The BBC reports that in a document allegedly written by the Department of Religious Affairs of the East African country, polygamy for Eritreans is no longer a matter of choice.
By law, the men are now required to marry at least two wives, or face life imprisonment with hard labour. Similarly, women who attempt to prevent their husbands from exercising the law would spend the rest of their lives in jail.
According to the document, which has been circulating over the internet, the government of Eritrea, which is currently facing a shortage of male population following the civil war with Ethiopia, is willing to cover the necessary wedding and accommodation expenses in a show of good faith towards fulfilling the set mission. The memo is yet to receive official verification or be re-produced in the country’s other national languages.
Eritrea was at war with Ethiopia from 1998 to 2000, resulting from a dispute over borders. The situation between both countries within this period remained hostile and the feeling carried on well after a peace deal was signed in 2000. The war cost Eritrea about 150,000 soldiers which ultimately affected its male population, as the country is populated by only about four million people.
A quick look at the reason behind why the Eritrean government would brazenly interfere in the lives of its citizens shows both a religious and historical backing. Polygamy – or more precisely as in this case, polygyny – is not the reserve of any one religion or culture, as history proves. Its foundation in religions such as Islam, Christianity, Judaism, among others, is built on incidences where there were casualties of war or fatalities and a need to repopulate the affected societies.
Thus, while the ideology behind the Eritrean government’s latest decision is understandable, it certainly does not create an excuse for coercion in such matters. The Qur’an categorically states that polygamy must not be forced upon anyone and should only be practiced when convenient for the parties involved.
The Qur’an permits a man to marry up to four wives, provided he can support and treat them all equally. Muslims regard this Qur’anic command as strengthening the status of women and the family for it sought to ensure the welfare of single women and widows in a society whose male population was diminished by warfare, and to curb unrestricted polygamy (John Esposito: Islam the Straight Path, p.97).
Regardless, contemporary times have witnessed a shift from polygamous societies to more monogamous and ‘free’ ones. Therefore, forcing citizens of a country to participate or face legal consequences is far from acceptable.
In 2014, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta legalized polygamy, with no limit on the number of wives that a man can marry. Due to this event, Kenyans are reportedly lauding the decision of the Eritrean government on the matter. Other African countries where polygamy remains illegal include Ghana, Ethiopia, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Angola, Tunisia, Rwanda, and Burundi.
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In Zambia we have dual citizenship, those who feel are men especially from south can apply for citizenship and go and hammer hard there, while your original wife is being hammered here at home until you come back. Foolish governments such can be the case with hh’s. No-sense.
Nkani yalula
they will only allow the indiigenous people not an allien from another planet
Hello haters and all tongas to go to Eritrea now
Abena Tutu atishani landenipo tumfwe nabena denkete atishani ka comment kaili. Eritrea here I coooommmmeeee !!!!
iwe where is my passport??!! what a great dvlpment Ku Eritrea!! since ni dual citzenship pa zed,nalachita apply bwangu bwangu f uck the UK!! anso ine naba nomupowe wine wine uwafunda,uwachindama ala uwachipale,just one tombix nakafuma ka mwansa!! when muliokela takes over,these will be the high priority matters will be looking at!
Let it b extended 2 zed hahaha
just check the net and see how beautiful Eritrean women are then you will find the reasons to marry more than one wife.
Examine God’s sexism
If you would like to prove to yourself that God is imaginary, here is one easy way to do it: Look for places in the Bible where God is an absurd, unmitigated jerk instead of the “all-knowing”, “all-loving”, being that he is supposed to be. The utter contradiction proves that God is imaginary.
God makes no mention of forming any sort of covenant with women.
There are many other examples that we can find in the Bible:
In Matthew 25:1 Jesus says: “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.”
In John 20:17 Jesus says to Mary: “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father,” as though the touch of a woman is somehow improper, but a few verses later, is happy to have Thomas touch him.
In Genesis chapter 3, God punishes Eve, and all women for thousands of years, with greatly increased pain during childbirth. No such pain is inflicted on Adam.
In Ephesians 5:22-24 we find this: “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.”
In 1 Peter 3:7 we find: “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”
In 1 John 2:13, John says, “I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father.” No mention is made of women.
And so on. There are many, many examples like these throughout the old and new testaments.
There are other, broader examples of misogyny that are readily apparent in the Bible as well:
Are any of Jesus’ disciples women? No.
Are any of the elders in the book of Revelation women? No.
Are any of the books of the Bible written by women? No.
Etc…
God, it would seem, wants nothing to do with women.
To any unbiased observer, the reason for sexism in the Bible is very easy to understand: The Bible was not written by a “all-knowing”, “all-loving”, “fully-enlightened” “god”. It was written by primitive men who were flagrant sexists. Just look at how men in primitive countries like Afghanistan treat women today.Those are the kind of men who wrote the Bible.
men are few even pa
zed no wander women these days turning into something else even fighting for a man.ileteni pa zed naine ninga nvele bwino.
Lets stick to zambian culture,in da last days pipo wil be mislead,false prophets will appear,pipo who understand da word in fresh nt in spriti will teach false messages,jst win numbers of arleady pure souls,so kip yr eyes and ears open or else!
“The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good”. NIV Psalm 14:1
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows”. NIV Galatians 6:7
it seems to me you want to blame God for your miserable life,for once change your thinking and make the best out of your life.
Your argument above is out of complete ignorance or wanton biase, you need to make a distinction between whats cultural and whats scriptural in the bible. The scriptural truth is whats important to you and me. No where in the bible does it claim that all the people in it were perfect beings and neither are you and me.
Your negative opinion of GOD wont change a thing. God does not need your vote or approval and least of all he wont force you to acknowledge him.
Find a productive thing or theme and stay with it,
“Let the wise say AMEN”
They must have their own lungu there as a president who is so useless that he cannot analyse the law and its implications. These are the lungu type of leaders who just wake up and dream up a law then weeks later reverse them because they are not sustainable in the current times. Lack of priorities in poor nations. It seems poor brains are running that country. Here in zambia the people have woken up and are voting in change. upnd bane
fyakupapa!!!!