Zimbabwe: Woman Wants Lobola Abolished

2 November 2017

A Harare woman has approached the Constitutional Court challenging the constitutionality of the practice of paying lobola, saying it reduces women to mere "assets" that are open for abuse. Ms Priccilar Vengesai, a former Chitungwiza municipality chamber secretary, wants the practice to be abolished. Alternatively, she wants parents of both the bride and the groom to be thanked for raising their children well through lobola in the spirit of gender equality.

Vengesai filed a chamber application for permission to access the apex court directly with her bride price challenge. She argued in her papers that she once entered previous unions, but she later realised that her constitutional rights were being violated. Ms Vengesai said she now wants to remarry as soon as the court determines her contestation. Ms Vengesai, who is a lawyer, contends that women's rights to dignity, equality and non-discrimination were at stake and that the court should be quick to declare the customary practice unconstitutional.

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