Speaker of Parliament Anita Among has revealed how she worked as a house girl to raise money for her school fees.
The Speaker made this revelation during the launch of the Uganda Parliamentary Forum to End Child Marriage and Teenage Pregnancy on Tuesday 10th June, 2024.
In her speech, the speaker rejected the use of contraceptives by teenagers. According to her, teenage girls should have goals like she had.
“As I told you, I will keep this seat jealously because I worked for it. I refused to become a teenage mother” Speaker Among.
As she advised young girls to postpone thoughts of marriage and bearing children, the Speaker narrated her own experiences.
She called out the Teso culture for objectifying the girl child. According to Among, the tradition in her culture dictates having so many girls is being rich.
Therefore, once girls hit puberty and parents see their breats coming out, they conclude that she’s ready for marriage. Coming from a family of 48 children, Among witnessed many of her elder siblings fall victim of child marriages.
“When my other sisters grew up, I would see everybody getting married and I would wonder, what is happening? Kumbe that was the riches that was there.” Speaker Among.
As she grew older, she braved to challenge her sisters about their marital journey. However, life changed for her when she reached primary seven as her family looked at her as a cash cow.
This pushed her to run away from home leading her into the life of house girls. She would then juggle between doing house chores and selling local brew to support herself at school.
However, with time, she decided to stay with one of her sisters but this didn’t go as planned. The sister’s husband attempted to rape her and this left a mark on her.
“I grew up with that hatred of men and why did I hate men, because it was a man who was trying to force me to get married. A man who was husband to my mother, I actually stopped calling him father. But after some time, we got back together and I said, Daddy, don’t you see?- Speaker Anitah Among
Discover more from Ugandan Exclusive
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
