Bishop wants church consulted on Marriage Bill

Mar 05, 2013

Lugazi Diocesan Bishop Mathias Ssekamanya has asked Parliament to halt the passing of the Marriage Bill to allow consultations with the Church.

By John Semakula

Lugazi Diocesan Bishop Mathias Ssekamanya has asked Parliament to halt the passing of the Marriage Bill to allow consultations with the Church.

Ssekamanya one of the leaders of the Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) said on Sunday that the Church was left out in process of drafting the Bill yet the institutions input is crucial in marriage affairs.

Ssekamanya made the remarks while addressing the Press at Namagunga Parish in Lugazi.

“There should be a strong relationship between law makers and religious leaders in this Bill. The Church leaders need to be consulted because we are the implementers of this law,” he said.

Ssekamanya added that the involvement of Church leaders in drafting the Bill would help in drafting strong grounds for the possible consequences of “this legislation”.

He appealed to the Members of Parliament to send back the Bill to the people for further consultations.

Several sections of the Marriage Bill being discussed in the Parliament now have split the House with MPs disagreeing on some sensitive sections.

Recognising cohabitation as marriage after 10 years of a couple living together is one of the areas in the Bill that have spilt the MPs.
Ssekamanya said there were also other areas which had to be reviewed with the consultation of the Church leaders, like divorce, inheritance of property and abortion.

He noted that the Church’s positions on most of those contested areas are clear and known so they should be respected and included in the Bill.   

“In the Church a man marries one wife. How do you the make a law that says that the official wife should share properties with the other intruders after the death of the husband?” Ssekamanya asked.

The prelate commended Government for drafting the Bill and observed the need for reconciliation in the Christian families to bring about peace in the homes.

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