An examination of the Law on the Protection of Matrimonial Property Rights in Uganda.
Loading...
Date
2018-09
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kampala International University, School of law.
Abstract
This article examines women's rights to property in marriage, upon divorce, and upon the death
of a spouse in Uganda, highlighting the problematic aspects in both the state-made (statutory)
and non-state-made (customary and religious) laws. It argues that, with the exception of the
1995 Constitution, the subordinate laws that regulate the distribution, management, and
ownership of property during marriage, upon divorce, and death of a spouse are discriminatory
of women. It is shown that even where the relevant statutory laws are protective of women's
rights to property, their implementation is hindered by customary law practices, socialization,
and the generally weak economic capacity of many women in the country. The miicle delves
into the even weaker position of women's rights to matrimonial property at customary and
religious laws. In many homes, wives provide labour to suppoti their husbands without having a
stake in the use or monetary benefit from it. Under Islamic law regulating intestate succession
to property, the entitlements for widows fall short of the constitutional standards on equality and
non-discrimination. Polygyny is widely practiced by Muslims implying that the widows share
the one eighth whenever there are children or one fomih in cases when there m·e no children.
Radical reforms such as adopting an immediate community property regime instead of the
present separate propetiy regime are inevitable if women's rights to property are to advance.
Description
A research dissertation submitted to the School of Law in
Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of a
Diploma in Law of Kampala International University (KIU)
Keywords
Matrimonial Property Rights, Protection, Examination, Uganda