her affidavit, Mudzuru told the court that the legitimate age of marriage in Zimbabwe should be 18.

She seeks the court to declare unconstitutional the provisions of the Marriage Act, the customary law and the roman dutch common law which allow marriage for girls below the age of 18.

She further argued that the current law in terms of sections 20 and 22 of the Marriage Act (chapter 5:11), provided for a girl between the age of 16 and 18 to be married with joined consent of her mother and father.

While stating that in terms of the Customary Marriages Act (chapter 5:07), there is no specified marriage age for persons intending to contract a customary law marriage.

She further said that it was clear that the legal age of marriage for men was 18, while that for women was a practice she declares discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional.

In the application, Mudzuru and Tsopodzi are seeking for an order barring children from entering into unregistered customary law union before the age of 18 and that any registered customary law union contracted by a person below the age of 18 years be declared null and void.

The two told the court of their experiences, saying early marriages are excruciating and painful.