When a girl is old enough to be married off,her and the man intending to marry her let the

paternal aunt of the girl know about their intentions of getting married.This is because in
Buganda,the father is feared and treated with so much respect.
The ceremony where this happens is called a "kukyala".At this ceremony,the paternal aunt is
responsible for getting to know the linage of the man intending to marry their daughter and his
totem,this is because it is a taboo to marry in the same linage that a person belongs to in
Buganda.
In this same ceremony,the bride groom - to be comes with a letter asking to be introduced in the
girl's family,this letter includes the dates which the groom to be wishes to be introduced in the
family of the girl.The paternal aunt of the girl receives the later and delivers it to the father of the
girl.

Once the kukyala is done, and the father receives the letter from the man intending to marry his
daughter,he is expected to reply the letter and in it he is expected to include what bride price he
wants,this is termed as "omutwalo gwatata" in Buganda , the letter aswell includes the dowry
that the man is to bring on the introduction ceremony.
This letter that is written by the father of the girl is delivered to the man by the paternal aunt of
the girl.

The introduction ceremony is the next step here, and on the day of the introduction,all the
people attending it are expected to wear the Buganda traditional wear which is a "kanzu" for the
men including the bride groom and a "Gomesi" for the women including the bride.the man and
his family arrive at the home of the father of the girl to be married with what they call
"Njogeza",this is like a gift that gives them the confidence to talk while in the girl's family home
according to the Buganda culture,the "Njogeza"used to be local brew in the past but now,many
people take crates of soda to represent it.

The introduction involves the two families getting to know each other and since it's the girl's
family that hosts the man's family,they treat them with very much respect.The siblings of the girl
go ahead to greet the visitors(man's family & other guests).

After that,the bride and his family are invited into the house to have lunch with the elders of the
girl's family,this serves a purpose of the man being accepted to be born in the girl's family and
this acceptance is done by the father of the girl.Here after,the father and the bride groom share
coffee beans and a glass of water,way back in the past,blood pacts would be performed instead
but today due to the emergence of disease transmission through blood,blood pacts have been
discouraged from being practiced.Once the bride groom is born into the girl's family,he is served
lunch inclusive of a whole chicken luwombo which is specifically cooked for him by the parternal
aunt of the girl.While still in the house,the bride groom presents the bride price which the father
of the bride asked for,hence he is completely born into the bride's family.

The rest of the introduction ceremony is carried out from outside the house .The paternal aunt of
the girl is then asked to show off the bride groom to everyone who is around.This is because it
is thought of in buganda that it's only the paternal aunt that knows him.After the bride groom is
expected to give a gift to the brother of the bride specifically a chicken (cock) and a "kanzu"as a
token of thanking him for protecting his sister (the bride) all her life till the day she's getting
married.The bride groom is also asked to present the certificate from mengo in buganda that
shows that he is well known by the officials in the Buganda kingdom , he's also asked to present
the map of Buganda.After presenting those,he and his team are asked to present the dowry ,the
bride is then asked for permission whether the dowry to be taken by her family or not.,once she
accepts,her and her groom proceed to the engagement step and a ring is put on the bride's
fourth finger on her left hand.Once this step is done,the marriage ceremony is deemed to be
successful.