Government
set to amend marriage,
inheritance
laws
Community Development,
Gender and Children minister Sophia Simba.
Community
Development, Gender and Children minister Sophia Simba has said the government
is finalising amendments to the Marriage and Inheritance Acts to be tabled in
the forthcoming parliamentary session.
The
minister made the remarks recently when addressing journalists at Marangu
before scaling Mt Kilimanjaro in a campaign against gender violence in Africa,
in which a total of 75 activists from 36 African countries took part.
She
said the Act had shortcomings in enforcing women's rights, hence the government
was working with various stakeholders, including civil societies, to come up
with amendments to the legislation.
She
said that one shortcoming of the Inheritance Act was the fact that when the
head of family died, children and widows suffered a lot in securing their right
to the property left behind, while court proceedings took very long to settle
matters.
“In
these Acts, there are sections that do not help women and children. We've
already taken note of that and that is why we're working on the amendments. We
urge social welfare officers to sensitize the people on the importance of
writing wills, irrespective of their age," she said.
She
said the government was aware of the increasing number of children living under
difficult conditions, particularly street children, pointing out that families
had the prime responsibility of caring for their children.
The
minister said there was great erosion of social values, leading to the
children's suffering.
Simba
said the government had been working with NGOs to come up with strategies to
link up street children with their families.
For
her part, UN director of the Women Department in Southern African Countries Nomcebo
Manzini said women activists scaling Africa's highest mountain, Kilimanjaro,
would be making their voices heard more loudly on the question of fighting
gender-based violence.
Source: The Guardian (Tanzania)
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