Of Mundeyi, DNA, polygamy law

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WHAT’S UP!

You have probably never heard of Simon Mundeyi, and I would not blame you, what with the bloated Government we have. I had not, either, till I read a story this week where he advised against Ugandans doing DNA tests.

For the record, Mundeyi is the spokesperson of the internal affairs ministry. During a press conference earlier this week, he ‘advised’ Ugandans against getting DNA tests unless they have ‘strong hearts’.

He gave figures that indicated that a growing number of Ugandans, mostly men, are filing to have DNA tests on their children. And that about 98% of the tests come out negative.

Ninety-eight percent!! Now, that should have been the figure to raise Mundeyi’s hackles. According to his figures, about 30 cases are filed every day, which means that only one man out of the 30 was the biological father of the children he thought were his.

Now, this is not the national average. It does not mean that 98% of Ugandan fathers are looking after children that are not theirs. The men who went to the ministry’s forensic laboratory in Wandegeya, Kampala and duly paid their $100 (about sh360,000), had reason to doubt the paternity of their children. And most of them are being proven right.

Ugandans do not do DNA tests on a whim, most have a very strong reason to do so, and it is after a lot of soul searching and, most likely, advice from friends and relatives. In more developed societies, you do not have to line up at some government lab to get your DNA tested, you can do it by mail. Or just buy a DNA test kit online and, in a few weeks, you will get your results.

But in confused societies like Uganda, a government spokesperson can call the press and pontificate about the dos and don’ts of DNA testing.

So, what is Mundeyi saying? That live and let live. That it is better to live in ignorance than know the bitter truth. Opponents of DNA testing in Uganda claim that doing so will break up homes, and that would be a terrible thing to do. A national disaster, say some. That woman from Tororo, who wanted to ban alcohol across the whole country because her people drink too much, even wants DNA tests to be done only with a court order.

But you have to ask yourself, what are we protecting here? Mundeyi’s figures reveal that the 30 men who every day go to the ministry lab to get their DNA tested suspect that their wives (or partners) have been cheating on them. And 29 are proved right. In effect, they have been living a lie, and want to put a stop to it. And that is a national disaster? Give me a break!

And Mundeyi’s talk of a ‘strong heart’? What does he mean by that? Basically, he is saying that Ugandan men are not the ‘men’ they thought they are. While they have been agitating for polygamy and flicking their bits (in Mille Jackson talk) everywhere, so have their women. But the men do not want to believe that women can do that, and women want the men to stay in their bliss ignorance.

So, there are probably millions of siblings out there who are not siblings, and siblings might even marry each other, not knowing they are siblings. Why live a lie? Doesn’t the good book say that the truth will set you free?

Polygamy legality in Uganda

Other headlines this week screamed how the Constitutional Court had declared that polygamy is lawful in Uganda. And social chats went into orbit, with many gloating that it is now okay for men to get more than one wife.

But, that is nothing new. Polygamy has been legal in Uganda for eons, depending on what kind of marriage one is getting into. Customary marriages and ‘Mohammaden’ marriages allow a man to have more than one wife, so what has the hullabaloo been about?

What happened is that the Women’s Probono Initiative (WPI) filed a petition challenging the legality of polygamous men in Uganda. I have not read the judgement, but according to media reports, WPI argued that ‘Uganda’s legal framework effectively exempted polygamous husbands from prosecution for bigamy, contrary to Article 21, which guarantees equality before the law’. And that ‘polygamy promoted emotional distress, gender inequality in property rights and violated women’s rights to health and dignity’.

In what can only be described as legal gymnastics, the court, led by Lady Justice Irene Mulyagonja, ruled that ‘monogamous’ and ‘polygamous’ men are different under the law, so cannot be compared under ‘equality protections’.

“There is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals.” Beat that.

The court also said there was no evidence that polygamy subjects women to torture or degrading treatment. So, the petition was dismissed, effectively leaving the status quo as was. Nothing has changed, even though the media are trumpeting a ‘landmark ruling’.

What makes me curious, though, is the nature of the petition. Polygamy, by its very nature, is discriminative, in that it allows men to marry more than one wife, but there is no provision for women to marry more than one man. That is inherently unconstitutional, so why didn’t WPI challenge the various marriage acts that make polygamy legal? Are we seeing a game of chess here? I am watching the space.

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