African cultural debates have gone on for years despite all troubles on the continent. Issues around poverty, desertification, the battle for democracy and human rights, combatting corruption, civil war and preservation of the state itself plague the continent, writes Haitham Nouri. In Uganda, under the rule of President Yoweri Museveni since the late 1980s, there is extensive debate about re-electing him, but this did not stop secondary school girls from protesting against legislation prohibiting mini-skirts and tight trousers at the start of the school year in July. In 2013, the Ugandan government proposed what became known as the “anti-obscenity” dress code legislation, adopted by parliament but which continues to be broadly controversial. At the start of the academic year, several secondary schools decided they will not allow students to attend school if they are wearing short skirts or tight trousers, as per law. In Tanzania, southeast of Uganda, President John Magufuli announced at the beginning of the year, soon after he won office (October, 2015), a law banning mini-skirts. Magufuli also passed several laws combatting rampant corruption by slashing cabinet budgets, and putting on trial dozens of senior officials and tycoons on corruption charges. In Kenya, students protested against “ugly long skirts that are not age appropriate” which they are forced to wear as school uniform. Meanwhile, several cabinet members and MPs in Nigeria and Malawi said there is a need to ban mini-skirts which contradict African culture. “This is not the first conservative wave across Africa,” according to Haydar Ibrahim, social studies professor at Khartoum University and founder of the Sudanese Studies Centre. “The first wave was in the late 1960s early 1970s” as Richard Nixon became the president of the United States. “Nixon was the first US president to use religion in politics, and a few years later president Anwar Al-Sadat and several conservative African leaders came to power, shored up by Cold War conditions,” added Ibrahim. According to Esther Kibakaya, a Tanzanian researcher and journalist at The Citizen, all the countries that lowered the hemline in the first wave are the same ones in the eye of the storm today, namely Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Malawi. Kibakaya said most, if not all, these countries had been recently liberated from British occupation, and there are very few similarities with francophone Africa. Ibrahim believes this is mostly expected. “British colonialism preserved religious and tribal institutions and native language preceding occupation, while French colonialism insisted on cloning the French original in African countries,” he said. “At the same time, the leaders of independence were conservatives, such as Kenyan leader Jomo Kenyatta, or had modernisation plans, such as Tanzanian leader Julius Nyerere who chose not to clash with religious powers which could have blocked his projects.” During the Cold War, African leaders were either in the US or Soviet camp but their cultural policies were similar, especially in terms of a major battle in most African countries between the new middle class, which fought for independence, and conservative tribal leaders and clergy (Muslim and Christian). As Americans used religion more frequently in politics after Nixon, his African counterparts adopted the same method in stamping out any popular movements opposing their illegitimate measures. The current wave is rooted in the strong rise of churches and Islamist religious groups on the continent, which all spawned terrorist groups such as the Christian God's Army in North Uganda and Anti-Balaka in the Central African Republic, or the Islamist Boko Haram in Nigeria and the Mujahideen in Somalia. Kibakaya adds that this time there is also US influence after Trump's victory, and the rise of the right wing in Europe, especially in France. “Nonetheless, there are stronger African reasons,” she asserted. “Most notably, rural migration to the continent's capitals and cities in search of jobs. They are conservatives who lean towards the Church or Islamist groups.” She continued: “There is also a desire by those in power to distract the masses away from economic problems or corruption issues by drowning them in discussions about allowing or banning certain dress codes.” Khedr Abdel-Baqi, media professor at Kano University in Nigeria, said “There is a wave of immorality in official media, films, dozens of troupes of lewd dancing, and widespread sexual harassment. There is a trend in African media of nude scenes and profanity which must be combatted because they strengthen religious groups, and in turn terrorism.” The dress code debate in Africa is similar to the one in Egypt and the Arab world. Those supporting the ban argue that shorter hemlines incite men “because they look to see if there is anything worth looking at” and pushes them to sexual harassment or even rape. A woman who is dressed conservatively respects herself more than one wearing a short skirt, according to proponents of the mini-skirt ban. Meanwhile, those opposed to the ban assert that rape in rural areas is not at a lower rate than in urban areas, despite conservative dress codes in villages. At the same time, sexual harassment rates did not drop in countries where women cover up more. Abdel-Baqi, a former Al-Azhar student, explains this viewpoint by saying “people have the same arguments if the topic of discussion is similar”. But Kibakaya counters that the cause is the strong confrontation between African states represented in their armies or tribal leaders, and the Church or religious groups who mobilise poor cities. “African governments believe it is important to attract these people, or at least not lose them, by ratcheting up conservative religious rhetoric because the majority of African countries cannot carry out serious development or truly combat corruption,” according to Kibakaya. Nonetheless, increasing conservative rhetoric will not eliminate religious groups, but could strengthen them, as seen in the Arab world and Latin America, according to Ibrahim. “Most Arab countries used conservative and religious rhetoric to combat political Islam, but the result was undermining tolerant Islam and empowering terrorism,” he said. “It is easy for religious groups to ride this conservative wave, recruit more supporters and become a real threat to the state, and not just the government,” added Ibrahim.
