A Ugandan lawmaker was forced to apologise after his statement encouraging men to beat their wives to “discipline” them.
There was huge outcry in the country and beyond after MP, Onesmus Twinamasiko encouraged men to lay their hands on their spouses to ‘put them in check.’
His stinker came after President Yoweri Museveni, in marking Women’s Day, described men who batter their wives as “cowards”.
But in a letter wrote to parliament, Twinamasiko said he actually “detests all form of violence against women”.
“Kindly accept my most sincere and unreserved apologies honourable members and the general public and more particularly the women,” he said.
The apology comes after Twinamasiko gave an interview the day after Women’s Day, March 8, saying on the country’s NTV:
“as a man you need to discipline your wife, you need to touch her and tackle her and beat her somehow, to really streamline her”.
His remarks sparked anger from women and feminists who called for his withdrawal from parliament. They also requested that the lawmaker be prosecuted as his statement could trigger other men to engage in domestic violence against their wives.
Parliament speaker Rebecca Kadaga vowed to investigate Twinamasiko for encouraging violence against women and the women’s parliamentary association demanded that he withdraw the statement and apologise.
His view, however, is not uncommon in the East Africa nation as a government report published in 2016 showed that one in five female Ugandans between the age of 14 and 49 had reported physical or sexual violence within a 12-month period.
In a similar case, a Nigerian comedian known as Fada Fada once stated that he cannot pay the bride price of any woman that he can not beat. He was actually back-lashed by his followers and he immediately took down the post which he made on Facebook.
He also apologized later on.
