Tuktuk rides saved us transport costs

Enock Isingoma Kaliisa, 56, on October 16, wedded Mildred Kyakyo, 38 at Kasiina SDA Church in Kyenjojo District in a function that has gone viral on social media. Enock lost his wife (Mildred’s sister) to Hepatitis B in 2012. The three were living together. Enock and his first wife were survived by four children.

The duo had been staying together since 2005.

“After my first wife’s death I could not run the family singlehandedly,” he recalls adding that a few months later, he proposed to Mildred because they knew each other since they had been living in the same home for years.

“Initially, I had no interest in her but she used do well with the children and they loved her so much. I fell in love with her after her sister’s death. And, since Mildred knew my circumstances, she just accepted me,” he says.

Mildred, says on her part it was difficult because death was sudden and Enock’s proposal came as a surprise.

“In 2005, my late sister took me in and was neither badly behaved nor showed any interest in me, but his proposal caught me off-guard,” she says.

Mildred says, when her parents learnt of their relationship, they were happy because they knew what had transpired.

“When he proposed, I asked him to first give it time because I needed to process it. We now have three children,” she says.

Enock says after she accepted his marriage proposal Mildred only went home until September when they were going for a wedding.

“We stayed together for all these years, her parents were aware of our relationship and I visited their home at different functions,” he says.

The first visit

At their church, in September, they announced a mass wedding and Enock picked interest but never disclosed it to Mildred because he wanted to surprise her.

She says Enock always joked about how he wanted to wed her but she thought it would never come to pass due to financial demands.

“I was aware of the mass wedding but did not think we would be part of that event. I felt that he had not introduced me and so, we could not wed,” she recollects.

After raising some money in September, Enock sent her home to inform her parents that he wanted to visit them.

“I wanted to surprise her, she did not know that we are going for introduction, on September 13, with a team of four, I went to her home. I had Shs3m.My first born acted as my father, my young brother as best man, and one of our friends, an aunt,” he says.

His in-laws had given him a budget of Shs4.5m for introduction and he managed to pay Shs3m. Thereafter, he was given a consent letter to proceed with the wedding.

“My father in-law did not like the way I organised our introduction. He told me that it was abrupt because he would have preferred a bigger function. All I wanted was to wed my wife because I was missing some sacraments in church,” he says. 

Mildred was surprised to see her father hand them a consent letter because her parents had proposed that they hold their introduction the following year in February.

Raising  resources

Enock says, at home, they had only 20 kilogrammes of beans, one goat, and 10 chicken. After registering for the wedding, the church drafted him the budget of Shs8.5m for the wedding and said they later revised it to Shs4.5m. This was raised by friends.

“We held three meetings, but two days to the party, we had not bought the required items, but on the eve of the event, staff members of Kyenjojo Hospital where I work as cleaner sent me money which I used to buy the requirements,” he says.

His friend baked a cake at Shs300, 000 that had 30 centre pieces which made the function colourful.

D-day

Enock says he had not planned to use bridal cars and he decided to use tuk-tuk that took the couple to church and reception.

“Bridal cars are expensive, I never wanted to stress over them. Some friends offered their cars but I declined them and settled for 10 tuktuks free of charge. I also wanted to enjoy a better view unlike what cars offer. The onlookers in town seemed stunned as they waved at and filmed us,” he says.

Mildred says going by tuk tuk to church was not surprising because her husband owns one and she is used to moving by it and during the preparations he told the organisers that that is what they would use. They first rejected the ideas but later accepted it.

“Moving by tuktuk was the best moment for me, it made our party colourful even though it went viral on TikTok and most social media platforms,” she says.

Church

Enock wedded together with six other couples, but says, it was only him who made a colourful party because many guests ended up at their reception yet they had been invited elsewhere at Kasiina SDA Church.

“This party made me feel loved, I had no money but all my children, wife stood with me, and friends supported us,” he says.

Best moments

“I noticed I had a beautiful woman, her dress code was great, and all service providers never disappointed us. I had the best cake which had 30 stands of cake,” he says.

He says organisers of the party immediately after the function as he was planning to go home, they surprised him when they hired for them an expensive restaurant for two days where they spend two days for their honeymoon.

“We never planned for a honeymoon but we had a surprise one. We enjoyed that time, my husband fulfilled his wedding promise and people were supportive,” she says.

Advice

The couple attend counselling sessions at their church and Mildred says she was taught on how to make a good family, respect one another and remain disciplined.

Enock advises young couples planning to wed should not make expensive parties when they do not have money saying marriage is about two people exchanging their vows in church.

 “Do not throw a party to excite others and end up in debt. I was broke, but my wedding was colourful. All the people invited attended and we have no debt,” he says.

Two cents

Groom: Enock Isingoma Kaliisa

Bride: Mildred Kyakyo

Church: Kasiina SDA church in Kyenjojo

Priest: Bishop Richard Rusoke for Midwestern Field SDA

Reception: Kasiina SDA church, Kyenjojo

Budget: Shs4.5m