Judith Babirye denied me sex - Sebulime

DIVORCE

For the second time, court has annulled Buikwe Woman MP Judith Babirye's marriage, this time with fellow lawmaker Paul Musoke Sebulime.

The gospel music sensation was married to Niiwo, with whom they have a 12-year-old daughter. Their marriage is understood to have hit the rocks. In January 2017, Babirye, a twin, filed for divorce.

Her justification for the divorce was that their relationship was stormy and characterised by sadness, owing to what she described as Niiwo's "cruel, erratic and violent behaviour".

The musician-turned-politician asked the court to relieve her of the burden and free her from a violent marriage. She cited an incident when Niiwo physically assaulted her, hence forcing her to flee there marital home in November 2009.

 Babirye and Sebulime at there introduction ceremony

On 27 July 2018, Babirye and her colleague, Musoke held a colourful marriage ceremony at Las Vegas, Bunga in Kampala district. The ceremony was attended by the Vice president Edward Ssekandi, senior religious leaders among other dignitaries.

But before the traditional marriage, Musoke's wife Lukiya Ntale had warned Babirye against getting married to her husband. "I have been seeing you with my husband knowing you were just friends," she said, "When you came for the burial of my father, I saw you asking for my eldest child.

The man you want to introduce is married. I am his wife and we have three children. You are a mother, a woman like me and a Born-again. I warn you to leave my husband alone." However, Sebulime said he is not legally married to Ntale and so, he is free to move on and marry another woman of his choice.

After 17 months of marriage, on 20 December 2019, the family court annulled there marriage on grounds of cruelty.

According to court documents, Ssebulime who filed for the divorce application testified that he has not seen nor heard from Babirye since 22 December 2018. Her whereabouts are unknown to him and she has made no attempts to communicate with him.

Ssebulime told the court that he does not have any children with Babirye. He noted that Babirye maintained her home which she continued living in even after the couple got married. She would only come to her husband's home when she chose to. She never once prepared a home-cooked meal for him.

Ssebulime further accuses his wife of only having sexual intercourse a few times and only when she wanted it. The couple has not been intimate since the second week of August 2018.

The petitioner also testified that the respondent has a daughter who used to visit occasionally but never spent the night. He explained that the petitioner did not trust him with the child because she thought that he would make sexual advances towards her.

According to Ssebulime, Babirye was also suspicious of his friends and her attitude discouraged him from freely interacting with them for fear of making his wife upset. As a result, he experienced psychological and mental torture because he was forced to be a loner who stays at home which was in conflict with his outgoing nature.

In her judgment, Lady Justice Olive Kazaarwe Mukwaya of the high court family division ruled that from the testimony Ssebulime, it is evident that the actions of Babirye's refusal to cohabit with Ssebulime with some degree of permanence and her long unexplained absences were not a demonstration of a newlywed committed to the success of the marriage.

"There is no evidence of the respondent's participation in efforts to reconcile with her husband. If considered separately, the actions of the respondent could be understood if some explanation was available, however, it was not.

A holistic view of the petitioner's testimony, pointed to an uncomfortable roller-coaster ride of a relationship, dictated by the respondent. This court was prepared to believe that the unpredictable nature of the marriage created mental anxiety on the part of the petitioner," the court ruled.

She added: "The petitioner did not know of his wife's whereabouts for the seven months he waited before he filed this petition. He could only guess at the reason for her departure. This was torture in itself. In the opinion of this court, the intentional, unexplained, protracted absence and silence amounted to cruelty, on the part of the respondent. I am, therefore, satisfied that the petitioner has proved that this marriage should be dissolved on grounds of cruelty," the court ruled.

Babirye refused to participate in the court proceedings, therefore, the court did not have the benefit of hearing her side of this matter.

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