The dowry, by Papa Kédine

This new episode of our summer series on marriage and its side issues is another account on dowry, only this time seen from a different light.

Dowry is a complex and very formal negociation process between two families aiming to settle the price a young man will have to pay in order to be able to marry the woman he has chosen. While dowry is still part of many traditions in Africa as well as in other parts of the world, it evolves around rules and customs which vary according to time and society.

Our series takes place in Gabon, in the Akele community. Anaaket and Jean Kédine have already told us about the different steps of the dowry process, the amounts involved and the evolution of these practices over the years. And this week is Papa Kédine’s turn to tell us his own vision of the dowry institution. Around the fire one night, great storyteller as he is, he brings us an unexpected theory on the impacts of dowry on the female character… an interpretation that might not go down that well with possible sympathizers of the feminist cause!