Marriage and Divorce Bill a remedy to Ugandan women's woes

Mar 08, 2012

WE should broadly consider helping the vulnerable women who have been abandoned by men in long cohabitation relationships by ensuring a clear legal framework to help fight for their rights

By Nsanja Patrick Mabirizi

COMMEMORATING women’s day has left me pondering about how the women in Uganda can effectively be helped to overcome their challenges. The most recurring and with severe effects being domestic violence that has manifested into gender based violence.

There are also challenges of desertion, the increasing prevalence of HIV/AIDS, widow inheritance, long cohabitation periods among others. The good news, however, is that the marriage and Divorce Bill 2009 is one of those Bills that has been tabled for debate before Parliament and be enacted henceforth.

It should be noted that despite the fact that the Marriage and Divorce Bill 2009 is long overdue (as it one piece of unfinished business that accrue from the 8th to the 9th Parliament), there are still appeals from the public to have more consultations before it is adequately debated upon, which seems rather a way of delaying its enactment into law.

According to the Uganda Law Reform Commission, the Bill is a comprehensive study because all relevant stakeholders were consulted and thus leaves no excuses for prolonged further consultations. 

It should thus be debated immediately considering the plight of so many women who suffer sexual harassment and domestic violence each day. The statistics from United Nations reveal that 41% of all Ugandan women experience domestic violence. Similar research from Mulago Prenatal Clinic indicated that 40.7% of their patients had experienced violence the year prior to conception alone.

Worrying still is the fact that domestic violence is said to be responsible for increasing prevalence of HIV/AIDS among the victims. There is, therefore, need to quicken the process of debating on the Marriage Bill because it will supplement the already existing Domestic Violence Act which only justifies offenses depending on cruelty.

The Bill has also faced considerable opposition from the church on grounds that it will promote cohabiting by recognising cohabiting couples and guaranteeing sharing of property in cohabiting relationships. On the contrary, the Bill would encourage the legalisation of marriages as it leaves the issue of paying bride price optional. Besides, even before its enactment, according to the Uganda Bureau of statistics (2002), only 20% of the couples in Uganda are legally married and 60% are traditionally married.

We should broadly consider helping the vulnerable women who have been abandoned by men in long cohabitation relationships by ensuring a clear legal framework to help fight for their rights and on the other hand still have the church advocate for legal marriages as it has been   happening.

Generally, the Bill should also be looked at as one that will help to curb our tremendous population growth rate and curb the spread of HIV/AIDS among couples. By providing that a male spouse has to seek permission before marrying another wife, and putting sexual perversion, sodomy, pornography as grounds for divorce, the Bill is anticipated to curb on the rate of spreading HIV/AIDS.

It also prohibits widow inheritance, another form of abuse that has seen many women suffer as well as facilitating the spread of HIV/AIDS. It would also check Uganda’s tremendous population growth, as it limits cohabiting, checks infidelity, and the rate of acquiring new partners.

The Marriage Bill should also not be looked at as a way of empowering women to steal family property as an excuse for its inadequacy. Marriage should be looked at as a way of forming a family that is a very important unit of a country’s development. For instance women contribute 88% of agricultural labour force, an activity that contributes 76% of the national economy.

Women also contribute to the family’s day to day welfare only that their input can not be measured in monetary terms. They bear children, fetch water, collect firewood, provide food for the family and thus should be entitled to a portion of the joint effort cum the time for Divorce or death. This would also create harmony in families reducing the struggle for property and promoting fairness especially on the side of the vulnerable party; the women.

May be there should be a way of incorporating the Islamic marriages into this Bill because they are a recognised religion in this country, otherwise in as far as promoting women’s rights, reducing domestic violence, checking cruelty in homes, among others, the Bill is the best remedy to the many woes of the Ugandan woman for its legal perspective.

Writer is the MP Ntenjeru South constituency

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