NNINZIWRITER’S CORNER

One of the oldest houses in Nninzi village, Komukungu House, is no more! Today, there is a field of exuberant maize plants where the house used to stand. Modernization and the clamor for land have caught up with it. The house was named after its owner, Komukungu , the matriarch of a family that settled on the land in the 1920s. It is said to have been constructed by 1923. Clearly, it must have been a grand structure in its day. Above is the front of the house with a prominent porch. There are suggestions that the porch was a later addition in the 1950s or 60s when porches came into fashion with the introduction of corrugated iron sheets as roofing. Below is the back of the structure with several sturdy poles supporting the veranda rafters. Village residents suggest that three additional bedrooms were probably added at the back at the same time the porch was devised.  Clearly, Komukungu House must have been magnificent! As is evident, the walls were of mud and reeds but the house...

Stories abound about Ugandans who raise hundreds of cattle for their livelihood or hobby. Cattle are a significant economic asset and one of the commonest dowries demanded from the future son-in-law to the girl’s parents in many parts of Uganda, but not all. The average cow cost nowadays is between 500,000/- to 2,200,000/- depending on the breed. So, the outlay is substantial when a future son-in-law must bring eight heads of cattle as a dowry. No wonder it now requires ten to twenty years for a couple that has carried out  Okwanjula  - the ‘introduction ceremony’ at which the dowry is delivered- to hold a church and Western type of wedding to finalize all the elements of a modern marriage ritual.  A Nninzi woman commented thus, reflecting on her personal experience. "My parents asked my fiancé to bring five cows and many other items. He did so in 1988. Since, according to tradition, I was now his wife, I moved to his home. We had five children in eleven years. Every tim...