{UAH} Shortage of women hits Buganda

Almost all the rural districts in Buganda have more men than women

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4 hours ago . 9 min Read

Shortage of women hits Buganda

A total of 25,605 girls left for various jobs in the Middle East in five months, between December last year and April this year, compared to 2,628 men.

Francis Kagolo

Journalist @New Vision

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A shortage of women for courtship in Baganda due to rural-urban migration and labour export is alarming the residents and breaking families, writes Francis Kagolo

Potholed and dusty, Bamunanika road pierces through forests of mango trees just after Kaliro-Katono town towards Kiteme parish, 6km from Wobulenzi. The trees have not only supported the booming mango business for decades but also provide shelter to the men who frequent small trading centres after their morning chores.

 To a visitor, the men look happy as they sip on their beer under the mango trees. However, the drunken stupor is just masking a problem that is threatening to dismantle the village's moral fabric.

Most men are ‹ single which has also increased alcohol abuse.

In Kasenke, a trading centre bordering Malungu and Kasolo villages, Matiya Ssekiranda, 50, paints this problem. "We live in anxiety. I may be the only one who is married among 10 neighbours. You cannot live happily knowing that your neighbours are single and have no option other than your wife. It is too much!" he says, pointing to the shortage of women in the area.

Ssekiranda says he lost his first wife and mother of his five children to another man over a decade ago and only managed to remarry after about five years. "When you have a wife, you cannot settle. There are no women for men to date, let alone marry. It is a problem that is worsening by the day,"he adds.

Edward Katumba, 35, who also attests to having lost his wife under similar circumstances, attributed the problem to the fact that many young girls leave the villages immediately after completing or dropping out school. "The problem is that there are no girls here.

Women have limited opportunities in villages. There are no jobs yet the women want a good life," he says, adding that most of the girls have left the village to work as maids and bar waitresses in Kampala and other neighbouring towns, like Wobulenzi, Kasana and Matugga.

 Others, he said, have left for domestic work abroad. This is not farfetched, a gender ministry report shows that Uganda exports thousands of girls to work mainly as housemaids in the Middle East every year. A total of 25,605 girls left for various jobs in the Middle East in five months, between December last year and April this year, compared to 2,628 men. Of the girls who left, 97.9% (25,082) took up housemaid jobs in Saudi Arabia alone.

 Hajati Samim Nsereko, the founder of Kauthar, a centre training girl before going to work in Saudi Arabia, says most of them come from the central region. "These girls come from various districts, such as Masaka, Luwero and Wakiso. Central region is followed by eastern, mainly from the districts of Jinja and Mbale," she says. "Therefore, I cannot rule out the shortage of women.

Hundreds of girls leave every week. There are 210 licensed labour export companies. At my centre alone, we used to train over 900 girls every week before COVID-19 hit. We are now training 300." "Our villages have old women. You often hear that someone has defiled a young girl," Katumba adds. "Most men are single, which has also increased alcohol abuse as they have no one to account to. Men going for married women is the order of the day." Fred Masagazi, the former LC1 chairperson of Malungu, concurs: "The situation is bad. If a single man has not slept with a neighbour's wife, they will most likely end up defiling someone's daughter."

Some of the girls wearing hijabs destined for domestic work in the United Arab Emirates at Entebbe Airport recently. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba)

RURAL-URBAN EXODUS

 The 2014 population census report revealed that the majority (51%) of the 34.6 million Ugandans were females. Among the Baganda, females accounted for 51.6%. However, the report indicates that the rate of urbanisation is highest in the central region with more Baganda opting to settle in urban areas. In 2014, 41.1% (over 2.28 million) of the Baganda lived in urban centres, the highest in the country.

Consequently, almost all the rural districts in Buganda have more men than women. According to the census report, by 2014, only eight of the 24 districts and city then, had a higher female population than that of males. The number of districts in the central region where the female population is the highest, reduced from 15 in 2002.

 

For instance, in Luwero, the female population was 49%, lower than the national average. The island districts of Kalangala and Buvuma are the worst hit, with the female population accounting for only 42.8% and 45.6%, respectively. These are followed by Nakaseke, where the female population is 45%.

In Kiboga, the female population is 47.9% and 48% in Nakasongola. In comparison, almost all the districts in other regions, save for some areas in Western Uganda, have more women than men, according to the report. In the 32 districts of eastern Uganda (including Busoga subregion) only two — Bukwo and Kween — had a higher male than female population.

All the 10 cities and municipalities in Buganda, save for Mubende and Lugazi, have more women than men, according to the census report, confirming that the women dominate the rural-urban exodus. Godfrey Tumukunde Sseguya, the LC1 chairperson of KasoloKitobola in Bamunanika subcounty, Luwero district, estimates that only about 13% of all the 300 residents in the village are women aged 18-40 years, including those still in school. In contrast, he estimates that 25% of the residents are single men above 18 years.

 

MENGO SPEAKS OUT

Buganda Kingdom minister of education, health and gender Prosperous Nankindu Kavuma, who is also in charge of the Nabagereka (queen's) office affairs, said the trend is worrying because, previously, men in urban centres would look for wives from the villages. "It shows that men are abandoning their cultural and religious responsibility of looking after their wives and providing for their families.

This could be the reason why many girls go to towns and abroad to make money to take care of their children," she said. She called for education reforms to ensure that the children learn that marriage and family are still important even after attaining education. She urged parents to teach children to value their ancestry and learn to make money in villages, citing herself as a committed farmer.

Luwero is not the only affected district. In other areas, like Mityana, residents said they are getting wives from western Uganda and as far as Rwanda and Burundi. Charles Bukenya, 40, the LC1 chairperson of Lunyolya in Namungo sub-county, Mityana district, said after losing his first companion of three years to a wife-grabber, he used his church's gospel mission in Rakai to return home with a Munyarwanda wife from Mutukula. "Most of the girls you see at the village are about 14 years, but are already 'spoilt'. They move to the town immediately after dropping out of school and by the time they return, they are behaving like prostitutes," Bukenya says. Like the tales from Bamunanika, Bukenya said prostitution has engulfed most towns in Mityana.

WHAT SHOULD BE DONE

According to Katumba, there is a need to extend services, such as electricity, safe water and employment opportunities, to make villages attractive to the young women. "We need those who do not want to engage in farming to find something else to do in the villages. We also need a mindset change for people to know that you can make money in the village. Most of those girls who go to the Middle East return with sh5m-sh7m after about two years.

Any person who works hard can earn that money locally," Tumukunde says. "When I was growing up, families kept all their children at home until the boys were mature enough to work and live independently or when the girls are ready for marriage.

But, now, even a 15-year-old girl is sent away to make money and look after the parents. This is because most of the people in the villages are lazy," he adds. "The Government should be strict on the working age so that children can stay at home until they reach the right age," he adds.

Nsereko also challenged men to work hard and take up their responsibility, arguing that most of the girls who go abroad leave behind boyfriends and husbands who are incapable of providing for their families.

 

IMPORTED WIVES

n March 2017, Sunday Vision reported that men in Luwero district were paying brokers to bring women for them from Busoga. By then, men paid between sh20,000 and sh50,000, then waited for less than a week for wives to be delivered at their door steps. More than 10 men had benefitted. "Basoga are hard working. Our ancestors used to seek wives from there too.

 

My home is an example. I have two of them. Marrying both of them did not cost me more than sh100,000. And we are living in peace," one of the men said then. Many of the wives, it is said, if they are above 30 years old, they are usually widows or come from broken marriages. Today, Katumba says Malungu village alone has more than 15 men who got wives from Busoga. "Some men have two wives. The brokers have also increased," he adds.

 Of recent, young men look for women in other areas. Godfrey Tumukunde Sseguya, the LC1 chairperson of KasoloKitobola in Bamunanika sub-county, Luwero district, says this happens mostly after the mango season in June and December, when most of them have earned some money. With the proceeds from the mango business, Tumukunde says, the youth often travel to the districts of Masindi and Hoima in Bunyoro and Mubende where they return with women. However, Fred Walusimbi, a bicycle mechanic in Bamunanika town, who is also one of the brokers, says the demand for Basoga women is unrivalled. "Basoga women are good. I got one 11 years ago and we now have four children. They are hardworking and are obedient," he said.

He, however, says the fee has since increased from sh20,000 because he, and other brokers, now have to involve the girls' families for it not to appear as another form of human trafficking. He says this arose after two men assaulted their 'imported' wives which forced him to temporarily halt the business. "It now requires about sh120,000 to get a wife from Busoga. We use sh20,000 to buy sugar for the woman's parents," he says, adding: "Although most of the women we bring are single mothers of two or three children, we do not want them to come without the knowledge of their relatives."

Walusimbi explained that the rest of the money is used to cater for the transport of the woman and one of her relatives to the man's home. The relative stays for a few days before they return back to Busoga. "I have many contacts in the districts of Jinja, Kamuli and Iganga where it takes less than a week to get a woman. We have so many single men. I just want to help them. Those who appreciate give me something (money)," Walusimbi said.

WHAT RESIDENTS SAY

Edward Katumba, resident of Malungu

Women have limited opportunities in villages. There are no jobs yet they want a good life.

Matiya Ssekiranda, resident of Malungu

You cannot live happily knowing that your neighbours are single and have no option other than your wife.

Godfrey Tumukunde Sseguya, LC1 chairperson Kasolo-Kitobola

Only about 13% of the 300 residents in my village are women, aged 18-40 years.

Fred Walusimbi, broker of women from Busoga

It requires about sh120,000 to get a wife from Busoga. We use sh20,000 to buy sugar for the parents

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