For some, who knew him during his lifetime, the name Acentus Akuku 'Peril' is interchangeable to polygamy.
Consider him the grandmaster of enchantment on the off chance that you should on the grounds that he was Kenya's most unmistakable polygamist and is accounted for to have hitched in excess of 100 ladies in the course of his life and fathered more than 200 kids.
The Rise of danger
Conceived Acentus Ogwella Akuku, he wedded his first spouse in 1939. At 22 years old, he had hitched five spouses and when he was 35, he was on his 45th wife.
His adoration for polygamy and ladies procured him the moniker 'Threat' from his friends who accepted that all his moves was made to pull in ladies.
“I’m called Danger because I overshadowed many men when it came to women. I was very handsome. I dressed well and I knew how to charm women with sweet talk. No woman could decline my advances. I was a magnet,” Akuku once told The standard.
Arguably one of the world’s best-known polygamists, he married his last wife in 1992 when he was 79. The woman was then only 18.
His love for polygamy was no longer a family thing but became an industry as he had so many children in his family that he established two elementary schools solely to educate his children, as well as a church for his growing family to attend.
Akuku The Disciplinarian
Despite his large family, he was reputed to be a disciplinarian who ruled his large family with an iron fist. He knew all the children by name and made a roster on when to spend on which house.
In past interviews, Akuku told local journalists he was responsible for naming all of his children, as way to bond with them.
“I lived a lavish lifestyle. I was always ready to spend money on women.”“I divorced women who misbehaved,” he once said.
Akuku grouped his families in clusters spreading across Ndhiwa, Homa Bay and Migori. His main homestead or ‘State House’ is however in Rachuodho.
As a rule, one family cannot claim the property in another cluster.
In a chat with daily nations, one of Akuku’s wives, Damaris Awiti recalled her time with him.
She had gone to visit her sister Priscah Obumba who had just delivered a child. Priscah was the ninth wife but Damaris began to envy her sister for her ‘catch’ and didn’t waste time in accepting Akuku’s proposal when he asked to marry her as well.
“He was a tall and very handsome man. The tone of his voice was very soothing. I found him irresistible. Furthermore, he had enough wealth, which was every woman’s dream at the time,” Damaris told Daily Nation.
On how the household was run, Damaris said:
“He was a very caring man who would make you feel like the luckiest woman on earth. I loved him very much, and he, too, loved us,” recalls Damaris.
“When I joined the family, I was taught how to live and what roles I would play in the home,”
“One wife, for example, would be assigned the duty of cooking for our husband for a given period. Another would iron his clothes… and so on,” explains Damaris. “That way, we avoided chaos.”
Spouses without unique obligations, Damaris stated, would go with the other relatives to the ranch, where they worked until night. Subsequent to cultivating, Damaris said each lady would return to her home with her youngsters and cook for them. Akuku would go through the night with the spouse whose obligation was to cook for him during that period.
“Mzee did not like lazy, proud and arrogant women. He would warn a woman over a misdemeanour and, if she repeated the same mistake, chase her away. All her children sired by Akuku would remain in the family.”
When a woman had been divorced, says Damaris, Akuku would decide which one of his many wives would take care of the children of the expelled wife.
Rise of an Empire?
Many attributed his large family to the fact he was very rich; he owned a fleet of taxis, and most of these cars were driven by his sons.
“In one street trading centre you will see a general store run by one of his sons and a tailor’s run by a daughter,” a BBC report in 2000 said.
Aoro Chuodho market is literally Akuku’s empire. Half of the shops and residential buildings are his and his family members. Most of the buildings have names like Akuku Danger Plaza, Akuku Tailoring shop, Akuku Shop, P Akuku Complex …Akuku This and Akuku That.
Special Diet
For those wondering where he got the energy to run his household, Akuku himself admitted he never forgot to cater to his own health as he followed a strict diet.
“I avoid too much fat and salt and it helped me to escape diseases,” he said. “I eat at the right time and I just don’t eat anything. I am served traditional food that is well prepared. I always eat a fruit after meals.”
Towards the end of his life, Akuku started charging fees for media interviews. Journalists and tourists who trooped to his main home in Ndhiwa District had to pay ‘fees.’
Akuku Kicked the bucket
He died in October 2010 at 92 years old and reports said he outlasted 12 of his spouses.
Akuku fell at one of his homes in Ndhiwa and kicked the bucket on landing in the Nyanza Provincial Hospital at 2 am. He was experiencing diabetes.
The family representative, Mr Tom Akuku, be that as it may, said just 40 of his dad's numerous relationships were perceived by the Luo standard laws. He said that out of the 40 spouses, just 22 were as yet alive.
“Mzee sired 210 children–104 daughters and 106 sons, some of whom have since died,” Tom Akuku said at the time of Akuku’s death.
…But His Legacy Lives On
It is accounted for that Akuku held standard night gatherings with his family. This custom didn't end with his passing. His family actually gets together at 'State House' to address any issues and talk about issues influencing them.
They have a typical kitty, where all pay is gathered and disseminated. The majority of the assets are for school-going youngsters and Akuku's vagrants, a family representative said.
Grandson Nickson Mwanzo says the Akuku clan is using Facebook to bond with each other. The grandchildren are setting up the Akuku Danger Family Facebook page in honour of their grandfather.
“We are so many that it is hard for us to meet in one gathering, so we set up a Facebook page to track Akuku’s lineage,” says Mwanzo.
To his surprise, they got responses from all over the world.
His sons, daughters and grandchildren are well educated and work in the civil service and the private sector.
“He has been our advisor and guardian,” said Dorcas Matunga, the Homa Bay County Council Chairperson and one of the late Akuku’s daughters-in-law.
Following his passing, there have been correlations among Akuku and other fruitful polygamists from the African landmass. Names like eSwatini's King Mswati III, who has around 14 spouses and 23 youngsters, have come up. South Africa's previous President Jacob Zuma is additionally noted to have five spouses and 20 kids.
Be that as it may, maybe the person who approaches Akuku is Abumbi II, the eleventh lord of the Bafut realm in north-west Cameroon.
The lord has 100 spouses and 500 kids. The main exemption is that he acquired 72 spouses from his dad, King Achirimbi II, who passed on in 1968. With 28 spouses as of now, King Abumbi wound up with 100 sovereigns and 500 youngsters.
Notwithstanding, the individuals who realized Akuku concur that if at any point there would be an honor for a fruitful polygamist, Akuku would get the gold.
As Kenyans frequently state of a withdrew individual, 'Peril' has left a hole that will be hard to fill in light of the fact that numerous men have bombed the trial of enticement, take off alone polygamy.
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