New Bill ends marriage after 3 months without sex

A customary marriage will be annulled if a husband or wife "unreasonably" refuses to consummate marriage (make marriage complete by having a sexual intercourse) for a period of three months from the time the couple married.

This is one of the grounds for terminating customary marriage in the Marriage Bill 2017. It can also be ended if either party to the marriage is unable to consummate marriage within six months.

Under the Bill which is expected to be tabled to Parliament for debate soon, the marriage will also be terminated if a wife proves that her husband is "permanently impotent" and that she did not know about his condition before marrying him.

The proposed piece of legislation is a revised version of the touchy Marriage and Divorce Bill 2009 that has previously been discussed in Parliament, but not passed due to its contentious provisions on cohabitation and dissolution of matrimonial unions.

The review process, which was undertaken by Uganda Law Reform Commission (ULRC), has seen the word divorce removed from the  the Bill, but most of the proposals in the original Bill have been retained in the new draft.

The contentious clauses that would have made it mandatory for partners to share property acquired during cohabitation have been removed.

The Bill also lists grounds for an illegal customary marriage; if the parties are within prohibited degrees of relationship, either party was of unsound mind before marriage, either party has not attained 18 years of age.

It is also illegal if the consent of either party was obtained under duress or fraud and (if either) party had a living spouse under a different marriage type.