By Paul Kariuki
A woman surprised an elders' meeting recently when she stormed the venue alongside three of her children demanding that her amorous husband be restrained from approaching her or be castrated.
The elders, under the aegis of a self-help group in Subukia District, were surprised when the woman made the unusual appeal and found themselves debating the issue though it was not on the agenda.
Though the group is dominated by male members, it has some female members standing in for their absent or dead husbands.
It was therefore a spectacle that a member could come along with his wife yet it was not the end of the year when members bring their spouses along for a party and sharing of dividends.
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Sire a male
The woman described her husband as a sex pervert who never gave her a break — even when she was pregnant or the baby was still too young.
Parading the last three of their nine children, who were emaciated and almost same of the same age, she claimed to be heavy with a tenth one.
But the husband, identified only as Solomon, hit back accusing her of deliberately giving birth to girls even when he tried all he could to sire a male.
He said that he wanted a male child who would continue his lineage.
Defective shots
The wife countered that her husband had several male children out of wedlock, some with the daughters of neighbours. This allegation enjoyed the support of other members who shot up to confirm it.
"It is true,’’ one member confirmed. "Two of my grandchildren were fathered by him."
To this, Solomon responded that he did not recognise the ‘stray bullets’ as his children and was merely out to prove to the world that he cold sire male children and avoid stigmatisation.
The enraged man wondered how his marital infidelity or firing ‘defective shots’ became the day’s agenda and threatened to resign from the group.