Marrying a girl or boy under the age of 18 is regarded as being unconstitutional and warrants a criminal offence according to provisions the Constitution of Zimbabwe, 2013 and the Legal Age of Majority Act. Any person who has not attained 18 years in Zimbabwe is a minor, and is protected by the laws of the land from marriage. Getting married to a minor in Zimbabwe is a serious offence frowned upon by the Legislature.
Section 78 of The Constitution of Zimbabwe makes provision for the following,
Marriage rights
(1) Every person who has attained the age of eighteen years has the right to found a family.
(2 )No person may be compelled to enter into marriage against their will.
(3) Persons of the same sex are prohibited from marrying each other.
Section 81 of the same Constitution defines what a child is and provides for the rights of children, while Section 44 provides for the protection of such rights. The case of Mudzuru & Anor v The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs&Ors, The Constitutional Court held that,
“The age of sexual consent which currently stands at 16 years is now seriously misaligned with the new minimum age of marriage of 18 years. This means that, absent legislative intervention and other measures, the scourge of early sexual activity, child pregnancies and related devastating health complications are likely to continue and even increase. The upside is that the new age of marriage might have the positive effect of delaying sexual activity or child bearing until spouses are nearer the age of 18. The downside is that children between 16 and 18 years may be preyed upon by the sexually irresponsible without such people being called upon to take responsibility and immediately marry them. Thus, there is an urgent need, while respecting children’s sexual rights, especially as between age mates as opposed to inter-generational sexual relationships, to extend to the under-eighteens the kind of protection currently existing for under-sixteens with the necessary adjustments and exceptions”. In light of these legal provisions, members of the public are encouraged to report cases of child marriage to the police.
