Goodra Behakanira is the wife of Joseph Behakanira, the proprietor of Avemar shopping centre and Bwebajja Hotel. She sponsored Specioza Mukantabana’s recent trip to Mbuye. Matthias Mugisha spoke to her…
People say that Specioza Mukantabana is linked to the murderous Kanungu cult.
In every society, you have wrong people and imitators. You can have a group of people praying throughout the night and find condoms at the scene in the morning. When Mukantabana left, many imitators who wanted money sprung up. The people who went to the Nyakishenyi rocks were imitators. Kibwetere was an imitator. I knew Kibwetere. He was rich. His people even preached to us. When his followers died, the authorities came and searched our house.
What is the relationship between you and Mukantabana?
She is like my child. We have known her for 20 years. I know all her secrets. I have been hosting her for almost two months. She first got a vision when she was 16 years old. Mary told her to come to Uganda.
What is so special about her?
She gets visions. Twenty years ago in Mbuye, we saw signs, prayed and got some of what we prayed for within weeks. I got what I prayed for. It was private. I don’t have to mention everything. It was real. We saw signs. It was day time. The sun turned into a moon and displayed numerous colours. It came down and danced. After one month, we went back and saw many crosses from the sky. The message from the Virgin Mary through Mukantabana was that we pray hard. Many people got converted.
Is it true that Mukantabana ran away after being accused of dating men and hanging out in nightclubs?
The Virgin Mary does not look for holy people, otherwise she would be appearing to nuns and priests.
Mukantabana is just her voice or loud speaker. She is a woman like others. After getting her visions, she becomes a normal person. Remember she first got a vision when she was 16 years old. Imagine her teenage life. She was single. She is like any other ordinary woman. She is human. About those accusations, I do not know.
Is she married?
When she left Mbuye, she went to Kenya and got married to a white man. She later divorced and the Virgin Mary instructed her to go to America for a mission. I do not know how long she was married. She lives in Chile, South America, not in the US. She is rich. She has a nice car and a house. For her work, she deals in crafts.
What was she doing in Uganda this time?
She had come to join us in celebrations to mark 20 years since the Virgin Mary appeared to us in Mbuye. We are a big society of responsible people. We were not cerebrating 20 years of fakery.
We want to open an office in two weeks so that those who saw her 20 years back can come and give testimonies. It’s a group of people and not only me and my husband. We don’t want to be misunderstood. We are not fools. We are disciplined people. We want to write a book.
But why is the Catholic Church suspicious?
The Church recognises people who get such visions after a long study. It has recognised the children of Fatima in Portugal and Kibeho in Rwanda. We need to write what has been happening in Mbuye so that the Church understands.
Kibwetere also brought us problems — that is why people are suspicious.