Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has urged communities to reduce bride price demands and simplify wedding ceremonies, arguing that rising marriage costs are discouraging young people from starting families.
Speaking at the traditional Okuhingira ceremony of Kisha Isabel Byanjeru Kaboyo, daughter of Minister of State Alice Kaboyo, in Kiruhura District on Saturday, Museveni said the cultural practice should strengthen family ties rather than become a financial burden.
The President criticised what he described as excessive bride price demands, including large numbers of cattle and cash payments, warning that such expectations leave many couples beginning married life in debt.
“You are making young people fear marriage,” Museveni said, urging the Banyankole community to preserve the cultural meaning of Okuhingira instead of treating it as a commercial transaction.
He also appealed for modest wedding ceremonies, citing his own marriage to First Lady Janet Museveni, which he said was attended by only eight guests.
Museveni explained that he rarely attends private ceremonies because of the logistical demands of presidential security but made an exception for Kaboyo, whom he praised for decades of loyalty and service to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).
The President also commended progress in dairy farming within Uganda’s cattle corridor and called for improved pasture conservation and stronger measures to protect key water resources. Vice President Jessica Alupo also attended the ceremony.
