Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi clarified that the payment of lobola remains a requirement for registering a customary marriage under the new Marriages Act. This act was implemented last year, combining the laws governing civil and customary marriages.
While lobola is not necessary for registering a civil marriage, it is still mandatory for customary marriages, The Herald cited the minister. Minister Ziyambi’s clarification came after media reports suggested that lobola was now optional.
Traditionally, Zimbabwean marriages begin with a customary union, which is often not registered and later converted into a civil union. The new Marriages Act allows couples with a registered customary union to change it to a registered civil union, which was not possible under the previous separate marriage acts. Ziyambi said:
What the new Marriages Act did was to repeal all marriage laws; that is the Civil Marriages Act and the Customary Marriages Act.
Under the Civil Marriages Act, which came with the whites, questions were not asked whether lobola was paid or not if the marriage was to be registered and this is still the case under the new law, if the union is to be registered as a civil marriage.
For customary unions, payment of lobola still remains a requirement and marriage officers, who now include traditional leaders, registering such a union, still have to ascertain if lobola has been paid before it is registered. So, it’s not correct to say lobola is now optional under the new law.
During the discussions on the new Marriages Act in Parliament, the topic of lobola (bride price) was a major point of debate. Chiefs in the Senate raised objections to a proposed clause that stated bride price should not be a barrier for consenting adults to form a union, as it would violate their constitutional right to association.
The traditional leaders, led by Chief Fortune Charumbira, argued that lobola was an integral part of customary marriage and that not upholding it would undermine cultural values. Eventually, the chiefs succeeded in inserting a clause that made it mandatory for a marriage officer presiding over a customary marriage to inquire about the parties’ identity, marital status, lobola agreement, if any, and any impediments to the marriage.