Ugandan Government To Pass Anti-Gay Bill

Ugandan Protestors Outside Ugandan High Commission in London

According to Uganda’s Minister for Ethics and Integrity, Dr. James Nsaba Buturo, a statewide bill will criminalize homosexuality.

Addressing a press conference at the Media Centre yesterday, Buturo said the country was besieged by homosexuality, pornography, prostitution, human sacrifice, drug abuse, embezzlement and witchcraft to the extent that it was “dangerously becoming a permissive society.”

Minister Buturo noted that once the bill is passed into law, it will be an offence to publish and distribute literature on homosexuality or advocate for it. In addition, the bill would make it impossible for homosexuals to address press conferences. However, the minister declined to reveal the penalties for offenders.

Buturo said he was under pressure from some development partners “to go slow on homosexuals”. He disclosed that some donors were threatening to withdraw funding if Uganda becomes more hostile to homosexuals.

“I all the time tell them to leave us alone. I say (to them) that Uganda’s integrity is more than the money they give us. We are not going to be taken advantage of on account of financial support,” Buturo stated.

After all, he remarked, 70% of the aid that Uganda gets is repatriated.

The minister dismissed the idea that homosexuality is not a choice and urged religious institutions to take a stronger stance against “illegality.”