I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU HUSBAND, AND WIFE, AND WIFE, AND WIFE….
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| “One wife, you're happy, two and you're tired, three and they'll hate each other, four and they'll hate you.” ― Patrick Rothfuss |
Allow me to be an angry African woman for a moment. I do not actively seek to validate stereotypes but humor me this one time as I feel justified.
I live in Kenya, a country that promises me that the African dream will not remain an ideal; we are working towards its realization. I live in a country that has the Vision 2030. A country that successfully discarded a colonial constitution because it no longer serves our greater purpose and instead ratifies a new constitution – because the former stood in the way of our progress
And now I live in a country that has successfully repealed and passed the Marriage Bill 2014.
Now here’s where I get angry.
I now live in a country where it is legal for my husband to have “something on the side” or mpango wa kando as we locally call it; what else would you call it when he is free to marry as many women as he may want in a traditional ceremony. In a country that gives polygamous marriages the same legal status as any monogamous marriage.
Surely, you ask, there must be a rational basis for such a law to be passed: A solid justification for the 81% male-dominated National Assembly to not just table the bill but to repeal and to finally pass it?
Well, these “Real African Men” stand on the platform of tradition and religion. A solid basis, no doubt, because after all, where would we be without our ancestral backgrounds and our faith?
Then I ask if it is tradition that they sought to legally empower, why is it that in the same breathe they declare polygamy a major part of our traditional society? Would they also declare that the tradition of presenting dowry to the bride’s family is to be scrapped?
What of religion then? Islam clearly sanctions it (and even before this bill, Muslim men were allowed to have up to 4 wives) and according to the Members of Parliament, even Christianity sanctions it – an argument that would be compelling in a country with an 82.5% Christian population.
But alas, even the Christian religious leaders themselves spoke out against the bill, calling it a cowardly move that would mark a step backwards for our country and that showed no respect to women or the institution of marriage itself. These Christian leaders include Archbishop Timothy Ndambuki of the National Councils of Churches of Kenya and Bishop David Oginde.
Our stoic leaders, however, were not to be fazed! They were indeed united in purpose: this bill was their ticket to Utopia and nothing would jeopardize it! They quoted the Bible, stating that King David and Solomon had many wives and needed no one’s consent. The angry African woman in me responds - News flash! You are not King Solomon or King David and 2014 cannot be compared with the times in the Old Testament. Those were the days but these are the times.
But in spite of all that, here we are…
In a country where my political leaders and decision makers do not think that I, as a lawfully wedded wife, should even be informed that my husband is taking on wife number two, or three, or…you get the picture. Kenya's Capital News website quotes one MP, a Mr. Junat of Suna West eloquently stating, “When you marry an African woman, she must know the second one is on the way, and a third wife… this is Africa,”
If this is not misogynistic and a classic case of male avoidance, I just don’t know what is!
Is it so wrong to say that if a man believes he is capable of sustaining more than one wife that he should at least have the cahoonas to discuss it with his wife and family?
To categorically take the wife out of the equation not only undermines her right to give consent on how financial resources, of which she has legal entitlement, are utilized but it also has a more significant sociological-impact.
Let us assume that the man is capable of economically supporting his growing number of wives and resultant children, he will only manage to do so by spending a great deal of his time engaged in his work. For a typical family, the struggle for a work–life balance is already present, so for a larger polygamous family it is easy to see that the children (and wives) will inevitably suffer from neglect. The man will simply be spread out too thin! This kind of paternal neglect typically spawns deprecating behavior in children who end up seeking validation and self-worth from other less savory sources. In addition, polygamous families typically have greater conflict – whether it’s between co-wives lobbying for a spot in their husband’s schedule or in trying to secure preferential favors or resources for their own children.
But ultimately, what message are we communicating to our sons and daughters? In such a family set up, you can easily see the gender messages being passed to the boys and girls. To the boys – amass and display power by acquiring many wives. To the girls – you are no more than chattels, to be collected and amassed.
To be fair, the men who amended this bill were not absolutely daft; they don’t call themselves politicians for nothing. They knew that they will have to campaign for re-election and that they will need the votes of the same women that they have crossed. As such, the new Act does address some issues that resonate with the greater fight women have been battling. The Act states that women are now entitled to 50% of the property acquired during marriage.
That generally, would have been a step in the right direction. However, in the face of the Act in its entirety, I consider these appeasements to be nothing more than the metaphorical dozen long stem roses, the day after he forgets your anniversary.
I don’t want to live in a country where Prince Charming marries both Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty!
Is this really part of our greater vision for Kenya?
Yours’,
An Angry, and now Jaded, African woman
This article was also published on African Hadithi.
