Celebrated City Pastor Aloysius Bugingo is on tenterhooks after it emerged that his wish for a divorce is being denied by his wife Teddy Naluswa Bugingo. The tensions in the Bugingo Household were let out of the public bag when he told the congregation at his church last Sunday, that his wife and daughter Doreen were scheming to steal the church land.
A day after his highly vocal daughter Doreen Gift Bugingo was interviewed on local television channels where she gave their side of the story. Doreen said that besides “other things” (which implied a new woman in the picture), there were issues of accountability over property and land that was irking her father to turn against her and the mother.
Sources close to the couple say, at the root of Pastor Bugingo’s demand for divorce is to formally and legally marry another woman who is believed to be at the heart of the couple’s current woes.
The new woman is alleged to be a one Susan Makula Nantaba, who currently works with Salt Media. Nantaba formerly a member of Singer Bebe Cool’s fan club Gagamel joined Salt Media after leaving Impact Media, owned by Pastor Joseph Serwadda in Ndeeba.
Our team spoke to some insiders at House of Prayer Ministry who gave us some insight into the scandal which is threatening to break up not only Bugingo’s marriage but the church as a whole, splitting the congregation into those who support Pastor Aloysius and those who support Pastor Teddy.
In a series of articles coming up, including this one, we shed more light on this issue, basing on revelations by members of the church about the saga.
“To begin with, the couple has been married for 29 years and have four children, with the eldest being a girl aged 27 and the youngest aged 4. Together, they worked to build this church for many years and for long the centre of activities were at Bat Valley Theatre. Gradually, the ministry grew and so did the assets of the couple and the church” a member of the Church who spoke on condition of anonymity said.
In 2016, he adds, they heard that Pastor had started seeing Susan, who had been brought by Pastor Martin Serwadda, from Impact Media. She used to work with Impact and Alpha FM.
“We welcomed her like we did with other people from different places. But we had heard that she had tried to become close first to Pastor Joseph Serwadda, something that his (Serwadda’s) wife was not comfortable with. When she came here, she tried to become so close to Pastor Martin Serwadda, which made us concerned because it did not seem genuine. At first we thought she was gathering information about us for reasons we did not know. Later we feared that Pastor Martin’s relationship could be affected.” the Church member adds.
Martin Serwadda is a son to Pastor Joseph Serwadda, and was instrumental in bringing to life Salt Media, when he still worked with Pastor Bugingo. He later left under unclear circumstances. It is alleged that Susan also created a wedge between the two pastors, making Pastor Bugingo to begin trusting her more and eventually resulting in a new found relationship.
“After Susan is believed to have come into the picture, the Bugingo couple started getting estranged with close friends indicating that he would return home very cold, and sometimes return home once a week or not returning at all. In that very year, he reportedly asked his wife for a divorce, purportedly to formalize his new relationship, which his wife rejected” the member of the church says.
“We were surprised when one day Pastor Aloysius threw away his ring into the congregation which made us scared that things could be falling apart,” adds the Church member.
In order to pressure his wife into submission to the request for divorce, which had no substantial grounds, it is alleged that Pastor Bugingo then threatened to tell the church that her and the children wanted to steal church land, which could make her lose favor in the church.
“You see when you lose favor with the lead pastor and a church hates you, you cannot live within them. That seemed to be his strategy, however Mrs.Bugingo stood her ground and said she did not want a divorce in spite of the pressure. She said that she was going to stick by her vows and would not even discard her ring, although he threw away his,” the Church member adds.
Yesterday, the nation woke up with a major headline in the New Vision that featured Naluswa Bugingo explaining the circumstances that led to their near fall out and what her position is on the matter.The interview that comes hours after Pastor Bugingo took to the pulpit to lambast her set the grounds for our investigation.
Who is Susan Makula Nantaba?
Although she is known as a Salt Media employee, Nantaba was formerly known as one of the strongest members of Bebe Cool’s fan Club Gagamel. By 2012 she was heavily engaged in their activities.She also worked with Impact Media.
It is alleged that wer mother a one Nalongo, is a retired Nurse who used to work at Mulago Hospital and who doubles an elder at Pastor Samuel Kakande’s Synagogue of Nations Church at Kubiri Mulago.It is no surprise that lately Pastor Bugingo criticism of Pastor Kakande has vanished.
Currently she appears on a programme on Salt TV called The Junction, which discusses relationships. It is hosted by Pervin Senkubuge, the Salt Media Managing Director Charles James Senkubuge’s daughter. She also does the morning show on Salt FM and is the music programmer of the station, a very lucrative job, sources say.
In order to cement her presence within House of Prayer, she was given a restaurant to operate at Canaan Church, to bolster her income. All this was said to be with the blessing of Pastor Bugingo.
In our next articles, we profile Susan Makula Nantaba and also examine how land issues and attempts to sideline his wife, became a centre of contention at House of Prayer Ministries, which owns land valued in millions of dollars.
