Eng. Kazibwe laid to rest

By Francis Kagolo and Emma Luganda

KAMPALA/GAYAZA - Former Vice-President Dr. Specioza Wandira Kazibwe on Thursday praised her late husband, Eng. Charles Kazibwe, whom she divorced in 2002, as an "intelligent and handsome man". 

In a rather moving eulogy during the church service at Our Lady of Good Counsel Gayaza, Speciosa reminisced that it's the two traits that attracted her to Kazibwe when they were students at Makerere University in the early 1980s.

She said other girls tried to lure Kazibwe “but he rejected them because he loved me”.

“If you want to engage me, you must be brilliant. Kazibwe was brilliant, very smart in the head and athletic at the same time. He could calculate mathematics without using a calculator,” Specioza said in a lengthy acclamation that lasted close to an hour.

L-R: Rosemary Sseninde, Daudi Migereko and Fred Omach attend the sevice at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Gayaza. PHOTO/Matthias Mugisha.

She narrated how they used to dance Lingala music at the university and no couple would challenge them. 

Kazibwe, a civil engineer, died Monday morning at Nsambya Hospital, where he had been admitted for nearly two months.

He was buried on Thursday at his ancestral home in Kayebe Village, Gayaza, where he has been living since their divorce in 2002 on claims of domestic violence.

However, Specioza lamented that a few years into their marriage, the engineer turned adulterous and a batterer, behaviour she could not tolerate "for fear of God’s judgment".

Vice President Edward Ssekandi greets Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga as Specioza Kazibwe looks on. PHOTO/Matthias Mugisha

Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga offers his condolences to Specioza Kazibwe. PHOTO/Matthias Mugisha

“Having many women is not a problem to me. I wouldn’t care because I grew up in a polygamous marriage. But if you disturb my peace, I will resist you,” she said.

“In Africa, women are subdued. I got a chance to become the first female Vice President in Africa. I used to sit among men during international meetings. God would judge me wrongly if I failed to use his anointing to liberate myself and other women,” Specioza went on.

She expressed displeasure over some Catholic priests who deny her Holy Communion (Eucharist) because she divorced.

She argued that since her divorce was issued by court and not church, God still knew her as Kazibwe’s wife.

Specioza Kazibwe looks on as the casket is lowered into the grave. PHOTO/Matthias Mugisha

“I won’t leave the Catholic Church. That is why I have had problems with priests who deny me Holy Communion. I am the one lost sheep who needs God the more.”

She was responding to Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, the Kampala Archbishop, who had earlier asked the family to reconcile because the Catholic Church does not recognise divorce.

President Museveni, in a speech delivered by his deputy, Edward Ssekandi, said Kazibwe died at a time when the country needed skilled professionals like him. The President contributed sh10m as condolences.