The Killer women of kabete

Since time immemorial, men from Central Kenya have been warned by their folks against marrying women from Kabete. The warnings, some from aunties, are given as early as when the boys are hardly taller than their mothers’ knee height. Women from Kabete, who are famously known as ‘Aka a Kabete’ and famed as 22-carat beauties, are believed to be, among other things, husband killers. Kabete, most Kenyans have been told, has the highest concentration of widows per square kilometre in Central Kenya. Besides killing their hubbies, Kabete women are also considered aggressive go-getters who brook no nonsense. So ingrained is this stereotype that men from Central Kenya believe marrying a Kabete woman will not get them any blessings from their folks.
Very few aunties and uncles would be willing to make the journey from Gikororo around Karatina for dowry negotiations in King’eero, Kabete. Even the name, King’eero, translates to ‘slaughter house’. Or a place for slitting throats! Is this stereotype of the Kabete woman as a ruthless husband killer true? Elias Ndung’u is a city graphic designer. When he moved out of his parents’ house and rented a pad in Kabete, his grandmother advised him, “My grandson, you are now a man, and I have to tell you, although you will live in Kabete, don’t marry a Kabete woman. Don’t even date one.” His grandmother didn’t tell Elias what would happen if he indeed married a Kabete woman. “I am not even ready to marry one. All my friends were advised against Kabete women by their parents or relatives,” says Ndungu. Late last month, a business tycoon was killed in Kabete. His wife, who was later released from police custody, was said to have conspired with her relatives in the hacking of the man to pieces before throwing his body on the road. Last week, the burial of the tycoon in King’eero was postponed.