In an application filed recently at Harare High Court, Sharon Moffat,
a resident of Masvingo, Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) and Women’s
Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) want Marange Apostolic Church of St
Johanne and the Apostolic Churches Council to be ordered to publish at
every shrine or every place of worship, a message for 19 consecutive
weeks, clarifying, for the benefit of their congregants and adherents,
that the marrying or giving in the marriage of girl children is not an
aspect of their respective faiths and should not be committed in the
name of their religion.
Moffat, LRF and WCoZ also want the High Court to order Health and
Child Care Minister Constantino Chiwenga, Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Hon. Ziyambi Ziyambi, Home Affairs and
Cultural Heritage Minister Hon. Kazembe Kazembe, Women’s Affairs,
Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister Hon.
Sithembiso Nyoni, Zimbabwe Republic Police, Zimbabwe Gender Commission
and Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, to take steps to bring to an end
the practice of marrying and giving in the marriage of girl children in
Marange Apostolic Church of St Johanne and in Independent African
Apostolic Churches represented by Apostolic Churches Council.
The trio want Zimbabwean authorities to conduct identification of
children married in terms of the practice, their removal, from such
marriages and placement in places of safety established in terms of
the Children’s Act for their rehabilitation.
They also want the activation of the criminal justice system against
all men who have married or otherwise have had sexual intercourse with
minor children in the name of religion post the decision of the
Constitutional Court in Mudzuru and Another v Minister of Justice,
Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Others in Case No. CCZ-12-15 and
the publication of a summary of the declaraturs in all national
newspapers and on all national radio stations in all vernacular
languages.
Moffat, LRF, which is a law-based human rights organisation and WCoZ,
a network of women’s organisations involved in the preservation and
protection of women’s rights including the rights of children are
represented by Paidamoyo Saurombe of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights, Advocate Thabani Mpofu, Advocate Regina Bwanali and Advocate
Choice Damiso.
Marange Apostolic Church of St Johanne, Apostolic Churches Council,
Chiwenga, Ziyambi, Kazembe, Nyoni, Zimbabwe Republic Police, Zimbabwe
Gender Commission and Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission are cited as
respondents to the application.
The applicants argued that some members of the Marange Apostolic
Church of St Johanne church have taken to marrying and marrying off
girl children falsely claiming such practice to be part of their
religious beliefs while such a breach has also taken root in most
church organisations represented by Apostolic Churches Council.
Moffat, LRF and WCoZ accused Marange Apostolic Church of St Johanne
and Apostolic Churches Council of not taking a position to affirm
their true beliefs and faith and to disassociate themselves from their
adherents who violate the law in their name.
Marange Apostolic Church of St Johanne and Apostolic Churches Council,
Moffat, LRF and WCoZ argued, had accommodated the criminal practices
and given the impression that they not only tolerate them, but that
those practices constitute a fundamental component of their faith.
Moffat, LRF and WCoZ want the High Court to declare that the practice
of marrying and marrying off girl children to be declared as not an
essential element of the religious beliefs of Marange Apostolic Church
of St Johanne and the organisations represented by Apostolic Churches
Council and for such practice to be declared to be in breach of
sections 19(1), 19(2)(a), 19(2)(d), 19(3)(b)(iii), 26(a), 26(b),
27(2), 51, 53, 78(1), 78(2), 80(3), 81(1)(d), 81(1)(e) and 81(2) of
the Constitution.