BY : DARI KWABENA MATHEW (+233555395925)
A court has ordered a woman to refund shillings 9.4 million (about $80,000) to a man who she has refused to marry after he paid her school fees.
Magistrate Grade One, Asanasio Mukobi of Chief Magistrate’s Court of Kanungu in Uganda, ruled that Fortunate Kyarikunda breached her promise to marry Richard Tumwine.
According to Nile Post, court documents show that Tumwine and Kyarikunda met in 2015 while he was a teacher at Kiringa Primary School and she had come to the same school for teaching practice.
The duo fell in love and agreed to marry in 2018, for which reason the man conveniently sponsored her studies at Law Development Centre (LDC).
“The plaintiff financially supported the defendant including sponsoring her for a Diploma in Law at LDC. He spent Shs9,439, 100,” the court document partly reads.
Tumwine and Kyarikunda agreed to hold an introduction ceremony in February 2022, but she refused his proposal the man, saying he was too old to be her husband.
“On 10th January 2022, the two persons arranged for an introduction ceremony and a budget was drawn with the function slated for February 2022. The defendant later turned against the plaintiff saying she cannot marry an old man hence this suit,” the court document stated.
Tumwine, out of disappointment and heartbreak, went to the court to sue Kyarikunda, asking for Shs1m in compensation from her.
Ruling on the case on Wednesday, Mukobi said the plaintiff had a justifiable reason to seek compensation.
“Consequently, I hold that since the promise to marry was not fulfilled by the defendant to the detriment of the plaintiff, then the plaintiff is entitled to reimbursement of his Shs9,439,100 spent on her,” the Nile Post quotes the magistrate as saying.
Aside from the damage awarded against her the court again ordered Kyarikunda to pay legal costs.
