Museveni og pínupilsin

Yoweri Museveni forseti Uganda er hér í opinberri heimsókn. Ég lenti í honum í gærkvöld þegar bílalest með forsetann og löggur með blikkandi ljós í bak og fyrir fór suður Kringlumýrarbraut, sjálfsagt í kvöldmat á Bessastöðum. Menn eins og Museveni ferðast aldrei nema í bílalestum með löggur og blikkandi ljós - en þetta virkar náttúrlega hálf hallærislegt hér á landi.

Museveni er annars merkur náungi og meiri foringi en flestir aðrir þjóðhöfðingjar í Afríku. Hann hefur náð góðum árangri í starfi - og er m.a. þakkað veruleg lækkun tíðni HIV nýsmita í sínu landi. Hann lýðræðissinni að því leyti að hann vill fá að stjórna lýðræðinu sjálfur. Það er þó skárra en víða annars staðar.

Nema hvað, í tilefni heimsóknarinnar er hér ný frétt af BBC vefnum:

The minister said wearing a miniskirt was akin to going naked

Uganda's ethics and integrity minister says miniskirts should be banned - because women wearing them distract drivers and cause traffic accidents.

Nsaba Buturo told journalists in Kampala that wearing a miniskirt was like walking naked in the streets.

"What's wrong with a miniskirt? You can cause an accident because some of our people are weak mentally," he said.

The BBC's Joshua Mmali in Kampala, the capital, said journalists found the minister's comments extremely funny.

Wearing a miniskirt should be regarded as "indecent", which would be punishable under Ugandan law, Mr Buturo said.

And he railed against the dangers facing those inadvertently distracted by short skirts.

"If you find a naked person you begin to concentrate on the make-up of that person and yet you are driving," he said.

"These days you hardly know who is a mother from a daughter, they are all naked."

Vice list

According to the minister, indecent dressing is just one of many vices facing Ugandan society.

"Theft and embezzlement of public funds, sub-standard service delivery, greed, infidelity, prostitution, homosexuality [and] sectarianism..." he said.

Earlier this year, Kampala's Makerere University decided to impose a dress code for women at the institution, our reporter says.

The miniskirt and tight trousers ban has yet to be implemented, but our correspondent sought the opinions of women on campus about the minister's opinions.

"If one wants to wear a miniskirt, it's ok. If another wants to put on a long skirt, then that's ok," one woman said.

But others had more sympathy with Mr Buturo.

"I think skimpy things are not good. We are keeping the dignity of Africa as ladies and we have to cover ourselves up," one woman, called Sharon, told the BBC.