President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has blasted the western countries for imposing homosexuality on Africans.
“The western countries should stop wasting the time of humanity by imposing their social practices on us. Sex is confidential, so why should the public know whether you are a homosexual or not unless you pronounce yourself,” he remarked.
Museveni made these remarks on Thursday while addressing Parliament.
“On the issue of homosexuals, we shall get the time and discuss the matter thoroughly. Homosexuals are deviations from normal. Is it by nature or by nurture? We need to answer those questions. We need a medical opinion on that,” he said.
Museveni added, “In Europe, people marry their cousins but in Uganda and some other parts of Africa, it is taboo to marry your cousin, so should we impose sanctions on them? That is not our problem.”
Museveni warned western countries to stop imposing their social practices like homosexuality on Africans.
The Ugandan leader also wondered why western countries threaten to impose sanctions on those who are opposed to homosexuality yet it should be the other way round.
Last week, a new bill was introduced in Uganda’s Parliament criminalizing same-sex conduct and sexual and gender identity.
On March 9, 2023, Asuman Basalirwa, a member of parliament, introduced the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Parliament.
The bill is a revised and more egregious version of the 2014 Anti-Homosexuality Act, which reinforced existing prison sentences for same-sex conduct and outlawed the “promotion of homosexuality.
The 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Bill expands on the criminalization of same sex acts, including broad prohibitions on acts such as touching another person “with the intention of committing the act of homosexuality.” People found guilty of the “offense of homosexuality” may be imprisoned for up to 10 years.
the bill goes much further by also criminalizing any person who “holds out as a lesbian, gay, transgender, a queer, or any other sexual or gender identity that is contrary to the binary categories of male and female,” with a punishment of up to ten years in prison.
In addition, the bill makes it a crime to “purport to contract a marriage with another person of the same sex.”
The bill includes a punishment of up to five years in prison for the “promotion of homosexuality.” It also effectively declares all same-sex conduct as nonconsensual.
Uganda’s penal code already punishes “carnal knowledge against the order of nature,” which is interpreted to mean homosexual relations, with a punishment of life in prison, although the provision, a colonial remnant, is rarely enforced.
In introducing the bill, Basaliriwa said its purpose was to “look at this colonial law and have it in tandem with the current situation.”
