Marriage and Divorce Bill to protect marriages

Mar 19, 2013

For the past few weeks, the debate on Marriage and Divorce Bill has hit many platforms including media houses and the question on every one’s mind, do we need this Bill, or is the marriage institution just scared. The answer is yes, the Bill is timely.

By Betty Iyamuremye

For the past few weeks, the debate on Marriage and Divorce Bill has hit many platforms including media houses and the question on every one’s mind, do we need this Bill, or is the marriage institution just scared. The answer is yes, the Bill is timely.

The Bill seeks to consolidate the law relating to Marriage, Separation and Divorce. It provides for the types of recognised marriages in Uganda, marital rights and duties, grounds for breakdown of marriage, rights and parties on dissolution of marriage, among others.

In fact, in the Bill, divorce is not mandatory or automatic as the public has been misled. It is not a guarantee that when you apply for divorce, court will accept it. For example, Section 147 (1) ……court shall have regard to all relevant facts and evidence before divorce is granted and court may refuse to grant divorce when not satisfied. (Section 149)

Under Clause 152, the two parties may appeal once they are not satisfied with court ruling

Therefore;

·     The provision on divorce in the Bill does not bar married couples from exhausting all avenues for reconciliation.

·     The Bill does not compel married couples to go to court. Going to court is an initiative of one party or both

·     For those who are Christians and would want to use Christian norms of arbitration, the Bill does not compel them to go to court and therefore they are at liberty to seek redress within the church institutions

Most importantly, the Bill protects conjugal rights of spouses in a marriage and this is key alluding to the fact that sexual violence is still reality in our society. Under Article 114(2) of the Marriage and Divorce Bill, a spouse has a right to deny his or her partner sex where forceful sex results into both criminal and civil liabilities. A spouse may deny the other the right to sexual intercourse on reasonable grounds which may include poor health, surgery that affects the capacity to engage in sexual intercourse, child birth or reasonable fear that engaging in sexual intercourse is likely to cause physical or psychological injury or harm.

Also the wave of property sharing that has dominated debates, especially by our men counterpart in the Bill, is explicitly covered. Under section 115, the Bill defines property to be shared at dissolution of marriage. The section further protects customary land, where the spouse resides on land which is held in common customarily-Section 115 (d).

·     The Bill safeguards property attained before marriage unless you consent through express agreement to share (section 125). Further, the Bill defines separate property and protects the right to it. (Section 123 (2) and (4))

 

·     The Bill further protects ancestral property for example, land owned customarily or house or burial grounds that is held in common by all family members (section 127 (2)

·     Under section 129, the Bill protects matrimonial property from being sold without the consent of another spouse.

·     Section 117 and 118, provides a spouse with an option of making an agreement protecting his or her separate property hence dispensing the fear that marriage will turn into a contract.

·     Property in polygamous marriage is well catered for in section 128

And lastly, the issue of cohabitation which was very disturbing among the religious leaders and the public has been put to rest. Through a women parliamentary caucus, women stood in solidarity and agreed to throw out the issue of cohabitation and asserted that as much as a big number of Ugandans cohabit, an alternative law should be crafted to cater for the interests of the cohabitees since their issues are far more than what the Bill covers.

Let us all support it.

 bettyiyamuremye@gmail.com

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