Mercy Nalugo Kabanda
20 October 2007
Kampala — Mr Rogers Kakeeto and Ms Florence Nabaweesi exchanged their marriage vows on September 29, 2003 before jubilant friends and relatives at All Saints Cathedral in Kampala.
But the couple, who have a 10-year-old son, are now locked in a divorce battle over denial of sex and domestic violence. Ms Nabaweesi filed for divorce in the High Court on September 21 this year accusing her husband of abandoning the marital bed, thus causing her mental anguish.
"He shunned the marital bed and set camp in the sitting room couch and made it his permanent bed for over a year," Ms Nabaweesi's petition says. "At that time, the petitioner approached the respondent romantically but was rejected with words of bitterness and curses."
Ms Nabaweesi also accuses her husband of being aggressive, hot-tempered, and disrespectful. "On one specific occasion in March 2005, the respondent hit your petitioner while she was pregnant with their 3rd child, resulting into a miscarriage of the child, a case that ended up being sorted out by police." she states in her petition.
However, Mr Kakeeto, a marketer with a media house in Kampala, says his "lovely" wife started a romantic relationship with Mr Meddy Kitakuffe, a self-styled bishop in the born-again community. "Bishop" Kitakuffe, 32, is the lead pastor at Grace Tabernacle Centre in Kasubi, Kampala.
Ms Nabaweesi is a sales supervisor with a big telecommunications company in the country. Mr Kakeeto says t his wife got involved with Mr Kitakuffe in 2005 when she started praying at Grace Tabernacle. Mr Kitakuffe rapidly appointed her administrator.
In a counter petition, Mr Kakeeto, who is not opposing Ms Nabaweesi's divorce petition, says his wife and the pastor are now organising a secret and illegal wedding.
Mr Kakeeto filed his counter petition on October 16. He says all was well until Ms Nabaweesi started regularly attending overnight prayers at Grace Tabernacle leading, to a neglect of her marital duties.
He says in the court documents that after his wife moved out of the marital home, she started living with Mr Kitakuffe in Kyengera near Kampala. Mr Kakeeto states further that Ms Nabaweesi denied him sex on the grounds that he is a devil worshipper "with whom she could not share a bed because he refused to declare that he was a born again and attend the same church that the petitioner attended".
He says his wife claimed that she got visions that he was demonic, so she told him he was not fit to be her husband. "She said such a vision could be overturned if I declared my salary so that part of it goes to the pastor's church in form of tithe. She could not declare hers to me either," he says in the petition. Kakeeto says he will adduce evidence to show that his wife's pregnancy was voluntarily terminated with her consent because of health complications she had suffered.
Ms Nabaweesi says, however, that her husband had a special relationship with the maid. She says he bought her shoes and clothes although Mr Kakembo says nothing of the sort happened. Mr Kakeeto told Daily Monitor that efforts by family members to reconcile them failed.
Ms Nabaweesi moved out of her marital home on January 8, 2007 and on January 22, sent an email to Mr Kitakuffe informing him that she had met her lawyer to process the divorce papers "and the lawyer said I have higher chances of winning the case in court. We have to pray over it though so that the magistrates rush our file because they handle so many cases although family related cases are few..."
Ms Nabaweesi is demanding custody of their son and costs incurred in filing the petition, among others. Mr Kakeeto has not objected to her petition because he says there is no hope for reconciliation. Mr Kitakuffe told this newspaper that he had interest in Ms Nabaweesi before he knew she was married.
"I actually did not move a step and we pastors are approached by many women although we turn down their requests," he said. He said Ms Nabaweesi went to his church for counselling, although he did not say over what. "I realised she had some features of a woman I would go for but with time, I knew that things would not add up," he said.
"When she explained to me all her problems, I sought advice from my senior pastors who discouraged me from going ahead with my plans. They said I couldn't marry a girl with such a background." When reached for comment, Ms Nabaweesi said: "Is it an obligation that I should talk to you?"
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