Polygamy in Africa - Polygamy is
accepted in so many African countries like Nigeria, South African,
Ghana, Sudan, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Chad, etc - The polygamy has existed in
all over the African continent thanks to the fact that it represents an
aspect of their culture and religion. These types of marriages have been
more present in the whole history of Africa like no other continent in
the world. One of the reasons why this has happened is because the
African societies have managed to see that children were a form of
wealth and this way a family with more children was considered to be
more powerful. Under these circumstances the polygamy in Africa was
considered to be part of the way you could build an empire.
It is
after the colonial era in Africa has appeared the polygamy has started
to be perceived as a taboo, as this was one of the things imported along
with the colonists that took over some regions of Africa. Some people
are saying that there was also an economic reason why this has happened:
there were many issues of property ownership that conflicted a lot with
the European colonial interest.
Previously, polygamy was very popular in the west part of Africa, but as the Islam has started to diffuse in this region, the prevalence of polygamy has started to continuously reduce due to the restrictions that appeared to the number of wives.
Giving an instance polygamy is very widespread across Kenya and right now one of the most prominent single individual that is popularizing this practice is Akuku Danger who as managed to become famous thanks to the fact that he is married with over 100 wives.
Though people are thinking about the fact that South Africa is by far one of the most developed countries in the region, there are still many traditionalists out there that are constantly practicing polygamy. Even the president of South Africa: Jacob Zuma is declaring openly that he agrees with plural marriages and he is currently married to 3 wives. And at the same time he has 20 children with these and the two previous wives that he had in the past.
There are so many countries that practice polygamy. Another country where the polygamy is accepted is Sudan. Under these circumstances the Sudanese president: Omar Hassan al-Bashir has always sustained polygamy and he says that these multiple marriages are one of the options available for Sudan in order to increase its population.
Looking at it in general, the polygamy in Africa is a very common practice that you are going to find all over Africa, but it tends to be more popular especially in the West African countries. This practice is very common among the animist and the Muslim communities. For example in Senegal there are almost 47% of the marriages where they feature more than one woman. In the Arab nations the percentages are even higher and there is also the Bedouin population that you can find in Israel, where around 30% of them are part of multiple marriages. And along with all that there are also the Mormon fundamentalists who also live in polygamous families.
Source: http://www.polygamy.com/polygamy-in-africa.html
Previously, polygamy was very popular in the west part of Africa, but as the Islam has started to diffuse in this region, the prevalence of polygamy has started to continuously reduce due to the restrictions that appeared to the number of wives.
Giving an instance polygamy is very widespread across Kenya and right now one of the most prominent single individual that is popularizing this practice is Akuku Danger who as managed to become famous thanks to the fact that he is married with over 100 wives.
Though people are thinking about the fact that South Africa is by far one of the most developed countries in the region, there are still many traditionalists out there that are constantly practicing polygamy. Even the president of South Africa: Jacob Zuma is declaring openly that he agrees with plural marriages and he is currently married to 3 wives. And at the same time he has 20 children with these and the two previous wives that he had in the past.
There are so many countries that practice polygamy. Another country where the polygamy is accepted is Sudan. Under these circumstances the Sudanese president: Omar Hassan al-Bashir has always sustained polygamy and he says that these multiple marriages are one of the options available for Sudan in order to increase its population.
Looking at it in general, the polygamy in Africa is a very common practice that you are going to find all over Africa, but it tends to be more popular especially in the West African countries. This practice is very common among the animist and the Muslim communities. For example in Senegal there are almost 47% of the marriages where they feature more than one woman. In the Arab nations the percentages are even higher and there is also the Bedouin population that you can find in Israel, where around 30% of them are part of multiple marriages. And along with all that there are also the Mormon fundamentalists who also live in polygamous families.
Source: http://www.polygamy.com/polygamy-in-africa.html