The practice of taking on several women by a single man has been practiced since time immemorial. It was also greatly encouraged by the community as well as you could afford to provide for these women. Old habits die very hard indeed! A saying that would suit the current HIV/AIDS situation spreading at an alarming rate among married couples. This could mean that the men are taking on multiple mistresses or the women could be having affairs being that most of them have lots of unspent time just keeping the home. The ultimate truth is that there is a lot of lies and infidelity going on among married couples – HIV/AIDS only confirms this.

It is a norm among youth intending to get married to know their sero-status and plan their future together. But with most jobs today, traveling to far off places on a job posting for a weeks or months is not unusual. The company, in most cases, does not pay for any spouse on these trips. There a situation arises where the husband and wife are separated and far from each other.

Soldiers and truck drivers are the most reckless because of the intending danger they are facing and the groups they keep. Soldiers believe that they can get shot anytime, so sleeping with any women anywhere is a kind of deviation from this kind of thinking.

Truck drivers together in every small town and because they have a lot of money on them, women in these towns flock the bars and seduce these sexually starved men.

Joash Runga, 44, a long distance truck driver talking about his family life, “On the road, there are so many dangers; we have lost many brothers through accidents, AIDS and other sicknesses. When I have a break, I like to use it to relax and enjoy life - after all, who knows how long I have?”

Joash goes on to give a reason why he is sleeping with another women instead of his wife, as “My wife is back home in Kenya, and I have a girlfriend here in Katuna whom I see when I make the journey. I have been with her since she was young, maybe about 19 years old; now she is almost 30.”

That is 11 years of carrying on an extramarital affair and the husband does not in anyway feel guilty about it. To make the work of HIV/AIDS fighting organizations easier, Joash continues thus,

“My wife gets tested for HIV when she is pregnant, and because she is negative, I believe I am also negative. I have never been tested for HIV, and my girlfriend, as far as I know, has also never tested.”