A reconciliation effort between a couple in Mwisho wa Lami has hit a snag after negotiators failed to agree on who should foot the bill for their meeting at Kasuku Hotel.
The couple, Dre and Fiolina, had separated three weeks ago when Fiolina went to stay with her parents.
A bipartisan negotiations team was set up last week to try and bring the couple back together.
However, negotiations were thrown into disarray when Dre refused to pay his share of the bill for the first meeting.
Dre had booked a room at Kasuku Hotel from 2:30 pm to around 6 pm last Wednesday for the negotiations team to meet.
Although they had not discussed who would pay, Dre chose a time just after lunch and before dinner so as to incur minimum costs.
However, things did not go according to plan as Nyayo, one of the negotiators, informed Dre that Fiolina’s side was asking for more bride price.
After taking a break for dinner, Nyayo called Dre again at 9:30 pm and asked him if he could send money to clear the bills seeing they needed two other sessions.
When Dre received the bill of Sh8,658 ($80), he was shocked and refused to pay it all himself.
He suggested splitting it into two with each side paying half but Fiolina’s side refused.
The situation escalated quickly as Fiolina sent messages saying she saw no need to continue with reconciliation as Dre had not changed an inch.
Maskwembe and Tocla also messaged saying they could not believe they had paid some money on Dre’s behalf yet it was he who needed his wife back.
The rest of the negotiators said they would only resume if and after Dre refunded them what they had spent that evening.
Dre insists that Fiolina’s side must bear 50 percent of the cost or else let things remain as they are.
The couple’s reconciliation effort has hit a snag, and it remains to be seen if they will find a way forward.
