MPs have rejected a proposal by a section of Muslims that sought to be excluded from the provisions of The Succession Act, arguing that the proposed provisions don’t meet the equality test spelt out in the constitution.
Robina Rwakoojo, Chairperson Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee informed Parliament that during the consideration for the Succession Amendment Bill 2021, the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, the Uganda Muslim Lawyer’s Association as well as other Muslim scholars and clerics proposed that the Succession Act should not apply to Muslims.
The Muslims argued that the current Succession Act contravenes the distribution of property of a deceased person ordained by Allah in the Quran, because in their religious practice, the distribution of property of a deceased among the Muslims was determined by Allah in the Quran and cannot be amended or departed from.
According to the team, the distribution of property ordained in the Quran requires that a widow is entitled to a quarter of the man’s wealth, in case the couple did not have children. Where there are children, the wife is entitled to one eighth of the husband’s wealth. The girl children receives half of what the boys receive.
The Muslims further defended their stand on grounds that Uganda is a secular state, and Article 29 of the Constitution guarantees a person’s freedom to practice manifest such practice which shall include the right to belong in the practices of any religious body or organisation.
They also averred that the Constitution, in Article 129(1)(d), directed for the
establishment of subordinate courts as Parliament may by law prescribe, including Qadhis courts for marriage, divorce, inheritance of property and guardianship and any attempts to have the Succession Act applied to Muslims
without complying with the directive in Article 129 (1) (d) contravenes the Constitution.
The Muslims also contended that in the past, the Succession Act did not apply to persons professing the Islamic faith citing the Succession Ordinance of 1906 which provided for distribution of an intestate’s property but left the Mohammedans to rely on the Sharia law in cases of intestacy.
However, Rwakoojo asked Parliament to reject the request arguing that in Uganda, the Succession Act determines Succession matters and applies to all persons in Uganda and persons, including Muslims, may by Will elect to follow religious provisions of Sharia law and hadith as stipulated in the Quran in distributing their estates.
She also argued that the proposal to exempt the Muslims from the Succession Act has some legal and practical challenges remarking, “For instance, the distribution scheme contained in the Quran might, when I examined critically, not meet the standards of equality prescribed in the Constitution since it discriminates against person based on their gender.”
Rwakoojo also told Parliament that exempting the application of the Succession Act to Mohammedans will have the effect of fettering the discretion of persons professing the Islamic faith who may wish to distribute their estates in accordance with the Succession Act.
“The Committee is of the considered opinion that the Succession Act should continue applying to Mohammedans until such a time when Parliament enacts the law envisaged in Article 129 (1) (d). This will also give Government an opportunity to examine the proposal with a view of ensuring that the standards of equity enshrined in the Constitution are guaranteed,” said Rwakoojo.
Instead, the Muslims were advised to continue electing to apply the distribution scheme in the Quran, as they do today, by making Wills providing for distribution under Sharia or otherwise handling their estates under the Succession Act.
