‘Bride Price’ Refund Banned In Uganda

Uganda’s Supreme Court has banned the practice of refunding wedding gifts, known here as bride price, when a marriage ends in divorce.

Campaigners said that it turns a woman into the husband’s property. The price usually was paid in livestock, which most women do not own or have the means to acquire.

Uganda’s highest court has now ruled that it is unconstitutional for men to ask for a refund on the bride price upon divorce in a “customary marriage”, which is one takes place under traditional law.

Women’s rights groups have long argued that the threat of having to repay the bride price can trap women in abusive and violent relationships.

However most of the judges – six of the seven- said that not enough evidence had been given to prove that payment of bride prices led to domestic violence.

The BBC’s Patience Atuhaire in the capital, Kampala, says that traditionally the bride price is seen as an honour and a sign that the couple are entering into a respectful marriage.

Mifumi had claimed that the payment of bride prices encouraged domestic violence and made men think that they had purchased their wives’ “sexual and reproductive capacity”.

A woman who wished to leave a marriage was obliged to pay back the bride price.

The court officially banned this practice, stating that it treats women as a commodity and also makes it tougher for women seeking divorce.

The only dissenting opinion came from Justice Esther Kisakye, who said that while the constitution supports culture “it [only] validates customs that respect the rights of all Ugandans”.