P.O. Box 58972
00200 City Square
Nairobi
Kenya
21st July 2003
East meets west, north meets south, 67 plus 28, is the contemporary equation of love. In one stroke Peter Mbugua has acquired a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a godmother, a lover and a friend, and Wambui Otieno, a husband, a wife, a son, a grandson, a brother, a daughter, a grand daughter, a cousin, a nephew, the works.
Peter Mbugua and Wambui Otieno’s wedding is a mixture of absurdity, daring, boldness and recklessness. But this country today can be described in as many ways, so the wedding of the year fits appropriately into the script. A finger pointed at Mbugua and Wambui is a finger pointed right back at ourselves. A pat on the back for Mbugua and Wambui is a pat on the back for ourselves. Wambui Otieno and Peter Mbugua have done us the good tiding of dusting the mirror on the wall, and gone the extra mile of washing the dirty linen in public.
Yes, this is one occasion where dirty linen needs to be washed in public for a nation to heal itself. The revelations being made are curious and an indication that we are dealing with a much bigger problem than we care to realise. In exasperation, for instance, Wambui declared that there are several middle aged and older women with live-in “boy” companions. A women’s lobby referred to it as “thousands”. Wambui went on further to state that at least she had the decency to wed an individual over the age of eighteen years, unlike many prominent women who had boyfriends under the age of eighteen years ! My! My!
I do not why we even try to pretend anymore that we are a God fearing, upright, moral, just, and conservative society. The “thousands” being referred to above probably never fail to attend church every Sunday. Are what we have today churches or cults ?
These cross generational liaisons are a clear indication of the lacking work ethic in a nation that probably needs it now more than at any other time in it’s short history. It’s one thing to want the best in life and work towards it, and an entirely different one to want the best in life and not want to make any real effort towards getting it, which is what we can be described as. These obsession with short cuts is what will ultimately spell the doom of this country. No able bodied young man or woman has any business being a gigolo or mistress, but this is the road we have chosen.
Promiscuity and immorality both in the church and outside is a fact of life in Kenya. The revealing manner in which women dress up leaves no doubt about their intentions. Women’s empowerment should not be about seduction but about induction, dignified induction. Vulgar, obscene, pornographic publications litter the streets of major towns in Kenya today, making nonsense of Attorney General Mathew Guy Muli’s 1985 ban on pornography. It is against this backdrop that Wambui and Mbugua are getting some of their most vehement criticism.
It is also curious to note vehement criticism of Wambui and Mbugua from Wambui’s “single” mother daughter and Mbugua’s “single” mother. The irony here is that Wambui passes as respectable, having been a widow. Wambui’s children are publicly hurling insults at her appearing to have forgotten that if it wasn’t for her, they would not be what they are today ! They had opportunities that Mbugua and many of the rest of us never had, and probably never will. It’s all one big drama unfolding and a country sees it failings of the past 40 years on display. At the back of the stage obviously, is a Pandora’s box begging to be opened. Wambui and Mbugua have opened the floodgates and a number of marriages similar to theirs will almost certainly follow in the near future, as we re-invent ourselves in the wrong way.
The weekend of 19th and 20th July 2003 will certainly rank as one of the most memorable in Kenya’s history. A Nation reveled in a satirical spectacle and was roundly entertained. This could not have come at a better time given the difficult times and prospects. Many are entertained and laughing. But as we laugh, let us remember the famous phrase in “The Government Inspector” , “ What are you laughing at ?………………. you are laughing at yourselves !
Michael Mundia Kamau