The Sunday Mail
Veronica Gwaze
TRADITIONAL leaders have welcomed provisions of the draft Marriage Bill (2017), which seek to give them the duty of solemnising marriages.
Section 9 of the draft bill states that: “Every chief shall, by virtue of his or her office and so long as he or she holds such office, be a marriage officer in customary law marriages for the district in which he or she holds office”.
Chief Ngezi, born Peter Pasipamire, applauded the draft bill provision . He said it recognises the role of traditional leaders as pillars of the society.
“We are the pillars of the society. Despite having churches and other institutions, they all report to the traditional leaders,” he said.
However, Chief Ngezi said traditional leaders will need to undergo training in order to create uniformity in solemnising marriages.
“We have different values, ethics and beliefs in our societies, which makes it critical for traditional leaders to undergo training before taking this role. There is need for uniformity,” said Chief Ngezi.
Chief Nemangwe, born Mike Katyavazungu, echoed the same sentiments.
“The society is bound together by chiefs. They are closer to the people than any other leader, which makes everything better for those who want to marry.
“While there may be need for some awareness programmes for standardisation, chiefs are also the law enforcers in the society, therefore this provision comes as a welcome move.
“Some marriage officers have also gotten into the habit of extorting from those who want to marry and through this provision, people will be spared because chiefs are well vesed with the law,” said Chief Nemangwe.
However, Chiefs Donald Kamba of the Makoni Chieftaincy and Chilonga born Alec Bungu, among others, expressed reservations about the need for training.
Chief Makoni said traditional leaders will do a great job considering that they know their subjects very well.
“This institution needs the chief more than anyone else because the chief is the only person who understands his people more and knows the ethics of that particular land,” he said.
According to Chief Makoni, traditional leaders operate by consensus, with relatives from the male and female divide giving blessings to a marriage.
He said unions joined by traditional leaders have been known to be stable, with divorce being the rarest of occurrences in most communities.
He partly blamed the rising statistics of divorces on some marriage officers.
“With the coming in of magistrates and religious leaders as marriage officers, marriage has ceased to be a lifelong relationship.
“Marriages of convenience lack sincerity. As soon as perceived benefits that would accrue to a spouse dry up, the marriage loses steam, thus precipitating divorce.”
Chief Kamba said: “This will be different with chiefs. When we solemnise marriages, it is people we know their background, families and origins. Therefore it will be different.”
Chief Makoni said most people entering into marriage are obsessed with knowing about divorce procedures and benefits that might accrue to them instead of maintaining and keeping the marriage bed holy.
Chief Chilonga also said marriage is regarded as a handed down tradition which does not require training.
“Handed down traditions do not require training as they are spiritual and not religious.
“Spirituality registers a relationship with the Creator, fellow humans and nature; something which chiefs can do very well without any training save for jealously guarding their spiritual side.
“We are the custodians of the societal norms, values and expectations and these are the things that bind a marriage.
“There have been a lot of marriages that are not blessed by family. Others even marry before a religious leader or magistrate without their families’ knowledge.
“As long as the spouses are not known to the nucleus and extended families, such marriages are a shame to our culture as an African people,” he said.
