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US-based Kenyan actress Idah Alisha recently revealed that she once paid for her ruracio ceremony during a social media debate about unorthodox things women have had to endure for love.
Alisha, who shot to fame due to her role in the popular Mother-in-law show on Citizen TV, was participating in a conversation about a certain social media influencer who was convinced to sign over 50% of her revenues to her boyfriend.
Giving her fair share of tribulations in the hands of a partner, Aisha divulged that she had to pay for her own ruracio.
“Mimi nilijilipia ruracio once!!!!! Nijikute tena,” she said.
The name ruracio means bride price or dowry. In many Kenyan cultures, the groom's family presents either money, its equivalent or both to the bride's family as a gesture of his willingness to marry her.
In this ceremony, the groom and his family visit the bride's home to formally ask for her hand in marriage.
The bride's family then decides whether to accept or reject the proposal. If the proposal is accepted, the couple is considered engaged and a date is set for the wedding ceremony.
The ruracio ceremony is an important part of Kikuyu culture and is covered in tradition and symbolism.
In traditional Kikuyu culture, the groom and his family are typically responsible for covering the costs of the ruracio ceremony.
This is seen as a demonstration of the groom's ability to provide for his future wife and family and is an important aspect of the engagement process.
If the bride or her family were to pay for the ruracio, it might be perceived as a sign that the groom and his family are not able or willing to fulfil their traditional responsibilities.
Aisha opens up on surviving a troubled marriage
In a past interview, Aisha who is also known for her role in the Click Click Bang movie revealed how she suffered at the hands of her ex-husband.
Idah, who was then a scriptwriter for several TV shows, said she was under pressure from the church and peers who then were getting married and settling down.
Having grown up witnessing her parents' troubled marriage, she said she easily bonded with her husband because he too had been brought up in a violent household, noting that the mutual backgrounds and pressure from the church got her to easily accept to settle down.
“He used to tell me about how his dad was abusive and I told him my father was abusive too and we had that trauma bond, so the pressure from the church and the trauma bond made me conclude this was my person,” she told Lynn.
Idah said that she was inspired to leave her marriage after recalling how her mother left her father over violence.
“We left when I was three years old and I said thank God because if my mother had not left then I would have been comfortable because my mother was abused so let me get abused,” she stated.
The actress narrated how her ex-husband beat her to a pulp but stayed in the relationship hoping things would change. She further narrated how efforts to get intervention from her pastor became futile after the man of God defended her husband's actions.
Idah said she left her matrimonial home with only her handbag and went back to her mother's home where she reconstructed her life from.