Kaweesa David is a Ugandan citizen. He was born at Mulago Hospital on April 17, 1982. He is a former Matugga-Wakiso District inhabitant. Kaweesa was raised in a solid Christian household with many relatives living in their home. He began his education in 1987 and completed his basic studies at Kanyanya Church of Uganda Basic School in 1994. He then attended Matugga Advanced School in 1995, followed by Brethren Memorial College in Wakiso, where he finished his O’level studies in 1999. Brethren Memorial College was a boarding school with a strong Seventh-day Adventist Christian heritage. In 2000, he enrolled at Kololo Secondary School for advanced studies, followed by Kyambogo University for diploma studies in 2002.
In his senior two class at Matugga Advanced School in 1996, Kaweesa became strangely attracted to a classmate named Gitta James (RIP). He was really kind, amiable, and encouraging to him as a student. They started dating secretly at school because James was so kind and nice. In order to capture some beautiful and thrilling moments with the pupils while they were either sleeping or in class, they used to sneak out throughout the night. They used to go to a room close to the school library to spend time together in comfort.
Kaweesa and James used to do a lot of things together, but on June 10, 1997, Their relationship tragically ended. James and Kaweesa were having a great time in the regular dark room near the school library on that fateful day when they were discovered by the head prefect of the school, who was circulating throughout the school grounds. All pupils were summoned to come out and see homosexuals in the school after the head prefect set off an alarm. As they begged for their pity, a number of kids emerged from their classrooms and began hitting and throwing stones at them.
A school teacher who happened to be on duty that evening saved their lives by leading us to the staff room, where they had to clarify their actions to him. They told him what had happened in the hopes that he would forgive them, even though they were frightened and hurt from the injuries the beatings had caused. Sadly, James and Kaweesa David were kicked out of school the next day for being gay. After being sent back home, Kaweesa David was afraid to go to his parents’ house since they are strict.
Kaweesa Davis went to stay for a time at His grandmother’s house in Mwelerwe because He thought they would kill Him or severely beat him since he is gay. After receiving many penalties when he returned to his parents’ house, James passed just two months later following an oddly brief illness.
That year, after being dismissed from Matugga Advanced institution for being gay, it was very difficult to gain admitted to any other institution. When Kaweesa David’s parents learned that he was not attending school, they chastised him for being such an irresponsible and worthless child. His parents made the decision to stop supporting Him and would no longer cover His tuition.
David pleaded with his grandmother to let him return to school, but it was very difficult for him to get accepted until Brethren Memorial College accepted him in February 1998. He had to reapply to Brethren Memorial College, where He finished His final year in 1999, and he altered his name from Kaweesa David to Kaweesa Charles David. David continued his studies and began going by his true name, Kaweesa David, throughout the course of the term. He continued to feel more attracted to boys, but He kept a low profile because He was worried about the consequences.
During his time in school, He finally became connected with a hidden group of His fellow students who were gay. Boys in Black, a group of eight men, used to help one another out socially and intellectually in a variety of ways. In those days, They were the talk of the class since we performed so well in class. Academically, the group was fiercely competitive, but socially, it was also tremendously encouraging and fun.
It didn’t take long for rumors about Their sex life to spread around the school, letting certain jealous pupils know about everything. After a while, the school administration was informed of the rumor, and They were all summoned to the staff room to clarify our differences. In an attempt to get them to confess to being gay and to disclose the number of people in their group, many professors beat them in front of other students.
They remained silent out of concern for worse outcomes, and as a result, They were placed on indefinite leave of absence from the school by the administration. They begged the headmaster for forgiveness, promising to at least allow them to take their final exams on the way home. David was beaten till He passed out by his parents, who were furious with him for getting fired. He was admitted to the hospital with several cuts and bruises.
Up until his hospital release, his mother looked after Him. His father had always wanted him to stay with them, so she drove David back to the village to reside with His grandma. His grandma advised him to return to school and make some lifestyle changes. She even brought him some herbs to bathe in to rid me of his gay conduct after telling him that it was repugnant for a guy to love another man. He tried using these herbs in his daily baths to cure his homosexuality, but it was completely ineffective.
Kaweesa focused more on his academics throughout his A’Level studies at Kololo Secondary School in order to keep himself out of additional issues because of his gay orientation. Additionally, a police post was set up close to the school’s main entrance, and Kaweesa was really afraid that he would be recognized as a gay guy once more.
It was really difficult for him to continue attending that school because he lived in continual terror that if the authorities at that police post found out about his sexual orientation, they would arrest him. He made a lot of effort to repress his sexual impulses when he first started at Kyambogo University, but eventually he was unable to do so. Kaweesa then cautiously returned to his previous way of life, taking care to avoid being recognized.
Kaweesa David was terrified to date while he was a student at Kyambogo University because he thought that he would be discovered by the locals and taken into custody by the authorities at the Kyambogo police post. Afterwards, he made Anthony Ssempala his covert partner for a while until chaos ensued. They were enjoying a nice evening get-together at the house of one of his friends in Kenya on April 17, 2004, when the police stormed them and they ran for their lives.
A few of them fled via the house’s back door, and the police officers chased after them. As they opened fire, David’s companion Kisekka Moses, who was sprinting ahead of me, was hit in the back of the head by one of their bullets and collapsed. He was about to tumble, but David was too busy fleeing for his life to stop him. David crawled under a bush after falling into a ditch, where I hid until the next morning. That night was so terrible that He still have nightmares about it and wonder where his pals went missing. The fact that it was Him who suggested the get-together, which turned into a catastrophe, haunts David so much.
Kaweesa David began hiding from place to place after that evening and stopped going to university classes on a regular basis out of fear of getting detained by the authorities since they were searching for gays. This had a negative impact on his performance. He never really settled down and focused on anything but running for his life since then. He has experienced loneliness, anxious days and nights, and little to no sleep.
Because of his constant worry and the fact that his hostel room was close to the university campus, He even gave up on the concept of regularly staying there. He used to occasionally avoid sleeping in the room and was unable to return home. This continued until 2005, when he finished his studies.
Kaweesa David was sent to Mmanze Secondary School as a deputy head teacher in 2005, following his graduation. He was accosted and physically assaulted by local defense unit personnel in Mmanze shortly after he arrived because he was a well-known gay. They informed him that, despite his terrible past, He had been assigned to Mmanze as a deputy head teacher, according to information they had acquired from Matugga locals.
Because of his sexual orientation, the cops informed him they didn’t want to see him in their community any more, and as a consequence, they arrested and held him at their police post while they conducted more investigations. After that, He was sent to Kigo Prison, where he endured further interrogations and severe torture—to the point that they cracked one of his front teeth. He found three large male convicts in the jail cells, and they tormented, tortured, and sexually assaulted him many times per night.
For a month, Kaweesa David had to perform physical labor inside the prison every day. They were transported to shambas every morning on lorry trucks, where they dug until dusk without meals. The conditions there were so terrible that he considered killing himself. To his amazement, even though he was held in Kigo, he was never brought before the court on the homosexuality accusation. Eventually, the jail warden instructed the prison guard to release him and let him leave because no one was looking into his case anymore.
Kaweesa David immediately went to be with his uncle, Uncle Kigongo Morgan, once he was released from Kigo and recognized that he was the one who was closest to death. He wanted to share with him the difficulties he had faced in life and ask for his assistance. He was astonished to find him alive since they had assumed that Kaweesa David had passed away after being arrested by the local defense troops. Despite being aware of his incarceration, Kaweesa David’s parents were hesitant to come and free him from jail. Throughout the whole time he was in custody, no one checked in on him or paid him a visit.
Uncle Morgan requested assistance from the Kawempe Division Civil Societies Organization. After David told them about the abuse he had endured, they gave him the money He needed to get a passport and all the other paperwork Kaweesa David needed to flee for his life. He obtained his passport in 2007 and, with his uncle’s help, proceeded to hide in Tanzania on December 30, 2007, in the residence of one of his old school friends in the Mwanga area.
Kaweesa David’s uncle’s Tanzanian buddy, Deogratious Kisami, told mhim that he needed to continuously renewing his visa to Tanzania if he wanted to stay there longer. He also told him that since it’s illegal to be homosexual in Tanzania, He can’t keep up his gay lifestyle. He informed him that his dad and uncle had given him the order to make sure he locates a Tanzanian woman for him to marry. He advised him that rather than wasting his time being gay, it was time for him to get married and start a family.
He told him that he would give it some thought, but for now, Kaweesa David just wanted to get settled and get a teaching position. He was under a lot of pressure from Deogratious, who even threatened to drive him out of his house if He didn’t marry the Tanzanian woman he had chosen for him. Deogratious gave Him the assurance that unless Kaweesa David married Precious Rose Temu, a Tanzanian woman, and made his presence there official, he would not be able to get employment in Tanzania. Deogratious and Kaweesa David’s parents coerced him into marrying Precious Rose Temu in a conventional marriage.
This led to the birth of Kaweesa David’s first child, Meshack Charles David, on September 10, 2013, alongside Precious Rose Temu. Rose and Kaweesa David had such a rocky relationship that she ultimately decided to leave him in 2020 for another guy after realizing He had no passion for her. She never gave him a clear explanation for her departure, but he believe she may have heard whispers that Kaweesa David was covertly seeing his Ugandan lover, Anthony Ssempala, in private. When Anthony learned that they had been taken into custody in Mmanze, Uganda, he fled to Tanzania in order to hide. One day in Tanzania, as Kaweesa David was shopping for food and other necessities, He happened to run into him in a market.
David was working as a math and physics teacher at Joyland Girls Secondary School for a good wage when Precious Rose departed. He was very relieved when she went, and he hoped that he could get back up as quickly as possible. He also thought that living with Anthony as his intermittent partner would be better than living with her. Regretfully, Deogratious returned and began pressuring for another marriage as soon as he found out about Rose’s leaving.
He even came to see David at work, threatening to have him fired for refusing to be married again. Dealing with Deogratious and occasionally pleading with him not to engage the police in his personal affairs made 2021 a very difficult year for David. He persisted in saying that homosexuality is forbidden in Tanzania and that he couldn’t watch as David carried out this immoral conduct, even though Kampala had given him strong orders to keep David wedded. He introduced David to Alice Alinda, another female, and offered her a place to live.
He then threatened to report David to the police if he disobeyed his advise, so David disagreed and resisted his pressure. After agreeing to his requirements, David moved in with Alice on February 23, 2022, and we remained there until David was compelled to leave Tanzania.
Rose informed the Tanzanian police that David was gay after finding out that He had dated another woman. She also provided them with a wealth of information that David was unaware she had accumulated over the years they had been together. She had really recorded every single thing about David’s adventures and interactions with Anthony throughout the years. She claimed to them that the reason she left David was because she thought he was gay.
The Tanzanian Police then took David up on July 02, 2022, and brought him in for questioning. David informed them that Rose was only resentful because he had another wife and refuted all of the accusations. After holding him for two days at the Tanzania Police station, Alice’s parents stepped in and mediated his release.
When Rose learned that Kaweesa David had been freed by the Tanzanian Police, she organized a large group of individuals to attack Kaweesa David at home on July 10, 2022. They destroyed his house and set fire to everything. They were yelling “death to homosexuals,” so Alice fled to her parents’ house while Kaweesa David hid in some nearby bushes. After that day, He started to worry again about getting arrested for being gay. He contacted Anthony and told him not to come visit Him again because he was running from the law.
He warned him that the Tanzanian Police could come seeking for him and to run for his life. His history tormented him again, and he began to think about where to go and what to do to protect himself. On August 1, 2022, Kaweesa David hurriedly left Tanzania and entered Uganda covertly. His buddy Mustafah Ali from Tanzania was able to sneak him over the Tanzanian border into Uganda without contacting immigration authorities, but he had to get both sides of the border to stamp Kaweesa David’s passport.
After arriving in Uganda, Kaweesa David spent four days hiding in the hamlet of Mwelerwe. With Uncle Morgan’s assistance, He flew out of Uganda on August 6, 2022, and was welcomed by his friend Mr. Weasel Amos in Liberia. On the day He arrived in Liberia, Mr. Weasel stole Kaweesa David’s passport and never returned it to him. He greeted him and informed him that he had made arrangements for him to teach at J.W.H.M.S Memorial School and to live somewhere temporarily.
He pledged to help Kaweesa David when he moved to Monrovia, Liberia, and settled in. Due to his limited mobility and lack of personal identity, Kaweesa David’s life as a teacher in Monrovia was difficult. He taught pupils without receiving his monthly salary, leading a lonely, solitary existence among strangers. When Kaweesa David learned that homosexuality was prohibited in Liberia as well, his prior experiences in Tanzania left him devastated and severely depressed.
He was so afraid that he would be discovered as gay one day that he lived in continual anxiety. In Monrovia, Liberia, there is a great deal of prejudice and persecution against LGBT people. He avoided social interaction and maintained a low profile in Liberia out of fear of getting killed there. Mr. Weasel warned him that since he was not a Liberian, he should never participate in any community events.
He tried phoning Anthony one day when he was feeling very alone and afraid of what may happen to him in Liberia. Fortunately, he still had his old phone number from that time. They had a lengthy conversation during which he informed him he was in Monrovia and that it wasn’t a secure place to remain. Anthony told him he had moved to a secluded area in Tanzania’s Usambara Hills, quite a distance from Arusha.
He confided in him that he is terrified for his life because Tanzanian police are searching for him. He required Davids assistance to leave Tanzania and travel to a more secure location. David instructed Anthony to keep a low profile until he had an opportunity to return to Tanzania and get him. David informed him that he had a contact at the Uganda Tanzania Border who could assist us in leaving Tanzania and making a quick trip back to Uganda. David asked him to wait for me patiently and to make plans for his future journey as soon as he arrived in Uganda, as the country was not a secure place to reside.
David’s grandma became quite ill in the second week of June 2023 as a result of her advanced age and high blood pressure. Uncle Morgan called to let him know how sick she was and how little hope she had for survival. David then asked Mr. Weasel for his passport and travel authorization so that he may visit and say goodbye to his dying grandma. When everyone else was criticizing him for being gay, his grandmother was the only member of his family who truly cared about his well-being, which is why he loved her so much.
David took a plane from Liberia on July 13, 2023, and arrived in Uganda on July 14, 2023. He regrettably arrived at his grandma’s house to find a large group of people weeping and crying. He had traveled directly to the hamlet to see his unwell grandmother. He was not informed that his grandma had passed away and been buried a few days prior. He started crying, felt dejected, and couldn’t stop wondering why no one had informed him about her passing. His father informed him that he was no longer a part of the family when he inquired why no one had contacted to inform me of his grandmother’s passing.
He even insisted that David leave the area right away to prevent other family members from discovering his presence.
He quickly left the area and headed to Nakwero, where he stayed with a friend to grieve his grandmother’s passing until August 8, 2023, when he took a road trip to Tanzania’s Usambara Hills to pick up his lover Anthony. He was fortunate to enter Tanzania without having to deal with immigration officers thanks to his buddy Mustapha, although he did have his passport stamped. Mustapha told David that in order to avoid getting detained in Tanzania, it would be best for him to go at night.
David spent a week traveling before arriving to Anthony’s home in the Usambara Hills. In order to provide himself cover and allay neighborhood suspicions, Anthony presented him to his new neighbors, who happen to be his brothers from Uganda. They remained, had a great time, and enjoyed their time together as they awaited Mustapha’s call on their safe departure from Tanzania.
They began their walk from the Usambara highlands one week towards the end of August, traveling at night and resting during the day. They arrived at the Mutukula and David phoned Mustapha, who helped them once more to cross the border into Uganda without really having to interact with immigration officials. On September 1, 2023, they left Tanzania behind. While traveling to Kampala, they came upon a police-manoeuvred roadblock on Masaka Road. The police were questioning and searching each passenger in the vehicle.
The policeman urged David to exit the car after he showed him his passport. Anthony experienced the same event, and they were both brought to the Masaka Police Station and placed under arrest. The police informed them that they both had an active arrest warrant because of their homosexuality and unlawful border crossings between Tanzania and Uganda.
They were brutally abused while being questioned, and on September 3, 2023, they were taken to the Katwe police station to be questioned again. David told the authorities throughout the interview that they were only innocent bystanders to unidentified events, and he asked them to get in touch with Uncle Morgan so he could speak with them on their behalf. After a quick discussion with the police, uncle Morgan was able to get Anthony and David release bonds.
Anthony was severely assaulted and injured during his detention in Masaka, in contrast to David, who did not protest the arrest. On September 12, 2023, David left Anthony in the hands of his sister when he was hospitalized to Nsambya Hospital, and he arrived in Canada. Since then, David haven’t heard from Anthony, but he hope he heals and gets back on his feet.
Kaweesa David fears returning to Uganda because he know that the Ugandan police officers and community people who know him would arrest, torture, and maybe kill him because he is gay.
