Developing Knowledge Societies: A Case of Women in Kanungu District

Introduction

Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa, with Sudan to the north, Kenya to the east, Lake Victoria Rwanda and Tanzania to the south, and Zaire (Congo) to the west. Her population was of diverse ethnic groups, who were organized either in kingdoms with hereditary kings (Buganda, Ankole, Toro, Bunyoro) or Chiefdoms (Kigezi, Teso, Acholi, Karamoja, Madi, West Nile, and other parts of Uganda). The indigenous communities were socially well organized because of systems where children were socialized to become active and useful members of society. Girls were trained to be good mothers and boys were trained to be heads of families.

Social economic developments in education, religious beliefs, health education and use of modern as opposed to traditional medicine, and, a transition from a subsistence to a cash economy, took place during the colonial period-(1895-1962) . The boys and girls had to learn skills that would make them fit into the changing environment that was being influenced by the Arab-European and African cultures and practices. One way to learn new practices was through women organizations and clubs, which were formed by women who had some western education. Christian based organizations like Mothers Union and Catholic Women taught girls and women sewing, knitting, child welfare, nutrition, house-keeping and cooking. The organizations were useful in development of knowledge, skills and learning of new cultural practices, but few seem to have taught women to challenge the unequal gender relations, have an identity of their own not dependent on male relatives (husband, father or brothers).

During the early colonial era, women and girls were mainly considered as home-makers and economic assets where families exchanged bride price. Few writers mentioned women and children, for example, An Economic History of Ankole c.1895-c.1919 Master of Arts thesis by Peace Twine Kalekyezi. Men were trained and forced to grow cash crops-cotton or coffee and later on tea, to earn an income so that they could pay government tax. The economic trends greatly impacted on the political development. People who paid homage to local kings, started to be ruled by Chiefs of a central government that enforced its presence with tax collection.

Education¹ was introduced with religion and new beliefs were embraced changing some cultural practices, which continued to favour men against women. Education for women was introduced gradually as the British felt that the educated men needed educated women to influence society. The women that got some Western education were confined into care service jobs like teaching and nursing while majority of women stayed home to do unpaid work as wives and mothers while working on clan land cultivating or taking care of livestock and its products. Women continued to teach children customs and traditions concerned with family life revolve around assuring men’s control of women’s sexuality(in order to have offspring and lineage)and a woman’s labour (in order to sustain the families). The Rising Tide-Ugandan Women’s Struggle for a Public Voice 1940-2002, FOWODE, Edited by Winnie Byanyima and Richard Mugisha, 2003, page 240.

In 1966 the Buganda problem² got Uganda into phases of violence and unrest in different parts of the country. It was during such phases of unrest that women would get involved in economic and social practices that used to be areas for men. The Economic War of mid 1970’s led to women getting into petty trading alongside men, many of who were engaged in smuggling essential commodities into the country and taking out cash crops for better prices. Education that was a vehicle for change was neglected and there was increase in school drop- out. Girls were considered only good for marriage. The few who were educated struggled to get and keep jobs and run families. The war affected Ugandans and Kigezi (Kanungu, Kisoro and Rukungiri) region felt the impact due to neighboring countries of Congo Zaire, and Rwanda where youth and men took political or and sometimes economic refugee.

A five (5) year guerrilla warfare (1981-1986) was not only a climax of Uganda’s political problems, it was also a beginning of wars that affected the north while the south struggled out of under-development. The National Resistance Army/Movement (NRA/M) that came into leadership of Uganda started on rehabilitation of Uganda’s economy, and building up democratic governance institutions.