Machakos County Governor Wavinya Ndeti has banned all payment of dowry activities during the ongoing drought, terming the activity as exploitative.
In one of her first executive orders, Ndeti said that many families were being taken advantage of by being offered very little dowry because they lack the capacity to negotiate for more. Consequently, the region is losing out as value for the bride is not being attained.
“My government has ordered for all dowry payment activities in the region to stop until such a time that the condition shall be favorable. Our people are losing out big thanks to the drought. We need the drought to end for the bargaining power to rise.”
The governor said that some people were offering as little as one tin of maize and three liters of water as a full dowry, something that is very unacceptable. “Last week a family was offered 2kg of maize and some drinking water as dowry. Imagine not a single goat was involved. How can we let this atrocity continue? Let everything stop!”
Following the directive, members of the public intending to marry from Machakos will be expected to exercise patience until a time when the ban will be lifted. Violators of the ban risk going to the county jail until the next rainy season.
