Speaker of Parliament Hon Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga, once handed a second term in that office this May, has promised to revive the Anti Homosexuality Law, which was passed, signed by the President but struck down by court in 2014 on technical grounds.
The law which attracted international outrage for the tough punishments it provided for offenders was passed by Parliament in December 2013 and signed by President Museveni two months later.
In August 2014 however, the Constitutional Court annulled the law on grounds that it was passed without quorum.
Efforts to return it to the floor of parliament for debate were however suppressed by President Museveni, who despite initially supporting it, advised that the law would put Uganda on a collision course with her allies in the western world.
Speaker Kadaga revealed this morning that the law will be prioritized in the 10th Parliament if brought back on the floor.
While appearing on the weekly Capital Gang show, Kadaga emphasized that homosexuality was not welcome in Uganda.
The speaker in October 2012 caused a diplomatic stir, when she rebuked a Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird in Quebec, telling him to stop interfering in Ugandan affairs. The Minister reportedly tried to attack Uganda’s human rights record in respect to sexual minorities at a conference Kadaga was attending.
On the Gang this morning Kadaga retold the impasse: “The foreign minister who came to address us before the meeting started told us that he was going to make sure that homos are respected in Uganda, Russia and other countries.”
“So I told him, you man; I came here with my own ticket; I am paying my own hotel and you cannot direct me on what to do. When I left the podium, one of the Arab delegates told me, ‘you have said what we wanted to say, but we were afraid.’ He congratulated me and said we Africans are brave.”
The speaker later on returning home promised to have the law passed by parliament as a ‘Christmas gift’ to all Ugandans.
Asked today whether she was disappointed that the law was annulled by court, Kadaga said, “I delivered. The law was enacted before Christmas. It was passed on the 19th of December 2013. She added, “But If the movers bring it back, we shall put it through again.”
During the radio talk show, MP Chris Baryomunsi who is also the junior health minister affirmed that the Anti Gay law will be brought back on the floor of the 10th Parliament.
He explained, “Hon. Medard Bitekyerezo and I authored a paper which we presented to our caucus in Kyankwanzi to persuade our president. The westerners argue that homosexuality is inborn and genetically transmitted, but we were able to split the science and show them that it is a learned behavior which can also be unlearned.”
On the same show, government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo also departed from the President’s views and urged Ugandans to reject homosexuality.
He said Ugandans would not accept for everything to be defined for them by the western world.
“The real contention is that there are people who have defined what civilization standards should be. They think that we should all go by their standards. Europeans and Americans have now brought homosexuality as a normal thing that we must all abide by.”
He added, “Majority of Arabs and Africans say that this is offensive to our cultures and practices, and science itself. But we must continue to stand our ground, even when we are poor nations. We can discuss what punishments should be given, but allowing them to encourage homosexuality here is something that we must reject. Why are they publishing manuals on how to teach homosexuality?”