This archive report was first published on 18 July 2019.
Kenyan Women Marrying Two Husbands: A Societal Shift ¶
Published on July 18, 2019
Kenya has witnessed a rare spectacle in the past two months, with women openly declaring their marriages to two husbands. Polyandry, a marital relationship where a woman is married to multiple men, has been practiced in Kenya, sparking debate on whether women should be free to marry more than one man.
According to lawyer Jemimah Keli, polyandry is a social engineering caused by changes in the society over time. She notes that women can say they are more empowered now, to the extent they can accommodate two men, while men may feel like they require help.
"When a society evolves, all manner of dangers will arise, and there is good and bad about it. Women can say they are more empowered now, to the extent they can accommodate two men, while men may feel like they require help. For example, the second man in the Makueni case said he moved in because the other man was weak or was sick," Keli says.
However, Kiambu woman representative Gathoni wa Muchomba and Rev Vincent Mulwa of the Christ Pilgrimage Restoration Centre say men in such unions are abnormal and devoid of manliness. Wa Muchomba argues that men accepting to be co-husbands are grossly inept because "no cock wants to share".
The MP says the rise of women in control of their homes and society, and the lack of role models in society for the boy child, is also a factor in declining masculinity. She notes that the boy child lacks exposure to manliness, citing an example where she found only one male teacher at a primary school.
"Recently I was at Ndumberi Primary School, where I was celebrating victory of a team that had excelled in dancing competitions at the national level. To my shock, I found only one male teacher at the school, the headmaster. So tell me, who are all the children in that school looking up to? Just the female teachers," she said.
