JUSTICE minister Ziyambi Ziyambi has said 16-year-olds can legally consent to sex, but cannot marry.
He said this while responding to questions from Mutare
Central legislator Innocent Gonese in the National Assembly last week.
Zimbabwe is currently experiencing a row over the age of
consent triggered by the death of 15-year-old girl Anna Machaya while giving
birth at the Johane Marange Apostolic Church shrine in Manicaland last month.
Her 26-year-old husband Hatirarami Momberume has since been
charged with rape and murder. Gonese had asked Ziyambi to clarify government
policy regarding the age of consent.
He also wanted Ziyambi to explain government’s
interpretation of section 78 of the Constitution, which specifies that one can
only get married after turning 18 years, whereas the Criminal Law (Codification
and Reform) Act says girls at 16 years can consent to sex.
Gonese, a lawyer by profession, said this variance was
causing confusion with people assuming that girls between 16 and 18 could
legally consent to sex, but could not marry.
“Can the minister indicate to us what the government
thinking is relating to that age of consent because at present it is 16. We are
in the dark as to what the government’s position is and we are all aware that
there are so many people who are opposed to this amendment because they are
predators,” Gonese said.
“The biggest problem that we are confronted with is older
men who indulge in sexual intercourse with young girls, which is where the
problem mainly lies. Most of the
predators are not comfortable with the raising of the age of consent because
that will actually increase the number of criminal cases that will be before
our courts where girls are between the ages of 16 and 18,” he said.
Ziyambi said there was a distinction between marriage and
the age of consent.
“It is very important to separate issues of marriage and
age of consent. There is nowhere in the world where the age of consent to
sexual intercourse is 18 years. In any event, it is very difficult to stop
those teenagers from engaging in sex.
What we are doing is, we need to separate issues of marriages that come
with certain responsibilities with an age where a teenager can consent
voluntarily to an act,” he said.
“I know that already in our Act we have offences whereby if
you have sexual intercourse with a young adult — it is statutory rape. So that
is covered, but what I was referring to is to streamline it and ensure that it
becomes clear rather than how it is currently couched. We have outlawed
marriages of anyone below 18, but if we have two young teenagers who are below
18, we cannot criminalise if they engage in sexual intercourse,” he added.
“My plea is, it is work in progress, we want to streamline
it and ensure that we bring it here and have a debate on how we can now look at
the age of consent.”
Ziyambi added that there was a contradiction in that at 16
years people were allowed to drive, but at the same time could not be held
responsible for their actions if they engage in sexual activities.
“I know Honourable Gonese is very much aware that you can
have a driver’s licence at 16. So you must also appreciate that on one hand,
you must say that somebody is responsible for his/her actions when he/she is
driving at 16. On the other hand, you say he/she is not responsible for his/her
actions in engaging in sexual intercourse — it is contradictory. So, we must separate issues of marriage which
we said is 18 and it comes with certain responsibilities. Those who want to be
married must wait until they are over 18, but there are certain things that we
cannot control. Moreso at 16, we agree
that you can drive, but if you have an accident, what do we say?” he said. Newsday
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