under the age of eighteen (18) may contract a marriage except with the Minister's written permission (section 22 of the Act). 18. However, in terms of the Customary Marriages Act [Chapter 5:07], there is no specified marriage age for persons intending to contract a customary law marriage. 19. It is my respectful contention, as will be shown fully below, that the legitimate age of marriage in Zimbabwe for all sexes should be eighteen (18) whether or not a person is marrying in terms of the Marriage Act [Chapter 5:11] or the Customary Marriages Act [Chapter 5:07] or for that matter an unregistered customary law union. In addition, there should be no differences at all amongst the sexes. 20. The present application is thus to declare unconstitutional the provisions of the Marriage Act, and to declare that customary law and the Roman~Dutch common law, in so far as they differentiate between the sexes as to the minimum age of marriage, are unconstitutional. SECTIOND THE LEGAL ISSUE: IN DETAIL 21. The instant application is an important public interest application that seeks to challenge the law in so far as it relates to child marriages in Zimbabwe. It is motivated by my desire to protect the interest of children in Zimbabwe. 22. The law is that for persons contracting a marriage 1n terms of the Marriage Act [Chapter 5: 11] no boy under the age of eighteen (18) 5