The killer women of Kabete

KABETE, KENYA: Since time immemorial, men from Central Kenya have been warned by their folks against marrying women from Kabete. The warnings, some from aunties, are given as early as when the boys are hardly taller than their mothers’ knee height. Women from Kabete, who are famously known as ‘Aka a Kabete’ and famed as 22-carat beauties, are believed to be, among other things, husband killers.

Kabete, most Kenyans have been told, has the highest concentration of widows per square kilometre in Central Kenya. Besides killing their hubbies, Kabete women are also considered aggressive go-getters who brook no nonsense. So ingrained is this stereotype that men from Central Kenya believe marrying a Kabete woman will not get them any blessings from their folks.