Even in political marriages many things remain unclear

Andrew Mwenda, a famous Ugandan journalist, once said that it was not fair to refer to every single young man as a bachelor. According to him, such a reference meant that we (men) were all destined to get married at one point. You could argue that he was speaking for himself since he has not been seen walking down the legendary aisle. In general, issues concerning marriages tend to be quite complicated with lots of unclear issues. We generally look at the institution of marriage simply in the man marries woman angle. However, there is man-marries-women, man-almost-marries-woman (cohabiting) and if we keep listening to what our friends in the West are saying we may at one point have to deal with the man-marries-man scenario.The recent political marriages in Kenya brought this point home very clearly. First we had the marriage of convenience in Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto. Like many lovers they had something in common – ICC criminal charges. But before their marriage could last a few days, a one Musalia Mudavadi came in probably as a concubine or side dish as we say in Uganda. What is interesting to note about Musalia Mudavadi is that he left a previous marriage, Raila Odinga’s ODM claiming there was no democracy at all. However, a close look at his new settings reveals no traces of the real democracy he has always said he was after. It is like a woman leaving a man who was fond of kicking her and hooking up with one who is generous with slaps. As if that was not enough, it appears Musalia Mudavadi also dragged in KANU, something that irked his in-laws as an NTV Kenya presenter put it. In the neighbouring village just by the lake, another more interesting relationship has been developing. At one point, Kalonzo Musyoka and Raila Odinga split an “Orange” into two, forming ODM-Kenya and ODM respectively. In between that time and recently they were sworn rivals who threw stones at each other. Just before the December 4 deadline, these two put their differences aside and got into a political marriage that also saw Moses Wetangula tagging along. I will not even talk about how Charity Ngilu came rushing to this wedding as though she had not received an invitation like the other big guests. When you think of it, Raila and Kalonzo’s relationship is like that of the village belle who assures her friends that there is no way in the world she would get married to the city boy while the city boy also insists the village girl is not his class (Farasi vs Punda). On the wedding day all the words said in the past are buried and they live happily ever after. Others like Martha Karua and Professor Ole Kiyapi have vowed to remain single. Peter Kenneth hooked up with Raphael Tuju while Eugene Wamalwa seems to have chosen to try his luck in a confusing union with Nicholas Biwott and Cyrus Jirongo.Talking of marriages, the one between Tanzania and Zanzibar continues to be one of the rockiest relationships in the region but that will be a topic for another day. However, it’s sometimes on the basis of this rocky marriage that Tanzania preaches caution when moves towards the grand wedding with Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi in the Union that will be termed East African Federation are placed on the table. Elsewhere, divorce papers have been signed and filed in the case of Uganda and Rwanda. I am talking about the two countries’ marriages to donor aid. The donor nations in the West who tag their money on behaviour decided to try Pavlov’s techniques by suspending aid in order to induce behaviour. In Rwanda the moneyed friends looked at a report – whose credibility is questionable when you just look at the names of the authors – and decided to withhold money for vital programmes. In Uganda they claim that their money is being used for all the wrong reasons. Those who have attended more schools will refer to this as corruption. Your columnist is just wondering whether they have just discovered this thing called corruption.All in all, African countries have to seriously think of how to break away from this aid dependency now that we are learning firsthand that donor aid relationships are like marriages built on sand. It is not always a case of living happily ever after when aid is involved. It is also interesting that players like China are already throwing a spanner in the works. Blog: www.ssenyonga.wordpress.comTwitter: @ssojo81