The Constitutional Court has with immediate effect outlawed child marriage and struck off the statutes section 22(1) of the Marriage Act ,which for decades, had allowed children under the age of 18 years to get into marriage.
The full Constitutional Court bench said section 22(1) of the Marriage Act was inconsistent with section 78(1) of the Constitution which sets 18 years as the minimum age of marriage in Zimbabwe.
The ruling by the ConCourt followed an application by two Harare women, Loveness Mudzuru and Ruvimbo Tsopodzi, who approached the court, through their lawyer Tendai Biti, seeking to challenge the Customary Marriages Act, arguing the said Act was infringing on the constitutional rights of young girls and boys who were getting married at an early stage.
