Tororo Woman MP Sarah Achieng Opendi has asked the Education Ministry to ban secular musicians from performing schools across Uganda. Opendi said on the house floor on Thursday that as a mother, she felt concerned about the way musicians dress and behave when performing in schools. Without citing names, she said secular artistes are often “almost naked” in front of young students.
“I also want to find out whether there are no guidelines governing these concerts in schools. And if they are there, I want to request the Ministry of Education and that of Ethics to ensure that schools are properly guided. If they cannot adhere to the good moral values, can these concerts in these schools be banned?” she said.
Opendi accused the education ministry of paying no attention to the how young teens are being influenced.
“We also saw during the last graduation students dressed almost naked in graduation gowns. Most of you saw this. So Rt Hon Speaker we need to bring up our children with good morals. We need to bring up our children while they respect themselves and their bodies,” she noted. In response, State Minister for Primary Education Moriku Kaducu said she supported decency during school concerts, but stressed that “dancing should not be banned.”
Kaducu added that her ministry is alive to this situation, adding that even recently, they reprimanded students of Lubiri Secondary School who were captured dancing seductively on a school bus.
Reacting on the matter, Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa questioned how young people behave themselves recently.
“We all used to dance at school but the dancing of these days; I don’t know what has happened. Because colleagues, it seems nowadays, to dance; number one, your dress must be very short,” he observed.
“Then you must dance when the head is facing down, the back facing up. I don’t know what is going on” On his part, Kira Municipality Legislator Semujju Nganda however argued that this debate is trivial especially considering the nature of work that MPs handle.
“In my faith, she (Opendi) is also indecently dressed. I have gone to Karamoja to do Parliamentary work, I have found people who are not dressed the way people in Buganda dress. In my constituency I have seen people from Bugisu wrestling down adults, undressing them and doing circumcision in public. In their area it is decent,” he submitted.
