Uganda’s ‘performance of morality’: How religiosity muddles sex education in schools

In the last few weeks, national attention has turned to sex education in Ugandan schools. More accurately, most people have been discussing ways to not have sex education in schools. The discussion was prompted by the discovery of a book in Greenhill Academy’s school library and has been filled with panic and anxiety. “The children! The children!”

The book – a children’s book – was brought to the public’s attention by a parent who had enquired what their child was reading. The parent photographed two pages from the book, which then circulated on WhatsApp. The pages, which threw parents into panic, are about one “Uncle Pete”, who visits often. The narration, written in a child’s voice, is about Uncle Pete, who lives with the narrator’s family every now and then, touching the character’s private parts and makes the narrator do the same to his. “This is our special secret,” Uncle Pete tells the child.

For a parent reading this, the pages may seem scary for what they force you to acknowledge: that children are being abused by adults they know. Perhaps it may not be the author’s place to have this conversation with your child, but we also know that many parents pretend sex does not exist. Even when the Ugandan Police Force releases an annual crime report that includes statistics on children who are abused – and these are just the cases that are reported – parents do nothing to address this.

The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Stanley Ntagali, has already said that “comprehensive sex education is evil”

In the WhatsApp groups where these pages were discussed, the comments amounted to “But this is not age appropriate!” Which begs the question: Is sexual abuse age appropriate? “Children can’t read this!” they continued – but have they spoken to their children about this threat? Have they told their children explicitly that they should not allow anyone to touch them? Will your child feel free to come to you and tell you about such a “special secret”?

Minister Lokodo hijacks the conversation

The conversation was hijacked pretty quickly by the Minister for Ethics and Integrity, Simon Lokodo, who “stormed” Greenhill Academy and asked why they had such a book. The Ministry of Education got involved and the book was labelled in the press as “a sex book”, “illicit sex education material” and other types of profanity. Lokodo said he didn’t care if Greenhill Academy was closed “as long as our children are safe from exposure to illicit sexual behaviour”.

A clip of the newspaper shared on social media detailing Lokodo’s comments.

It is a serious problem, however, that the Minister’s idea of illicit sexual behaviour includes any mention of sex, even when it is in the context of sex education. It is therefore not surprising that as Lokodo – the Minister who is bringing to Uganda a Ugandan Shilling 300 million (USD89 000) pornography-detecting machine – took over the lead in this conversation, sex education and most Ministry of Education officials took a back seat.

Read: Children’s book tackles child sexual abuse in Uganda

Regarding sex education, Simon Lokodo, a former priest, has called for the scrapping of any sex education in primary schools, saying such a syllabus would result in moral degeneration among children.

The involvement of religious leaders and the search for the never clearly articulated and elusive “morality” remains a problem in the delivery of sex education and reproductive health services in Uganda. Last year, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) held a dialogue with stakeholders on reproductive health. It was called a “high-level meeting” and even the Prime Minister showed up. The UN agency had decided to change tactics, it seemed, and partnered with the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) to tap into religious congregations. The largest percentage of health centres in Uganda are in fact affiliated with faith-based institutions, so it might have made some sense to partner with the IRCU on issues of maternal health, HIV prevention and gender-based violence.

Discussion about sex education has been filled with panic and anxiety.  “The children! The children!”

Except the dialogue only included men. The only woman at the table was the then UNFPA country representative, Esperance Fundira, who was moderating the conversation. During a lunch break, I approached her and asked if she felt the UNFPA was excluding women from this conversation – one where they very much ought to be heard. She sighed.

President Museveni’s views on sex education

We, too, would sigh months later, when President Yoweri Museveni, at this year’s World Population Day celebrations, held in Isingiro District, discouraged sex education. He felt that it equated schools with hospitals, asking “Ishomero ryaza kuba irwarro?” (Is school going to be a hospital?) He later said on Twitter that he was going to ask the bishops about this issue.

The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Stanley Ntagali, has already said that “comprehensive sex education is evil”.

And while we continue referencing and referring to the religious men (most of the leaders in just about all the religions are men), we must not forget that they have been in charge for decades. Uganda has been at this religiosity game since before independence, yet the sexual abuse figures remain worrying. All these religions have huge issues when it comes to recognising the woman as an individual with her own voice, allowing the use of contraceptives, acknowledging that sex happens and that family units are sometimes abusive.

Read: Why we should talk to our kids about sex

When will we be honest with ourselves for once and acknowledge that all this “morality” in the country is simply a performance? And it is a performance that has and continues to cost us dearly. It is going to cost school-going children – mostly girls. Need we remind ourselves that it is these very children who these people, when they climb onto their morality podiums, call the “future of the nation”. Surely we, the adults, owe it to them to prepare and equip them for this future through education – and that includes sex education.