Different sections of Ugandans have taken to social media platforms calling for a little sanity in the cabinet that has approved a 9 member committee to fight pornographic acts in the country.
The debate heated up this morning when the minister of information and national guidance Jim K Muhwezi called a press conference to publicly announce the news.
He says pornography is a major challenge in Ugandan society, and its consumption is fast eroding the country’s cherished decent African moral fabric, particularly among young people.
Publishing nude pictures in print and online, sexually explicit films, nude stage shows, vulgar songs and dances, among others, are the forms of pornography, cabinet is against.
“Section 3 of the Anti-corruption Act 2014 provides for setting up a pornography control committee comprising key stakeholders in overseeing and implementing the law,” the minister said.
Members on the pornographic control committee include;
Dr. Annette Kezaabu Kasimbazi the chairperson, Mr. Opwonya Dalton, Sheikh Muhammad Ali Waiswa, Pr. Dr. Martin Sempa, Ms. Joan Kyomugisha, Mr. Gastone Byamugisha, Mrs. Kabagonja Hafisa, Ms. Victoria Sentamu, and Dr. Fred Nyakori all members.
The committee is specifically mandated by the Act to;
Take necessary measures to ensure early detection and prohibition of pornography, ensure that perpetrators are apprehended and prosecuted, collect and destroy pornographic objects and materials with the assistance of police, educate and sensitize the public about the dangers of pornography; promote the rehabilitation of individuals, groups, families, or communities negatively affected by pornography, and expedite the development, acquisition, and installation of effective protective software in electronic equipment such as computers, mobile phones and televisions for detection and suppression of pornography.
According to the guidelines, the committee will work closely with the ministry of Ethics and Intergrity, Uganda Police Force, and other entities and individuals it deems necessary.
However, a section of Ugandans believes this is another wastage of tax payers’ money by government, considering that the Ethics minister. Lokodo Simon recently proposed that a porn-detecting machine be purchased by government at a tune of 2bn shillings.
Many people however argue that the amount should be used to buy more helpful machines to help in the dilapidated machines at different government hospitals across the country.
