Mzee Musa Hasahya is 67-year-old at that age you would call him a pensioner, but as they say that is just a number, for now, he can be described as a father of many nations this if the number of children he has sired are anything to go by.
In times of global crises, Musa’s family is arguably the largest in his native Uganda and probably across the East African region. Musa is married to 12 wives and is a father of 102 children and has 568 grandchildren.
The polygamous man shares one house with all his wives but has built little other houses for his children around the vast compound he owns.
“All my wives cook the same way and live together in the same house. It’s easy for me to monitor them and also stop them from eloping with other men in this village,” he says.
Some of his children are not only grown up but are also married, while the younger ones are still in school.
The irony to Musa’s story is that Musa himself was born into a family of only two children yet they struggled to make ends meet.
Despite being brought up in abject squalor and dropping out of school in Standard Six, Musa managed to get into business and turned his fortunes around.
“I became so wealthy that every family whose door I knocked and asked for a bride, they immediately gave me,” he says.
But all is not fine in Hasahya’s big home now. Some of his wives started leaving two years ago owing to his failure to provide basic needs.
Mr Bumaru Hifunde, one of Hasahya’s eldest sons, says his father’s ex-wives started leaving after he ran bankrupt.
“He had money but four years ago, his cattle business collapsed and women started leaving one by one until they remained six,” he said.
His youngest wife Kakazi is younger than some of his grandchildren, adding that he can differentiate the children but does not know all their names.
