Marriage, defined as the legal union of a couple as husband and wife, carries various implications within different societies. In Uganda, the legal framework surrounding marriage is complex, with both advantages and disadvantages that warrant a closer look.
Outdated Legal Framework
The legal framework on marriages in Uganda is, to a great extent, outdated and does not suit the current societal changes and traditions. Different individuals, nations, societies, and traditions perceive marriage differently and have been engaged in their own ideologies of what they believe marriage is or should be.
Polygamy Laws
Laws on polygamy are not efficient enough as they are subject to a number of limitations. The agreed position in many Courts and among authors on custom is that a customary marriage is dissolved when bride price is returned to the husband’s home.
Dissolution of Customary Marriage
The practice as a form of dissolution of a customary marriage is repugnant to natural justice, equity, and good conscience and void with the Constitution. The Customary Marriage Act makes provision for validity and registration but not dissolution of customary marriages.
Discrimination in Divorce Act
In the case of Uganda Association of Women Lawyers and Ors v Attorney General (FIDA Case), it was held that section 4 of the Divorce Act was null and void in as far as it required women to prove many grounds for divorce as opposed to men who were required to prove only one. Unfortunately, there have not been statutory amendments to provide for this development.
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Lack of Definition of Cruelty in Divorce Act
There is no definition of cruelty in the Divorce Act despite being a ground for divorce. This is a contradiction to the Constitution and therefore we see that there’s need to revisit the laws in the country.
Bureaucracy in Marriage Registration
There’s also a lot of bureaucracy in the process to determining validity/registration of a marriage. These laws demotivate many from getting married legally and they end up cohabiting.
Parental Consent
The issue of gaining parent’s consent before marriage seems outdated as the law already provides under article 31 that there is free consent of parties intending to marry as long as they are above 18 years.
Consanguinity and Affinity
Consanguinity in Uganda laws and affinity seems to be so far-fetched. There is no proper justification to prohibit marriage between persons in long distance relationship by marriage under affinity.
Domicile Laws in Divorce
Section 14 and 15 of the Succession Act provides that divorce can only be granted where husband and wife have a domicile. This law ought to become rational that a woman or man can file for divorce irrespective of the domicile, as this delays justice in instances where the parties are aggrieved and leaving separately, the strictness on jurisdiction will only delay equity.
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Inequality in Inheritance Laws
In the Constitution, article 31 provides for equal rights in marriage, during and after. Section 27 of the Succession Act states that if a man dies without making a will, then the wife, or wives is entitled to 15% of the man’s property. The Court noted that section 27 makes reference to only a male deceased person, which is discriminatory. This presupposes that either females do not or cannot own property, which is contrary to article 26 of the Constitution on the right to all citizens to own property.
Laws on Same-Sex Marriages
On the laws prohibiting same sex marriages; I believe there is need to align the laws with conformity of the moral well being of the society. Despite having rights to freedom, it is the state’s mandate to provide a safe place for the rest of the citizens.
Societal Issues Impacting Marriage
Uganda is plagued by deep-seated traditional and religious beliefs and practices that hinder the implementation of the laws on Child Marriage. Ingrained patriarchal notions base the value of a girl on her virtue thus, they are married off early to maintain their purity by controlling their sexuality, despite this leading to child sexual abuse within marriages.
- Child Marriage: In Uganda, like other East-African countries, Child marriage is one of the significant drivers of adolescent pregnancy.
- Adolescent Pregnancy: The risk of maternal death is about 28% higher for mothers aged 15 to 19 than that of mothers aged 20 to 24 (UNFPA, 2020).
A number of international legal instruments have been ratified by the Government of Uganda to protect the fundamental rights of children to not be married before the age of 18 and end teenage childbearing including; the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.
Furthermore, besides Uganda’s Constitution, Parliament of Uganda has enacted a wide range of laws that explicitly provide for the protection of children against sexual violence. However, besides the delayed enactment of both the Marriage Bill and the Sexual Offences Bill into law, there are existing latent gaps in Uganda’s current legal and policy framework. These shortcomings have inadvertently weakened the campaign against child marriage.
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The lack of harmonization among laws on sexual offenses creates an implementation conundrum. The Government of Uganda does not have a consolidated law on sexual offenses, which could be remedied by the pending Sexual Offences Bill. The Bill is the first legislation that addresses the issue of child marriage and child sexual abuse.
Dismantling these cultural and religious beliefs is a task that the law alone cannot tackle as any overt sanctioning of these practices will only drive them underground rather than solve the problem. Sometimes there are no provisions in the law penalizing those who contravene the minimum age of marriage requirement and thus the seemingly conflict with the criminal law on sex with a minor.
Lack of recognition of, or adequate provision of, sexual reproductive health services and rights (SRHSR) in the general legal framework.
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Advantages of Civil Marriage
The first advantage of a civil marriage is respecting the freedom of the human for example in many countries who are developed such as France and united states women can put her family name of her children and the husband accepted her idea.
In addition the second advantage is the easier divorce women or man when they get married her or his life as single is totally different they have a lot of pression and plus that they can have problems with each other’s like the violence against women or man in the same family or cheating on each other’s and they see that the divorce is better than still fighting to all there life so the civil marriage it’s easier to divorce than getting marriage religion which is so harder to give you the divorce.
Statistical Data on Child Marriage in Uganda
The following table summarizes the prevalence of child marriage in Uganda, highlighting the urgency of addressing this issue.
| Age Group | Percentage Married |
|---|---|
| Before 18th Birthday | 34% |
| Before 15th Birthday | 7% |
| Boys Before 18th Birthday | 6% |
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