By Hillary Keingana
BUSHENYI; The Minister of State for Public Service, Grace Mary Mugasa, has cautioned women against using financial independence as a tool to overstep and undermine their husbands.
The Minister cited disrespect as a leading cause of domestic violence and marital breakdown in families/communities.
Mugasa was on Friday presiding over the belated International Women’s Day celebrations for Bushenyi District. The celebrations were held at Kakanju play grounds under the theme: “Scaling Up Investment to Accelerate Access to Justice for All Women and Girls in Uganda.”
As part of the celebrations, Minister Mugasa commissioned a water distribution network/line for the 11.8-billion-shilling implemented by the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC)-Warugo Water project.
The Minister cautioned women saying, “the financial success which we as women have attained should not alter the traditional respect accorded to our spouses/husbands.”
“A man remains a man. Don’t ask him to prove that he is a man. Some of you think that when a man doesn’t have money, he is not man enough,” Mugasa said.
The Minister noted that women often become overly critical of their partners once their own economic status improves. She urged couples to work as a team rather than competitors.
“When you get more money and start despising your husband, he will fight back. This also applies to men as well don’t get money and start undermining your wife because she will fire back and your marriage will be no more,” she warned.
The Bushenyi District Woman MP, Annet Katusiime Mugisha called for social balance, advocating for the empowerment of the neglected boy child.
Thanking President Yoweri Museveni for enabling women to leadership roles, Katusiime noted that the focus on girls has left boys lagging behind.
“We now have a challenge of the boy child feeling being neglected. Let us not try to strike a balance,” Katusiime said.
The Bushenyi district Women’s Council chairperson, Yudaya Nakanwagi Mwesigye and the district Chairperson Jafari Basajabalaba called for the increase of funds towards women’s activities. The NWSC Managing Director Dr. Eng Silver Mugisha appealed to locals to ensure there is conservation of water sources if the commissioned water project is to sustain water supply. End.
