Cohabiting couples not recognised â€" FIDA
Nov 01, 2009
COHABITING men in Nakasongola district were on Tuesday shocked to discover that the women they live with are not their legitimate wives.
By Francis Emorut
COHABITING men in Nakasongola district were on Tuesday shocked to discover that the women they live with are not their legitimate wives.
“If I have stayed with a woman for 20 years and produced five children, how can you say that she is not my wife?â€
Bosco Kalanzi, a resident of Kibuye village in Nakasongola, wondered.
“I am surprised to hear that in such a relationship, the law says you are not husband and wife,†he added.
Kalanzi was responding to remarks by Robinah Kyamuhangire, a lawyer of Uganda Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA), who said as long as a man and woman have not been customarily married or wedded in church, their marriage is null and void.
“The marriage law recognises only couples that have fulfiled customary law, civil or church marriage,†Kyamuhangire told residents of Kikoiro parish at St. Peters Catholic Church in Nakasongola district on Tuesday. Kyamuhangire was speaking about the marriage and property law.
The meeting was organised by FIDA to sensitise residents on marriage rights.
The residents were more perplexed when Kyamuhangire said when one partner dies, the other cannot inherit the property.
The residents were also sensitised on children’s rights and urged to desist from domestic violence.
Sarah Kasanda, another FIDA lawyer, appealed to the men to avoid beating their wives, saying it affected the productivity of the homes.
Kasanda urged women to report cases of domestic violence to the Police so that the culprits are apprehended.
She asked the residents not to discriminate persons living with HIV/AIDS.
Kasanda told the gathering that HIV testing should be voluntary and not mandatory.
This drew concerns from the audience, who wondered why pregnant women are forced to undergo HIV testing.
“Why should the Government force our wives to be tested?†asked John Kalema, a resident.
Kyamuhangire responded by saying that it prevented mother-to-child transmission, which protects the unborn baby.
COHABITING men in Nakasongola district were on Tuesday shocked to discover that the women they live with are not their legitimate wives.
“If I have stayed with a woman for 20 years and produced five children, how can you say that she is not my wife?â€
Bosco Kalanzi, a resident of Kibuye village in Nakasongola, wondered.
“I am surprised to hear that in such a relationship, the law says you are not husband and wife,†he added.
Kalanzi was responding to remarks by Robinah Kyamuhangire, a lawyer of Uganda Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA), who said as long as a man and woman have not been customarily married or wedded in church, their marriage is null and void.
“The marriage law recognises only couples that have fulfiled customary law, civil or church marriage,†Kyamuhangire told residents of Kikoiro parish at St. Peters Catholic Church in Nakasongola district on Tuesday. Kyamuhangire was speaking about the marriage and property law.
The meeting was organised by FIDA to sensitise residents on marriage rights.
The residents were more perplexed when Kyamuhangire said when one partner dies, the other cannot inherit the property.
The residents were also sensitised on children’s rights and urged to desist from domestic violence.
Sarah Kasanda, another FIDA lawyer, appealed to the men to avoid beating their wives, saying it affected the productivity of the homes.
Kasanda urged women to report cases of domestic violence to the Police so that the culprits are apprehended.
She asked the residents not to discriminate persons living with HIV/AIDS.
Kasanda told the gathering that HIV testing should be voluntary and not mandatory.
This drew concerns from the audience, who wondered why pregnant women are forced to undergo HIV testing.
“Why should the Government force our wives to be tested?†asked John Kalema, a resident.
Kyamuhangire responded by saying that it prevented mother-to-child transmission, which protects the unborn baby.