SITUATION ANALYSIS OF WOMEN IN THE UGANDAN POLITICAL ECONOMY

Augustus Nuwagaba *

Abstract: A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since the emergence of the concept of a women's movement almost two decades ago. As a direct response to the oppression of African women within the continent, women in development and later gender and development principles were founded on the promotion of dignity, self-respect, socio-economic freedom, independence and women's emancipation. However, after 20 years of the development of the concept, in most of the region, the achievements appear insignificant.

This paper focuses on the marginalisation of African women in general and Ugandan woman in particular in the quest for the advancement of the African people. It attempts to bring to the fore the plight of the Ugandan woman and the latent variables that engender and perpetuate the present situation. Emphasis is mainly placed on the role of culture in the gender question in as much as it hinders the progress of women. It is the contention of the author that the situation of the Ugandan woman presents a classic human contradiction. The Ugandan woman is deprived and impoverished as against the backdrop of her immense contribution - actual and potential - to the socio-economic development of the country. Unless critical and pertinent gender issues are addressed, it may not be possible to harness the development process in Uganda.

1. INTRODUCTION

The deplorable situation of the African woman has recently become a major focus of attention at gender for a throughout the continent and beyond. This is not without reason: she has limited access to education and production resources; lacks independence and autonomy in decision making; toils for long hours and has no control over her condition of life - the grounds are endless. Her invaluable socio-economic contribution goes unrecognised while in the political arena, she has been marginalised.

The phenomenon is a complex function of a multiplicity of factors, chief among which is the inherently discriminatory culture working against women. In this paper, we shall attempt to examine the socio-economic, geopolitical and cultural connections of this phenomenon. However, in order to facilitate the understanding of the question at hand, it is necessary to begin by setting the historical context founded on the politico-economic configuration of the African continent.

1.1 The Context

The African continent is the "youngest" on the globe, most African countries having attained independence barely two or three decades ago. Indeed some are yet to taste independence. For several decades, the continent was ruled by Europeans who set the modes of production and the pattern of development. Predictably, these were premised on the interests of the colonial states. The cardinal principle was the maximum exploitation of Africa's vast natural resources notably through the encouragement of export agriculture, mining and the indiscriminate exploitation of forest resources. "Development initiatives" was invariably construed to mean the education and training of Africans in such supportive service sub-sectors as health (nurses) and education (teachers) and the establishment of a carefully planned transport network (roads, railways, etc.). Both were calculated to support the production base and to facilitate the exportation of the produce to the metropolitan states in Europe. As the rest of the globe steadily moved along the path of industrialization, development and emancipation, Africa set off in a diametrically opposite direction, towards disguised retrogression. This was manifest in enhanced reliance on the production of primary exports, haphazard urbanization due to scattered enclaves of "development" amidst backwardness, lopsided infrastructure networks based on exports routes, and a greatly defective education system.

While the indigenous populace - men and women alike - continue to pay a heavy price for this colonial legacy, it is indisputable that a gender connotation is easily discernible with regard to the brunt of such costs. However, before we delve into the gender perspective, it is necessary to examine briefly the post-colonial developments up to the present time.

1.2 Post-Colonial Africa

The post-colonial period in Africa has been characterised by crises - mainly political and economic. Modes of production continue along colonial lines with emphasis on export agriculture and extractive industries. Monoculture is the standard economic base and the industrial sectors in most countries are manifestations of the advances in modern technology. The dominant economic pattern is characterised by unfavourable terms of trade, with the export of primary products to the industrial countries and import at a much higher price of finished products often made from the very raw material exported. Socio-economic deterioration is evident across the continent: un-planned growth of towns; urban bias and rural impoverishment; infrastructural decay, staggering foreign debt and perennial budget deficits.

Basic social services, including medical facilities, are a luxury. Educational curricula are largely still the colonial stereotypes, and even enrolment levels, let alone school completion rates, are very low. Illiteracy is more widespread than anywhere else on the globe.

According to the World Population Data Sheet (Houghton 1995), life expectancy in Africa is estimated at only 51 years compared to a global average of 63 years. Gross National Product (GNP) per capita is estimated at US$710 as against a world average of US $2,880. Infant mortality is as high as 113 per 1,000 live births as compared to a global rate of 81 per thousand. Some individual countries are actually worse off as the continental averages conceal the true picture pertaining to such countries. For instance, infant mortality in the Gambia is 169 per 1,000 while in Sierra Leone, it is a high as 176. Life Expectancy in Guinea is 41 years, while it is only 36 years in the Gambia, and 35 years in Sierra Leone. Per Capita GNP in Mali is US$140 while in Ethiopia it is a meagre US$110 (Global Coalition for Africa 1992).

Even hunger and famine in a continent of plenty are not uncommon. Emergency calls for international food aid from such countries as Ethiopia, Somalia and Mozambique are a common occurrence. Indeed, "independence" in Africa continues to be a mirage.

After some decades of "independence", political intrigue and instability continue to flourish. Nowhere on the globe are military coups as fashionable as in Africa. Democracy and human rights are unaffordable luxuries. The laws and constitutions are often abrogated on the pretext of "security" or "in the interests of the people".

The handling of most post-colonial African economies has been grossly defective, especially under Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) sponsored by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The conditionalities of the Bretton Woods twins have invariably unleashed untold suffering on the African populace, especially on vulnerable groups such as the poor and women. While both the critics and the proponents of SAPs have reached a consensus on the expediency of Adjustment in the face of structural distortions and impediments to development, a strong case for programmes that suit the peculiar conditions of different countries, including safety nets for the vulnerable, has been made but ignored by policy makers (Adedeji 1987).

In the meantime, suffering and retrogression in Africa continue. From the Maghreb to the Horn and from the Kalahari through the Central doldrums to the West Coast, the story is more or less the same: economic dependence, poverty, political instability and widespread deprivation. In addition, invariably, women are more deprived than their male counterparts.

2. THE UGANDAN WOMAN

2.1 Gender and Production Relations

The plight of the Ugandan woman can be better understood in the context of the continental crisis, which we have already explored. Fundamental to the grasping of the situation of Ugandan women is the fact that they shoulder directly the brunt of the social, economic and political crises that characterise the region. This is manifested in terms of accessibility to production resources and education; division of labour and surplus income; decision making and governance, and employment, to mention but a few.

A study by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA 1989) established that women in Africa shouldered greater burdens than their male counterparts. Studies in Uganda (Abidi 1990; MGLSD 1999) have investigated the Ugandan woman's workload and have provided the data in table 1, which throw light on the rural woman's burden.

Table 1. Gender distribution of labour and economic opportunity

SOURCE: Syed A. H. Abidi, Ugandan Women in Development. African

Development Series, no. 1 (Kampala: Foundation for African

Development, 1990), 10.

*Data obtained from the Resource Centre of the Ministry of Gender and Social Development (Kampala, 1998).

One can observe that the only area where men outperform women is land ownership and access to credit. Studies (Manyire 1996) have also indicated that men outperform women in the area of spending money earned in the household. The paradox is that such money is sometimes earned by women but spent by men.

Moreover, while leisure for men means resting on the bed, visiting friends or going to a bar to drink, women's leisure means doing `less strenuous" chores such as feeding the child, kindling the fire or washing plates. In essence, an average Ugandan woman knows no leisure.

Table 2 indicates that the majority of women lack access to production resources (land, credit, extension services, etc.). A few Ugandan communities, e.g., the Baganda from the central region, grant women inheritance rights over their ancestral land. In a study by Sebina-Zziwa (1998) it was established that women owned land as indicated in table 2 below.

Table 2. Women and acquisition of land in Buganda

SOURCE: Sebina-Zziwa, The Paradox of Tradition: Gender, Land and Inheritance Rights among the Baganda (Kampala: Makerere Institute of Social Research, 1998).

Note: Numbers in parentheses refer to percentages.

However, the land is inherited on condition that it cannot be sold or dispossessed in any way. Such ownership is therefore subject to district regulation for land utilisation. While such a culture is commended for recognising women's rights of inheritance of land, it is crucial that such rights be held not only in perpetuity but with full rights, including rights to appropriate the land inherited.

One fundamental finding from the table is that some cultural elements in some parts of Uganda have benefited women. The Baganda recognise not only the need for women to own land but also to share inheritance; what is interesting, however, is that fathers bequeathed land to their daughters but not to their wives, which confirms the strength of blood kinship as opposed to conjugal relationships. While men generally supported women's ownership of land in general, husbands were opposed to their wives' owning any land. The majority of husbands insisted that land titles be registered in their (the husbands') names.

The implication here is that the majority of women have only secondary access to land, through their husbands, who own it. In other rural areas of Uganda, the role of women could be likened to that in Europe at a time when the population comprised mainly farmers and where women assisted men in farming. While most Ugandan women have been farm workers, they are rarely farm owners. They claim land ownership only through their husbands. They are unable to secure credit from the formal financial institutions due to lack of collateral security and ignorance of credit procedures. Therefore, they employ rudimentary technology, as they are unable to invest in productivity-enhancing modern inputs. According to Jamal (1985), even the most basic farming implement, the jembe (hand-hoe) is in short supply on the farms. It is unaffordable by a majority of households.

Households have to make do with hand hoes whose productivity is dismal. Agricultural research and extension services rarely reach the average Ugandan woman. Women continue to use absolute methods of agricultural husbandry, which do not augur well for enhancing productivity.

In the predominantly agricultural regions of Uganda, women do not share proportionately in the surplus income from their own labour. While they do most of the agricultural work, their husbands often control the income that accrues from the produce, the traditional rationale being that both the woman and the natural resources such as land belong to the man and that the woman can only work and manage resources such as coffee estates, banana farms, etc., on behalf of the head of the family who is the man (Tibeijuka 1997). With regard to decision-making about expenditure, it is not uncommon for a husband to make up his mind and only then to inform the wife. In extreme cases, some men do not see any point in informing, let alone consulting, their wives. The argument is that financial matters are areas outside the women's jurisdiction (Mugyenyi 1996).

2.2 The Legal Regime and Gender Question

Furthermore, the laws of post-colonial African countries have done little to alleviate the plight of women. Under the Ugandan Constitution, for instance, a widow may claim only 15% of her deceased husband's estate, while a husband automatically inherits a deceased wife's property (Republic of Uganda 1967). Under the Succession Act, someone dies in testate and when both male and female children exist as the possible heirs, a male is preferred to a female.

Similarly, under customary law, inheritance is one of the deplorable issues in as far as discrimination against women is concerned. When a woman passes away, here property - if she had any - automatically passes on to the husband. The question of inheritance does not arise. On the other hand, when the husband passes away, the hottest issue is inheritance. In cases where the man is survived by the wife (wives), sons and daughters, the sons automatically share the property among themselves since the girls are expected to marry into other clans. Though the mother usually stays on the estate, she has little jurisdiction over it. In the worst instances where the widow may have old sons or no son at all, the in-laws often chase her off the estate, claiming that it belongs to their clan. The problem is exacerbated by the clan authority, which usually limits women's assertion of their rights outside the family forum (Kigula 1996) and therefore a widow has very little opportunity to present her grievances (Mugyenyi 1996).

Furthermore, the poor widow has no legal redress since most of the legal structures across Uganda shy away from addressing such "customary issues" as inheritance, a fact which has adversely affected the self-determination of Ugandan women.

However, the issue of inheritance is a direct derivative of the question of ownership and control of household surplus and decision-making. Traditionally, a man is the head of a household and owns everything within the household (Mugyenyi 1996). As such, he also owns everything that accrues from his productive property. For instance, it is commonly reasoned that since a man owns land that is tilled by his wife, for whom he paid cows as bride price, then the produce also belongs to him (Akullo 1999). Indeed, the typical Ugandan man considers himself the owner of everything that belongs to his household including land, the tools used to till it, the wife's labour, the children that may help the wife, and therefore the income that is realised from the produce. As such, he takes charge of the income and makes arbitrary decisions as to its use. This chain embodies the core of gender exploitation inherent in the household social configuration.

Under the divorce law, proof of adultery by the wife has been sufficient ground for a man to secure a divorce, whilst a woman requires, in addition to proof of adultery by her husband, proof of neglect and/or cruelty before she can obtain a divorce (Republic of Uganda 1967). The legal framework in Uganda is a classic example of the double standards that are evident in the socio-economic and political fabric which have hindered the advancement of women, not only in Uganda itself but also in the continent at large.

2.3 Women's Education and Employment

In the employment sector, the challenges to African women are very clear. The women have been relegated to informal activities such as market trade and small-scale agriculture while their male counterparts dominate the formal economy. In 1988, it was estimated that only 3% of all government employees in Uganda were women and they held only 0.05% of jobs in the civil Service (MPED 1988). Men have for decades dominated the administrative and professional jobs while the few women who manage to secure employment mainly take on low-level jobs as clerks, secretaries, tea girls, etc. Women have largely attributed this state of affairs to gender prejudices and to men's disproportionate access to education and training. Women's lack of access to education has been one of the major aspects of deprivation. It has been estimated that 20% of the world's female illiterates are Africans. In Uganda, the female illiteracy rate is high compared to that for males. Table 3 indicates the literacy situation in Uganda.

Table 3. Gender distribution of literacy levels

Sex	Population	Percentage literate
Male	5369766	63
Female	5634096	45

SOURCE: Ministry of Education and Sports, Report on Education

for All (EFA) (Kampala, 1999).

As can be seen above, the level of literacy among women is lower than that of men. The problem arises largely from gender biases among households in providing education to female children. Even where both male and female children have been exposed to education, the dropout rate for girls has been much higher than that for boys, as indicated in the table 4.

Table 4. Distribution of household population by gender and education levels in Uganda (1996)

SOURCE: Ministry of Education and Sports, Report on Education for all (EFA) (Kampala, 1999).

As indicated in table 4 above, 38% of females did not attend school as compared to only 17% of males. Girls who completed advanced level education (A-Level) were a paltry 0.3% while those who completed the general degree programme were a negligible 0.06%. The salient point to note is that girls' enrolment in school is lower than that of boys, yet their dropout rate is much higher. As such, educational attainment in terms of gender is highly skewed in favour of males, and this has influenced the gender distribution of occupations as indicated in the table 5 below.

Table 5. Occupation of women of Uganda (1999)

Occupation	Frequency	%
Professional	70	13.5
Technical	10	1.9
Housewife	390	75.0
Business	30	6.4
Clerical	20	3.2
Total	520	100

SOURCE: a) Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (Kampala, 1999).

b) Grace Akulo, Socio-economic Impact of Local Traditions on Widow's Access to Property in Uganda: The Case of Lira District (Kampala: Makerere University, 1999).

It is not surprising that the majority (75%) of women are mere housewives and those who are in paid employment are mainly engaged in minor occupations such as clerical jobs or petty trade.

However, as the Ghanaian educator, politician and musician K. A. Aggery once declared: "When you educate a man, you educate an individual, but when you educate a woman, you educate a nation." This is true of women's role in society, politics, economic life, etc. The woman is the doctor in the family and the legal advisor in the home; she is the ligament that holds society together. Why then should this socio-economic and political deprivation abound?

3. COSTING GENDER RELATIONS

The foregoing aspects of the deprivation of the Ugandan woman vividly bring out the inherent paradox that she represents. She is a woman deprived of production resources and is discriminated against but still toiling for the sustenance of her family and community - and with some degree of success, too! However, what conveniently eludes most of us is the cost at which the woman achieves this feat. The costs of ignoring the needs of women have been well-documented (Abidi 1990): a population explosion, ineffective agriculture, a deteriorating environment, a generally divided society, and poor quality of life for all. Such neglect deprives the whole society of the benefits of socio-economic progress.

If the support and facilitation of women's advancement is so central to the progress of society, what has hindered their emancipation? While there are numerous possible answers to this question, it is the contention of this paper that most such answers are connected with African culture, which appears to be one of the most formidable obstacles to the advancement of the women's case. The following section will therefore be devoted to the examination of the cultural connection with the gender aspect in the `liberation' of Ugandan women.

4. WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT

4.1 The Cultural Dimension

Arguably, no single factor has nurtured and perpetuated the downgrading of women in Africa in general and Uganda in particular more than culture. Nothing is as intrinsically gender-discriminatory as the age-old fabric of Ugandan customs, taboos, traditional norms, attitudes and practices. Their sphere of application traverses such diverse areas as property ownership, marriage, sexuality, inheritance, division of labour, control of household surplus, participation in politics, decision-making, educational opportunities, employment patterns and terms, personal freedom, and involvement in governance at all levels. In Uganda, the fundamental obstacle to the realisation of `equal opportunity' between the sexes is intricately bound up with tradition and culture (Mugyenyi 1996; Mwaka 1994).

The household political economy based on the system of patriarchy, which recognises the man as the family head manifests an inherently self-preserving mode of human relationships, discriminatory and oppressive to females. This mode is based on a set of gender ideologies - values, beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, rules and expectations - which form the epicentre of the traditional set-up in the gender relationships within the family and community. The emphasis of household power relations is on the "might" of the males (Mwaka 1994). For instance, the dehumanising impact of polygamy on the individual wives as human beings cannot be over emphasised. Indeed, polyandry - the converse case where a woman has many husbands - has always been taboo in Uganda. Needles to say, polygamy has been one channel through which adverse gender ideologies have been perpetuated (Mwaka 1994).

Gender work patterns in Africa are still largely a function of cultural dictates. Any good "cultured" African will tell you that a credible woman is the one who operates within these cultural dictates. Traditionally, it is argued that the woman's primary function is to ensure household food security. While the man often facilitates availability of food, it is incumbent upon the woman to improvise the wherewithal of preparing it, including fetching water and firewood. In the worst instances, it is also the woman's duty, especially in agricultural communities, to provide the food.

While these traditional duties directly affect women's health, the indirect implications of the limitation to domestic chores are even far-reaching. The inherent implication is that traditionally the woman is essentially a "domestic" being. She is not expected to be outward­looking and to face outdoor challenges. She is expected to perpetually operate at the domestic level. It is the contention of this paper that such attitudes have greatly curtailed women's autonomy and freedom.

Another aspect of cultural deprivation relates to women's sexuality. Traditional teaching counsels that a woman was pre-modelled for the sexual fulfilment of her eventual husband who takes charge of her sexuality upon marriage. In the eastern part of Uganda, instances of female circumcision still abound. A lot of concern has been raised by developmentalists, researchers, policy-makers and academics as to what was the scientific validity of such fateful practices, but the answer given has always been that female genital mutilation (FGM) is an age-old tradition which should not be tampered with (UNICEF 1999). However, when FGM is analysed further, one finds that the practice is aimed at reducing the sexual urge and pleasure of the females. While such extreme cases are still prevalent in fewer and fewer communities, they nevertheless serve to emphasise the extent to which culture is central in the gender issues.

4.2 Modernisation and Growth of Capitalism

While patriarchy could be partly blamed for women's oppression in Uganda, its removal cannot be a panacea for women's advancement. There are interrelated variables that further explain the marginalised position of women. Prominent among important influences is the growth of capitalism with its attendant features of modernisation and social stratification. Although this paper does not focus on a recapitulation of modernisation theories, we shall delve into the influence of capitalism and modernisation to describe their implications for women's welfare in Uganda.

Before colonialism, the traditional Ugandan social formation was based on a hierarchy of authority-wielding chiefs and clan heads, all of whom were by tradition men. Under this system, power relations were skewed against women and rarely did women hold rights over such productive resources as land. With the advent of colonialism in the latter half of the nineteenth century, and the subsequent growth of capitalism, there occurred a structural transformation of society. There was a shift from rural (subsistence) to urban (market-based) economy in what was generally referred to as modernisation. This process opened up new class structures, which manifested themselves in differences in socio-economic groups where dictates such as economic opportunity determined access to productive resources. As amply documented by Marx and Engels, sexual inequality evolved with the advent of private property. They claimed that the system of resource allocation altered egalitarian relations vis-à-vis production within the household. In the process, women were relegated to the domestic household sphere and were precluded from acquisition of landed property (Onibokun and Farinan 1996).

5. SEX ABUSE AND VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Yet another detrimental ingredient of women's oppression is sexual abuse, including violence against women. Wife beating is still a major issue in many parts of the country. As amply documented (Nuwagaba 1999; Asigwiire 1998; ACFODE 1996) wife beating has been regarded as an effective method of instilling discipline in wives. Among the Bakiga in western Uganda, it is widely believed that a man who has never beaten his wife is not respected by her (ACFODE 1996; Nuwagaba 1999). A Mukiga woman in Bubaale-Kabale District in South Western Uganda (1990) comments: "You see if your husband beats you, it should not be construed as negative. It is a sign that he loves you and is jealous of you. Actually if your husband does not beat you, you become worried".

It is also common knowledge that under Ugandan culture, marital sex is the prerogative of the man regardless of the feelings of the woman. Some have contended that men have also been abused by their wives including being beaten, but this needs to be investigated in order to establish the magnitude of the problem! It is, however, argued from the outset that whatever the political condition, it is women who have suffered the full brunt of battering and sexual abuse (New Vision, 4 July 2000; Monitor, 6 March 1999).

6. OVERVIEW

Gender - skewed ideologies have robbed the Ugandan woman of opportunities that are essential for her advancement, thereby condemning her to deprivation. In Uganda, a girl is less likely to be enrolled in school than her brother, and if both do start school, the girl is more likely to drop out than her brother (Mwaka 1990).

The cultural rationale followed by parents is that a boy needs education more than the girl since the former has to look after a family in the future. Furthermore, they reason that a girl can easily get married to a man who will look after her. As such, when a choice of taking either a daughter or a son to school has to be made, then, invariably, the decision is in favour of the boy. The same applies when one of them has to be withdrawn from school, for example, if there is not money. This has led to a situation where more girls have missed out on education than their male counterparts, and, of course, for all the advantages that go with the acquisition of skills and knowledge. In the labour market, women have been relegated to unskilled or semi-skilled jobs mainly due to the foregoing factor (Mwaka 1994). What is more appalling is that even where a woman possesses the required qualifications for a skilled job, it is often offered to her male competitors. It is not uncommon for women to be dismissed from their jobs when they become pregnant (New Vision, 17 June 2000).

In developed countries such as Denmark, men are granted paternity leave after the wife has delivered so that the husband can assist in neo-natal care. It is argued that the Ugandan political, social and economic configuration seems to be heavily discriminatory against women. One can hardly pinpoint any aspect which is exclusively favourable to women. Perhaps the most disturbing thing about gender ideologies is that they carry culture connotations; it is common knowledge that culture is inherently difficult to transform within a short time, whatever abominable elements it happens to have. It is further appalling that our present law does not adequately protect women against cultural discrimination.

Provisions for non-discrimination (Republic of Uganda 1967) prescribe, for all nationals, equal treatment before the law irrespective of race, tribe, place of origin, political opinion, colour or creed. The architects of the law conveniently "forgot" to include "sex" among the types of illegal discrimination. Instead, they included a provision that stated that the section on no discrimination did not apply to members of a tribe with regard to their customary law (Ibid. 1967).

7. WHICH WAY THEN?

The history of gender relations in Africa seems to be stagnant, in both scope and content. Women have been at the losing end for centuries. This was perpetrated by traditional institutions cultivated and preserved over the years by a carefully interwoven multitude of cultural values, norms, taboos and practices. While they appear to have survived the test of time and seem to be intact on the surface, their nucleus and sources of maintenance have in the recent past had to contend with formidable progressive forces. Despite seemingly insurmountable odds, there is reason to take heart. Globally, and more so in Africa, the gender question has been propelled to the centre-stage.

Since the 1975 United Nations International Women's Year Conference in Mexico and the declaration of the UN Decade for Women ending in 1985, academics, politicians, researchers and policy-makers have increasingly acknowledged the need to address the plight of the African woman. Though much of what has come out of this quarter is no more than rhetoric, it has served the invaluable purpose of sensitising other sections of society, including women themselves.

In most of Africa now and Uganda in particular, civil groups, some government and various women groups, have heard the message and gone beyond the rhetoric through various forms of affirmative action. Some governments have opened new opportunities for women in education and governance. Uganda has taken a vanguard role by appointing for the first time a woman Vice-President and electing a significant number of women to the national legislature. Similarly, a sizeable number of women are in the Cabinet.

While a number of women have crossed into governance positions and others have achieved professional status, they still have a formidable task to change the socio-economic conditions of the majority of women swimming in ignorance, poverty and deprivation at the local community level. Most of the "privileged women" engaged in efforts for emancipation of women have tended to operate in urban centres, to the detriment of rural communities. We are yet to see women leaders of local government and administrative units, referred to as Local Councils (LCs).

UN agencies such as UNICEF have made great contributions to the feminist cause in such sectors as health and education. What needs to be reiterated is that although this has been done affirmatively as in the case of Uganda, it has largely focused on urban-based women with some level of enlightenment and education. Rural women have remained largely under the shackles of ignorance and poverty. While there are increasing manifestations of women crossing the erstwhile cultural boundaries by moving into areas such as trade, formal employment, academia, real estate ownership, household headship, politics and governance, rural women continue in their deprivation trap.

Amidst the euphoria of this commendable progress lurks the cultural impediment which must not be under-estimated. Already, there are signs of a stalemate between the prophets of doom and the forces of advancement. The former often invoke the "cultural wisdom" which clearly defines the place of women vis-à-vis their male counterparts. Women have capitalised on deliberately redefining the women's case as based on seeking "equality" rather than the noble objective of "equal opportunity" with a view to not provoking popular sentiment against the women's liberation movement.

In a publication about the struggles of African women, Obbo (1980) noted that the weight of moral pressure, often backed by law is exerted on women in order to reverse or hinder possible changes in the power and authority relationships between men and women. For instance, the few women who are brave enough to engage in politics are reminded by hecklers and friends that their rightful place is not in governance. The majority therefore tend to assume a "silence is golden" stance. However, we must be clear and discern the difference between two important concepts: equality and sameness. What are women actually advocating: Equality or sameness?

There are two considerations to be borne in mind by all progressives: that culture can be more realistically transformed gradually rather than over-night and that the conservatives are always awaiting to pounce on any minor indication of excesses and over-zealous utterances or actions that can be used to mobilise popular support to maintain the status quo. The sooner women activists and well wishers realise this, the better are the chances of success. Clearly, the writing is on the wall: the tide of progress is on its way despite numerous obstacles. It has already passed the critical stage. The question is no longer whether but when.

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* Lecturer, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.