16 Mar 2014

Gerald Customary Court President, Mr Paul Motshwane has blamed high bride prices for cohabitation in Botswana.

Addressing a cluster policing evaluation meeting held at Matsiloje kgotla recently, Mr Motshwane said parents often demanded exorbitant amounts for bride price, which some men could not afford.

As a result many resorted to living together.

‘We are not saying that there shouldn’t be a bride price, rather we are trying to urge parents to be reasonable when charging as this is a token of appreciation not a way to extort money from people”, he stressed.

He called for standardisation of the bride price across the country saying this would assist in the fight against cohabitation.

Mr Motshwane said cohabitation was a serious challenge, which they as crime prevention committees were fighting to reduce in the country.

“Parents are also allowing their children to cohabit because of the benefits they get from the unmarried couple”, he said.

He also said cohabitation was responsible for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.

Mr Motshwane also said they were working together with dikgosi from different villages to disseminate information through kgotla meetings.

Matsiloje became the first village to hold a kgotla meeting specific to cohabitation. Mr Motshwane also informed women not to assume that having a child in a relationship was a licence to cohabit.

Matsiloje Station Commander, Superintendent Obert Manji said they received numerous cases of assault and abuse cases from cohabiting couples in their area.

He said poor women seeking financial assistance were more likely to resort to cohabitation to fulfill their financial needs.

On other issues, Superintendent. Manji urged villagers to refrain from cohabitation as it also affected how children’s upbringing as in most cases children tended to be rebellious when they grew up under such arrangements. ENDS