A draft law intended to protect Ugandans from aspects of homosexuality, among other things, will be presented on the House floor on Wednesday, according to Ms. Anita Among, the Speaker of Parliament, who made the announcement on Tuesday (March 1).
Ms. Among remarked that the bill is meant to address the growing moral decadence damaging Uganda’s reputation in her remarks given at the conclusion of the joint ecumenical thanksgiving service at Parliament on Tuesday morning.
“We want to appreciate our promotors of homosexuality for the social economic development they have brought to the country but we do not appreciate the fact that they are killing morals,” Amongi said.
Amongi added: “We don’t appreciate the values of Ugandans that they are destroying. We do not appreciate their money that they are using to destroy our culture. We do not need their money, we need our culture. And on that note therefore, as an institution of Parliament that passes the laws, tomorrow [Wednesday] we are going to bring a Bill on anti-homosexuality.”
The item may have been lightly scheduled on the order paper at the time this story was filed, allowing the motion’s sponsors to be granted permission to process the Bill.
Unconfirmed rumors state that Mr. Asuman Basalirwa, a Bugiri Municipality MP, will be in charge of leading the motion’s proponents. He is expected to focus on the 2014 Constitutional Court decision that struck down a prior anti-homosexuality statute.
The increasing homophobia in the nation has drawn widespread censure, supported by religious leaders from all walks of life and some politicians.
Last week, President Museveni declared that Uganda will not accept homosexuality and that the West should cease trying to force its beliefs on other nations by pressuring them to “normalize” what he called “deviations.”
Mr. Museveni declared, “We are not going to follow people who are lost, These Europeans are not normal, they don’t listen” while officiating at the national festivities honoring Janani Luwum Day in Wii-Gweng village in Mucwini Sub-County, Kitgum District.
“We have been telling them ‘please, this problem of homosexuality is not something that you should normalise and celebrate,” he said, adding, “They (Western countries) don’t listen, they don’t respect other people’s views and they want to turn the abnormal into normal and force it on others. We shall not agree.”
The President’s comments, which were met with cheers from the congregation, came in response to requests made by His Grace Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, for the government to join the Church in denouncing homosexuality and passing legislation to do so.
Although Uganda has harsh anti-gay laws, there haven’t recently been any arrests for consensual same-sex acts here.
A law enacted by MPs and signed by Mr. Museveni that intended to sentence homosexual acts to life in jail was overturned by the Constitutional Court in 2014.
