Qualities of a good father

THE Cambridge dictionary says a father is a man who makes a woman pregnant to become the father of a child. But society demands much more. Not every man who has a child is father. Maureen Nakatudde asked religious leaders for their definition of a good father.

THE Cambridge dictionary says a father is a man who makes a woman pregnant to become the father of a child. But society demands much more. Not every man who has a child is father. Maureen Nakatudde asked religious leaders for their definition of a good father.

Masitula Namugenyi,
Counselling psychologist at Kibuli
A good father should be a role model. Always be what you want your children to be like. If you are a drunkard and a womanizer, don’t be surprised when your children start indulging in such behaviour earlier in life. He should not listen to rumours, especially about his family. Get evidence first before taking action. A father should be accommodating, remember you are not only a father to your children but to also other people. Be a source of advice and wisdom to the offspring and community. Lastly, show love by rewarding good behaviour and complementing children on the good they have done.

Sheikh Muhammad Kizza Kasule,
Imam at Wandegeya Mosque
A good father should be God-fearing, whatever religion. God should be respected in every man’s family. When you fear God, things work themselves out in a family. A good father ensures a good family, first by picking a good, religious wife and second by raising Godly children. He should also play the role of father to other people’s children by disciplining and being a good example to them. How can you date your fellow man’s daughter?
Why don’t you take it as incest? You are sleeping with your daughters!
Always show equal love to all your children. Prophet Yakob produced 12 and he loved Yusuf more than the others. The other siblings didn’t like it and conspired to destroy him.
Yakob suffered anguish he could have avoided had he not discriminated among his children. A good father must remember that love is part of marriage. So are conflicts. If a father has a misunderstanding with his wife, he should never reprimand her in front of her children. Solve your marriage conflicts far way from the children so that they are not affected in any way.

Pastor Fred Wantaante,
Makerere Full
Gospel Church

A good father should always love his wife, make her secure and feel that his home is hers too. That is the biggest gift you can give to your children. He must work hard to support his family.

Reverend Canon Dr. John Ebong,
Chaplain at St. Francis Chapel Makerere University Fatherhood is a very serious vocation. And it is wider than begetting. A person can become a father through adoption. There are people who have never had children - like religious, traditional and other local leaders, who are referred to as fathers by the people they are in charge of especially the Catholic congregation or orphaned children in their care.

And once a father, always a father. Even when calamity claims all your children. So you need to play the parental role all the time. It is even important to know at what point in life you become a father. Should it be by choice or by accident? Before 18, you can become a father if you impregnate a girl. However, you are too young and unprepared to take care of the family. Some even take off and leave the mother and the kid to sort themselves out. That is why we advise abstinence till you are able to father a child. Without parental guidance, an illegitimate child will have gaps in their personality when they grow up.

A good father should not be a dictator. He should always encourage family dialogue especially in conflict resolutions. And even for acquiring property, the family should be involved so that there is continuity in the unfortunate case of death.

A good father always discipline in love, not in anger. How does a father injure his children in the course of disciplining them?
He must be modern. The concept of father in the traditional setting has changed, and a good father must match up with the trends in parenting. Take your children out; take them to a good restaurant, hotel or beach.