Bride Price Law Puts Marriages In Danger   

With the refund of bride price on dissolution of marriage rejected by Uganda’s Supreme Court on Tuesday 4th August, 2015, Mbuga Ibrahim has fallen a victim after he paid bride price to the parents of his former wife Ndagire Susan A Kaddu whom he accused of having an affair with fellow women. Their marriage went sour months ago forcing Susan to disappear.

Ndagire Susan A Kaddu has disappeared from her husband’s home

Mbuga married Susan in 2010 after he paid her parents the entire bride price. “On getting married to Mbuga, Susan was supposed to be a fulltime house wife and also had to stop working at Women’s Organisation Network for Human Rights Advocacy (WONETHA)on Mbuga’s directives”. Mbuga said!

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Instead Susan insisted on having an affair with fellow women, something that annoyed Mbuga and started disciplining her. This resulted in Susan’s disappearance as the practice itself is illegal in Uganda.

Mbuga says her parents have refused to refund him bride price all this long and he vows to hunt her down to pay it herself.

At this point no one knows where Susan could be and Ibrahim is ready to pay a big sum of money to anyone who will help him track her down since he cannot be paid back by the parents.

Uganda’s Supreme Court with a 6-1 majority vote ruled that the practice of refunding bride price on the dissolution of a customary marriage is unconstitutional and should be banned.

The judgement originates from a 2007 petition filed in the Constitutional Court by Mifumi Uganda limited, a Women’s rights lobby, among other local activism groups. The group’s main concern was if the refund is constitutional and the link between Bride Price and domestic violence.