Tanzania, March 30 -- Dar es Salaam. As Tanzania begins an 87-day parliamentary budget session, pressure is mounting on lawmakers to confront a long-standing legal contradiction: a law that still permits girls as young as 14 to marry.

The debate has resurfaced amid growing concern over children's rights, with religious leaders, legal experts, and activists calling for urgent reform of the country's Marriage Act of 1971.

At the centre of the controversy are provisions allowing a girl to marry at 15, or even 14, with parental or court consent, an exception critics say continues to fuel child marriage in parts of the country.

Speaking at a public dialogue organised by Msichana Initiative in Dar es Salaam on Saturday, March 28, 2026, relig...