The first time I heard that a groom (Muko) in Baganda culture is given his personal Luwombo at an introduction ceremony, I was so excited and started dreaming of the day I would be introduced by my lover.
My wish was that day comes earlier than I had ever wished it to be. What brought the excitement and all the wishful desires for me was the fact that the Luwombo is composed of a full chicken. A full chicken for one person!!!! Oh my God, I love chicken. Who doesn’t?
However, what I have heard about the luwombo between then and now is what brings mixed feelings about my desire to even be introduced. Apparently, that luwombo is dish of love portions and not just chicken like I thought it was.
According to an informant who preferred anonymity, “aunties ask the bride to shave her private parts and the hair is then burnt and mixed into the muko’s luwombo. Allegedly, some little urine from the bride is also added to complete the portion.”
“In addition to that, a local herb known as ‘olweza’ is added all in the name of cementing the marriage,” the confidential informant adds. No wonder the aunties always insist that the groom easts first. In most cases, others are forbidden from eating from his luwombo. Now that’s what scares me the most.
However, according to a Bride and Groom Magazine, issue 27, the local herbs that are put into the luwombo are not meant to inflict any harm but rather to cement the love in the marriage, just like my informant put it.
“Among the well known herbs used are Nabbugira, Akafugankande (which is reputed to give a wife control of her husband), kayayana (which, it is said, causes a man to have constant desire to be near this woman), Bwanda, Akawulira (which is supposed to ensure that the husband will always listen what the wife says) and many others which are known to enhance love,” reads a statement in the magazine.
Apparently, it is the auntie that buys the chicken, prepares it and serves it because it is a taboo for bride’s mother to come anywhere the muko.
Dear ladies, whether all this is true or not, there is one fact I know of. And that fact is that the herbs won’t cut you the deal to a have a successful marriage. A good relationship is one where both partners are honest, friendly to one another, well behaved and work upon it to keep the candle burning.
As a woman, if you’re not well behaved, then no matter how many herbs you use, then I can guarantee that the marriage may not work.
