• Daniel Mokomi, who was adopted into the family of James Kutata is the son of a traditionalist who never believed in Christianity.
• His stepbrother John Saisa is a Christian believer.
Two Maasai brothers made history in Mashuuru on Saturday when one held a church wedding and the other a customary one.
Daniel Mokomi, who was adopted in the family of James Kutata is the son of a believer in Maasai religious practive. His stepbrother John Saisa is a Christian believer.
Mokomi married Patricia Kapayia, 18, in the Maasai tradition. In the wedding at Mashuuru Cultural Centre, hundreds of morans of his age-group dressed in colourful Maasai regalia attended. They sang and danced to Maasai love songs.
The wedding was presided over by an elder picked for the occasion. Weddings like Mokomi's are presided over by elders without questionable past and must be good role models in the society.
Beer was served to match the occasion and teetotalers were served milk in gourds.
Saisa, on the other hand, held his equally colourful church wedding to Jackline Saitoti at Pentecostal Evangelistic Fellowship of Africa Church in Mashuuru. A pastor presided over the ceremony punctuated by song and dance.
Both brides were dressed in flowing white gowns and decked in Maasai beads.
The grooms also wore suits: Mokomi's was black but Saisa's grey.
Both Saisa and his wife are teachers in Mashuuru subcounty schools, while Mokomi manages his father’s livestock.
Their father Kutata and mother, Elizabeth, attended both weddings held 5km apart within the subcounty. Kutata said the two weddings were successful.
“It was their choice to have their weddings in their style. There is democracy in my house and I respect all my children. I am a strong Christian but I could not stand in the way of my adopted son, who chose what he believed is the best practice,” Kutata said.
Their mother also said she was satisfied with the two weddings.
The two brothers and their new wives later held prayers at their home, where hundreds of guests attended.
Entertainers included church choirs and Maasai dancers.