No gold no marriage

By Boniface Ongeri

In a community where 25-year-old women are expected to have husbands and children to boot, Mumina, 36, is single.

By her own account, potential suitors have not met a key condition that has gained currency among young marriageable women in North Eastern Province — a set of gold jewellery.

"No gold, no marriage," says Mumina, who wished to be identified by her first name only.

Somali women celebrate during a modern Somali wedding recently. [PHOTO: boniface ongeri]

Such houses built for would-be wives litter the province. The houses are wryly called ‘Taj Mahal’, a comparison of the princely castle emperor Shar Jahan built in memory of his favourite third wife Mumtaz Mahal who died during birth.

But why the gold crazes?

"The demand is aimed at minimising divorce which is very rampant here", Halima Mohammed a resident of Mandera said. "What man would contemplate leaving you after such investment?" she posed.

Wajir District Kadhi Mohammed Abdalla said while the rate of divorce was worryingly high it was no excuse to make such exorbitant demands.

"What happens if they don’t happen to separate? Marriage is supposed to be a permanent undertaking. The gold demand could be surety or security the banks ask for before granting a loan", Abdalla who is also the Mandera acting kadhi said.

provide for the family

He said most of the divorces he grants are as a result of a husband not able to provide for the family.

Demand for gold and furniture could also have been triggered by the sporadic drought and diseases that usually claim thousands of livestock — the region’s economic life blood. There has been no guaranteed market for the animals after European Union banned Kenyan livestock products in 2003 on claims that Kenya was unable to control animal diseases and maintain health standards.

The lavish weddings and the demand for gold bears the hallmark of Indian marriage traditions. Before Nigerian movies became favourites some three years ago, the province was choked with Indian movies which many young women stayed indoors watching.

The splendour exhibited in the Indian weddings they watched must have made them aspire for similar treatment.

The Times News Magazine reports that India buys at least a fifth of all world’s gold each year making it the largest consumer of the precious metal.

This is due to the fact that most of the Hindu numerous gods are carved in gold.

Experts quoted in the magazine estimated that 15, 000 to 20, 000 tones of bars, ingots and jewellery is locked in Indian bank vaults and household safes.

Many people who mistrust banks and local stock markets, the magazine reported, regard gold as a tangible asset.

In North Eastern Province, some vocal religious leaders are accusing parents of ‘inciting’ their daughters and ‘commercialising’ marriages.

"Low cost wedding is blessed. The love for gold could leave many young men and women without spouses," Sheikh Mursal said.

This is dangerous as it is likely to lead young men to immorality and spread of HIV/Aids, he said.

Dowries As A Gift

However, he noted that women have a religious backing in their demand for gold. "Allah (God) says in An-Nisaa 4: And give women their dowries as a gift. Then, if they are pleased to give some of it to you, consume it with good health and enjoyment."

The desire for gold is unlikely to subside as Somalia nationals and Kenyan Somalis in the Diaspora don’t mind spending," Mursal said.

"When the Somalis in the Diaspora appear on the scene the stakes are raised. Young men who have been around give way because they know it is fight they cannot start, as they can’t win.

Now many shops are stocked with gold to cash in on the trend.

A Jeweller in Garissa says he knows of families broken up by gold.

"But it is good business for us," he says jovially.