CONTEXTUALIZATION OF POLYGAMY
Introduction
Someone may ask, what is Polygamy? It is a custom of having more than one wife and is a phenomenon with African people in almost all societies, acceptable and valid form of marriage. “It has existed from the time of Lamech, the first polygamist on earth, and the names of the wives are, Ada and Zillah.” (Genesis 4:19,23-24, NLT). A man with five or more wives will boast that he was the real man. He was looked upon with respect. This custom is widespread and has been in existence the whole of African countries like no other continent in the world, representing culture and religion. Surprisingly, polygamy was practiced by even the patriarchs and in Israel by people who knew and very close to God. Historical records regarding polygamy are found in the “Talmud and Mishnah, in the works of Jewish, and Christian historians of
It may be difficult to state whether it is increasing or decreasing, however, it remains significant and widespread phenomenon. But when one considers the economic situation in the world, Africa, and Zambia in particular, one needs to think twice whether to be a polygamist or not. One writer Landman (2010), acknowledges that polygamy is not condemned in the bible, and argues that, whatever the context of polygamy, the most important consideration is whether participants in relationship treat each other equally, which is not often the case on the side of the wife. Phiri (2006) suggests that polygamous and levirate marriages can be traced to the fact that the biblical stories were told, written and interpreted in a male dominated society. A more recent example is the President of South Africa Zuma, who married the sixth wife. While polygamy is legal in South Africa, it is losing popularity with young generation in the continent, though still practiced in some