From Prof. Emmanuel K.Twesigye, OWU, Delaware, OH, USA.
AFRICAN CULTURE AND POLYGAMY: The African Culture, Economy and Traditional Religions are traditionally deeply rooted in polygamy. Polygamy itself will become absolete when the economy makes it impossible. There were many reasons why polygamy was culturally and socially attractive to both men and women in Africa. They include the following: 1. A larger family offered more prestige, social, economic and political protection. Nepotism is rooted in this principal of self-identity and rewarding those relatives who will love and protect you because of blood-relationship. One's identity and fate were tied in with his family and the polygamous extended family privded many close relatives. 2. Kings, chiefs and other politicians have sought to create important political alliances through intermarriages. 3. Some women found a co-wife who was like a sister or mother. In this case, life improved for both of them because they formed a loving bond, shared work, advised each other, kept each othe company, took care of each other children, and took turns in cooking for the husband and did not feel they had to cook everyday. If the husband misbehaved, they boycotted him and he soon learned to respect them. However, there was cases of jealous women who did not want to share a husband and tried to bewitch either the husband, the co-wife and her children and made life hell for everybody. This is not a result of polygamy. It is a result of a bad woman/wife. Some men are also mean jealous like that and they beat their wives for talking to strangers. These kinds of men and women are trouble even in monogamous marriages. They are ever spying on their spouses to ensure that they are not having secret affairs. Monogamy does not work well for them. Maybe single lives are the best option for them. 4. Polygamy generated wealth for the family. Many hands to work in the field, whereas others looked after cattle, goats and sheep. The rural people found polygamy ideal for that reason. But now school fees have gone up so much that having many wives and many children is not a good idea, since they wealth they generate is less that the wealth required to maintain them. This is the means to exterminate polygamy than through legislation. This means that the rich presidents and ministers can keep their wives as official wives with real spousal rights and legal protection rather than keeping them as illegal wives or concubines without any legal recognition and protection. 5. Polygamy gives the wives the legal, social, cultural and political power to demand their legal rights and protection under the law. Their children are not illegitimate/bastards to be ashamed of. The children have the rights and recognition by society as legal and full members of the family and the community which is rarely the case with those labeled "bastards" or "illegitimate" children. Some cultures are still harsh on these children and their parents. 6. Wars have killed millions of men in Uganda leaving wone and widows. Some of these widows prefer to be remarried even if the man already has another wife. If they partners are tested for HIV/AIDS first, the widows may benefit from a polygmaous remarriage, unless the first wife is so jealous that she is unable to live in such enlarged family. In which case, she should feel free to divorce her husband. 7. Polygamy helped families by preventing divorces in order to get married to another, often younger and more attractive woman. Those who resent polygamy may end up divorced and alone as it the case of the serieal monogamy in the West. That is polygamy, but living with one wife/spouse at a time until you get tired of them or find somebody better! More than 50% of the American marriages end up in divorce! Is that what some Africans want? 8. Polygamy has been a cultural and moral antidote to prostitution in Africa. When too many women are either not married or divorced and men are prevented to have more than one wife, there will be an increase in the vices of prostitution. 9. Polygamy has enabled the rich people to have two homes, one in the urban area where they work and one in the rural areas where their homes are and food is grown. 10. Polygamy has provided sexual variety to men more than women, therefore, let us ask the rural area women whether they support the law to abolish polygamy and for them to lose their sexual, legal, social, and property rights they now enjoy as wives, especiall if they are the second and third wives or more! In conclusion, I am personally a poor man who can hardly afford to maintain a big family of one wife, four chidren and the estended family, therefore, for me polygamy is an economic impossibility or harship. It is economically unworkable. It is not a matter of legality or moral pressure that polygamy will die out as a cultural value, it will be because of economic necessity. In the West, some people are even to poor to get married and some homeless people do not think of marriage as a good idea. They can not afford to provide a home for themselves and thier spouses. Polygamy and even the marriage institution will ultimately die out if the society and the economy can not support them. Emmanuel K. Twesigye, PhD Aden S. & Mollie Wollam Benedicts Professor of Christian Studies Ohio Wesleyan University Delaware, Ohio 43015, USA Phone: 740-368-3827. E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 18 Feb. 2005 ===================================================================== On Thu, 17 Feb 2005, kandekye kagyenzi wrote: > Well, Well,.... Polygamy, > > Not that I am for polygamy, but I think we should not loose our culture > because Europeans have suggested so. I think the road we have taken to > westernise our culture will on its own phase out polygamy. We should not do > it because the western worl has said so. The west should address their > divorce rate before they get into prescribing marriage antedotes. > > Kandekye Kagyenzi > > Vukoni Lupa-Lasaga <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This is worth trying but (especially if posturing is the motive) > outlawing polygamy won't end it as a socially acceptable practice. The > beneficiaries of patriarchy will conspire to see that such a law becomes > a dead letter, just like the law that prescribes the death sentence for > defiling a minor. A well planned universal primary education will do > much more towards ending polygamy. In the best of worlds (where we can > afford everything we want), a mix of policies including at its core a > law that outlaws polygamy and an aggressive promotion of female > education would be the way to go. > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > Time to end polygamy( THE NEW VISION) > > > > THE United Nations Human Rights Committee has asked the government to > > outlaw polygamy. The UN argues that polygamy is incompatible with the > > constitutional requirement for equal treatment of men and women. > > > > The UN statement came in reaction to the government’s White Paper > > proposing various amendments to the constitution. > > > > Yesterday was St Valentine’s Day, which celebrates the ideal of > > romantic monogamous love. This may seem unrealistic amid the grinding > > struggle of daily life in the countryside, or the crass materialism of > > the cities. Nevertheless, it should give us cause for further > > reflection on the UN’s proposal. > > > > Polygamy is unacceptable for a multitude of reasons. > > Firstly, it is indeed discriminatory. Men are legally permitted to > > take more than one wife, but not women. > > > > Secondly, it is very unusual to find children of polygamous marriages > > who are happy with the arrangement. Most polygamous children suffer, > > in some way, from neglect. > > Thirdly, most polygamous men cannot afford to support their additional > > wives and children. They increase human suffering. > > > > Fourthly, it should be the human right of all Ugandan children to > > continue education as far as they are capable. Regrettably, the state > > cannot yet afford to pay for secondary and tertiary education, so the > > responsibility falls to the parents. Yet how many polygamous children > > get the chance to complete university? > > Fifthly, it perpetuates Uganda’s rampant population growth. > > > > Sixthly, if the government conducted an opinion poll of women and > > children of polygamous marriages, there would almost certainly be a > > huge majority in favour of abolition. > > Government should not worry about religious or cultural > > discrimination. Polygamy is almost unheard of in advanced Islamic > > countries like Iran or Egypt. It is considered outdated and backward, > > even within Islam. Nor would it fundamentally undermine African > > culture to eliminate polygamy. > > > > Government should take note of the UN recommendation and advance > > legislation to end polygamy in Uganda. Men should only be allowed to > > marry one wife. > > *Ends* > > > > Published on: *Tuesday, 15th February, 2005* > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > >_______________________________________________ > >Ugandanet mailing list > >[email protected] > >http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet > >% UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ > > > _______________________________________________ > Ugandanet mailing list > [email protected] > http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet > % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ > > > --------------------------------- > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we. _______________________________________________ Ugandanet mailing list [email protected] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
