Busia boys opt to get married by grannies

A section of Busia women are lamenting the increased cases of young men getting married to older women in the border county due to hard economic times.

The women from the town’s  Marachi estate, known for the infamous Jobless People criminal gang is now gaining notoriety as an estate where the jobless youth are getting married to older women for survival.

Marachi estate has been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons.

At one point, Busia Governor Paul Otuoma was at loggerheads with the Jobless People who accused him of abandoning them after they helped him to ascend to power.

The gang had at one time demanded 50 per cent of revenue collected by the Busia government, something Governor Otuoma had vowed will not happen.

“We will not allow the gang to intimidate people. People must learn to eat from their sweat,” Otuoma said.

“We cannot allow people who do not work to survive through threats and intimidation. I want to tell my younger brothers of Marachi that if they used to reap where they did not sow, this time it will not happen,” he added.

But speaking to the Press in Busia town on Monday, the disgruntled women said that many young men have been married off to older women due to unemployment.

“We are experiencing a surge in cases of youth getting married to older women, and this is because many youths have no jobs and no money to marry their age mates,” said Mary Asibo.

Asibo added that small boys fully occupy the houses of older women in Marachi estate.

“It is sad that when you walk around Marachi estate, you will get small boys acting as husbands in the houses of old women. This is a dangerous thing to our young people because in future, it will become difficult for them to marry their peers. We want our fellow old women to get married to their age mates and leave our boys alone to plan for their future,” said Asibo.

Christine Atieno, another resident, said young men between 18 to 25 years are the most affected by the trend of avoiding work and depending on sugar mummies.

“We are witnessing women marrying boys and taking care of their every need. From food, clothing and shelter, their main work is to satisfy older women in bed matters, and this has made many youths lazy. They don’t want to look for jobs because they are being provided with everything,” said Atieno.

Atieno alleges that the county is experiencing a low birth rate due to young men getting married to older women who are not after having children but rather enjoying themselves.

“The rate of women giving birth in Busia is very low, and it is nowadays rare to spot a pregnant woman in Marachi and Busia at large because older women don’t want to give birth. They want to enjoy life with small boys whom they have kept in their houses,” said Atieno.

The 46-year-old woman urged the government to return the Kazi Mashinani initiative to provide job opportunities to youths.