A first-time mother, Salma Hajji, from Mambo Sasa village in Tana River County was punished by women leaders for defying a midwife.
The mother gave birth as she was trekking to Bura District hospital, 80km away to bring to earth her new bundle of joy. She was accused of going against a long-held tradition for trying to walk to a hospital knowing she was soon to deliver.
“Giving birth in our community is regarded as a women’s affair, we are here to reprimand this woman for not obeying the order to stay in the house and be assisted to give birth since she was due and could not have therefore made it to hospital,” explained Fatuma Kulubo, a trained midwife.
While speaking to Nation, Kulubo ascertained that they were trained by elders and the government to offer such services which is why their advice should never be disobeyed.
“It is against the law for anyone, including men, to disobey elders’ advice and that is why we are here to punish her since we did not know her motive of moving out of the compound,” she told reporters.
According to, Kulobo, offenders such as Hajji are usually punished by being caned using special itchy sticks known as alesa.
Once through with the caning, the Malakwan who are the moral cops of the society, pour a special concoction comprising of pepper immersed in a liquid mixture, hazina, into the offender’s genitals.
Such punishment was normally administered approximately 30 days after a woman gives birth, but it could be administered instantly for other crimes.
“Caning with alesa is so itchy that offenders never repeat the crime,” noted Kulobo. She also added that the punishment helped to ensure that women desisted from the habit of dumping unwanted, newborn babies on the roadside which was very common in other towns in Kenya.
Besides the physical punishment, Hajji was fined Ksh 5,500 which was paid by her husband, which was used to buy food that was cooked in her compound, but since she was the offender, her entire family was forbidden from partaking of the meal, which according to her was very humiliating.
