Story by Abigirl Tembo
A cross-section of Zimbabweans have blamed the high number of divorce cases being recorded in the country on moral decadence.
Infidelity, domestic violence, loss of feelings, and irreconcilable differences are among some of the reasons cited for divorce daily.
They say it takes two to tango so who is to blame for these separations?
Marriage counsellor Reverend Phanuel Razo says there is a need to go back to the basics if ever the marriage institution is to be restored.
Reverend Razo said, ‘‘We need to go back to the basics to our foundation as black people as Africans as Zimbabweans, we have laid down processes that have to be followed.
“Marriage is not the certificate that one gets from the marriage officer that’s the last thing. Marriage is about the processes, where did you find each other, and how did you meet? That process does your aunty, uncle and your family know. Who brought the Lobola?
“Nowadays people hire relatives from the streets to pay the bride price, do you expect that marriage to work? Of course not. But if we involve the family, the pillars, then it will work. The shortcuts will not take us anywhere we also need to involve God in our marriages.’’
According to statistics from the Judicial Service Commission, Zimbabwe recorded a 100 percent increase in divorce cases in 2022.
In 2020, 1 117 couples filed for divorce and the figure went up to 1 351 in 2021.
In 2022, the figure doubled to 2 735 cases against 13 436 recorded marriages.
