Mr Ivan’s daughters protesting at the gates of St Peter Kamuli Church of Uganda (Photo by Ronald Shabomwe)
Residents and by-passers in Kireka, Kamuli road have watched a live movie when a couple was attacked by a woman and her daughters, while at St Peters Kamuli Church of Uganda, with an aim to stop the wedding process
A famous businessman, dealing in pork joints identified as Ivan, the owner of a famous pork joint off Kamuri Road, at a place commonly known as ahakarongoti was set to tie the knot with his new bae
The scuffle started in the afternoon of Saturday 1st July, when the priest while conducting the wedding process asked a question seeking the audience to present any issues that may stop the new couple from marrying each other officially.
A woman in her 50s and her daughters in their 20s, from the audience, stood up and presented a police letter from Kira Police Station, showing that the couple who was intending to wed a new wife was married to another woman with old children and their issues still being handled by the court.
When the priest ignored their presentation, one of the children got up and started fighting his father. The son was immediately backed up by his two sisters and the mother, who turned the church into a boxing ring.
The Kamuli based church of the Ugandan administration, ordered the security (Police of Uganda), to chase away the woman and her fighting children.
These were sent out of the gate. They staged at the gate for some hours and later left. Their mother and the son were the first to leave on a motorcycle, claiming that they were going to pick their security to fight for their rights.
The wedding process resumed shortly, amidst heavy deployment. The entire premises were guarded heavily by over five armed police officers, who became very strict to the extent that they couldn’t allow any person not known to the wedding man, to access the premises.
This writer talked to a source who has closely worked with the couple at Ivan’s pork joint for some time. The source who preferred anonymity revealed that Ivan has been married to his girlfriend with whom they have had five children together for over 15 years. She revealed that the girlfriend used to be his worker whom he later turned into a wife.
She also told this platform that his old family turned against him 20 years back, when the wife sired a child with another man, which was the born of contention. Since then, Mr Ivan decided to leave the wife and her children with the property in Gayaza to cater for themselves.
It has been reported that Ivan did a customary marriage with his old wife years back until she turned against him. To this woman, customary marriage is enough evidence that the two are officially married and that the man should not marry another woman.
According to the constitution of Uganda, there are three official forms of marriage. Church marriage, civil and customary marriage. However, the last and the second become incomplete if there is no religious wedding. The couple was successfully united as one, and they later left for the reception amidst heavy deployment.
Many people were left wondering, why would a couple that separated many years back, would still be following each other to the extent of wanting to foil a wedding ceremony. Some blame the children for siding with their mother to fight their father, an act they termed a lack of respect for the parents.
Some bystander was heard saying “See these old ladies, why don’t they go and focus on their relationship instead of fighting their father? Do they want to marry their mother? If their mother became disrespectful, what would they expect?” They wondered.
It is not clear why these people have never attacked their father at the workplace, yet they well know where the business is located.
This platform understands that Ivan had six children with his old wife before they separated. Most people accompanying the man at the church were the people they work with at the pork joint and those from the side of a woman.
