As a beautiful and vibrant young woman from the Kikiga tribe in South Western Uganda, Clare had found John as her first at a tender age.
They met during a community gathering and instantly connected with each other. They shared stories, laughter, and dreams, and Clare knew she had found her soulmate.
However, their love was forbidden. In Kikiga culture, marrying within the same clan is strictly prohibited. Clare and John were from the same clan, making their love unacceptable to their families and community.
Despite the odd, they continued to see each other in secret, exchanging sweet messages, stolen glances, and meet-ups. But their love was soon discovered, but their families got furious.
Clare’s parents, respecting tradition, forbade her from seeing John again. They arranged for her to marry a man from a different clan, a union that would bring honour and respect to their family.
According to Fred Muhumuza, an elder in the Basigi clan from Kijuguta cell in Kabale district, it is considered an abomination for one to marry from one’s clan.
“In the Basigi clan, it is unheard of to marry your clanmate. Even when the girl and boy have already made their plans to get married and the families discover that the two are clan mates, the marriage is immediately called off. And if they accept to have been intimate, they are showered with herbs as a means of cleansing them,” Muhumuza said.
Heartbroken, Clare was forced to abandon her first love. She went through the motions of the arranged marriage, but her heart remained with John.
Years later, Clare would look back on her first love with nostalgia and longing, wondering what could have been if tradition had not torn them apart.
John, too, never forgot Clare and the love they shared. He moved away, starting a new life, but the memory of their forbidden love remained etched in his heart.
Their story became a cautionary tale, told in whispers, about the sacrifices made in the name of tradition and the enduring power of first love.
