Court Divorces Retired Headmaster, Teacher After 33 Years of Marriage

The High Court in Kabale has granted a divorce to a retired head teacher after finding that cruelty and desertion had been established in a marriage that lasted more than three decades. In a judgment delivered yesterday, Justice Karoli Lwanga Ssemogerere ordered six properties acquired during the marriage between Benon Ndyanabo and his estranged wife, Enid Hilda Mpirirwe Kesiime, to be shared equally.

The court also awarded Ndyanabo 70 per cent of the value of the couple’s matrimonial home, with Kesiime entitled to the remaining 30 per cent. The property is to be sold within 12 months after the divorce decree becomes absolute. The couple married on September 18, 1993, in a Christian ceremony at St Andrew’s Nyabarema Church of Uganda in Bukinda, in present-day Rukiga District. Their marriage produced six children, all of whom are now adults.

According to court records, the couple stopped living together in 2019 and subsequently established separate homes. Ndyanabo, represented by Patricia Kaheru of the Uganda Law Society’s Legal Aid Project, accused his wife of cruelty, denying him conjugal rights and access to food and family property. He also alleged that she practised witchcraft and prevented him from accessing properties he inherited from his late father.

Kesiime did not file submissions in response to the petition and was unrepresented in the proceedings. The court proceeded with the matter ex parte after establishing that the respondent had been served with the petition and court summons. However, Justice Ssemogerere emphasised that the absence of a defence did not automatically entitle a petitioner to divorce, noting that the court must independently examine the evidence and establish legally recognised grounds for dissolution of a marriage.

In considering the allegations of cruelty, the judge observed that marital disagreements, denial of food or failure to perform domestic duties do not automatically amount to cruelty under the law. He noted that the conduct complained of must be sufficiently serious to cause physical or mental suffering and make continued cohabitation intolerable.

The judge said the evidence supported Ndyanabo’s claim that the breakdown in conjugal relations had caused him mental distress, finding that the failure to maintain sexual intimacy in the circumstances of the case amounted to cruelty. The court, however, declined to rely on the allegation that Kesiime practised witchcraft, saying it had not been supported by specific evidence.

On desertion, the judge considered evidence that Ndyanabo had been locked out of the matrimonial home following a disagreement on November 23, 2021. Court records also showed that Ndyanabo reported a domestic violence case against his wife at Bukinda Police Station following the incident.

The judge found that the circumstances contributed to the couple’s separation and that more than two years had elapsed by the time the petition was determined, satisfying the statutory requirement for desertion.

The court consequently ruled that the petitioner had proved cruelty and desertion, allowing the divorce petition.On the distribution of property, the court ordered that six properties listed in the petition be shared equally between the former spouses.

The properties include land with trees, a banana plantation, land near a swamp and other parcels situated in Rwanyamutare Cell, including land at Kiburasano, Oworuhanga and Habubare-Ndeijo.

The judge said the distribution of matrimonial property must take into account both financial and non-financial contributions made by spouses during marriage. Such contributions include raising children, maintaining the household and providing companionship and other forms of support throughout the marriage. Although Ndyanabo argued that the matrimonial home had been gifted to him by his late father before the marriage, the court rejected his claim to sole ownership.

Justice Ssemogerere relied on previous court decisions establishing that property acquired before marriage may still qualify as matrimonial property where it becomes the family home and the spouses contribute directly or indirectly to its use and development. The judge noted that both parties had pursued teaching careers, raised six children and contributed to the family during their marriage.

He said it would be inequitable to declare Ndyanabo the sole owner of the matrimonial home solely because the land had initially been gifted to him. Instead, the court awarded him 70 per cent of the property’s assessed value and Kesiime 30 per cent, directing that the property be sold within the stipulated period. The court issued an order dissolving the marriage, which is to become absolute six months after its issuance. Ndyanabo was also awarded the costs of the petition-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com

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