happiness Chikwanha
Ray Bande Senior Reporter
THE number of registered marriages in the country more than doubled in 2022 in a move that might be an indication that marriages of convenience are on the increase as thousands of Zimbabweans desperately seek spousal visas to enable them relocate to foreign countries, The Manica Post has established.
It has emerged that some Zimbabweans in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, among other countries, are now placing a price tag on their availability for marital union to locals who are desperate to relocate to these countries.
Once legally married, it becomes much easier to access a spousal visa.
The statistics from the country’s Chief Magistrate’s Office of marriages show that a total of 6 994 marriages were solemnized in Zimbabwe in 2021.
In 2022, the figure doubled, with 13 436 marriages being solemnized under Chapter 5:11 and Chapter 5:07.
In Manicaland Province alone, 580 marriages were solemnized in 2021, while a total of 1 083 were solemnized last year.
The research conducted by The Manica Post also revealed that the insatiable appetite to relocate to foreign countries has availed a ‘business opportunity’ for those that are already in the foreign countries.
Some people on foreign land are using social media platforms to declare their availability for solemnized marriage to anyone in need of a spousal visa, of course at a cost.
WhatsApp groups such as Future Care Givers, Handei KuChando and Study Work in Australia, among many others that are meant for tips on how to relocate to foreign countries are now awash.
However, these social media groups have also become advertising space for Zimbabweans seeking marriages of convenience.
Reads one of the messages in one of the social media groups from a prospective client who is still resident in the country and wishes to relocate to Canada: “I am a single mother who stays in Harare. I am looking for the single man based in Toronto who once posted a message here when he was looking for someone who wants a spousal visa for an agreed amount.”
A different message on a similar social media group read: “Good day, some weeks ago, there is a man who is based in Canada akanyora kuti (who wrote saying) he is looking for a person wekufambidzana naye achiti (a person to be in affair with, saying) she should have five ‘O’ Levels. He said he is ready to solemnize the marriage here in Zimbabwe and get the woman interested to Canada. He can get my contacts from the administrator.”
In Europe, a marriage visa or a spousal visa allows married partners of citizens to migrate to that country.
Under EU free movement law, systematic checks of marriages are prohibited, and the burden of proof of identifying marriages of convenience rests with the national authorities.
Contacted for comment, a local marriage counsellor, Pastor Davies English said: “It is a sign that moral decadence has hit our society. People can do just anything for money and a better life.
“From a Biblical stand-point, it is a sign that we are in those perilous times that Paul spoke of in 2 Timothy 3. Due to the love of money and a good life, people are willing to sell their souls.
“There is nothing much that can be done about it other than preaching the gospel to get people ready for the second coming of Jesus Christ by repenting from such greedy acts.”
Since 2021, a significant number of local health workers have left the country en-masse for Europe where demand for nurses, medical doctors, caregivers and midwives, among other professionals, spiked in recent years.
Online Reporter