The
meeting which had been organized by Rwenzori consortium for civic competence in
partnership with karambi action for life improvement and members fromthe
parliament took place on 28th /03/2013.
The one day meeting organized in two places
that is inNtara sub countyheadquarters and kamwenge town council in the catholic
social hall attracted numerous citizens from the neighbouring villages of
kicwamba,mahyoro,nyabani and the local government staffs.whereby
Residents
of Kamwenge district who attended the consultative meeting on the Marriage and
Divorce Bill asked the members of parliament to remove the clause of marital
rape from the bill.
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| two honourable MP's Dorothy and Flavia |
Speaker
after speaker during a consultative meeting at Ntara sub-county headquarters by
the Kamwenge woman MP Dorothy Kashaiza pointed out that the inclusion of marital rape clause in the bill will cause
more cases of domestic violence, she further noted that people are not
sensitized on the types of marriages Article 26 of the Ugandan constitution
allows every one irrespective of sex to own a property and most people
especially women do not know their rights to owning properties .
One
of the Residents Mr. Buswera kakwenzire a retired priest of Ntara Sub county said
that marital rape has to be excluded
because it will be an advocacy for polygamy as men who will be punished by it
will seek to marry other women and abandon their first wives.
Majority
of the people said that there is nothing called marital rape in their families
only that most couples have not been sensitized on the value of conjugal
rights.
The
residents of Kamwenge also recommended that parliament should abolish the name bride price and
replace it with marriage gifts because it has been realized that most parents
have taken the marriage of their daughters as business.
YosintaKasembo,
the vice Chairperson LC 3 of Ntara sub-county said that with the bride price
being paid, the sons of the poor people will not marry the women of their
choice because they cannot afford the demands of their in-laws.
the
residents also called for the deletion of the cohabitation clause, the issue of
Divorce and that widow inheritance should not be regulated by the government.
They
also asked the MPs to increase the age of consent to marriage by a man and
woman to twenty one years.
Also
rejected by the people of Kamwenge is the title of the Bill as they urged that
Divorce should not be included adding that it will be the cause of problems
because it provides for the contentious issue of sharing property.
The
Kamwenge woman MP Dorothy kashaizasaid that parliament will base on the
majority recommendations on the different clause because every MP has been in
their constituency carrying out consultations on the matter.
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| kyegeggwa woman mp flavia rwabuhoro |
She
was accompanied by the Kyegegwa Woman MP FlaviaKabehendaRwabuhorowho said that
the church has failed to protect families a reason why the state has come in
their main intention is not to promote divorce but to protect the masses from
conflicts therefore calls upon religious
leaders to preach against divorce in her words she said "I have never divorced,never beaten and does
not want to divorce at all".
She
therefore asked parents to always
express love to their children so that they can be able to settle in their new
families.
