Yunus Olawale
The ‘Women in Polygamy Conference’ is set to host at Emara Ole Sereni in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, on October 29, 2023. The conference is open to every woman in all of East Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and even Rwanda. The conference is not only open to Muslim women but also to Christian women.
According to the flier circulated on social media, the conference will uphold some amenities, which include ‘no photo and video coverage’, ‘women only,’ free breast cancer examinations, etc.
Lula Aginga, the coordinator of the conference, said, “This conference will attract women from all over East Africa to engage in a conversation that has been seen as taboo in modern society; it is a conference to help demystify polygamy that has left many women stigmatized when their husbands marry or when they join a family as second or even third wives.”
The organisers said that love would be celebrated in all its forms and divorce would be discouraged because polygamy is not for men to have many wives but for every woman to have a husband, to connect with like-minded individuals and help polygamous individuals discover new perspectives, and that polygamy could be a choice, respect, and mutual understanding. Polygamy is part of our rich human history, and it is time we discussed it openly without fear of stigma.
One of the organisers said, “We believe in creating a space for open dialogue and discussing it; love is caring.”