By Jumah Nsubuga

Residents of Kyegegwa district have urged parliament to delete some of the clauses in the Marriage and Divorce Bill .

The residents want  clauses 114,155 and clause 155(1) which talks about cohabitation deleted.

The area MP Flavior Kabahenda told journalists at parliament on Monday that during the consultations with her voters on the  bill, the residents said that such clauses should not surface anywhere in the bill.

Clause 144 says that spouses shall have conjugal rights in marriage. The sub section (1) says that a spouse may deny the other spouse the rights to sexual intercourse on reasonable grounds which may include poor heath, surgery that affects the capacity to engage in sexual intercourse.

Clause 144 (a)says that in case of a criminal offence, it shall be punishable on conviction by a fine not exceeding one hundred and twenty currency points or imprisonment not exceeding five years  or both.

The residents say that it will be difficult to prove that someone  has forced  the partner into intimacy  .

On clause 155 which talks about property distribution, the residents said that only properties that acquired during the marriage shall be distributed among the partners but those acquired before marriage shall not be shared.

Clause 155 subsection(2) says that the distribution of the property shall be in equal shares but shall not be less than one third of the value of the jointly acquired property unless a spouse can prove that the other spouse should be given less than half.

On 155(1) which says that where cohabitation terminates or a marriage is in the process of being dissolved, the court that determines the property rights of the spouses may make an order to equitably distribute rights of the acquired during the cohabitation or marriage without regard to the reasons for the breakdown of the marriage.

The residents say that cohabitation part should be deleted from the bill because cohabitation is not reorganized in marriage.

Meanwhile residents of Kigulu South in Iganga district told their area MP Milton Muwuma that parliament should not be attempted at any single moment to pass marriage and divorce bill.

Mr Muwuma told reporters at parliament that his voter told him that they didn’t send him in parliament to pass that confused bill to distract their families.

“My voter said that if parliament doesn’t have what to do, its better I go back and look after my family than  getting involved  in passing controversial bill,” he added