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The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Norbert Mao, has visited the parents of his long-time fiancée, Beatrice Kayanja, in Najjanankumbi along Entebbe Road.

Mao, who is also the president of the Democratic Party, was on Sunday (February 25) accompanied by the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa, and Mbarara North MP, Robert Rukaari, among others.

When contacted, Mao said that the visit was OK and dismissed reports by some online publications that it was an introduction. “It was a visit to parents; introduction will be later in the year. This is our tradition; we are Africans,” he told New Vision via phone.

Beatrice, who used to be Mao’s research assistant, separated from the husband she was married to for 25 years,  Martin Kayanja, after she successfully filed a divorce petition at the Family Court in Makindye, Kampala, in February 2021. 

She, for instance, told court that Kayanja had been very quarrelsome and disrespectful to her and had on several occasions belittled her before her children and the public. The court ruled in her favour, but the judgment was never made public.

On December 18, 2023, she posted a picture of her and the minister on X, formerly Twitter, showing their smiling faces. They were elegantly dressed and wearing dark glasses. She hashtagged her post #NewProfilePic and told one of her followers who had reacted to the post that she and her fiancé’s friendship was deep.