Keorapetse tables private Marriage Amendment Bill
Friday, January 18, 2019

Keorapetse
The private member Bill was gazetted on December 14, 2018 and is likely to be debated by Parliament this year.
The objective of the Bill is to amend certain sections of the Marriage Act to make it consistent with the Convention on the Rights of a Child and the best interest of the child theme of the Children’s Act (Cap.28:04) and to address the rights of persons with mental illness and those of different religious backgrounds. Currently, the Marriage Act prescribes that a person between the ages of 18-20 requires the consent of their guardian to marry.
But as the conference concludes, Batswana must ask: Will this be another talk shop, or will it spark real change? The answer lies in whether every stakeholder, from the President to community leaders, transforms rhetoric into action.The President rightly highlighted that crime, especially GBV, thrives in private spaces. His call to empower churches and counsellors as early warning systems is sensible. But good ideas mean little without funding...