Musa Hasahya Kasera feels enough is enough after 102 children. The 68-year-old resident from Lusaka in Uganda lives in a 12-bedroom house with 12 wives, 102 children and 568 grandchildren. His family is grown to the point where Hasahya is unable to recall the names of his wives and most of his children except the first and last ones.
Hasahya married his first wife Hanifa in 1972, with both of them being 17 years old. A year later, he had his first newborn. Hasahya has said that he was advised by his brother, relatives and friends to marry many wives and produce many children to “expand our family heritage.” The now-retired Hasahya was once an eligible “married man” attracting fathers-in-law with his status as a cattle trader and butcher.
Unlike strict polygamy rules in most parts of the world, Uganda permits polygamy according to certain religious traditions. The East African nation banned child marriages only in 1995. A regional official who looks after Hasahya’s village with about 4,000 residents has said that Hasahya has “brought up his children very well.”
While Hasahya loves living with a large family, it was economic constraints that stopped him from having any more children. Unable to work due to his weak health, and his two-acre land holding falling short to feed his family with children getting one meal a day at times, Hasahya admits, “At first it was a joke…..but now has its problems.” Despite the hardships, only two of his wives have left him.
In a response to why he thinks more of his wives haven’t abandoned him, the Ugandan replied “They all love me, you see they are happy!”
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