ABSTRACT
The prolonged absence of young males at labour centres seems to be the main contributory cause of the comparative 'sexual peace' in the country. If they come back at a marriageable age, they at once scour the countryside for a suitable mate. Girls used to marry early, just after puberty, because it was believed that it is dangerous for a young man to make his first marriage with a fully grown woman. It is maintained that in the old days because of the dearth of marriageable girls, young men used to give their services to married women to work for their yet unborn daughters whom they hoped to marry. The married Ambo male is gradually emancipated from the restrictions, social and economic, which matrilocal marriage imposes upon him. Many marriages link alternate generations. In such cases it is usually the wife who comes from the second descending generation.
