Charles Ariko
15 May 2008
Kampala — THE law on adultery is being amended to equally apply to men and women, the state minister for labour has said.
Mwesigwa Rukutana said the amendments were a result of the Constitutional Court ruling that declared the law discriminatory against women.
The law does not criminalise men who engage in sexual relations with unmarried women. But it criminalises women who engage in sexual relations with married men, regardless of whether they are married or not.
"The Ministry of Justice is handling that amendment," Rukutana told journalists at the Media Centre in Kampala yesterday.
In relation to the International Day of Families that was commemorated yesterday, Rukutana said moral decay was responsible for disruption of families.
Amending the adultery law, he added, would contribute to other laws and policies that strengthen support for the families.
"These policies and laws, if adhered to, will reinforce, protect and increase family resources."
A department of culture and family affairs, Rukutana said, would be set up next year to handle family matters.
He said families were important since they were the basic units of society.
"Families nurture and instill good values in people."
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