Bride Price of 3 Hoes Raises Dust in African Nation
A government decision to fix the bride price at three hoes instead of the traditional cow has caused outrage in Rwanda and could be reversed by a national congress of the ruling party later this month.
“Three hoes is devaluing a young girl,” grumble mothers with daughters of marriageable age in Kigali, the capital.
“Three hoes are worth less than a basket of bananas,” one old man in this small Central African country protested.
Parliament’s decision June 4 to fix the bride price at three hoes followed a rapid inflation in the price of a marriageable young woman as more and more parents began demanding cash instead of a cow. Some fathers were asking as as much as 100,000 Rwandan francs ($1,350) for their daughters.
The decision to reduce the bride price to a nominal gift was welcomed by most young people but is being resisted by the older generation and many stalwarts of the ruling party. It could be overturned at the party congress June 25.
One suggestion is to fix the bride price at one cow, or its equivalent in goods or cash, up to a limit of $270.
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