By the time you walk down the aisle in some churches here, you have gone through a barrage of scrutiny to be declared fit to marry.

It is not only about promising to love someone until death do you part but you must bring forth your most recent HIV status report to earn the green light to tie the knot.

In some quotas, this practice is being viewed with contempt on grounds that it infringes on the privacy of the person and that it appears to marginalise people living with HIV/AIDS. Though a little muted, the mixed reception towards this practice is no different from the one Beatrice Were, an HIV activist that contracted the disease from her late husband in 1991 threw at the abstinence campaign policy funded by the U.S.A. and publicised by the First Lady, Janet Museveni in 2004. For Were, the ideal AIDS prevention practice had to be sensitisation on condom use, which she viewed as the most effective and had been around for a while before the total abstinence campaign that she interpreted as being unrealistic, took centre stage.

But in some of our churches now, HIV testing before you are wedded is becoming a pre-requisite. Apostle Alex Mitala, the head of the National Fellowship of Born Again Churches of Uganda told The Weekly Observer: "It is a policy under the umbrella of churches that I lead. Couples have got to present their HIV status reports before a pastor can wed them. This practice has been around for a long time now since we realised that AIDS prevalence was increasing," Mitala said. He explained that the intention is not to shame people or criminalise them but to ensure that they go into permanent unions in which their lives are safe.

Mitala added that before this policy was enforced, a number of couples were wedded and just a few months into marriage, couples were lamenting how they got married without knowing their partners' status, only to learn later that they had been infected with HIV.

Mitala says that their body has taken the HIV status report issue a step further now. Couples have now been urged to present their status reports even before they do their introduction or engagement. This is intended to guard against people spending money on such a momentous event only to be at loss later when it is discovered that their future partner is infected and they cannot go on with marriage.

Pastor Martin Sempa of Makerere Community Church told The Weekly Observer that regardless of the fact that some people do not approve of this precondition to marriage, it is the way to go in every church and society as a whole. "I have had a brother and sister who suffered from AIDS and it is not a good situation at all even for the rest of the family. You always feel it is an infection that can be avoided. Some people in society now view AIDS as a normal thing and nothing unusual but that is not true and we are fighting that," said Sempa.

He questions: "Why should my relative go into a marriage when their partner's HIV status is unclear? They need to know because AIDS is not an ailment you can reverse once you contract it." Sempa points to the fact that HIV status reports should be mandatory in all religious institutions that wed a man and woman. He added that he is now also fronting another practice where married people get regular checks at least every few months to ensure that they do not expose their partners to HIV. This, he reasons will prompt couples to be faithful to each other.

Reverend Canon Aaron Mwesigye, the Provincial Secretary of the Church of Uganda, told The Weekly Observer: "That is not a policy in the Church of Uganda. But in most cases it is a matter left to the discretion of the priest that is going to wed a couple to ask if he sees fit. On the other hand, the couple or the members of their family can decide on that. The church, in most cases advises those intending to wed to check each other's status to avoid any problems."

Father Lawrence Kanyike, the Chaplain of St. Augustine Chapel at Makerere University said, "In the Roman Catholic Church, couples are encouraged to find out their HIV status but we do not force them to present their status to us because we believe it is in their best interest to enter safe unions." Kanyike adds, "If they refuse, the church has nothing to do because it is their decision and there is no church law to compel someone to reveal their health status." But Mitala said, "In our churches, if couples do not want to disclose their status, we cannot wed them. We do not want to be held responsible in case, after a year, we learn that they married without counselling and thus one infected the other."

However, does it mean that once a man or woman is found with the disease they cannot be allowed to wed? Mitala responded that it is not the intention of the church to stop people who love each other from attaining Holy Matrimony. Rather in moments when one is found to be living with AIDS yet the other one is not but they want to wed, their families are called upon to approve the union before the church goes on to wed them.

In a way, safety is paramount in anyone's life but isn't enforced disclosure encroachment on people's rights?