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The traditional practice of polygamy, whereby only one man is allowed to marry more than one wife in a customary marriage, has long been perceived as an offender of women’s right. Despite the fact that there has been a decline in practice of polygamy, it is a continuous cultural practice. This has triggered an intractable debate pitting those who are against versus those who uphold Polygamy. This research therefore sheds light on how the Bukusu men have justified and vowed to continue with their traditional way of life despite the fact that we are in a different generation. The study unravels the factors behind continuous practice of polygamy among the Bukusu. The study employed structural functionalism theory associated with Stevene (1980) as the main doyen, who made use of the theory which views society as a product of continuum interaction among individuals in various settings. The exploratory research design was employed to dig deep to unravel factors that encourage polygamy among the Bukusu men. The study was carried out in Bungoma County .The study employed purposive sampling technique to collect data concerning polygamy in the past and modern day. The purposive sampling was important in acquisition of rich information concerning polygamy in the past and present. Data collection was by literature search, interview schedules, and Questionnaires. Data was analyzed thematically and presented in Verbatim. Some of the reasons for polygamy as pointed out; source prestige since men with many wives were highly respected and given leadership. To have many children who are not only source of wealth but also labour and raise status of man. To give a chance to women to get married, and as a remedy against cases of barrenness in the first wife. Some of the modern Bukusu men claim that it is a continuation of their traditions, while others say they marry more women who have stable jobs so as to accumulate wealth for the family.
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In-Text Citation: (Precious & Onyango, 2020)
To Cite this Article: Precious, W. J., & Onyango, G. (2020). Masculine Justification of Polygamy Among the Bukusu of Bungoma County Kenya. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 10(6), 804–812.
Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s)
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