Catholic University of Eastern Africa

Dickson Chuma

Family law Presentation.

The Shona Traditional Marriage

The normative Traditional Shona Marriage of the Shona-speaking people

was characterised by negotiation and payment of bridewealth.
Payment of bridewealth (Roora in Shona/ Lobola in Ndebele but they are
used interchangeably by the Shona-speaking people) is the basis of
marriage and family obligation.
The Traditional Shona Marriage is primarily a contract between two kin
groups or families rather than a personal arrangement between two
individuals.

There are various forms of Shona Traditional Marriages

Musengabere- meaning to carry a woman you admire to your homestead,

similar to abduction.
Kuganhira or kuganha- where the man will pay bride-wealth for a girl
child yet to be born or young as his wife. This was similar to the
betrothal.
Kumutsa mapfihwa- Inheritance (kugara nhaka) was when a woman
would replace her sister in case she died and she performs the duty of the
wife or kumutsa mapfihwa.
 Kutizira/ kutizisa/kutiza mukumbo- Elopement-marriage where the two
would agree to just get together because the man may have impregnated
the woman.
Kukumbira- is the most accepted and most spread one. Kukumbira
means the asking for a hand in marriage with the paying of lobola.

NB: For the purpose of this presentation, Im focusing on the Kukumbira

System of Marriage.

Marriage Preparation in Traditional Shona

Traditionally, the society helped one to marry hence marriage was a societal or
communitarian obligation. When one marries they will be marrying as a
representative of a society. In the Western scenario one marries by consent and
in the African context, particularly in the traditional Shona, one marries by
consensus. As such the family background is well assessed and vetted and they
ask questions like ndewekwaani (whose child is he or she). Marriage
preparation helped define the roles and responsibilities of the people in the
community and this ensured high rate of marriage success.

Courtship.

Courtship extends beyond the suitor looking for a partner in marriage, it

involves other family members. There are two levels of love proposal
which are : proposing the prospective bride and proposal by the mans
family to the girls family.

a) Proposing the prospective bride.

Loves Proposal takes two phases one of which is known as (kunyanga or
kupfimba in shona) to ask a girl out and it takes a dual form. One of these
forms is when the suitor has identified a girl of his choice and he has to
 inform his uncles who will then do the rest for him (i.e proposing for him
and make engagement arrangements).

The second one was that, after the elders of the suitor realised that their
son has come of age would take an initiative to search for young woman
suitable for their son and seek his approval if one is found. The reason
behind this was that the elders believe that the young man has no
experience in choosing a suitable wife for himself hence he has to depend
upon the elders. In choosing the suitable wife for their son, the elders
consider family reputation to be of considerable importance.

Engagement

This was a symbolic expression of love. There was an exchange of

clothes or something that represented the acceptance of love and
pledge to marry. The informal courting of the young couple becomes a
private engagement by exchange of love tokens where the suitor gives
the bride a token of their intimacy called Nduma in shona. Nduma can
be in from of ornaments or chuma (bead string). The prospective bride
usually gives him a personal gift the she has worn or kept on her
person, such as a handkerchief or beads. By doing so, she consents to
marrying him.

b) Marriage proposal by the mans family to the girls family

Marriage proposal is done through the aforementioned Kukumbira
System which means asking for the girls hand in marriage.
At this stage the suitors family appoints an intermediator (sometimes
called emissary/ Negotiator/ spokeman) known as Munyai or Dombo in
 the shona language. Munyai is usually a neighbour and a well-respected
old man with wisdom and knowledge of the shona customs.
At this juncture the Suitors family sends the negotiator or Munyai to the
prospective brides family to announce their intention to marry. The
Munyai doesnt approach the brides family directly particularly her
father. He has to go through a neighbour, an auntie or grandmother of the
bride who would guide him to the homestead of the brides family.
Failure to observe this norm may result in the intermediary paying a fine.
Upon meeting the father of the prospective bride, the Negotiator or
Munyai explains the purpose of his visit which is the intention to marry.
He utters the expression, ndinokumbira kubikirwa (i would like someone
to cook for me). He produces a badza (hoe) and hands it over to the
companion which is the Auntie/grandmother or neighbour who will then
hands it over to the father of the prospective bride. This stands for vhura
muromo (mouth opener) seeking permission to speak to the in-laws.
The prospective brides father calls his daughters of marriageable age to
confirm knowledge of the suitor and to seek her consent to enter into
marriage with him before the start of bridewealth negotiations and
payment. The prospective bride will admit that she knows the Negotiator
in his capacity as spokesman for the Suitors family.
The Negotiator puts down the proposal token or payment and if the
prospective bride has no objection in respect of the marriage proposal put
forward by the Negotiator or Munyai, she touches the proposal token as a
sign of assenting or agreeing to the marriage proposal.
The father of the prospective bride requests the Negotiator to bring
Makandinzwa nani which means from whom did you hear that I have a
beautiful girl? This did not seek any answer at all verbally but through
payments and mapfukudza dumbu which is a payment done to the mother
 traditionally for the distortion of the mothers tummy or posture caused
by the firstborn daughter.
This entails that the prospective brides family consents to the union and
they would start negotiating the bridewealth payments upon payment of
something of value by the intermediary (Makandinzwa nani) and
Mapfukudza dumbu.
These small charges are never looked upon as an important element of the
marriage deal. They have no binding force between husband and wife.
This aspect of lobola can be abolished without any adverse social
repercussions on the family of society at large. Hence the marriage deal
only begun after paying other important things such as Rusambo.
The Brideweath payments.
The negotiation and payment of bridewealth is the central part of
Shona marriage procedures. Bridewealth payments, made by the
prospective groom to the bride's father, are negotiated by the heads of
the two families or by their representatives. Shona bridewealth
payments consist of two parts, called rutsambo and roora.
Rutsambo/ Rugaba payment.
The payment of rutsambo gives the husband sexual rights in the
woman and this would also give the man the rights to claim that he
was married. Traditionally rutsambo payments consisted of some
utility article (e.g., a goat or a hoe), but nowadays it tends to be a
substantial cash payment.
If the girl had children before the marriage, rutsambo payments are
omitted or at least diminished substantially. In the past rutsambo was
to be paid only if the girl was a virgin.
This would also give the man the rights to claim that he was married.
After paying Rusambo, the man claimed to be married and claimed
 title to the bride even though no cattle had yet been paid. Likewise
after this stage, the woman was married and claimed title to the
husband and was entitled to certain rights and privileges.

The Roora payments

The second part of the bridewealth payments, roora, gives the man
rights over the children born to the woman. Roora is perceived as a
gift to the girl's parents to thank them for raising her well.
Roora used to be paid in cattle, but it is increasingly paid in cash.
Roora payments are made over a long period of time, and specific
events in the marriage procedures generally call for payment of part of
the bridewealth. For example, when the girl moves to the husband's
home the groom's parents slaughter a beast to welcome the bride;
before the couple meets sexually for the first time the bride is also
given a beast, which is hers to keep. Roora is an essential part of the
marriage procedures, and marriage without roora is inconceivable.
The payment of the cattle gives one rights to claim the children and it
is an important item in bridewealth or roora. Traditionally paying
cattle was for the children in the marriage deal. It follows then that
this is a sine qua non for the husband since the main aim for marrying
is children. The best thing a woman can give to the husband is to keep
him alive and the other things were just secondary. This then is the
most important thing and it still remains the most important thing.
As part of bride wealth which is universal in Zimbabwe, the Shona
have preserved two other livestock prestations linked with fertility, at
least on which, the cow of motherhood seems to have been
customary.
The two payments are masungiro (a pregnancy ritual) and mombe
youmai (the cow of motherhood). Both are linked to the matrilineal
 ancestral spirits. Usually the masungiro goat is given as a way
thanking the mother-in-law for passing on her fertility to a new
generation.
Traditionally the masungiro ritual takes place as soon as a young wife
discovers that she is pregnant. Hence the mother-in-law is thanked by
the son-in-law for passing fertility to the wife.
At this juncture, the beast for motherhood was the payment by which
the son-in-law declared that he recognised and appreciated the role
played by the mother-in-law in the development of his wife.
NB. The cow of motherhood is not seen as part of the bride wealth
proper but a special gift made by the son-in-law to his mother-in-law,
and through her ancestral spirits. This payment for the mother of the
bride (a cow, or its equivalent in cash) is very important symbolically,
and cannot be omitted.
After bridewealth has been paid or partly paid, the bride would be
accompanied by her Aunts /elder sisters to house of the groom. In the
Kukumbira customary practice, all these procedures are expected to be
done before the bride and groom experience any sexual contact with each
other except the roora that is paid over a long period of time.
The Bride welcome Ceremony.
When the bride moves to the grooms home, the grooms family
slaughter a beast to welcome the bride before the couple meets
sexually for the first time. This happens at the bridegrooms
homestead where the family, relatives and neighbours brew beer,
drink dance etc. This ceremony is called Mapururudzo.