KAMPALA, Jan 7 (AFP) - In a bid to both return to tradition and reduce the incidence of AIDS, brides in the Ugandan kingdom of Buganda are to start receiving rewards if they are still virgins on their wedding day, local Health Minister Robert Ssebunya said Monday.
"A committee has been set up to look into the modalities, such as deciding the type of awards to be given," Ssebunya told AFP, without saying what kind of prizes were envisaged.
According to tradition young women in the Buganda kingdom, which dates back more than 500 years, used to be rewarded with the gift of a goat for abstaining from premarital sex.
The minister added that under the rewards system bridegrooms would help determine their partners' eligibility after the wedding night, and would report to female mentors known as sengas. He did not give further details.
"In the past, virginity was an important component of our culture and girls used to get married at the right age while they were still virgin," said Ssebunya.
Families whose daughters continued to respect that tradition would be rewarded to thank them for preserving the good morals of the kingdom, he said.
Francis Kiwanuka, a sub-county chief in the loose Buganda kingdom administration, said sengas, who are responsible for teaching young girls about morals and marriage affairs, would disclose the status of their proteges to determine whether they would get the rewards.
Bugandan leaders also hope the move will help stem the spread of AIDS and the HIV which causes it. Some 1.8 million Ugandans are HIV-positive.
With an estimated population of over four million people, Buganda is the single largest and most organised kingdom in Uganda. Others are Bunyoro, Toro and Busoga.
All of the kingdoms were abolished by then president Milton Obote in 1966, but revived by current President Yoweri Museveni when he came to power in 1993.
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