By Francis Maingaila
LUSAKA
In an attempt to expedite the fight against child marriage, the Zambian government is harmonizing its traditional and statutory laws with a view to eliminating loopholes allowing the practice.
"As government, we agree with the stakeholders' point of view regarding reviewing the customary laws with the hope of protecting children from marriage exploitation," Justice Minister Edgar Lungu told Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview.
"There's an urgent need to harmonize the two conflicting laws," he said. "We're working on a supplementary statute which will criminalize all aspects of customary law supportive of child marriage."
Civil society organizations, women's rights groups and religious leaders have all urged the government to review the country's customary law, which is often blamed for allowing child marriage.
"The mischief in child marriage is based on age and consent, which do not agree on the two laws," said Lungu.
The minister asserted that the supplementary statute his government was currently working on would ban the practice outright of marrying off girls under 16 years old.
"This means that consent, which gives parents the right under customary law to marry off their daughters who have reached puberty, will no longer be permissible," he explained.
Lungu added that the issue of age, which is overlooked in the customary law, would be addressed in the supplementary statute.
"Although the issue of age is addressed in the statutory law, it has for a very long time been a source of concern when it comes to customary law," he said.
"Under customary law, what matters in rural Zambia is the question of whether the girl has reached puberty," Lungu noted. "If the girl is found to have reached puberty, she will be married off, regardless of age."
"Once the two laws are reviewed and the disagreeing aspects resolved, the problem of child marriages will not be an issue," he said. "Parents will not hide [behind]… customary laws to marry off their daughters at tender ages."
Zambian First Lady Christine Kaseba Sata recently launched a campaign aimed at fighting the trend.
The 2013 Zambia Demographic Health Survey suggested that the trend was becoming more widespread. According to the survey, two out of five girls (roughly 42 percent) in rural areas of Zambia are married before the age of 16.
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Matrine Chulu, regional director for the Women in Law Southern Africa, a local NGO devoted to women's issues, linked the prevalence of child marriage in Zambia to low levels of public awareness and local tradition.
"Conservative traditions, widespread illiteracy and poverty are some of the reasons why families marry off their daughters [at such young ages]," she told AA.
Florence Shakafuswa, executive director of Justice for Widows and Orphans, another NGO, agrees.
"We need to formulate new laws that will help us protect children from getting married off by parents who may want to raise resources to support other family members," she told AA.
Shakafuswa explained that the campaign to end child marriage should have an impact not only at the policy level, but should also seek to change people's beliefs and social norms.
"Simply threatening families with laws as a solution is not enough," she said. What we need is a holistic approach that integrates social, economic and health in a single program."
Chieftness Nkomeshya Mukamaambo III, chairperson of the House of Chiefs, an assembly of traditional leaders, voiced similar sentiments.
"Child marriage is a complex social phenomenon which can only be tackled by the long-term educational, economic and cultural development of the whole country," she told AA.
"We need strong institutions to ensure the rule of law and reliable access to justice for all, regardless of gender," Mukamaambo asserted.
"Until such institutions are built, widespread illiteracy is tackled and viable protective mechanisms established for Zambian girls and young women, predicaments will remain an unfortunate reality," she lamented.
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