The government of Uganda early this week on Tuesday, announced a new code of dressing that its public officers must abide by.
With a motive of reducing cases of sexual harassment in the country, the government ordered ladies amongst the public officers to stop putting on miniskirts, long colored nails, open toe shoes and dyed hair.
They rather prefer their workers to opt for skirts or dresses that do not go up beyond their knees, blouses that do no expose their backs, short and clean nails not longer than three centimeters, and covering shoes.
As for the men, they must use tight pants no more, use covering shoes, a neck tie, and are encouraged to appear professional.
The new dressing code was issued out in a statement by the Ministry of Public Service in Uganda on Tuesday, and the public workers objected it right away, on Wednesday.
The new dressing code has however, angered several among the public workers, and have pledged not to abide by it
“Women get less pay. This directive will make women fear going to workplaces, and fear losing their jobs because they have no money to buy new dresses and to change hairstyles,” says Agnes Kunihira, the workers representative in the parliament.
However, for many in the conservative East African nation, the main concern seemed to be the cost of implementing the rules, rather than the rules themselves and that the workers had not been consulted.
Stella Nyanzi, a Ugandan outstanding academic researcher who is also still battling charges of harassing and calling the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, “a pair of buttocks,” also had a say about the new dressing rule.
“The country should not be distracted amid efforts to scrap a presidential age limit of 75 years, widely seen as a bid by Museveni, who is now 72, and seeks to have a sixth term in office,” Dr Stella Nyanzi wrote on her Facebook page.
Women activists in the same manner say that, the new dress code is a distraction from the real issues in the country.
“Is (a woman) saying that men do not have any sense of self control? When a girl is dressed in a certain way, that does not mean that she is calling for attention. Let us focus on the real issues that Ugandans are grappling with,” said Perry Arituwa, the executive Director of Women’s Democracy Network.
“The theft of our public resources, the inefficiency in service delivery, the absenteeism in public service among others, are all areas of concern,” explained Arituwa.
Meanwhile Adah Muwanga, the human resource manager at the Ministry of Public Service is in defense of the new law.
“People in Uganda have a perception of how a public officer should look like and this is the image we are trying to protect and preserve. We are saying not above the knee for one reason,” Adah Muwanga explained.
“Above the knee, you know what it means. It can also tantamount to sexual harassment because, when you sit, you expose your thighs, which is not generally accepted and ot can distract others from work,” he concluded.
Reporter: Shamilah Namuddu
