Mzee Ernesto Muinuchi Kapinga, a man from a small village in Tanzania, has a very special family. He is married to 16 women, has over 100 children, and a whopping 144 grandchildren.

These days, many men struggle with the idea of starting a family and having children, as even one extra mouth to feed feels like too much pressure. Taking care of more than two or three children is unthinkable for the vast majority of young people, but then you have guys like Mzee Ernesto Muinuchi Kapinga who dedicate their lives to expanding their families as much as possible. Hailing from a small village in Njombe, Tanzania, the African man currently has 16 wives, 104 children, and 144 grandchildren. His homestead looks like a small village, featuring a house for every one of his wives, and people running around everywhere doing chores, and looking after dozens of mall children.

Photo: Afrimax

In a recent interview with Afrimax, Ernesto Kapinga said that he began expanding his family at the request of his father. He married his first wife in 1961, and had his first child a year after that, but his father told him that one wife was not enough. He offered to pay the dowries if only he agreed to take on more wives and have more children.

“Our clan is small, I want you to expand it,” Kapinga’s father allegedly told him, and he accepted the mission. His father paid the dowries of his first five wives, but he didn’t stop there. At the peak of his polygamous life, Ernesto had 20 wives. Some chose to leave at some point, others passed away but today he still lives with 16 wives, seven of whom are sisters.

It’s hard to understand why, as a woman, you would want to share a man with other women, but Mzee Ernesto Muinuchi Kapinga’s wives claim that it was all about his reputation as a good, respectful husband. One of his wives told his sister about him and the good life she led alongside him, and she wanted to experience the same, so they decided to share him. In the end, seven sisters ended up marrying Kapinga. They now live in harmony and claim that there is no jealousy between them.

Photo: Afrimax

“Here, everyone has their role,” the patriarch said. “Each wife has their own house, her own kitchen, there is no competition. Everyone knows their place, we farm together, we eat together, we work together. This is not just a home, it is a system, and it works.”

So how does one provide for hundreds of mouths to feed? Well, apparently, the entire family depends on their own hard work for sustenance, they rely entirely on their crops and livestock for food. They mainly grow corn, beans, cassava, and bananas, and what they don’t consume themselves, they either trade or sell for other goods.

“People think I control everything,” Kapinga said. “But the truth is that the women keep this family together, I am only here to guide them.”

The wives all claim that they always talk openly about their problems and don’t let grudges threaten the unity of the household. If they can’t work things out between themselves, they bring the issues to Ernesto and he listens to them, doesn’t take sides, but only offers them advice. Apparently, that system has worked perfectly so far.

 

Interestingly, Mzee Ernesto Muinuchi Kapinga admitted that he sometimes struggles with the names of all his children and grandchildren, claiming that he remembers about 50 of their names off the top of his head. He claims to remember the rest when he sees their faces.

Kapinga’s giant family should be even larger, but he has lost 40 children to sickness and accidents. He mourns and remembers them, but he moves forward because he has many more living offspring that need his constant attention.