Battle for the soul of Taita Taveta: Why Taita girls are marrying 'outsiders'

The battle for the soul of Taita is not limited to the erosion of their culture through assimilation or intermarriage. Commentators on cultural issues say it is deeper than that. [iStockphoto] In the lush hills of Taita, what started as a silent battle has evolved into an all-out war. Begun as the fight against culture erosion and illicit brew, but it's now a battle for the soul of Taitas. A battle against the growing trend of Taita girls, famed for their yellow skin texture, obedience, and cooking, increasingly attracted to 'outsiders' rather than men from their tribe. No empirical evidence to support the perception, but online conversation in June 2025, by Taita-Taveta Governor Andrew Mwadime reignited the debate whose fire has engulfed social media. In a speech, Mwadime decried that beautiful and submissive Taita girls were being married by people from outside, leaving the natives with only short and quarrelsome girls. ALSO READ: A society where children defined marriage The social media went crazy after a Canadian-based lawyer, Dr Miguna Miguna, also questioned why Luo men were leaving women from the tribes to marry outsiders, especially Taita girls. For example, Kisumu Governor Prof Anyang'o's wife, Dorothy Nyong'o, mother of celebrated actress Lupita Nyong'o, is said to be from Taita. So is Langata MP Felix Oduwour, alias Jalang'o's wife. "We are seeing people coming, getting married to our very beautiful girls, and leaving short ones for us. Who said the short are not beautiful and are quarrelsome?" said Mwadime in a viral video. The battle for the soul of Taita is not limited to the erosion of their culture through assimilation or intermarriage. Commentators on cultural issues say it is deeper than that. Taita Taveta County is also suffering from the vice of alcoholism. Tales of illicit brew addictions among the community are legendary, dating back to the pre-colonial period. "Taitas are very obedient people, but their only problem is excessive love for alcohol," an unnamed colonialist is said to have remarked. It is an old piece of piece of folklore that is retold in many bars in Taita Taveta. In his many public talks, Justice Msagha Mbogholi, who hails from the Taita Taveta, has also concurred with the white settler's assertion. He agreed that the problem persists decades later. "Many Taita men are addicted to alcohol and cannot effectively participate in any meaningful development pursuit, as they have been rendered unproductive by excessive drinking," said Mbogholi. In a past interview, Mbogholi said the first study on excessive consumption, Mbangara, was done by a European scholar in 1907. The researcher concluded that it was an obsession among Taita men. Equally, a joke is retold that whenever Taita leaders trooped to State House, Mombasa, to air the tribe's issues to President Jomo Kenyatta, they got drunk on free alcohol and forgot their mission. And it appears alcoholism is still rife among the Taita, decades later. Local leaders blame alcoholism for impotence, divorce, poverty, crime, rape, defilement, and incest in the community. However, Taita Taveta County Commissioner Josephine Onunga also blames the sale of the cheap traditional brews like Mbangara and Changaa for the moral crossroads Taita Taveta finds itself in. As one walks in remote villages, scenes of drunk men sleeping on the wayside are common. The trail of destruction and poverty left behind by alcoholism is evident. Last week, women leaders protested in Taita, saying alcoholism had led to a drop in birth rate and fertility per family. They said illicit brew had also led to poor education standards and development. Security agents are struggling to stop second-generation and traditional brews from Tanzania. Taita Taveta is along the Tanzania border, which has gained notoriety as the transit route for illegal ethanol. In one of the recent incidents, a retired civil servant attempted to commit suicide after losing Sh20,000, his pension arrears, while on a drinking spree in Wundanyi town. Alcohol abuse is now a recognised issue in the region, with studies showing significant links to marital instability, family breakdown, and rising gender-based violence (GBV) cases. Woman Representative Lydia Haika says there is a direct correlation between the loss of moral values and GBVs in Taita Taveta County. At a recent forum, the legislator chaired at Werugha Social, they were told how poor communication and lack of seduction skills among young men are responsible for rising GBVs, which were never experienced before. In a forum organised by Haika, girls lamented that the majority of the young men are unable to adequately express themselves while luring women, with some of them resorting to committing femicide, rape, defilement, incest, and sodomy as a measure to satisfy their sexual desires. "The majority of the young men are weak and introverted and have resorted to shortcuts to meet their sexual demands," noted a local youth. Last week, Ms Haika enlisted the help of other women reps in the battle against cases of GBV, incest, rape, and femicide in the county under her Wezesha Mama campaign. Data indicate that in the last year, Taita Taveta reported a total of 157 cases of GBV. A recent case is of a Standard Six pupil who was defiled and murdered in cold blood in Taita Sub-County. According to the police and women leaders, the victim was defiled and brutally murdered on June 8th this year in the nearby fish pond at Kese village in Taita Sub-County, in an apparent attempt to disguise the crime as a drowning incident. An agitated Kwale County Woman representative, Fatuma Masito, and her West Pokot counterpart, Florence Jematiah, called for severe penalties for men preying on young girls. In some instances, men are sleeping with their daughters, besides committing unnatural acts with livestock. "We are readily available. Why are grown-up men preying on minors instead of coming to us?" Masito, the ODM legislator, caused laughter. Jematiah noted drugs were to blame for the rising cases of GBVs. READ: How poverty, wildlife conflicts are driving teen pregnancies in Taita Following the cultural erosion and moral decay, Governor Mwadime, ACK Diocese Bishop Liverson Mng'onda, local MPs, and elders have now intensified campaigns to preserve and protect the fast-disappearing traditional culture and traditions with the aim of unifying the local community and stemming the vices. "There is moral decay in family units, and parents have abdicated their parental roles of guiding and counselling their children on good moral values," says Stephen Salake, a youth leader in the region. Last week, a book, Dawida na Tuweta Book (the definitive history of Taita Taveta 1800-2021 authored by a former teacher, Harold Mghanga Mwambela, 91), was launched in Taita. "We need to preserve our culture and traditions and document them for the benefit of future generations. The preservation of the Taita and Taveta cultures and traditions will serve to restore the dignity and well-being of the local community," the governor told the meeting. In his sermon in the local dialect titled "Faith as a pillar of unity in Taita Taveta development", Reverend Mng'onda noted that the Taita language is facing extinction, and every effort must be made to revive and strengthen it for the benefit of future generations. Former Diocese Bishop Dr Samson Mwaluda termed the launch of the book as historic and a landmark in reviving and strengthening the Taita language that is facing extinction. The elder says traditional dances give meaning to the stages of life and communicate status transformation in the community.

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