A retake in marriage for ages remains a no (wo) man's wish even when a life of bliss is forthcoming and an assurance given that old habits will no longer die hard.
This, no longer a wished away dream is slowly becoming a reality in Uganda as the governement declared many marriages null and void. That the many an institution of marriage is an illegality and therefore do not command any legal standi in the event of contestation by any of the parties to the marriage including on property is the more disturbing development among some Ugandan couples.
However, speaking to BBC's Focus on Africa programme, Pastor Joseph Serwadda chairman of the Born Again Pentecostal churches in Uganda noted that the church's mandate to unite two in marriage is a divine act from God and therefore a preserve of the church. "There is nothing like null and void - they are only null and void as far as the law is concerned, but as far as the Bible is concerned the marriages happened," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
This, no longer a wished away dream is slowly becoming a reality in Uganda as the governement declared many marriages null and void. That the many an institution of marriage is an illegality and therefore do not command any legal standi in the event of contestation by any of the parties to the marriage including on property is the more disturbing development among some Ugandan couples.
Null and Void
The development came up when the state registrar of marriages announced recently that a number of church ministers had celebrated marriage without any legal authority, and that their religious institutions had not been licensed to conduct such activities.However, speaking to BBC's Focus on Africa programme, Pastor Joseph Serwadda chairman of the Born Again Pentecostal churches in Uganda noted that the church's mandate to unite two in marriage is a divine act from God and therefore a preserve of the church. "There is nothing like null and void - they are only null and void as far as the law is concerned, but as far as the Bible is concerned the marriages happened," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
Fresh Vows
Throwing the spanner into the works is Bishop Grabe Illukol from Tororo who says he has conducted over 600 marriages in a span of four decades as a church minister. However he admits, that for all this time, he had been issuing church cerfiticates which the registrar of marriages says do not have any legal standing thus annulling the marriages.
Though the Bishop agrees with the state on the legality of the marriages and calls on all the affected to take the vows afresh, his dilemma, he says is the fate of those couples who've died over time. More still, taking vows afresh perhaps is not just a simple legal process but a challenge to the soul and self. How for example does this man of God intend to reconcile couples who've over the time lived not to the first vow however illegal it may have been?
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