Men should marry at least seven wives

Traditionally, Luo men gained fame in the society based on the number of wives they had.

Those who had one wife was discriminated against.

In the olden days when elders were drinking busaa (traditional liquor) at their free time, they used to sit inside a house. The container carrying busaa was placed on floor at the centre.

In a show of discrimination, a man with one wife had to sit close to the door. The reason was that if he sat in the inside of the room, he would spoil the ceremony by pouring the drink in case he received information that his (only) wife had died.

On the other hand, a polygamous man would control himself. Elders had confidence that a polygamous man would not spoil their drinking ceremony in case one of his wives died.

Polygamy was also considered a sign of wealth and good leadership skills of a man owning such a family. It was obvious that a polygamous man would have many children.

Leading such a family with many wives and children successfully earned men respect.

But Luo elders have raised a red flag that young Luo men are abandoning polygamy.

.

Keep Reading

• I am afraid my marriage will not work
• 'Why I believe marriage is a scam'
• What a man expects of the woman he loves
• Can a man fake enthusiasm, romance?

Chairman of the Luo Council of Elders Nyandiko Ongadi argues that young Luo men fear polygamy like death.

But Ongadi feels this should not happen.

He argues that failure by men to practice polygamy is creating a society of many single mothers and single women.

This results from a fact that the number of women are more than the number of men in Kenya.

According to the population census conducted by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in 2019, the total population of Kenya was 47,564,296. Out of the entire population 23,548,056 were male, 24,014,716 were female and 1,524 were intersex. This shows that women are more by a mere 466,660. In his argument, If all women in Kenya were to get husbands, men would have to marry more than one wife.

"I am not happy with what our young men are doing today. My observation is that majority of them are monogamous. It is unfortunate that young Luo men fear polygamy like death," Ongadi said.

He said many single women were wandering in towns yet they are not married. He says men should embrace polygamy to ensure such ladies get husbands.

"Who will marry these many ladies who relocating to towns if we keep marrying one wife? Let our young men change their attitude," he said.

He gave example with his eight wives he married at different intervals.

"Today, my first wife who is almost my age mate is no longer active in many ways due to old age. There are some duties which I cannot assign her. But such duties are assigned to my last wife who is still youthful. Let men who are blessed with money marry at least seven wives," Ongadi said.

Ongadi's comments were supported by a 98-year-old member of the council Jarongo Okumu, who said laziness was the reason young men don't marry many wives.