Man sires 108 kids, still wants more
•. . . failing to meet educational demands • Family demands more land, food
TAUZENI Mujaji (87) of Chipinge has fathered 108 children with 14 wives and says he still has an appetite for more wives and children. The traditional healer of Mozambican extraction was ironically the only child of his now deceased parents. He says he is on a mission to “produce relatives for himself”. Mujaji — who lives in Chitepo Village under Chief Garahwa, Chipinge South Constituency — now has a community of his own. His homestead has 24 huts and six two-roomed cottages to accommodate his big family. The man has over 50 grandchildren. Interviewing Mujaji was not easy.
“I am the one who proposed love to all my wives and I do not have a go-between. I am actually not yet done. I am looking forward to having more wives and children although I am no longer going out of my way to look for women.
TAUZENI Mujaji (87) of Chipinge has fathered 108 children with 14 wives and says he still has an appetite for more wives and children.
The traditional healer, of Mozambican extraction, was ironically the only child of his now deceased parents.
He says he is on a mission to “produce relatives for himself”.
Mujaji — who lives in Chitepo Village under Chief Garahwa, Chipinge South Constituency — now has a community of his own.
His homestead has 24 huts and six two-roomed cottages to accommodate his big family. The man has over 50 grandchildren. Interviewing Mujaji was not easy. He demanded that authority be sought from National Assembly member for the area Cde Enock Porusingazi before he could grant the interview.
Only after one of his sons had contacted the legislator, did Mujaji agree to field questions from journalists.
Mujaji, who hardly knows the month he was born, but is quite sure he was born in 1930, said his eldest child was now 74-years-old.
“I was born in Mozambique, Munjakazi area in 1930 and my first child is now 74-years-old. I came here in Zimbabwe in 1980. As of now, I have 10 wives. They were 14, but four of them passed on. I have 108 children.
“The youngest among my children are around three-years-old. There are several of them at that age. I married my first wife in Mozambique before I moved here.
“I last married in 1995. Some of my wives have eight children, some nine, some 11. The numbers vary,” said Mujaji who spoke through an interpreter because he speaks Shangani.
Interestingly, of the 108 children, Mujaji knows only a few by their names.
“I do not know all of them by their names. I might not know them by their names, but I know all of them as my children. Most of them were named by their brothers and sisters.
“These are my relatives. I was born alone and my parents died a long time ago. I am only producing my relatives,” he said with a chuckle.
A good number of his children have since relocated to South Africa in search of jobs, while many others, well out of their teens, are still around though jobless.
The octogenarian said he proposed love to all his wives without a go-between.
“I am the one who proposed love to all my wives and I do not have a go-between. I am actually not yet done. I am looking forward to having more wives and children although I am no longer going out of my way to look for women.
“If any beautiful woman comes my way and I am attracted to her, I will marry again.
“I am only helping this country to grow. Would you turn down a beautiful woman yourself?” asked Mujaji with a naughty guffaw.
Asked whether he uses juju to keep the family intact, Mujaji quipped: “I do not use any juju. It is something that is God-given. It is in me. If you use juju, it will soon come back to trouble you so I do not advise anyone to use juju to achieve this.”
His son, Pahlela Mujaji (27), who was the interpreter during the interview, said they lived happily despite financial challenges.
“We do not have any problems of jealousy and hatred among us. We love each other and treat each other as brothers and sisters of one united family. We know each other and there can never be incestuous affairs between us.
“We are not beggars as such, but we are just finding it difficult to survive with the few resources at our disposal. Only if we can get jobs and more land, we can feed ourselves. We are happy with our lives,” he said.
Fathering too many children has however, not been without challenges to Mujaji.
“I am in a difficult situation and I should accept that. I am having problems with paying school fees and feeding these children.
“As I speak, I have three who passed O-Level, but cannot proceed to A-Level because I cannot afford the fees.”
Mujaji has nine children in primary school and 26 in secondary school.
They attend school at nearby Mutandahwe primary and secondary schools which cost $10 and $30, respectively.
“We only have a three-hectare piece of land that we depend on and that is not enough to produce food for the whole family.
“We hope that the powers that be will come to our rescue and give us land since we have the labour to work on it and produce food,” he said.
Though the family relies on bush toilets, it has been lucky not to be attacked by water-borne diseases.
Cde Porusingazi, who has been helping the family in various ways, said he was exploring ways of making it self-sufficient.
“We are exploring ways to make them self-sustainable. This is why we have forwarded their case to the authorities in the Lands Ministry so that they get a bigger piece of land to help themselves.
“However, we have been helping them with food and only recently we donated 12x50kg bags of rice, two cases of two litres cooking oil, 50kg sugar and salt.
“We are in the process of getting clothing for them in the form of winter wear, shoes, blankets and uniforms. The most important thing about this whole scenario is that in our Ndau culture there is really nothing amiss about it.
“It is normal. We only want to help the family be self sustainable,” said Cde Porusingazi.