In a conversation between two men in a taxi, I heard them discussing the issue of circumcision. Apparently they are Bagisu and they were talking about their traditional custom of circumcision to get off age.
The ritual is that a boy of around 15 years of age must demonstrate that he is able to become a man by facing the knife bravely, by excising part of his genitals. That is why they do not go to the hospital to have a surgical procedure where they use anesthetics to reduce or remove the pain in the exercise.
One man was saying that at Kisubi Hospital, they have now got a new procedure where they use a ring to place in the part where the fore skin has been cut off. No longer can one use an injection to kill the pain before the procedure is done. This is a new technological innovation for circumcision. And it looks modern instead of dancing and having oneself rubbed in acre and other smelling substances.
So where does that put the element of manhood? According to the other man, they should just get rid of the outmoded idea that you are a man if you suffer needless pain. In any case, a number of young boys have died for nothing when they did not do the exercise properly’ and that is the argument for going to a hospital or clinic.
Goretti Namakula
Entebbe
