Kakumiro man marries 423 wives, declaring 'These are not enough'

A 39 year old man in Kiwaya village, Kakumiro district, in Western Uganda has created for himself an unprecedented family unit. 

Sunday Christopher, a local traditional healer currently maintains a staggering 423 wives.

He says, however, his matrimonial ambitions are far from fulfilled. 

These hundreds of women live together in a fenced compound  with a single block of houses, each occupying their own solitary room

Far from resting on his laurels, Christopher confirmed to Tayari TV in an interview his intention to expand further.

“I am still getting more women and building more homes,” he declared.

The unusual communal housing arrangement was not his initial strategy. 

Christopher revealed that he took his first wife at the age of 16, but quickly developed a desire for multiple partners: 

“I immediately wanted another, then the third and fourth… My most recent bride came in just two weeks ago.”

Before deciding to consolidate his marriages in a single place, Sunday says, the women were scattered across different villages, a situation he claims led to issues of infidelity. 

“I got a challenge from men sleeping with them. I took some to courts of law and it started some animosity. So I decided to bring them in one place,” he explained

The massive household is run with bureaucratic precision, modelled on political structures. 

Christopher manages his home "like a government," where women are assigned responsibilities and are voted into positions by their peers, with the children also participating in the democratic process. 

Official roles include a nurse, a public relations officer, and a speaker. 

This system, he said, ensures order amongst the wives, who are generally well-behaved, though Sunday reserves the right to terminate any marriage if a wife "fail[s] to align." 

Currently, he is the father to 125 children and four grandchildren, but he has much loftier goals. 

Viewing his family as his “farm,” he adamantly rejects family planning, stating, “I hope to have about 350 children before leaving this earth.”

To mitigate risk, all existing and new wives must undergo mass HIV testing periodically. 

“Every once in a while we take a mass HIV test with them to be on the safe side. Even the new ones have to undergo a test,” he assured. 

Asked about how he splits time among the wives, he said, “I give each one only a few hours to be with them. I spend the night moving from house to house.” 

However, he finds a silver lining in the arrangement, noting, “One of the good things about this is that I enjoy different kinds of food.” 

Finally, citing the sheer burden of educating his extensive progeny, Christopher issued an appeal to the government for assistance, suggesting they might "even build a school on my land" as "all children belong to the government."