By Annet Ntambi
MAY 27, 2023: Yesterday May 26, 2023, Uganda’s draconian Anti-Homosexuality Act came into force after it was assented to by the nation’s President, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
Passed by the Ugandan Parliament on March 21, 2023, the new legislation essentially prohibits any liberties and freedoms for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people in Uganda. Take note that these rights were already illegal as per existing laws in the country, but the latest Act imposes even harsher punishment on LGBTI people — most notably the death penalty for what’s termed as “aggravated homosexuality”. According to the law, this happens where same-sex acts involve children or people with disabilities, or where drugs or alcohol may impair the judgment of one of the parties engaging in gay sex.
Earlier in Parliament during the debate on this law, the Speaker, Anita Among, noted that the law was intended to ensure the protection of Uganda’s values and culture.
A bad global neighbor
While there’s the talk of upholding Ugandan culture, it is important to note that even in precolonial Uganda, there were reports of gay people. This therefore means that gay people simply find themselves naturally like that. Besides, there’s no evidence linking being gay to eroding culture— instead, this phenomenon is a result of thousands of factors that are beyond the gay rhetoric. This then implies that those championing legislation like this, inadvertently infringe upon the human rights of the gay people; hence making Uganda a bad global neighbor.
It is worth noting that human rights are designed to be enjoyed universally and indiscriminately. Uganda is a signatory to several international human rights protection treaties such as the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, among others.
As per these treaties, Uganda pledged to the international community that it would “recognize that in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ideal of free human beings enjoying civil and political freedom and freedom from fear and want can only be achieved if conditions are created whereby everyone may enjoy his civil and political rights, as well as his economic, social and cultural rights.”
So, having committed to these and more such treaties, Uganda is obliged to respect and uphold the rights of all its citizens— including gay Ugandans. However, the new Anti-homosexuality law breaches these treaties and more, both in the letter and in the spirit, of course laying fertile ground for dire repercussions!
Poor Masses to Be Hit Hard
Experience has shown that for failure to respect human rights as pledged in the international rights treaties, Uganda has in the past been slapped with sanctions. Unfortunately, these sanctions always ultimately bite the masses harder; especially given that they shrink the country’s resource envelope. Matters are even worsened by the fact that these resources are already dwindled by public vices such as corruption, embezzlement and mismanagement.
This was experienced about a decade ago, when the USA, followed by other countries such as Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden, cut aid and also slapped travel sanctions on Uganda following the enactment of an equally draconian anti-gay law in 2014.
You’re sure that this time around, the sanctions will bite even harder; and so will be the resultant impact on the common Ugandan. This is because they linger around at a time when Ugandans are still struggling to recover from the effects of the covid-19 pandemic and lockdown which left their businesses crumbled and general livelihoods frail.
The last thing they would wish for, therefore, is an economy shrunk by aid cuts, with it fully known that the country is not yet able to fully fund its national budget.
Aid cuts would mean denying Ugandan children a chance to quality education; more mothers dying in labour due to deteriorated health facilities, while it would also mean more Ugandans not being able to access and/or afford HIV/AIDS drugs; because these are some of the key sectors that are heavily buttressed with aid money.
What should worry every Ugandan is that in passing this act, many legislators exuded more excitement than tactical thought. This can be highlighted by the statements of the State Minister for Sports, who remarked that “Studies have shown that homosexuals are the ones spreading AIDS.” This makes it seem that all cases of HIV in the country are among gay people; which is not true. The humble appeal and prayer for every Ugandan, therefore, should be for the government to consider repealing this law which threatens to make Ugandans suffer. And still, this legislation is so archaic that it only confirms that the people who lead us are out of touch with the current global realities.
The author is a freelance journalist in Uganda
