Communal recognition replaced by state ordinance
In the most fundamental of senses, the certification the modern African state gives to married individuals is similar to a communal recognition of the status of the individual.
However, marriage by ordinance carries certain interpretations that a simple pre-colonization communal recognition does not.
For instance, one cannot marry more than one other person at a time under the ordinance.
The responsibilities of married people to the state (or community), such as taxation, as well as the conditions under which a marriage may be ended, are affected by the ordinance too.
