• Devolution CAS Hussein Dado's son Gamada Hussein recently got married.
• He abandoned his rich lifestyle as a pilot and got married the traditional way.
The Orma in Tana River county are one of the communities that still embrace a high cultural spirit in Kenya.
The rich and unique culture among the communities in Tana River has been practised for hundreds of years.
Tana River is home to the Orma, Pokomo, Wardei, Watta, Mnyoyaya, Wailuana and Malakote. Of late, though, the county has turned into a cosmopolitan area, with representation from all the Kenyan communities.
Most communities, despite the advance of modernity, still maintain a high level of cultural life. Some have abandoned it and stick to modern ways only.
In the Orma community, for example, even top government officials who are from the county return to their culture whenever they go home, and any ritual passage is done in the traditional way.
For example, it is normal to see a VIP from the pastoralist community dressed in the local attire while in the village, or even looking after cattle.
During celebrations such as a wedding, the cultural aspect is enticing and adorable to all community members, who not only embrace their culture but like it deeply in their hearts.
“That is the Orma tradition. It's guaranteed, even if you are learned during your wedding, you must go back to your culture. The same way your father or grandfather married is the way you will marry," says Kanjora Godana, an elder from the Orma community.
POMP AND COLOUR
As they say in Swahili, ‘Muacha mila ni mtumwa’. The communities in Tana River love their culture.
This was evident during a recent big-budget Orma traditional wedding for the son of Devolution CAS Hussein Dado, who is also the first governor of Tana River county.
Dado Gamada Hussein, the firstborn in a family of five, tied the knot with his lovebird at their home in Oda Garsen constituency.
Gamada, a pilot, cast aside his luxurious lifestyle and went back to his traditional roots to marry the love of his life, Asha Abdulrahman.
His younger brother Galgalo Hussein also signed a contract of marriage (Nikah) with his fiancé Gamar Abdulrahman.
The unique wedding attracted hundreds of guests and dignitaries, including Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa, PS Charles Sunkuli and former Tana River woman representative Halima Warre.
Gamada, dressed in full Orma traditional regalia, boarded a chopper to Dide Waride (Witu) to pay dowry accompanied by his best man and elders.
At the homeground, the reception was a large, ultramodern tent set up by a Nairobi company, which used big generators to ensure there were no hitches during the wedding.
After paying the dowry, the CAS’s son returned and was welcomed by parents, who took him through the rituals, including drinking milk from a traditional guard.
Later he went to the forest to collect special tree branches to come and place outside his ‘traditional hut’ (Mania).
It was pomp and colour as women, men young and the old dressed in traditional regalia danced and celebrated the wedding of their own son, who has lived most of his life in the urban world, but who had returned to complete the rituals.
All the events were documented by journalists, who came to witness the unique Orma culture.
In the Orma tradition, even if you are learned during your wedding, you must go back to your culture. The same way your father or grandfather married is the way you will marryOrma elder Kanjora Godana
HOW MARRIAGE IS PLANNED
Elders say the Orma tradition is rich and has to be followed through generations, regardless of who is in the society or the position he holds in government.
Kanjora Godana, an elder from the Orma community aged 88, says the Orma community has a very rich and unique culture, which is still practised to date.
In the community, a boy when 18-20 years old is taken by the father for a marriage proposal called tarara in the Orma traditions.
On the material day, the boy’s father will tell his in-laws they have come to seek permission to marry their daughter. The two families then decide on the wedding day.
Godana says first, the couple sign a marriage agreement called Nikah in the Islamic religion. “Before they are brought together, the boy takes a traditional gourd with milk (Bogoshi) and a spear. He cuts small branches of a tree and is accompanied by his best man, a small child. They go to take the bride and are taken to their wedding house," he says.
The wedding house is a traditional grass-thatched structure built by women. It is where the bride and bridegroom spend seven days after tying the knot.
The wedding house, called Minah in the Orma tradition, has no bed and is only a traditional skin, where they both sleep on and are not supposed to go out.
On the first night, he says, the boy's mother prepares a special meal and calls elders to feast and hold traditional prayers at the doorstep to bless the marriage.
During the seven-day period, there is a special tree branch called Thobo, which the bridegroom holds whenever he goes out to relieve himself. After seven days, they will now be free to walk out.
Dowry is taken to the parents by the bridegroom in the form of cattle. One is supposed to wear special attire, consisting of two white garments, one rolled on the shoulders.
“Upon arrival at his in-laws, the bridegroom greets his father-in-law, then removes the cloth on the right shoulder and gives him, and then gives out the second garment on the left side,” Godana says.
At this juncture, the father-in-law would ask if he had brought the agreed dowry, and he'd give out cows and cash, as per the agreement.
The bride’s family will also buy utensils and escort their daughter to her new home during the wedding day. All utensils are taken directly to the wedding house. The bride and groom enter the house at 8pm on the wedding day.
Godana says the wedding of Gamada excited the community because they witnessed things they had never seen in any traditional wedding, including the bridegroom riding in a helicopter and a state-of-the-art tent, which hosted hundreds of guests and dignitaries for the reception.
“We have never seen such a wedding in our lives. Today, people from Nairobi have come to Tana River to witness this unique cultural wedding," he says.
The wedding brought together all communities he says, including Pokomo, Wardei and Giriama Watta. He says Dado the CAS is learned but made sure his son married in the traditional way.
Dado has travelled all over the world and held senior government positions but always embrace his culture. He says he is a custodian of cultural beliefs, which do not collide with his religion, Islam.
“I feel one can be modern but one cannot run away from his or her background,’’ he said.
I feel one can be modern but one cannot run away from his or her backgroundDevolution CAS Hussein Dado
PRESERVING HERITAGE
Dado says by organising the cultural wedding for his son, he is sending a message to the youth of tomorrow to know that their culture is as important as all the others, including modern ones.
The former governor is happy to be setting an example through his life by ensuring his culture is not forgotten after a few years.
“After I have gone, people will still remember the culture and do exactly what we have done today," he says.
As per the Orma culture, his son’s best man, who is normally a young boy, is a son of his best man at the time he was marrying, and the connection will continue likewise in his family. Dado says he is contributing to the preservation of his culture for the generations to come.
He says during the wedding, most of the youths, including the CAS’s son, were not understanding what was going on. “We had to guide him on each and every step for him to follow,” says the former governor.
The move has, however, not been easy for his family. Dado, a father of five (four boys and one girl), says it took a deliberate effort as a family for his children to understand where they came from.
He says his work has at times nearly cost his family by making them live in countries with different cultures.
“When I served as an ambassador in Namibia, we were completely cut off from our culture, but we still spoke to our children in our language. All my children speak their language fluently," he says, adding that there are people who cannot speak their mother tongue.
After marriage, his son will concentrate on the nuclear family, consisting of the wife and future children. “I'm trying to advise them publicly, and by so doing, I'm also advising other young people," he says.
Dado says his son will entirely be on his own, and if he thought his father would be there for him, he must now stand firm and plan for his own family.