I thought marrying a lady from her tribe would be very expensive

The two even went to the same church, St Luke Chapel Mulago and were both church leaders. Emmanuel was the head of machines while Irene was a leader of a cell.

"I saw her every day in class, in the discussion groups and we even attended the same chapel," Emmanuel says.   

Despite being very good friends, the two did not start dating until 2014 when Emmanuel approached Irene and openly told her that he wanted her to be his wife.

“One thing I can’t forget is that when he approached me, he requested me to be his future wife and not just a girlfriend. It made me realize how serious my husband was” Irene comments. 

Irene describes him as a God fearing, confident, compassionate, and hardworking and a man of great integrity.

According to Emmanuel, he wanted to be married before he left school so as to start a family early and gain stability.

He says that he had studied Irene for a year and liked her ways like the way she paid attention, the way she spoke and carried herself.

"We had a simple friendship for a year but within that time, I had started getting interested because I liked almost everything about her. She had most of the characters that I would want in a wife but I hesitated to tell her because of the culture difference," Emmanuel adds.

Irene is a muganda from, Kiti, Kiweda, Wakiso district while Emmanuel is a munyakole from Kashare, Kashari Mbarara district.

"From my small knowledge about baganda, I knew they liked expensive functions as compared to us the banyakole. I thought doing the introduction ceremony would be difficult and expensive so I was a bit scared to meet her family and almost gave up on the relationship," he says.

However, Emmanuel overcame his fears and popped the big question and when Irene said yes, they started planning their journey together.

"For the time we were at Mulago, everyone, even the gate man knew we were a couple, we did everything together until 2017 when we graduated. Irene got a job in Mukono and I also started working in Kireka but we stayed very close," Emmanuel says.

In 2019, the couple held their introduction party at Irene's parents’ home in Wakiso attended by about 300 people and costed about Shs 25m.

"The event was very organized, we gave our selves time and planned for it. By then, I already knew her family well and they did not mind me being a munyakole so all went well. I was very pleased with the way the event was planned," he said.

The couple finally wedded on February 13, 2021 at All Saints church in Mbarara. They held a wedding reception at Old Mwegura gardens in Mbarara town.

"I was very happy to be wedded in Church. That has always been my dream and I was thrilled to achieve it with someone that I loved deeply. The wedding was about Shs 20m," Emmanuel adds.

On how the relationship has been like, Emmanuel says; “The only difference is that bagandas are very polite and disciplined. They expect you to request for something instead of demanding for it while my tribemates do not give much attention to how they ask. Apart from that, we haven’t found any collision and we are living very happily together. I am very happy with the choice I made.”