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Mashudu Mambo
THE discourse of lobola refund has been a bone of contention as a number of people believe that it is ethical, while others believe that it is the commodification of women.
In a recent case, between Chikudza Mangwende and Liberty Machondo, the High Court of Zimbabwe ruled that a husband is entitled to a lobola refund on grounds of infidelity.
“At the conclusion of the trial of this matter, the court a quo dismissed the claim for payment of the outstanding lobola. The court found that there was material breach of the very tenants of lobola.
“The court concluded that the appellant was not entitled to payment of the balance of lobola because his daughter who was married to the respondent committed adultery with multiple partners ranging from the respondent’s brothers, nephews and the herd boy.
“The court also found that customarily a husband is allowed to divorce an adulterous wife and if he has paid lobola in full he is entitled to a refund of the lobola from the in-laws,” read the ruling.
This ruling has left the society divided as traditionalists believe that lobola refund is valid while other groups believe that lobola refund is a violation of the rights of women.
According to a traditionalist, Joshphat Moyo, popularly known as Khulu Ndumba dowry is returned when a woman commits adultery.
“In our culture, dowry is important because it unites families. The dowry is refunded when the woman commits adultery and this is because she would have despised her marriage by having an affair with another man.
The ruling of lobola refund in cases of adultery emanated from our forefathers who realised that paying dowry was a form of securing your wife who is in turn expected to be loyal,” he said.
Khulu Ndumba highlighted that the dowry is refunded to allow the man to marry another woman.
“The dowry paid by the husband is refunded for him to find another decent woman to marry. The family of the woman will in turn demand their dowry from the woman’s lover,” he said.
However, a Pastor Darlington Ngwenya said lobola refund was unethical as it equates women with commodities.
“Lobola is a cultural practice rather than it is a biblical or religious practice, although we have stories in the bible where wealth is exchanged for a bride, this practice in our context emanates from our culture.
“I believe that lobola repayment is unjust considering that the payment of a bride price must not be looked at as purchasing a woman, whom when you no longer want you can return and get your money back. The dowry is paid voluntarily to the parents to receive their approval and blessings. This does not make them shareholders to the marriage, that they should be liable if the marriage does not work out,” he said.
A lawyer, Blessed Mupasti indicated that the issue of lobola refund violates the rights of women.
“The issue of lobola refund violates women’s rights because it is like commodifying women that if they behave in a particular way, the man will in turn demand for a refund, this equates women to basic products,” he said.
Mupasti stated that the issue of lobola refund was largely fuelled by the ridiculous amounts of money that are being paid as dowry.
“The reasons why people would want their refund is because they are ordered to pay huge sums of money and when the woman commits adultery, out of the heat of emotions they feel like they are being owed,” he said.
Mupasti indicated that the grounds for lobola refund are cases of infidelity.
“In cases of infidelity, customarily a husband is allowed to divorce his wife because of adultery and when he has paid lobola he is entitled to a refund,” he said.
A gender activist, Thando Gwinji highlighted that lobola refund is unethical as it ignores the purpose of dowry in different cultures.
“I believe that this law did not consider the different cultures and their diversity because in our Ndebele culture, the bride price is paid for the children and not the woman. Most of these practices are done so that the children are introduced to the ancestors of the groom’s family,” she said.
Gwinji stated that the idea of lobola refund will subject women to abuse as they will be viewed as goods that can be refunded.
“From a gender perspective, we are against the idea of selling women with money or cattle because the idea of buying is one of the causes of domestic abuse. The sole purpose of lobola is building relations between two families,” she said.
Online Reporter