DAR ES SALAAM: “NDOA si mchezo.” We have heard those words for generations. Parents tell them to their children. Religious leaders repeat them before couple’s exchange vows.
Elders invoke them whenever they speak about family life. We all agree that marriage is serious, yet few stop to ask why. Perhaps it is because, somewhere between planning the wedding and preparing for married life, we forget that marriage is more than a celebration.
It is more than elegant attire, family gatherings, beautiful venues or picture-perfect moments shared on Instagram. It is one of the most important legal institutions a person will ever enter. Ironically, despite its legal significance, many people begin marriage knowing more about wedding trends than about the law that will govern their relationship.
Social media has become an unofficial classroom on marriage. ALSO READ: Why TZ must turn SADC industrialisation week into an investment revolution TikTok videos promise to teach women how to “secure the bag.” Instagram glorifies the soft life, Facebook debates focus on who deserves what after divorce and WhatsApp groups circulate advice on protecting wealth or claiming it. Yet when opinions are repeated often enough, they begin to sound like law.
As a result, some people enter marriage believing they automatically become entitled to everything their spouse owns. Others hide investments, bank accounts and land for fear they will lose them if the marriage ends. Ironically, both groups are responding to the same misunderstanding: neither is responding to the law.
Marriage does not erase ownership The starting point is Section 58 of the Law of Marriage Act, Cap 29 R.E. Contrary to popular belief, marriage does not automatically merge the property of two people into one. The law recognises that each spouse may own separate property.
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