Arrest musicians who perform half-naked, MP tells police

Bugweri Woman MP Rachael Magoola has asked the government through Uganda police to rein in and arrest musicians who perform semi-naked at public gatherings to restore cultural values and value systems especially amongst the young population.

Speaking during a breakfast meeting on addressing child sexual violence in Uganda at Fairway Hotel on Wednesday in Kampala, the musician-turned politician, famous for her Obangainahit song in the late 1990s, reminded government that value systems are some of the biggest problems amongst Uganda’s young population.

“Musicians have resorted to indecent dressing with almost their private parts revealed while performing anywhere and it has been normalised. You (police) need to arrest these people because the young people, especially girls and irresponsible adult women have copied these dressing styles. How will a parent stop a child from dressing decently yet they (children) see their mother dress the way they wish? Our policies and value systems are standing on the head and the legs are in the air yet the value systems are stuck in our cultural values,” Magoola said.

According to her, the current generation views African culture as backward and associate it with witchcraft.

“When we talk of culture, in the current generation, people think it’s for the witch and they insult the person preaching decency. We have ignored who we are, to become who we are not, and become what we can’t handle through social media. We need to go back to the culture where the moral values and systems start from homes and churches. If you have the chairperson of Mother’s Union at church sitting down with women monthly and the women also sit down with their girls about the proper dress code and behaviour, we’ll have a decent society. Leaders at all levels have influence on their communities,” the legislator added.

Organised under the theme united for protection, elevating advocates and erasing harmful practices, the meeting sought to, among other objectives, promote positive social -cultural norms and practices that protect rights of children from sexual abuse and violence and increase support and commitment from government line ministries and policy makers to prioritise implementation of policies and strategies that address sexual violence.

Hope Nankunda, the Executive Director of Raising Teenagers Uganda, the Co-chair and the host organisation for The Brave Movement Uganda, said the united for protection campaign reflects a holistic approach that addresses the immediate needs of vulnerable children while promoting sustainable, community-driven strategies.

“This meeting is to catalyse collaboration among stakeholders and spark meaningful dialogue that will advance the collective mission of eliminating harmful practices affecting children and adolescents in Uganda. This will lead to more informed discussions and potentially early steps towards policy changes or interventions but also increased budget allocation towards child sexual abuse response in Uganda,” Nankunda said.

According to the 2023 Uganda police annual crime report, a total of 14, 846 sex-related cases, representing 6.5 percent of the overall registered crimes in this category countrywide, were reported to police compared to 14,693 cases reported in 2022, giving an increase of 1.4 percent.

The same report also says a total of 12,771 cases of defilement were reported to Police in 2023, compared to 12,580 cases reported in 2022, giving an increase by 1.5 percent in defilement cases registered countrywide. Of the defilement cases reported in 2022, 8,925 cases were defilement while 3,846 cases were aggravated defilement.

The report adds that out of the defilement cases reported in 2023, 5,564 cases were taken to Court. Of these, 2,402 cases were not proceeded with while 4,805 cases are still under inquiry. Out of the cases taken to court, 940 cases secured convictions, 38 cases were acquitted, 414 cases were dismissed and 4,172 cases are still pending in court. A total of 5,671 suspects of defilement were arrested and charged in court, out of whom, 982 were convicted, 56 were acquitted, 400 discharged while 4,233 were still awaiting trial.