LHRC lists six proposals to end child marriage in Tanzania

Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) has put forward six proposals to end child marriage in Tanzania, a harmful practice that the organisation says robs the future of many girls in the country.

LHRC, a leading human rights organisation in Tanzania, made the proposals on March 29, 2023, against the background of a heated debate on the right age for a girl to marry.

The debate followed an opinion that the Council of Tanzania (BAKWATA) made to the presidential commission on the criminal justice system that a girl should be able to marry immediately after puberty even if she’s below 18 years of age.

In its submission, BAKWATA, informed by the Islamic sharia, advised against changing the Law of Marriage Act of 1971 to increase the age a girl can marry as ruled by the High Court in the Attorney General vs Rebeca Z. Gyumi case.

LHRC seized the opportunity to clarify the issue from a human rights perspective. Its Executive Director, Dr Anna Henga, pointed out that the debate is “useless” as the court has already decided the right time for a girl to marry.

“Allowing a girl to marry below 18 years of age is robbing their future,” Henga, an advocate, told a press conference in Dar es Salaam. “A court’s decision is a law. It has to be respected.”

The six proposals LHRC put forward to end child marriage in Tanzania are as follows:

1. The age of marriage for a girl should be above 18 as decided in Gyumi’s case.
2. The government should do away with all laws that undermine the welfare of children in Tanzania.
3. The government should repeal sections 13 and 17 of the Law of Marriage Act as a show of goodwill.
4. Authorities and other stakeholders should join forces against child marriage in the quest of protecting a girl child.
5. They should also avoid making statements that hinder efforts to eradicate child marriage in Tanzania.
6. The public should understand the importance of eradicating child marriage and do away with harmful traditions that perpetuate it.

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