City tycoon Jared Otieno seems to be a 'role model' to many. He leads and others follow. In 2015, he made headlines after he brought Meru to a standstill during a dowry paying ceremony.

Recently, former SONU secretary general Alex Matere followed in the footsteps of Jared and on 11th March this year, he also brought Meru town to a standstill. Matere paid dowry to his longtime girlfriend Hellena in a colourful traditional ceremony which was held at the beautiful lady's parents' place in Tigania Constituency, Meru County.

The event was attended by the city’s wealthy business people among them Sirisia Parliamentary seat hopeful Moses Nandwale and Fazul Mohammed (NGO coordination board boss) who all came in flashy cars. The convoy had close to 70 cars.

Alex Matere did not only pull this stunt but went ahead to surprise guests who had attended the ruracio (dowry payment ceremony) when he accepted to pay more than 47 cows to Hellena's family as part of the dowry payment. Sources indicate that he also spent millions on this ceremony. 

"Do such men exist in Kenya? Most of the men around will buy your alcohol, shisha making you think that you are in love only to be dumped later. And if you find that who will marry you, the highest number of cows he can give your family are five. Tulikosea wapi jamaneni?" a Facebook user shared photos from Matere's dowry payment photos accompanied by these words.

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In a recent interview with Citizen Digital, the city businessman bragged how he comes from a community where marriage is highly valued.

"Hellena and I have been together for four years. Basically. I come from the Luhya community and in our community, we fancy such things. For us it is a very special occasion: at least it gives me the chance to show the gratitude and appreciation to the parents of the girl. So. it was simply a token of appreciation to them. There is no price for a wife; you cannot exchange a girl for a bag of rice or a bag of maize,' Matere told Citizen Digital.  

He further went ahead to reveal that the number of cows he gave was nothing to him because he is a farmer and has many.

"The cows that I gave to my partner's parents were 47. The number is not a big deal.. considering I am a Large-scale farmer in Kitale,' Said  the former Sonu Secretary General

 Here are the photos