Welcome to this week’s post, for the past weeks the issue of Lobola has been trending on Twitter and Facebook. The reason why it was trending is because of the Lobola list that was circulating on Twitter and Facebook .The list received a lot of back lash and speculation by Zimbabweans. The Lobola ceremony is one of those Shona Ceremonies which has managed to survive all these years .Some would say Lobola has lost its essence but with others saying times have changed so who are we to say that Lobola has lost its value.
Lobola / Roora is the customary token paid by the groom-to-be when he is about to marry his bride- to- be to his in-laws.The word token means something given in exchange of something but usually it is viewed as a form of appreciation or as form of thank you. I strongly believe that these days Lobola is no longer a token of appreciation it’s more of "I raised your wife", "l paid her fees up to University","She going to be take care of your family with the degree I paid for so you must pay me back my money kind of thing"and last but not least "We want everyone to know that our daughter was really married".
These days Lobola is no longer a token for appreciation to the bride’s parents for raising the bride-to-be and to unite the two different families its more the bride family wanting to get rich through Lobola because of the amounts that the families are charging In this day and age some families have started asking for money in USD and for instance in Zimbabwe with the prevailing economic conditions it is impossible for an ordinary Zimbabwean men to roora with USD.
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