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Getting married? This is how to calculate dowry

  • The problem with Kenyan fathers is that they insist on outrageous bride prices, yet their daughters, have had their “legs broken” by someone else.
  • The rule of the thumb seems to be that the father must be reimbursed all the money that went towards the daughter’s education - from kindergarten to post-graduate - with some interest, before he can bless the union.

The daughter in turn will demand a colourful wedding, the kind Swahili news anchors term as “ya kukatana shoka!” which her pals will talk about for days on end. I think we should break the mould. Just after independence when virginity was greatly prized, it made sense to pay a million cows in exchange for a woman.

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