UGANDA: Pastors oppose marriage Bill

By MERCY NALUGO and SHEILA NATURINDA.

Pentecostal pastors have opposed the Marriage and Divorce Bill in its current form, saying it is against religious norms and bible teachings.

The pastors said they had not been consulted during the drafting of the Bill and warned that they would oppose the Bill if it is passed into law without their input.

Addressing the press in Kampala on Tuesday, the chairperson of the Born Again Pentecostal Churches, Pastor Joseph Serwadda, said: “The Bill does not include the aspect of protection of the family which should be the cardinal reason for the changes to the laws. Also in the Bible the marriage is blessed and couples are expected to live together till death separates them but the law legislates for divorce and sharing of property.”

They also opposed the clause on marital rape. The pastors are demanding that the Bill be split into three new Bills or independent sections to cater for Christian, civil and traditional marriages.

“ln a deeply religious country like Uganda, what is needed and still lacks is a clear separation of the Christian marriage from the civil unions. All the confusion lies here because the Bill is equating the archbishop and cardinal to the level of a CAO and an RDC,” Pastor Serwadda said.

Source: Daily Monitor (28/03/2013): http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Pastors-oppose-marriage-Bill/-/688334/1732526/-/2eyjtx/-/index.html