Kamuli, (UG): The fanfare at the historical Busoga Royal Wedding was hugely illuminated by a reported cultural dictate that couples were unconditionally asked to separate beds on the night their Isebantu and inherent were to spend their first night together.
His Royal Majesty William Wilberforce Gabula Nadiope IV officially wedded Joviah Mutesi (now Queen) in a jaw-dropping ceremony on Saturday, November, 18 at a fully packed Catherdral in Jinja.
Earlier in the week, stern warnings had been communicated to all the Basoga, those in the land and their counterparts outside the Kingdom to dare not make intercourse on the night, lest they get haunted by spirits thereafter for the rest of their lives.
Some traditionalists had even suggested that a spirit charged with ensuring the observance of this particular cultural dictate would move in the night to withdraw sexual capacity from every man to ensure that no mistake is made throughout the Kingdom.
With the ceremony now behind us, our reporter checked with some Basoga to ascertain whether they strictly adhered to the order as was expected.
Isa Mboodhe, a resident of Kasambira, Kamuli district says was only able to fulfil the condition thanks to his wife divorcing him a week before the event. ” I am happy to tell you that I am the only man who remained clean thanks to my wife who ran away last week. Had she not gone, then I think there was no way I was going to be innocent,” he notes.
Lukanda Ndereya, also from Buzaaya, Kamuli, notes that much as he had wanted to honour the condition, his wife wouldn’t let him be. “She kept pinching me throughout the night until I gave in. I am worried about what might happen to us and our children because we sinned and the spirits are in rage,” he explains.
Samwiri Katagadho, a Musoga in Kampala says he found a hard time convincing g his non-Musoga wife to separate beds for she felt she wasn’t bound by the condition. He says the woman refused his proposal to sleep in different beds and what followed was an abomination.
However, Mutesi Mirabu from Bugiri says she was able to withstand all the demands of her body to fulfil the condition after knowing that the future of her entire generation depended on the choices that would be made on that day.
She reveals that she was forced to lock his greedy husband in a separate room when he grew unruly in the night and only joined him in the morning.
“First of all, I am a Mutesi just like the Queen herself. Secondly, I originate from the Muwaya clan where the King’s mother also comes from. That’s why I felt the ceremony was so much about me and I could dare make any mistake that would cause my generation a misfortune.
“When I saw my husband almost failing to adhere, I locked him up in the room the whole night and only went back in the morning.
Queen Joviah Mutesi, became the fifth Queen of Busoga Kingdom since its official inception in 1917.
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