Misleading: The Ugandan Supreme Court Has Not Ruled That Women Can Now Legally Marry Two Husbands
A TikTok video making the rounds on social media claiming that Uganda’s Supreme Court has ruled that women can now marry multiple husbands (polyandry) is misleading.
The AI-generated post has over 11,000 likes, 1,000 comments, and 8,000 shares, featuring a woman posing as a news reporter.
Analysis:
This all stems from Uganda’s marriage bill, which was tabled on the floor of Parliament on October 3, 2024, and its first reading is still under discussion and review.
But court interpretation and the response from different advocates and organisations advocating for gender equality, as here in:
According to the Ugandan constitutional court, it states that polygamy is not “gender-neutral” in practice in the case here, as contested in the court by women advocates for equal rights. In Women’s Probono Initiative v Attorney General [2025] UGCC 6,
The constitutional court held that the legality of polygamy is under customary and Islamic law, dismissing a petition that argued it violated constitutional principles of equality and women’s rights. The interpretation clarified that the practice of polygamy (one man marrying multiple women) is under customary and Islamic law, and the absence of polyandry (one woman marrying multiple men) is due to customary practices and Islamic law.
The courts are not responsible for passing the laws in Uganda; they interpret and enforce laws. The power to make laws lies exclusively with the Parliament of Uganda under Article 79(1) of the Constitution.
It’s the role of parliament in passing laws in Uganda, and as this claim is concerned, regarding the matter that women can now marry two husbands, as portrayed in this TikTok video, is out of reality in Uganda.
In light of the marriage bill that was tabled on the floor of parliament on October 3, 2024, by Member of Parliament Sarah Achien Opendi. The purpose is to modernise and reform Uganda’s marriage laws, which include, among others, polyandry (one woman marrying two or more men).
The bill is still at its first reading stage in the Ugandan parliament, which is a formal introduction without debate, and has been assigned to the committee on Gender, Labour, and Social Development for further consideration and review.
Nothing in the bill has been approved yet, as far as passing laws in the Ugandan parliament is concerned.
Verdict
Misleading and AI-generated: The claim that the Uganda Supreme Court has ruled that women in Uganda can now marry multiple husbands is misleading and not based on the reality of the ongoing marriage bill stages in Uganda.
In Uganda, it is the parliament that passes laws, not the Supreme Court. The information appears to be AI-generated and is therefore not real.