The case study on the concept of marriage among religions in Uganda

Abstract

The study sought to investigate the concept of marriage among religions in Uganda. The specific objectives of the study were: to examine aspect of marriage in different religions in Uganda, to assess the challenges facing marriage in different religions and to establish different forms of marriage in Uganda. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze the data. Data was analyzed using the thematic approach and descriptive statistics. Qualitative approach aimed at obtaining data expressed in non-numerical terms. Qualitative approach provided ways of discerning, examining, comparing and contrasting, and interpreting meaningful patterns or themes. Qualitative approach involved examining the assembled relevant data to determine how research questions were answered at hand. Quantitative data analysis helped to analyze and categorize detain terms of frequencies and percentages. Simple descriptive tabulations were used for quantitative analysis. So the research observed and concluded that Uganda‘s communities share common customs regarding marriage, and the cultural need for children. Through the wedding process which begins with courtship, and by a strong extended family system, Ugandan communities aim at propagating offspring through the institution of marriage. For this reason, couples marry with a strong desire to beget children. Thus, marriage is a vocation which society expects the couples to fulfill. The findings of the study showed that the Uganda Registration Service Bureau (URSB), the body in-charge of marriage registration in Uganda estimated in 2020 that up to 70% of couples under the age of 40 had not registered their customary marriages in their database. The actual figure could even be higher considering the fact that the majority of Ugandans, even the elites are oblivious about customary marriage registration. The researcher recommends that customary marriages should be deliberately promoted in an era where cultural degeneration avalanche is becoming more unprecedented. The new Marriage Bill which will provide the legal modus operandi of all marriages in Uganda must however pay a special attention to customary marriage since it precedes most types of marriages in Uganda.