Return to sender: Why Kenyan men are demanding bride price refunds

James Mayaka famously demanded for his bride price back

You must have heard of James Mayaka. If you haven’t, he’s the secondary school teacher in Kisii who did what most men would think twice about: demanding refund of bride price.

While in years gone by Mayaka would have dispatched some wazee to his wife’s rural home to renegotiate reimbursement, the 45-year-old went to court. The father of two successfully sued for compensation and refund of bride price after his wife, Everline Kerubo, for whom he paid college fees, eloped with another man after five years of marriage.