Polygamy is better than keeping concubines
Across River Nguva in my neighbourhood are two-storey houses separated by a long fence.
They are painted the same colour, are of the same design, and have similar models of cars parked outside.
They belong to a man and his two wives. The beauty of it is that the two women have no qualms about living near each other and sharing a husband, as one would expect.
Indeed, to the neighbours, they are a harmonious and peaceful trio.
It’s better to marry than keep concubines
In the eyes of many people, the two women are probably not as close as they seem.
The green-eyed monster called jealousy probably exists, but the husband is the binding factor.
A friend of this writer wonders how a man manages a marriage with two women.
He argues that if it is so hard to deal with one woman, how difficult would it be to manage two women?
Inside the hearts of most men, having more than one woman is natural.
My brother jokingly says that it is an unforgivable “sin” for a rich man to have one woman as a wife.
How true this is, I do not know, and I do not subscribe to this philosophy.
On the other hand, I do not mind it when a man chooses to have two or more wives.
What I am averse to is when a man makes it an ordained duty to jump from one woman’s bosom in acts of illicit intimacies to the detriment of their marriages.
This breed of men satiate their “need” by having concubines (so-called nyumba ndogo).
I know a man who is so hedonistic that he keeps a harem of women from all walks of life, and even his legally married wife knows all about it.
In my submission, keeping nyumba ndogo is an expensive affair, especially if they drink alcohol.
They will be able to caress his ego, especially if he is the type to brag about the skirts he has uncovered.
We did these things when we were young, but looking back, I feel that I gained nothing at all.
It was simply a waste of time, energy, and resources.
Indeed, as King Solomon puts it in the book Proverbs, it is vanity—like chasing the wind.
Many of us men have chased the wind for so long. The point is that if you cannot be satisfied by one woman, marry as many as you want (and make sure you can afford it) and stop chasing waves in the Indian Ocean.
