Comprehension: Bride-Price and Polygamy

Topic Content:

• Title: Bride-Price and Polygamy
• Text: New Oxford Secondary English Course for SSS2 pages 19 – 20.

     Enthusiasts for tradition have consistently argued that the custom of bride price should be upheld as it is a major African tradition. These apologists also advance the argument that the bride price helps to keep polygamy in check. In a more mercenary vein, the supporters of bride price insist that it represents some compensation to parents for the upbringing of a daughter and for lost earnings in the case of a breadwinning female offspring. Unfortunately, these arguments do not stand close scrutiny.

     That bride price is a means of checking polygamy is an assumption without basis. Polygamy has always been an “accepted” social custom in black African countries. It has been in existence since the pre-colonial era (when, of course, the basic argument was that more hands were needed on the farm even though this rationale conveniently ignores the fact that more mouths will then also need to be fed).

     However, in this day and age, polygamy, in spite of the bride price, is not only still in our midst but is