Uganda’s most polygamous tribes
IF you are looking for a husband and you do not want to share a man, there are tribes which you may be safer to avoid. According to 2002 census data obtained from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, polygamy varies widely among tribes.
By Rebecca Harshbarger
IF you are looking for a husband and you do not want to share a man, there are tribes which you may be safer to avoid. According to 2002 census data obtained from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, polygamy varies widely among tribes.
Of the 10 most populous tribes, the Basoga have the highest polygamy numbers. At the time of the last census, over 48,000 Basoga men had more than one wife. This is about 18.3%, or about one fifth, of the married Basoga men. This is followed by the Lugbara with 16.9%, Bakhonzo 15.8%, Acholi 13.2% and Iteso 12.7%.
The least polygamous among the biggest 10 tribes are Banyankole, with an 8.6% of men having more than one wife. This is followed by Langi with 9.5%, Baganda 9.5%, Bakiga 9.97% and Bagisu 10.9%.
Polygamy, according to the Bureau of statistics, was defined as where a man is married to more than one woman with whom they were living on a rota basis. Married men were asked if they had more than one wife with whom they were living. The women were also asked to verify their husband’s information.
According to census data, although the Basoga and Baganda have the highest numbers of polygamous men, small tribes of northeastern Uganda lead in terms of percentages. Topping the list are the Jie. Among the Jie, nearly one in every three men (29%) has more than one wife. The Jie are followed by the Karimojong with 28.5%, Dodoth 25.7% and Pokot 25%.
The Nyangia are fifth, with 24% of men reporting more than one official wife. According to census data, the most monogamous tribe is the Bahororo, among whom polygamous men are 6%. This is followed by the Vonoma with 8.4% and Banyarwanda with 8.4%.
Nationwide, 14.7% of Ugandan men, or one out of every seven, have more than one official wife. Polygamy is not illegal in Uganda, but while Christians are forbidden from marrying more than one wife, Islam allows up to four.
Religion aside, Stella Neema, a medical anthropologist with the Makerere Institute of Social Research, identifies three major factors that play a role in polygamy: educational level, occupation and cultural values. “Less educated men are more likely to be polygamous,†she asserts.
Neema explains that educated men refrain from polygamy because they want few children whom they will be able to give a quality life. Uneducated men on the other hand, have no such encumbrance. “They (uneducated men) will marry many wives since they don’t care how many children they have.†Those people who still believe strongly in their traditional culture are more likely to be polygamous, according to Neema, since the number of wives is a status symbol for many cultures. People in mobile occupations like truck drivers are also more likely to be polygamous. “Chances are that he will have affairs where he works,†Neema says.
Polygamy is on the decline, according to the 2006 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey. In 2001 32% of married women in Uganda had co-wives but this reduced to 28% in 2006.
Neema attributes this to an increase in the level of education and rising urbanisation which weakens ties to cultures and increases the cost of living, making it difficult to maintain more than one wife.
Famous Ugandan polygamists
THE LATE ABU MAYANJA, A FORMER MINISTER
His family will not specify how many wives he had but they were many, including an Indian one. He officially had 40 children. A wealthy lawyer, he catered for all his children’s needs and educated them expensively here and abroad. At the time of his death in 2005, all the children had completed or nearly completed university.
THE LATE GASTAFANI OFWONO ODEL, FORMER COUNTY CHIEF IN TORORO
Growing up, Ofwono Opondo, the NRM’s publicist, remembers having 12 or 13 mothers. Yes, his father, had that many wives. But not even Opondo can say the 12 or 13 were all he had. “He was a real African man,†Opondo boasts. In his 82 years of life, Odel, a Jadhapola, sired 47 children, 34 of whom are still alive. “Life was good. I do not remember a day when we did not have enough food and by village standards, it was good food,†Opondo says of his father’s homestead. “
He also educated those of us who had the discipline to go to school.†Oden forbade members of his family from making any distinctions between their biological mothers or children in the case of wives and other members of the family. “It was an offence to say that so and so was not your biological mother or child. He really did not like that and he would often get the children of mother A and take them to mother B to live with her.†To this day, according to Opondo, the siblings do not make the distinction. Gastafani Odel died in 2001 at the age of 82. In his life time, he was a World War II veteran and a retired sub-county chief.
THE LATE PAUL KAFEERO, MUSICIAN
At the tender age of 38 when he died, Kafeero was survived by a 10 wives including an Americn PhD holder. With these wives, he had 27 children.
IF you are looking for a husband and you do not want to share a man, there are tribes which you may be safer to avoid. According to 2002 census data obtained from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, polygamy varies widely among tribes.
Of the 10 most populous tribes, the Basoga have the highest polygamy numbers. At the time of the last census, over 48,000 Basoga men had more than one wife. This is about 18.3%, or about one fifth, of the married Basoga men. This is followed by the Lugbara with 16.9%, Bakhonzo 15.8%, Acholi 13.2% and Iteso 12.7%.
The least polygamous among the biggest 10 tribes are Banyankole, with an 8.6% of men having more than one wife. This is followed by Langi with 9.5%, Baganda 9.5%, Bakiga 9.97% and Bagisu 10.9%.
Polygamy, according to the Bureau of statistics, was defined as where a man is married to more than one woman with whom they were living on a rota basis. Married men were asked if they had more than one wife with whom they were living. The women were also asked to verify their husband’s information.
According to census data, although the Basoga and Baganda have the highest numbers of polygamous men, small tribes of northeastern Uganda lead in terms of percentages. Topping the list are the Jie. Among the Jie, nearly one in every three men (29%) has more than one wife. The Jie are followed by the Karimojong with 28.5%, Dodoth 25.7% and Pokot 25%.
The Nyangia are fifth, with 24% of men reporting more than one official wife. According to census data, the most monogamous tribe is the Bahororo, among whom polygamous men are 6%. This is followed by the Vonoma with 8.4% and Banyarwanda with 8.4%.
Nationwide, 14.7% of Ugandan men, or one out of every seven, have more than one official wife. Polygamy is not illegal in Uganda, but while Christians are forbidden from marrying more than one wife, Islam allows up to four.
Religion aside, Stella Neema, a medical anthropologist with the Makerere Institute of Social Research, identifies three major factors that play a role in polygamy: educational level, occupation and cultural values. “Less educated men are more likely to be polygamous,†she asserts.
Neema explains that educated men refrain from polygamy because they want few children whom they will be able to give a quality life. Uneducated men on the other hand, have no such encumbrance. “They (uneducated men) will marry many wives since they don’t care how many children they have.†Those people who still believe strongly in their traditional culture are more likely to be polygamous, according to Neema, since the number of wives is a status symbol for many cultures. People in mobile occupations like truck drivers are also more likely to be polygamous. “Chances are that he will have affairs where he works,†Neema says.
Polygamy is on the decline, according to the 2006 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey. In 2001 32% of married women in Uganda had co-wives but this reduced to 28% in 2006.
Neema attributes this to an increase in the level of education and rising urbanisation which weakens ties to cultures and increases the cost of living, making it difficult to maintain more than one wife.
Famous Ugandan polygamists
THE LATE ABU MAYANJA, A FORMER MINISTER
His family will not specify how many wives he had but they were many, including an Indian one. He officially had 40 children. A wealthy lawyer, he catered for all his children’s needs and educated them expensively here and abroad. At the time of his death in 2005, all the children had completed or nearly completed university.
THE LATE GASTAFANI OFWONO ODEL, FORMER COUNTY CHIEF IN TORORO
Growing up, Ofwono Opondo, the NRM’s publicist, remembers having 12 or 13 mothers. Yes, his father, had that many wives. But not even Opondo can say the 12 or 13 were all he had. “He was a real African man,†Opondo boasts. In his 82 years of life, Odel, a Jadhapola, sired 47 children, 34 of whom are still alive. “Life was good. I do not remember a day when we did not have enough food and by village standards, it was good food,†Opondo says of his father’s homestead. “
He also educated those of us who had the discipline to go to school.†Oden forbade members of his family from making any distinctions between their biological mothers or children in the case of wives and other members of the family. “It was an offence to say that so and so was not your biological mother or child. He really did not like that and he would often get the children of mother A and take them to mother B to live with her.†To this day, according to Opondo, the siblings do not make the distinction. Gastafani Odel died in 2001 at the age of 82. In his life time, he was a World War II veteran and a retired sub-county chief.
THE LATE PAUL KAFEERO, MUSICIAN
At the tender age of 38 when he died, Kafeero was survived by a 10 wives including an Americn PhD holder. With these wives, he had 27 children.