Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni comes under fire for saying men should never step into the kitchen and cooking is for women

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has come under fire for saying men should never step into the Kitchen and cooking should be strictly left for women.

Speaking on Sunday in a statement, Mr. Museveni, who in the past has said he is not scared of death since he will defeat it by resurrecting, said he has never stepped into the kitchen since he got married, and that it was not a man's role to cook.

"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," he said, as an example of how politicians and civil servants should stick to prescribed roles.

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However, his statement immediately attracted a storm from a section of Ugandans and Africans.

Oxfam's International Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, hit back at the 74-year-old president on Twitter, saying she was "disappointed".

"Cooking isn't a woman's job. It's a life skill. All people - men and women should cook," she wrote.

"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 also joined the onslaught.

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

Online news website Watchdog Uganda however defended Museveni's comments as consistent with the country's culture which sees men cooking as "taboo", saying 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."