Last week, the East African Community heads of state admitted Somalia as the eighth member of the bloc. There is still a lot of paperwork for it to do before it is fully settled in. If it had been a traditional African wedding, Somalia would now be working on completing the payment of the bride price.
Who is this fellow who has married into the East African family? There are the things we know about Somalia, the kind of happy stories told about the groom at a kwanjula (pre-wedding introduction ceremony), and the hard truths revealed later in the night when the guests have left and family and friends who remained behind are drunk.
