God save Migyera
May 30, 2008
“GOD save that town!†a nun exclaims as the Masindi-bound Isuzu bus slows down at Migyera township, about 200km north of Kampala.
By Frederick Kiwanuka
“GOD save that town!†a nun exclaims as the Masindi-bound Isuzu bus slows down at Migyera township, about 200km north of Kampala.
It is dusk. As I make my way from the bus stage, a skimpily dressed young woman says: “Ki bboosi, mpa ku ssente,†(Hi boss, please spend some money on me).
Migyera, a one-street township in Naksaongola district on the Kampala-Gulu highway, has a double character.
In the daytime, it is a mere stretch of tarmac lined with a few shops on either side. There are numerous lodges, the biggest one being Mamba inn, where clients pay sh7,000 for a single room.
At night, Migyera turns into a lively hub of human traffic. Music blares from the numerous bars. The patrons, including adventurous residents, visitors and travellers, spend their hard-earned cash on booze, roast meats and women.
Following the opening of the southern Sudanese border and because of ‘harassment’ in Kampala, scores of female ‘economic migrants’ have come here to make quick money through sex.
Unlike Kampala where they are rounded up and charged with being idle and disorderly, in Migyera they entertain customers with their bodies without being hounded.
Joan, 30, works in one of the numerous bars in Migyera. She, too, sells sex, but only after the last beer customer leaves or during the day when the pub is closed. “When I get a ‘side job’ I do it,†she says.
Olive, 30 came from Kabale to work in a bar, but soon found out that selling her body was more lucrative. Ashey, a skinny woman aged 23, says she came from Mpererwe in Kampala, where she abandoned her two children. As she narrates her story, the in charge of the brothel, a slightly older woman who also doubles as a sex worker, reminds her that she did not pay the 4,000 for the previous day. “I did not get customers, but when I get I will pay,†she tells her boss.
According to Senyonga Wasswa, an LC4 councillor in the area, many buildings have been turned into brothels, although some are not labelled as such. The charge per room averages sh4,000 per sexual encounter. It is from the cubicles in these buildings that the young women offer their services for prices ranging between sh2,000 to 20,000, depending on the client’s appearance and the day of the week.
The price is higher on weekends and Thursdays, when the demand is higher. Thursday is the cattle market day, when the herdsmen come springing like Amalinze the cat, with swollen pockets, after selling their stock. Some of the clients, especially Sudanese businessmen, pay in dollars.
Not surprisingly, the main street of Migyera is a favourite night parking spot for long-distance drivers from Kampala to northern Uganda or southern Sudan. Heavy trucks and four-wheel-drive vehicles belonging to local and international NGOs, United Nations agencies and businessmen jam the street at night. Come 6:00pm, the trucks form long lines on either side of the road, leaving a narrow passage in the middle.
As if to raise money for booze and women, the drivers use this spot to siphon fuel out of the vehicles.
During off-peak hours, the majority of the sex workers aged between 14 and 40 remain indoors preparing meals and smoking pipes, while others roam the town.
Juliet, 22, says she came all the way from Abayita Ababiri on Entebbe Road to make money. From here she wants to try Juba, in southern Sudan. Whereas the sex buyers enjoy themselves to the fullest, the trade is causing an outcry in the surrounding communities.
They say it has damaged the image of their town, threatens to spoil their girls and has contributed to the spread of HIV/AIDS. Wasswa claims some married women and school girls have joined the business.
And because of the trade, children are exposed to used condoms and torn knickers, which litter the place. Several of the sex workers claim they use condoms, but according to Rogers Sekakoni, who runs a drug shop in Migyera, condom sales are low.
According Wasswa, several Nakasongola-based NGOs have offered to give the residents free condoms, but they end up in shops where they are sold.
What with the booming sex trade, Migyera is full of strange stories. There is one of a Sudanese business man who paid a sex worker and took her into a room. Unknown to her, three Sudanese men had taken cover in the room. One by one, they had their fill and she had to be hospitalised. Unable to handle the gossip, she tip-toed out of the town, never to be seen again. So as the nun said: “God save Migyera.â€
“GOD save that town!†a nun exclaims as the Masindi-bound Isuzu bus slows down at Migyera township, about 200km north of Kampala.
It is dusk. As I make my way from the bus stage, a skimpily dressed young woman says: “Ki bboosi, mpa ku ssente,†(Hi boss, please spend some money on me).
Migyera, a one-street township in Naksaongola district on the Kampala-Gulu highway, has a double character.
In the daytime, it is a mere stretch of tarmac lined with a few shops on either side. There are numerous lodges, the biggest one being Mamba inn, where clients pay sh7,000 for a single room.
At night, Migyera turns into a lively hub of human traffic. Music blares from the numerous bars. The patrons, including adventurous residents, visitors and travellers, spend their hard-earned cash on booze, roast meats and women.
Following the opening of the southern Sudanese border and because of ‘harassment’ in Kampala, scores of female ‘economic migrants’ have come here to make quick money through sex.
Unlike Kampala where they are rounded up and charged with being idle and disorderly, in Migyera they entertain customers with their bodies without being hounded.
Joan, 30, works in one of the numerous bars in Migyera. She, too, sells sex, but only after the last beer customer leaves or during the day when the pub is closed. “When I get a ‘side job’ I do it,†she says.
Olive, 30 came from Kabale to work in a bar, but soon found out that selling her body was more lucrative. Ashey, a skinny woman aged 23, says she came from Mpererwe in Kampala, where she abandoned her two children. As she narrates her story, the in charge of the brothel, a slightly older woman who also doubles as a sex worker, reminds her that she did not pay the 4,000 for the previous day. “I did not get customers, but when I get I will pay,†she tells her boss.
According to Senyonga Wasswa, an LC4 councillor in the area, many buildings have been turned into brothels, although some are not labelled as such. The charge per room averages sh4,000 per sexual encounter. It is from the cubicles in these buildings that the young women offer their services for prices ranging between sh2,000 to 20,000, depending on the client’s appearance and the day of the week.
The price is higher on weekends and Thursdays, when the demand is higher. Thursday is the cattle market day, when the herdsmen come springing like Amalinze the cat, with swollen pockets, after selling their stock. Some of the clients, especially Sudanese businessmen, pay in dollars.
Not surprisingly, the main street of Migyera is a favourite night parking spot for long-distance drivers from Kampala to northern Uganda or southern Sudan. Heavy trucks and four-wheel-drive vehicles belonging to local and international NGOs, United Nations agencies and businessmen jam the street at night. Come 6:00pm, the trucks form long lines on either side of the road, leaving a narrow passage in the middle.
As if to raise money for booze and women, the drivers use this spot to siphon fuel out of the vehicles.
During off-peak hours, the majority of the sex workers aged between 14 and 40 remain indoors preparing meals and smoking pipes, while others roam the town.
Juliet, 22, says she came all the way from Abayita Ababiri on Entebbe Road to make money. From here she wants to try Juba, in southern Sudan. Whereas the sex buyers enjoy themselves to the fullest, the trade is causing an outcry in the surrounding communities.
They say it has damaged the image of their town, threatens to spoil their girls and has contributed to the spread of HIV/AIDS. Wasswa claims some married women and school girls have joined the business.
And because of the trade, children are exposed to used condoms and torn knickers, which litter the place. Several of the sex workers claim they use condoms, but according to Rogers Sekakoni, who runs a drug shop in Migyera, condom sales are low.
According Wasswa, several Nakasongola-based NGOs have offered to give the residents free condoms, but they end up in shops where they are sold.
What with the booming sex trade, Migyera is full of strange stories. There is one of a Sudanese business man who paid a sex worker and took her into a room. Unknown to her, three Sudanese men had taken cover in the room. One by one, they had their fill and she had to be hospitalised. Unable to handle the gossip, she tip-toed out of the town, never to be seen again. So as the nun said: “God save Migyera.â€