Ugandan MP tables Bill ordering newly-weds six months to consummate marriage

The Marriage Bill 2024 tabled by Tororo District Women MP Sarah Opendi will give newly-weds a six-month ultimatum to have sex, failure to which their union will be declared null and void.

In the 61-page document, the lawmaker defines a voidable marriage as a union where parties are unable to consummate it within six months after celebrating the marriage.

The MP lists reasons as to why a marriage may be deemed nullified, among them impotence of one or both spouses at the time of contraction, lack of consent of any party, or whether one of the parties fails to fulfil marital obligations among other reasons.

According to the Bill, "an aggrieved party may petition the court for a declaration that his or her marriage is void."

“A marriage is voidable where one of the parties to the marriage- (a) is unable to consummate the marriage within six months of celebration of marriage; (b) willfully refuses to consummate the marriage within a period of three months from the time of celebration of the marriage; or (c) conceals a material fact which would otherwise vitiate the other party's consent to the marriage; (2) The aggrieved party at his or her option, apply to a competent court on any of the grounds in subsection (l), to nullify the marriage,” reads a section of the document.

Opendi also proposes timelines for registration and celebration of marriage unions, with couples given a maximum of 21 days to notify of the celebration which should not exceed three months after the notice, against which the union will be declared null and void.

“A marriage shall be celebrated within three months, of the lapse of the twenty-one days' notice published by the registrar of marriage…” adds the document.

“A  party to an intended marriage: may upon payment of a prescribed fee, apply to the registrar of marriage for an extension of time within which to celebrate marriage. Where the marriage does not take place within the period allowed under subsections (l) and (2), any subsequent proceedings of celebration of marriage shall be void, and fresh notice under section 10 shall be given before the parties can lawfully contract a marriage.”