From the oldest couple renewing their vows to the couple that spent only a dollar on their dream wedding, these stories continue to inspire many to join the bandwagon.
kenyagist.com has taken a look at some of the most romantic love stories we have covered in the last couple of years and came up with the following list:
Garissa University Survivor Marries KDF Soldier Who Saved Her
In 2015, members of the Al Shabaab ambushed the Garissa University College resulting in the death of over 148 students. However, the siege gave birth to a new relationship between one of the students and a KDF officer deployed to rescue them.
During the attack, Maureen Mayengo, took hiding in a closet, where she stayed put for 12 hours hoping not to be found. After officers from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) subdued the assailants, they went searching for survivors.
Mayengo was found by an officer, Ivan Okello, whom she was acquainted to from her home town. The two begun as friends, and tied the knot our months after the attack, with the ex-student revealing that she felt safe around the soldier.
Kenyan Couple That Spent Ksh100 on Wedding
In January 2017, a young Kenyan couple, Wilson Mutura and Ann Wambui became social media sensations when they defied wedding customs when they spent only Ksh100 on their wedding at the Community Christian Worship Centre in Mwiki, Nairobi.
Their wedding was rather modest, with no bridal party, no luxury cars and no honeymoon. In fact, they agreed to wear matching red t-shirts on their wedding day. Â Speaking to the media, Mutura stated that the money was spent to buy their wedding rings –Â the symbol of their marriage.
“My entire wedding, from the start to the end, I only spent Ksh100 to buy the rings which cost Ksh50 each,” Mutura told the media.
Images of their ceremony attracted well-wishers who came out in numbers to give them their dream wedding (Slique Events Planner Limited) and an all-expenses-paid honeymoon package(Bonfire Adventures And Events).Â
KDF Soldier Who Rescued & Married Al Shabaab Bride
In 2019’s Valentines month, an ex- member of the Al Shabaab group narrated how she ended up married to an officer from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) who had kidnapped her during a raid on the militant camp.Â
Fatuma told local media how the soldier was part of a contingent that attacked the militants camp and kidnapped her, Â saving her life. She revealed that she was barely twenty years old when she was recruited into the militant group
“I escaped the perimeter being set up by the army and hid in a hole in the ground. He found me  ordered me to be still. He said if I moved he or any other soldier around would shoot me dead on sight,” she revealed.
Fatuma was later taken to a house in Garissa town. The soldier then locked her inside his house assuring her of her safety and would visit her occasionally sparking an unpredictable romance.Â
“He used to visit me in the house. He told me about his life and eventually, we became close and he proposed to make me his wife. I had nothing to live for. I knew if I went back home I’d be dead,” she stated.
The KDF officer helped her secure identification under a new alias to enable her turn over a new leaf. Fatuma and her captor got married and moved to Central Kenya where they lived together until he passed away in 2017.
Manu Chandaria Marries Wife at AG’s Office
In July 2019, billionaire Manu Chandaria and his wife Aruna Chandaria formalised their marriage at the Attorney General’s Sheria House office, Nairobi after being together for 64 years.
Manu and Aruna, whom to date are still happy and in love, had an informal wedding in 1955 in a short-lived wedding that lasted only two and a half hours at the Visa Oshwal centre in Mombasa.
The manufacturing industry mogul has always professed his love for his wife. In a recent interview, he revealed how he imported for his wife a Rollys Royce vehicle just because she admitted to loving the high-end vehicle.
The Chandarias were brought together by family and business interests, but theirs was not an arranged marriage as was the norm in the Indian community then.Â
110-Year-Old-Grandpa Weds in Colourful Ceremony
In October 2020, hundreds of residents of Kipsebwo village, Nandi County, gathered to witnesses a wedding between a 110-year-old man and his nonagenarian wife. The two renewed their vows in a white wedding.
Mzee John Kimeli Yama and his wife, Mary Chemesunde first got married in the 1940s in a traditional wedding ceremony known as Koito. However, the two opted for affirm their lifelong commitment to each other in a church.
According to the Standard, Kimeli, who is among the few remaining men of his age-group, requested his children to organise the renewal.
80 Year Old Weds, Bride Finds Love at 65 years
In September 2020, Ben Kamau made the evening news after wedding in a colourful ceremony despite his advanced age of 80.Â
It was a testament to the power of love, a Ben, a widower, was smiling like a teenager as he described his bride as well as the pin-stripped Njonjo suit he had picked out for the special event.
On her part, the bride – 65-year old Nancy, a single mother of two, explained that she had kept trusting in God to find the right man to settle down with.
Politician Offers to Sell Kidney To Save Wife
In November 2021, Bunge la Mwananchi speaker and ODM politician Robert Kiberenge, announced he was selling one of his kidney’s with the end goal of saving his wife, Jackline Karegi Kevogo.
Speaking to kenyagist.com, Kiberenge noted that he needed the money, Ksh200,000 to fund his wife’s kidney dialysis after she was diagnosed with kidney problems
“She is supposed to attend dialysis sessions on a weekly. Each session is Ksh7,000. The doctors do not know when she will finish the treatment. She is in pain, doesn’t eat and she has developed wounds in her mouth,” the activist stated.Â
Unfortunately, the wife passed on a few days after Kiberenge made his public appeal.Â
Source: KENYAGIST.COM
