Clinton offered wedding goats

2005-07-24 20:21

Nairobi - Former US president Bill Clinton, who was visiting Kenya on Friday, will probably never hear about it but he's being offered 20 head of cattle and 40 goats for the hand of his daughter, Chelsea, in marriage.

The 36-year-old bachelor, Godwin Kipkemoi Chepkurgor, has waited five years after writing to the president and vows to remain unmarried until he gets an answer.

"I am ready to wait for as long as I can," said Chepkurgor, who is a municipal councillor in Kenya's Rift Valler town of Nakuru.

Chepkurgor's initial efforts to reach Clinton during his visit to Uganda in 2000 were thwarted by the Kenyan foreign ministry and the state security, which failed to deliver his introduction letter.

Graduate

The electrical engineering graduate promised in the letter to pay his would-be father-in-law 20 head of cattle and 40 goats in dowry, in accordance with African traditions.

"I learnt a lot about the Clintons through the media and was impressed about their staunch Christian values and their down-to-earth attitude," he said.

"If I was given the opportunity at some stage I would tell him about my love for his daughter. She was my first real love and she still is today."

Chepkurgor is quick to brush off suggestions that he is a joker.

"My parents were ready to support me because they realised how serious I was about this marriage," he said.

- AFP