Chronicle Editor
Michael Magoronga, Midlands Correspondent
THE Zimbabwe Gender Commission has said it has launched a probe into allegations of child marriages and sexual exploitation of children within religious organisations, which is said to be more pronounced in Apostolic sects.
This follows an outcry over a 14-year-old girl Memory Machaya who died giving birth at the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church shrine in Manicaland as she had been handed over as a bride to one of the elders.
On Monday, the Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Sithembiso Nyoni said investigations were under way to establish what really transpired.
The Zimbabwe Gender Commission is now probing the abuse of the girl child in religious organisations.
In a virtual address to the Kwekwe Press Club recently, Zimbabwe Gender Commission chief executive officer, Mrs Virginia Muwanigwa said her organisation was investigating some cases.
“The commission has received complaints in terms of child marriages in some of our church organisations. What we have done also is to do research and we have since started our investigations,” she said.
Mrs Muwanigwa said although complaints have been made against many religious organisations, apostolic sects top the list.
“We have started some investigations within some religious sects, especially Apostolic sects where we have been hearing reports of men there having many wives. According to the reports we have been receiving, some of these so-called wives are under-age girls which has prompted us to take action,” said Mrs. Muwaningwa.
“We have also received cases of not only girls but also women who have been abused by men within the church and we are looking into that. Our job is to ensure that we uphold the Constitution which says no to child marriages and we are trying hard to do exactly that.”
Mrs Muwanigwa said when it comes to ending child marriages, churches, families and communities all have a role to play.
She hailed traditional leaders who have vowed to deal with unscrupulous elements within their areas of jurisdiction.
“We all have a role to play in ensuring that we do not turn young innocent girls into brides,” she said.
“I am glad that the Chief’s Council has made their position clear that they do not tolerate child marriages. They also promised to deal with people who do that within their communities.”
Earlier this week, the Zimbabwe Head of Christian Denominations (ZHOCD) urged Government to set up an independent national inquiry into sexual abuse of women and girls in churches to end the scourge.
The ZHOCD is made up of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ), the Union for the Development of Apostolic Churches in Zimbabwe Africa (UDACIZA), the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZCBC) and the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC).
“Zimbabwe recently woke up to the shocking news of the 14-year-old girl who had died on the 15th of July 2021 at the shrine of the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church whilst giving birth. The story says Memory Machaya was married to a member of Johanne Marange Apostolic Church when she was only 13,” said the ZHOCD.
“It is also reported that there are many such child marriages that end up with the death of the girl child due to labour complications. The ZHOCD is deeply concerned whether the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) which keeps the records of women and girls who die while giving birth, has the official records of deaths at these religious shrines.”
ZHOCD said many women who take the bold step of reporting cases of sexual abuse sometimes withdraw these cases, allegedly due to intimidation but this tends to create impunity for perpetrators of sexual abuse in the church and various organisations.
Online Reporter