Learn about Bukusu marriage customs and traditions. Everything on love in Bukusu culture: dating, dowry and traditional wedding rites of sitekho and khuboa chinyinja. Find also how the Bukusu handled divorce, wife inheritance and taboos surrounding married life.
One of the most important rules in Bukusu culture is you’re not to greet your parents-in-law by the hand. The ways of our forebearers strictly forbids it. Learn why The rules Women married to a home, the daughters-in-law are forbidden from shaking hands with their fathers-in-law, uncles-in-law or any male first relation to their husbands … Read more
As I equivocally stated before, we the people of mulembe are a people of love. The spirit of mulembe is that of warmth. That of love. Of companionship. That of a man loving his woman. And of women finding joy in keeping their beds warm; making sure her man is tethered to her sheets. Therefore, … Read more
Among my people, to be a man, you have to be honorable and ask for a girls hand in marriage the right way. For the Bukusu, this includes writing a letter of intent and when granted, expertly navigating your first meeting with her family known as the show up or introduction. Today I want to … Read more
Wife inheritance was one of the key contributors to polygamy of the polygyny type (embalikha) among the Bukusu. The following cultural practice best described via the Bukusu words mukha rarao omutiti obeya busa, is still commonly practiced. Thus, it’s cultural importance is not lost on us. For a father to take his son’s woman, an … Read more
Khukhona mwikhokho is a fast fading Bukusu cultural marriage practice whose contribution to polygamous marriages of the polygyny type (embalikha) of yesteryear is one hard to ignore. We feature it for cultural purposes. Possibly also to offer answers to a lost soul who on tracing their roots, came by a relation that in today’s westernized … Read more
When a Bukusu couple are made one, Bukusu marriage customs observed, enganana taken place and dowry paid, it comes a time when culture demands that the couple celebrate the longevity of their union in a special way. The Maragoli had kuvika kesegese and kuruta as the traditional seals of marriage. It is the former that … Read more
This scene from Steve Kay’s “Mbe Omukhasi” is an acceptable rendition of the part of the wedding ceremony in a traditional Bukusu marriage that took place at the girl’s matrimonial home. Image| Steve Kay | Dennis Machio| YouTube A recent gazette notice from the AG office that appeared to outlaw customary marriages, got my antenna … Read more
