Same-clan marriage stopped
May 05, 2007
THE High Court has issued a permanent injunction restraining marriage between a couple from the same clan on grounds that their marriage is against the Baganda tradition.
THE High Court has issued a permanent injunction restraining marriage between a couple from the same clan on grounds that their marriage is against the Baganda tradition, reports Edward Anyoli.
Justice Remmy Kasule yesterday nullified the marriage between Juliet Namazzi, an employee of International Food Policy Research and Ivan Serunkumma, a Botswana-based doctor, of the Ndiiga (sheep) clan.
“A declaration that the first defendant (Serunkuma) and second defendant (Namazzi) intended marriage is illegal, null and void by reason of the custom, that being Baganda by tribe, both belonging to the same Ndiiga clan, they cannot lawfully contract the marriage,†Kasule ruled.
“When custom goes contrary to the rules of behaviour basic to human nature and is contrary to what is morally right and acceptable, then such a custom violates natural justice, equity and good conscience.†The couple was not in court when the judgment was delivered.
Serunkuma was scheduled to wed Namazzi at St. Francis Chapel Makerere on June 24, 2006, but Bruno Kiwuwa, Namazzi’s father, blocked the marriage on grounds that they are from the same clan.
Namazzi earlier claimed that Kiwuwa was not her father, adding that Jesus had revealed to her mother, Binaisa Nalongo Ndagire, that she had a different father. But a DNA test revealed that Kiwuwa was her biological father.
Justice Remmy Kasule yesterday nullified the marriage between Juliet Namazzi, an employee of International Food Policy Research and Ivan Serunkumma, a Botswana-based doctor, of the Ndiiga (sheep) clan.
“A declaration that the first defendant (Serunkuma) and second defendant (Namazzi) intended marriage is illegal, null and void by reason of the custom, that being Baganda by tribe, both belonging to the same Ndiiga clan, they cannot lawfully contract the marriage,†Kasule ruled.
“When custom goes contrary to the rules of behaviour basic to human nature and is contrary to what is morally right and acceptable, then such a custom violates natural justice, equity and good conscience.†The couple was not in court when the judgment was delivered.
Serunkuma was scheduled to wed Namazzi at St. Francis Chapel Makerere on June 24, 2006, but Bruno Kiwuwa, Namazzi’s father, blocked the marriage on grounds that they are from the same clan.
Namazzi earlier claimed that Kiwuwa was not her father, adding that Jesus had revealed to her mother, Binaisa Nalongo Ndagire, that she had a different father. But a DNA test revealed that Kiwuwa was her biological father.