Wilson Omutere Ongaro aka Sukuma bin Ongaro

According to Benga star Sukuma bin Ongaro, he married over 50 wives

However, the marriages did not last as the women were ‘stolen’

During his heyday, Ongaro would chips funga one or two women to entertain him each night he performed

When benga star Wilson Omutere Ongaro aka Sukuma bin Ongaro belted his evergreen hit Kila Siku Suku (why always me?), fans gyrating to his scintillating guitar and hilarious lyrics would never have guessed that he wasn’t singing about kids, stealing his cassava as the song may have suggested.

Apparently, he was lamenting about his ‘sons’ (young men from his village) seducing and marrying some of his wives. “Abana baikholela obwononi (my children have sinned against me),” he lamented, saying he had been made a fool.

In an interview with The Nairobian, Ongaro reveals that he married over 50 wives, but the marriages did not last since his women were always “stolen” by his village mates.

“I had over 50 wives and was blessed with 25 children, 12 of whom died, leaving me with their children,” he says.

Ongaro, a composer, storyteller, singer and entertainer, is among the last crop of legendary benga musicians whose music reverberated across the region in the 60s and 70s. Sadly, his old fame and fortune does not resonate with his current life.

He regrets that he wasted his youth, career and money on beautiful women he refers to as emioko in his Kila Siku Suku hit.

Ongaro says it was routine for him to chips funga one or two women to entertain him each night he performed.

“Whenever I performed, I would get good money and spend it entertaining women, band members and friends. We could drink alcohol the whole night and when we left the club, it was a must to have one or two women to keep me company,” he recalls.

Ongaro says he could earn up to Sh100,000, but would lavishly blow it and the following day, he would be left with almost nothing. When he ruled the town, a performance at Carnivore grounds and Panafric hotel would earn him as much as Sh150,000 a night, he says.

“The 50 women I married could not put up with my wayward lifestyle. Imagine I could be in a club entertaining women, yet my wives back home would go for even three days without food. Young men in the village took them as wives since they could provide for them,” Ongaro said.

Ongaro says if HIV/AIDs was prevalent in Kenya during his time, he would have contracted the virus. He thanks God for keeping him safe and healthy. He says he only came back to his senses when age caught up with him and realised that he had no savings.

“There were 12 of us in the band, and when my band members died, I gave my life to God. That is when I changed my name to Sukuma Dotcom,” he says.

In the 70s, Ongaro was a celebrity who could bring a market to a standstill. His hits were showstoppers at every village dance.

The musician who has over 50 albums under his belt was born in 1946 at Ebukambuli village, Mulwanda sub-location in Khwisero sub-county. He released his first song in 1962 just days after he lost his father, and says his songs are based on real life experiences and the problems he faced on a day-to-day basis.

But why do women swarm and swoon over celebrities? University of Nairobi sociologist Ken Ouko says women’s fascination with celebrities comes from the belief that a man who excels in whatever he does must be good with his brain and ‘other things’.

“It is called the halo effect. It is also in our culture, as human beings to revere those who excel in certain disciplines, because no matter how hard we try, we cannot be like them, so we put them on a pedestal and hero-worship them.

Men tend to be conscious of the perception they will create if seen screaming because Koffi Olomide is performing, so they will stand aside, and pretend not to care, but women, because it’s what the society expects them to do, will unashamedly scream, weep and even throw themselves at the celebrity,” says Ouko.