Remember Halita? Yes! The Rishantes are an extension of the previously advantaged Zamani clan headed by Matilda’s ex-husband, Kaza. The marriage between the two resulted in the birth of Bobby and Dosha, but after Kaza’s scandalous affair with a reporter, Matilda bluntly revealed that Bobby was in fact fruit of her infidelity, and that’s how the marriage was dissolved. Now, 7 years later, the Rishantes have formed a bubble of their own, and here’s how it’s going.

The ultimate acceptance

We saw during Kaka’s funeral that something wasn’t quite right with Halita’s mother’s reaction to seeing Matilda’s younger brother Adi. Though not much was thought of it at first, it was later revealed that Adi was Halita’s biological father. A detail her parents decided to keep from her. When Adi Rishante learnt of this, however, he unashamedly accepted Halita and declared her a member of the family. Though the transition wasn’t so smooth as far as Matilda was concerned, Halita became a Rishante, indefinitely.

A degree from abroad

One of the finest gifts Adi awarded Halita after finding out about her paternity was an opportunity to further her studies abroad. After the push and pull for her tea business, an idea King tried to seal and sell as his own, Halita realized that she knew very little about business and needed to get her head out of the clouds, so off to London, she went.

Back to business

After King defrauded Lufu and pinned it on Hassan’s accounting, and Kaza’s financial scandals that led to more than a few hiccups, Matilda had Kaza forcefully removed as overseer and gave her brother, Adi, the ropes. Since then, Lufu group was dissolved and gave way to the family’s current business, The Rishantes group.

This part of the Rishante’s new reality isn’t as bright as they’d hoped, however. Adi’s rather ‘over the top’ investment hunches have gotten the firm into a debt hole of more than $6M with no bank approvals.

Matilda for politics

At first, everyone thought Matilda’s involvement in senate politics was a cry for help. With Kaza spending more and more time fixing Lufu, Matilda was thought to have been a housewife with too much time on her hands and an insatiable need for more power and influence. This is of course not the case anymore. In the seven years that the Zamani chain was dismantled, Matilda’s political ambition shot her straight to the senate president pedestal.

After seven years, the three Rishantes boast power, apparent wealth, and some romance. Tune in to The Rishantes every weeknight at 20:00 on DStv CH 153 AM Urban to find how they fend their new enemies off. Especially the ones closer than arm’s length.