Comments on: DISCUSSION: Should “Bride Price” be abolished and made unconstitutional?

By: Sandra

Sandra — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:07:50 +0000

Bride price should be gone and banished forever. it disturbs us and destroys the happiness and future of a woman.

i think love comes from the heart and not from money and happiness is not a matter of money but the inner mind.

if bride price exists no longer, the earth will be happy and our culture will no longer be disturbed.

Thanks and i hope it will be gone.

By: Princess

Princess — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:01:53 +0000

if bride price is abolished, Africa will no longer deserve its name and it will be the mockery of the world.

there are a good number of examples in the Bible even of people who indirectly paid bride price and i think we should imitate them.

If bride price is gone, our culture is gone and Africa will no longer own its famous name.

By: msakereth

msakereth — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:42:20 +0000

No it should not be abolished. It’s a cultural practice.

What should be abolished or edited is how it’s interpreted or what its meant to be.

It’s should not be used as an outlet for the husband and his family to treat the bride as an “object”. I think that the problem is…..over time, people lost sight of the symbolism behind the event and began focusing more on the material gain of the act.

By: limbepikin

limbepikin — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:08:51 +0000

I don’t think bride’s price should be abolished, for reasons that I would explain on another time. But the most important reason why I don’t think it should be abolished is because it is our culture. Bride’s price, in it’s self, is more than about money. Please don’t let the western way of thinking take that away from us. Man, I wish you guys were around to see my co-workers’ reactions when I told them about the “knock door”/bride’s price process that was involved in my own traditional wedding; especially since I was not back home, and was represented by my cousin. We have so much that we have lost to the western mentality, please, let us keep the bride’s price. IT BELONGS TO US.

By: Mali SE

Mali SE — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:28:48 +0000

The Bride price should not be abolished but I recommend that it be reformed. It is part of Africa: our culture and identity and distinguishes us from the Western world, where marriage no longer has any credible value.
Believe it or not, Bride price is a biblical concept. Of course Adam didn’t pay an actual bride price as Numvi suggested above, but throughout the Bible, there are illustrations of the bride price. Jacob worked for 7 years for Rachel, and when he was tricked to marry Leah, he was willing to work a supplemental 7 years to get his bride. Jacob’s father, Isaac paid a bride price for Rebeccah; He didn’t do it personally, but his father Abraham’s servant presented Rebeccah’s family with gifts of gold, before taking her to her husband.
For all of us who are believers, we call on the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We know that Jesus came not to abolish our cultures, but to give us insight on how to not be bound by the legalism of said cultures but live an abundant life.

I’m a woman, raised in America, and I believe in the bride price, because it’s part of who I am. I do think that some people take advantage of the situation and ask for astronomical figures, but it should just be a symbolic token and nothing more.

By: Kuatji Katjarava

Kuatji Katjarava — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 10:14:48 +0000

i think the thought of this is sickening let alone derogatory Africa do you enjoy this sequncial abolishments of your traditions? Africa you should wake from this sleep i think you have slept long enuf.These thing are leading to your debasement.You should realise that you are unwittingly shifting to the left.
Africa realise that you are nothing without your tradition.Don’t let your emotions do the thinking. I would love to believe that you know emotions are but Energy in Motion.Anyone who thinks of moving this boundary mark which our ancestors have established is simply envoking the wrong spirits.we should instead of sinking into that sin change the way we see things lets start seeing things through our own eyes.what i am saying is no to Abolishment of this lovely tradition.this is just a token of apreciation it’s not buying a woman.

God bring back Kahimemua Nguvauva,bring back Kwame Nkurumah bring back our greats i’m sure you wouldnt love to see Africa vanish!

By: Lora Fogam

Lora Fogam — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:29:05 +0000

So yes, I think the issue of bride price should not be abolished because it is part of our tardition as Africans but modified. We live in modern times and the concept of marriage sure could use a touch of the dawning of new times.

By: Lora Fogam

Lora Fogam — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:22:56 +0000

Life is a series of battles, you fight one to gain the skills set to fight another. One has to pick and choose which ones to dispense their energy upon .
The “bride price” issue ,extremely miniscule compared to the road that lies ahead for the newly weds.
Marriage is a union of two families. However, the only reason the two families unite is because their sons and daughters want to be together.In as much as we want to pay homage to our tradition, sometimes some families just go way over the board with the issue of bride price and may sometimes end up splitting the happy couple apart. I believe that time heals. So If the two lovebirds are happy together and want to be together then,they just should go for it , they can go ahead and have a court wedding/ ceremony and move on with their lives and be happy together. If say ten years later or twenty years later, theydecide to renew their vows then ,if the groom wants to at that point can still go ahead and give something to the wife’s family as a token of his appreciation for the love and support throughout the years and for many more to come.

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:07:15 +0000

Sony Roll I am not sure which African country you are from, but in my culture, bride price/dowery especially the money demanded and not the cows, goats, drinks and other gifts used for the celebration is paid back not as a requirement but as a way to completely acknowledge a traditional divorce because no family wants to live with the fact that they spent money paid for their daughther who is no longer married to the Man who paid the bride price especially if they are going to collect from another man. It is not the law, but traditional ethics….

By: Sony Roll

Sony Roll — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:11:04 +0000

Perhaps we should be the ones to change, not the issue of bride price. Bride price is a token that is often demanded from African men to indicate their seriously and capability to marry and take care of a woman. It is part of what makes us Africans. That is how we are; that is how we should be.

Bride price is nonrefundable in most or all African cultures. So lets not say abused women hesitate to return to their parents because their parents took huge bride price. Pride price is not paid back even in the event that a marriage is nullified. Perhaps that what we should make clear.