Without 'Hustler's Dowry Fund', marriage is getting too expensive for many young people

As I was shooting the breeze in one village haunt over the Christmas break, I noted that young men are rarely coming home with new brides for Christmas, unlike in our days. One of my single cousins intimated to me that the cost of living has gone up and so has the cost of marrying. At the center of this cost is the dowry payment.

The ruracio (the dowry payment) process of the house of Mumbi is big business. With the current buzz of interest in our customs, it will grow bigger. I am even afraid that with a government that crafts new taxes every day, the tax czars at Times Tower might soon come up with a way of taxing the ruracio.

The ceremony starts with procuring muratina from a brewer who always insists that he makes his drink from sugarcane juice and honey-and sticks to the formula decreed by Gikuyu himself before he breathed his last. But considering the prohibitive prices of honey, it's unlikely that this is true. The muratina costs an arm and a leg, despite its authenticity being in question. Sodas form an integral part of the dowry process and they don't come cheap. According to customs, they have to be carried by women with sisal ropes called 'mikwa'. The price of those ropes sometimes triples when the seller realizes that they are not for tethering cows.

Some clans insist that a certain great grandfather in their line left a curse that dowry presentation for their girls has to be in live animals. This more so applies to the initial items in the ceremony-a female and male goat or sheep. This is why entrepreneurial folks keep well-bred goats which they sell at astronomical prices if they realize they are for dowry payment.

Then comes the khangas which are presented to the aunties of the girl during the process. Aunty here generally denotes women from the girl's side. In short, they may number a hundred or so if the clan is considerably big. In the gathering, there is always a no-nonsense aunty whose sole duty is to ensure that the khangas are of high quality and befitting the honour of their girl. This quality comes at a price for the groom.

There is an unwritten rule among the mountain folk that ladies cannot attend a rucacio ceremony in trousers. Thus, the young man is sometimes obligated to buy kitenges for his mother, wife, daughters and sometimes even sisters.

The industry of girls from the mountain is well known so they don't come cheap. Our dowry is generally reckoned out in goats but mostly paid out in cash. The price of goats keeps on shooting up every year and so does the dowry for each girl. In addition, the young man has to fork out additional items like blankets and sugar whose prices are prohibitive.

The total bride price for a lady from the mountain may be pegged at half a million bob. A young man who is starting up in life would rather buy a loud blue Subaru with such money than pay bride price. If this regime is pro-vijana enough, it should set up a Hustlers Dowry Fund otherwise our young men will be bachelors forever.

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