Marriage Bill: Museveni summons NRM MPs

By Vision Reporter

President Yoweri Museveni has called on leaders to sensitize Ugandans about marital rape and property sharing under the Marriage and Divorce Bill.

He said debating the law is part of the democracy that the NRM government introduced.

He said that the NRM caucus is due to meet on Monday to decide on the Bill.

“Sensitize the people on marital rape where a woman can not engage in sexual acts until after six weeks after giving birth otherwise it puts the life of a woman in danger. A woman should not also be forced to engage in sex during her periods. But I thought everyone knows this what kind of people are these…what do we do with these,” he said.

The President noted that these are unacceptable and grave crimes committed within marriage and that all stakeholders in the political, religious and civic leadership need to work together to find a solution.

The President was Thursday meeting a delegation of elders from Mubende District under their umbrella organization Mubende District Elders Forum led by their Chairman Ramathan Zizinga at his country home at Rwakitura, Kiruhuura district.

The delegation was led by the Mubende Woman Member of Parliament Namugwanya Bugembe.
Museveni said the issue of property rights especially clan or inherited property must be well explained to the people to avoid causing confusion and trouble.

He said it would be a mistake to subject the entire Ugandan population to a single family code as stipulated in the proposed marriage and divorce Bill 2013 noting Uganda like most African communities had divergent traditional, cultural and ethnic norms and values as well as different religious affiliations and subjecting them to a uniform family code would be a great mistake.

The President urged leaders to sensitize their people about improved income generation for wealth creation saying there can be no development without wealth in homes.

“Fearing God, peace and security and three other things including development infrastructure like roads, water electricity schools, hospitals etc are important for any economy to prosper. Development, infrastructure and service delivery are government’s responsibilities, yours is to sensitize the people on how to create wealth in the home to exploit this infrastructure. Wealth is in your homes not on the roads,” he said.

The President said people should understand the philosophy of income generation and wealth. “Seek God as an individual. Religious leaders help you but you seek God in your heart first, peace, development infrastructure and service delivery is mainly by government and the wealth is by you as an individual,” he said.

He challenged the elders to educate youth about the need to work and produce for both consumption and for the market as the only way to raise one’s income and lead a better life.

The leaders discussed various issues including the suspension of the creation of new districts and investment in infrastructure development.

The elders commended the President and the government for support to their district in various sectors including education, health and road works and maintenance.

They however decried the shortage of medical workers in the hospitals. The elders had earlier visited Josephine Kizza a model farmer in Masaka and Rev. James Katamunanwire in Rushere, Kiruhuura district commended the President for facilitating their tour to the farm and appealed to him to avail them with coffee seedlings, milk coolers, fruit processing machines so as to put in place what they had learnt.