UGANDA, Kampala | Real Muloodi News | The Succession Amendment Bill of 2018 is back in parliament’s Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, after President Yoweri Museveni, returned it to the legislature.
The Bill is aimed at addressing the historical discrimination faced by women and girls, due to the law giving preference to the male child in cases of inheritance and land ownership. Without the possibility of land and resulting income upon which to create a safe home, many women and girls are left vulnerable to violence.
In the Bill approved by Members of Parliament, a new agreement was introduced to settle management of an estate where a person dies in intestate, that is, without a legal will. In cases where an intestate is survived by the spouse and a dependent relative, but no lineage dependents, the surviving spouse would inherit 80 per cent of the deceased’s estate. The dependants would inherit the remaining 20 per cent.
President Museveni sent the Bill back to the House of Parliament, instructing the Members of Parliament to “reconsider” the instate provision. The president argued that the provision departs from earlier provisions of the law, without clear justification. Further, he argued that the provision, which he sees as unfair to dependent relatives, would create disharmony between the relatives and the surviving spouse.
Instead, Museveni prefers that the surviving spouse be entitled to half of their deceased partner’s estate, with 49 per cent going to their dependent relatives and the remaining percentage point going to the customary heir of the deceased.
Museveni further requested the legislature reconsider another part of the Bill that seeks to address sharing of property with estranged, separated or divorced spouses. The Bill said that these partners would have no entitlement to any part of the deceased’s estate if the court suspended the marriage.
Museveni found this part of the Bill ambiguous and redundant, because with legal separation, the courts would have already addressed the question of how property will be disposed of after the death of one party involved.
Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka and Administer General Charles Kasibayo supported the president’s positions.
Kiwanuka met with committee members, Administer General Kasibayo and former Mbarara Woman MP Rosette Mutambi Kajungu, who moved the Succession Amendment Bill.
“After distribution, there is a possibility that unknown children of the deceased may emerge that the surviving spouse is not aware of. These children may then benefit from the 49 percent of the estate distributed to the dependent relatives,” Mutambi is quoted as saying.
“In addition, since we have already reserved the principal residential holding for the benefit of the surviving spouse, it is fair for them to be entitled to 50 percent,” she added.
Mutambi discussed the president’s recommendations with the Uganda Parliamentary Women’s Association (UWOPA), after which they conceded their position.
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