“I Will Pay the Bride Price”: Speaker Among’s Offer to King Oyo Sparks Cultural Outrage
FORT PORTAL – A celebratory event marking the 30th coronation anniversary of Tooro Kingdom’s Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV has been overshadowed by controversy, after the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, made a remark that has angered and offended many within the kingdom.
The incident occurred on Friday at the Karuzika Palace in Fort Portal during the Empango celebrations, where Speaker Among was representing President Yoweri Museveni.
While delivering a tribute that commended the king and the kingdom’s role in national development, Among made a light-hearted offer that has since provoked a strong backlash.
“Your Majesty, you know I am a cattle keeper. I am going to pay all the cattle for the bride price if you get a lady to marry,” Among told the king, a comment that was met with loud applause from sections of the audience at the time.
However, the remark has not aged well. Cultural insiders, elders, and loyalists of the Tooro Kingdom have since expressed deep offense, viewing the Speaker’s offer as a significant cultural overstep and an insult to their revered monarch.
A Crossed Cultural Line
The core of the outrage stems from a breach of sacred Batooro tradition. In Tooro culture, the act of paying bride price is a male-dominated role, particularly for a king. It is a process strictly reserved for the groom’s family and is never initiated by an outsider—and certainly not by a woman.
To many Batooro, Speaker Among’s offer, though likely intended as a joke, symbolically diminished their king, making him appear weak or incapable of fulfilling his own traditional duties.
“We love and respect Speaker Among, but this was not her place,” a local elder was quoted as saying. “It is an insult for someone — especially a woman — to offer bride price on behalf of our king.”
Others were more blunt, calling the gesture a “humiliation” to the royal institution and emphasizing that the kingdom is not short of the cattle needed for a royal bride price.
The Underlying Pressure for a Queen
The controversy unfolded against a backdrop of growing public pressure for the 33-year-old king to marry. Having ascended the throne at the age of three, King Oyo is now seen by many of his subjects as needing a queen to secure the future lineage and stability of the monarchy.
“As a king, he is a father to us all. But the kingdom also needs a mother — someone who can represent our traditions, support his vision, and bring continuity to the royal line,” an attendee noted.
While several leaders at the event echoed this call for the king to marry, Speaker Among’s method of broaching the subject is what caused offense. The incident highlights a sensitive cultural divide and a growing concern about how modern political figures engage with ancient traditional institutions.
The grand celebration, filled with vibrant dances and displays of cultural pride, has thus been marred by a lingering tension. The message from the Batooro people is clear: while they welcome encouragement for their king, they demand that their customs and the dignity of their throne be treated with the utmost respect.
