When chiefs had absolute power over their subjects, it was unthinkable to cross their path. However, one man tested the limits of his chief and unwittingly earned a footnote in Kenya’s history.
It so happened that two youngsters fell in love. These were not ordinary times. The two lovebirds were part of 33 pioneers who had joined the African Inland Mission, and the missionaries were determined that the right thing had to be done. But there was a problem.
A love story
This was in 1925 and Leah Jeptorus had dared to fall in love with Reuben Seroney without the consent of her parents. Her father was a respected colonial chief who administered the natives on behalf of the king of England. Jeptorus and Seroney were converts and their looming marriage excited the missionaries but not the prospective father-in-law, Chief Kibirech arap Chemtai.
On learning that Jeptorus was about to be married, the chief stormed Kapsabet mission. He wanted to take back his daughter so that she could be circumcised and married off to the man who paid the right bride price and appreciated his (the chief's) culture. The missionaries refused. Ordinarily, Chemtai would have used administration police to grab his daughter but the District Commissioner advised him to take the matter to court.
The wedding was cancelled as the lovebirds and the mission battled the chief and the traditions he represented in court.
Ultimately, the court sitting in 1925 in Eldoret decided that the chief was entitled to a dowry payment but could not force his daughter to undergo circumcision. The church had to eat humble pie and look for cows to pay the chief before Seroney and Jeptorus could be legally married.
And on June 29, 1926, the triumphant chief affixed his thumbprint to a receipt prepared by the mission to show that they had fully complied with the court order.
“I hereby state that I have received full dowry from Reuben Seroney for my daughter Jeptorus...," read the note which was witnessed by William A Mundy and Mika Bomet.
The product of this contested union was Jean Marie Seroney, who inspired by the spirits of his parents became a champion human rights defender and an independent-thinking MP. He was at one time detained for affirming that Kanu was dead.
His extraordinary journey and bravery in the face of travesty is chronicled by Godfrey Sang in his book, Just for Today: The Life and Times of Jean Marie Seroney. The former Tinderet MP died in mysterious circumstances in December 1982.
