Polygamy is legal in Uganda, where a man is allowed to marry multiple wives at a time. Due to this, most families tend to contain an abundance of children.[citation needed]
According to the 2014 Census of Uganda, 8.3% of all women aged 18 years or more, were currently married or cohabiting in a polygamous relationship, and 7.1% of men.[1]
Uganda is one of the few predominantly Christian nations to legally recognize polygamous unions, with others being the Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and Central African Republic. The legal status of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is disputed. There have been numerous attempts to outlaw polygamy in the country, the first of which was in 1987, though none of the active proposals have passed. Polygamy is being challenged in the constitutional court in a petition brought by MIFUMI [2] in January 2010. The case has yet to be heard.
On March 29, 2005, over 1,000 Ugandan Muslims rallied against a proposed bill that would require a husband to seek permission from his first wife before marrying any more women. Uganda is one of the few countries allowing polygamous unions that do not have such restrictions. The bill later died, and similar proposals have yet to be made.[9]