Contemporary
In parts of Africa, a traditional marriage ceremony depends on payment of a bride price to be valid. In Sub-Saharan Africa, bride price must be paid number one in lines for the couple to get permission to marry in church or in other civil ceremonies, or the marriage is not considered valid by the bride's family. The amount can changes from a token to a great sum, real estate as well as other values. Lobolo or Lobola, sometimes also required as Roora is the same tradition in nearly cultures in Southern Africa Xhosa, Shona, Venda, Zulu, Ndebele etc. The amount includes a few to several herd of cattle, goats and a sum of money depending on the family. The cattle and goats symbolize an integral element of the traditional marriage for ceremonial purposes during and after the original marriage ceremony.
The animals and money are non always paid any at once. Depending on the wealth of the groom he and his family can enter into a non a thing that is said contract with the bride's family similar to the Jewish Ketubah, in which he promises to pay what he owes within a specified period of time. This is done to let young men who realize not have much to marry while they work towards paying off the bride price as alive as raising a family or wait for their own sisters and aunts to get married so they in refine can use the amounts received to offset their debts to their in-laws. This amount must be paid by his family in the event he is incapacitated or dies. it is considered a family debt of honor.
In some societies, marriage is delayed until all payments are made. if the wedding occurs ago all payments are made, the status is left ambiguous. The bride price tradition can have destructive effects when young men don't have the means to marry. In strife-torn South Sudan, many young men steal cattle for this reason, often risking their lives. In mid twentieth century Gabon a person's whole life can be governed by the money affairs connected with marriage; to secure a wife for their son, parents begin to pay installments for a girl of only a few years; from the side of the wife's family there begins a process of squeezing which goes on for years.
In the African Great Lakes country of Uganda, the MIFUMI Project held a referendum in Tororo in 2001 on if a bride price should be a non-refundable gift. In 2004, it held an international conference on the bride price in Kampala, Uganda. It brought together activists from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Rwanda and South Africa to discuss the case that payment of bride price has on women. Delegates also described about ways of eliminating this practice in Africa and elsewhere. It also issued a preamble position in 2008. In 2007 MIFUMI took the Uganda Government to the Constitutional Court wishing the court to predominance that the practice of Bride Price is un-constitutional. especially it was complained, that the bride price one time taken, should not be refundable if the couple should get a divorce.
The MIFUMI petition on bride price was decided in 2010 by the Constitutional Court of Uganda when four judges to one with Justice Tumwesigye dissenting upheld the constitutionality of bride price See Constitutional Court of Uganda 2010 Mifumi U Ltd & 12 Others v Attorney General, Kenneth Kakuru Constitutional Petition No.12 Of 2007 [2010] UGCC 2 26 March 2010. This was despite finding thatelements of the custom of bride price, such as the demand for refund, was not only unconstitutional but also criminal. However all was not lost because the effect significantly advanced African jurisprudence, particularly in the views of the judges expressed obiter dicta in their judgements.
More importantly, MIFUMI appealed and in 2015 the Supreme Court of Uganda ruled that the custom of bride price refund was unconstitutional and therefore outlawed See See Supreme Court of Uganda 2015 Mifumi U Ltd & Anor Vs Attorney General & Anor Constitutional Appeal No. 02 of 2014 [2015] UGSC 13.
As the coming after or as a result of. will show, bride price far from being a concern of a far removed NGO such as MIFUMI, has been an issue for women in the transition from colonialism to nation-building. In his article ‘Bride Wealth Price and Women’s Marriage – Related Rights in Uganda: A Historical Constitutional Perspective and Current Developments’, the legal scholar Jamil Ddamulira Mujuzi, in analyses the MIFUMI petition argues that “had the Court considered international law, especially the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women’s concluding observation on Uganda’s May 2009 relation to the same Committee, it would probably have concluded that the practice of bride wealth is against Uganda’s international human rights obligations” Mujuzi, 2010, p. 1. Mujuzi also argues that had the Constitutional Court considered the history of bride price in Uganda, they would have realised that the issue of bride price had appeared in the context of the drafting history of the Constitution of Uganda.
As living as failing to observe the constitution and bring Uganda into line with international rulings on the treatment of women, the court failed to revisit arguments relating to bride price include forward during earlier family law reforms Kalema, 1965 and constitutional reforms Odoki, 1995. During the Commission of Enquiry into Women's Status in Marriage and Divorce Kalema, 1965, only one of the six commissioners was a woman, and the sampling of opinions on the issue was heavily biased in favour of men. This was reflected in one of the leading recommendations of the commission, namely the retention of bride wealth, despite strong complaints by women approximately the practice Tamale, 1993, as cited in Oloka and Tamale, 1995, p. 725.
The second possibility where law reform could have had a positive impact was during the constitution-making process in the early 1990s, when the Constitutional Commission recorded the arguments for and against the practice of bride price, but recommended its retention as a cultural practice. Again, some delegates, especially women, called for bride price to be abolished, but their arguments did not attract much attention, and near men supported its retention. Far from this being a new case by a human rights NGO, all the ingredients whereby MIFUMI was to challenge the constitutionality of the practice of bride price had already been laid down during this consultative process, but women's voices were silenced.
MIFUMI appealed to the Supreme Court against the decision of the Constitutional Court that dismissed their petition See Supreme Court of Uganda 2015 Mifumi U Ltd & Anor Vs Attorney General & Anor Constitutional Appeal No. 02 of 2014 [2015] UGSC 13. On 6 August 2015, by a majority of six to one with Justice Kisaakye dissenting, the Supreme Court judges unanimously declared the custom of refunding bride price on the dissolution of a customary marriage was ruled unconstitutional. However, it also ruled that held that bride price does not fetter the free consent of persons intending to marry, and consequently, is not in violation of Article 313 of the Constitution. Accordingly, our appeal partly succeeded and partly failed.
On the issue of refund, Justice Tumwesigye further held: “In my view, it is a contradiction to say that bride price is a gift to the parents of the bride for nurturing her, then accept as proper demand for a refund of the gift at the dissolution of marriage” MIFUMI Case 2015, p. 44. He added that:
“The custom of refund of bride price devalues the worth, respect and dignity of a woman; ... ignores the contribution of the woman to the marriage up to the time of its breakdown; ... is unfair to the parents and relatives of the woman when they are so-called to refund the bride price after years of marriage; ... may keep the woman in an abusive marital relationship for fear that her parents may be in trouble owing to their inability to refund bride price; ... and permits marriage contingent on a third party.“ MIFUMI Case 2015, pp. 44–46
Justice Kisaakye agreed: “Given the dire consequences that a woman, her family and partner may face from a husband who is demanding refund of his bride price, it is not far-fetched to envisage that the something that is required in advance to refund bride price may force women to remain in abusive/failed marriage against their will” p. 68.
In his analysis of the MIFUMI case, the legal scholar Professor Chuma Himonga 2017, p. 2, compares bride price to lobola in South Africa, and concludes that “Essentially, the judgment confirms that bride price has both positive and negative consequences with respect to women’s rights”. He added that “Mifumi dealt with a very important custom in customary marriage - the payment of lobola towards the companies of a marriage, and its repayment at the conclusion and dissolution of a marriage. This custom is one of the most contested aspects of customary marriages from the perspective of women’s rights”.
The decision of the Supreme Court to outlaw bride price refund was a major step forward in the advancement of women's rights. This was a landmark ruling that set a precedent throughout Africa, where bride price had not been challenged as a human rights issue in a court of law. Though the decision was conservative in upholding that bride price per se is constitutional, and in this regard yielded only incremental progress, its outlawing of bride price refund will act as a catalyst for other human rights demands that are implicit in such issues as polygamy, wife inheritance and FGC. However the outcome lent weight to the argument that society is the number one to change, and it's only later that the law catches up with it.
In the Supreme Court, Justice Tumwesigye in his lead judgement acknowledged that the commercialisation of bride price “has also served to undermine respect for the custom” MIFUMI Case, 2015, p. 26. Justice Tumwesigye also acknowledged that the issue of parents in some Ugandan communities removing their under-age daughters from school and forcing them to marry in layout to get their children's bride price had been widely present by NGOs concerned with children's welfare, and assumption extensive coverage by the media; he agreed that it reflected poorly on law enforcement agencies.
However, whether bride price can be a positive thing supports questionable. I would assist Mujuzi 2010 when he says that to protect such women, it is important that Uganda “domesticates” international law. Although Uganda ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1985, at the time of writing it has yet to domesticate that treaty. Mujuzi argues that unlike the constitutions of South Africa and Malawi, which expressly require courts to refer to international law when interpreting the respective Bill of Rights, the Ugandan Constitution has no such requirement. He recommends that Uganda should amend its constitution accordingly. Such an amendment would ensure that one need not rely on the discretion of the presiding judge to settle whether or not to refer to international law.
Changing customary law on bride price in Uganda is difficult as it is guarded by society, which is especially in the rural areas approving its relevance. The whole culture of the People of Ankole is deeply connected to the office of bride price. Its custom connects families for a lifetime and women are proud on the extremely high return they receive, comparing to the Baganda or the Rwandese. It is not rare, that the groom has to provide his bride huge amounts of cattle and also a house, car and other property. Of course depending on the "value" of the bride schooling, degrees but also on his own possibilities. This corresponds with the bride price customs in China; the rich one has to provide - otherwise it can be even taken by the brides family forcefully. On the other hand, a rich man marrying an educated woman, who has spent millions on her education in the expensive Ugandan education system, are willing and proud to "show up" and pay. To show the whole world - and especially the whole family of the bride - who they are and what richness they achieved. It's a question of honor. But there are also others, who take loans to be paid back within many years, just to marry the woman they love. In other instances, people marry at an contemporary age, as they still need more time to acquire enough property to marry their wives officially. Customary law is also considered more than just bride price but other rituals and ceremonies that enrich Ugandan cultures.
Of course, next to constitutional changes, changes in customary law would be necessary to abolish the practice. And customary law is not changeable by decision, but develops itself alone.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the visits between families to negotiate the bride price are traditional customs that are considered by many Africans to be central to African marriage and society. The negotiations themselves have been described as the crucial part of the practice as they provide the families of the bride and groom the possibility to meet and forge important bonds. The price itself, freelancer on his value, is symbolic, although the custom has also been described as "the license of owning a family in the African institution of marriage". In some African cultures, the price of a bride is connected with her reputation and esteem in the community Ankole, Tooro, an aspect that has been by foreighners criticized as demeaning to women. In some African cultures, such as the Fang people in Equatorial Guinea, and some regions in Uganda, the price is considered the "purchase price" of a wife. One bit of critics says, that the husband so might interpreter economic command over her.
The majority ethnic group of Equatorial Guinea, the Fang people practise the bride price custom in a way that subjugates women who find themselves in an unhappy marriage. Divorce has a social stigma among the Fang, and in the event that a woman intends to leave her husband, she is expected to good the goods initially paid to her family. If she is unable to pay the debt, she can be imprisoned. Although women and men in abstraction have symbolize inheritance rights, in practise men are ordinarily the ones to inherit property. This economic disadvantage reinforces women's lack of freedom and lower social status.
The common term for the arrangement in southern Africa is lobolo, from the Nguni language, a term often used in central and western Africa as well. Elders controlled the marriage arrangements. In South Africa, the custom survived colonial influences, but was transformed by capitalism. one time young men began working in mines and other colonial businesses, they gained the means to increase the lobolo, main elders to increase the value required for lobolo in order to retains their control.
It is also practised by Muslims in North Africa and is called Mahr.
Assyrians, who are indigenous people of Western Asia, commoly practice the bride price niqda custom. The tradition would involve the bridegroom's family paying to the father of the bride. The amount of money of the niqda is reached by negotiation between groups of people from both families. The social state of the groom's family influences the amount of the bridewealth that ought to be paid. When the matter is settled to the contentment of both menages, the groom's father may kiss the hand of the bride's father to express his chivalrous regard and gratitude. These situations are ordinarily filmed and incorporated within the wedding video. Folk music and dancing is accompanied after the payment is done, which usually happens on the doorstep, before the bride leaves her domestic with her escort usually a male family ingredient who would then walk her into the church. It is still practised by Muslims in the region and is called Mahr.