Uganda’s Law Reform Commission has changed the name of the Marriage and Divorce Bill into Marriage Bill.
Cohabitation, which stirred controversy when the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Kahinda Otafire asked the Law Reform Commission to review the bill, has been removed.
“We have deleted the cohabitation clause from the Marriage and Divorce Bill, so that we don’t derail this particular Bill, we are going to develop a separate law on cohabitation,” Vastina Nsanze, the chairperson Law Reform Commission said while presenting a copy of the revised bill to the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga on 6th June.
Removing of cohabitation clause from this bill means couples cohabiting cannot claim rights of sharing property in case they intend to dissolve their relationship.
Tabled in December 2009, the Marriage and Divorce Bill stated that aside the recognized forms of marriages in Uganda, marital rights and duties, even in a cohabitation relationship, the parties had the right to share property, upon “divorce”.
This Bill was an amalgamation of the current Marriage Act and current Divorce Act, which were inherited from the British.
The bill outlaws return of bride price and prohibits inheritance of widows. It also notes that Marriage gift is not an essential requirement.
Nsanze, according to URN, says cohabitation needs to have a bill of its own, with a further study.
URN adds, she says cohabitation is a reality that has to be dealt with, noting however, that this is not meant to make cohabitation a form of marriage, but for property rights and rights of children born during cohabitation.
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What is Cohabitation?
A living arrangement in which an unmarried couple lives together in a long-term relationship that resembles a marriage.
What does the bible say about Cohabitation?
With the option of cohabiting showing face, parents demanding heavy bride price and the number of independent and empowered women growing each day, young people are increasingly brushing marriage aside.
God’s Word, is perfect, and never changes. Sin remains sin, even when it becomes widely accepted. From what we can read of what Jesus said and Paul wrote, marriage between a man and a woman is the only form of partnership that God accepts and blesses. All sexual relationships outside marriage are considered fornication. (Hebrews 13:4.)
By Paul Dennis.
