Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) working with security operatives have been at the center of threating freedom of expression of Ugandans upcountry. Every now and then a talk show host is threatened or kicked out of job for opinions that are everyday broadcast on stations held in the capital.

Opposition candidates are finely denied airtime to articulate their side of politics on radio stations outside the city. Most Ugandans upcountry whom the current government largely depend on radio. This makes the job of a radio journalist riskier.

On May 08, a Radio Political Talk show host James Kasirivu of the popular “World Express” program on Mbarara based Endigito Radio station was arrested. Kasirivu was picked up by plain clothed security operatives, first detained at Mbarara Police station in Western Uganda before being transferred to infamous Special Investigations Unit (SIU) in Kireka, Kampala.

Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda (HRNJ-Uganda) says  security operatives did not tell Kasirivu what crime he had committed offence, and neither did they allow him to call his relatives or lawyer. Kasirivu was held for one night and was driven back to Mbarara in the night.

Kasirivu told HRNJ-Uganda that one of the officers threatened him with shooting once he asked why he was being held. HRNJ-Uganda in statement said Kasirivu was accused of obtaining about Shs 870 million equivalent to US $ 348,000 from a certain herbalist. When asked the head of SIU Chelimo Beata told HRNJ-Uganda that Kasirivu was implicated in the conning of money from a certain woman of about Ug. Shs 400 million equivalent to $ 160,000.

Sources told HRNJ-Uganda that “Kasirivu has been stopped from mentioning anything to do with Ugandan current affairs –be it politics, economics or social issues in his daily program ‘World Express’ which highlights currents affairs happening around the globe. Kasirivu’s show was previously shut down after receiving numerous warnings from the UCC.

Ugandan security forces have given themselves a right to hold Ugandan citizens incommunicado. Sometimes people are held for months in these units without charge and Kasirivu’s case could have gone unreported.

There are a limited number of critical shows that serve most of rural Uganda. Most radio stations upcountry are still owned by NRM linked businessmen, ministers and government officials. This means the critical debates that urban communities in Uganda are treated to everyday are a rare thing for rural Uganda.  Not much is available online about the radio man who’s known as ‘The Great’ whose show is well respected in south western Uganda districts. A facebook page for the show that Kasirivu runs has 116 followers https://www.facebook.com/groups/170672033058793/

For a government that seems to be using all means necessary – including trying to expel MPs from parliament- to shut up divergent views, talk show hosts like Kasirivu are perceived as a threat.  Their role in imparting knowledge in the rural populace can’t be welcomed by a government that benefits from such information gap.

These arrests and intimidation are not a new project they have been here for sometime, the only difference is the tougher the road gets for NRM, the rougher their means become.

The police has also been on the tail of activists behind the Black Monday Movement.  Six members of the civil society-led campaign that preaches against corruption in public offices were arrested in February for allegedly distributing flyers. The Police asked the campaign to register their publication. The team has moved on the look into audio messages. The Police ruled that the campaign messages were “inciting.”

Like my teacher and journalist Bernard Tabaire wrote in Daily Monitor “Every constitutional lawyer who passed exams thinks the NRM leadership has taken leave of its brain. That is sad. Kind of.”

Tabaire’s may have been referring to efforts to expel MPs from the house, but with such intimidation of people like Kasirivu and Black Monday campaigners the statement fits many actions of our government.

Reeyot’s photo at the award ceremony for 2013 World Press Freedom Prize in San Jose Costa Rica.

Ms Alemu was today awarded the UNESCO Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2013 at a ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day in San Jose, Costa Rica. I am grateful to witness this as the world recognized a woman who has been held under the vague Ethiopia Anti-Terrorism law.
Alemu’s photo represented her as well as person from International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) who collected the award and gave us Alemu’s short worded speech.

Reeyot Alemu talked about the imprisoning of journalists and worried “the situation wont improve until EPRDF leaves power.” She asked, “who will expose the unpleasant truths of those in power if not journalists? Reeyot in her speech said “I call on you to do everything you can 2 stop suppression of press.” Reeyot Alemu’s representative says she’s suffering from bad health and constant threats of solitary confinement

The chair of the jury that awarded her the prize partly explained the decision was based on the fact that Ethiopia is top in countries with the most number of journalists in jails and wanted to highlight their plight.
Ethiopia has the second-highest number of imprisoned journalists in Africa – seven, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, after their oppressive neighbor Eritrea at least 28.

UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova said that Ms Elemu deserves our praise together with other journalists who defend freedoms we enjoy everyday.

Here is Reeyot’s story as captured by IWMF.

Reeyot Alemu has been imprisoned in Ethiopia for more than a year, branded as a terrorist. She is one of many journalists who have been arrested, interrogated and threatened in her country. What makes Alemu exceptional are her commitment to work for independent media when the prospect of doing so became increasingly dangerous, her refusal to self-censor in a place where that practice is standard, and her unwillingness to apologize for truth-telling, even though contrition could win her freedom. In jail, Alemu was offered clemency if she agreed to testify against journalist colleagues. She refused and was sent to solitary confinement for 13 days as punishment for her failure to cooperate. She is currently being kept at Kality prison, which is known for its filthy conditions. Recently, she has fallen ill; in April of this year she underwent surgery at nearby hospital to remove a tumor from her breast, after which she was returned to jail with no recovery time.

Late Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi publicly attacked non-state members of the press, calling them “messengers” of terrorist groups. Increasingly, “terrorist” is a label attached to any entity with an opinion on politics, social issues or human rights that does conform to government rhetoric. In the capital city of Addis Ababa, Alemu worked for numerous, often short-lived independent publications. At least four news outlets to which she contributed were forced out of business by the Ethiopian government. Her reporting explored the root causes of poverty, lack of balance in national politics and gender equality. In 2010, she founded her own publishing house and a monthly magazine called Change, both of which were shuttered.”

Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla (in Blue) listening to Reeyot’s speech at WPFD.

To end impunity of a regime is a tough task as the same party remained in power in Addis Ababa after the death of Meles Zenawi. Hope this award and many more efforts will increase the pressure on Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn to end this impunity and give more space for freedom of expression and media freedom.

Back in Uganda Human Rights Network for Journalists (HRN-J) issued a report showing that there’s increased restrictive legal regime even though our constitution is very progressive on press freedom and freedom of expression. For instance the Anti-Pornography Bill before parliament has far reaching implications for media freedom in Uganda.

Also other issues that make a Ugandan journalist unsafe to report are impunity, lack of professionalism among security agencies, infiltration and impersonation.

In the report it is interesting to not that the use of hate speech against the media by politicians including the president is on the increase. During walk to work protest President Museveni labeled certain media houses economic saboteurs ironically these are media houses that had done a great deal in reporting human rights abuses that came with the protests and riots. 9 people were killed and today government has never brought any police or military officers to book for the shootings.

Ugandan journalists are also facing targeted beatings, which have intensified, and these are both from security forces and private individuals. The Police tops in the assault on journalists of the security forces. The government has also set up media watch units in their bid to ensure media doesn’t ‘error’.

HRN-J says there’s need to go beyond physical protection from harm for journalist and also move to deal with “psychological security of the journalists in regard to their ability to do journalistic work without the constant lingering fear that they are being watched or that a mere mistake in execution of their work will be an opportunity for the state to come after them.”

This year’s theme is “Safe to Speak: Securing Freedom of Expression in All Media” and online safety is at the center stage and ensuring that online/internet freedom is up held. A quote by Jack DuVall President of ICNC emphasizes Internet freedom and what we should do to have it.

The internet is a vast new civic and social space in which we interact with others. If we want to receive tolerance and respect online, we should offer that — and admonish those who don’t. The alternative is to turn the Internet into a zone for litigation and regulation, which only gives the state an excuse to arrest you for what you say online. Social civility helps protect free speech.

The president was apparently fulfilling a promise he made during the 2011 elections. The president proudly announced his donation sending the crowd of ordinary Ugandans in a village into celebration. Museveni in the past has handed over brown envelopes to sustain his patronage and stay in power.

Museven’s sack-of-money photo from New Vision

Many ask, what’s wrong with a sack of money?

First of all President Museveni handed over this sack of money days after he launched the so-called Vision2040 that’s supposed to turn Uganda into a middle-income country. I don’t know any country that ever jumped into a middle-income country by having a president distribute money in sacks to citizens.

Uganda has more than 80 percent youth unemployment rate and it has the second youngest population in the world. With the sack of money Museveni continues to inculcate a culture among Uganda’s youth, a culture that doesn’t reward merit. You don’t have work hard, you just need to know the right people in powerful positions in government and once in a while you will get some presidential manna dropped in your village.

Secondly, I doubt that is money from Museveni’s personal wealth, which no one knows about.  We are at that point where State House budget is at its highest and 70% of the supplementary budget goes to State House  to fund among others such presidential donations.

Also there are many formal channels to make transactions. We have banks and a whole ministry for youth. Museveni decided to bypass banks and formal means and delivered the sack of money by hand.

Minister for Presidency, Frank Tumwebaze was quoted by BBC saying the president decided to carry the cash because in the past the money was stolen. He didn’t say who stole the money. This lame excuse in itself is clear sign that Museveni doesn’t trust his own government.  I can understand because when you have a government where aid money finds itself on personal accounts of government officials, there’s nothing much to trust.

This is Museveni’s failure- failure to deliver systems that can work for Ugandans. He presides over a predatory government that seeks to dig deeper into our pockets daily with not much social services to match our efforts. Such donations are an insult to hard-working Ugandan teachers and medical workers that often go months without pay.

It seems someone woke the president and told him it was already 2016 and hence that sack of shame. You can follow the discussion on twitter at #Sackofmoney.

The Networked Readiness Index, calculated by the World Economic Forum, and INSEAD, ranks 144 economies based on:

their capacity to exploit the opportunities offered by the digital age. This capacity is determined by the quality of the regulatory, business and innovation environments, the degree of preparedness, the actual usage of ICTs, as well as the societal and economic impacts of ICTs. The assessment is based on a broad range of indicators from Internet access and adult literacy to mobile phone subscriptions and the availability of venture capital. In addition, indicators such as patent applications and e-government services gauge the social and economic impact of digitization.

The Global Information Technology Report also shows that digitization has a measurable effect on economic growth and job creation.

Uganda’s worst indicators came from measure of ICT skills under readiness at 125, usage of ICTs at individual level and the economic impact of ICTs in Uganda was t 112. Also we still lag behind in ICT impact on social life. So the next time you see our high figures of youth unemployment you know which area is not yet taken seriously. The 2008 World Bank report put Uganda as a country with the youngest population in the world. Youth unemployment in the country is estimated at 83%.

And also that poor statistic on the business and innovation environment, which the report found us at 115 is worrying. Businesses in Uganda are slow to take on ICTs and later alone support innovation.

Top countries in Africa harnessing digitization for economic opportunities were Mauritius, South Africa, Seychelles Egypt, Cape Verde, Rwanda, Morocco, Kenya, Ghana and Botswana.

Report says:

 Latin America, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa still suffer from a serious lag despite infrastructure improvements, an expansion of coverage and a push into e-government. Weaknesses in the political and regulatory environment, the existence of large segments of the population with a low skills base and poor development of the innovation system are all factors hindering Latin America’s technological potential. In sub-Saharan Africa, costly access to technology, a low skills base and unfavourable business conditions are among the chief obstacles.

Can Digitization Kick-Start Growth? This was major question highlighted in the report.

 An analysis by Booz & Company has found that ICT could help lift millions out of poverty. Using a Digitization Index that ranks countries on a scale from zero to 100, Booz & Company found that an increase of 10% in a country’s digitization score fuels a 0.75% growth in its GDP per capita. That same 10% boost in digitization leads to a 1.02% drop in a state’s unemployment rate.

We don’t have to wait for next year’s index comes to ask our ICT minister where all the money goes. But then we must not forget that in the 2012/13 budget Uganda allocated US$ 6.4 million for ICT sector, though it was the the highest made in last three years it represented a mere 0.13% of the budget.

As long as the big part of  our budget like  (200 billion) for supplementary budget is going to State House to partly buy Museveni and his family new chairs and also entertainment them, we are never going to digitize. But how do we digitize when we still have millions of shilling allocated to photocopying in Museveni’s State House?

Lokodo’s anti-pornography bill however doesn’t just threaten women; it is attacking press freedom too. The media is portraying the Bill as a ‘mini-skirt’ law but if passed it has far reaching consequences on press freedom, freedom of expression, Internet freedom, right to privacy and culture.

According to the Bill

Pornography means any cultural practice, radio or television programme, writing, publication, advertisement, broadcast, upload on internet, display, entertainment, music, dance, picture, audio, video recording, show, exhibition or any combination of the preceeding that depicts (for now I concentrate on the clause) “Sexual parts of a person such as breasts, thighs, buttocks and genetalia.”

I am also angered and saddened by comments of our Minister of Ethics and Integrity Simon Lokodo in this Guardian article . He says:

“Any attire which exposes intimate parts of the human body, especially areas that are of erotic function, are outlawed. Anything above the knee is outlawed. If a woman wears a miniskirt, we will arrest her.” “Men are normally not the object of attraction; they are the ones who are provoked. They can go bare-chested on the beach, but would you allow your daughter to go bare-chested?”

These comments cannot be understood in any other way than being an outright attack on women and their sexuality, their freedom of expression and right to live the way the wish. Lokodo permits attack on women and blames sexual violence on women victims. These comments are part of wide efforts to politicize women’s dressing and obsession with women’s sexuality. In the Bill, Lokodo says “ponography fuels sexual crimes against women and children.”

I am moved to ask why do we have rape even in the most remote corners of our country? Did the Ugandan army watch porn before they raped several women and men during the northern Uganda war? Do all men that defile more than 600 children a year in Uganda watch pornography? Do all the more 500 raped women reporting to police every year wear miniskirts? Do hundreds of uncles and fathers that molest young girls in their families watch pornography? Too many questions on my mind! This is just insulting the dignity of victims of sexual violence

We have more urgent, pressing needs, young Ugandans need jobs, 16 women die everyday in my country due to preventable pregnancy related complications, Lokodo and his fellow ministers everyday dig deeper in our pockets stealing our hard-earned money. Thousands of girls do not complete primary education even with the faulty UPE system in place. But Lokodo and the regime he represents wont tackle all these! What is more immoral than distract our country from important debates on these issues?

It is ironic that this is a bill proposed by a minister who hails from Karamoja, a region where people are free in their nakedness. The pastoralist communities are known to roam looking for pastures wearing as little clothing as possible and they are free in their culture. Such a bill would be an indictment to such ethnic groups in away.

For now I wanted to say, this is pornography according to Lokodo. If Lokodo gets his way around parliament these photos could earn a person who publishes them imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or a fine or both!

And if you viewed these ‘pornographic’ photos you too could be imprisoned!

I felt I should pen this piece, if only to extract and explore what I feel
within ever since the latest debate on the Marriage Bill started. As one of
the proponents, maybe I see through hazy (and some will say crazy) eyes. My
journey started as a young lawyer, fresh out of law school. I went and gave
my time and energy as a volunteer at the legal aid clinic of FIDA. Day after
day, I heard story after story, one woman after another, telling some horror
or other, that she or her children were experiencing at the hands of a man.
And our job was mostly to try and mediate between the two parties to try and
find an amicable solution, failing which, we would proceed to court, if our
client had a solid enough case.

Apart from the clinic work, I also traversed this country, along with other
women lawyers – teaching men and women their rights and responsibilities,
explaining the family laws, land laws and the laws on inheritance. It was
always sad to see the shocked faces of men and women who thought they were
married, only to find out they were cohabiting. It was always sad to see the
realization hit their faces, as they contended with the illegality of their
union.

Throughout the Constitution making process, as we gathered views from women
- along side the Ministry of Gender, women everywhere said that they wanted
fairer family laws to address the issues and challenges they were facing.
When our Constitution was finally promulgated, it contained an Article on
family rights. We felt that gave us the necessary impetus to then push for
law reform in the area of family laws. By 1999, the Law Reform Commission
embarked on the project of reform of domestic relations, through country
wide consultations. We took to the road again, and we too sought views from
men and women far and wide.

Several versions of the then Domestic Relations Bill were drafted and
redrafted. In the meantime, we also took several cases to the Constitutional
Court, to address the discrimination and inconsistency in the laws. We filed
petitions challenging the current Divorce Act, the adultery provisions in
the penal code, the unfair succession clauses in the Succession Act, we
challenged the discriminatory nature of bride price, we also challenged
polygamy. We won all the cases except the one against polygamy which has not
yet been heard due to lack of quorum on the bench. In the bride price case,
while the practice was not outlawed, the refund of bride price was.

And so we went back to the drawing board. We lobbied Parliament, we lobbied
the Law Reform Commission, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Gender -
anyone who would listen – to deal with reform of our marriage laws.
Essentially, our fight was that justice would prevail in the most basic, yet
most important unit of society – the family. Along the way we won some gains
- like the Domestic Violence Act, which for once named and shamed the
heinous violence that goes on in our homes. We also worked with children
rights organizations to ensure clear provisions on maintenance of children
by both parents, since most of the clients we saw in our clinics were those
that had been abandoned by their fathers. We also worked hand on hand with
Women MPs to include protections of women’s land rights in our land laws -
especially the right to co-own family land. We did all this work and still
we waited for the reform of our marriage laws.

And now the moment is here – and for crusading for justice, I have been
called a feminist who is anti marriage, anti family, a homosexual promoting
abortionist. I have felt the hatred spewed in the public places – the bars,
the radios and even the churches. I have confronted up close and personal,
the underbelly of the beast called patriarchy – in all it’s ugliness. I have
felt gagged and an endangered species for even daring to say that I support
the bill. I have felt like running. I have felt like hiding, I have wished
for this bad dream to be over.

But if I run and hide I would have betrayed my friend A. She lives in
Entebbe. She has cohabited for almost 20 years. She has tried to persuade
the man she calls her husband to marry her in church, but he won’t hear of
it, or he dilly dallies. She has invested her all in the relationship, but
she knows it is not a stable one. For her I must go on.

If I run and hide, I would have betrayed G, a young gentleman I met. He ran
away from Karamoja, from his wife, who he was forced to marry when he was
16. His parents did not listen to his plea, that all he wanted to do was
study. He did what was expected of him by his culture, and then he fled for
his life, leaving a young child and wife. For him I must go on.

If I run and hide, I will have betrayed S, a young friend, who fresh from a
C-Section, was taken back to hospital after a few days, with torn stitches,
because her husband could not wait a few more weeks for her to heal. She was
his and had to give in. After all, she had said her vows. For her, I must go
on.

If I run and hide, I will have betrayed P, a young, beautiful lady, a client
of mine, who came with a broken arm. Her husband broke her arm, she was
scared of him. He had stopped her from working. Every day he locked their
bedroom door and locked their gate, so she would not leave the house. This
one day he forgot to lock the gate and she escaped to come to FIDA. I asked
for a car to take her back to her house, before her husband came back. To
this day, I wonder if P is alive. I don’t know. But for her, I must go on.

If I run and hide, I will have betrayed M, an elderly woman, who lives in
Ntungamo, whom I met last year. She and her husband got married in church in
1968. Their marriage went sour in 2004, when the man took on a second wife.
Her husband sought to dispossess her, but her daughters stood by her side.
Yes, they forced their dad to give their mom land, but every time M grows
some food, the man sends his cows into her garden to eat her food. For her,
I must go on.

If I run and hide, I will have betrayed one other client who we fought hard
for. Her marriage of 30 years went sour and her husband wanted his bride
price back. Her parents were too old and too poor to pay it back, so the man
organized for the removal of his parents in laws, iron sheets, so that he
could sell them and get back part of his dowry. For her I must go on.

If I run and hide, I will have betrayed D, a caller on one of the radio
stations where I am talk show panelist. She was in distress. For the ten
years she has been married, she and her husband had worked hand in hand
together to build whatever little fortune they had. She gave of her money,
as did he, and together they bought some property. She trusted him to take
care of the paper work. And now, when the marriage has turned sour, she
recently found out that he had registered all their property in his mother’s
name. She is at a loss of what to do. For her, I must go on.

For these and many more, – for my stories could fill endless pages, and I
could go on for ages – for these, I must go on.

Yes I have told you the extremes, and indeed, not all marriages are like
that. But for the those that are, they need the remedies that the law can
provide. This is not to say our families, churches and wider society will
not have a hand in trying to keep our marriages going, rather, it is to
recognize, that even our best efforts sometimes fail, and when they do, we
need the law.

And so, despite the weariness I feel, despite being vilified and
misunderstood, I will take a stand to stand with those who fall under a
heavy yoke. For them I will seek justice until my dying day. And that is my
solemn vow.

You can follow Asiimwe on twitter @asiimwe4justice

I believe there’s more than meets the eye! I believe the misinformation campaign that was sanctioned and backed up with money had nothing to do with seeking views of ordinary men and women. What I don’t know yet is how most of the Ugandan media fell for these lies, purveyed them unfiltered? Something is terribly amiss. My feeling is the fear of the Bill’s contents is emanating from the top therefore the need to use the people at the bottom, lie to them and make sure the they protest the bill for you.

Whoever felted so terribly threatened by a bill, which if well implemented could address the problems of most vulnerable women in our society, are the same people that have denied Uganda a better democratic path for the last 27 years!

Uganda has not reformed much its marriage laws for many decades, so we are basically behind and our leaders don’t seem to be bothered.
This Marriage and Divorce Bill

“intended to reform and consolidate the laws relating to civil, Christian, Hindu, Bahai and customary marriages. It seeks to provide for the types of recognized marriages, marital rights and duties. The bill proposes to recognise cohabitation in relation to property rights; separation and divorce, and the consequences of separation and divorce; and for related matters.”

Of the 190+ clauses in the bill, the misinformation campaign selected the property rights and cohabitation, denying Ugandans the right to know what the rest of the proposed law said.
There were pertinent issues like which public worship areas to solemnize marriages, consent to marriage, age of marriage, widow inheritance, marriage gifts (bride price) were not to be an essential requirement, bigamy, marital rape, grounds for divorce etc.

One of reporters at Observer Patience Akumu did a more elaborate report on issues that MPs were refusing to talk about as they obsessed about property rights and cohabitation.

Women like Amuge Dinnah whom I met in Tororo are the real losers when lawmakers ignore their plight. Amuge has endured an abusive marriage since 1999 because her family cannot repay the bride price to her husband with whom they have five children. They have been separated on many occasions but she keeps coming back because she cannot easily move on to start another life. Her parents to whom the bride price was paid died. She told me that one time she had gone back to her brother’s home but her husband came there and threatened to kill the family that they were holding his wife. She went back with him.

Dinna Amuge

While the rest of the country is stuck with old marriage law, Tororo District in 2010 outlawed the bride price law. Tororo District Bridal Gift Ordinance made brideprice a non-refundable gift. It is from this experience that campaigners sought to include similar language in the current marriage and divorce bill. The Tororo law was supported by councilors and while I was there; the women I met supported the law that governs bride wealth.
But still implementation challenges like most laws means Amuge can’t easily bring her husband before the law. She opened a case but the police always ask her money to go to find her husband.

A woman we met in Butaleja who was arrested because her first husband came looking for her after more than 6 years of separation. She had found another man and both were arrested  because her first husband needed them to repay his bride price .

When I saw the first reactions to the bill, I didn’t believe this was based on true contents of a proposed bill. A friend was one of those who had labored to hold a workshop for male MPs to understand the bill but most of them were bringing up issues not included in the bill or only attended half the session.

I joked that I didn’t except much from the lot that benefit from the status quo. Probably they are the same people who have more than one ‘hidden’ wife who cannot afford to speak or any other rights. I told her that if the law was too tough then men, right from the high offices of this land would of course feel threatened. Since women don’t have the majority of the numbers in parliament and the majority are from NRM party where decisions are always made from above, there was little chance of getting this much needed law in place.

After that followed a letter by President Museveni who seemed personally interested in the matter although he was hiding behind religion and culture.

Just three days ago a Daily Monitor headline screamed “Museveni: I won’t allow anti-people marriage legislation.”

And everyone is ready to believe that Museveni anti-people rhetoric! The truth be told, the bill that might give rights to the trampled upon people in the society is the same that threatens the rich and powerful families in this country. And no one is connecting the dots! No one is questioning why the deliberate misinformation? Why would a former Attorney General hold a consultation in Toro and just tell people he simply opposes the bill because it erodes men’s integrity.

Okay, may be the bill has issues here and there and there are few controversial clauses that need to be discussed and reviewed, but does this mean we should just kill it as this funded campaign seems to suggest? Where does this leave victims of this violence under marriage?

This rhetoric is the opposite of some of the surveys that have been done via radio stations. For instance polls done on three radio stations in North and Western Uganda by TRAC FM showed variations in views of Ugandans on Bride price to be enforced by law. In Kasese more people wished Bride price to be optional. In the north the figures weren’t as negative as your politicians are portraying. This shows that Museveni’s rhetoric that the bill is drafted by out of touch radical feminists is at the least ridiculous and the worst manipulative. Some of the provisions int he laws are similar to laws already implemented in neighbouring countries.

Should we accept to remain (in words of Miria Matembe) “a cultural museum?”

On twitter there wasn’t much discussion because just like the MPs most people hadn’t accessed a copy of the bill. Many simply held arguments based on the misinformation they were fed. Some of the interesting feedback.

@ pmagelah, an advocate tweeted “saddest part of #Marriagebill debate is very ignorant MPs addressing ignorant communities covered by ignorant media. #UGANDA

From Facebook I found an interesting take

“If a bill or law is for the interest of the powers that be and to scavenge public resources, it is discussed exclusively by the NRM caucus but if a bill is not for that purpose, MPs are paid to go and consult the public” Charles Rwomushana

Peace responded: “Consult on whether or not the state has the duty to ensure de facto and de jure right to equality and non-discrimination for women…from right holders who do not know the content of their rights or how to claim these rights.”

Another person commented on the threat: “We still have some oil bills lying in parliament, during all the bills discussions we never saw any MP consulting on anything but for M&D Bill they are everywhere. Not only the government (NRM) is to blame even the MPs who cannot demand for what is due for the people they represent.”

The question should have been, do you support the bill like it is on paper or the one in the heads of our mostly male MPs? And what’s their motive?

However long it takes, the struggle for social justice will see a fruitful day. You may fool non-reading Ugandans for now but you can’t deny that it tells a lot about the country when 30 years down the road we are still stuck with a colonial marriage law! And if Museveni wants a pro-people law, it will have to threaten those in privileged positions whom the current law favours. Believe you me the changes required are not a threat ordinary people suffering violence resulting from unresolved marital issues. It is not enough for those victims for MPs to say they are against the law. It is not enough to oppose! We need to hear you on what you think Uganda deserves!

Rhoda Oketcho, Auma Odio and Magaret Opio took a six months course in Solar engineering in India in 2008. They are rural women without much education but with skills from India they are able to assemble lamps and make a decent living. I visited their small workshop and they said they earn atleast 60,000 shillings (USD 23 ) per month. In most of rural Uganda families use kerosene lamps for lighting, some homes cannot afford it and it pauses health risks.

Looking at these women’s work reminded me of the death of technical institutes in this country on the government’s watch. It is difficult to find places that impart skills for Ugandans who cannot afford a university education. Even for university graduates, many employers are struggling to find skilled ones.

Below are the three women at work.

Magaret Opio (55 yrs)

Anna Odoi (60 years)

Rhoda (53 years)

Women fixing a solar panel

Reblogged from Itsdelta's Blog:

We used to have conversations in our final year of varsity when the thought of entering the job market weighed heavily on our minds and we worried about where to go from there.

In some of those discussions the view was often expressed that the female graduates were at an advantage because they could always look for a husband instead of stressing too much about their chances of penetrating the job market (as if marriage were a career path) while the males would have no such reprieve.

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Agasha had been great netball player and had been going to school until two years before. The 13-year-old girl told Nargis that for her getting sanitary pads would mean getting her dream back. She went on to narrate a story of how she had been a great player at school.  During one of the competitions, Agasha was in her menses but she went ahead to play. In the middle of the game she had to go off the court.

In rural Uganda, girls have to improvise, use old cloth or underwear during their period. It was during that game that the cloth she was using dropped right on the court. She was embarrassed as other students cheered and laughed at her. Agasha stopped playing netball and didn’t go back to school for next 2 years.

“When she recounted this story to me and said getting sanitary pads meant she can be confident again and get her dream back, that was an inspiring moment for me, says Shirazi.

Shirazi that day phoned Dr. William Lubega, a colleague to ask what they could do.

In August last year, Shirazi together with Dr William Lubega and Amos Zikusooka, a consultant brought Woman to Woman Foundation into force.  WWF enables girls in rural areas to stay in school by ensuring they have access to reusable sanitary pads and panties.

“Part of our model is to involve the community in these re-useable sanitary pads project so we can create employment for women in the community at the same time as they play a role in keeping their girls in school,” said Dr. Lubega.

Nargis Shirazi

Woman to Woman Foundation (WWF) was announced among the ten most inspiring start-up enterprises working for the well-being of women and girls by Women Deliver, a global advocacy organization to mark International Women’s day last week.

More than 13,500 votes were cast online to select these winners. Each finalist will receive a scholarship to the Women Deliver 2013 conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (May 28-30, 2013), where they will compete in the first-ever Women Deliver Social Enterprise Challenge.

WWF also relies on volunteers to do their work.  They run 3 projects, which  rely on partnerships that the young professionals who co-found it have cultivated.

The Promise:

The sanitary pads and panties are distributed under what they call The Promise, a program aimed at addressing sexual and reproductive health issues and rights. Currently WWF is working with 200 girls in Isingiro district at Nyakamuri School.

“We called it the promise project because we believe that the way we can bring about change is to empower girls. We cannot do it only by giving them pads, we also back that up with education in sexual and reproductive health rights,” Shirazi. The have so far partnered with AfriPads to offer free sanitary pads and underwear to girls.

Dr. William Lubega

Any project to keep girls in schools in Uganda is very important, looking at the current school drop out statistics.

Over one million pupils who enrolled for Primary One under the Universal Primary Education (UPE) in 2006 did not reach Primary Seven indicating a 71% dropout rate.  In East Africa, Uganda has the lowest proportion of children staying in school up to P7, according to a 2010 report by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). In Kenya, the completion rate is 84%, Tanzania 81% and Rwanda 74%.

When it comes to girls dropping out of school the rate is higher than that of boys. And what may appear as simple needs like sanitary pads can keep a Ugandan girl out of schools on average three weeks out of three months term.

Although the education ministry says the net enrollment for girls at primary level increased from 82.3% in 2000 to 97.2%, keeping these girls in school is a challenge mostly because of cultural attitudes towards girl child education, poverty and teen pregnancies.

WWF founders are moving to use social media to engage and also expand their reach as more young Ugandans are joining social media channels. Also through social media they have got partners. For instance a top fashion designer in Uganda learnt about the foundation through Facebook and offered to hold the Kampala Fashion for Compassion show due in May. Part of the proceeds will be for community benefit and delivering more sanitary pads to schools.

“We don’t just supply pads, we engage mothers to make sure they are helping girls make the right choices as far as sexual and reproductive health is concerned.”

Nargis was born and raised in Mombasa, Kenya and she’s a Ugandan of Iranian origin. She has a degree in community psychology and masters degree in public health.  Dr. Lubega is an mHealth specialist contractor with a keen interest in the intersection of Public HealthCare, Information Technology and Economics

WWF also uses bracelets with three colors to keep the message alive. Yellow represents ABC (abstinence, Be faithful, Condom use), a model that Uganda used to bring down HIV/AIDS rate. WWF bracelet has lime green, which signifies staying in school and Orange for a brighter future.

The sanitary pads project is not limited to schools. In past WFF also worked with Xfoundation to bring sanitary pads to women in prisons, another neglected group.

“In Uganda when one is convicted it is like losing your humanity, there are no good sanitary conditions in prisons and for women this is dire.” Said Lubega, “so we go to the prisons to distribute re-useable pads”

Other projects being run by WWF are Creative Arts Targeting Community Health where they are using plays and participatory photography to share messages on sexual and reproductive health. The arts project is supported by International Health Sciences University.

Later this year in June, WWF will have a play called The Twist at the National Theatre, which Shirazi wrote to put some comedy on reproductive health issues.

The founders of WWF so far see resources as their big constraint. They started with money out of their pockets but as young professional, they cannot sustain funding the activities by themselves.

“We are young people with no money, we are just young people with great ideas to help communities,” says Shirazi, “We need to invest in young peoples’ ideas because they have the zeal and the power to change not only themselves but also communities. An idea with out backup cannot easily take off.”

In the next one year WWF founders hope to expand to 8 districts and as a start-up enterprises there’s still so much room for expansion to keep girls in school.