Makanaka: Pressure groups give up
WITH ZIMPAPERS KNOWLEDGE CENTRE
The Herald, August 18 2007 PRESSURE groups have given up trying to have the Harare business tycoon and husband of former StarKidz presenter Makanaka Wakatama arrested on suspicion of making her pregnant before she turned 16 — the legal age of consent.
In terms of the law, intimate relations with a girl under 16 are criminalised as statutory rape.
Makanaka was born on August 23, 1990 and turns 17 next week.
She gave birth to a baby boy in April this year, about a month after she walked into The Herald newsroom to proclaim she was seven months pregnant and happily married.
The former TV star had no kind words for child rights groups, which she said were bent on throwing spanners into her married life.
“Where were they when I needed them?” she scoffed, referring to Press reports that she was being stalked by a man, who openly admitted to being “obsessed with Makanaka”.
The Girl Child Network and Victim Friendly Unit — two organisations that were leading investigations into the former ZTV StarKidz presenter’s alleged statutory rape case, said their efforts were tantamount to whistling in the dark.
The Victim Friendly Unit conceded this week that theirs was a lost cause.
“The battle is over and we have lost it. Nothing has materialised and with the way things are at the moment, it’s quite clear that the case is over,” national co-ordinator of the Victim Friendly Unit Mr Idine Magonga said.
He, however, believes his organisation did everything in their power to bring the matter to the attention of the relevant authorities.
“(Her father) was the complainant in this case. From the first day, he came to my office seeking our assistance, he was so eager to get our help but as time went on, he made a U-turn.
“He used to call me more than three times a day to check on the progress on his daughter’s case, but it’s surprising that he has lost interest,” Mr Magonga added.
The Girl Child Network was keen to see the police investigating the case to its logical conclusion.
“We cannot say for certain that the case is over, but if we find any other loophole to latch on, we will definitely renew our investigations,” GCN public relations officer Kamurai Mudzingwa said.
LESSONS FOR TODAY
◆ In as much as the laws have been put in place to protect children from sexual abuse of any kind, the co-operation between guardians and the police will make such laws effective. ◆ The Makanaka issue raised a lot of controversy, since it was clear that the guardians seemed to have teamed up with the husband to
conceal the crime.
◆ Did Makanaka’s now ex-husband Obvious Sambadzi of Alcatraz, buy their silence, considering that he was a man of means?
◆ In its attempt to stop child marriages, the law must also act on all perpetrators including guardians and parents who either refuse to report such cases, or those who help to conceal the crime
◆ The unexpected U-turn from the father was so unfortunate, given that there was enough evidence for statutory rape.
◆ This week’s Sunday Mail Society edition cites a Government report which says, 5 959 teenagers were impregnated in January and February this year, while 1 774 got into early marriages.
◆ Despite the olive branches extended by the Girl Child Network and Victim Friendly Unit, it seems that a lot more counselling needs to be done for the likes of Makanaka, before they hop from one marriage after another.