Interrogating the Contestations in Zimbabwe’s New Marriage Law and Arbitration in Family Disputes
Bernard Pindukai Humbe 
& Fortune Sibanda
Issue: Vol.11 No. 1 January 2025 Issue Article 1 pp.1-11
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.20251111 | Published online 21st January, 2025.
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
This study focuses on the new Marriages Act and arbitration in family disputes among the Shona people of Zimbabwe, who happen to be the largest ethnic group constituting about 75% of the Zimbabwean population. The problem identified by this study was that the new Act has been received with mixed emotions especially by religious communities with the majority complaining that it promotes promiscuity and marriage breakups. Using Alternative Dispute Resolution as a conceptual framework and in-depth interviews, observation and documentary analysis of print and electronic media to gather data, the study established that the new Act promotes paradoxes over marriage dispute resolution because the customary law and decisions have been submerged. The research concludes that the new Marriages Act is an ambivalent legal framework that requires continual interrogation among different stakeholders for sustainable marriage unions in Zimbabwe. The study recommends the harmonisation between the law and societal culture on marriage to ensure an effective and contextual family arbitration mechanism. The research bridges the knowledge gaps in scholarship on the impact of Zimbabwe’s legal reforms on gender relations catapulted by the tensions between statutory law and customary law encountered in the process of harmonising traditional and modern views on marriage and family structures in post-colonial contexts, which were historically influenced by patriarchy.
Keywords: Arbitration, New Marriage Act, Shona People, Zimbabwe
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Bernard Pindukai Humbe (PhD) is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Religion Studies, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. He is also a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Ethics, Philosophy, Religion and Theology Studies, Great Zimbabwe University, Masvingo, Zimbabe. His areas of research interest include: African Indigenous Religion, African Christianity, Inter Religious Dialogue, African Indigenous Religious Knowledge Systems and African Traditional Healing Systems.
Fortune Sibanda (DPhil) is a Professor of Religious Studies in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Eswatini, Eswatini. He is also an Academic Associate/Research Fellow, Research Institute for Theology and Religion, College of Human Sciences, University of South Africa. His research interests include new religious movements, indigenous knowledge systems, human rights issues, religion and the environment, law and religion, religion and health. Professor Sibanda is a member of a number of academic associations including the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ACLARS).
Humbe, Bernard Pindukai and Fortune Sibanda. “Interrogating the Contestations in Zimbabwe’s New Marriage Law and Arbitration in Family Disputes,” E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies, 11 no.1 (2025): 1-11. https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.20251111
© 2025 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
