By GRACE NAKATO
Divorces in Uganda are heavily stigmatised and difficult to obtain. Usually, the man moves on and marries again while the woman stays celibate or gets into ‘quiet relationships’.
Less than a decade ago, it was illegal for a woman to commit adultery even if her husband had deserted their home. Before the adultery law was repealed, women could be arrested by police, forcibly taken to hospital for a medical examination, and thereafter charged with adultery. Surprisingly, while wives underwent such humiliation, philandering husbands went scot-free.
Defilement
For instance, Frank married Sheila in 2009 and paid ten cows and Sh67,000 in bride price. However, the tedium of life in marriage and a baby soon became too much, forcing him to flee. Sheila is now 19 and this May, her new love, Jackson — a 28-year-old soldier — paid six cows and Sh67,000 for her hand.
Frank has now had the couple and his mother-in-law, Jovia, locked up for attempting to defraud him of his dowry, and for bigamy. Jovia and Jackson managed to raise their bail of Sh3,400, but Sheila is still languishing as she could not raise the cash.
If this was a movie, Jackson would not have left his wife in jail, and would get her a very good lawyer who would ensure that Frank and Jovia would be the ones behind bars. One doesn’t need to be a lawyer to realise that Sheila is the victim here having been married off to Frank when she was 15 years old.
In Uganda, the Penal Code Act considers a girl below 18 years not an adult and marrying her potential criminal offense punishable by law; however, defilement carries a death penalty.
Loopholes
This is the sunshine state where we do not take things too seriously. The public, especially in the rural areas, see the death penalty for defilement as excessive and, therefore, try to settle out of court. They do it by asking for fine in ridiculous forms like beer and meat, or secretly marry off the girl to the defiler. It helps that there is a loophole in the law, which allows a girl who is 16 years of age, to be married off as long as the parent gives consent.
In a bid to protect the girl-child, Lwengo District Council is trying to enforce the law and cover all their bases through a bylaw against underage marriages. This bylaw will fine the parents Sh5,000 and/or a jail term of two months. The husband will be fined Sh7,000 and/or a jail term of two months. Teachers who don’t report cases of schoolgirls who have been married off, plus the ceremony officiators are accomplices and will be fined Sh1,700. But the more things change, the more they stay the same. Public discussions this week, revealed that when it comes to sex, we still employ double standards. Recently, 30-year-old Sarah Nekesa, was served a seven-year jail term for sexually abusing her 16-year old casual labourer.
The law came under much criticism with the majority feeling that there was no abuse or defilement as the relationship was mutually beneficial with the boy receiving much financial gain. Could it be that only girls can be sexually exploited in cross-generational relationships? And that men cannot be raped?