UGANDA: NRM lawmakers agree to recall marriage Bill

By Isaac Imaka.

Three days after MPs pocketed Shs5 million meant for consultations on the controversial Marriage and Divorce Bill, NRM MPs last night moved to recall the Bill, this time for good.

During the NRM Caucus held at State House Entebbe, 178 out of 194 MPs voted to have the Bill removed from the shelves of Parliament and allow the government to concentrate on issues that are of use for the “development of the country”.

According to the Minister of Information and National Guidance, Ms Karooro Okurut, the decision was reached after majority of the MPs reported that the people disagreed with the Bill, saying it competed with the societal culture norms.

The Bill, which was first tabled in Parliament in 1964, sought to provide grounds for divorce in cases of adultery, sexual perversion, cruelty, and desertion of one’s spouse for at least two years, change of religion, incest, bestiality, sodomy, homosexuality or pornography.

The caucus spokesperson, Ms Evelyn Anite, told the Daily Monitor last night that the Bill was thrown out on a motion and the MPs looked at the different implications it would have on society.

Civil society organisations that have been fighting for the enactment of the Bill have called the NRM decision an outrageous move to deny the women chance to enjoy the rights enshrined in the 1995 Constitution. “This is extremely unfortunate because if the NRM Caucus cannot allow the actualisation of the Constitution, then what do they stand for?” said Ms Tina Musuya, the executive director of Centre for Domestic Violence Prevention.

Source: Daily Monitor (09/04/2013): http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/NRM-lawmakers-agree-to-recall-marriage-Bill/-/688334/1743176/-/6v862mz/-/index.html