Leaders of the Acholi Cultural Institution have commenced a campaign to publicize the new maximum bride price for traditional marriage following complaints from intending grooms about the high prices.
According to Alex Oyet the Coordinator of Acholi Cultural Institution in East Acholi, some parents were taking advantage and demanding as much as 30 Million or even 50 million shillings, which he says was discouraging many young men from getting married.
Oyet adds that since 2018, the institution has been holding meetings and consulting their subjects on a bride price ceiling, and in February this year, they started promoting the list of items needed for traditional marriage and their prices, and the amount in cash a man has to pay in dowry.
The price of a cow is now priced from 200,000 shillings to 500,000 shillings, and a goat has also been increased from 50,000 shillings to 100,000 shillings. While chicken, spear, and a bundle of tobacco leaves are all pieced at 10,000 shillings, plus 5 million shillings in cash.
Meanwhile, if a man intends to bring the bride price in kind, they are expected to pay 5 million in cash, nine goats, and six cows.
He however says that the document containing the price list is still being worked on, and that the summary which has been distributed to parishes and clan chiefs to start using also applies to blood compensation, locally known as culu kwo.
He explains that the high bride price had caused a lot of separation among couples and was making women produce children with more than one man, making them lose respect.
However, some clan leaders say there is a need to consult the locals more, after getting complaints from their locals.
The chief of Padibe clan in Lamwo district George Obol Otira says that although the Acholi chiefs had meetings on fixing a maximum bride price, the matter was not concluded after they got objections from the community.
Obita adds that after consulting his people, about 60 per cent of his subjects said the 5 million shillings are very low based on how much they spent educating their children.
For years, Obita says many people had gotten dowry higher than the 5 million thresholds, and the ceiling resolved by the cultural institution seems like a drastic cut.
Meanwhile, Faustino Owor the clan head of the fifteen clans in Agago district says his subjects, especially the girls who are career women are also against the 5 million shillings set by Acholi Cultural Institution.
According to Owor, the 5 million shillings should apply to girls who did not go far with their studies, not the well-read.
