The hungry, homeless 'rich' man of Kibish

The 32-year-old Lokwale Ekiru, a husband of three and father to 15 children.

Lokwale Ekiru is not your ordinary 32-year-old. He is a man with three wives and 15 children.

He is also a rich man, by all indications, for he owns 200 cows and 150 goats.

Despite his apparent wealth, Ekiru sleeps out in the open, with his family, after a fire razed down his house in Kibish village, Kibish sub-county.

In an interview with The Standard, the man tells us the fire destroyed more than 350 houses and displaced over 5,000 people.

Ekiru tells us he lost everything in the fire but is glad his animals were not harmed. Never mind that his family has not had food for three days and have been forced to make do with just water.

No way

So, how can he say he has nothing? Left unable to feed his family and allowing them to sleep outside yet he can sell a few cows from his massive herd to buy food, building materials and beddings?

"What? Sell my livestock?" a shocked Ekiru asks.

He continues: "I cannot. Livestock is everything to us. I just cannot imagine selling them."

It would appear that in Kibish, no matter how dire things get, it is unthinkable to sell one's livestock.

Ekiru tells us that livestock is a symbol of wealth because a man can only be considered rich if he has many animals.

Rich man

"With 200 cows, I am considered a rich man and I gain the respect and stature we all long for. If I sell a few cows, I will lose respect from my peers with whom we had 200 cows together. They will eventually look down on me making me feel poor," he said.

Deputy Commissioner Erick Wanyonyi confirms Ekiru's claims saying residents do not sell their livestock because of their historical past.

"We are working at encouraging locals to change their mindset, sell their animals to educate their children who will in turn uplift the community," he said.