Mr Elisha Koli with his first wife who died in 1999. The couple had two children, Erick and Mercy (not in picture). PHOTO | Larry sang and family album
Posted Tuesday, November 2 2010 at 20:26
Polygamy is not news in Kenya, except when somebody like Akuku Danger marries over 46 wives and sires over 200 children. But the case of one Elisha Koli is rather unique. He has four wives... and two of them are biological sisters.
At 41, Mr Koli has had six children and four wives. The first wife had two children before she died in 1999 after a short illness. A week later, her six-year-old daughter died. Mr Koli was left with his son, who was only a year old.
“I decided to marry many wives because of the discouragement I experienced when my first wife died. I thought it would be better if I had more than two wives,” Koli said.
He married his second wife, Josephine, in 2000. She took care of the boy and lived in Bunyore, Emuhaya District, where Mr Koli’s first wife had also lived.
Three months later, he married Mildred, his third wife. A few months later, Mildred’s sister, Evelyn, joined the new family as a house-help. Little did she know that she was going to share a husband with her sister.
“I noticed that she behaved well like her sister and I thought I could marry her,” he said.
He spoke to their parents and brothers and they did not oppose the marriage. Mr Koli then met with elders and was given the go-ahead.
He married Evelyn and rented a house for her in Kawangware 46, approximately 400 metres from Kawangware Muslim where Mildred lives. Mr Koli paid bride price for the sisters at the same time and says it has been a happy union. Mildred has two children but Evelyn has none.
The former student of Esongolo Primary School, Ebwali Secondary School and later Kisumu Polytechnic has had an eventful life. Born the first of eight children, he at one time was forced to fend for his siblings.
When his father, who was then “a drunkard”, married his second wife, Koli’s mother called it quits, leaving the young man to look after his siblings. Their father virtually moved house to stay with his new wife.
The young man was left with no option but do menial jobs, like harvesting sand, to get money for subsistence.
He would assign them duties in the morning before going to school and later rush home in the evening to check if the sand was bought.
“The reason I look after my wives well is because of the experience I got then. I consider them as my siblings,” Mr Koli said.
Things changed for the better four years later when their parents reunited and children enjoyed the comfort of a real family life. This became a good platform for him because his father paid his high school fees.
“He paid fees for Form One and Two at once and later Form Three and Four also at once,” Mr Koli said. Their father stopped drinking and got saved. This created a new life for Koli who joined the Kisumu Polytechnic where he studied telecommunication and later landed himself a job at Eve Africa Telecommunication Company.
He was attached to the Kenya Armed Forces and later the Kenya Postal Telecommunication Company as a communication technician. He has also worked with Commtel Engineering Africa, Simoco Europe, Distributed Communication and Radio Frequency System Company.
“When I have Sh3,000, I give Josephine Sh1,200, Mildred Sh1,000 and Evelyn Sh800,” said Koli.
He explains that Josephine gets a large share because she has two children and is taking care of the first wife’s child; Mildred follows because she has two children and Evelyn less because she does not have a child.
He adds that he spends more time with Evelyn because she does not have any children, so he considers himself her child.
Source http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/1045660/-/11igf7cz/-/
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