When one wife is not enough
Mr Phiri with his four wives. By Jack Zimba “I DECIDED to marry four wives because one woman could not satisfy my desire as a man,” says Moses Phiri of Mulangeni village in Chief Chanje’s area. Mr Phiri, 41, married his first wife, Lizyness, in 1993. But in 1997, Mr Phiri befriended and fell in love with Loveness Banda of neighbouring Bonzo village, whom he met at a village soccer match. Mr Phiri still fancies himself as a good soccer player. Within only a month, the two were discussing marriage. “I would lie if I said I found anything wrong with my wife, she was okay,” says Mr Phiri. “I just needed one more woman to satisfy my sexual hunger.” But when he told Lizyness about getting a second wife, she strongly objected to the idea. “She was very unhappy, and I understood why; she is a woman and wanted to have a husband all to herself,” says Mr Phiri, who makes a living through subsistence farming. In order to appease his wife and get his wish granted, Mr Phiri gave Lizyne