Know Your Rights 12: The right to marriage

Chapter 4 of the Constitution of Uganda, also known as The Bill of Rights, details the rights of all Ugandan citizens. Whether you are a person with a disability (PWD) or not, all these rights are yours.

Article 31 of the Constitution of Uganda states that all citizens have the right to marry and have a family.

If you are a PWD you have the right to be with your children.Your partner cannot prevent you from being with your children because you are, or you have become disabled. Every citizen in Uganda has the right to be with their children.

If a woman gives birth to a child with a disability (CWD) both husband and wife have a duty to care for the child.

Sylvia Kalibeela, 30, from Masindi, Uganda woke up blind one morning at the age of 20. Her husband started mistreating her and when she left the family home she was banned from seeing her two young sons

The Constitution of Uganda details Article 31 like this:

31. Rights of the family.

(1) Men and women of the age of eighteen years and above have the right to marry and to found a family and are entitled to equal rights in marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

(2) Parliament shall make appropriate laws for the protection of the rights of widows and widowers to inherit the property of their deceased spouses and to enjoy parental rights over their children.

(3) Marriage shall be entered into with the free consent of the man and woman intending to marry.

(4) It is the right and duty of parents to care for and bring up their children.

(5) Children may not be separated from their families or the persons entitled to bring them up against the will of their families or of those persons, except in accordance with the law.