Polygamy: Kyabazinga warns on big families
Oct 02, 2014
The Kyabazinga of Busoga, William Nadiope Gabula IV, has asked his subjects to avoid big, unplanned families, saying they have a negative impact on the region’s development.
By Charles Kakamwa
JINJA - The Kyabazinga of Busoga, William Nadiope Gabula IV, has asked his subjects to avoid big, unplanned families, saying they have a negative impact on the region’s development.
In a message read by the speaker of the Busoga Lukiiko (Parliament), George Mutyabule, Nadiope cautioned that though polygamy is acceptable in some religions, those who choose to enter such marriages should not do so without prior planning.
“There is a tendency by some men to use the extra money they earn to marry more wives, instead of investing it in profitable businesses,” said Mutyabule.
Mutyabule read the message during the first Lukiiko meeting at the kingdom headquarters in Bugembe, Jinja district this week.
He also noted that the Kyabazinga wants a solution to the declining academic standards in the region and land fragmentation, which he said are responsible for the area’s low agricultural productivity and high poverty levels.
Jinja district population officer Sula Buyinza recently revealed that the district’s population density was 640 persons per square kilometre.
The male to female ratio is 96:100 as per the 2002 National Housing and Population Census. He said the poverty rate in Jinja was 24% in 2009/2010 and 21% in 2012/2013.
The literacy rate is 72% compared to 93% in Kampala, while the net enrolment in secondary schools stands at 21% compared to the national rate of 54%.
In primary schools, enrolment stands at 85% compared to 88% in Kampala. There is a high fertility rate in Busoga associated with poor child and maternal health care and it stands at 7.1 children per mother compared to the national average of 6.9.
The meeting was convened to approve the 14-member interim executive committee headed by the executive director of the National Planning Authority Joseph Muvawala.
The committee is expected to come up with a strategic plan for the kingdom within 90 days.
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