Law student who was denied entry to campus because her 'skirt was too short'

“…Apparently, skirts like mine attract the boys and men that we study with and bar them from concentrating.”

When Joaninne Nanyange, a law student studying in Kampala, Uganda, showed up to the Law Development Centre to attend classes, two uniformed police women reportedly stopped her and  asked her to pull down her skirt “to see how far down it could go.”

Bewildered, Nanyange told the women that her knee-length skirt couldn’t be pulled down any further. At this point, she was allegedly told that she couldn’t enter the campus to attend class. 

Today, dressed like this, I went to the Law Development Centre to attend classes. Unlike all other days, I saw two women seated right outside the Centre's gate, one dressed in a Khaki Police uniform. It was an unusual sight and I thought there was something or someone epic on campus. I got off the boda boda and walked towards the gate. The uniformed woman flagged me down and being the law abiding citizen that I am, I stopped. She asked me to

Nanyange talks about the incident in a Facebook post that has now gone viral:

“The other woman, ever with a very satisfied grin, told me I could not access the campus because my skirt was not long enough for LDC standards,” wrote Nanyange. “I was shocked. Yes. Shocked. Seeing the bewilderment on my face, the two women laboured to explain. Apparently, skirts like mine attract the boys and men that we study with and bar them from concentrating. So they could not be allowed!!!!!!”

Nanyange believes that patriarchy has been so widely institutionalized that some feel the need to  create “de facto” dress codes and pass rules controlling women’s bodies. In an interview with BBC’s “World Have Your Say” Nanyange reiterated that her skirt wasn’t even that short, even for legal professional standards.

“…The reason they gave me, it wasn’t about the fact that maybe your profession requires you to have this length of skirt, it was about the fact that if you go with this length of skirt, you’re going to distract the men and boys that you’re studying with in class. That is really what I found most shocking and more infuriating because I think we can do better than that.”

In her Facebook message, she ponders why she should miss her classes “because men cannot control their sexual urges.”

Comments on her post were in Nanyange’s favor, including, “I was about to laugh but the thought that this is actually real filled my eyes with tears. This is blatant humiliation, and the most trivial aspect of anything an institution should deal with.”

“I work hard, and I manage to pay the…required (amount) for LDC’s tuition. But I can’t access the campus to attend my classes because when ‘my brothers’ look at my knees and legs, they will get erections,” she poignantly concludes.

In Uganda, Legislators Burial to Cost Shs68 Million Each

Death always comes at a cost not just in terms of the emotions it evokes but in actual money spent. While the end is the same, the cost of the funeral will always vary depending on one's status in society. The higher the status, the more the money that will be spent on the funeral.

A lot of the costs fall on the shoulders of the bereaved, relatives and friends. For those in gainful employment, the employers will usually subsidise the funeral expenses

It is in that light that Parliament plans to spend Shs67.7m on burial expenses for each MP who dies.

Last week, Parliament invited bids to identify service providers who are interested in offering funeral services to the national assembly.

The budget

Perusal of the Parliament budget shows that Parliament has budgeted for an estimated five deaths this year, making a total of Shs338,680,000 planned expenses on burial of MPs.

Parliament's public relations manager Helen Kaweesa said yesterday that the national assembly footing burial costs of MPs is not new, but it is only that this time round, it will be provided for in the official budget. She said Parliament has been meeting costs of its dead personnel.

"The Parliamentary Commission caters for funeral expenses of its staff and members of Parliament. We have to pre-qualify service providers because it is government money and we have been doing it all along," she said.

Every three years, as per procurement law, Parliament is supposed to pre-qualify service providers to create a pool from which the national assembly can pick companies to offer services. It's the reason the advert inviting service providers was published.

Daily Monitor learnt that currently, Parliament has only one service provider, Uganda Funeral Services, and wants to add "at least two more in the pool."

"Parliament does not pay for services pronto. Last year, we lost three MPs in one week and the single service provider we have was over-stretched. Businesses in Uganda don't have a lot of money; so if you ask a service provider to cater for three funerals [in succession], yet you will pay them after three months, it becomes hard on them. We need to ease service delivery," said a Parliament official who declined to be named because he is not the spokesperson.

Speaking to Daily Monitor yesterday, Ms Regina Mukiibi, the managing director of Uganda Funeral Services, declined to divulge details of the package they usually offer to Parliament for funeral expenses.

She, however, said costs for the funeral services "depend on what someone wants to be included."

The breakdown

A breakdown of expenditure of the Shs67.7m for a dead MP includes buying a state-of-the-art casket rated as American Casket at Shs6m, Shs5.5m for the grave, Shs4.5m for Order of Service books, Shs15m on feeding mourners and Shs17.5m on allowances for police.

Ms Kaweesa said although staff of Parliament also benefit from the funeral services, it is not the same as for the MPs.

Ayivu county MP Bernard Atiku said Parliament is right to meet burial costs of MPs because every institution plans for any eventualities.

Gomba District Woman MP Sylvia Nayebare supports the proposal. She says Parliament should be able to bury its members if not for anything but a show of togetherness.

"It is right. Like any other institution, it shows harmony and togetherness. It is right only if it is not overshot. I don't think we would lose over five or more from 427 MPs," she said.

The public, however, is not agitated about the move.

"As MPs representing constituencies, they are employed by an institution. Like any employees, burial expense is a perk. However, this needs to be reasonable. With an overburdened taxpayer, such costs should be symbolic and in kind. The amounts being mooted are not only out of touch with reality but are obscene. This can create a negative backlash. Government and Parliament need not be out of sync with an overburdened populace," public relations expert Jimmy Kiberu said.

Public speaks out

Journalist and social media commentator Grace Natabalo says Parliament footing burial costs for MPs is "an unnecessary burden on the tax payers given the number of MPs in the House."

"They can afford to cater for it (individually). MPs should be able to contribute to their own funerals through insurance and then Parliament can provide extra support such as transporting the body. The MPs seem to be enjoying too many perks and there has to be a limit. We cannot cater to their every need," she said.

What they say

Helen Kaweesa, Parliament public relations manager.

"The Parliamentary Commission caters for funeral expenses of its staff and members of Parliament. We have to pre-qualify service providers because it is government money and we have been doing it all along."

Source: The Monitor

Ugandan Students Strike Over Mini-Skirt Ban

More than 1,300 students of Aduku Secondary School, Apac District, have been sent home following a violent strike which resulted into the destruction of school property worth about Shs100 million.

School authorities said the last Saturday night strike was sparked off by a ban on wearing of mini-skirts and tight trousers.

Last week, the school administration confiscated all mini-skirts and tight trousers, a move which reportedly annoyed the students. Aduku SS is an Anglican-founded mixed O and A-level boarding school.

Before the strike, the students had also claimed that they were not comfortable with having porridge for breakfast early in the morning at 6am, the time when they should still be enjoying their sleep.

The headmaster, Mr Patrick Okwir Angulo, said last term, they issued a circular to all parents warning that mini-skirts and tight trousers would not be allowed in school. This was after it was realised that girls cut their long skirts and saw them into mini-skirts. Boys were also reducing the sise of their normal trousers making them tight.

"During the opening of this term, teachers were deployed at the school gate to check the kind of uniforms students had come with," Mr Okwir told Daily Monitor in a telephone interview on Sunday evening.

Mini-skirts and tight trousers were confiscated and cut into pieces. But those that could be resized were kept in the school store and will be given back to the owners at the end of the term.

The headmaster said that was a way of instilling discipline in the students and added that the wearing of non uniforms at school has been banned.

The culprits

But a group of about 10 students from Senior Three allegedly mobilised and spearheaded the strike last Saturday. They reportedly pulled down a wall fence measuring 307 metres, which they say limited their movement outside the school.

"They also tried to push down the wall fence from the girls' wing, but the girls never came out to join them in the strike," Mr Okwir said.

He said the students broke into the computer laboratory and destroyed all the computers by pouring sewerage on them. The protesters also broke all the window panes.

The district police commander, Mr Alfonse Ojangole, and the district education officer, Mr Billy Okunyu, visited the school on Sunday and talked to the students before they were all sent home for 10 days.

This newspaper understands that there will be a joint Parents Teachers' Association (PTA) and Board of Governor meeting on Wednesday to agree on a way forward.

The strike

A group of about 10 students from Senior Three allegedly mobilised and spearheaded the strike on Saturday. They reportedly pulled down a wall fence measuring 307 metres, which they say limited their movement outside the school.