AMakerere University Proffessor of Law and former Dean at the School of Law, Sylvia Tamale reached the epitome of her research career when she delivered her Professorial Inaugural Lecture today.
Dubbed “Nudity, Protest and the Law”, the lecture was delivered from the university’s main hall, making her the first female proffessor in Makerere University to deliver an inaugural lecture.
Prof Tamale is feminist and Professor of Law. She holds a Bachelors of Law from Makerere University, a post graduate Diploma from the Law Development Centre, a Masters of Law from Harvard University and a PHD in Sociology and Feminist Studies from the University of Minnesotta, USA. She was the first female Dean of the School of Law at Makerere University.
The current Principal of the School of Law, Dr Damalie Naggita applauded the precedence that Prof Tamale has set for all female academicians.
While quoting an article from the Daily Monitor, Dr Naggita said that often times people have misinterpreted the principles that Prof Tamale believes in and stands for. Suffice to note was a 2006 New Vision readers’ poll that placed her as the “Worst Woman of the year” because of what they termed as standing for unpopular laws alongside LRA Chief Joseph Kony who was ranked as the worst man of the year because of his rebel activities in the North.
The inaugural lecture, she admitted, was inspired by the trauma she suffered after the scenes she vividly observed earlier this year when Dr Stella Nyanzi staged a nude protest at Makerere University Institute for Social Research (MISR) and stripped down to her knickers against what she (Nyanzi) termed as gross mistreatment by her boss Prof Mahmood Mamdan.
Prof Tamale also took a swing at the government when she said that there is actually no written law that prohibits nakedness. She emphasised that the body is a product of culture and is invested with power and that actually nakedness is quite different from nudity.
“When Stella stripped in April, Fr Simon Lokodo was the first among others to call for her arrest in line with the Anti-Pornography Act. Suprisingly, Lokodo’s people in Karamoja have over the years gone naked and semi-naked. How do we reconcile that ladies and gentlemen?” she ridiculed the Ethics Minister amidst applause.
The inaugural lecture attracted among others Justice of the Supreme court Esther Kisaakye, academicians like Prof Joe Oloka-Onyango her beloved husband, the Chairman Makerere University Convocation Dr Tanga Odoi, lecturers from Makerere and students.
All this was summed up in a colourful ceremony that celebrated her career as a Professor of Law and an inspiration to a myriad of women and feminists world over.
