New marriage legislation sparks debate; Top Attorney Says New Laws Won’t Encourage Infidelity

By Mary Taruvinga I Senior Reporter

THE new marriage law was finally published in the Official Gazette and will become new law in Zimbabwe after being signed into law by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in May this year.

The bill, published in the Official Gazette last week, brings all marriage laws under one roof, allowing for the conversion of a registered customary union into a civil marriage.

Among other things, it gives power to traditional leaders who can now celebrate marriages, thereby locating them for anyone intending to register the marriage of their choice.

All marriages in Zimbabwe now have a single marriage register maintained by a single registrar.

However, the new law was received with mixed feelings, with the majority complaining that it encourages promiscuity.

However, some consider it a boon for those women who spend a lifetime with a male lover but do not benefit from their estate if he dies or leaves simply because he was married to another woman.

“This is a progressive law, as much as people complain about it, it’s a good law,” said a senior Harare lawyer, Paida Saurombe.

“The law does not encourage promiscuity but rather protects individuals in situations or relationships that are polygamous, or those commonly known as ‘little houses,’ who are dispossessed when the man in the relationship dies and get nothing while the Main wife gets everything,” said Saurombe.

“There are situations when a married man leaves his wife to stay in his small house, raises a family with them, accumulates wealth with them, but when the man dies, such third parties are never recognized, but by their relatives Spouse bullied. So this law protects them, which is fair,” the prominent attorney said.

“Promiscutiy has always been there so people can’t hide behind the new law. Instead, they should work on their morale.

“I don’t see any reason why a third party should be penalized and besides, there are still damages for adultery, so you can claim that if you feel you’ve been treated unfairly.

“My advice would be that if you want a polygamous union, you shouldn’t get involved in a civil marriage, so you just have to choose wisely,” he said.

“The new law is good because it gives us the opportunity to educate women that they are equal partners in marriage and cannot be disposed of what they have worked for,” Saurombe said.

Another top attorney, who preferred anonymity, said the law destroys the institution of marriage.

“The new marriage law has both medium and long-term implications for society and marriages in particular. First, my observations as follows: It eliminates or mitigates the threat of the law of bigamy, which prohibits a civilly married man or woman from marrying another man or woman.

“It’s not clear what this law means by making room for men to have multiple relationships that are recognized even though the law prohibits them.

“The earlier Marriage Act protected the institution of marriage by punishing multiple relationships with adultery against the other party and bigamy in the case of men. Now that means the adultery law will also be weakened as these warnings are now recognized by law.”

The lawyer said that women who were originally married to men under civil law are now vulnerable because their husbands can remarry because the law allows it.

“This means that the marriage no longer matters and the civilly married person has the same situation as the customarily married person. We have practically no more customary and civil marriages except in name,” he said.

“This law will encourage and protect adultery, and the so-called small houses will benefit more than the first wife, who should be protected. Indeed, civil marriage is now polygamous. This embarrasses women more than it protects them, and it is a breeding ground for strife in court from wives fighting over their husbands’ property, as both are recognized.

Under the new law, civil and customary marriages differ in that a customary marriage may be polygamous and these marriages are contracted in different ways.

There is registered partnership where a couple settle down informally on a real domestic basis but without any marriage whatsoever.

Under these conditions, the new law clarifies that property or assets acquired during the partnership will be distributed in the same manner as property is distributed when a couple divorces under the same law.

Those in unregistered customary marriages must now register within three months of the union’s formation if the couple does not wish to go through the process of solemnity before a judge or chief. However, this is not mandatory.