Religious and community leaders face criminal prosecution for officiating child marriages as government tightens screws on the Marriage Divorce and Family Relations Act with provisions to criminalise the conduct.

Government announced the plan in October last year at the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Cedaw) meeting.

The Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare confirmed this in a response to our questionnaire.

Government was queried by the UN after human rights organisations expressed concern over a spike in marriages of girls under the age of 18.

Kaude: If guilty, defendants may be fined or jailed

“The Marriage Divorce and Family Relations Act is under review, criminalising the officiation of marriage between persons under the age of 18 is one of the proposed changes,” government wrote Cedaw.

In her response, ministry spokesperson Pauline Kaude said the law amendment will lead to the cases being handled by courts where the accused will face severe penalties.

If found guilty, the defendant may be fined or jailed.

“The review will help how to handle such cases. This will also reduce trial of such cases at village tribunals, withdrawals of such cases and law enforcers will treat such cases with the seriousness they deserve,” she said.

She further backed the amendment as helpful in reducing the burden social workers face of withdrawing children from such marriages.

“We will only remain with the task of providing psychological, first aid, parenting, mental health and psychosocial support,” Kaude said.

She said much of the paperwork has been done and what remains is tabling of the bill.

Ministry of Justice spokesperson Frank Namangale referred the matter to the Malawi Law Commission

The commission’s law reform officer Robert Kandulu confirmed developing a concept note on the legislation for the eradication of child marriages.

“The programme will indeed involve a consideration of related pieces of legislation, including the Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Act,” he said.

Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) has been among vocal advocates against child marriages.

In its report to Cedaw dated   October 16 2023, the commission urges the government to ensure evidence-based strategies are put in place to address child marriage and early pregnancies.

“The commission is concerned with continued cases of child marriages and teenage pregnancies which escalated during the Covid-19 pandemic, whereby teenage pregnancies reached a record high of 44 874 and 12 999 child marriages were recorded.

“The scourge of early child marriages and early pregnancies present negative implications for the development of girls and attainment of gender parity and equality in various sectors,” MHRC reported.

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