Assessment on Observance of Essential Conditions of Marriage under Customary Marriage of Sidama, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Both the FDRE Constitution, which has supremacy all over the country, and the Revised Constitution of the SNNPRS hinted the laws giving recognition to the marriage concluded under the systems of customary laws to be enacted. Accordingly, the House of Peoples’ Representatives of the FDRE enacted the revised family code by revising provisions in Civil Code dealing with family matters. The council of the SNNPRS, on its part, enacted the family code applicable in the region. Under both family codes marriages concluded according to the custom are given recognition provided that the essential conditions set under them are observed. These essential conditions are consent, age, consanguinity, affinity, bigamy, judicial interdiction and observance of period of widowhood. This study, therefore, was conducted to evaluate whether the marriages concluded according to the custom of Sidama observe the essential conditions of marriage under the family code of the region. To this effect, the research employed combined method of interview and analysis of the statutes and secondary data on the customary marriage of Sidama. Besides, personal observations were also vital. The findings of the study revealed that the essential conditions of marriage under the family code are not observed while marriages are concluded according to the custom of Sidama, rendering the marriages susceptible to dissolution. Thus, all concerned organs are called to act towards the observance of the essential conditions of marriage while marriages are concluded according to the custom of Sidama as it majorly affects the rights of women and ultimately drags the nation into backwardness.