Written by Brezh Malaba
Photographs Cynthia R Matonhodze
Tambudzai Moyo was just 16 when she married a 43-year-old member of the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church in Nyamadzawo village in eastern Zimbabwe. He already had two other wives, making Moyo, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, wife number three.
The Apostolic sect represents the largest religious group in the country and has some of the highest rates of child marriage among girls of any religious sect – even as Zimbabwe’s government is strengthening laws banning marriage for people under 18.
Despite these laws, and the country’s obligations under UN agreements, the Zimbabwean government has been lax in preventing the practice, while maintaining close ties to the church and its leaders. Officials shift responsibility to policing and enforcement, while key government leaders frequent church events and give money to the community and its leaders. As a consequence of this inaction, young girls continue to fall victim to child marriage – impeding their development, health and basic human rights.
She delivers babies using these tools in the kitchen at her home in kwaMapfunde, in Marange. She says none have died in her care.
Asked to comment on this pattern, Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the government is working to strengthen laws preventing child marriage, but added that the enforcement of those laws lies with the police. Abraham Mafararikwa, a baptist in the Johane Marange Apostolic Church and a community leader, denied accusations that the church lacks seriousness in safeguarding the education of girls. He said Johanne Marange Apostolic Church has built many schools countrywide, showing that it prioritized education. For his part, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi, the national police spokesperson, said the problem is that some victims of child marriage do not make reports to the police, so they cannot pursue criminal cases.
Since many of these marriages are performed under customary law and without official paperwork – and are widely accepted in the church community – they can be difficult to prevent. Many young girls, often in desperate circumstances, have no idea it is an illegal practice.
Moyo, who is now 29, said she should have sensed there was something wrong. “When he courted me, he sent another man to convince me to marry him,” she said. “When I look back, I realize how strange the whole courtship was.”
It was shortly after Moyo’s parents had died. As an orphan from Manicaland province, where rural children are more than twice as likely to be living in poverty as in urban areas, she was in a position many girls in her region may face: thinking the only way to survive Zimbabwe’s volatile economy was to find a husband. But far from making things easier for her, the marriage plunged her into further anguish. “The men who practice polygamous marriage in the (Johanne Marange Apostolic) Church usually expect each wife to fend for herself,” she said. “So I would look for my own food and clothes.”
After she gave birth to her second child, local nonprofit group Simukai Child Protection Program came to her rescue. The staff taught her how to sew clothes, mostly school uniforms. “When I had learned the skill and felt empowered enough to stand on my own, I then left the marriage,” she said. Moyo said she stopped going to the church three years ago.
At the center of religion and politics
The Marange region of Manicaland is richly endowed with diamonds, but the rural communities face high rates of hunger and poverty. The church holds vast power in this area, where officials are members and publicly defend its practices, and many institutions – such as schools – are built by the religious sect. In interviews with villagers in the area, they seemed fearful to speak out.
That many government officials are aware these marriages are happening, is apparent from discussions on child marriage in Zimbabwe’s Parliament, which have named the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church directly. Zimbabwe is also a signatory to three international agreements that prohibit forced or child marriage: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and The Convention on the Rights of the Child. And as a result of a successful Constitutional Court challenge in 2014 filed by two Zimbabwean women, who had each been married as children, The court deemed it in the public interest to expressly outlaw child marriage.
However, it still took eight years for Zimbabwe to do so. The Marriages Act [Chapter 5:15] banning child marriage was only signed by Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2022, after an investigation by Sithembiso Nyoni, the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises, announced an investigation in 2021, into the case of a 14-year-old girl who died while giving birth at an Apostolic church shrine in Marange. In her case, the husband was charged with murder. The parents of the girl were arrested and sentenced to nine months in prison, but the sentence was suspended on condition that they instead only pay ZW$60,000 fine, equivalent to $4 at the time. Although the parents had deliberately tried to mislead detectives on the child’s correct age by claiming she was 22 years old, they got away with what was widely seen as a lenient sentence.
But even with a new law in place, reports of these marriages continue, particularly in relation to the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church.
On Nov. 28, 2023, when CCIJ asked Justice Minister Ziyambi why the government is not taking action against faith-based groups like the Marange Apostolic sect for child marriage, he replied, “Within the [new] Marriages Act, we outlawed the marriage of anyone below the age of 18. The question of compliance now resides with the law enforcement agencies.”
A stolen childhood
Though there are a number of reasons child marriage persists, one of them is the ongoing challenge posed by Zimbabwe’s inflation and cost of living problem. In 2023, Zimbabwe recorded the highest food-price inflation in the world, according to the World Bank. A price surge hit the country, worsening a cost-of-living crisis that has left citizens hungry, children malnourished and families struggling for survival.
Many people get their cash through unofficial, or black market, exchanges, as banks often don’t have enough cash and trade at a lower rate. On the black market, even ten of Zimbabwe’s biggest bank note, the ZW$100, can barely buy basic food essentials such as a kilogram of maize grain. This is because the local Zimbabwe dollar is virtually worthless, with the exchange rate at the beginning of December 2023 reaching an astonishing US$1 to ZW$10,000.
When incomes are meager and irregular, families are forced to make difficult decisions. Some of the children must drop out of school owing to a lack of money for tuition fees. Often families may choose to stop paying the fees for girls, who can marry in exchange for a bride price, while boys are more likely to drop out to start working.
Tracy Pangwe, 25, from the Mafararikwa village, said she was repeatedly chased away from school for not having paid tuition fees. This is despite the Zimbabwean government’s messaging that no child should be turned away from school for non-payment of fees. Frustrated, in secondary school, Pangwe was eventually convinced to agree to an early child marriage.
“A boy in Form 4 proposed love to me, and I accepted,” she said. “After he wrote his Ordinary Level exams, he sent his sisters to fetch me.” Much to her disappointment, her husband stopped supporting the family. They later divorced.
‘It’s traumatic for both the girls and the teachers’
Across the country, more than eight in 10 girls of upper secondary school age (15 to 17 years old) in households led by members of the Apostolic sect are not attending school, according to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, conducted by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency. This represents the highest rate of non-attendance among all religious groups in the government survey.
“You must understand that the individual church members who impregnate underage girls are doing it on their own — not with the blessings of the church,” said Mafararikwa, a baptist in the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church. He said that the church is against child marriage and even builds schools to show its support for education.
Still, at one secondary school in Marange – which we cannot name to protect sources’ identities – the number of dropouts was high. In 2023 alone, seven girls in Form 2, three in Form 3 and one in Form 4 got pregnant, according to a teacher whose name is being withheld to protect their identity. That includes girls from 13 to 17 years old.
Every morning, a class register is marked to check attendance. It doesn’t take long to figure out that a student is no longer attending classes, said the teacher. “It’s one of our biggest nightmares as teachers,” the teacher said. “As a school, we document the cases and hand them over to voluntary organizations that handle children’s rights.”
Poverty in the region contributes to the pattern, as many school girls are lured by men into abandoning school, according to another teacher, who also asked to remain anonymous.
“They use money to entice the girls, knowing fully well that these children come from poor families,” that teacher said. “Recently, a man based in South Africa came to marry a Form 2 girl. She is barely 15.”
This disparity between the promises of these marriages and the reality for the girls was repeated among each woman interviewed. They entered the marriage thinking it would provide financial support, but instead were faced with more challenges.
A teacher, who also requested anonymity, said she and her colleagues felt their ‘hearts broken’ when pupils get pregnant at the age of 13, 14 or 15. “Education is supposed to be their greatest instrument for breaking the cycle of abuse and poverty. (This is) traumatic for both the girls and the teachers.”
The untouchable church and state
One of the socio-political dynamics at the heart of the problem is the symbiotic relationship between the influential Johanne Marange Apostolic Church, ruling Zanu PF politicians and the police. Obert Masaraure, the president of the rural teachers union ARTUZ, said politicians “turn a blind eye,” to the practices of the Apostolic faith. “Research suggests that the lack of effective enforcement of laws against child marriage can be attributed, in part, to the strong political ties between political and religious leaders,” Masaraure said.
The ruling Zanu PF, in power since 1980, enjoys cordial relations with church elders. During election years, prominent politicians visit the church at the sprawling St. Noah mission in Mafararikwa and are even allowed to address congregants. The political elites — resplendent in the church’s trademark white, flowing robes — see such occasions as glorious opportunities to garner popular support.
Around 40% of Zimbabwe’s population is part of the Apostolic sect, the largest religious group in the country. During each year’s Passover ceremonies, thousands of pilgrims come from across the country to celebrate together at the church headquarters in Marange. In the pavilion at a football ground where VIP politicians are hosted for Passover by the church elders, a picture showing Mnangagwa and the head of the church, Nimrod Taguta, stood proudly.
Last year, Mnangagwa, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, cabinet ministers and senior government officials attended the church’s annual Passover services, according to photos and articles. These included Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, the Zanu PF national chairman; Monica Mutsvangwa, Zimbabwe’s minister of information, publicity and broadcasting services; and Sekai Nzenza, minister of industry and commerce. Shortly after the appearance, church elders endorsed Mnangagwa’s repeat run for presidency.
Political commentators say the relationship between Mnangagwa’s ruling Zanu PF and the Apostolic sect is mutually beneficial. When the head of state visits, he often donates computers and other goods to the community. During and following these official visits,church elders often share their support for the sitting politicians.
“The church elders tell the congregation that we, as a church, vote for the status quo. But that is really a big issue when you really scrutinize it,” said a local villager, who declined to give their name.
Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, when a nationwide travel ban was in effect, the church contravened the laws without consequences. Government officials, including Mnangagwa, violated the government’s own public health rules by attending the Passover ceremony in July 2022. Mnangagwa also paid a private visit to Taguta’s family in May 2022, following the death of his father, Noah Taguta, the former church leader.
But the politicians are only part of the challenge. Several Marange community members told CCIJ that police are afraid or unwilling to hold church members to account for their crimes, including to investigate cases of child marriage involving church members.
“A mother went to report a child marriage to the police, but nothing was done to bring the culprit to book,” one villager said, adding that the mother was told she’d gone to the wrong police desk and the case was abandoned. The villager said the community “believes the police were simply scared of investigating the church member.”
In one case, police were slow to lay charges until it became widely publicized, and reports indicate that stigma and shame can often make girls reluctant to come forward. A National Action Plan on Ending Child Marriage from 2019 called for the training and sensitization of the police as part of the steps to enhance compliance with the minimum age requirement.
Nyathi, the national police spokesperson, said the problem is that some victims of child marriage do not make reports to the police.
“In some instances the parents or guardians of the victims refuse to give statements to the police,” Nyathi said. However, he did not provide a response to questions regarding allegations that church members are seldom arrested because they enjoy political protection from the ruling party, Zanu PF.
Church leaders and government deny complicity
Abraham Mafararikwa, 57, is an influential patriarch who wears two hats – on one hand he is a baptist at the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church at the St. Noah mission, and on the other hand he is a sabhuku (village head).
In rural Zimbabwe’s power matrix, sabhukus are powerful traditional leaders who head the village assembly and the village development committee. They exercise authority over family squabbles, land disputes, cultural infractions and other troubles in the locality.
Mafararikwa, who has 15 children, denied that the church encourages or enables men to marry underage girls, citing the example of his own daughters.
“My youngest daughter is 18 years old. I have four daughters who are married; none of them married below the age of 18,” he said, adding the church works with community volunteers and local NGOs to advise youth to avoid child marriage. He said they speak with parents and urge them to look after their children.
“We have built 57 schools as the Johanne Marange Church, yet some people still say our church doesn’t like education,” he said. The church’s spokesperson said in late 2023 the church has already built more than 30 schools across the country and intended to build a school in every district where the church has congregants. Zimbabwe has 64 districts.
“People tell lies about our faith,” Mafararikwa said.
In response to a question about the church being untouchable due to a perception it enjoys protection from the ruling political party, Mafararikwa said the church’s leaders emphasize to its members that child marriage is illegal.
“If a church member gets in trouble with the law over child marriage, we tell him to go and face the music,” he said. “Nobody is above the law.”
Contacted for comment, Mnangagwa’s spokesperson, George Charamba, said Justice Minister Ziyambi is best placed to respond, because the president only gazetted the January 2024 temporary measures on child protection after the Ministry of Justice had initiated the process.
Ziyambi, who said the enforcement responsibility lies with the police, said the government is drafting new amendments to ensure the definition of a child in the Criminal Code is aligned with the constitutional definition. He added that the new Marriage Act is also designed to close that gap.
“What we were trying to do was to make sure that we comply with the Constitutional Court judgment that said a child is somebody below the age of 18, yet our Criminal Code set it at 16,” Ziyambi said. “Due to this two-year age difference, these children were not enjoying the rights in the Constitution. That is what we’re trying to correct.”
Attorney General Virginia Mabhiza said the new legislation also scraps a controversial legal provision which allowed social workers to assess whether a case of underage pregnancy warranted prosecution or not, such as cases involving two minors married while underage. The reliance on social workers could mean that their cultural or personal associations, such as with the church, would influence whether cases would go to the courts.
The government now says social workers should not wield such powers; instead, it is the Prosecutor General who must exercise such discretion, although social workers could be consulted for guidance. Research indicates, however, that social workers could play a stronger role in engaging with church communities and advocating against child marriage.
$20 payment for a child bride
Sibongile Mukwananzi, 42, who volunteers in the Marange villages as a defender of girls’ rights, is hailed as a hero by many in her community. Instead of waiting for the government or law enforcement to act, she takes matters into her own hands.
A tall matronly figure with an unwavering gaze, she speaks passionately about the importance of teaching both girls and boys why it matters to keep away from sexual activity and instead focus on school and income-generating projects.
Mukwananzi, who married a 26-year-old man at 16, describes herself as a “community care worker” who educates children to avoid entering marriage too young.
“The sad story is that the children of the Apostolic sect leaders are going to school, but the children of their followers are falling into this trap of early marriage,” she said, adding that when a girl is suspected of being sexually active, her parents may force her to be married.
“The men pay lobola (bride price) as low as $20 and take away the girl,” she said. “These men can just pitch up at your home and announce that they have taken your child. Just like that!”
That US$20 figure was confirmed by three sources, who told CCIJ that girls as young as 12 have been married for a similar cost, in transactions presided over by clan leaders.
Mukwananzi said she doesn’t hesitate to barge into any home when she hears word of early child pregnancy.
“I don’t like child marriage. It ruined my life,” she said.
This report was produced by the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism (CCIJ), a nonprofit organization that brings together investigative reporters, visual storytellers and data scientists to investigate key global issues affecting underserved communities. This investigation was produced with the support of the National Endowment for Democracy.
