“Weka Condom Mpangoni” – What the Ad Missed

According to reports carried in the Sunday Nation dated 24^th March 2013, the National Aids Control Council convened an impromptu board meeting on Monday to address the raging controversy surrounding the ‘’Weka Condom Mpangoni’’ TV advertisement that was suspended from the airwaves following mounting protests from a cross-section of religious leaders. The outcome of that meeting is yet to be disclosed.

Sponsored by the Population Service International (PSI), the TV ad was intended as a public campaign tool encouraging condom use among married women in illicit sexual liaisons outside their matrimonial bed, more commonly known as ‘’mpango wa kando’’ in street slang.

For those who missed it – in a nutshell – the ad was about a short drama featuring two married women at a market place, with one encouraging her counterpart who is sexually involved with another man outside her marriage, to use condom in her flings to “protect her loved ones”.

That the bold condom ad – a first of its kind in the fight against the HIV pandemic – sparked very heated debate across the country, especially on the social media platform, with protagonists and antagonists alike putting across varied reasons for or against its relevance, is a fore-gone conclusion. Against a backdrop of research depicting married couples to be three times more likely to be infected with HIV in comparison to prostitutes, the move by the sponsors of the ad in seeking to help protect the marriage institution was indeed a benevolent one. Indeed, it is an indication that despite the runaway problems facing the basic foundation of the society – the family institution – the society is still concerned enough to dare conceptualize extraordinary measures in the wake of extraordinary challenges in an endeavor to salvage the situation.

But it is in seeking to protect the marriage institution that the promoters and sponsors of the ad found themselves unwittingly seem to further destroy the very same institution they were seeking to protect by appearing to condone (though not necessarily their original intention) extramarital affairs. And this perception by the public that the ad seemed to accept and indeed not discourage extramarital affairs that rightly stoked anger and protest from across section of the society and the church in particular. Anything that directly seems to launch an attack on the fabric of the marriage institution and by extent that of the society, even when it’s a daily occurrence, will and should always draw public scorn and uproar. It is not about burying ones head in the sand or being hypocritical, it is about standing up for what is moral.

Weighing what the long term implications of such a permissive ad would entail. For example, while it could result in reduced infection rate, would it not encourage most us to easily succumb to the temptations of extramarital flings safe in the knowledge that there is always a condom at hand?

In essence, the promoters of the ad must have forgotten or overlooked a few facts surrounding HIV and the family unit. The first one being that there is no sexually active person (married or otherwise) who does not know about the existence of HIV. People already know that HIV exists, that it has no cure just yet and that it is majorly spread through engagement in unprotected sexual contact with an infected person. If there is anyone still unaware of the facts surrounding HIV, then they are not among the population with access to Television, so we can safely say such individual was not a target audience of the ad. In other words there is absolutely nothing new to pass across in regard to the ways of contracting HIV virus.

Secondly, anyone that knows about how HIV is spread also has knowledge regarding how it can be prevented. People already know that safest way to avoid contacting HIV is to first abstain from sex altogether, use a condom or stay faithful to one sexually negative partner if you cannot use the first two. There have been plenty of condom adverts across various media platforms. Literally every corner of the streets and shops are littered with either condom ads or the condoms themselves. Everyone knows they are very affordable. However, with a prevalence of 6.2 percent according to UNAIDS 2012 Global Report, people still get infected by the virus on a daily basis. This is not because there is a shortage of condoms, not because we are unaware there are condoms, not because we are unaware that condoms protect and not because we are too poor to afford condoms. Again there is no new information regarding condom and its use in preventing the spread of HIV.

On the other hand, infidelity is a fact of today’s society. Many marriages are constantly caught up in this unfortunate web illicit of extramarital affairs when one or both spouses find themselves sexually straying and wondering away from the marital bed. It is one of the challenges bedevilling the sanctity of marriage and family institution. Again everyone knows about this unfortunate state of affairs. And anyone that has failed the true test of marriage by yielding to the lure of extramarital affairs at least knows they should use a condom to protect themselves and their loved ones. But they mostly don’t. And from unprotected sexual escapades, they jump right back into the marriage bed where condom usage is not even a topic for discussion. Marriage therefore, according to recent studies, provide a conducive breeding ground for the HIV pandemic, with more than 44.1 per cent of all new HIV infections occurring in stable or long-term relationships including marriages.

Now, since we all are aware about the existence of HIV, the means of contracting it and the best ways to prevent its spread, the question that we should all be asking is, why are we still carefree with our lives and reluctant to employ the use of available means of preventing HIV to protect ourselves and our loved ones from the pandemic? What is it about a condom that discourages its use? What is it about sex that makes condom use an afterthought? Besides, honest people will tell you that at least in their first three sexual encounters with an individual of the opposite sex, they invariable used protection. But after that, a sense of trust naturally takes over as condom usage becomes history. What is it that makes human beings develop this sense of trust to make us throw caution to the wind?

In conclusion, the urge for usage of condom is laudable. But the packaging of this “call” is what was amiss. When you know your son is concurrently sleeping around with numerous sexual partners, do you give him a pack of condoms and tell him to continue?

MLIO WA JA’NDHIWA!!!

Baba!!! Raila Amolo wuod Odinga owadgi Akinyi a lot kibudi!!!

Sisi jo Nyansa kutoka Homabay, Kisumo, Siaya ka baba kod Migori nakadhalika duto te walisamambia wewe chon gi lala ni wacha huu hadithi cha Bunde na lisasi chake, kata goyo kura kwa sude auchiel. Lakini wewe amesakataa kata kata gi wembe abadan katan mithili ya Ositrich ambaye amesatumbukisa kichwa chake chote kwenye mchanga akawacha siandane kogulo inje.

Wewe amesastress kwa bold letters in capitol madongo dongo marom gi it liech ya kwamba bunde ni lasima opewe na lisasi chake chote kutoka piny nyako malo. Ndio wewe atawesa kusut jawasigu ma jorabuon kwa njia nafuu mayot moloyo. Ukasema sut ya jaluo jeuri lasima okuwe six piece marateng tititi kama ya ginene ya punda, kutoka tielo nyaka taye ya singo.

Sisi tukasayo wewe ma wanang’i kwa ulimi chetu makwar haa ya kwamba tusone hata sut ya adhiambo adhiambo, baba ukasema sut ya orange ni msuri saidi moloyo nguo ya adhiambo adhiambo na pia bunde ni msuri tena saidi moloyo kabisa yeye nikiwa na lisasi yake umetumbukiswa ndani chake. 

Sasa ona baba mithili ya asiyekuwa na macho hambiwa tasama, sut tumesasona makwar haaa na risasi tumesapea wewe ma ok bere bere. Lakini bunde sasa iko wapi? Bunde hayuko, lisasi chote imesajaa kwenye parade ya ward na assembly ya bunge pamoja na senet. Hii mitoto ndogo saidi kwa siasa ya Jombo Kenyata mwenye thorax chake bado inadung’ chak mar chiew amesachukua bunde akaweka sisi mayatimbe na maskinde hoheha hakuna wasasi, hakuna bunde na hakuna mbele. Nyuma ndio iko yawa!

Sasa maswali mengi kwani sisi ni polise wa askeche ya Kiganjo ndio tunaulisa ya kwamba, hii lisasi chote tumemupa wewe sasa tutaweka kwenye orujre koso katunja? Ama tutaomba bunde kwa kasin yetu ile marateng’ ti ya Sudan south koso ule mingine ya White House ya wasunge masungore ka mond waindi kule Amerka yawa?

Si hata afadhali tungekuwa na bunde maonge lisasi tunaweschuado nayo kichwa cha jawasigu matiarrre gi ediere yawa?

Mimi ja Ndhiwa amesalia machosi yangu te mpaka maji ya macho amesakauka te mithili ya Kalahari desat kwa hio msindi wa Ouru. Baba, mimi ako tu na ombi moja kende. Kwa vile wewe ako na namba ya simu ya huyo presidel mupya wa sitet house, mimi anaomba tu omtwangie simu uombee mimi kasi kwake hata ya kuchiedoo kwa jokon, kubetoo kwenye kompaund, kunyiedhoo dume yake na hata pia kusika yeye tisu pepa akienda inje kubwa. Asayi, fanyia mimi hiyo kabla uende bondo ama kibera kuusa ile mandas maliet haa ulisasema utausa.

Erokamano jathurwa.