08 Jul 2013

Women have been urged to be both assertive and resolute in the course of fighting for their rights.

In his keynote address at the solemnisation of marriages for 15 couples organised by Re A Nyalana Society in Themashanga on July 4, Kgosi Paul Motshwane of Gerald Estates customary court in Francistown said it was disheartening that women continued to trade their rights for economic sustenance by men. That, he said, was despite many opportunities that women could tap into to break the cycle of dependence on men.

Kgosi Motshwane said although many women who entered into and remained in some love relationships for the sole reason of being provided for by men would deny that their actions were tantamount to engaging in transactional sex; that remained an indisputable fact about which something ought to be done as a matter of urgency to restore their dignity.

Thus, he urged the couples to hold in high regard the institution of marriage into which they had entered, further challenging them to encourage their children to also shun cohabitation. He also implored those still cohabiting to emulate the newlywed couples whose being advanced in age did not deter them from entering into marriage.

District Commissioner Rapetse Mathumo of the North East District called on couples to uphold the sacredness of the marriage institution, also making them aware that although Biblically the man was the head of the family, according to the laws of Botswana the husband and wife enjoyed equal rights in marriage.

For his part, Pastor Sonny Chiliwa noted that cohabitation was a serious challenge with far-reaching consequences, hence the need for society to stand together and fight it. He said the many cases of a surviving partner being stripped of their property by greedy relatives when the other passed on were indicative of the rot that cohabitation had brought about.

Thus, he challenged those still cohabiting to marry in order to protect each other’s rights as well as those of their children. Pastor Chiliwa also cautioned couples, especially husbands, to avoid infidelity, noting that some men in society were in the habit of using matrimonial resources such as money on extra-marital affairs.

When welcoming guests, Themashanga’s Kgosi Manji Thaba observed that the instability in some marriages of young couples was fuelled by the fact that since in some cases the parents were cohabiting, it was often difficult for them to advise their children on issues pertaining to marriage.

Thus, he urged parents to be exemplary to their children by entering into marriage and conducting their family affairs in a respectable manner. In a bid to end cohabitation in Botswana, Re A Nyalana Society, which was established in Kgatleng District in September 2011, has already helped many elderly people who were cohabiting to marry.

The society has so far conducted mass weddings in Bokaa, Nata, Changate, with the latest being held in Themashanga in the North East District. ENDS