A 80-year-old Kajiado man is reported to have given up his 1-year-old granddaughter for marriage to a 50-year-old man, a man we will refer to as John.
According to an investigative report by a local daily, the movie-like circus begun when his daughter, a Form 3 student, returned home pregnant for her teenage boyfriend.
The old man resorted to discontinue her from school and give her up for marriage to John to cover up the 'shame' she had brought to the family.
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John, a resident of Ewaso Kedong in Kajiado West, married the teenage girl as his fourth wife. The teenage girl gave birth to a daughter while living in John's homestead.
The girl was later rescued from the early marriage by authorities and admitted back to school. Her 1-year-old daughter was placed in the custody of her grandmother.
Irked by the actions of the authorities, the teenager's 80-year-old grandfather took the 1-year-old infant back to John in a bid to preserve a marriage he had arranged.
He reached an agreement with John, that as a 'compensation', he was to raise the one-year-old to be his wife in future. The infant was to act as a compensation of his teenage wife that the government had taken away.
The investigative journalists made a visit to John's home in Ewaso Kedong and found the infant.
His wives and children are said to have downplayed the story, saying that the infant belonged to their sibling who had been kidnapped by the government.
To add weight to their allegations, John's wife whom was carrying the baby tried to breast feed her, but the infant vomited the milk immediately.
Area chief Moses Teeka confirmed that he was aware that the infant had been given up to John in the strange marriage arrangement.
"I told him to return the child to her grandmother. Give me time to inquire whether he did so," he said.
On his side, the 80-year old man expressed his anger on the actions of the government. He accused the authorities of interfering with how he chose to run his own homestead.
"It is unforgivable for the government to remove my daughter from her matrimonial home and take her to a place I don't know. I am not a poor man, I have cows and was not unable to pay her school fees. Let them redirect her scholarship to a needy student," he said.
