Polygamy is good only for African Men, African Churches should abolish it

African Catholic Voices

Rose Egolet, Ugandan humanitarian, and grassroots women mobiliser based in Moshe, Tanzania, challenges the notion that polygamy is a good cultural practice in Africa that should be accepted today. He agrees with the view of one of our listeners, Amainini Regina Matambanazo, that no one should ever endorse polygamy in Africa because of issues arising from polygamous marriages-jealousy, hatred, and extramarital relationships, dishonesty and even witchcraft among the wives. For Rose, polygamy is a sign of the asymmetrical power relationships between male and female in marriages in traditional society, in which men get a better part of the deal and women bear the brunt. Polygamy, she argues, is a violation of the rights, and dignity of women. Marital love is exclusive and the New Testament ideal according to Rose, should be upheld because it shows the exclusive and unitive nature of marriage between a man and a woman (not women). African churches should abolish polygamy rather than promote it through rituals in some Zionist churches or through the writings of some African theologians who are defending this practice.