Mzee Yosia Mwesigye an 83 years old man, has given birth to his first kid following the death of his 79-year-old wife, who had no children.
In his previous marriage, Mzee Mwesigye tried for 57 years without success to conceive a child. Despite the fact that society places a high value on having children, Mzee Mwesigye has no remorse about his late wife’s inability to bear him a child.
Mzee Mwesigye was born on January 26, 1939.
On April 25, 1962, at the age of 23, he married Jane Tukamuhabwa (since deceased).
However, the couple was unable to have children.
“When we visited hospitals, we were told we were fertile,” Mzee Mwesigye narrates.
Following doctors’ assurances, he remained faithful to his wife.
“We did everything together but it was so unfortunate that she passed on without giving birth,” he says.
While there is no maximum age at which a man can have children, for women, menopause begins between the ages of 45 and 55. Tukamuhabwa was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2005 and passed away in 2018.
Mzee Mwesigye found love again at the age of 79.
“I lived with workers and some adopted children after the death of my wife but they could sleep in boys’ quarters and I would sleep alone in the main house. That’s when life turned against me and I thought of marrying a second wife,” he says.
Mzee Mwesigye’s sister brought him a woman for a visit a few days later, and she later became his new wife.
“I was excited to the extent that I even cried and asked one of my workers to slaughter a goat and that’s how I got my second wife Sharon Arinaitwe,” he says.
He found out that Ms Arinaitwe, now 29, was pregnant after two years of marriage.
Health personnel at North-Kigezi Health IV Rugarama delivered her a healthy baby boy on March 23.
“I am so happy that God has blessed me with a child at my old age. I never thought of getting one but I kept on praying and finally God answered my prayers and now I am a father,” Mzee Mwesigye, who by village standards is wealthy, says.
“Dying without a child is such a painful thing. In our African culture, one is only remembered when they leave a child on earth. I used to wake up early in the morning, sit in my sitting room and ask myself how I will be remembered after my death since I had no child,” he adds.
Ms Arinaitwe said that her sister-in-law persuaded her to marry Mr Mwesigye.
“We reached his home amid rain. I saw an old man and thought that his son was the one to marry me. Later in the evening, the man told me that he wants to marry me. That is when I realised that my husband was an old man,” she says.
She continues, “
“He is a good man who loves his family. I promise to look after him until his death.”
Ms Feredansi Tumushabe, Mzee Mwesigye’s sister, says:
“He wanted to marry again and I accepted his suggestion. I started tracing for a wife. Three months later, I met Arinaitwe whom I convinced to marry my brother”.
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