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Heavy responsibilities for elder aunt among the Logooli

With Seenge Fonesi. She is the elder grand daughter of Isagi and elder daughter of Amugasya. She is often present in functions involving the family of Amugasya. Pic taken on 18/4/2024. The elder sister soon becomes the elder aunt. It is this “seenge munene” (elder aunt) tag that she is tied to many cultural responsibilities – back home. To her marital family she may appear as any other woman, but she is not so in the eyes of her people. Marriage does not steal her away as it would happen with other daughters of the old man. To her, as days go and the old man and woman of the estate are dependents, she becomes increasingly present.  Her brothers also need her for almost all traditional markings. They are marrying, she needs to welcome the new wife. They are giving birth, she needs to come to midwife or “bless” the new born. They are paying dowry she needs to lead the women delegate. There is a conflict she needs to come for a hearing.  And many others. Traditions does not expect her to
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When Art lack purpose, it gives us sex (Plays).

I was given a ticket by a friend to attend her show at the Kenya cinema. She wanted money in exchange. I felt her impatience by the relation we developed thereafter. Between us telepathy went;
 ‘Give me the Money’,
 ‘I won’t even attend the event, girl’.  


‘Mary is no longer a virgin’ was the title of the play that would make my Saturday fun, a break from my delicate youthful life in the capital. What a title! Mary, a woman, a name famous in the Bible and communities, favourite for parents to name their daughters. Her virgin status at the time of giving birth to a Messiah is her sanctification to any puritan mind. When you say she is no longer a virgin, what do you mean? You have just descended into cheap blasphemy and more so debauchery. Virginity is linked to sex. That would mean that the play is all about how Mary approaches situations that make her lose innocence. So?

Most of the campus plays were like the above. A famous lady in the campus approaches you in reddish lipstick, exposed cleavage with her ‘getting late’ mammary glands and of course a short dress if not a tight trouser to sell you a ticket among other titles ‘Why I killed my Boss’. The tickets have a picture of a lady whose hand is smeared in blood holding a knife. She is wearing what I’d call a swimming dress. The message to the youth goes sexual. I never attended any willingly.

Materials that appeal to youth are sex, fame and money- an average youth that is. He develops all manner of slangs around it and talks are more likely to drag to sexual terms. We continue being fed by the media and such events hence using most of our time in leisure. At the end of the day, with such an environment, we have retarded in growth.

The writers to plays, afraid of public concern plays due to our funny governments shallowly retrieve to the above titles. An Enemy of the People for instance speaks about corruption in a ‘grown way’. Kenya is rated no. 4 worldwide but we don’t have the art to mock it. Inflation is in, traffic in the city is a mess, Universities are host grounds to laziness and business, and Organisations are people owned rather than community driven. To talk about sex, the damn of man leisure’s is to give him a seat in ignorance. No sex talks may emancipate us. The more it is given least attention the least it will thrive.

I will definitely be at the theatre next time when the best plays will not only be attended by multitudes but also shape public opinions for the better of the society. 

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