By Mkala Mwaghesha
An elderly woman caused embarrassment to her daughter and family when she refused to attend her daughter’s wedding last weekend.
The wedding, which took place in Majengo area, Mombasa County, was one of the many that were slotted on the weekend just before Ramadan commenced.
According to close sources, the woman said she was not prepared to lose her daughter to an alleged serial divorcee, who was has been marrying before every Ramadan since 2009, only to abandon his ‘wives’ immediately the Holy Month ended.
“This (the bride) is my youngest daughter and I’m not prepared to take her back in August,” she lamented. “I would rather she remains a spinster than marry that dog.”
Bride price
The groom, a wealthy fellow and well known in Mombasa’s social circles, had hastily arranged the wedding, having met the young woman a few weeks earlier. He had met the bride’s family for introductions and paid the full amount of the required bride price on the spot. This had raised suspicions, but since it is common for many men to marry before the Holy Month, it was accepted.
Opposition from the bride’s mother, who had dug around and discovered the groom’s checkered past, was fruitless as she was seen as a nosy impediment to a blissful matrimony for the two ‘lovebirds’.
“They did not want to listen to me because I’m a woman,” she said. “Wait until this man abandons my daughter then they’ll know I was right. Lakini harusi siendi (But I’m not going for that wedding).”
Her defiance did not stop the fanfare that was the celebration, with a live taarab band providing the music, and a well-known catering service providing sumptuous meals.
“How can a mother refuse the honours of attending her last daughter’s wedding?” a woman was heard saying.
“Anamkazia mwanawe tu! (She is just being mean to her daughter),” she added.
