The new fee away from bridewealth uses up a significant status regarding the relationships processes across ethnicities from inside the northern Ghana, and additionally Dagaaba, Frafra and you may Builsa regions. Among the many Dagaaba, new bridewealth, kyeuri, generally comprises eg items since libi-pe?le (cowrie shells, discover Shape step 1), fowls, cig and soda crazy. Occasionally, the level of cowrie shells need to be commensurate with whatever is covered the fresh new bride’s mommy. In other period, ties off solidarity between the household or settlements of one’s bride to be and you can groom produce a reduction in this new payment, assuming this new bride’s agnatic kin dictate you to definitely in past times brand new groom’s members of the family energized a leading brideprice having a married relationship, he or she is gonna also insist upon an excessive fee. Nevertheless, there are also standardised wedding repayments across the Dagaaba setup. At the moment, an average of 2000 cowries, or cash similar, are usually recognized because the bridewealth during the Serekpere and its own environs. So it count stands for a great grave avoidance off some 20,000 and a lot more than cowries which had been recognized in the same town regarding 1990’s. Into the perspective of neoliberal monetary regulations, and you can dwindling farming efficiency levels inside fragile environmental area, the communications that have gatekeepers showed that this new cutback to the count from cowries is meant to make matrimony reasonable. Which reduced the bridewealth diverges regarding most commercialised costs said in the urban areas during the Ghana and you may somewhere else (Shope, Site Shope 2006; Posel & Rudwick, Resource Posel and you can Rudwick 2013). Notably, brand new fee isn’t contingent abreast of the fresh new affairs of your bride-to-be, that’s, perhaps the fiance is extremely educated, separated, has already given beginning or otherwise not since the stated somewhere else (Borgerhoff Mulder, Site Borgerhoff Mulder 1989, Resource Borgerhoff Mulder 1995; Anderson, Source Anderson 2007). The brand new traditional norms governing the technique of bridewealth are prepared out when the negotiable aside from the fresh new bride’s socio-financial condition or perhaps the amount of legal rights directed.
The previous as well as begs on the behalf of the brand new groom’s kinsmen if new bride’s family unit members are seeking in order to charge an excessive brideprice
Generally speaking, a married relationship liaison is a guy from the groom’s town who has some relationships in the bride’s settlement. The dendeo prospects the newest groom’s family unit members on bride’s agnatic kin, very first to help you officially require their unique submit relationship also to pay the brideprice. The brand new connections of the dendeo to your bride’s family imply that aforementioned try considerate towards groom and his awesome kin. Once the bridewealth could have been gone to live in and accepted of the bride’s kin, the marriage commitment is created and you will legitimated.
Brand new bridewealth one of the Dagaaba, just like the across the communities in rural northern Ghana, are a complex procedure for negotiations between the agnatic kin regarding the latest bride and groom and, normally, a 3rd party, called a great dendeo, a wedding liaison
Normatively, the fresh yirdandoo, your face of one’s loved ones, as opposed to the father of bride, ‘s the custodian of your cowries lead just like the wedding money. Within a group conversation inside the Nator, near Serekpere, exhibiting the newest part of your direct of your own clan, Mwinyella, research fellow member, told me, leading to his paternal buddy who is your mind of their clan, that: ‘so it people are my father and therefore once i wed they is their responsibility so you’re able to [afford the bridewealth] for me’. But really, to have family members without info appointed because the bridewealth, the fresh groom and his awesome agnatic kin are responsible for raising it. Anderson ( Reference Anderson 2007: 159) profile you to definitely into the configurations all over Africa, the marriage commission is actually normatively raised by the groom’s ‘father, daddy and you will dad’s brothers, sufficient reason for mom’s brothers making small contributions’. That it changes, to an extent, on the Dagaaba account date Lille women shown right here. But really they resonates that have bridewealth means certainly one of specific Frafra congeries, where normatively new groom’s dad and dad’s brothers are responsible for paying the bridewealth and where he is incapable of increase it the newest bridegroom turns in order to their dad’s or mother’s brothers to have help.