Wife beating is culturally right! Museveni says controversially

The President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, has created a heated discussion on the internet after claiming that in African cultures, it is not wrong for a man to punish his wife by beating her.

In one video that has been circulated online, President Museveni was seen talking about how a wife being punished by her husband is the same as how a thief is punished by a crowd of people when he is found committing a crime.

The veteran president said that African culture allows that, but not by punishing the wife to the point of hurting or killing her.

"In African culture, beating a thief is a legal thing. It's like Saudi Arabia where if someone is caught committing immorality, they should be killed or stoned. In society, that's why there are many punishments due to people, not me. A thief is killed by people if the police are not around. Not only is beating a thief legal, but even beating their wife is culturally right. It is also legal to punish children if they have done something wrong," Museveni said in the undated video.

This advice of Museveni contradicts what the groups fighting against gender violence preach. In Kenya, cases of punishing your wife in marriage by beating her is a serious crime while also corporal punishment of children at school was banned a few years ago.

Museveni's controversial remarks are par for the course for a leader who runs Uganda like his own home and will not tolerate any opposition.