Strict new dress code sparks anger in Uganda
A woman in short dress, left, and another in a long one with a long-sleeved blazer. Uganda has directed public servants to dress ‘decently’ while on duty. PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- If you are a man in love with open shoes, tightly fitting shirts or trousers, think twice if you still need a public service job.
- The Ministry of Public Service in Uganda has directed all permanent secretaries and chief administrative officers to enforce a strict dress code for public servants in their respective work places.
- Female workers “should avoid wearing sleeveless, transparent blouses and dresses and ensure that the clothing covers the cleavage, navels, knees and back.”
IN KAMPALA
If you are a female civil servant who is fond of wearing short skirts or dresses above knee-level, transparent blouses or dresses, shouting colours or clothes which do not cover up the cleavage and navels, start thinking of a career outside Uganda.
And if you are a man in love with open shoes, tightly fitting shirts or trousers, think twice if you still need a public service job.
The Ministry of Public Service in Uganda has directed all permanent secretaries and chief administrative officers to enforce a strict dress code for public servants in their respective work places.
Ms Adah Muwanga, the ministry’s director for human resource, said the policy is a response to public outcry over indecent dressing among government workers.
WEARING MINI-SKIRTS
“We got complaints that some public officers are indecent. Some female officers are pumping up their breasts, wearing mini-skirts… You are sexually harassing the male counterparts and in Uganda this is not acceptable,” Ms Muwanga said on Wednesday.
“We are mindful of the perception of the public towards our officers.
A model in a natural coloured hair. Ugandan female workers will not be allowed to wear bright coloured natural hair to their work places. PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Do you feel okay when you have nails several metres long? It is not neat and healthy and we have to care about the health of public officers,” she added.
DRESS DECENTLY
In a circular signed by the ministry’s PS, Ms Catherine Bitarakwate Musingwiire, all public officers are “required to dress decently; in generally acceptable standards in the Ugandan society.”
Ms Muwanga said the circular is operationalising section F-J of the Uganda Public Service Standing Orders 2010 which provide for the Dress Code in the public service.
The orders state: “For the promotion and projection of a good image of the Public Service, a Public Officer shall at all times dress appropriately and appear decent and respectable in a way that is generally acceptable.”
Female workers, according to the circular, “should avoid wearing sleeveless, transparent blouses and dresses and ensure that the clothing covers the cleavage, navels, knees and back.”
FLAT SHOES
Female workers will not be allowed to appear in open flat shoes except on doctor’s recommendation or medical grounds, wear bright coloured natural hair, braids and hair extensions.
Those who choose to wear trousers may do so but the trousers must be in “form of smart lady suits with jackets, long enough to cover the bosom.”
The ministry further directed female officers to wear modest accessories and desist from wearing tight-fitting dresses or shirts.
“Long nails more than three 3 centimetres with bright polished nails or with multi-coloured polished nails are not allowed in public office,” reads part of the circular which also requires that make-up should be “simple and not exaggerated.”
NEAT TROUSERS
On the other hand, the circular compels men to wear neat trousers, long-sleeved shirts, jacket and a tie.
“Officers should dress in dark colours like dark-green or brown, navy-blue, grey or black suits. Hair should be well-groomed and generally kept short,” reads the circular in part.
A client has her nails polished in June 2017. Ugandan public servants on Wednesday hit out at a list of strict new rules forbidding them from showing cleavage, having long nails and dyed hair or wearing skirts above the knee. PHOTO | CHARLES KIMANI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Only black and brown shoes are permitted and like their female counterparts, men are not allowed to wear tight-fitting trousers and shirts.
A female public servant, who preferred anonymity, welcomed the ministry’s directive saying some officers have reached an indecent level of even “wearing leggings to the office and when they sweat, it is horrible.”
NEW POLICY
However, Ms Ritah Achiro, the executive director of Uganda Women’s Network (Uwonet), protested against the new policy saying it is unjustified and offends women’s rights.
“Public service should concentrate on things that are affecting the general public. How will decent dressing bring drugs to hospitals and teachers to schools?” Ms Achiro posed.
“By the time someone gets a job in public service, they are exposed, have gone to school and can make decisions on their own,” she added.
However, Mr Stephen Langa, the executive director of Family Life Network Uganda, a civil society organisation, had a contrary opinion.
WEARING MINISKIRTS
“Dressing is personal but it sends a message to the public. You cannot just let people dress the way they want when they cannot control themselves,” he argued.
In 2013, Parliament passed the Anti-Pornography Bill 2011, a law that, among others, bans wearing of miniskirts in public.
The government argued that pornography has become such an “insidious social problem” in the country that it requires a legislation through Parliament to control it.
While some MPs claimed the Bill violated people’s rights, majority agreed with the government position and it was passed into law.
