However, her body remains unaccounted for as her family
insists that she was buried at the shrine soon after her death, while the
Johanne Marange Apostolic Church claims this is not true.
The late Memory Machaya, who hailed from Kwekwe, was
married to Evans Momberume. She left behind a baby boy who is reportedly in the
custody of the Machayas in Kwekwe.
It is understood that police detectives from Mutare’s
Criminal Investigations Department were in Kwekwe to verify Memory’s age before
preferring charges against Momberume.
National police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul
Nyathi, said the police were conducting investigations and promised to avail
more information soon.
“Our homicide team is on the ground and we hope they will
complete their investigations before Friday (today) for the further management
of the case,” said a source privy to the investigations.
With police promising to get to the bottom of the issue,
the church has promised to cooperate with the authorities to ensure justice
prevails.
In a telephone interview with The Manica Post on Wednesday,
the church’s coordinator and spokesperson, Mr Nyasha Marange, said as a church
they abided by the laws of the land and would not stand in the law enforcement
agents’ way as they probe the case.
“It is true that Memory was married to Evans Momberume. The
police should probe the case to its logical conclusion. She died after giving
birth and her baby is with the Machayas in Kwekwe.
“As the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church, we will not
protect any of our congregants being investigated by law enforcement agents for
any criminal offence, be it murder, rape or marrying a minor.
“The police should carry out their duties without fear or
favour. No one is above the law and if any of our congregants has a case to
answer, let the due process take its course. As a church, we have been
preaching against marrying of minors. During our Saturday church meetings,
elders take time to preach against child marriages. No one should be married
before the age of 18,” said Mr Marange.
He, however, vehemently denied that Memory was buried at
the Mafararikwa Shrine.
“There is no graveyard at our shrine. If a congregant dies
during our gatherings, arrangements are made to ferry that person’s body to
their place of origin. The shrine is only used for gatherings and Memory’s body
was not buried in the shrine as alleged.
“We do not have a secret graveyard as the shrine as this
violates the country’s laws,” he said without shedding any light on Memory’s
final resting place.
But in a telephone interview with The Manica Post last
week, the Machaya spokesperson, a bitter Ms Alice Mabika, insisted her niece
was buried at the shrine.
“She died soon after delivering her baby boy and the church
members went on to bury her without involving us,” said Ms Mabika.
“When we arrived at the shrine after getting wind of
Memory’s death, we were barred from entering. We remained resolute in our quest
to see our daughter’s body but the security details would not budge,” she said.
Ms Mabika is demanding justice and says she and Memory’s
mother were barred from entering the church shrine even after their daughter’s
burial.
This comes as the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community,
Small and Medium Enterprises and other stakeholders, among them the Council of
Indigenous Churches of Africa (CICA),has called for thorough investigations
into the case which has caused national outcry.
Women Affairs Minister Sithembiso Nyoni encouraged people
from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds to respect constitutional
provisions.
“I want to unequivocally state that child marriage is
nothing other than child sexual abuse disguised as a marriage and there is no
reason for tolerating such abuse.
“Religion and culture should not be used to sanitise a
violation of other people’s rights. Child marriage is a violation of multiple
rights of the girl child that include denying her the right to education, the
right to health and her well-being.
“It exposes the girl child to gender based violence, HIV
and other health related conditions. It puts the young mother into a cycle of
poverty,” said Minister Nyoni.
CICA president, Apostle Golden Zininga called upon the
police to get to the bottom of the case.
“This is just a tip of the iceberg. As the Council of
Indigenous Churches of Africa, we totally condemn such practices in the church.
Sections 19 and 81 of the country’s Constitution empowers the State and its
machinery to safeguard children’s rights.
“As churches, let us revisit our operational guidelines to
meet modern standards. Let us help our member churches to align with Biblical
ethics and United Nations’ guidelines on children’s rights,” said Apostle
Zininga.
“We also urge the community to report any cases of rape and
child marriages to the police and other agencies so that we can unearth these
hyenas in sheep skin,” he said. Manica Post
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