Mama Michelle – she with a hopeless drunk for a husband – has moved on. Because her husband is out drinking most of the time , and so as to ‘keep herself happy’ she is now involved in an adulterous liaison with Mbugua , the butcher , a relationship that her best friend approves of , but warns her to take precautions by putting condom use in the mix.

There’s something about this ad. It provokes you (more so because it focuses on married women). In the ‘real’ world, Mama Michelle is the long suffering wife who constantly prays for her husband and seeks solace in chama meetings and the the women’s guild. But that’s not the point.

Point is , we have 10 year olds who have been orphaned , thanks to HIV and who have had to quit school so as to become ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ to their younger siblings. And recent research findings show that higher rates of HIV infections have been recorded among the married (women), even more than any other demographic.

That , is the reality.

Question is, how can we correct this wrong trend? By encouraging cheating spouses to use protection? Then what next? Polygamy? And what happened to the school of thought that sex is sacred; that it is not just something physical but also spiritual, involving emotions and capable of altering relationships? And what active (rather than re-active) action can be taken on this? We have churches and mosques and all these forums where healthy marriages can be encouraged and nurtured. The media too! Sadly what sells in the media , is having people in relationships , share their adulterous escapades like heroes and heroines on morning radio.

Forget Wachana na Mpango wa Kando. Have we tried an ad that focuses on the BENEFITS of being faithful? How about coming up with a Tumechill version for the married? For the same reason that they say , WAR AGAINST TERRORISM is a contradiction in terms , I’d put my money on such an ad.

See , it takes light , to get rid of darkness.

But as long as we are to encouraging married folks to use condoms when they cheat, we are making a bold declaration that since it is inevitable to cheat, we should ‘cheat wisely’. As someone quipped, shouldn’t we as well, go ahead and run an ad encouraging thieves to wear bullet-proof vests when they go out to steal? They have loved ones too , who depend on them.

I mean ,why suffer when you can steal? Just be sure to wear a vest.