By Leonard Kamugisha Akida,
NATIONAL:
Court in Entebbe has charged renown city pastor Aloysius Bugingo and his new lover Suzan Makula Nantaba with conducting illegal wedding.
The duo has today appeared before Entebbe Chief Magistrates Court which charged them with conducting a wedding that is null and void, in a case that was filed by Bugingo’s “Ex”-wife Teddy Naluswa Bugingo, through her lawyer Male Mabirizi.
The couple is accused of violating the customary marriage law which prohibits married people from remarrying before divorce because it is tantamount to bigamy.
The Entebbe Grade One Magistrate, Stella Okwanga has further granted a Sh3 millio bail to Bugingo and Makula and their sureties will have to pay Sh10 million.
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Court has also allowed the Director of Public Prosecutions [DPP] to take over the case from private prosecutors of Male Mabirizi and his colleague Roger Rutaro.
It should be recalled that lawyer Hassan Male Mabirizi and Roger Rutaro had earlier this week filed a case at the court challenging the decision by [DPP] to take over the criminal case against Bugingo at the Entebbe Magistrate’s court saying he is unserious and only wants to kill the case
Mabirizi has been ordered to furnish the office of the DPP with all the eveidences of the matter. However, he said he will not feed the DPP with the eveidence so far collected vowing to appeal to the High Court against the takeover.
The magistrate has adjourned the matter to February 18, when Bugingo and Makula will reappear to court for mentioning of the charges.
Shortly after the adjournment, Bugingo and Makula rushed to their car and quickly driven away from attending interviews with the media.
Earlier charges
In the case registered as 666 of 2021 of Entebbe Chief Magistrates court, Naluswa accuses Bugingo of entering into a legally binding marriage with Makula, well knowing that he is still legally married to Naluswa because despite the fact that they separated several years ago, they have never been legally divorced.
The case was filed after Bugingo was introduced to Makula’s family on Decemeber 7th, 2021, the introduction ceremony that was held in Katabi, in Entebbe.
However, Bugingo contested the introduction publicly saying that he had never been introduced to Makula’s parents but just paid a visit to them as a friend to attend a private party.
Mabirizi disregarded the Pastor’s claims and went further and applied to court to compel some people who attended the function among them Pastor Simeon Kayiwa, Frank Gashumba and others to appear in court as witnesses in the matter.
Mabirizi, who also applied to court to compel media houses that broadcast the function to avail him with footage of the same after the ‘witnesses’ rejected his pleas to them to be part of the case.
Bugingo married his first wife Teddy Naluswa, on December 20, 2003 at Victory Christian Centre Ndebba, but the two have since separated in a bitter row.
Meanwhile, the officer of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), through the Director of Prosecutions Justice Jane Francis Abodo, applied to court a few days ago to take over the case.
On January 21, magistrate Stella Okwang granted the DPP request to take over the case from private prosecutors of Male Mabirizi and his colleague Roger Rutaro.
