Below is an article that appeared in the Daily Nation sometime back revolving round a man and his homestead.....

A day in the Kazungu homestead




Published: 27/10/2004




By: DANIEL NYASSY














Mzee Kazungu wakes up at 3 am every day,although it will be another two hours before he rouses the rest of the household. At 5 am,he goes to every house to wake his people up for the day’s chores. At 5.30,he assigns duties to his wives and children,which include milking,taking the animals to graze,tilling the farm,etc.
He has a cup of tea and leaves for the forest or shamba to supervise his family as they carry on with their duties. He hardly ever eats lunch. 'I am usually too busy,especially during the planting and harvesting season,' he says.
His grass and makuti-thatched hut (kagojo) is located in the centre of the compound next to his main house and the family granary. Behind the main house are his adult children’s houses,built in a row. Most of his sons are polygamists,each with two wives.
The old man,locally known as 'Simba' (lion),has put up all of his 10 wives in a 20ft by 10ft iron-roofed,mud house. The house is partitioned into four chambers,one of which houses his first and two other wives. The second chamber has four while the other has two wives.
His wives sleep on simple,traditional beds (mwakishu) made of ropes and four pieces of wood. The beds are arranged in rows similar to those in a school dormitory. Some are bare while others have thin bedding covering them,mostly cow skins.
The fourth room,next to his first wife’s room,which Kazungu proudly refers to as 'the doctor’s room',is the master bedroom. It is larger than the rest and contains the old man’s double bed and personal effects – clothes,bags,umbrellas,pangas,etc.
Kazungu says he assigns duties to his first wife,whom he refers to as his secretary. 'No other wife comes to the 'doctor’s' bed without passing through the secretary,' he says.
We find Kazungu in his kagojo repairing hoes,pangas and other farm tools for his big labour force. All his wives,sons and daughters-in-law are already in the shamba where they have been since 5 am. Each of them is busy preparing their individual plots (koho). This is only after jointly completing work on the main farm (dzumbe) owned by the head of the homestead. When we visit the farms later,we find all 10 wives,sons and their wives working on one of the pieces. This is called chikola (joining hands to work on a piece at a time).
The dzumbe is already prepared and maize planted,ready for the rains. The main crop is maize although they also grow a few legumes. According to Mzee Kazungu,the harsh climate does not allow other crops to thrive in this area.
The old man has recently experienced a catastrophe with his goat herd. We are struck by the large number of goatskins lying about in the compound. The 40 goatskins,some of them fresh,form Kazungu’s tragic story. His stock of 1,000 goats has now been reduced to about 400 in just one month.
'A strange disease has befallen me. My goats have developed a swelling in the lungs and heart. Within minutes,the goat is dead,' Kazungu mourns and adds,'the last goat has just died.'
He recalls how he started out 'with a single sheep,which I bought for Sh4.50 from my grandfather.'
Goats aside,the 72-year-old man proudly exclaims that we should not underestimate his prowess as a man just because of his age.
'I can comfortably satisfy all my wives’ needs. I am a total man. My fourth wife,Kavumbi,has given birth to twins five times. Those are ten children. My sixth wife,also called Kavumbi,has given birth to three sets of twins and one set of triplets.'
He even more proudly announces that in all the years he has been a husband,he has never laid a hand on any of his wives.








Very interesting and amazing too...

It appears mzee Kazungu has everything in the world that he has ever wanted and wanted to be...

I wish i could see things his way....a true total son of Africa.


NEVER TALK OF A RHINO IF THERE IS NO TREE NEAREBY - ZULU PROVERB

@ wendz,

you may rest assured that mzee kazungu's menu does not comprise the kaplate of ugali and sukuma wiki judging by the size of his family and his capabilities at his age....

i would think of something like this:

Monday: breakfast: millet + soghum uji.....2 half litre mugfuls and 5 bolied eggs.

Dinner: 2 plates of kienyeji,2kg boiled goat meat,1 lr muonjo soup

Tuesday: breakfast: 2 pieces of 1.5kg nduma,1 litre milk,1/2kg fried beef

Dinner: 2 plates Soghum ugali,2 bowlsful of boiled goat matumbo

Wednesday:breakfast: 3 pieces of 1kg sweet potatoes,2 litres milk,1kg boiled beef

Dinner: 2 plates maize ugali,2 bowlsful of boiled goat matumbo & Kunde

Thursday:breakfast: 3 mugfuls,millet & soghum uji,5 1/2kg chapatis,3 boiled eggs

Dinner: 6kg pilau,3kg fried beef,1 bowl of sukumawiki,2 mugs goat milk

Friday:breakfast: 3 mugfuls,fermented maize uji,5 fried eggs,4 combs roast maize

Dinner: hind leg (goat) roasted,3kg maize ugali,bowlful kachumbari

Saturday:breakfast: 3 plates soghum ugali,3 plateful kunde,2 litres muteta soup

Dinner: 4kg tilapia fish,5kg fried matoke,3 plates irio from njahi

Sunday:breakfast: a variation of other days breakfasts.

Dinner: a variation of other days dinners.

By the way how many in this generation would have time for such a menu even if the time and money was available??? come to think of it....


NEVER TALK OF A RHINO IF THERE IS NO TREE NEAREBY - ZULU PROVERB

@ poggie,

I suggest you forget max and lenin for you have never or might never live their lifes....you only read about their ideologies,but have no slightest clue about their background social/matrimonial lives...

you see poggie,mzee kazungu is wise enough to know the lifes led by the wealthy and affluent,but he chose his to lead....to him his closest allies is his family which happens to be his heaven. kazungu is a happy man.


NEVER TALK OF A RHINO IF THERE IS NO TREE NEAREBY - ZULU PROVERB