The Illegal Marriages, what next for the Couples?

A few weeks ago, the public was shocked with news that over 1000 couples' marriages were null and void as the place of worship that purportedly celebrated the marriage was not licensed and gazetted to do the same. There has been a lot of storm on this matter and notwithstanding this, the Church has not made any comment as to the future of the affected Couples.
I have received numerous calls and messages concerning this issue and I think it is unfortunate that the Church, which is supposed to exemplify truth and honesty chose to wed couples well knowing that they had not been licensed and gazetted at the time they conducted the marriages. It will be justifiable for all the couples to sue the Church for damages and other reliefs.

In another turn of the events, it has been reported that the MPs raised this issue on the floor of Parliament and the Government's response was that the position of the law takes precedence and therefore all the couples must re-do their vows before a legally recognized entity. But again, the Church has not said anything, their silence is so sickening that has left the couples with no option. I strongly condemn these acts of selfishness and unrighteousness exhibited by the Church and the Church leaders and the Church leadership should be held liable for this mess.
I have made research and realized that there are many other churches that have conducted the weddings yet without the license. Many are Born-Again Churches, SDA and Anglican. For the sake f the Public, we are going to publish this list so that we save the future couples from such similar occurrences. I have always beseeched couples who intend to marry to always consult on the legalese of conducting marriage and man have ignored this advice and go on to splash millions of money on a fake function. Couples should always conduct a search to find out whether the place they are to wed is duly licensed by law or not before they go ahead to pay millions. This saves a great deal. It is also important that it becomes a life style for everyone to seek legal advise on all maters that have dire consequences.

I am hoping that the Church is working on practical solutions for the Couples in this situation and I also hope that they will pay for all the costs that will be needed to rectify this mess otherwise, the Church will have robbed from its own congregants.
I also beseech all churches and other religious institutions to adhere to the law to the latter because they are not immune to the laws of Uganda and neither have they been exempted especially from the Marriage legal regime.

By Michael Aboneka

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why we should worry about the growing inequality in Uganda

by Michael Aboneka   Uganda continues to grapple with worrying inequalities and regional imbalances.  According to World Bank (2022), half of the population was moderately food insecure and the poorest households were unable to buy food products in the desired amounts. This means that half of our population is a hungry one which can do anything for survival.  In 2021 the Ministry of Finance reported that 28% of Ugandans were poor increasing from 18% prior to COVID-19 era with about two thirds of Uganda losing income and the economy and business still staggers while the gap between the poor and rich widens further because the poor and less privileged are affected adversely proving that  Uganda’s growth is not inclusive. Recently; I saw a number of colleagues expressing their disappointment after some young men stole side mirrors of their cars in broad day light in Kampala and they were left helpless; they couldn’t even run after the thieves. The same state of hopelessness is true to maj
Read more

The US Africa-summit: What is in it for Uganda?

  By Michael Aboneka The US Africa summit, the first of its kind for eight years, following the end of the era of Donald Trump and his America first policy, just concluded. With US President, Joe Biden, deliberately playing a different tune from his predecessor Donald Trump. His was indeed a courting ode, with a promise that the US is "All in on Africa's future”. Even more endearing was the declaration that “Africa belongs at the table in every room — in every room where global challenges are being discussed and in every institution where discussions are taking place” that accompanied the promise that US will support African Union joining the G20 group of large economies as a permanent member.  Biden announced $2 billion in humanitarian aid for Africa to address acute food insecurity, with emphasis that Africa has potential to feed itself and the world and a joke that he, like a poor relative, will visit Africa and spend a long time there. The cheery tone and overt support fro
Read more

The Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill 2022 cures no mischief

  By Michael Aboneka Jr Hon. Muhammad Nsereko sought leave of Parliament to table an amendment bill to the Computer Misuse Act in February 2022 and has now tabled the bill on the floor of Parliament. In my view, there is nothing new that the new law is seeking to cure and I am waiting to read the Regulatory impact assessment and the justifications thereof beyond public debates.  From the proposed long title of the bill, objectives and the clause on defects in existing law, it is not clear and specific enough of what mischief the bill intends to cure. The amendment seeks to largely protect the right to privacy, prohibition of unlawful access to data and spreading of false information which are already protected by existing legal frameworks such as the Constitution, Children Act, the Human Rights Enforcement Act 2019, Penal Code Act, Data protection and privacy Act 2019 among others. All these provide layers of protection that the bill seeks to do and by large, the amendment will only du
Read more