Lawrence Alado is a JURIST Staff Correspondent in Uganda. He reports from Kampala.
Speaking at a dedication service convened under the theme, “Let your light shine; rebuilding our Godly image”, the Speaker of Uganda’s Parliament announced Tuesday that an anti-gay bill will be presented before the Parliament of the country tomorrow, the 1st of March.
We gathered earlier today to dedicate @Parliament_Ug to the Lord, and I pledged to the Country that a Bill will be introduced as soon as possible to deal with Homosexuality and lesbianism. We shall Jealously protect our cherished values and culture. pic.twitter.com/yAABBIs3dK
— Anita Annet Among (@AnitahAmong) February 28, 2023
In her remarks, Anita Annet Among stressed that Uganda has moral values that the legislature and the public seek to protect. She said: “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 we are going to bring a Bill on anti-homosexuality.”
The Right Honorable speaker vehemently stated that Uganda will show the world that it does not condone darkness. She declared, “We are going out to the World as the light. I want to promise you that as the legislature, we are going to be the light of the world.”
The previous Anti-Homosexuality Act which infringed on the rights of sexual minorities was declared null and void by Uganda’s Constitutional Court in Professor Oloka-Onyango and Others v Attorney General (Constitutional Petition 8 of 2014). The Act sought to impose life imprisonment for homosexual relations.
It remains to be seen what the contents of the proposed Bill are, but the speech of the Speaker follows several statements by religious leaders around the country stressing that schools should not receive “gay funds” and that the public should desist and condemn all acts of homosexuality.
