Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is also minister of Justice Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, says the government is in the process of drafting a law abolishing payment of lobola (bride price), a law under which men who are unhappy with their wives can demand a lobola refund.
Mnangagwa told Zimbo Today.com in an exclusive interview in Harare that the upcoming law is a result pressure being brought to bear on government by women rights activists who want lobola to go as they see it as the root cause of imbalances between spouses.
“For many years, we have tried to ignore these calls, but we have realised that this is what women of Zimbabwe seem to want as part of equality… the argument is that lobola is the foundation of inequality in marriages… the woman comes in a junior partner because something would have been paid for her, so with lobola gone, it will be easy for spouses to treat each other as equals,” Mnangagwa explained. He added that under this upcoming law, which is still at the drafting stage, a husband who is unhappy with his wife would be free to approach his in-laws to demand a refund of whatever he would have paid in lobola even if the marriage still subsists.
“We are still at the stage of drafting the law and once the Bill is out, there would be nation-wide consultations so that members of the public can make their own inputs before it becomes a law. I have to emphasise that this is not our idea, but that of women rights organisations like Msasa Project, Women of Zimbabwe Arise, Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association, among others,” he added. Mnangagwa said that under the proposed law, upon divorce, a man is entitled to a full refund of what he would have paid as lobola.
“The Bill should be ready for public debate in the first quarter of 2017, that is when these organisations and all other interested parties will have their day in the court of public opinion so that the matter is settled once and for all. As Justice Minister, I can also tell you that our new Constitution is very democratic… it has a provision for a referendum to be called for when people cannot agree on an important issue like this,” the Vice President added. Mnangagwa said once the law comes into place, charging lobola will be treated as extortion, which is a criminal offence.-ZimboToday.com
