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Jinja church weds 72 couples to show homosexuality is illegal
A general view of Jinja Christian Centre during a mass wedding in Jinja City on May 26, 2024. PHOTO/TAUSI NAKATO
What you need to know:
- Meantime, an Indian man identified as Patel Kumar and his Ugandan wife Shifa Nangoli were among the 72 couples whose JCC.
A total of 72 couples from different districts tied the knot in a Sunday mass wedding church leaders said was “to show same-sex marriage is illegal.”
At Jinja Christian Centre (JCC), hundreds of congregants at Jinja Christian Centre (JCC) witnessed as the couples exchanged vows amid cheers.
Jinja Fellowship Pastors Forum vice chairperson Fredrick Ojiambo emphasized that the mass wedding sought to project homosexuality as illegal.
“We want to teach Christians the meaning of God’s marriage and implement it. We don’t want to hear cases of homosexuality,’’ he remarked.
"We invited all couples, old or young, to celebrate their vows together and this is a wonderful symbolic act here,” he added.
However, Ojiambo also said they organised the mass wedding to help couples with financial constraints.
“We have provided them with gowns, salon bills, cakes, food and drinks, government certificates and returns. We wanted to support some people who were fearing to come and pronounce their holy matrimony,’’ he explained.
Ojiambo urged the couples to continue loving and supporting each other for a stable relationship.
Meantime, an Indian man identified as Patel Kumar and his Ugandan wife Shifa Nangoli were among the 72 couples whose JCC.
"I wanted to be part of the mass wedding. It has been fantastic because most of my relatives have accompanied me,” Nangoli told Monitor.
Church goers expressed excitement after seeing an Indian wed a Ugandan in a rare phenomenon.
“I am surprised to see an Indian participating in a mass wedding. At first, I thought he had escorted someone,” Mike Wango, a Lugazi based pastor said.
Indian Patel Kumar and his Ugandan wife Shifa Nangoli tie the knot during a mass wedding at Jinja Christian Centre in Jinja City on May 26, 2024. PHOTO/TAUSI NAKATO
Pastor John Gabula of God’s Property church in Jinja said: “We have been seeing the whites marrying Ugandans. It has not been common with Indians and Chinese.”
“This Indian has made it clear that there is no discrimination by marrying Uganda,’’ he observed.
Meanwhile, 62-year-old Joseph Maguli and 49-year-old Ida Takali said they were repeating their wedding almost 35 years later.
“We had our marriage ceremony in 1990 at the holy redeemed church at Bubugo Village, Buwala Sub-county in Kamuli District but we lost our marriage documents and the church book we registered in also disappeared. That is why we have repeated it,’’ said the couple from Namulikye Village in Nawanyago Sub-county in Kamuli District.
Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda- and the highly conservative East African country recognizes marriage between an adult man and woman.
