Abstract

This paper examines the socio-economic significance of the bride price system among the Samia.

The Samia are a sub-tribe of the Luhya one of the many tribes that are found in Kenya and

particularly the Western part of Kenya. The paper gives a brief introduction of the bride price

process and ceremony before delving into the socio-economic importance and the possible

legislation to ensure the protection of women from domestic violence and abuse.

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Introduction

The dowry system is a phenomenon that involves the payment of certain gifts to the family of the

groom by the bride’s family; this is particularly prevalent among the South-Asian communities

and the Hindus in particular.

What is commonly referred to as dowry is in actuality, bride price, whereby the groom’s family,

through the payment of gifts to the bride-to-be’s family shows the seriousness of their intent to

marry their daughter.

The payment is meant to signify, the appreciation by the groom’s family of the care given to the

bride while she lived with her family. The dowry ceremony is symbolic as it serves several

functions:

The dowry process is an integral part of the marriage stage of life, so much so, that it has been

reported that in some parts of India, the failure by the bride’s family to complete the payments

results in bride burning. The violence meted out on these poor women is a double-edged sword

that acts both as punishment and perhaps as an incentive to the family of the bride to speed up

the payments (Anderson, S., 2003, pg.271).

The dowry system in Europe and many parts of the Western world has seemingly disappeared

due to their modernization; this is not to say that the system did not exist. The dowry system was

mostly among the landed aristocracy and status was a really important aspect in the marriage

consideration.

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Education and economic empowerment due to modernization enabled the emergence of the

middle class that precipitated the removal of classes and less importance placed on this until the

complete disregard for the dowry process (Anderson, S. 2003, pg. 282).

The community in particular that I am going to examine their bride-price ceremony is that of the

Samia. The Samia are a sub-tribe of the Luhya and are an ethnic community that are found in the

Western part of Kenya and at the Kenya-Uganda border in particular, at a place known as Busia.

There are some Samia who are present on the Ugandan side of the border; this division is as a

result of the British colonial rule that split communities to create states.

The particular clan of the Samia that I belong is found on the Kenyan side of the border and from

a little village known as Bukiri in Funyula constituency.

This paper shall delve further into the ceremony itself and the socio-economic impact that it had

on women and whether or not there were rules governing it.

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The Bride-price system of the Samia

The bride-price ceremony in the Samia culture is known as okhwe and this is meant to be carried

out before a couple can get married. Though the bride-price ceremony has changed with the

advent of Christianity and modernity that has also incorporated mixed marriages; some aspects

of the traditional ceremony have been maintained but most of it has changed as some parts of the

ceremony have been omitted thus making the ceremony shorter.

The bride-price ceremony was important due to the fact that it involved several members of the

family and thus the whole community. A child in our culture (the Samia culture) is considered as

belonging to the entire community, thus the involvement of the entire extended family; each

person had a significant role to play.

The bride-price ceremony in its entirety has remained the same, whereby it takes place in three

stages, with the last stage being the church ceremony. Though in recent times due to

intermarriages across ethnic communities, the ceremony has adapted to that from whence the

girls being married come from and the bride-price ceremony may thus have four stages.

The bride-price ceremony among the Samia is very important and if not done, may lead to

complications in future. As mentioned earlier, a child is considered as being a part of the whole

community and thus they are all involved in the whole process of the bride-price negotiations

and settlement.

The bride-price process has three stages as earlier mentioned, the first being the official

introduction of the man to the girl’s parents; in this stage the prospective groom is escorted by

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his first male cousins. The second stage involves the parents and the siblings on both sides

whereby they are introduced to the bride’s parents and family members. The last stage is that of

the bride-price payment, whereby whatever had been negotiated during the first and second visit

is now paid out and this involves the whole family.

In the cases of inter-cultural marriages, the family follows the customs of the bride-to-be’s

culture. In the past, a number of my uncles have married across tribes and their wives have

tended to come from the Eastern part of the province. In this case we have adhered to their

custom, particularly that of cooking, that in essence signifies that in custom they are truly

husband and wife.

In the vey traditional setting, that is before the advent of Christianity, women were not involved

in the negotiation process. Their role was rather limited to mainly the introduction portion, where

both families meet for the first time; they were basically meant to be seen and not heard; if, they

had objections it would be voiced afterwards.

In the modern day age, women are actively involved throughout the whole bride-price process.

They are not only involved in the negotiation but also have a say in the proceedings; this has

benefitted many single mothers when it comes to their children’s negotiations as they do not

have to rely on their close male relatives to speak for them.

In the past, there were special proceedings for an elopement, which was rarely heard of, though

if it did occur there was a system in place to guide this process. The groom’s family would have

to come back to the bride’s family and accept culpability for taking their daughter; a heavy fine

was them imposed on the groom’s family.

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A ceremony was then carried out, at the expense of the groom’s family to show remorse, before

the real bride-price ceremony could actually take place; this acted as a deterrent to the youth.

According to the Samia culture, bride-price was not a one-off thing and is continuous through-

out the married life of the couple. Bride-price payment is not viewed as the “buying” of a bride

but rather is seen as a sign appreciation and is a token of thanks.

Socio-economic significance

The bride-price ceremony is an important stage in life cycle of an individual and in the Samia

culture in particular. The bride price ceremony involves the whole extended family and each

person was entitled to something.

Each animal given had a special significance and the animals were shared out among the family,

that is, the aunts and uncles as well and was not meant to be restricted to the immediate family.

Thus children were reared by everyone in the community as in future those who guided them had

a say in this negotiations.

The payment of the bride-price ensured that the two families were properly merged and that the

girl’s place in her new family was secure. The payment of the bride-price also ensured that

should a tragedy occur in future and the girl should pass away, her new family would be able to

bury her; if the bride-price had not been paid then the girl would be buried in her parent’s home.

Bride-price was in itself a deterrent for divorce as firstly, it had involved the whole community

and secondly in most cases the bride-price could not be returned once given. Elders would be

called in to act as mediators between a feuding couple in order to avoid divorce; separation for a

period of time was allowed in order to calm tempers and in future give reconciliation a chance.

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Bride-price as well ensured that girl was treated well in her new family and show that she was

valued as an important member of that family.

Some pundits have suggested that in matrilineal societies that the bride-price paid is lower that

the norm this is not the case. The bride price paid is equal regardless of whether or not it is a

patriarchal or matriarchal home, this ensured that some gender parity has been reached.

In the modern times, the bride-price has been abused and many families are now seeking

exorbitant sums from the groom’s family for their daughters. Factors such as level of education,

schools attended and the general lifestyle that the girl is accustomed to is taken into

consideration; this has eroded the meaning of the original and intended purpose of the bride-

price, that of uniting families.

The exorbitant amounts of money and other material things has led to the mistreatment and

abuse of women at the hands of their husbands and their families Cases of domestic violence,

sexual abuse, denial of property have risen in recent times. Some parents are marrying off their

daughters at tender ages for this bride price in effect interfering with their right to education and

a better life (Odede, R. 2009, pg.57).

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Legislation

The type of legislation that is in place is mainly traditional and includes:-

1. The rules set in place for elopement served as a deterrent for the youth and ensured that

the bride-price ceremony was actually observed.

2. The involvement of several members of the family ensured that greed was checked.

3. Bride-price was paid in full regardless of whether or not the marriage was blessed with

children.

These rules did work in the past but due to modernization and urbanization, whereby everyone is

too busy and the immediate family is left to handle the negotiations and the extended family is

only involved in the wedding preparations.

Education campaigns need to be carried out in order to sensitize parents on the implications of

commercializing the practice and the effect that it then has on the women. Laws that protect

women from abuse due to bride price should be implemented and be enforced.

Women as well need to be aware of their rights and should be able to understand that no one

should mistreat them due to the fact that bride price had been paid for them; they should be

aware that they had the right to refuse to be inherited should their husbands pass away due to the

fact that they “belong” to the family.

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Conclusion

Bride-price was and still remains an important aspect of the marriage stage of any African

couple. The involvement of the whole family ensured continued unity and as such was an

important platform that ensured that undue advantage was not taken by each side.

Bride price served as a way of introducing two families together and ensuring that a bond was

maintained by both sides. It was an important stage before any marriage as it served as a way of

legitimizing the marriage before the community.

The commercialization of bride price has devalued its meaning and the dignity of women; it

needs to be reviewed and the positive old practices intertwined with the positive new practices

incorporated for a more inclusive ceremony.

The process of gifting should be done by both sides in order to ensure equality and restore the

dignity of women (Odede, R. 2009, pg.57).

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References

Anderson, S. Dowry Payments. Journal of Political Economy, 2003, vol. 111, no. 2

Odede, R. Bride Price: Legal, Social Implications. The African Mirror, June-July 2009, vol. 3

pp.56-57.

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