King Oyo Added to Sex WhatsApp Group, His Reaction Is A Must Read!

Oyo-nyimba Kabamba-Iguru Rukiidi IV, the 23-year-old King of Tooro Kingdom was recently added to a sex WhatsApp group by what he described as his “notorious online friend”. Here’s what he had to share about the rapidly growing number of sex WhatsApp groups among youths.

There is this whatsapp group called No Strings Attached (NSA) Sex Uganda, my notorious online friend added me to. A look at this group’s header sends shockwaves down your spine.

Here is how it reads: “Hey! Live in Kampala or its surroundings? Why not meet like-minded people and arrange some NSA fun? Add your e-mail address below and get it on.”
It has 290 members and some of its members’ explicit requests and posts arouse pity. It is not the only Ugandan whatsapp group dedicated to sex.
Several other groups have suggestive and lewd names and have several members. There is even a mobile sex worker page. The list of these groups and pages is endless, and I need to report all of them so they are brought down.
These pages are a stark testimony of how the booming social media use in Uganda, especially Facebook and whatsapp are fuelling a dangerous sexual revolution among the youth.

Unfortunately, the internet is an uncontrollable monster and even though Facebook and other social networks have a strict policy against lewd content, pornography and sexual content is still posted unabated. Because of social networks, more youth are so exposed to lots of sex, more so unprotected sex!

That aside, to the individual, social media has broken the boundaries of traditional relationships. It is slowly becoming acceptable for people to share everything with strangers online and feel like they know them very well when they finally do get to meet.
“social media makes one believe that they’ve known the other person for a longtime. It gives you an insight in their day-to-day lives and since you chat before actual meeting, there is a sense of trust and emotional bond you build between yourselves.
Indeed, a new relationship on Facebook starts as easily as sending a friend request and enables one to communicate swiftly and with little limitations or hurdles that physical encounters may present, so by the time you meet, you have already by-passed the hard bits.
Youth, who make the biggest population of Ugandans on social media, are increasingly using the above mentioned pages and groups to recruit sexual partners, a move that ought to be stopped, but how?The increasing number of Ugandan-administered Facebook pages, accounts and groups dedicated to promiscuous and irresponsible behaviour bare testament to what is soon to come.

The fact is that there is a seemingly explicit and obsessive sex culture being groomed on social networks, which further worsens the HIV/AIDS situation.
There is no conclusive social media policy in Uganda and people are taking advantage of this. A two-minute browse of an average Facebook wall will be an encounter with suggestive posts, adult content and x-rated photos. Unfortunately, there is no one to prefect that and all these “new” ideas are being totted around to web-savvy teenagers.
Just like the HIV/AIDS prevalence has gone up, so has the proliferation of social media in Uganda over the last five years. If you do the maths, you will know how much this country needs prayer.

It is getting worse, especially since almost every student at the level of Senior One upwards seems to have a Facebook account. Eventually, someone introduces them to these pages, or chats with them suggestively and ultimately, they are recruited. We need help!

Yours truly,
Omukama of Tooro