Africa’s marriages of convenience

Last week, Chad’s President Idriss Deby made one of the most significant ‘deals’ in the country’s history when he married the daughter of Sudan's Janjaweed militia leader Musa Hilal. Included on the list of dignitaries attending this momentous event was Sudan’s leader Omar al-Bashir, in fact he represented the bride. Bear in mind that relations between Sudan and Chad have been volatile over the years, with each accusing the other of sponsoring rebels to fight the other’s government.

The marriage could finally bring an end to proxy wars and begin projects to rebuild their troubled borders.

There are many cases in Africa where the marriage between two individuals act as the best safeguard to a country’s interests.

In Deby’s example, any thoughts that they married for love are quickly done away with when it emerges that the groom wasn’t even present at the ceremony! Forget bilateral agreements and treaties which can easily be ignored by Africa’s leaders, the marriages of convenience present a deeper bond and a constant reminder of where their loyalties and interests should lie.

Take South African President Jacob Zuma for example. Since 2002, he has been engaged to Sebentile Dlamini, the niece of Swaziland’s King Mswati.

During the 1980s, Zuma was particularly close to the Swazi royal family and during his rape trial, the senior Swazi prince Mfanasibili Dlamini spoke out publicly in support of the South African leader.

This loyalty could have been what pushed Zuma to engage himself with the young princess. However, there are other interests at play. It is well known that, Zuma’s party, the African National Congress’ investment vehicle, Chancellor House Holdings, holds a 75 per cent stake in the Maloma Colliery, an anthracite mine in Swaziland.

The Bongos of Gabon have also made marriages of convenience a staple in their dynastic nation. The daughter of the Republic of Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso married Omar Bongo in 1990. Their union was reportedly viewed politically as an example of cooperation between the two countries.

In some cases, marriages made a statement for Africa’s rulers. Kwame Nkrumah, the man who oversaw Ghana’s independence from Britain, and went on to lead, took an Egyptian bride. Their son Gamal Nkrumah stated that “it was a political union between Mediterranean-oriented North Africa and the rest of the continent”.

Meanwhile, Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, known for his concerted efforts in maintaining a close relationship with France, married Chantal, whose father is a French expatriate.

Intermarriage has its role in various African cultures and its traditional purposes do not seem to have died out. As many African nations continue to ignore the international laws which they have signed, such as the Rome Statute ad the UN Declaration of Human Rights, perhaps these treaty relationships offer a better solution.