In a recent workshop at a Gweru hotel, several women from across the province raised concern with the legal age of majority, saying families were becoming hard to manage as youths were out of hand.
The women argue that at the age of 18, children are still at high school and too young to manage things on their own and to run families.
For many youths turning 18 means choosing sexual partners and freely consuming alcohol and this is causing a lot of chaos in the communities because most of the youth, children really, are still in school by the time they reach 18. They can no longer be managed and most are rushing into marriages that do not even last two years. At 18 children have not reached maturity and once left alone disaster begins and we want chiefs, other traditional leaders and all other community leaders to think seriously about this age of majority thing before our communities become totally unmanageable, said one woman at the workshop.
Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development Deputy Minister Evelyn Masaiti, who is also the Member of House of Assembly for Dzivaresekwa, told the women that the ongoing constitution making process was the best opportunity for mothers and all parents to push for the adjustment of the legal age of majority.
In response, the President of the Chiefs Council Chief Charumbira said the chiefs were equally against 18 years as the legal age of majority as this was causing disharmony in the communities.
As chiefs we also feel that this legal age of majority needs to be adjusted as it has evidently caused a lot of suffering especially in the rural areas where children who get to this age readily rush into marriage, drug abuse and other some such. Interpretation of this instrument is very wrong among the youth. The kind of domestic issues that we consistently handle in our courts have proved that at 18-year-olds are not mature enough to handle things like marriage. Youths are out of hand because of this, said chief Charumbira.
He said while the age allowed youths to access such things as loans from the banks and some such positives, early marriages and abuse of drugs were major negatives that the community should consider.
The issue of legal age majority is a very sensitive issue in the current economic conditions as many believe that it should instead be lowered as there are 15 and 16-year-olds taking care of whole families in the absence of parents.
Several sectors of the community believe that it is critical for these minors to be allowed to own property and access loans like everybody else.
Post published in: Opinions