{"id":38032,"date":"2022-10-02T17:39:58","date_gmt":"2022-10-02T17:39:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/cost-of-living-squeeze-changes-face-of-imbalu"},"modified":"2022-10-02T18:01:30","modified_gmt":"2022-10-02T18:01:30","slug":"cost-of-living-squeeze-changes-face-of-imbalu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/cost-of-living-squeeze-changes-face-of-imbalu","title":{"rendered":"Cost of living squeeze changes face of Imbalu"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong><\/span>Uganda Bureau of Statistics\u2019 (Ubos) consumer price index (CPI) released on Friday indicated that inflation in Mbale is outpacing the national average of 10 percent by 2.5 percentage points.<\/p>\n

The only city in Bugisu Sub-region, Mbale is the beating heart of the Bamasaaba. Inhabitants of the district have considerably more spending power than others in the sub-region\u2019s districts such as Sironko, Bududa and Manafwa, which were carved out of it.<\/p>\n

Every even year, adolescent Bamasaaba boys undergo rites of passage that lead to adulthood. Initiation into adulthood involves successfully facing the knife. Activities around carrying out an initiation don\u2019t come on the cheap. The main components of an initiation or imbalu fete include food, beer and the unmistakable kadodi dance procession.<\/p>\n

The imbalu ceremony<\/b><\/p>\n

Known for its elaborateness, imbalu ceremonies are usually ostentatious. They culminate with an imbalu candidate being served a whole chicken on the day he faces the knife.<\/p>\n

Mr Moses Kutoi, the chairperson of Bugisu Culture, says the chicken is boiled and soaked in herbs \u201cto help a candidate to be strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

But with Ubos\u2019 September CPI indicating that annual food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation has soared to 25.2 percent, most parents with circumcision candidates in Mbale are opting for low-key events, if any.<\/p>\n

Mr Ivan Gudoi, 65, from Masanda Village in Mbale Northern City Division, has three boys who are supposed to be circumcised this year. Rather than go through the tradition of communal dancing for five days before circumcision, with the attendant annual food and non-alcoholic beverages inflationary costs, Mr Gudoi will circumcise his children with only family members in attendance. It will be a no-frills event, with the three boys sure not to have three chickens slaughtered.<\/p>\n

The costs<\/b><\/p>\n

Mr Andrew Wambi, a resident of Mooni-Kikamba in Mbale Industrial City Division, who had his son circumcised at his home last month, told Sunday Monitor that traditional circumcision is quite expensive nowadays.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur grandparents had plenty of food to feed the people but today, it\u2019s a different story yet traditional circumcision requires a lot of money and resources,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cI appreciate the ritual because it\u2019s a central part of our culture, but we can carry on with it in a more modernised way. We can make it less time consuming, cheap and organised.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, Mr Steven Masiga\u2014a cultural researcher\u2014admits to the imbalu experience undergoing a series of reforms. He, for instance, cites the abandonment of \u201crubbing of ash and red pepper in the [freshly circumcised] manhood of a candidate.\u201d Several of what he calls \u201cantiquated old cultural practices\u201d are gradually fading out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe course culture can\u2019t stay static. Remember, even circumcision itself used to take place every year, [but] currently \u2026 is \u2026 after every two years,\u201d Mr Masiga observed, adding, \u201cWith changes in laws, especially on bride price where cows are no longer mandatorily paid, no one is prepared to just slaughter their hens in the name of culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the elders, unsurprisingly, described the current state of affairs as \u201cunacceptable.\u201d Mr Fredrick Nashimolo warns that \u201cour exalted customs are more endangered today than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Dan Mafabi, another traditionalist, opines that religious leaders have succeeded in projecting imbalu as something evil.<\/p>\n

The changes<\/b><\/p>\n

An official from the Bugisu Cultural Council, however, says money\u2014or the absence of it\u2014is what is changing the face of the rite of passage.<\/p>\n

\u201cA good number of people are abandoning traditional circumcision because it\u2019s expensive. Traditional circumcision needs a lot of money to buy malwa (a local brew made from millet), food, and a bull for guests,\u201d Mr Kusolo said.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThis is the reason some people are taking their children to hospital for circumcision, while others circumcise their boys silently without people\u2019s knowledge. The traditional circumcision takes three days and it costs millions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Culture Vs money<\/b><\/p>\n

Mr George Werishe, an elder, said usually, there is an internal preparation to pay off the imbalu debt required of every Mugisu boy.<\/p>\n

He, nevertheless, concedes that the picture is changing, with youth paying no heed to age-old customs.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who take their children to hospital for circumcision miss a lot because traditional circumcision plays a big role,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThis is the time of initiation into adulthood for our boys, a time to pass on values of society, a time to preach discipline and hard work, a time to talk about marriage-related issues and a time to build families. This cannot be done when children opt for medical circumcision.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. Uganda Bureau of Statistics\u2019 (Ubos) consumer price index (CPI) released on Friday indicated that inflation in Mbale is outpacing the national average of 10 percent by 2.5 percentage points. The only city in Bugisu Sub-region, Mbale is the beating heart of the Bamasaaba. Inhabitants of the district have considerably more spending power […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":38031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,8],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-38032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nCost of living squeeze changes face of Imbalu - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Uganda Bureau of Statistics\u2019 (Ubos) consumer price index (CPI) released on Friday indicated that inflation in Mbale is o ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/cost-of-living-squeeze-changes-face-of-imbalu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cost of living squeeze changes face of Imbalu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Uganda Bureau of Statistics\u2019 (Ubos) consumer price index (CPI) released on Friday indicated that inflation in Mbale is o ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/cost-of-living-squeeze-changes-face-of-imbalu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-02T17:39:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-02T18:01:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2022\/10\/postQueueImg_19.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/cost-of-living-squeeze-changes-face-of-imbalu#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/cost-of-living-squeeze-changes-face-of-imbalu\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Cost of living squeeze changes face of Imbalu\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-02T17:39:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-02T18:01:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/cost-of-living-squeeze-changes-face-of-imbalu\"},\"wordCount\":770,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/cost-of-living-squeeze-changes-face-of-imbalu#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2022\/10\/postQueueImg_19.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/cost-of-living-squeeze-changes-face-of-imbalu#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/cost-of-living-squeeze-changes-face-of-imbalu\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/cost-of-living-squeeze-changes-face-of-imbalu\",\"name\":\"Cost of living squeeze changes face of Imbalu - 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