A couple of weeks ago I watched in shock and with great amusement as self-made businessman and tycoon, Kenny Kunene, paraded his army of girlfriends on a local talk show. The ‘Sushi King’, as he is known, declared that he prefers to date more than one women at a time and that these women should strictly be between the ages of 18-24.
Now, I don’t know what shocked me more, the fact that these words were being uttered by a middle-aged man or that they were uttered by someone whose daughter is the same age as his army of girlfriends. There is a lot that can be said about Kunene’s lifestyle; from him being a bad role model (not only to his children but to other young people who look up to him) to the many health risks that his lifestyle choice could lead to. As a young woman, Kunene’s lifestyle disturbs me and I am strongly against it, however I do acknowledge that he (like myself) has a right to live his life the way he sees fit, after all, we live in a country that preaches freedom of choice and freedom of expression right?
Polygamy or promiscuity? Kenny Kunene and some of the young ladies that make up his army of girlfriends
However, it saddened me to hear him proudly declare (on his reality show a few years back) that he sees himself as being a polygamist. Judging by his lifestyle, I’m guessing this is what he meant by that statement #SMH#. Why do people use culture as an excuse to justify wrong-doing?? It is because of people like him that many people look down on our African practices and see them as being backward, barbaric practices. Kunene has no clue what polygamy is and how it is practiced in the African context. I have noticed that many people tend to confuse promiscuity with polygamy; in my opinion there is a BIG difference between the two. The Oxford Dictionary’s definition of promiscuity is: ‘having many sexual partners’, whereas polygamy is defined as ‘the custom of having more than one wife at a time’. Now, based on these definitions, I think it’s safe to say that Kunene is a ‘promiscuist’ (if such a word even exists LOL) rather than a polygamist. He is NOT married to any of these women, nor does he have any intention of marrying them and what is more disturbing is that these women are not even allowed to have other boyfriends, but that’s a discussion for another day.
If the ‘Sushi King’ has aspirations of becoming Africa’s Hugh Hefner then by all means he should go ahead and live his ife the way he sees fit, but he shouldnt use culture to justify his promiscuous lifestyle! Thank you, bye!
