LETTERS

Emulate Tooro on bride price
The NTV news story of Thursday November 15 ‘No bride price for Tooro Princess because she is priceless’ got me excited. One will wonder if every woman for whom bride price is paid, has been publicly valued. Of course, every woman is priceless, and every man deserves a princess.

Therefore, we should emulate Tooro Kingdom and not place a price on brides. Unfortunately, there are too many middlemen and women in the marriage preparations. They come as wise clansmen and women, wise uncles and aunties who wish to extract ‘rent’. They are so accomplished in their trade that they persuade you that it is in your interest to have bride price paid.

We ought to be challenged that a real princess did not ask for bride price. This should be a great lesson for the young intending suitors in this country.

Patrick Ndira, Tororo

Hey People, especially women!

Choose the issue which you think is most pressing for the modern woman today.

Domestic violence

Separation/Divorce

Lack of career fulfilment

Send me your thoughts and I will write about it.

Atuki

Money problems

New Vision Thursday, 1st September, 2011
By Dora Byamukama
IN May, a bid to make progress on the review of Marriage and Divorce laws by Parliament was not successful. An explanation by the Attorney General that the Marriage and Divorce Bill could not be enacted into law on the basis that further consultations needed to be done was met with displeasure by some MPs who demonstrated this by walking out.

The review of marriage and divorce laws has been on since 1964 when the Kalema Report was produced. It is now 47 years and the struggle continues! The mega question is, why has review of the marriage and divorce laws been such as uphill task?

A half an hour radio programme on the subject revealed to me some of the intricacies that have stalled the process. It was clear what has stalled the process of reviewing off the marriage and divorce laws is not based on its contents.

It is mainly premised on misconceptions; lack of awareness of laws and practices; refusal to take into account practical realities; and religious and cultural beliefs which in some instances prefer to treat women as second class citizens.

The first misconception espoused was that this is the first time Uganda is going to enact a law on divorce. One caller said this is a Christian country and marriage vows are that marriage remains intact “till death do us part”.

Uganda has a Divorce Act which commenced on October 1, 1904. It also has The Hindu Marriage and Divorce Act which commenced on September 1, 1961. In effect what the Parliament will do is to revise the laws that are already in existence.

The misconception that Uganda is a Christian country is premised on the origins of our colonial masters, this is not the case because Article 7 of the Constitution of Uganda states that “Uganda shall not adopt a state religion”.

While religious institutions have power to marry people, the state reserves the power to ensure that there exist peace and order starting with the basic unit of society which is the family. This is why one may choose to divorce under the laws of Uganda notwithstanding that they were married in church.

The Church has the liberty not to recognise the divorce or to bar the person from taking part in rituals such as Holy Communion or refusal to preside over another marriage but for all intents and purposes a legally recognised divorce absolves that person of any marital responsibility.

Communities which make up present-day Uganda obviously had ways of handling cases of divorce. Most customary practices would grant divorce to a woman if her husband was impotent, a night dancer or dangerously insane.

Under most customary and religious laws, divorce may be handled by clan leaders and family members. Another caller said, the advocates for the marriage and divorce laws also advocate homosexuality and want to import Western ideas in our society. This point is incorrect. The principle legislation on marriage is the Constitution, in particular Article 31(1) provides key principles, these include the principle that:

A man and woman are entitled to marry only if they are each 18 years and above; and are entitled at that age to start a family and to equal rights at and in marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

Marriage between persons of the same sex is prohibited;

Marriage shall be entered into with the free consent of the man and woman intending to marry. Review of the law of marriage must therefore of necessity include all these principles. This is why the review of the marriage and divorce laws addresses new concepts which include proposals that:

Marriage gifts are not an essential requirement. This is premised on the principle that a man and woman should be treated equally at marriage and more fundamentally some families no longer request for bride price anyway. The law on bride price should be optional in order to provide for practical realities. In line with this, the proposed review on marriage and divorce prohibits return of bride price.

Prohibition of same-sex marriages in accordance with the Constitution; and

Prohibition of widow inheritance because automatic inheritance of a widow does not take into account that marriage should be entered into with free consent.

Practical realities also oblige review of the marriage and divorce law to comprehensively deal with the subject of property rights in marriages and at its dissolution. There is a proposal for a property agreement for two persons in contemplation of a marriage or cohabitation with each other or cohabiting. This addresses the fact that today, many Ugandans stay together in associations which are recognised under the law.

Such people buy property jointly or individually which interest can only be protected by a legally binding agreement. This provision also caters for children born in these associations which are not recognised under the law.

Practical realities on review of the marriage and divorce laws also need to take into consideration decisions made by courts. In December 2004 victory was registered in a constitutional petition filed by the Uganda Association of Women Lawyers, Dora Byamukama and Others. The essence of the petition was based on legal provisions of the Divorce Act which provided that a husband could obtain a divorce on the basis that his wife was adulterous whereas the wife could obtain it only on the basis of aggravated adultery—which meant adultery plus another offence such as incest, cruelty or desertion. This law treated similarly situated individuals differently, it discriminated against women and was thus declared unconstitutional.

Since 2004, this gap in the law has not been filled; there is thus need for review of the law in order to provide justice for married persons equally.

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/20/764073

Despite the indisputable gains over the years, women and the girl child are still being raped, violated and discriminated against – not just in Uganda but even in the rest of the world. And it’s not just strangers who are abusing women; so many women are abused by their partners, friends and relatives. The distressing statistics don’t stop with just rape but so many other forms of violence; physical violence, verbal abuse, emotional torture, economic abuse and sexual abuse besides various acts of harm and harassment.

On a daily basis, the media is filled with disturbing headlines;

Defiler accused of murder over bride price
“THE Police in Lira are looking for a 42-year-old man who allegedly killed his wife for denying him family resources to pay bride price for a P.6 pupil he defiled…..”
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/16/757474 By Bonney Odongo

Two men murder wives in Kibaale NewVision Wednesday, 20th July, 2011
“Two women have allegedly been murdered by their husbands in Kibaale district in two days.
In the first incident, Emmanuel Munyaneza, 35, allegedly murdered Donanta Mukamaana. The incident took place in Nyamarunda sub-county on Sunday night.
The district Police commander, John Elatu Ojokuna, said Munyaneza allegedly killed Mukamaana after a domestic quarrel at their home late in the night………….” http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/18/760678

6-year-old defiled child found HIV-positive New Vision Thursday, 4th August, 2011
By Paul Watala
“A 6-year-old girl who fell victim of a 39-year-old man’s sexual appetite has tested HIV-positive………”

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/761828

Women deliberately targeted for rape – report By Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa Monitor Monday, July 18 2011 at 08:14
“Women from minority and indigenous communities are targeted for rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture and killings, a new report has shown.
According to the State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2011 Report released online by Minority Rights Group International last week, the degrading acts are meted out against women because of their ethnic, religious or indigenous identity……..” http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1202944/-/bl5ushz/-/

The stories go on and on and the statistics and facts are distressing. It is so sad that some women are too good to complain, they do realize how dire their situation is but because they have grown to believe that there is no other option they have in life but to suffer in silence. Children growing in such houses which are infested with the syndrome of domestic violence usually may also continue the cycle of violence in their adult life by either being willing victims of abuse or perpetrators.

Some perpetrators of domestic violence however are not charged by the police because the police do not think cases of domestic violence are criminal; they call them family issues that can be settled by the family members. In addition to the human damage, domestic violence also takes a huge toll on a nation in terms of its various resources. The economic damage of domestic violence is truly enormous – but a broken life cannot be measured with any currency.

The truth is that most women don’t have the privilege of being able to look at gender injustice from a distance; they have no choice but to live it every day. There is so much work to be done. Vibrant feminists and activist movements are taking on issues from domestic violence, abuse and reproductive health rights, but they cannot pick up the fight on their own if the law does not back up in terms of implementing punishment to the perpetrators.

The fight also calls for men to build partnerships with women to end such injustices but above all domestic violence can never be eliminated from society unless society refuses to tolerate it. Speak out today; everyone has a right to live a life free from violence.

Ntunga Dorah

(Kampala) – Women with disabilities in northern Uganda experience ongoing discrimination and sexual and gender-based violence, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Many are unable to gain access to basic services, including health care and justice, and they have been largely ignored in post-conflict reconstruction efforts.
The 73-page report, “‘As If We Weren’t Human’: Discrimination and Violence against Women with Disabilities in Northern Uganda,” describes frequent abuse and discrimination by strangers, neighbors, and even family members against women and girls with disabilities in the north. Women interviewed for the report said they were not able to get basic provisions such as food, clothing, and shelter in camps for displaced persons or in their own communities. One woman with a physical disability who lived in such a camp told Human Rights Watch that people said to her, “You are useless. You are a waste of food. You should just die so that others can eat the food.” The research was conducted in six districts of northern Uganda – a region recently emerging from over two decades of brutal conflict between the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army and the government.
“One of the untold stories of the long war in Northern Uganda and its aftermath is the isolation, neglect, and abuse of women and girls with disabilities,” said Shantha Rau Barriga, disability rights researcher and advocate at Human Rights Watch. “As Ugandans in the north struggle to reclaim their lives, the government and humanitarian agencies need to make sure that women with disabilities are not left out.”
The report is based on interviews with 64 women and girls with a wide range of disabilities, some caused by diseases such as polio and others by landmines or gunshot wounds during the protracted conflict. According to a 2007 national survey, approximately 20 percent of people in Uganda have disabilities. However, northern Uganda is believed to have higher disability rates because of war-related injuries and limited access to treatment or vaccinations for illnesses.
Human Rights Watch’s research suggests that women with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence. More than one-third of the women interviewed told Human Rights Watch that they had experienced some form of sexual or physical abuse. None had been able to press criminal charges or pursue prosecutions of their attackers.
“Women with disabilities are often not given any information about sexual or reproductive health and HIV,” Barriga said. “But they have real sexual health needs, and they also need to be protected from sexual violence and be able to get justice if abused.”
Women with disabilities, the report notes, are especially vulnerable to HIV because of poverty, difficulty in negotiating safe sex, lack of accessible information, and susceptibility to violence and rape. Many of the women could not reach health centers or police stations, which are often situated far away or are inaccessible for lack of sign language interpreters, Braille signage or ramps for physical access. Others encountered discriminatory attitudes by staff and could not get assistance even from family members.
“I cannot bathe near others,” Candace, a woman with HIV and who has an amputated leg from a landmine, told Human Rights Watch. “My neighbors think that the water that comes off of me has HIV in it. They say I will get the community sick if they touch the water. There has been HIV sensitization in the community but there is no real change in attitudes.”
Among the recommendations in the report is that the Ugandan government should adequately address the needs of women with disabilities in post-conflict development plans and programs. The report also calls on the government to ensure access for women with disabilities to mainstream government programs, particularly with regard to sexual and gender-based violence, reproductive health, and HIV.
Human Rights Watch found that the vast majority of humanitarian aid organizations do not have specific programs to meet the needs of people with disabilities. The report recommends that humanitarian aid organizations partner with organizations representing people with disabilities to ensure that information about the resettlement process and available support services reach them.
One of the key problems is the lack of data on the number of women with disabilities in northern Uganda and their access to services, Human Rights Watch said. The government and humanitarian agencies need to collect this information and use it to develop more inclusive programs for women with disabilities.
The government of Uganda has an obligation to respect the rights of persons with disabilities under international and regional laws, the national constitution, and other domestic legislation. As a state party to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Uganda should ensure that women with disabilities enjoy all human rights on an equal basis with others. In practice, the government of Uganda needs to do more to implement its laws to protect women with disabilities in northern Uganda from violence and to ensure their access to basic services, Human Rights Watch said.
“The war has hidden and compounded the isolation and discrimination against women and girls with disabilities,” Barriga said. “But now the government has a special opportunity – and a special responsibility – to meet their needs.”

Selected Accounts from Individuals Interviewed for “As If We Weren’t Human”
“There were 12 people in the house on the day it was burned down [by the Lord's Resistance Army]. Those of us closer to the door survived. I lay on my stomach and protected my heart. My head got burned, and I lost my sight. I don’t hear well.”
- Edna, a 29-year-old woman who fled her rural village for Lira town in 2004. Edna is also HIV-positive.
“I was raped three times in this house one week ago. The man came at night, so I was unable to recognize him. I have not told anyone, not even my mother. I was thinking of bringing a panga [machete] to bed with me in case he comes again. I fear that if I report, then I will need to know my HIV status. I want to check my HIV status at a health center but I do not have transport to town. The hospital is far and my [hand-crank] bicycle is broken. Others in the community will say that it’s my fault and that I run around with men.”
- Angela, a 20-year-old woman born with a physical disability, Amuru district
“If I go back to my original home, I’ll be like a child, waiting to be fed.”
- Mary, woman with physical disability living in a displaced persons camp, Amuru district
“Delivery beds are extremely high and have wheels. [The nurses] tell you to get on the bed. You try to get on, but the bed is rolling. They say, ‘You get on the bed! How did you get on the bed where you got pregnant?’”
- Hon. Nalule Safia Juuko, member of parliament representing women with disabilities
“The neighbors beat my children. When they played with the neighbors’ children, they were told to go away. They said, ‘You’ll spread deafness to my family.’”
- Erica, a deaf woman who lost one of her children during childbirth because the nurse did not communicate to her that she was going to have twins, Lira district

http://www.hrw.org/news/2010/08/23/uganda-women-disabilities-barriers-and-abuse

By Lisa Anderson
Thu Aug 4, 2011 12:04pm EDT
NEW YORK (TrustLaw) – Child marriage, which steals the innocence of millions of girls worldwide and often condemns them to lives of poverty, ignorance and poor health, is one of the biggest obstacles to development, rights groups say.
A girl under the age of 18 is married every three seconds — that’s 10 million each year — often without her consent and sometimes to a much older man, according to the children’s charity Plan UK. Most of those marriages take place in Africa, the Middle East or South Asia.
“This is one of the biggest development issues of our time and we’re committed to raising the voices of millions of girls married against their will,” Plan UK head Marie Staunton said in her introduction to “Breaking Vows,” a recent global report on child marriage.
From horrific childbirth injuries to the secret sale of “drought brides,” the consequences of child marriage are explored in a multimedia documentary by TrustLaw, a legal news service run by Thomson Reuters Foundation (childmarriage.trust.org).
“Young children have babies — your life is ruined, your education is ruined,” said Kanta Devi, who was 16 when she married in Badakakahera village in India’s Rajasthan state.
“You become upset with everything in your life,” she told TrustLaw.
The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child considers marriage before the age of 18 a human rights violation.
But according to the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), there are more than 50 million child brides worldwide, a number that is expected to grow to 100 million over the next decade.
RIPPLE EFFECT
Rights activists say six of the eight U.N. Millennium Development Goals to be achieved by 2015 are directly affected by the prevalence of child marriage — the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; achievement of universal primary education; promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women; reduction in child mortality; improvement in maternal health; and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
The ripple effect is devastating, experts say.
Girls forced into early marriage rarely continue their education, denying them any hope of independence, the ability to earn a livelihood or of making an economic contribution to their households.
The practice also reinforces the concept of girls as worthless burdens on their families to be jettisoned as soon as possible.
Girls who complete secondary school are six times less likely to become child brides than contemporaries with less or no education, according to the ICRW, a Washington-based think tank.
But distance from schools and a lack of school fees often preclude education for the poorest girls, who are twice as likely to marry young as those from wealthier homes.
In Niger, Chad and Mali, more than 70 percent of girls are married before the age of 18, according to ICRW analysis of demographic and health data last year.
Bangladesh, Guinea, Central African Republic, Mozambique, Burkina Faso and Nepal have child marriage rates over 50 percent, the data showed.
Ethiopia, Malawi, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Eritrea, Uganda, India, Nicaragua, Zambia and Tanzania are all above 40 percent.
The reasons child marriages occur vary with the country and are rarely simple.
“Very often people are sort of quick to demonise, in some ways, the family members and the people who make the decisions about the marriage of girls,” Jeffrey Edmeades, a social demographer with ICRW, told TrustLaw.
“But we’re finding, for the most part, that people are making these decisions because they feel it’s best for their daughters. Parents love their children and they do want the best for them. They’re just not sure what the best is.”
Edmeades, who has been working with aid agency CARE on a project to tackle child marriage in Ethiopia, gave the example of children in that country being betrothed before birth to cement strategic alliances between families.
In other cases, girls are married off early to ensure that their virginity, and thus their economic value as brides, is intact and the honor of the family is protected.
Meanwhile, debts and natural disasters, such as tsunamis and drought, can lead to girls being sold off as brides as families scramble for survival.
‘SILENT HEALTH EMERGENCY’
Girls under 15, their bodies still developing and their pelvises narrow, are five times more likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth than women over 20, the U.S. Agency for International Development estimates.
The vast majority of those deaths are in the developing world, where a lack of pre- and post-natal care and advanced procedures such as Cesarean sections makes pregnancy and childbirth far more risky than in rich countries. In Africa, for example, 60 percent of women and girls give birth without a skilled medical professional present, according to the U.N. World Population Fund.
Worldwide, 70,000 girls aged 15-19 die each year during pregnancy or childbirth, UNICEF says. The U.N. World Population Fund considers pregnancy the leading cause of death in that age group, citing complications of childbirth and unsafe abortions as major factors.
Children of child brides are also at risk. Babies born to mothers younger than 18 are more likely to be underweight or stillborn, Plan UK says.
Girls forced into early marriage are also at an increased risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS because they are unlikely to be able to negotiate safe sex with their husbands.
“Child marriage is a silent health emergency in the sense that it’s often overlooked as a root cause of maternal mortality and morbidity (illness),” the ICRW’s Edmeades said.
DRAWING MORE ATTENTION
While it is a subject still little known and rarely discussed in much of the Western world, the issue of child marriage is drawing greater attention from international aid and humanitarian organizations, as well as governments.
In the United States, where child marriage is rare, the U.S. Senate has reintroduced legislation aimed at curbing global child marriage that was unanimously passed in the Senate in 2010 but blocked in the House of Representatives.
The International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act would establish a strategy over several years to prevent child marriage in developing countries.
It would also require the State Department to report on child marriage in its annual human rights report and integrate efforts to prevent the practice into current development programs.
The bill will be reintroduced in the House this autumn, according to Betty McCollum, a Democrat representative from Minnesota, who is its lead sponsor there.
It was blocked in the House last December primarily due to Republican concerns that it would help organizations supplying abortions, which “couldn’t have been farther from the truth,” McCollum told TrustLaw.
“It has nothing to do with abortion,” she said. “It has everything to do with saving 12-year-old girls from being sold into slavery or sold to settle a family debt.”
Not only will it make aid dollars more effective, she added, but “it’s a win for the child, it’s a win for the community the child lives in and it’s a win for the international community.”
The Elders, an influential group of global leaders founded in 2007 by former South African President Nelson Mandela, gathered dozens of organizations for a two-day meeting in Ethiopia in June and have launched a campaign called “Girls Not Brides: the Global Partnership to End Child Marriage.”
(For more on child marriage, including info-graphics, videos, stories and blogs, visit childmarriage.trust.org)
(TrustLaw is a global news service run by Thomson Reuters Foundation, covering women’s legal rights, good governance and pro bono law. Visit www.trust.org/trustlaw)
FACTBOX: Child marriage threatens girls’ health and rights
LONDON (TrustLaw) – Every day, more than 25,000 girls under the age of 18 are married worldwide, rights groups estimate. For many child brides, a future of poverty, exploitation and poor health awaits.
Following are key facts on child marriage around the world.
* Every three seconds, a girl under the age of 18 is married somewhere in the world, mostly in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.
* The practice affects a third of girls — and some boys — in developing countries, according to UNICEF, which describes child marriage as “perhaps the most prevalent form of sexual abuse and exploitation of girls.”
* The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child says 18 years should be the minimum age for marriage.
* Child rights activists say marriage at a young age violates a child’s basic human rights because they are too young to be able to give “free and full consent” — a right enshrined in Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
* Child marriage is most common in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
* In many developing countries the practice is illegal but the law is often not enforced or it operates alongside customary and religious laws.
* Girls younger than 15 are five times more likely to die as a result of pregnancy and childbirth than women in their 20s. If they are 15-19, they are twice as likely to die.
* Girls under the age of 18 are more likely to develop obstetric fistula, which causes severe incontinence. This condition occurs during childbirth when a hole develops between the vagina and bladder or rectum.
* Girl brides are more likely to be infected with the HIV virus by their older husbands. A study in Kenya and Zambia by University of Chicago researchers found that among 15- to 19-year-old girls who are sexually active, being married increased their chances of having HIV by more than 75 percent.
* A girl bride is more likely to be beaten or raped by her husband and experience abusive relationships with her in-laws.
* The babies of child brides are 60 percent more likely to die before the age of one than children of women older than 19.
* Child brides are rarely allowed to go to school. Many are expected to bear and raise children and carry out domestic work for their in-laws.
* Girls from poor families are nearly twice as likely to marry before 18 than girls from wealthier families.
* The number of child marriages often increases during conflicts or natural disasters.
* Some families use marriage to build and strengthen alliances, to seal property deals, settle disputes or pay off debts.
(Sources: The Elders, International Center for Research on Women, International Planned Parenthood Federation, Plan UK, UNICEF)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/04/us-child-marriage-idUSTRE7734QI20110804

New Vision Wednesday, 13th July, 2011

BY MOSES NAMPALA

The Nabagereka of Buganda, Sylivia Nagginda, has expressed worry over the increasing cases of defilement in society, saying the vice causes adverse social effects.

“Defilement, especially in rural areas, has left the victims traumatised, pregnant and forces them to drop out of school,” she said.

Nagginda said because of the big number of girls who drop out of school, society is being denied a formidable force of human resource.

“Society must go a long way in protecting girls because among those who drop out of school could be future lawyers and doctors,” Nagginda said.

She made the remarks on Monday while addressing young mothers at Kirewa sub-county headquarters in Tororo district.

Nagginda was being hosted by MIFUMI, a women and children rights advocacy non-governmental organisation, based in Tororo.

She commissioned a programme initiated two years ago in over 15 primary and secondary schools in Tororo by MIFUMI.

The project aims at empowering girls with basic skills in martial arts to enable them defend themselves against defilers.

Nagginda also visited Mifumi primary school and Mifumi Hospital in Kirewa sub-county, which were constructed and are supported by the organisation.

At Mifumi Hospital, she immunised five babies born to girls who conceived after being defiled.

The director of MIFUMI, Atuki Turner, said the decision to give the girls martial arts skills was reached after realising that 80% of girls in rural areas drop out of school due to early pregnancies as a result of defilement.

“Girls have become vulnerable because male youth think they are physically weak,” explained Turner.

The organisation has also extended support to victims of defilement.

Turner explained that often when the victims drop out of school, they are helpless and live in misery, trauma and rejection.

She said it is against this background that MIFUMI has offered to empower young mothers with skills in tailoring, modern farming as well as providing them with interest-free loans.

http://www.newvision.co.ug

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EASTERN UGANDA YOUTH TO LEARN RUGBY

KAMPALA,FRIDAY JULY 1st 2011. An under 16 rugby team from the United Kingdom is arriving on Monday 4^th for two weeks in Uganda to train young boys in eastern Uganda how to play Rugby. Besides training the two selected young person’s team, the UK boys will play a friendly match with the Uganda under 16 National rugby team on the 12^th July at Elgon View stadium.

The John Fisher School, an all boy’s sports college in south London has Rugby as the main winter sport and athletics in the summer. The team has been playing rugby for five years.

As a school they do very well at rugby and are always doing well in the Daily Mail Cup.(It’s a rugby cup which all the schools in England compete in) most of their matches are against private schools (they are state) including Eton which is where the royal family send their children!

The rugby team visit and game will be hosted by MIFUMI as part of an arrangement for the launch of sure start, a gender and sports program that will train young girls in primary schools throughout the country with gender knowledge and karate skills.

The team will also volunteer teaching in Mifumi Primary School, Tororo District.

Visit, learn, support and share with children living in child-headed homes. Child headed homes have children who have lost their parents to HIV looking after their younger siblings and running the household. They are usually as young as 13

Spend a day at an orphanage in Mbale. Boys will be expected to interact with the orphaned children, play with them, read a book to them, and give them the presents they have carried with them from the UK

-ENDS-

For more information contact:

MIFUMI Box 274, Tororo.

Tel. 0414 666 946

Donna Tara

Mobile 0772 630 906 donnatara@mifumi.org

Dorah Ntunga,

Mobile 0774853745, dorahntunga@mifumi.org

Website: www.mifumi.org

Notes for Journalists / Editors

The team visit is aimed at

Enriching the lives of the young people by enabling them to make a difference in the lives of young people in Eastern Uganda.

Providing an opportunity for young people from the UK and Uganda to exchange ideas, inform of learning and enrich sport and cultural experience.

MIFUMI Brief Organizational Profile

MIFUMI is a developmental NGO and women’s rights organization. The organization has worked for over ten years to reduce the burden of poverty; addressing issues that hinder development by initiating developmental projects. MIFUMI particularly protects women and children experiencing domestic violence and bride price related violations.

MIFUMI would welcome the opportunity to proof read any article written to avoid factual errors. Opinion will remain with the publication.

By BONNEY ODONGO

THE Police in Lira are looking for a 42-year-old man who allegedly killed his wife for denying him family resources to pay bride price for a P.6 pupil he defiled.

Patrick Odyek, a resident of Ekude village, Alworo parish in Amach sub-county, reportedly murdered Anna Adongo last Monday.

He is said to have locked the body in their hut before running away.

Residents said there was a misunderstanding between Odyek and his wife after he defiled and impregnated a 16-year-old P.6 pupil.

They say the wife rejected his plans to pay the bride price using the family resources.

The body was last Thursday afternoon found wrapped in blood soaked bedsheets on the couple’s bed.
Adongo’s children are reported to have alerted neighbours after they sensed a nasty smell from their parents’ hut.
The two had four children.

Their eldest daughter, 12-year-old girl, said their father woke them up last Tuesday and told them that their mother was travelling to town to process a loan.

“He gave me a piece of soap and about a kilogramme of beans which he told me to cook since he and mummy were going to delay in Lira,” the girl said.

A postmortem examination showed that Adongo’s head had two spear holes.

Godwin Tumugumye, the criminal investigations chief, at Lira Central Police Station said they were investigating the matter.

Tumugumye described the incident as the ‘worst gender-based violence of the month’. He said the suspect would face the law.

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/16/757474

The women of Uganda have once again been let down by the failure of Government and the 8^th Parliament to pass the Marriage and Divorce Bill. This is devastating news and we received it with great disappointment and upset. This Bill has been in the House for over 40 years and failing to pass it shows that this Government has a total disregard for the welfare and wellbeing of women and children in this country.

It is clear that the Speaker of Parliament the Hon Edward Sekandi, did not take this Bill seriously. Despite an assurance he made to the Public that he was committed to the tabling and passing of the Bill, when it was presented for tabling on Tuesday 10^th of May, he allowed the Bill to be shelved based on a minor point raised by the AG. The point raised by the Attorney General said that the Bill was technically ready but that there were still people Pro it and against it? This is the natural state of any bill tabled for debate, there are always people for it and against it. What is of concern to Women’s and Civil Society Organisations is that this Bill was tabled in 2009. What took the Speaker so long to have it tabled and debated. Last year the Bill was tabled for debate on 23^rd of December. How can you table a Bill two days before Christmas? Clearly this is the act of a Speaker who is not serious.

Number of bills passed

The Eight Parliament passed many Bills, out of these only two related to issues affecting women and children: The FGM Act, The Domestic Violence Act passed in November 2009 and the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act.

We welcomed the passing of the Domestic Violence Act in November 2009 but as anybody can tell you domestic violence is as a result of factors arising out of conflicts relating to rights and responsibilities in the home. If the Marriage and Divorce Bill is not passed, this will deter what the Domestic Violence Act seeks to achieve and leave the Act disabled.

Point of affirmative action

What is the point of Affirmative Action put in place by government if the Speaker will only pay it lip service. We have over 100 Women MP in Parliament. They are meant to represent the needs and protect the interests of women. The Marriage and Divorce Bill provides the right framework for the removal of barriers to women’s upwards mobility, to help them realize their full potential and ultimately contribute to production and development in the Country. “The world can’t solve problems of financial crisis, climate change, disease and poverty if half of the population of the world is left behind.” (Hilary Clinton at the 100^th anniversary of International Women’s Day, 2010).

Speaker Bias

Civil Society Organizations in Uganda worked hard to ensure the Bill is tabled and passed and right up to the last minute, we were hopeful that the Bill would be passed. Parliament must stop paying lip service to women and take our issues seriously. The Bill will be of benefit to all members of the family. We hope that the 9^th parliament will take this Bill more seriously and treat it as a matter of priority. We demand that a Speaker is elected who is not only impartial to party politics but who will also not discriminate against women. We endorse the election of a woman speaker in the expectation that discrimination against women will be structurally disabled.

Atuki Turner

Executive Director

MIFUMI

www.mifumi.org

WOMEN BLAME SPEAKER OVER MARRIAGE BILL

New Vision, Monday, 16th May, 2011
By Henry Sekanjako

THE out going Speaker of Parliament, Edward Ssekandi, and Attorney General Khiddu Makubuya have been accused of delaying the marriage and divorce Bill.

On Wednesday last week, Makubuya said the Bill should be withdrawn from Parliament because religious leaders had criticised it on the ground that it undermines the marriage institution.

Addressing Journalists at Parliament over the weekend, Margaret Kiboijana, the executive member of the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association, and women from civil society organisations said they had conducted a number of consultative seminars about the Bill in which all stakeholders, including religious leaders, were consulted.

“The Attorney General disowned the Bill at the last minute. This was bad because the issues he raised would have been solved during its debate,” she said.

According to MP Beatrice Lagada, many Bills such as the land and cultural leader’s Bill have been passed without thorough consultations of all Ugandans, noting that shelving the marriage Bill was a disservice to the women in Uganda.

“I was shocked to hear that the marriage and divorce Bill had been shelved. Divorce is a reality. Pretending that it is not happening is like hiding our heads in the sand,” she said.

Arua Woman MP Christian Abia said women had invested a lot of resources during consultations at various levels, noting that they would find it hard to convince donors for more consultations now that the Bill was shelved.

She challenged religious leaders to read the clauses in the Bill, noting that it does not intend to break the marriage institution.

“This Bill concerns every one, including politicians who put on rings for formality. They no longer share their matrimonial beds,” she said.

The executive director of MIFUMI, a women NGO Atuki Turner, said Ssekandi had not done enough in promoting women issues, noting that allowing their Bill to be shelved was uncalled for.

The newly elected national youth female MP, Monica Amonding, however, asked the ninth Parliament to pass the Bill, noting that it concerns every body in the country and not only women.

“We shall not tire, we are ready to sacrifice all we can to have this Bill passed in the ninth parliament,” she said.

The church doesn’t acknowledge Bride Price because Bride Price means paying for something.
According to the Bible, man is created in the image of God nothing less. How do you reduce that image of God to something that is monetary? How do you value or equate God’s image to goats, chicken and cows? You cannot do that and think you are a Christian.
I believe any gifts exchanged at a marriage ceremony should be presented to the couple for their well being and not wasted for the pleasure of in-laws.
We have had cases where a young happy couple is denied a wedding because the boy and his relatives cannot afford the Bride Price they have been asked to pay. If any of us is going to act against a sacrament which is supposed to be holy because of money or Bride price, then we are not acting in a godly way.
Bride Price is opposed to Christian morals.
Father Paul Okoth,
St. Austin Church, Mbale

The church doesn’t acknowledge Bride Price because Bride Price means paying for something.
According to the Bible, man is created in the image of God nothing less. How do you reduce that image of God to something that is monetary? How do you value or equate God’s image to goats, chicken and cows? You cannot do that and think you are a Christian.
I believe any gifts exchanged at a marriage ceremony should be presented to the couple for their well being and not wasted for the pleasure of in-laws.
We have had cases where a young happy couple is denied a wedding because the boy and his relatives cannot afford the Bride Price they have been asked to pay. If any of us is going to act against a sacrament which is supposed to be holy because of money or Bride price, then we are not acting in a godly way.
Bride Price is opposed to Christian morals.
Father Paul Okoth,
St. Austin Church, Mbale

The church doesn’t acknowledge Bride Price because Bride Price means paying for something.
According to the Bible, man is created in the image of God nothing less. How do you reduce that image of God to something that is monetary? How do you value or equate God’s image to goats, chicken and cows? You cannot do that and think you are a Christian.
I believe any gifts exchanged at a marriage ceremony should be presented to the couple for their well being and not wasted for the pleasure of in-laws.
We have had cases where a young happy couple is denied a wedding because the boy and his relatives cannot afford the Bride Price they have been asked to pay. If any of us is going to act against a sacrament which is supposed to be holy because of money or Bride price, then we are not acting in a godly way.
Bride Price is opposed to Christian morals.
Father Paul Okoth,
St. Austin Church, Mbale

Many have been affected by domestic violence; either as victims or witnesses. Others have simply read about it and wondered what they can do about it.

Here are a few things you could do:
• Visit your nearest women’s rights NGO or community group and volunteer to support abused women and children either directly or at your community by helping them access available services. A lot of the organisations that help victims and survivors of abuse need assistance from the public.
• Participate in local and national women’s rights events and activities including the 16 days of activism campaign against violence against women.
• You may not be able to do much physically but you can donate to this cause in both monetary and materialistic terms. You will have made a big difference.
• SPEAK OUT against domestic violence and child abuse at any given opportunity and encourage victims, family and members of the community to challenge and report any form of abuse.
• Publicise the gravity of this problem using any available communication channel at your disposal. Write, document and share
• You can do much more than what is listed here if you want to end violence in your community.

Children are silent victims to many forms of abuse and it is everybody’s duty to hold perpetrators accountable.

Started 6 months ago, the impact of the vibrant men’s movement of MIFUMI is being felt across rural eastern Uganda District of Tororo. Men flock the community meetings and testify of their transformed lives and relationships with their spouses.
MIFUMI Vibrant Men’s Movement which also goes by the name Movement Building Men (MBM) has transformed hundreds of lives of men winning up to 240 committed members.

In a conversation with Paul* a former perpetrator of domestic violence, he tried to place his reasons for abusing his wife and what it feels like to today;
‘It is like being born again, I do not know why I was beating my wife… probably because it felt good to show my superiority over her. I did not know that she would hurt and that she had real feelings.
I was raised to believe that if you showed a woman too much love and did not rebuke, scold and beat her regularly, she would stop respecting you…thinking back now, honestly…sometimes I beat her for nothing.’

Speaking to Emmanuel Ochwo, field officer for the movement, he said
‘..Paul is one in the hundreds who are slowly getting on the road to reform.
When we go out to the field occasionally with Paul, his message on abuse has touched hundreds of men whose believes are still shaped around his. ‘

There are men like Paul, who in the bigger picture feel they are not to blame for their actions which are most times shaped by our customs, beliefs and culture. But in this group, there are those who are willing to change.

According to Oguti Athanasius the head MBM, the impact of this project to the community has been double-fold.
Men are readily accessing the counselling services available to them and freely sharing their relationship challenges and fears.

Medical Dr. Uta Steigler from Germany has donated the first ever solar fridge to MIFUMI Health centre to enable us to store our own drugs. Dr Steigler visited the health centre in 2004 and was impressed with the dedication of the staff.
The irregular power cuts have affected the health centre drug storage. Previously MIFUMI health centre had to keep its drugs at another health centre about 20 kilometres away from the health centre which proved to be a great inconvenience during emergencies. The solar fridge will solve these inconveniences.
MIFUMI is very grateful for this generous donation.

Grouville School and Jersey Overseas Aid has generously made donations to MIFUMI Primary school again.

Recently, Mifumi Primary school received numerous donations ranging from scholastic materials to utensils. With funding from Jersey, a new kitchen is being erected in place of a shack that existed then.

‘John Carnegie is more than our beneficiary, he is our friend, and the children call him daddy now. We are grateful and thankful for these donations.’
Bernard Onyango Headmaster MIFUMI Primary School.

On Monday 11th October 2010, MIFUMI lawyers walked out of the Supreme Court more confident to see the Bride Price case heard at the highest court possible even after the judges adjourned the hearing to a later date.

Last year on Thursday 26th March 2009, MIFUMI’s petition on bride price was brought before a panel of 5 judges for hearing. The petition called for a reform in the bride price institution so Bride Price becomes a gift that is freely given and received.

Some of the judges did maintain that demanding a refund in the event of dissolution of the marriage demeans and undermines the dignity of a woman and violates the Constitution.
Though the judges at the Supreme Court dismissed MIFUMI’s request to present new evident, they did find the case of both importance and interest prompting them to adjourn the hearing to a later date.

At the constitutional court, MIFUMI submitted 32 affidavits from women, young men and widows who have been abused as a result of bride price.
Patrick Ndira, the Deputy Executive Director of MIFUMI said MIFUMI would continue with her campaigns and advocacy against the bad practices in the payment of bride Price.

MIFUMI has long argued that Bride Price forces women to continue to live in violent relationships as their parents cannot take them back without the refund.

We are the sure start club.
We use sport (karate) to instil confidence in girls. The club also strives
to eliminate discrimination against girls in education, skills development
by increasing awareness of their needs and potential through gender
training around community schools in Tororo.
To date we have trained 720 girls. Our impact in our community has been
recognised by international sports associations. This has earned us a
nomination for the 2010 Beyond Sports Award for best New Project -Sport for
social Change Award to be to be received in Chicago this September 2010.

Thank you

Contact us at surestart@mifumi.org

My motivation finds need from the many experiences that people undergo today especially women and children. I am angered when I see duty bearers who are mandated to support or respond to unbiased either doing nothing or appear to be acting yet deliberately covering up cases of abuse. They sometimes smile with human rights activists in the name of collaboration yet negotiate bribes or fine for defiled victims in their absence.

Athanasius Oguti

In an effort to help girl children survive and reach their full potential, the Beijing Platform for Action held in 1995 recommended that governments, agencies and the private sector work hard towards;
Eliminating all forms of discrimination against the girl-child, Eliminating negative cultural attitudes and practices against girls, Promoting and protecting the rights of the girl-child and increase awareness of her needs and potential, Eliminating discrimination against girls in education, skills development and training,
Eliminating discrimination against girls in health and nutrition, Eliminating the economic exploitation of child labour and protect girls at work, Eradicate violence against the girl-child, Promoting the girl-child’s awareness of and participation in social, economic and political life and Strengthening the role of the family in improving the status of the girl-child.

Source: The United Nations
Fourth World Conference on Women
Beijing, China – September 1995
Action for Equality, Development and Peace

Recently a local Ugandan Paper quoted a prominent pastor and musician saying ‘They (women) now know that I’m not a guy to joke around with’ after slapping a woman. The famous pastor is further said to be preparing for a wedding to a woman scheduled sometime in December 2011. Question; How about the safety of the woman who is walking into his life in 2011? Will she be subjected to more than slaps as she will be the closest of the women he wants to teach a chinese characters lesson? Has the Church taken action against this pastor? These are the kind that would go through anybody heads.
Christian teachings should serve as resources to assist those who have experienced abuse in finding safety and healing. On several occasions Christianity has been misused to excuse or condone abusive behaviour across the various denominations
leaving many women caught between the love for their God and the need to make it stop.
Women should be able to easily and freely approach their religious leaders who also double as their mentors for faith based counsel and support without fear of reproach and condemnation.
For human rights agencies to adequately address the violence against women and children, the church and the community need to collaborate in holding the perpetrators accountable.
Human rights agencies have realised that they cannot provide for all the needs of survivors of violence and abuse through the healing process. Sometimes the healing process requires much higher spiritual power which can only come from their God and leaders they trust. With collaboration between the church and human rights agencies, women will find the healing and safety they need without compromising their faith or their human rights as the church openly advocate for change in behaviour and prepare its leaders to be exemplary and gender sensitive.
It should be considered sin to inflict pain and affliction to the ‘temple of God’ which is all humanity including women and children.

I joined Karate in March 2009 when the Sure Start team visited our school and set up a club.
I thought this was just another new game that I needed to be involved in since I am a sports girl at school who jumped at any sporting opportunity that presented itself. I love sports and this one seemed interesting. It was karate.

Karate did not only teach me the physical exercise, it taught me many other disciplines that totally transformed my life.

During the karate training we were taught self discipline, self defence and a few weeks later, my confidence started to manifest. Even though I loved sports, I was shy around boys. Now I can challenge both boys and girls in both sports and academics.

Also, as a girl growing up in a traditional African community, I did not know that children had any rights until our gender trainer explained to us that children had rights too and we the girls were entitled to as much rights as boys. Armed with information on relationships, gender related issues and HIV/AIDS, I was ready to stand up against the myths that surround our participation as girls in the affairs that concern us.

At the end of the training, we were passed out as trainers in a colourful ceremony that marked the launch of the Sure Start project. I confidently led my team during the final school demonstration at the Lions Children’s Park, Tororo.

The new members have elected me as their chairperson and junior trainer.
I have gained respect from the girls that I train in my school.

I am determined to stay in school so that I can help other girls.
I thank MIFUMI and Women Win for your continued support to my school and our Karate club.

Awor Sylvia,
MIFUMI Primary School

First there is the absentee demi- god father who you only get to see either at dinner time or when you have been summoned in his presence. His loyalty and attention shifts from you and your mother and is divided among his numerous wives. You almost do not know that man because you never talk much. You were raised by your mother who reveres him. To you he becomes the father you may never get to know.

Then there are jealousies and rivalries among your several mothers as each competes for affection and resources for themselves and their children and her children. Sometimes you get caught between these arguments and fights and wonder what you did wrong to deserve all this.

If it so happens that your mother dies, leaving you with this already absentee father and several step mothers, you will automatically take on all the tongue and physical lashing intended for your mother. But what do you know, you are only a child. You are also most likely to be used as cheap labour by your other mothers.
Your absentee father is nowhere to notice your suffering and you need to bond with him now that your mother is gone.

There are more chances for you as a child to be abused, neglected and denied your basic rights in a polygamous home than with divorced parents.

And if it so happens that you are the oldest of the children and you luckily got an education, you will never enjoy the fruits of your labour as three quarters of your life will be spent raising and educating your numerous siblings. You inherit your father’s sins.

Polygamy has no place in our capitalist times characterized with credit crunches and poverty.

In June 2010 I read 3 Ugandan local publications on the girl Child with both cheer and concern. Cheer, on the fact that President Yoweri Museveni is definitely leading by example, by refusing to deny his daughters his unconditional, unbiased love.

Concern, that despite all efforts put in by both the government of Uganda and Human rights organisations, the girl child is still the most disadvantaged person in the world.

The girl child in Africa has continued to suffer in the hands of cultural biases because what stakeholders are doing is treating the symptoms to the disease. The cause of many of the African child abuses are rooted in our cultures.

A few weeks ago I visited the office of the RDC of Tororo District, Mr. Hashaka S. Mpimbaza and I was moved by how passionately he took on the plight of the children in the district most especially cases of Girl child abuse that flood his desk almost every day (His office has a desk for child abuse).

While a few boast about their cultural values, the rural village girl is crying out for a chance to be a child and grow up to realise their full potential.

Bride Price;
The media have highlighted many pathetic stories of Bride price related child abuse where children as young as 10 have been married off for material gain as little as 500 Ug.shs. This raises a question on whether some adults are really capable of unconditional love.
Some may say they don’t practice ‘Bride Price’ rather exchange gifts.

This does not change two facts;
-That many children get caught up in this exchange of prices or gifts.
-That you will by all means have to take expensive ‘gifts’ whether you have them or have to borrow to keep up appearances (not demanded but expected or insinuated). Worse still today’s Uganda has set a new standard to the ‘gift’ pack that is why we are caught up in a series of introduction meeting each week.

I must commend Atuki Turner of MIFUMI for fearlessly taking on fight for a reform in the Practice of Bride price which mostly affects children. Many who saw the plight of these children cowered away in the shadows.

Bride Price or whatever fancy modified name it goes by today definitely needs a reform.

Mifumi Primary School has been chosen as a model sports school in Tororo district.
It is to implement Physical Education and Sports (PES) as indicated in the syllabus and guidelines set.

These include Athletics, football, netball volleyball, Karate for girls, Debate, Music, Dance and Drama, Children’s Congress Art/Crafts and Scouting.

Other behavioural change programs include; Guidance and Counselling,
Sex education and HIV/AIDS during the Presidential Initiative on AIDS Strategy for Communication (PIASCY) Week s

Dear friends,

MIFUMI Today debates on BBC World Service

Today the BBC World Service ‘Have your say’ is debating the issue of Bride Price in Africa covering the following areas;

• Does bride price infringe human rights or symbolize love and good faith
between families?
• If you’re a woman, does a dowry make you feel objectified or appreciated?
• Did the failure to pay a bride price stop you from getting married?
• If you’re a man, do you feel bride price is a burden?
• Should states legislate on such cultural issues?

Please visit their website

http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=7032&edition=2&ttl=20090923092845

and post your comment or join the live debate on air at 7pm (East Africa Time) today Wednesday 23 September2008 by sending an SMS text to +44 77 86 20 20 08.

Don’t forget to include your name, location, and phone number.

Alternatively, facebook.com/africahys or on Twitter @bbcafricahys.

7pm East Africa is 5pm in London, 6pm in Cape Town and 11am in New York.

Many thanks

All friends of Mifumi and supports of the noble cause of protecting women and children from domestic violence, as well as fighting poverty, We have introduced the ‘Mifumi blog’ to enable you to share you massive wealth of ideas and experience!

All that you have to do is to register for you absolutely FREE account that will enable you to post you information and share ideas. More to that, a link to your site will give your fans a way to get to know you more.

So, welcome! to the Mifumi Blog, enjoy.

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