If you are a female civil servant in Uganda, it is either you wear high heels or stay out of a job. A new law has been passed that bans just about everything fashionable and remotely indecent in the work sphere.
The law has apparently been informed by the rising cases of indecent dressing by the civil servants. The 14-point guideline has abolished the following:
Long nails
Long nails are now at taboo at the workplace in Uganda, but that is not all. Now you cannot have brightly coloured nails, neither can you wear more than one nail polish at a time.
Hair
The cropped hair look has become a hit, and that is usually coupled with a tinted or dyed hair. This has now been illegalised in Uganda, so has bright coloured braids and hair extensions.
Tight skirts, dresses
Now skirts and dresses have to be below the knee and they cannot be tight.
Shirts
It is now illegal to wear sleeveless shirts to work and womankind can no longer wear shirts that expose cleavage.
Too much make-up
Uganda is the only place that has outrightly banned ‘too much makeup’. We wonder though, how much makeup is too much makeup?
Shoes and accessories
Flat shoes are not allowed at the workplace, unless by medical order. The ladies will have to think twice about accessories, because some of them, like chandelier earrings, have been banned.
Yet, it is not just ladies who have been handed these Draconian dressing laws. This peculiar law has something for the men too. Men cannot wear tight trousers to work, neither can they wear open
shoes to work. Besides, it is a criminal offence to wear to work shoes that are not black in colour.
This law was signed by the Permanent Secretary for Public Service, Ms Catherine Bitarakwate who averred that the civil servants are expected to dress decently and carry themselves in a manner that is acceptable in the Ugandan community, as stipulated in their standing order.