Last year, Molefhi proposed that Section 5 of the Bill be amended by substituting the words “husband as head of the family” with “husband as an administrator of the joint family estate”.
He agrees with the general principle of the Bill, but he strongly believes that Section 5 alienates a certain section of the community, particularly the Christians who solemnise marriages through the Marriage Act.
“There is no separate law which Christians use to facilitate their marriage ceremonies, therefore the introduction of the abolition of the position of the husband as head of the family reads contrary to the Christian values, which do not necessarily imply subjugation of wives in a marriage relationship,” said Molefhi.
He stressed that the position of the husband is a socio-cultural, hierarchical and institutional arrangement, which requires the husband to be responsible and accountable for all matters of his family. “This therefore means that the power associated with the position of the husband should be separated from the authority which the relationship bestowed upon the spouse.”
The MP said that the country should accommodate both cultural and Christian views without necessarily diminishing the intended values of the Bill.
He maintains that it would mean that the Christian marriage officers whose family values are anchored on the premise that the husband is the head of the family, will now be required to comply with the new law which is contrary to their faith.
“There should be a dispensation to accommodate those religious expressions. In Botswana, the entire process of marriage is based on our cultural arrangements and the demarcation between the cultural arrangements and the common law requirement is not ordinarily understood by the general public,” he said. He fears that the new law might de-motivate those who had plans to marry and hence a thorough public education is needed to help people understand what its implications are. He said should the Bill become law in its current form, undesirable harm would result to the spiritual tenets of the overwhelming majority of Botswana Christians and Setswana family value systems.
