The real reason why Stingy Men Association started

By Stevens Muendo | 3yrs ago | 2 min read

If you are active on social media, you must have come across a post of the new look membership cards of members subscribing to the new Stingy Men Association (SMA). The social media movement that has been live with African men since mid-January is a protest move by men against women who exploit them financially.

“I…..solemnly swear, to uphold the dignity of this great association with due diligence, to never give assistance by any means of financial exploitation to the other gender, to respect and uphold the constitution of this great association. So help me god,” reads the social media association’s oath.

The association’s motto is: “Let me see what I can do” a witty turn off for a woman when she asks for financial favour that simply translated to “Don’t talk to me about this again if I don’t prompt you in the matter”. It can apply to a nagging girlfriend or even a demanding wife. In a nutshell, members of SMA are supposed to give all forms of excuses whenever a woman asks for financial assistance from them.

The association is vibrant in Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia, the latter being the place it all originated with a story told on how one Leonard Mweembe was arrested for allegedly beating his wife after she asked for money to make her hair in November last year. Going big on Facebook, the Kenyan group has christened itself Stingy Men Association (Kenya).

According to the story, the Zambian man told his insisting wife that he could not get the Sh900 she was asking for as he could only afford Sh60. It is alleged that tired of her continued nag, Mweembe beat his wife, and was arrested for assault. Men in Zambia begun the movement as a protest move and according to News outlet, by the end of 2020, the association had grown into a fully-fledged Sacco with claims that the organization even purchased a passenger plane.

The trend moved to Nigeria where men launched an online platform where they started sharing images of their membership cards. Some of these excuses include: “I wish you had told me before my mother called for help earlier today,”, “I wish I had not put all my Sh2 million savings into a business venture this week,”, “I should have known you have a problem before my sister told me she had a school trip to Dubai,”. Basically look cool...not broke, but let no penny out to a woman.

In Kenya, the move has been fueled by the new ‘fare eating’ culture that mostly developed during the Covid-19 time as many women started swindling cash from desperate men.