Makanaka Wakatama: It's not 'patriarchal' society but greed and foolishness

"We will not be deterred by Makanaka's remarks (criticizing the network for its interest in the case), because we understand the trauma she is undergoing. We will not fight her, she is a child who will later in life appreciate the reasons why we were so concerned about her future" (sic). These were the words of the then director of the Girl Child Network Muzvare Betty Makoni when the story of Makanaka Wakatama first made headlines in the year 2007. Makanaka has now reached that point where she is now living these words. She is now regretting and wished she had listened to Betty Makoni and even Mr. Francis Liberty Wakatama the father of the girl who now claims she was a victim of early marriage.

The recent article written by Makanaka and the reports that she regrets early marriage now vindicates Betty Makoni. Makanaka has reached that point where she is wishing she had listened to her father and the Girl Child Network. She has established a trust to try and do the work that the Girl Child Network tried to do in her life years ago. Makanaka has reached a point in life where she is regretting the lost teen years and youth stage she never got to enjoy. And it's amazing how she now blames everyone else but her mother and herself.

The Makanaka experience I hope is a lesson to many teenagers who ignore the advice of their elder and rush to experiment with sex and marriage. Makanaka had a bright future but due to her wrong choices and those of her greed mother- Memory Kamuchira that her life is what it is today. The fact that she decided to get married against a lot of public opinion simply shows the folly of childhood, pitfalls which befall the young as they assert their independence into adulthood. It is a part of growing up which you can only realise when you are past it. In life we are slaves of our choices and Makanaka is reaping the seeds of stubbornness and of her mother's selfishness. And to think Makanaka hired a lawyer Charles Chinyama to defend her foolishness.

It is public knowledge that the nation that she now blames for letting her down was against her marriage. In her knowledge or lack of it she chose to be stubborn. I remember she and her mother claimed that she was 16 when she got pregnant but in her article she is now claiming she was 15. Now who is she trying to fool by claiming she was a minor while she told everyone who cared to listened that she was above 16? The police and the Girl Child Network had to back off the case after she claimed that she had reached the age of consent when she got pregnant. I remember her comments about how people should "leave her husband" alone. At the time, l said this kid couldn't even spell the word "husband", let alone have one seems everything has come full circle now. The nation also remembers when the mother blasted Mr. Francis Wakatama and labeled him jealous because he did not receive any lobola money.

It is interesting to note that Makanaka now blames the "patriarchal" society for her foolishness. It was the mother who sanctioned the marriage, not the proverbial "patriarchy." Mr. Wakatama tried his best to stop this marriage but unfortunately he failed and I this in starting this trust Makanaka should start by apologizing publicly to her father.  The myth that her father was part of this shame of marriage should not be allowed to continue, Mr. Wakatama was also a victim in this. He was denied his rights as a father by a greedy ex-wife and a stubborn daughter who only chose to listen to the mother and not to the voice of reason. I remember Makanaka went into hiding with the assistance of the mother amid claims that she was furthering her broadcasting career with CBS in the USA only for her to resurface heavily pregnant at the Harare airport disguised as a Muslim. Makanaka took the whole nation for fools and now she cry victim and cannot be true.  She can only be a victim of her folly or maybe the mother's.

Without taking away anything from the good objectives of the Makanaka Trust I do not think that Makanaka is not being fair here. She should have highlighted how she was blinkered by wealth and not blame it on the "patriarchal" society .It is wrong to suggest that she was forced into this marriage as the law obliges the male suitor seeking to marry a 16-18year old to seek parental consent or have the Master of High Court issue a certificate of consent (this law has since changed by the advent of the new constitution). Makanaka's mother agreed to give this consent after realizing that her daughter had found someone she loved in this business man and this cannot be a case of a so called forced marriage. Both Makanaka and her mother Memory Kamuchira were blinkered by wealth. Therefore Makanaka Trust should be about discouraging young girls from being greed, not listening to good advice now that she has seen that it does not pay.