Man sues priest for wife grabbing

Fr. Sseppuuya presiding over the wedding of Martin Okumu Masiga and Margaret Mbakire Kyakuwa in Kampala in 2006

By VISION REPORTER

A Catholic priest has been dragged to court for allegedly snatching the wife of a member of his flock.

Martin Okumu Masiga alleges that Fr. J.B Kalanzi Sseppuuya, the assistant parish Priest of St. Kizito Catholic Church in Bwaise, Kampala Archdiocese, fathered a child with his wife.

Fr. Sseppuuya presided over Masiga’s wedding to Margaret Mbakire Kyakuwa on December 30 2006 at Christ the King Church in Kampala.

It is forbidden for Catholic priests and nuns to marry as they are supposed to live a celibate life.

Through Rwakafuuzi and Co. Advocates, Masiga has filed a petition for a divorce and Fr. Sseppuuya has been summoned to appear in court on June 23, 2011 for the hearing of the case.

The suit filed at the High Court of Kampala on May 30, states that Sseppuuya has been committing adultery with Kyakuwa, a lecturer at the social sciences faculty of Makerere University since 2006.

Masiga alleged that Sseppuuya had a child with Kyakuwa on September 22, 2010 at Paragon Hospital in Kampala.

When the Catholic Church was contacted yesterday, the Vicar General, Charles Kasibante, declined to comment on the matter, saying he did not know about it.
“I need time to consult before I can comment,” he said.

The Archbishop of Kampala, Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, was reported out of the country but was due to return for the Martyrs Day celebrations due tomorrow.

In his suit, Masiga states; “Not only did the respondents wantonly commit adultery, they deliberately, purposefully, mindless of the marital vows made and in total disregard for your petitioner’s existence, devised and executed a plan to make a baby from their adulterous liaison.”

The petitioner further contends that the priest was one of the church ministers who solemnised his marriage and that he was the same priest before whom he did his penitence and confession on their wedding day.

Masiga asserts that he did not have a conjugal relationship with Kyakuwa when she conceived and delivered a child (names withheld).
He said he had been deeply disturbed by the adulterous relationship of his wife and decided to leave his matrimonial home.

In his petition, Masiga alleges that he has suffered acts of cruelty from his wife, with whom he has a five-year old boy (names withheld).
He said his wife persistently returned home late at night without reasonable explanation.

Masiga adds that Kyakuwa frequently received long telephone calls late in the night, which he suspected to be from Sseppuuya.

Kyakuwa at a certain stage is said to have gone to Netherlands, where she was pursuing a Phd at the University of Amsterdam, but on returning to Uganda, she did not go home but stayed in an undisclosed location.

Masiga believes she was consorting with the man of God.
He also alleges that his wife denied him sex at all encounters in 2009 and refused to pick his calls and respond to his e-mail messages.
Masiga alleges that all his email addresses were forwarded to to Sseppuuya.

“For the whole of 2009 she came home after midnight and denied me sex. She was extremely harsh when dealing with me. She wanted sacred sex from the messenger of God which I was not. In 2009 I was the most lonely husband in the world,” he said.

Asking for a divorce, Masiga states that his marriage to Kyakuwa had irretrievably broken down. He is claiming for damages to the tune of sh11,834,800 expended on their, “fairytale but bogus wedding”.

He also wants Sseppuuya to pay general damages amounting to sh500m for the extreme anguish and pain he put the petitioner in.

Masiga also demands that Sseppuuya be ordered to pay punitive damages for abuse of his position of authority and trust and for his high handed conduct.

To bolster his case, Masiga has assembled evidence in form of affidavits from witnesses, who include a maid called Margaret Kaahwa.

Kaahwa alleges that during one of Sseppuuya’s visits to the home, he made sexual advances to her which she rejected.