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Lloyd Gumbo Harare Bureau
Parents or guardians who accept lobola from men seeking to marry girls under 18 years may in future face prosecution together with their children’s suitors if a motion before Parliament is approved and incorporated into the statutes.

In the debate on a motion which began on Thursday, legislators want the age of marriage for both males and females raised from 16 to 18 years.

Senators across the political divide this week questioned Prosecutor-General Johannes Tomana’s recent sentiments that children aged 12 years could be married if they were idle.

MDC-T senator for Midlands, Lilian Timveous, is steering the motion in the Upper House calling on the government to enact and enforce laws that raise the age of marriage to 18 for both girls and boys.

While the laws are meant to protect both sexes, it is girls who are the most affected by child marriages due to economic circumstances, culture, religion and abuse by male adults.

Timveous called for urgent re-alignment of existing laws to the Constitution.

“The Marriage Act Chapter 5.11 is unconstitutional because it allows marriage for people below the age of 18,” she said. “Sections 20 and 22 of this Act say, “a girl between the age of 16 and 18 can marry with the consent of her mother or father”.

“The Customary Marriage Act, Chapter 5.07 is also unconstitutional on the basis that it doesn’t provide for a minimum age of 18 years for marriage.”

Zanu-PF senator for Mashonaland Central, Cde Monica Mavhunga, said under the envisaged dispensation, men who marry children under 18 years would be prosecuted.

“If a person is engaged in child marriage, one should be given a deterrent punishment,” she said.

“All those people who agree to these early child marriages should also be taken as accomplices and be sentenced as well because they are equally guilty.”

Chiefs’ representative in the Senate, Chief Musarurwa of Mashonaland East, trashed Tomana’s sentiments, saying anyone who married a 12-year-old girl was a rapist.

“As a mother, does it not affect you to accept that lobola?” he said. “That’s witchcraft. You are bewitching your own child by carrying out such practices.”

MDC-T senator for Matabeleland South, Sithembile Mlotshwa, supported the motion, saying there was need to protect girls.

“I think 18 years still is not enough for the girl to consent to marriage because marriage is a very serious affair where you need to have your act together, where you need to exactly know what you’re supposed to do,” she said.

“I really believe Zimbabwe must take a leading role in Africa by showing that it’s taboo that young girls are being married. Africa is the worst place when it comes to the child marriages.”

Senator Alice Chimbudzi of Zanu-PF (Mashonaland Central) added: “My question is, how beautiful is a 12-year-old child and why should that child be betrothed to a man?”

Tomana torched a storm when he reportedly said children should be allowed to choose marriage as an option if they were idle.

“If you look at it, we don’t have a framework, for example, where we can guarantee that all our girl children are usefully engaged before they actually get above 18 years, we don’t have that,” he said in a recorded interview with The Chronicle.

“We’ve nine-year-olds, 12-year-olds, 13-year-olds who’re actually not in school, who’re not doing anything for example.

“What are we saying to them? We say you can’t even do this (have sex), when the environment is not giving them alternative engagements? What are we talking about?

“But to simply say ‘no such and such conduct’ for any girl say below the age of 16, I think we’ve not asked ourselves what we’re saying about that girl who would rather prefer to lead their life in the direction of getting married.

“Should they just sit there and wait until they get to about 21 doing nothing? Is that what you’re saying? You don’t have anything that they should be engaged in while they wait to become the age.

“What do you want them to do because in some cultures, for example, they value marriage more than anything else because when your girl child is married, you’ve achieved what any father or mother would want to expect in their girl child.”

Many Zimbabweans reacted angrily to Tomana’s remarks and called for his resignation. First Lady Cde Grace Mugabe this week joined the debate, saying Tomana’s comments were irresponsible.