Introduction
In 1971, Tanzania enacted the Law of Marriages Act (LMA).[1] The Act followed the Government’s Proposals on the Uniform Law of Marriage (Government’s Paper No. 1 of 1969), which aimed to consolidate the regulation of Christian, Islamic, traditional, and civil marriages in Tanzania. Section 13 of the LMA provides that the minimum age of marriage is 18 for males and 15 for females. Meanwhile, Section 17 of the LMA provides for the consent of the parent or guardian of a female below 18 years before marriage. For many years, these provisions were challenged by human rights activists for creating the statutory inequality between men and women in Tanzania.[2]
Rebecca Gyumi v. The Attorney General
In 2016, Rebeca Gyumi, a human rights activist, challenged the constitutionality of Sections 13 and 17 of LMA before the High Court of Tanzania.[3] The petition sought a declaration from the High Court that the said provisions were null and void. The move was meant to protect female children and their male counterparts by establishing an equal minimum age for marriage. The Petitioner argued that the two provisions are contrary to Articles 12 and 13 of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania (URT Constitution),[4]which guarantees equality before the law for men and women.
Furthermore, it was argued that such provisions contravene international laws, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) 1966, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) 1979, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 1989. The High Court made a landmark decision declaring that the two provisions are unconstitutional, and ordered the Tanzanian Government to amend the LMA, placing the minimum age of marriage for males and females to be 18-years.[5]
The Appeal by the Government (Attorney General Rebeca Gyumi)
The Attorney General of Tanzania appealed to the Court of Appeal of Tanzania (CAT) to challenge the decision of the High Court.[6] The Attorney General argued that the 15-years for marriage period embraces the religious and cultural demands of the society raised during the Government’s Paper No. 1 of 1969. The CAT dismissed the appeal in 2019, holding that the two provisions of LMA are unconstitutional and lead to deliberate violation of the rights of a female child. The CAT cited Section 4(1) of the Law of the Child Act, which provides that a child is any person below the age of 18 years. The court further cited the provisions of the UDHR, ICCPR, CEDAW, and CRC, among other international laws, which prohibit child marriages.
The Non-Enforcement of the Court Decisions
After losing the appeal, the Attorney General’s Office and the Ministry of Constitution and Legal Affairs began to conduct nationwide public consultation. The consultations aimed to gather the views regarding the acceptance or rejection of the judicial holdings, and the way forward regarding the amendment or otherwise of the LMA. The move has been criticised for contravening the judicial order, because the judiciary directly ordered the amendment of the LMA and not any other steps. Consequently, to date, the amendments have not been implemented, and female-child marriages continue in Tanzania.[7] The effects of the existence of the challenged LMA provisions are further discussed hereunder.
The Continuation of Unconstitutional Child Marriages
In Tanzania, the Law of the Child Act and the Age of Majority Act together provide that a child is a person below 18 years. In Tanzania, children are disqualified from the capacity to contract, alcohol consumption, political participation, and employment, among other affairs of life.[8] Furthermore, Article 5 of the URT Constitution disqualifies such persons from voting and being voted for. Thus, disqualifying minor females from engaging in other affairs of life and allowing them to marry endangers the welfare of girls.[9]
The Persistence of Gender Inequality between Men and Women
Articles 12 and 13 of the URT Constitution guarantee the equality of men and women in all spheres of life. However, the LMA creates the inequality of men and women in terms of the capacity to marry. Section 13 of the LMA allows 15-year-old girls to contract marriages, whereas their male counterparts may contract marriage after reaching the age of majority. Such inequality is one of the factors behind the increase in illiteracy and school dropout among girls in comparison with boys. Additionally, this inequality leads to the continuation of sexual exploitation against women, particularly in the societies of Tanzania, which are predominantly tainted with masculinity.
Continuation of Female-Child Exploitation
For the longest time, parents and guardians have been marrying off their minor daughters and, in most cases, to older men in return for dowries. Such actions are not regarded as direct acts of exploitation because the LMA blesses the existence of female child marriages.[10] Thus, through the LMA, a female child can be treated as a commodity who, once sold, the proceeds can be used to benefit the parents or guardians. That is why, in most cases, female child marriages are to the benefit of the parents or guardians and not in the best interest of the female children.
Concluding Remarks
It has been 10 years and 7 years since the High Court and the CAT, respectively, pronounced that sections 13 and 17 of the LMA should be amended. To date, the LMA has not been amended; consequently, the fate of the fight against statutory female-child marriages has yet to bear fruit. Girls in urban and rural areas can marry without their consent. This means a female-child in not safe unless there is an effective implementation of the judicial orders and consequently the amendment of the LMA. Marriage is a good union only if it is contracted by an adult female who fully consent the relationship, otherwise whatever happens is an act of willful exploitation of the female child.
[1] Law of Marriage Act 2023.
[2] Norah Msuya, ‘The analysis of child marriage and third-party consent in the case of Rebeca Z. Gyumi v Attorney General Miscellaneous Civil Case no 5 of 2016 Tanzania High Court at Dar es Salaam’ (2019)14 De Jure Law Journal 295.
[3] Rebecca Z. Gyumi v Attorney General (2016) Misc. Civil Cause 5.
[4] Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania 1977.
[5] Elin Martinez, ‘Dispatches: Tanzanian High Court Rules Against Child Marriage in a Victory for Girls’ Rights, Marrying Age Raised to 18’ (Human Rights Watch, 8 July 2023) <https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/07/08/dispatches-tanzanian-high-court-rules-against-child-marriage> accessed 28 February 2026.
[6] Attorney General v Rebecca Z. Gyumi (2019) (Civ. Appeal No. 204 of 2017) TZCA 348.
[7] Sadie Virgin, ‘Child Marriage in Tanzania’ (The Borgen Project, 25 September 2024) <https://borgenproject.org/child-marriage-in-tanzania/> accessed 28 February 2026.
[8] Sheryl Buske, ‘Child Marriage in Tanzania: Loopholes, Duct Tape, and Lesser Evils’ (2024) 60 Tulsa L. Rev. 109.
[9] Bander Almohammadi, ‘Child Marriage in Tanzania’ (2023) 13 International Research and Review, Journal of Phi Beta Delta Honor Society for International Scholars 1.
[10] Nicodemus Msika, ‘Challenges Facing Protection of Female-Child from Early Marriages in Tanzania’ (2023)10 KAS African Law Study Library 562.
