County News
Old men from diaspora preying on unsuspecting Somali teenage girls into marriage
Young Somali bride on phone, (Courtesy)
NAIROBI—Hunters of a new kind are stalking young Somali teenage girls from North Eastern and Somalia.
They come in posh four-wheel drive vehicles and by others fuel gazlers, dine at the best restaurants around, smelling of wealth and assume a general air of self-satisfied confidence.
They are not interested in helping out with the squalid living conditions or chipping in much-needed help. The hunters are Kenyan Somalis and Somali nationals in the Diaspora and their preys are potential “temporary” wives.
”Our girls must not ask for expensive dowries, asking for 10, 000 dollars as dowry is a culture brought by men from the diaspora, we can not entertain such expensive dowries, ” Aden Duale, Majority Leader in the parliament said on May while in Eastleigh for a cultural gala.
In Somalia and refugee camps, poverty forces young women into sexual exploitation as men from the country who have emigrated to the west return to take advantage of them.
Many of the women are internally displaced people who are lured by the offer of a better life abroad.
Parents of this young girls play a role in this. A call from say Canada or Sweden will make the heads of this parents spin and marriage is hurriedly arranged to the ghost suitor.
After a short seduction and few expensive dates mostly held in hotels, they often go through a fake wedding ceremony officiated by men posing as Sheikhs against a strong rule of Islam that makes the father or a “guarding” the only authority which can give the girl’s hand in marriage. A union without the guardian’s will is considered Haram in Islam.
The women are later abandoned as the men return to their families in the West with the promise that they will appeal for their entry into the foreign country.
The locals have termed the practice as “vacation marriage” in an interview with the Channel 4.
”This man destroyed my life, after our marriage, he went back and promised to come back. Three years later, I don’t know if he is alive or dead,” says Kaltuma, who asks to be identified only with her first name.
“I have been praying for the moment when someone else will spot me as a potential wife but no one wants a single mother.”
Fartun, another victim says she wants to report her case.
“Hassan played with my life. He promised to take me to Sweden after the second year of our marriage, after i got pregnant, he left and never have I ever heard from him after,” Fartun said.
Most girls however still prefer marrying a man from diaspora.
“I want to get out of this camp and marry a Kenyan or a Somali national living in the Diaspora. It is the easiest way to escape poverty:those men have cash,” notes 19-years old Khadija who lives in Dadaab.
In Nairobi’s Eastleigh, this practice is rampant. Women who came to seek for employment in the ever booming business end up into the trap of this men.
“My parents live in Garissa and I came here to fend for them. I was a tea vendor and this man was my customer. He seemed honest and wealthy so I married him. Now I don’t know where he is. Its three months now,” Amina, a five-month expectant mother narrated the horror of this new development to Kulan Post.
The Deputy Chief Khadi, Sheikh Ali Soyan told Kulan Post that the government is investigating the matter and would soon flush out the fake Sheikhs officiating such unions.
“We know them and we will soon crack the whip,” he said.
