CHURCH’S PERSPECTIVE ON CHILD RITUAL MURDERS AND CHILD MARRIAGES.

While Zimbabwe is predominantly a Christian community, a recent surge in murders of young children and child marriages in the past months has left many shell-shocked. Child ritual murders and child marriage cases are currently in our courts and also being discussed on the media. Some of the cases include the suspected murder cases of Tapiwa Makore (2020), Mitchel Musharu (2021), the Nyanga case of two seven year olds Melissa and Daniel Benza (2021), and many other reported and unreported cases. All these cases are suspected to be ritual murders and have prompted the society to reflect on the safety of the children and on how best the laws of our nation can be crafted in such a way that such evil practises are curbed.

As though it is not enough, some sections of the society have sanitized and solemnized Child Marriages. Children, as young as, 13, 10 and 9 years old, are forced into marriages with adults who cannot even remember their own ages. Without mentioning organisations or individuals, the nation has heard enough stories of children dying while giving birth, while those who survive this, have a miserable future sanctioned with hard labour feeding the husband. If it is a boy, he finds himself praying daily for a miracle to happen so that he can get a managerial position at a non-existant company, so that he may feed the infant wife.

All these are issues that we as members of the society have to deal with and come up with policies that will enlighten legislators as they debate on bills that seek to protect children, especially, A guardian has turned to be a vulture to his or her own defenceless off-springs.

Child related Laws in Zimbabwe:

We have several laws in Zimbabwe that are related to the protection of Children, however, these are not aligned to the 2013 Constitution, and hence, their binding effects are always in conflict with the law of the land. Some of these out dated legislatures are:

• The Children’s Act of 2001.

• Labour amendment Act 2015.

• Trafficking in Persons Act 2014.

• Domestic Violence Act 2007,

• Dangerous Drugs Act 1956,

• Criminal Law (codification and Reform Act) 2004.

• National Orphan Care Policy.

• The Education Act 2011.

• Sexual Offenses Act 2001.

• The Marriage Act 5:11.

International Statutes

The closest ones to us are:

• The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989).

• The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1990).

We may ask ourselves, what are these rights that are specifically or fundamentally related to a Child, so that we may do justice to this topic? Section 81 of the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe, states that any boy of girl under the age of 18 years is a Child. These are vulnerable people and hence are incapable of giving consent that is legal to any invitation by a person above 18years. The section further elaborates on the rights that a Child is entitled to, for instance, equal treatment before the law, the right to be heard, the right to a name and family name, right to parental or appropriate care, right to be protected from economic and sexual exploitation, to be protected from being employed as a labourer , right to education, shelter and nutrition, right not to be recruited into a militia force, right not to be compelled to take any part in political activity, and even the right not to be detained except for the shortest appropriate period. The section concluded by summing up the most important right of a child, namely, that in everything pertaining the right of a child, what should be sought is that which fosters the best interest of the child. Hence the courts and not the prisons, should offer children the protection they deserve as their upper guardian. These rights are to be read and understood in relation with all other rights stated in Chapter 4 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe and related international laws to which Zimbabwe has ascended to. These fundamental rights should be enjoyed by every Zimbabwean Child whether poor or rich, urban or rural, believer and non-believer, and these should be protected by all means, in the event of infringement to these rights.

Child Marriages or Unions

Some months ago Zimbabweans woke up to a shocking story of a Marange 13 year old girl, who innocently died due to complications while giving birth, and she was buried near the mentioned Church’s shrine. Also fresh in our memories, is the story in the H-Metro of Monday, 13th September 2021 entitled, “Grade 7 Girl now 6th Wife… Sister married to the same Man.” These and other stories have been taking place in our society but due to conflict of laws as well as confirmed particular tribal or religious practices, the cases lacked authentic witnesses and only ended up being the talk of town. Our Zimbabwe Government, once reported in April that nearly 5,000 teenage girls became pregnant between January and February 2021, while about 1,800 entered early marriages, during the same period. This information does not only shock us, but it should prompt us to know that sooner or later, the same shall happen to my daughter or son before he or she finishes her primary or secondary education, because by mere calculation, it means being in November 2021, there are over 45,000 teen girls who might be pregnant right now, and over 13,000 young girls who might have entered illegal marriage unions.

This is a high degree of infringement on the rights to be enjoyed by every child can be perpetrated in the name of faith, or healing, or when we expose our children to people and environments that threaten their security. But what does the law say about the marriage of Minors or children.

The Law of the nation, namely the Constitution, defined a child as one below the age of 18. It is therefore illegal constitutionally, to allow any child below this age to enter into marriage. It is a forced and illegal union. It is illegal because the parties in the union lack the capacity to give consent. Consent brings a marriage into being, and if this is missing, it is tantamount to rape and the criminal code has a sentence for that.

Child marriage or union, violates the fundamental rights of girls and boys, with the girl child affected more. As a result, the married child is incapable of pursuing his or her academic potentialities, and this in turn, will impact on his or her economic and reproductive health care. The 2015 landmark case of two former young brides, Loveness Mudzuru and Ruvimbo Tsopodzi, v The Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, filed an application before the Constitutional Court to declare the Marriage Act and Customary Marriage Act, a breach to the 2013 Constitution. The ruling of the court in favour of these, brought about a positive step towards gender equality, especially on the part of the girl child.

In this regard, the Catholic Church has expressed in the Canon Law that child marriages are not to be entertained. The Church states clearly that marriage is for a man and a woman and not for a boy and a girl, due to the responsibilities attached to the union (Canon Law 1055). The Church explains further that, the union is only entered into by those who are legally capable of giving the consent. This legality is in line with the law of the nation, the Constitution of Zimbabwe. Thus the Church in publishing bans, seeks to find if anything or an impediments stands in the way, for the valid celebration of the marriage. In this way, the Church has put in measures to prevent child marriages and even their celebration by even reporting these to the priest and the responsible authorities (Canon Law 1066 and 1069).

Child ritual Murders

Ritual murders have recently been wide spreading in Zimbabwe in the past months. These have become a cause of concern to the people and, especially the families of the victims. The nature of these rituals, involves the removal of some of the body parts from the victims, for ritual purposes. In the past months, the targeted groups to these cruel activities, have been the innocent children who have been ruthlessly abducted and murdered and have their body parts removed and sold in Zimbabwe or neighbouring countries and used for ritual purposes. In some of my interactions with gold panners and some pastors working with these panners, in different parts of the country, these confessed that, as on begins to be a panner, one needs to sacrifice and offer at least the blood of a chicken, for ancestors to guide and protect him or her while underground. If one wishes to have a higher extraction from the underworld, the sacrifice has to be higher also, sacrifice of a goat, cow and in serious cases, sacrifice of human life. Given our situation, where gold panning is partially controlled and is practised illegally without any machinery except a pick, a shovel and crowbar or mugwara. This should point to us that, gold panning is, or can be a potential field where rituals of all types can be practised for extractive purposes.

However, we can leave for future discussions, those who benefit from the extractions and the loss of lives of the sacrificed victims.

Church and State Relationship

In Finding Solutions Towards Curbing These Practices, Of Importance Is To Foster A Close Relationship between the Church and the State. This relationship should be based on an honesty sharing of ideas which should in turn, lead to formulation of policies and laws that are inclusive in nature, giving consideration to the vulnerable members of the society, the Children.

The Church compliments the work of the government in many ways, and hence it is a very vital stakeholder which is inevitable to ignore in any circumstance. As a moral person, the Church calls the Government to be prompt and ethical in coming up with laws that protect children. The Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZBCB) policy document on children states that it will continue to implement programs aimed at safeguarding children and young people who are in its parishes or institutions , this policy document will seek to create and proactively maintain an environment that prevents any actions, whether deliberate or in inadvertent, that place children at risk of any kind of child abuse .The ZCBC values all children equally in line with teachings of the gospel and the Catholic Catechism of the Church ‘’ Being in the image of God, The human Individual Possess the dignity of a person, who is not something , but someone . He / she is capable of self-knowledge, self-possession as well as freely giving himself/ herself and entering into communion with other persons. He is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator, to offer him response of faith and love that no other creature can give’’ (Catholic Catechism NO 1730-1735).

The ZCBC implements such teachings through diverse Catholic Ministries that provide education and a support system for families with vulnerable children. ZCBC recognizes its role in earning children trust and its accountability to the families and communities it serves through a selection process of those who work with children. ZCBC aims at safeguarding children from all forms of abuse and maltreatment in all institutions. As Jesus Himself says “Let the children come to me do not stop them for it is such no as these that the kingdom of God Belongs. In truth I tell you, anyone who does not welcome the kingdom of like a child will never enter it “……” (Mark 10: 13-16)

In fact, QUI IUSTITIAM MORATUR IUSTITIAM NEGAT, justice delayed, is justice denied, as reflected in the delay in aligning the laws of Zimbabwe to the Constitution. As a Church and speaking on behalf of the people of Zimbabwe, the legislation process has been dragged for too long, and yet the referendum process was rushed, WHY? Why are the legislators taking it too long to put in place a legal and policy framework, to protect the rights of the children? Does it mean that, what is happening to our children is not much of their concern? If the legislators are just there in Parliament, to represent a vote, they should be morally compelled to represent the interests of the voter, especially the protection of the voters’ children, rather than merely respond to cases of investigating the carcases of the voters’ children.

While the Constitution of Zimbabwe, which was voted for by Zimbabweans, clearly states the wishes of the people when it comes to the majority age, the complimentary laws to it, should reflect this wishes of the people. The Children’s Act, Chapter 5:06 of 2001, shows the Government’s efforts to protect children, both boys and girls. This is so because it is the core mandate of the Government to safeguard the children’s rights and come up with programmes and activities that promote the wellbeing of Children. As Churches, it is important to advocate for the creation of a conducive environment that promotes and enables every child to realize his or her potentialities. Anything that militates against this, should be considered as a potential abuse of the rights that a child is entitled to and should enjoy. However in the past months and days, the nation has experienced events that really defeat the call for advocating for the rights of the children.

This as adults and mature citizens should haunt us for the rest of our lives, due to our failure in providing the basic needs towards upholding their rights and stand on their behalf. Our silence in letting children take up adult responsibilities in the name of, atoyaruka nekukurumidza, atova zijaya, watova mhandara, will one day, create a generation of child-parents just like child-soldiers we have heard about in other war-torn-countries. These child-soldiers kill randomly, because they are hypnotised or indoctrinated to do that, so it is with the generation of child –parents which we are breeding or trying to cover up. It is a nation being destroyed only to satisfy the sexual desires of particular adults. This to us in Zimbabwe, is experienced in the rising numbers of child marriages, which I prefer to call Child Unions, due to their lack of legal recognition.

The Church as a legal and recognised entity, guided by the Constitution of Zimbabwe, stands in support of the rights of the Children and condemns child marriages. These according to Section 18 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, are children, hence boys and girls and as such, should be accorded equal treatment before the law and should enjoy protection from sexual exploitation, because they are children. The Church does not recognise any marriage union granted to these minors, due to their lack of capacity to give consent to marriage, no matter how beautiful their marriage ceremony was.

Although the Marriage Act, Section 22(1), gives that provision to allow girls at 16 years to marry, with the consent of her guardian, such provisions are invalidated by the Constitution. Hence, no person under the age of 18, may enter a valid marriage union, because of lack of capacity. The Customary Act Cap. (5:07), is also unconstitutionally, since it does not provide for a minimum age limit of 18 years.

It is the responsibility of the Church to teach its members and remind the State and other Juristic persons at every level, to respect, protect and promote the fundamental rights of the Child as guaranteed under Section 44 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. It should be borne in mind also that, in reflection to the dictates of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, Section 22(1) (a) of the Marriage Act of Zimbabwe, if followed, would expose the girl child to serious life threatening consequences as a result of early marriages. While consideration can be given to the physiological and psychological differences between a boy and a girl, the law should protect them equally.

In today’s world, the doctrine of human rights and the sanctity of life, together with sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, bring to an end the rituals that tend to end the lives of individuals and human sacrifices. In fact, one who ends the life of an individual, must account for this in the court of law, long before the Heavenly judgment seat. It is because of this sanctity of life, that the Constitution of Zimbabwe, in Section 48 (1), stated that: “Every person has the right to life.” Thus a child as a person, enjoys that right too and any infringement on this, is highlighted in article 2 of the same Section, namely death sentence. We as Catholics, oppose to the death sentence but we advocate for life imprisonment to anyone who takes the life of an innocent child and those who participate or buy their body parts.

All in all, this shows how serious it is, to take the life of an innocent person for whatever reason.

Allow me at this point to advocate for the condemnation to the practice of child ritual murders and any forms of child abuse, trafficking and selling of children’s body parts. The world should know that, is it through the redemptive action of Christ on the cross, and not through shedding the blood of the innocent young children, that people are saved. Success is an attitude and it is achieved through hardworking. As individuals and the nation as a whole, we should join hands in saving the lives of our children and not allow any child to perish trying to satisfy a greedy and idle mind of an individual who believes that riches are obtained through Satanic practises of offering human blood sacrifices. Let us work towards ending this practice and save the children from these ritualists.

In addition to this, the Church in its laws has prohibited the shedding of innocent blood and has even termed it an offence against human life and liberty. (Canon Law 1397). The Church gives a list of these prohibitions and offences, for instance, homicide, abduction, imprisons, gravely wounding a person. These are punished by the Church and the Church supports the arrest of the perpetrators by the civil authorities. It is in the same breath, that the Church, condemns the murders of the young boys and girls for whatever purposes. All in all, the doctrine of the Church, is the support and sanctity it gives to human life, from conception to the tomb.

Conclusion and Recommendations

• Section 2 of the Childrens’Act, urges every Local Authority to take reasonable steps through the provisions of services under part III of this Act, to prevent children within their areas and that they may not suffer any form if ill-treatment or neglect. In Section 17, the Local Authorities are further urged to safeguard and promote the welfare of such children within their jurisdiction. Through devolution, local Authorities should be empowered to put in place in their jurisdiction, measures to protect child marriages and arrest of perpetrators of murderers. I leave thus open for further discussions and input.

• In view of the mentioned scenarios, protection of the Children from all forms of abuse, is of paramount importance. Article 34 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and Article 27 of the Children’s’ Charter, state that, a Child has the right to protection from all forms of sexual abuse or sexual exploitation. This involves, preventing the child from inducement, coercion or encouragement of a child to be in a sexual activity of any form including prostitution, use in pornographic activities and many others, including marriages.

• Zimbabwe, having ratified the above international statutes, is to increase its support to fulfil those rights of children. In this regard, the country should put in place all structures and systems in line with the ratified statutes. Justice for victims should be expeditious, as well as effective and above all, the State should have a budget for effective functioning of this system.

• Guardians of children and the state, should provide services that are essential in helping to curb the abuse of children, and these should ask for the expertise of other support agents, since this is an issue of national concern.

• Data collection is of importance to issues of child rights and there is need to have an effective and improved data collection system on the part of the state and civil society organisations.

• All in all, Child Justice is a requisite as demanded in Article 40 of the UNCRC, that children in conflict with the law must enjoy their right to legal help and fair treatment in a system that respects their rights. The same Article, urges Governments to treat children charged or convicted of an offence fairly, for the purposes of rehabilitating them in some stances. The Zimbabwe government should therefore finalize the Child Justice Bill and the Guardianship of Minors Amendment Bills, into Law and align all laws pertaining to child rights to international statutes, even contextualize them where need arises. Consideration should be given to new insight coming due to change of the environment and circumstances that are prompting new insights towards such bills.

• The Government should be urged to finalise the National Child Rights Policy and put in place a national and higher body to coordinate and collaborate in handling issues pertaining to child abuse. To avoid the current confusion, the government should define a child in all Acts in line with the Constitution contrary to Article 2 of the Marriage Act (16), and the Customary Marriage Act, which does not even provide for the minimum age of marriage.

• For the peace of the nation and our communities, if children are exposed to situations that risk and infringe their fundamental rights, the future of peace initiatives, is a futile exercise, yet a stitch in time, saves nine. I therefore urge all faith based organisations and civil society groups, to uphold the rule of law and respond promptly to those issue relating to abuse of children. The rights of children to life and protection, should be our fundamental call.