When an Upper Customary Court of Kaduna State, Kafanchan Division in an unparalleled verdict held that bride price could only be returned if a husband could return a woman’s body to the pre-marriage condition, little did people know that there is an existing supreme court judgment which said the refund of bride-price under customary law unconstitutional.
Apparently, a Ugandan Supreme Court had since August 2015 held that the refund of bride-price contravened the constitution.
On 6 August 2015 the news ── Uganda Bride Price Refund Outlawed by Top Judges hit the headlines.
DW reports that in a 6-1 decision, the apex court of Uganda held that demanding a refund of a “bride price” – the traditional custom of exchanging money, cows or goods for a wife was unconstitutional.
The justices ruled that a man doesn’t have the right to claim repayment from his spouse’s family if the marriage ends. Husbands often expect the dowry to be returned in cases of dissolution of the marriage.
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