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Should Africa ban bride prices?

Uganda's highest court will next month rule whether the giving of bride price is unconstitutional. Is it time to ban dowries?

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Known as 'lobola' in the south, 'mahari' in the east and 'wineRejected comm carrying' in the west, a prospective husband is expected to give a certain amount of money and goods such as cattle, goats, or 13 No further comments will be publis blankets before a marriage is agreed.
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But women's rights activists in Uganda have asked the ABOUT HAVE YOUR SAY Constitutional Court to ban it, arguing that the age-old traditional practice reduces wives to being the property of their husband. Do bride prices infringe human rights or symbolise love and good faith between families? If you're a woman, does a dowry make you feel objectified or appreciated? Did the failure to pay a bride price stop you from getting married? If you're a man, do you feel bride price is a burden? Should states legislate on such cultural issues?

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If you would like to join Africa Have Your Say to debate this topic LIVE on air on Wednesday 23 September at 1600 GMT, please include a telephone number. It will not be published. You can find us on Facebook at facebook.com/africahys or follow us on Twitter @bbcafricahys. You can also send an SMS text message to +44 77 86 20 20 08.
Published: Tuesday, 22 September, 2009, 11:59 GMT 12:59 UK

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Added: Wednesday, 23 September, 2009, 17:06 GMT 18:06 UK

Honestly pseaking, the girls parents hardly ask for much from their prospective son-in-law. It is the girl's uncles who come up with ridiculous demands because they are greedy. They think that as long as the marriage lasts the girls parents will keep receiving gifts from her husband every now and then so they(uncles) decide on a one time 'reap off''. And most of the time such uncles had never contributed a dime to the girls upbringing.It is even worse for a girl who had lost her dad. Mabel, Minnesota
Recommended by 0 people Added: Wednesday, 23 September, 2009, 16:55 GMT 17:55 UK

I am from Sierra Leone and the custom of paying bride price upon marriage is deeply entrenched in our Sierra Leonean society.I think the concept of bride price is misunderstood by many people ,especially those who want it banned.paying a woman's bride price does not mean you are buying her ,and that she becomes your property.In my country and many other countries bride price is considered a gift and a form of appreciation from the man or the man's family to the woman he intends to make his wife. Sanousi Sesay, Alexandria

Recommended by 0 people Added: Wednesday, 23 September, 2009, 16:31 GMT 17:31 UK

Bride price or Dowry as we call it in Liberia is a gift to the woman's family. It is not to be given back to the man in case the marriage did not work.I think bride price should not be more then what the man is able to get.It is now illegal in Liberia to ask for bride price back from parent.Bride price should be but at a level that men can pay and be happy.Men, your wives should be your friends and not the other way round. Pewee Flomoku, Monrovia
Recommended by 0 people Added: Wednesday, 23 September, 2009, 16:29 GMT 17:29 UK

'Buy a Bride' is not only an affront to basic human rights, it is a denial of democracy. How can this be justified in a country that thinks itself to be democratic and moderate. Such a tradition is a travesty and unjust. I want my country back NOW, Spalding,, United Kingdom
Recommended by 0 people Added: Wednesday, 23 September, 2009, 16:23 GMT 17:23 UK

Can you guys stop generalisation. Africa is a continent with hundreds of ethnic groups. Each of these ethnic groups has its own tradition and language. Therefore a particular ethnic group in a particular country does not represent the entire African continent. Ade
Recommended by 0 people Added: Wednesday, 23 September, 2009, 16:20 GMT 17:20 UK

There is nothing wrong about paying bride price both traditionally and religiously. The problem I have with paying bride price is the huge amount parents are requesting to marry their daughter. A Liberian friend told me that if I have to marry her I will have to get three fresh cows for her family which I am not able to afford by then. Pay the Bride price and have the wife!!! Murtala, Fretown,Sierra Leone
Recommended by 0 people Added: Wednesday, 23 September, 2009, 16:13 GMT 17:13 UK

Humans and their relationships are of priceless value and should not be degraded to the level of material things.This is a human rights abuse. We all have an ethical duty to teach humanity the dignity of the human person. Brideprice is a price to be scrapped by all. How can I be valued in terms of goats? True Love is unconditional. If the Bible mentions the labor of Jacob for a wife it does not mean that we should labor for a wife or stone adulterous women. That would be bad bible interpretatio Paul Okoth, Mbale

Recommended by 0 people Added: Wednesday, 23 September, 2009, 16:08 GMT 17:08 UK

Well at least it was the native Africans asking for a ban, I suppose we should be grateful for this. Let's let Africans sort this out and us westerners keep our noses out of their business. These practices have existed for 100s if not 1000s of years. But of course there are going to be these do-gooder western liberals who are going to tell them that their "human/womens rights" have been violated, and in order to live in politically-correct fairytale land utopia, that these practices must banned. Joe Soap, Bedford
Recommended by 0 people Added: Wednesday, 23 September, 2009, 16:07 GMT 17:07 UK

Africa should not ban bride price, it is a symbol of the promise a man gives to his wife, signifying that, he will take care of her need, be there for her when there is no one else is available.and most importantly that he is capable enough to be a man. segun bisi, irvington nj
Recommended by 0 people Added: Wednesday, 23 September, 2009, 16:03 GMT 17:03 UK

African "bride prices" should not be made illegal. There is a tradition that is long standing. I think the problem is the WESTERN eye looking in and changing it to something misunserstood/ not intended to be. Marriage in the Old world was not about love or being with a soul mate/ it was business. It still is about business and now love. A thought - how would Africa bride prices add in the western concept that we mandate for our marriages of a PreNuptual agreement? ITS MINE. WE don't understand shelly Rosen, Seattle, United States
Recommended by 0 people Added: Wednesday, 23 September, 2009, 16:03 GMT 17:03 UK

My opinion is that "Bride price is not the cause of abuse or rights infrigements". If a man abuses a woman, it doesnt matter if he had paid bride or not, that is his character. If anything, the more someone pays, the more dear a woman aught to be to him. It is a culture and I think Africa should uphold some cultures before we remain with none. We must remember that even in regions of the world where they do not pay for their brides these issues of rights are there. Am proud to be African! Bybuntu, Trondheim
Recommended by 0 people Added: Wednesday, 23 September, 2009, 16:02 GMT 17:02 UK

In Afric there is a saying that free gift has no honour, so men we should pay bride prices. Fofanah Umaru, Conakry

You also talk of ownership of the bride, which is the WHOLE point in dispute. Under your terms & thinking it is no different to a form of slavery ownership. To own a woman, under ANY circumstances is WRONG & ABHORENT [MrWonderfulReality]
Recommended by 0 people Added: Wednesday, 23 September, 2009, 16:00 GMT 17:00 UK

It is very wrong for anybody to suggest such a thing as banning bride price. it is an African culture that cannot be taken away from Africans and Africa. It is part of our marriage ceremonial rites as Africans, removing it is like removing history. It gives respect to the African woman, it shows that a woman has been properly married to a man. It goes to show that she is not co-habiting with a man but she is his WIFE and he, her Husband. Bride price in itself is just a token. Bernice, lagos
Recommended by 0 people Added: Wednesday, 23 September, 2009, 15:46 GMT 16:46 UK

Bride price is a key part of our culture as African. It is way of joining two families together, respecting each other and also thanking your bride's family for raising her. It would be obsurd to take that away and westernise ourselves in this respect as it would strip the african family and marriage of part its identity. In English weddings does'nt the father of the bride pay for the wedding? Ain't that tradition if not culture? should we ban that too? Lee, UK
Recommended by 0 people Added: Wednesday, 23 September, 2009, 15:37 GMT 16:37 UK

Bride price is an insurance form of marriage between two families. The government can't have any talk about it.The only problem is the way the practice is being conducted today. In Southern Sudan, whether you pay one cow or 100 cows that is a token of appreciation to the bride's family. The best thing of it is that dowry can't be completed at once. Peter Yensuk, Juba, Sudan
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