Women free to wear miniskirts - Lokodo
Ladies enjoy music at a show in Kampala last year. The Ethics and Integrity minister, Fr Simon Lokodo, has made a U-turn on the miniskirt Bill. PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
By Stephen Otage
Posted Friday, January 17 2014 at 02:00
Posted Friday, January 17 2014 at 02:00
In Summary
Responding to a query from the Prime Minister, the Intergrity minister said the Bill was misinterpreted.
Kampala- Ethics and Integrity minister Simon Lokodo has said government has never banned the wearing of miniskirts because there is nothing immoral about wearing them in public.
Kampala- Ethics and Integrity minister Simon Lokodo has said government has never banned the wearing of miniskirts because there is nothing immoral about wearing them in public.
Fr Lokodo made the remarks when Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi pressed him to explain to the country how Parliament passed legislation against wearing miniskirts. Lokodo denied existence of such a law.
“Honourable Prime Minister, it is not true that a Bill was passed and there is no legislation against mini-skirts,” Fr Lokodo said.
“The Bill went through Cabinet and became a government Bill known as Anti-Pornography Bill, which condemns and makes a felony of any indecency and immoral behaviour and nowhere in the Bill ever appears the word miniskirt,” Fr Lokodo explained.
This was during the National Budget Consultative Conference attended by ministers, heads of government departments and agencies at in Kampala Serena Hotel yesterday.
The Secretary to the Treasury, Mr Keith Muhakanizi, sought to know whether Parliament inadvertently used its wisdom to come up with a law to check the uncontrollably growing population. It is then that Mr Mbabazi asked Fr Lokodo to shade light on the piece of legislation, which in the public eye had reduced Parliament into a House that had degenerated into trying to moderate what citizens wear.
The minister said that the only law he is aware of is the Anti-Pornography Bill which condemns and makes it a felony for any indecent and immoral behaviour. He emphasised that nowhere in the Bill or regulation therein ever appears the word ‘mini-skirt’ which in itself is not indecent.
Towards the end of last year, the Ugandan media was awash with reports that Parliament had passed the Anti-Pornography Bill, which banned women from wearing miniskirts and any material exposing their body parts and intended to cause sexual excitement. A cross section of women had vowed to defy it.
Towards the end of last year, the Ugandan media was awash with reports that Parliament had passed the Anti-Pornography Bill, which banned women from wearing miniskirts and any material exposing their body parts and intended to cause sexual excitement. A cross section of women had vowed to defy it.
Fr Lokodo was quoted saying women wearing anything above the knee would be arrested but yesterday he seemed to retract the line.
![The new legislation outlaws such outfits.]()
MPs pass Bill against miniskirts
The new legislation outlaws wearing such outfits.
By Yasiin Mugerwa & Nelson Wesonga
Posted Thursday, December 19 2013 at 22:00
Posted Thursday, December 19 2013 at 22:00
In Summary
The Bill defines pornography as any cultural practice, form of behaviour or form of communication or speech or information or literature or publication in whole or in part or news story or entertainment or stage play or broadcast or music or dance or art or graphic or picture or photography or video recording or leisure activity or show or exhibition.
Parliament- Parliament yesterday passed the Anti-pornography Bill, 2011, a new piece of legislation that seeks among others to ban wearing of miniskirts and further clarify the offence of pornography in Uganda’s laws.
Parliament- Parliament yesterday passed the Anti-pornography Bill, 2011, a new piece of legislation that seeks among others to ban wearing of miniskirts and further clarify the offence of pornography in Uganda’s laws.
The government rode on its view that pornography has become such an “insidious social problem” in the country to get the Bill through Parliament. While some lawmakers claimed that the bill violates people’s rights, majority agreed with the government and enacted the Bill.
“With the enactment of the Bill, my dream has been fulfilled,” said Fr Simon Lokodo, the Ethics minister.
However, some MPs complained that the Bill’s definition of pornography was too broad and that it went against Uganda’s tradition of being tolerant of cultural diversity.
The Bill provides for the creation of the Anti-Corruption Committee that will implement the law.
Mr Steven Tashobya, the chairperson of the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee whose docket administered the Bill, said pornography fuels sexual crimes against children and women, including rape and child molestation.
The committee said that though the various laws already in existence prohibit pornography, there is no single law to comprehensively deal with the problem of pornography.
What the Bill says
The Bill defines pornography as any cultural practice, form of behaviour or form of communication or speech or information or literature or publication in whole or in part or news story or entertainment or stage play or broadcast or music or dance or art or graphic or picture or photography or video recording or leisure activity or show or exhibition.
It also prohibits any combination of the preceding that depicts unclothed or under clothed parts of the human body such as breasts, thighs, buttocks and genitalia, a person engaged in explicit sexual activities or conduct; erotic behaviour intended to cause sexual excitement and any indecent act or behaviour tending to corrupt morals.