KAYUNGA – The imam in Kayunga District who recently wedded a fellow man thinking it was a woman has fled his home.
Sheikh Mohammed Mutumba, 27, the Imam of Kyampisi Masigid Noor mosque in Kayunga sub-county, has not been seen at his rented home for about five days now amid concerns that he may commit suicide.
When we visited Mutumba’s rented home at the weekend, neighbours said they had not seen him again since the story broke that he had wedded Swabullah Nabukeera only for the latter to be revealed as a man named Richard Tumushabe.
His neighbours urged the sheikh’s family to counsel him or else he would take his own life. “He is too devastated by the incident and needs counseling. I had never seen him (Mutumba) with any lover. I believe this was the first lover in his life,” a resident who preferred anonymity said.
Henry Mukwaya, another neighbor, said before the ‘bride’s’ true identity was discovered, he often behaved like a woman and did all the house chores like cooking, washing clothes and others.
“It was not easy to know he was just masquerading as a woman. He always wore gomesi or hijab and spoke like a woman but she kept indoors most of the time,” he said.
Nabukeera’s true gender was discovered after he was arrested by police on theft allegations and during body search by a female police officer before being taken to the cells it was discovered that he was actually a man.
The regional Kadhi, Sheikh Abdul Noor Kakande, said Mutumba’s incident was very unfortunate, adding that they are investigating him.
