Why Bairu are encouraged to marry Bahima women
The issue of intermarriage has been in Uganda media for quite some time now and it is increasingly providing vital information following Phionah Kesaasi’s article which appeared in the Observer (Uganda) in April 2010. Kesaasi argued that Bairu men marry Bahima, Batutsi and Bahororo women because they are more beautiful than Bairu women and there was nothing to be ashamed of. Ipso facto, Bahima men do not marry Bairu women because they are less beautiful than Bahima women, implying there was nothing to apologize about. She added that traditionally when a man marries, he favors in-laws than his relatives. These two remarks generated a storm of criticism and many questions.
Earlier Ephraim Kamuhangire had written in response to my article “Why Rujumbura’s Bairu are impoverished” that in Rujumbura Bairu elite had married so many Bahororo women that there was no way a political uprising of Bairu peasants against Bahororo domination would succeed implying that Bairu elite would join their in-laws and crush such attempts. Therefore Bahororo’s indefinite domination of Bairu was very secure. By the way in my article referred to above I never raised the issue of intermarriage. Kamuhangire picked it out of the hat to make a point that Bairu have no chance of ever controlling the political game in Rujumbura. Since that time I have reflected on what he and Kesaasi wrote.