Leonard Omogo, a senior legal researcher with the Judiciary, and his father Dr Nicodemus Omogo, want Leonard’s estranged wife, Nairobi Traffic Court Resident Magistrate Electer Akoth Riany and her father Martin Riany, to pay back Sh350,000 in bride price.
However, in the matter filed at the Nairobi chief magistrate’s court on April 18 as civil case 2631 of 2017, Electer and her father are only willing to pay back Sh55,000, claiming they have to deduct the costs incurred feeding their in-laws during the bride price negotiations and payment.
Trouble started when Electer and Omogo, both lawyers employed by the Judiciary, broke up after having a baby. On May 5, 2016, Electer’s father, through a lawyer, sent a tersely-worded letter to Omogo’s family, asking them to go and collect “whatever bride price you had paid.”
“Arrange for the collection of the said bride price from our client’s home within the next 30 days, failing which our client will consider you having forfeited the bride price and will no longer lay claim to it in future,” Riany wrote.
The Omogos, through senior Omogo, replied 10 days later, stating that, “Kindly advise your clients, to get in touch with me directly so that we can amicably quantify the bride price to be collected. We can agree on the details and engage the assistance of the area chief.”
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Electer’s lawyer replied to the letter, asking Omogo and his family to specify a breakdown of how much they wanted returned to them. That’s when the story got interesting. The Omogos stated that they wanted back eight head of cattle and cash gifts totalling to Sh350,000.
“Since you were ready for this exercise at the time your first letter came to me, and considering we have quantified the bride price, I expect full settlement within the next seven days,” Omogo’s father responded.
Four days later, Electer’s father sent a letter asking the Omogos to go and pick their bride price “from the place you delivered it”.
The letter further stated that the bride to be refunded would be less a cash gift of Sh130,000, which in the Luo culture, is never refunded.
Another Sh45,000 was deducted as the amount spent to host the Omogos during bride price negotiations and a further Sh120,000 was also deducted to as the cost of host the in-laws during payment of the bride price, leaving a “net” balance of Sh55,000.
Omogo three days later, wrote a lengthy letter refusing to take the measly Sh55,000: “This is not honourable at all. Let us conduct ourselves with dignity and decorum,” he thundered.
“I reject your attempts to pass over the costs (incurred during the negotiations and bride price payment) to me. Bride price is discrete and highly specific and cannot be the net product of calculations around activities leading to its delivery or receipt. Each of us prepared for these visits independently. You cannot pass the costs to me. Your attempts stand rejected. The bride price is fixed, and I will NOT vary it,” Omogo further stated.
On the issue of bride price cash being nonrefundable, Omogo says, “I do not subscribe to negative traditions that inhibit civilised conduct of business in life. You do not make assumptions over my values and practices.”
Following the impasse which the local chief, could not break, Riany wrote to Omogo telling to forfeit the bride price and consider the matter closed since he had refused to pick the Sh55,000. That is how Riany found himself in court.
“We have very firm instructions to proceed with the matter to court,” stated Omogo’s lawyer, Samuel Aduda.
