THE STORY OF A POLYGAMOUS MAN!

Once upon a time, there was a man called Musoke. Musoke was born in the central part of Uganda; he was one of the five children his father had. Musoke's father had four girls and one son, Musoke.

Musoke had to work hard because he was the only male child in the family; his father always told him to man up, that men do not cry or show any kind of weakness. That men's responsibility in the family is to protect, provide, and produce children who will take over his legacy.

Musoke hated being the only boy in his family; he had to do manual work while his sisters were only taught to cook, fetch water, and firewood.

Since Musoke was the only son of his father, he promised himself to have many children so that his father's legacy does not die with him, he prayed to have at least more than one son and lots of wives.

When his father died; Musoke became the heir of the family, he had to take care of his mother, sisters, and the land left to him by his father. He did not have much time to study further because of the responsibilities he inherited. Later on, all his sisters got married and left the village.

Musoke stayed on his father's farm with his mother. Musoke was only eighteen when his father died; his father left him a very big land and Musoke vowed to be the best farmer in the area. He promised himself that he will work hard and become very rich so that his children can be able to have everything they want.

Musoke worked hard on his farm and he hired many employees to help him; he was breeding cattle, poultry, pigs, and goats. He also had a vegetable farm. As if that was not enough, he had a farm of banana plantains which he used to brew local Ugandan beer for sale.

By the age of 30; Musoke was among the richest men in his village and his farm was the biggest in that village. On his farm; he was selling Milk, poultry, vegetables, pork, beef, and local beers. Many people were coming to his farm to buy goods from him. He also sold most of his goods at the market in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda.

Musoke's land was very fertile and he had a very big and dark forest that had streams of water in it. He used the waters from the forest to irrigate his farm and for house consumption.

By the age of 32, Musoke already had three wives; Joyce, Anna, and Miria. These three wives lived on Musoke's farm though each one had her own three-bedroom house where she stayed with her children.

Musoke also had eleven children from those three wives but rumor had it that Musoke has fathered many children from other men's wives around the village; those who were close to Musoke said that Musoke might have more than ten children outside of his three marriages.

He was a very handsome young man; a smooth talker and very charming, Musoke was nicknamed Mutayisa (meaning that he was not able to bypass a woman without saying romantic words to her).

Musoke's first wife Joyce had five children (Moses, Denis, Isaac, Sarah, and Ruth); his second wife Anna had three children (Henry, Esther, and Lillian) while his third wife Miria also had three children (Donah, Juliet, and Fred), Miria was also six months pregnant with twin girls.

Musoke had lots of employees and he built small huts around his farm for his employees. Lots of men envied Musoke because many women wished to marry him. He had his one car to drive around to and from the market and he had Lorries to transport his harvests. Musoke also had Tractors that were used for farming.

Musoke's farm was fenced off with barbed wires and if someone tries to steal anything from his farm; he will be punished severely. He believed in hard work; he hated those who wanted things for free.

He loved his village-mates and he hosted many parties for them, he will make his friends feast on all kinds of meat and food, he also made them drink his local beers. Every time he brews local beers, he will sell some and also share some with his village-mates.

Musoke loved his family; he made sure his children get a better education. Village education was not really the best but he encouraged his children to study hard, he did not want to send his children to faraway schools.

The driving force behind Musoke was his mother; he loved his mother so much, he made sure his mother gets everything she needed. He hired a nurse to take care of his mother because she had some weird disease; she used to wake up in the middle of the night and disappear, they could only find her on the farm lost. This scared Musoke a lot; that's why he hired a nurse to always take care of her mother.

His children had to wake up very early in the morning and do some house chores before they go to school. It was a must to do chores in Musoke's household; and if a child fails to do her or his chores, Musoke would punish that child by beating her or him; he believed in sparing the rod and spoils the child!

Musoke had his own house while his three wives also had their own houses. There was also a family house; it was very big. This is where meals were served and also used as a visitors' house. All family members were expected to sit and have their meals in that place without missing it unless if you were sick.

Though there were three wives at the farm; Musoke built only one kitchen which was very big; each wife had two days in a week to cook for the family. That wife will cook the meals for those two days for the whole family and serve the meals in the family house where all family members sat and enjoy it.

The wife who is on the duty for those two days; was also supposed to discipline the children for those two days and also spend those two nights in Musoke's personal house.

Musoke's children were taught to respect each other and also respect all the mothers at the farm. In Musoke's household; there wasn't such a thing as stepmother, stepbrother, or stepsister; they were all mothers, brothers or sisters respectively.

Sundays' meals were prepared by the three wives together with their daughters; no wife was supposed to step into Musoke's house on Sundays, it was his day to spend by himself.

From school, the girls were supposed to help their mothers with household chores while the boys were supposed to fetch water from the stream and also help with farm work. Musoke wanted his children to know the value of hard work.

One day during Sunday lunch; someone knocked on the family house's door; it was Musoke's sister Lari; she was welcomed to join them for lunch. Lari came with her three daughters Lydia 16, Cissy 14, and Esther 12. They each had big luggage; it looked like they came to stay for good.

Musoke's mother was so happy to see her daughter, Lari; she was her last born, the one who came after Musoke. After the Sunday meal; they all sat and enjoyed the conversation with their new guests.

Later, Musoke's mother took Lari and her daughters to her house. She was only staying with her nurse; she had lots of unoccupied space so she gave one room to Lari and her two daughters while the older daughter shared the room with the nurse.

Later that evening; Lari sat her mother and her brother down, she told them that her husband had chased her away because she could not bore him a son who will inherit his legacy. He actually wrote a letter to his brother-in-law. Below is the letter:

Dear Mr. Musoke,

Salute! This is your brother-in-law Kirigwajo; I'm writing this letter to inform you that I have sent your sister Lari back to you because she couldn't bore me a son. As you know, in our culture, a man of my caliber needs to have a son who will inherit all my property. You know daughters always get married into other families; to me, they really don't matter.

I need a son and since your sister couldn't do it, I have to marry a young woman who will give me a son.

My daughters decided to leave with their mother; that is the reason they are there too, I think they are better off there than here since I wouldn't want them to stress my new wife. Unfortunately, I'm not like you, I cannot marry more than one wife at a go; I do not believe in such things. No hard feelings brother, keep well.

Yours

Kirigwajo.

After reading the letter, Musoke became so furious; he couldn't believe that his brother-in-law could do such a thing to his sister. He said that Kirigwajo is not a real man; instead of marrying a second wife to achieve his goal of having a son; he decided to chase away his whole family! He said that he will go the next day to talk to him. Lari went and sat next to her brother and she said...

"Musoke my brother; please don't worry about me and my children, believe me, brother, my children and I, we are better off here than in Kirigwajo's house. That man has humiliated us a lot, we felt like rubbish in his house; we would rather stay here with you please.

Do you know that he refused to pay my children's school fees because they are girls? He said that he can't waste his money on girls who will go and marry someone and make that man rich. I used to work hard selling vegetables and selling handmade stuff in order to educate my daughters. I will do the same here so that I can keep my daughters in school.

Yes, he chased us away because I couldn't bore him a boy child but he forgot to tell you that the main reason why we are here; is because I refused him to marry off my first daughter, Lydia.

Kirigwajo brought an older man to our home and he told me that he came to visit my daughter because he was going to marry her. I flipped and chased that older man out of our house, my daughter is just 16 and she is very passionate about her education; I will never allow anyone to mess with her, even if it is her father.

I will take care of my daughters and educate them until they get tired of studying; I will rather die than allowing that stupid man to marry them off".

Musoke just hugged his sister and told her that he will help her and also look after her daughters; he promised to take them back to the school. He told his sister that if she is happy to stay away from her husband, then he will employ her to help him with farm work; he said he needs someone he trusts to help him on the poultry farm, someone who will be in charge of it.

The next day was a Monday; Musoke took his sister's daughters into his car and drove them to school. He went to the Principal of the school and he explained the whole story to her; it was in the middle of the term and the school had a policy not to accept new pupils in the middle of the term.

Since Musoke was well known and a very good fundraiser for the school; his nieces were accepted into the school, he paid for all their school requirements and they started school on that day. His nieces were so happy for what he did for them and they were extremely grateful.

Lari immediately started helping her brother on the farm; she decided to forget about her ex-husband. She chose to focus on her new job and her daughters. In the evenings after dinner, she will sit outside with her mother and talk about everything and anything.

One evening, while she was busy talking with her mother; her mother told her that she was feeling some pain in the chest, Lari helped her mother into her bed and she made her lay on the bed, she immediately called Musoke who suggested that they should take the mother to the hospital.

Their mother was admitted to the hospital, she was there for a week. Her children and grandchildren visited her often; she was indeed getting weak and weak every single day. The doctors tried everything to cure her but nothing seemed to work.

Lari stayed in the hospital with her mother, her mother asked Lari to take care of the family in case she dies, she said...

"Lari my daughter, I'm sorry that your marriage failed; you are not to blame for it and never blame yourself for it. Since you are back now; please always support your brother, his family is very big and I want you to be his support system.

My son works so hard and sometimes he spends the whole day on the farm working. He needs someone to care for him, yes he has three wives but I think your love will mean a lot to him. You understand him better and you know what he has been through.

Please keep the family in order and together, never allow the family to collapse; always encourage togetherness and love amongst everyone, do not show favoritism amongst your sisters' in-laws, your nieces, and your nephews, this will help you to be a good judge if any issue occurs.

I love you daughter and I trust you with my son and his family. I also want to share a secret with you about your brother and my friend Kakoma but let us do that tomorrow, I'm really tired, let me rest".

Lari was so touched by her mother's words; she cried a bit, covered her mother well and she also slept on the floor next to her mother's bed. The next morning, mother became worse; she was very weak and she couldn't talk. The doctors tried everything but it was too late; Musoke's mother passed on.

Lari broke down and cried hysterically, her dear mother was no more. She called Musoke who was on his way to the hospital to see his mother; she gave him the sad news, Musoke stopped the car on the side of the road and he cried for a while, his loving mother, his rock was no more.

After a few minutes to himself; Musoke drove to the hospital to join his sister. Lari wondered about the secret between her brother and Kakoma which her mother wanted to talk to her about!

They both gave the bad news to their other three sisters, and to all family members. Musoke called his children and nieces' schools and told them to release them so that they can go back home and mourn their grandmother. It was such a somber moment at Musoke's farm.