The majority of civil cases brought before courts countrywide are divorce and paternity rights ones because of family wrangles, a survey conducted by The New times, in most courts indicates. “Our court has not met a lot of divorce cases, but it comes second in our civil cases we try here,” Francois-Xavier Muhumuza the president of Nyamirambo Primary Court said. “Our top civil cases has always been children paternity rights. We have had cases where fathers deny their children mainly because they are either avoiding to pay alimony or blocking the children’s access to their estates,” said Muhumuza. According to Muhumuza, at least 45 cases of divorce were filed and tried at the Nyamirambo court between January and October this year. According to Janvier Muhire the president of the Kagarama primary court, adultery, domestic violence and irresponsibility, mainly by male spouses, were the major reasons most couples filed for divorce in his court. “Criminal cases make the biggest percentage of cases we receive here and divorce is less, but when it comes to civil cases, it comes on top,” Muhire said. It was also revealed that families in urban centres file most cases of divorce due to awareness of the law and their rights. Felix Uwayezu, the president of Gashari primary court in Karongi, revealed that the court registers between 2 to 3 cases of divorce in a month. Ends
