Strength of a single dad

By Terry

When Ruth Matete won Tusker Project Fame’s Season Five, writers were clamouring to do her story; find out about her childhood, her family and how her passion for music had begun.
What many expected was the usual touching story about supportive parents and siblings who were her greatest cheerleaders. It, therefore, came as a bit of a shock to find out that she had been brought up by a single father.
“That man brought up a girl all by himself? Why didn’t he marry someone to help him take care of her?”
“Can a man really understand a little girl well enough to raise her properly without the help of a mother?”
These were some of the questions people asked when the story broke.
Much as there are more and more single parents in our 7midst, most of these are single mothers, and even they cannot entirely escape some sort of stigma.
Most of our minds are still of the traditional school of thought whereby a ‘complete’ family has a father, a mother and children.
Being a single father to a daughter, therefore, is not just a mere contravention of norms, it is seen as a form of gross violation of the entire rulebook on parenting.
Is that to say that a man cannot do a good job of raising his little girl? The men in our Main feature think they can, and Ruth Matete definitely agrees. Turn to Page Four to read more, and do send us your feedback.
We also have your regular favourites, including some very timely motoring tips on how to survive driving in the rain, on Page Seven.
Have a lovely week.