Woman in Kericho confronts daughter-in-law for 'poor cooking skills'

In any marriage, it is expected that a wife would play her conventional responsibilities related to homemaking. In a rather shocking move in Soin area, Kericho County, a raging mother stormed her son’s house and read her daughter-in-law the riot act.

The woman identified as Christine Kering, in her late sixties, among other allegations, accused her daughter-in-law of failing to cook often for her son, a certain Leonard. This she said had prompted him to make to do with frequent quick fixes such as plain rice and tea for supper.

The unidentified woman, who is reported to be lacking the best of cooking skills, does business selling second hand clothes wear. However, in what appears to have made worse an already bad situation, she is alleged to have joined political campaign trail, drumming up support for a female aspirant in the area.

This wasn’t amusing to the strict mother who felt the marriage had shortchanged her son. “How can you be campaigning while your home is deserted, you mean campaigns can be so important than your husband?” she demanded from her daughter-in-law.

The two women, who have been long nursing a cold war exchanged harsh words, as each tried to outsmart the other. The wife though stood her ground, accusing the mother of trying to wreck her marriage for petty reasons.

“Whether I cook or not is not an issue. Why are you complaining if my husband is not bothered?” she retorted. She went ahead and criticised the mother-in-law for enviously trying to drive a wedge between the husband and her.

According to a relative in the home, the wife adopts a ‘big head’ because she engages in business, which has boosted the family in supplementing what the husband, a teacher brings home. The man who is soft spoken, with a calm demeanor cooks for himself in most instances.

What pricked the heart of the mother–in-law most is that her daughter-in-law was returning home in the wee hours of the night. “What kind of a wife reports home in the dead of the night? If at all, a man is supposed to be coming home late not the other way round,” she inquired.

The simmering tension in the home is palpable; the husband though is reported to have tried to cover up for the embattled wife. This was to contain the rumour that his wife heads the home and wields immense power in decision making.

Christine nonetheless, has put the son’s wife on notice, warning her to mend her ways or she advises her son otherwise. The unapologetic wife vowed to move out of the home to spare them unnecessary intrusion by the overprotective mother.