05/09/2023
“The Somalis in Uganda are living like Ugandans themselves; we can do whatever business we want, open a bank account, free movement, take our children to public or private schools. The only thing we cannot do is buy land, which is not a huge problem, because we can still get a lease of up to 99 years on land. The things and peace we get here we cannot even get it in our own home country Somalia; so, we are happy to stay here,” Kalif said.
“What I like most about Uganda is that there is peace here. For over 20 years that I have lived here, Ugandans have been hospitable to us. They were discriminatory at the start, [but] they got to appreciate that we were good people. We have lived harmoniously since.”
Cultural integration
Although the Somali community have been in Uganda for about 30 years and more, only a handful of Ugandans have married into the communities. It is even rarer in Eritrean and Ethiopian communities.
“In Somalia, for a man to marry a woman, he has to give her family camels and gold but since such items are hard to get here, they have to forego such cultural norms. It is now more of an understanding between the two families; they can agree for a man to pay between $200 and $1,000 as bride price or even have a woman given to him for free,” Kalif said.
However, Kalif said although they encourage intermarriage between Ugandans and Somalis, our cultural differences are too many; for instance, the Somali culture does not subscribe to cohabiting first.
“How can you get married when you have already been together and even had children? What kind of marriage is that? In our culture, marriage is supposed to happen when the woman is still a virgin, unless she is a widow. If she is unable to produce children, there is an option of getting a second wife.”
Somalia
