BISHOPS ATTACK JUDGES ON ADULTERY RULING The
Ugandan Constitutional court ruled to decriminalize adultery this week. The decision made on 5th April 2007 has left a bad taste in many people’s mouths. The ruling came as a very bad present to many Christian faithfuls, clergy across the whole country all spoke in one voice in their Easter semon against the ruling. Last week the Constitutional Court handed 'a victory' to gender rights activists by quashing several provisions of the law on adultery and succession, saying they discriminated against women. By unanimous decision, the court ruled in favour of a group of female activists to expunge the law from the penal code in the name of sexual equality and said adultery discriminates against women and their right to have sex relations with persons of their choice, contrary to the Constitution. The scrapped law states that it is an offence for a married woman to have an affair with a man, whether he is married or not. The said law only prevents men from having an affair with a married woman but not criminalizing affairs with unmarried women. Dr. Sylvia Tamale, Dean of the Law School at Makerere University, led the coalition that filed the successful court petition against Section 154. Addressing worshipers at Rubaga cathedral, Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, the Archbishop of Kampala said the Bible "totally" condemns adultery. “If some part of you causes you to sin cut it off," he emphasized, adding that it was not in order to outlaw adultery on the basis that women are discriminated. Archbishop Lwanga said the church would not "in any way" budge to accept the court's decision. At All-Saints Cathedral in Nakasero, Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi prayed that Jesus intercedes for all Ugandans. "Lord, intercede for us as people move to legalize adultery. Intercede for us as we rob one another," he prayed. Rev. Kavuya said marriage is sacred and blessed by God and that "condoning adultery is a step towards making marriage senseless and impure." He hoped parliament would make it a top priority to reinstate a Constitutional law on adultery very soon. "It is high time Parliament reinstated this vital law in the interest of preserving and promoting acceptable moral standards in families," Rev Kavuya said. At Kampala Pentecostal Church, Pastor Gary Skinner said; "We condemn all inhuman practices including homosexuality,
prostitution which people are pushing for their legalisation." At All Saints Church in Mbarara, Rev Canon Francis Mutatiina lamented about what he regarded as the "immoral and queer" practices in the country practised by the top political leadership.
Using what he called a popular Luganda proverb that "a fish begins rotting from the head," Rev Mutatiina said the same was happening to Uganda. "It's unfortunate that sexual
immorality has started from the head," he said in apparent reference to Vice President Gilbert Bukenya's alleged extra-marital affair with a Wakiso woman.“I heard that all laws about adultery have been abolished when 85 percent of our people are Christians, if the country is rotting from the top, where will the common people head to? Are we led by the sons of devil?" he added. Even if a group of women activists feel they have won an important victory popular view is that the country needs an adultery law that is consistent the laws that exist in the constitution.