Attempts to force Bomet bachelor, 37, to marry flop as he dismisses elders, telling them to go to hell

If there is an individual elders hate with a passion, it is a man of age who has refused to marry. Such a man is not only frowned upon, but also considered an outcast.

After playing hide and seek with his aunts and uncles over the small matter of getting married, last Saturday was the end of the road for 37-year-old Alfred Rono.

It was then that the elderly relatives caught up with him and cornered him, demanding to know why he was taking his sweet time settling down.

It was at the pre-wedding ceremony of Rono’s 28-year-old sister in Sotik, Bomet County where the senior bachelor came face to face with the elderly relatives he had been avoiding for years.

Accusing him of, among other things, economic sabotage and embarrassing the family, the elders read Rono the riot act, demanding he explains what was holding him back from putting a woman in the house and siring children.

“Rono, you know very well survival in the village life is depended upon numbers. We need children to provide cheap labour and social security when we are old. But you have completely refused to marry, and neither are you showing robust interest in women. What is it?” asked an elderly aunt.

But much to their shock, a cornered Rono who had been silent throughout the lecture exploded with anger and told them off, going all biblical on them.

Unnecessary pressure

“I will marry when God decides. Even Jesus died a senior bachelor, so please stop pressuring me,” bitterly complained Rono, terming their nagging “an intrusion into my private life”.

While demanding he be left to make such a decision by himself, the furious relatives turned the heat on him.

“What is wrong with this boy? Rono, you are looking for curses! Please don’t try us Rono, we will curse you! If you can’t find a wife, just tell us. We will get you one,” sneered Stephen Kemei, one of Rono’s uncle.

“I don’t like being treated like a small child. What’s wrong with you? Whether I’m married or not, how does that concern you? Furthermore, am not marrying for anyone but myself. You can as well go to hell,” hissed Rono.

Rono went on to rave and rant, accusing the relatives and some of his neighbours for having conspired to make his visits to his rural home a nightmare.

“Nowadays I can’t just drive home and do my businesses without being bothered. Everyone keeps asking this boring question of when am bringing a wife. I will marry when I want, and I don’t need to be bulldozed into doing so,” he lamented.

So noisy and embarrassing was the shouting match that younger relatives intervened and calmed down Rono, urging him not to bandy words with elders.

“What has become of this boy? He should be ashamed for talking back; it is the pride of every family to marry off daughters and receive wives for their sons. His sister is already moving to another family and we expected him to also bring in a wife,” complained Kemei, adding: “If, God forbid, he were to die now, how will he even be remembered, now that he doesn’t have anyone to leave behind.”

What had been expected to be a joyful ceremony, turned nasty. The elders who were still reeling from the quarrel sulked and refused to even take tea, claiming that Rono had committed a grave mistake by disrespecting them.

A not-so-remorseful Rono stuck to his guns, insisting he had nothing to apologise because as an adult, he didn’t want any unnecessary pressure. Following the nasty exchange, some of the relatives dispersed warning that they were not the least happy.