Mainstory: Confessions of a boyfriend snatcher

Christine stole her roommate’s man, but lived only to regret it Christine, 22, a student studying education at Makerere University, had wits and courage. She believed nothing would counter her way to getting what she wanted. “My room mate Mabel was pretty, had everything going well for her not to mention a loving boyfriend-Alfred who visited her frequently,” she confesses. She says Alfred worked at a telecommunications company in Kampala, earned good money and was always ready to spend it. Christine was convinced Alfred would make a good husband. “I admired everything about him — his personality, his style, the posh cars he used to drive, the sense of humour and, most of all, his enviable respect for Mabel,” says Christine. In good faith, the duo - Alfred and Mabel - invited Christine to her roommate’s birthday party, which also doubled as their engagement, at Alfred’s posh house in Ntinda, a Kampala suburb. Christine was dying to see Alfred’s house. “I was lost for words with envy for Mable. This marked the beginning of my conceited desire and unwavering battle to break their relationship and snatch Alfred,” Cristine recalls. “Who are you to let such a chance slip through your fingers?’ a voice kept telling me. A beautiful home, a kind, loving man… I started dreaming about life as Alfred’s wife,” Christine confessed. She started hating Mabel, though she did not show it. She was determined to snatch Alfred and drag him to the altar.Christine’s desire for Alfred doubled with the number of times he came over to visit. She hatched up every plan to grab him but things were not easy. “I confided in my close friend, who was to wed her fiancé in a few months. She told me about a witchdoctor in Luweero who was good at helping women ‘win’ men’s hearts.” The friend told Christine this man, whom she referred to as Hajji, would never fail in such a mission. She confided in her that it was this same Hajji that had helped her reach this far with her fiancé. She said her fiancé had a line of girlfriends, but she managed to out-compete them with the help of this Hajji. “We agreed to look for money and embark on the mission to depose my once-good-friend, Mabel,” Christine confesses. By 9.30 a.m., one Sunday in August 2005, the duo were seated on a long bench in Hajji’s backyard. “We had to be there early to beat the long queue, though when we arrived, there were about eight clients, most of them middle class women,” she says. She says a middle-aged, light skinned lady emerged from a mud-and-wattle grass-thatched hut and greeted them in Luganda. Everyone responded humbly: “Bulungi Jajja” and then a man in his 20s come out and started calling in clients one by one according to how they were seated.Christine recalls how although the weather was chilly, after an early morning drizzle, she was sweating, probably out of guilt because of what she was about to do behind her roommate’s back. The inside of the hut was spacious, with neatly laid out mats and traditional regalia hanging all over the walls. There was a bark cloth curtain dividing the room in two. Hajji gave her powdered herbs to put in the food or drink of the man whose heart she wanted to win. In another packet were herbs which she was supposed to sprinkle in the doorway for Alfred to jump over. Hajji also gave her a smoking pipe and some lines to recite while beckoning her newly found love. She had told Hajji that Alfred was her boyfriend and Mabel was trying to snatch him. The application of the love portions was not difficult. However, as months ticked away, Christine became desperate for results. As the quest to win over Alfred’s heart became eminent, Christine decided to visit another shrine in Masaka, along the Kampala-Kigali highway. One year down the road, she says things started getting better; Mabel was pregnant but wanted to abort because she was having problems with Alfred. “I escorted her to a medical doctor in Nakulabye, who carried out the abortion,” Christine confesses. Deep down, Christine knew this was a weapon she would use to destroy her roommate’s relationship with Alfred. “I called him up at a cozy restaurant in town then I told him all that had taken place,” she says. Angels were smiling down Christine’s way because she gradually got closer to Alfred. After a few months, they started dating and she even started going to his house, behind Mabel’s back. In January 2007, a few weeks to their graduation, Mabel called and told her she was planning to join her sister in the United Kingdom. She confided in her that she would try to talk to Alfred and find a way of resolving their conflict. “She did not know I was the reason the rift between them was widening,” Christine confided. As time went by, Mabel got to know about the affair and confronted her. “I boldly reminded her that she was not married to Alfred. She was a mere girlfriend who had no right to confront me. I told her she had failed to play her cards wisely, she need not blame anyone,” Christine recalls. Mabel flew to the United Kingdom, leaving Christine with Alfred. They married on October 6th, 2007. However, a few months after their wedding, things started taking a downward trend. Christine confesses that Alfred started coming home late in the night and some days he would not even come. When they had their first baby, he dropped her at the hospital and said he was rushing to the office for an urgent meeting. Christine did not see him for four days. “This is when it dawned on me that Alfred was not the perfect husband I had thought he was,” she laments. Christine has now got two kids with Alfred, but she says that for the three-and-a-half years they have been married, she has lived in hell. “Alfred disappears from home for days. He batters me, and calls me a useless rogue,” she says. As if that is not enough, Christine says that Alfred at one time came home with a woman and ordered her out of their bedroom. While he slept with the stranger in their bed, Christine occupied the couch in the living room. “He screams at me and says I am the reason he is living an unhappy life. He says after all, he did not love me in the first place,” she says. Christine now a qualified teacher stopped working. He barred her relatives from visiting at his house. She also later got to learn that the women he was referring to as his relatives were actually his girlfriends. “I am always in the house crying, praying for God to have mercy upon me. I am now paying the price of betraying my close friend. After all, this marriage was made in hell,” Christine pleads her case. “I am so sorry for what I did to her. Wherever Mabel is, I beg her to forgive me, get in touch and let us talk. I also beg God to forgive me and show His mercy. At this point, I do not need any condemnation but prayers and advice.” Contact: ssenyonga@gmail.com