Businessman Drake Lubega has denied ever marrying a woman who demands Shs180 million in maintenance

The court has refused to order businessman Drake Lubega to pay maintenance to his estranged wife Jalia Nagawa Lubega while divorce proceedings are pending.
In the main case, scheduled to be heard on November 9 this year, Ms Nagawa wants the court to dissolve her marriage to Mr Lubega. She is also seeking a court order to sell marital and business property.

Meanwhile, she had asked the court to order Mr Lubega to pay her more than Shs180 million as maintenance.
Alimony is financial support that a person is legally required to pay to their spouse during separation or after a divorce.

But Justice Elizabeth Kabanda of the Supreme Court’s Family Division refused to grant Ms Nagawa’s application, saying the court would continue to hear and decide the main case.
The judge argued that she could not grant the maintenance order because the marriage between Ms. Nagawa and Mr. Lubega was still disputed. According to the documents, Mr. Lubega denies ever marrying Ms. Nagawa.

Ms Nagawa argues that she introduced Mr Lubega to her parents in June 1984 according to Kiganda custom and that the two married on August 1, 1989 according to marriage custom and lived together but without a child.
It lists 31 prime properties owned by Mr Lubega that it wants the court to order to sell.

“That the period in which I stayed with the defendant (Lubega) was marked by various atrocities against me, such as denial of conjugal rights, economic servitude and violence, which led to, among other things, several miscarriages,” she explains.
Through her lawyers, Ms. Nagawa accuses Mr. Lubega of not only abandoning her, but also of throwing her out of the family business, which she can no longer take care of, even though she allegedly spent all of her youth helping to expand the business dedicated to her now estranged partner.

In his defence, Mr Lubega states that in 1984, the date of the alleged marriage, he was already married and living with Peace Nalongo Lubega, with whom they have seven children.
“That I separated from Peace Nalongo Lubega in 1992 and started living in Banda, Bweyogerere where I met the applicant (Nagawa) and we lived together for about a year until we went our separate ways in 1993. “Due to the short length of our relationship, we never had children,” he claims.

Through his lawyers, Mr. Lubega claims that during the year-long stay with Ms. Nagawa, as alleged, they never did business together and that she made no contribution to his business.
Mr Lubage says that in 1994 he met Ms Benita Lubega, whom he married in December 2000 and with whom he had four children, but who later filed for divorce.

“Due to the fact that I lived with Benita and worked with her in the companies, it is practically impossible for me to have done business with the applicant (Nagawa). That I have never done business with the plaintiff as alleged and she has no lawful or equitable interest in my property,” he states in an affidavit to the court.
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