In African traditional society, women play a critical role in ensuring the continuity of society through bearing and rearing children.
Mothers especially are the first contact the children have, and they can either make or break them. As a result, in most African child strays – morally – the blame is often on the mother.
In the Kalenjin and Kikuyu set up, there’s a stark difference in the way mothers are referred to by the society.
The Kalenjin identify a woman through her husband. The husband is the point of reference, especially to a married woman. It is some kind of prestige that has over time been associated with married women, and they wear with pride like a badge of honour. For that matter, Kiprono’s wife will be referred to as ‘nebo Kiprono’ meaning ‘belonging to Kiprono.’
However, in the Kikuyu set up, the woman is referred through her child. The man of the house is out of the equation, where one usually hears names such as ‘wa Ryan, wa Yvonne, or wa Joseph’ where the names are those of the children.
The difference in the way the highland Nilotes in the Kalenjins and Bantus in the Kikuyu may be in what they consider important in the social setups. The Kalenjin respects the man, and the Kikuyu probably adore their children.
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