Martin Ssempa, who was earlier appointed as Chaplain for the Born Again Christian Faith in Uganda’s Parliament, has proposed the creation of an all-new cabinet ministry for marriage and family.
The Pastor at Makerere Community Church asserted that while fidelity or faithfulness is expected in marriage, no arm of government has devoted itself to policy development, training and inculcating marriage and family values.
Pastor Ssempa cited the latest scandal that hit famous media personality Flavia Tumusiime and her husband Andrew Kabuura. He also mentioned pentecostal Church leader Aloysius Bugingo, and later the retired Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Stanley Ntagali who was stripped of duties over adultery.
“All of us have this expectation that once a man gets married, they will keep their promise, and when they don’t, we mock them. We laugh at them, we discuss them,” he said. “This is a big problem. There is trouble in paradise, and we need to ask; who teaches people to be faithful? Are we just born faithful? The answer is no. We are all born with a propensity to lie, steal, cheat and get away.”
Just like fighting corruption, pastor Ssempa explained that it is a struggle to instil marriage values in a population, hence the need for a cabinet ministry.
A 2020 report on divorce and separation in Uganda by The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law revealed that while family relationships are the most important building blocks in people’s lives, 7% of Ugandans have gone through divorce or separation in the past four years. This translates to roughly 370,000 people every year, the organisation said.
The report revealed that many Ugandans rely on informal sources of information and advice pertaining marriage.
The report also revealed that more Ugandan women than men report family problems (70% vs. 30%), and that among couples, having children increases the likelihood of encountering divorce, separation and other family problems.
“The ability to say no to temptation, defy gratification, and say, ‘I have made a covenant and have a symbol (ring) to that, can only be empowered if somebody is trained,” Pastor Martin Ssempa said.
Having spent over 30 years as a married man, Martin said his faithfulness in marriage is hinged on the foundation training and preparation he received before exchanging his wedding vows with wife Tracey Ssempa.
The pastor illustrated the reason for the fall of a marriage institution to that of buildings.
“Why are marriages collapsing, part of the reason is because ‘there is not enough cement, steel in the bars, buildings are built very quickly without adequate preparation and some of them do not have the right architecture’,” he said.
“We have systems for preparing people to be soldiers, doctors, lawyers, but we don’t have a system in place that prepares people for marriage, which is why I keep telling the President of Uganda, the parliament that we need a cabinet minister for marriage and family whose job is to look out and provide policy support to the entire eco system or starting, enabling maintaining and healing marriages,” he went on.
Ssempa stated that the individual to take on this ministry should be one who has been successful in marriage for at-least 30 years, and has one wife. In his address, the pastor was also quick to note that he is very willing to take on this job, and become Uganda’s first cabinet minister for marriage and family.
Currently, there are 32 Cabinet ministers and 50 Ministers of State in the Cabinet of Uganda.
