"Men shouldn't cook" Uganda's president says and gets roasted

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni disclosed that he had not stepped into the kitchen since he got married and that it was not a man’s role to cook. His statement led to him being roasted from every angle.

Speaking on Sunday, Museveni, while giving an example of how politicians and civil servants should stick to prescribed roles, said cooking is a woman's job and men shouldn't cook.

He said:

The head of the home never goes into the kitchen. It is now 45 years with Mama Janet. I have never stepped into the kitchen. That is how it should be.

As soon as his statement went viral, he was called out on social media by Ugandan citizens.

Oxfam’s International Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, said she was "disappointed" at the 74-year-old president.

She tweeted:

Cooking isn’t a woman’s job. It’s a life skill. All people — men and women — should cook.

When cooking, cleaning and doing other domestic chores are left to women, they are denied an equal chance to raise incomes or to be politically active.

Beatrice Alaso from the opposition Forum For Democratic Change told AFP said:

Museveni has revealed to the world what he has always believed in: that women can never be the same as their male counterparts.

According to Watchdog Uganda, Museveni’s comments is consistent with the country’s culture, which sees men cooking as "taboo." The publication stated that some ethnic groups in the country have a word referring to men who cook as a "transvestite or a man dressing and behaving like a woman."