New Marriages Act has provoked a tsunami of reactions.
Advocate Nyaradzo Maposa
“Lawyers are intelligent people but they must not masquerade as experts and cause panic because of one statement. The new marriage act chapter 5:17 did not change anything of what the current law was before it was promulgated.
“Essentially the new marriage act just tried to specify for the different marriages. And we have two types of marriages, the civil which was under chapter 5:11 or popularly known as chapter 37 which we call civil marriage because it is under the general law.
“This was brought in by settlers in 1890 which is monogamous. Which means white people, Chinese, coloured don’t need to pay lobola, all the other people who are not Africans do not pay lobola.
“So naturally that law wouldn’t require lobola. So chapter 5:11 which is now consolidated in the new act, doesn’t require lobola.
“So iwewe wabvisirwa roora, you are married according the African customs.”
“The difference is that mazoenda here mukanoregister and get a certificate or mangogara henyu pamba penyu. Both of them are customary marriages and potentially polygamous.
“Whereas for chapter 5:11 you can sue for adultery and protect the monogamy of your marriage.
“It is incorrect to say the new marriage act has abolished lobola because it only reestablished the basis of marriage in Zimbabwe, one being civil and customary.
“And most importantly in as much as the civil marriage chapter 5:11 never required lobola, it can be applied by black people to whom lobola is the only way yekuti maroorana, registration is a secondary issue.
“Still if you are dealing with black culture, you are considered married after wabvisa lobola, kana pasina lobola, it’s difficult to say waroorwa or waroora.
“Saying roora has been abolished is a careless statement coming from any lawyer. By the way, roora itself is important in all marriages, hamutotenderwe kunochata musina kukumbira anababa,” she said.
Kudakwashe Chihata (lawyer)
“The law is not saying lobola is banned, the law has not banned lobola, it is still there and recognised, but what the law is now saying is that those who want to pay lobola should pay and those who do not want to pay the law will not force them to pay lobola.
“The law is pretty flexible and it speaks to the extent to which we as Zimbabweans are a democratic country.
“This is a welcome development and, in other words, the new law as it is now, presents a buffet in which you get to choose what you want, you get to choose how you want your marriage to be founded and built.
“The decision lies within people so it gives people freedom.
“The legal implication is that whether you pay lobola or not, your marriage is still legal and recognised. Of course, people may argue and say the new Act is against our culture, but culture is dynamic, not static, it changes.
“The new Act is open minded, democratic and is a positive step towards achieving democracy and I believe with time, we will get to a point in which the law will recognise partnerships.”
Mai Rebecca Chisamba (social commentator)
“Lobala is what you believe in. We often hear people saying they will not pay lobola, but it’s just all talk at the end of the day.
“If your heart doesn’t want you to pay lobola, then so be it.
“We have to understand that without paying lobola, are we going backwards or forward?
“Isusu takakura iriiyo culture yedu and we adopted our culture from the Bible. So, by saying people should not pay lobola what are we implying on our culture? But, personally, as Mai Chisamba, looking at our culture, if our girl child goes to stay with a man without lobola, ‘vanoitana madyise’.”
Sekuru Bonga
“From a cultural perspective, in the past, especially a young woman, who is the medium of the family’s ancestral spirit, for her to enter another family, she had to have lobola paid for her.
“The ancestors were informed since they would have removed a prominent figure in the family.
“So, lobola acted as a cushion that covered that which had been removed from the family as well as a symbol of dignity and respect to the new family that a lady is joining.
“This new law of making lobola optional will end up with people attracting the spirit of ngozi.”
