Commercialization of bride price
Bride price is money or property given as a fee by a prospective husband and his family to the parents of a woman for her hand in
marriage. This age old traditional practice has seen a lot of reforms in most progressive societies over the years. The engagement ring
which is given as a gift of love, and universally represents a formal agreement to future marriage, is an example. Proponents of the
practice of bride price in Africa argue, among others, that it symbolically acknowledges woman’s submission to men and that it is the very
foundation on which the institution of marriage is laid.
Commercialization of bride price in most African cultures has come under microscopic scrutiny in the recent past following a report
in the ‘New Monitor’ of a man in Uganda who made his wife breastfeed puppies because he had no cows left to do so after giving them to the
wife’s family as part of her ‘bride price’. The couple lost an infant child, also on breast milk to rabies infection from the puppies.
From Uganda to Nigeria, women are calling on their national legislatures to initiate bills that could make payment of bride price
illegal. They argue that the practice has not only outlived its usefulness, it has contributed to the degeneration of Africa’s cultural
values. It is a fact that some families demand anything from car to tissue paper, making mockery of this hallowed tribal custom. The
consequences of these extortions could be devastating for the woman being married away. There are instances of men treating their wives
as part of their estates. And there are also a host of hard working young people who begin their life together with negative bank account
balances because they had to borrow money to pay the bride price.
Numerous social consequences arise out of commercialization of bride price. Young people who are ready to start modest families will
sure go ahead and have kids, anyway. Hence the practice is said to be partly responsible for the exploding numbers in children born out
of wedlock and the subsequent child delinquency we witness on the streets of our cities, towns and villages.
The question still remains, if there is a role for the legislatures in African countries in streamlining this dysfunctional cultural
practice. Some of us think so.
Stephanie Sinclair’s award winning video,’ The Bride Price: Consequences of child marriage worldwide’ is a ’must see’ documentary for
everyone.
Kwabena Sah
Charlotte, NC .
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