child marriage affects neighbours
. . . three underage wives
A POLYGAMOUS man has come under fire from residents for failure to look after his 10 wives and forcing them to live in a two-roomed house, begging for food in Glen View, H-Metro has reported.
The man – identified as Fortunate Nyakudya of Johane Marange – stays with 10 wives at House No. 4660-58th Crescent in Glen View 3 including three under aged teenagers.
Nyakudya is sharing a four-roomed house with his polygamous church mate, Luke Muvambwi, who has two wives including a teenager who is currently pregnant.
Better known as Mufakose, Fortunate has 10 wives who rotate to come and stay with him in Harare while some remain in the village.
His first wife has six grown up kids and a number of toddlers who do not go to school.
In fact, all the children in that house do not attend school as well, it has been established.
One of the neighbours revealed to H-Metro that Fortunate’s lifestyle is disturbing and unacceptable.
“I don’t really understand how they manage to live in a four-roomed house in such large numbers.
“There is a rumour circulating that the pregnancy that Fortunate’s daughter is currently carrying belongs to her babamunini (her father’s brother) which is really unacceptable.
“They make their wives give birth at home and recently one of the wives had a still birth but they did not hold a funeral or even notify anyone.
“I heard they put the baby in a plastic bag and went with it to their village where they bury the rest of the deceased family members,” she said.
“Sometimes you really feel bad giving them only a dollar for washing clothes and dishes then pay them in kind because they have to provide for their families.
“There are so many young wives who live in that house and they are always moving from door to door begging for piece jobs,” the neighbour added.
The Johane Marange congregation holds annual church gatherings where they usually come back with wives of different ages.
The wives are said to be very secretive and don’t entertain people who try to access information on their way of living.
“When Luke’s child died, they did not tell anyone and we only knew that by noticing that his wife’s pregnancy was gone but we did not see her carrying a baby.
“I heard people tried to consult her and she completely shut them off,” said one of their neighbours.
When approached by H-Metro, Luke falsely referred to Fortunate as his father and claimed that he had travelled and will not be around for a long time while some of the neighbours said that he had gone to work.
“The person you are looking for is my father, he has travelled and l have no idea when he will be coming back.
The best l can do for you is to get your number and advise him to come and see you otherwise l cannot say anything on his behalf,” Luke said.-HMETRO
