So one of the most interesting controversial topics I’ve read in a while was the story that aired a few weeks ago, of the two suitors who asked for Malia’s hand in marriage. My first reaction honestly was to laugh at the stupidity of the situation and think how these ‘men’ can’t be serious, and how the story was such a waste of time and space. I read some articles though, that shed some light on the topic from a different perspective.
So what happened is Felix Kiprono, a very smart twenty four year old lawyer declared his love for the sixteen year old Malia, stating, “I got interested in her in 2008, as a matter of fact, I haven’t dated anyone since and promise to be faithful to her. I have shared this with my family and they are willing to help me raise the bride price,” he added.
Then soon after a Maasai Moran from Narok, named Jeff Ole Kishau entered the picture, creating a beautifully dramatic love triangle. He stated, “My friend Kiprono is playing jokes with the US president’s daughter. How can you offer only 50 cows for the daughter of the most powerful man in the world?” Kishau offered 500 cows which he said he is willing to send to US in form of money, raising the stakes even higher.
Then when referring to the noticeable age difference between himself and Malia, Felix Kiprono said he is willing to wait until she comes of age, “Because the girl is young and I do not want to run into problems with both the local and international law, I want to make my desires known to her father.” Just before He told the newspaper he and Malia would lead a “simple life” as man and wife.
“I will teach Malia how to milk a cow, cook ugali, and prepare mursik (traditional sour milk) like any other Kalenjin woman,” he said.
Let’s do some calculations. If Malia is sixteen right now, back in 2008 when Felix supposedly fell in love with her, she was nine years old! That’s quite perverted, not to mention repulsive and disgusting. A nearly full grown man should know better than to stalk a child no matter what the circumstances.
Even if she was off an appropriate age another disclaimer would be, the men’s mind-set are that Malia, doesn’t have a choice in the matter. As far as the discussions go it’s more about making negotiations with President Obama about his daughter, and not considering what she thought about it all.
Just to scrutinize that a little bit, it is clearly backward thinking, when our country should be moving forward, for a Kenyan man to think that a woman can’t make a decision for herself when it comes to the rest of her life? As a matter of fact underage marriage is even more so largely backward thinking. It’s crazy, that people can get away with things like this without it being considered a big deal!
I think that the world is embracing an, ‘It’s all relative,’ mentality which is dangerous ground. Because then things which are obviously wrong become allowable depending on the circumstances, and the line between black and white disappears turning morals and virtue into a grey area.
You know the common statement, “Common sense is not that common?” I think the media, Kenyans, and the rest of the world should get a grip and find some common sense when it comes to shameful situations like these. I won’t say these suitors are sick, twisted bastards, I will say though; they probably have quite a few issues they might want to see a therapist for. If they need help I could suggest a few good ones.
This post shines a light on some of the issues Malia Obama’s story points to emergence of paedophillia on social media in Kenya.
