KAMPALA – Uganda President Yoweri Museveni has told off the US over the Anti-homosexuality law that was upheld by the East African country’s courts.
Through a social media post on X, formerly Twitter the Government of Uganda quoting President Museveni said, “The signing of the bill is over, nobody will make us move”.
“The NRM (National Resistance Movement) ruling party has never had a double standard: what we tell you by day is what we will tell you by night,” Museveni said.
This was a reaction to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s protest over the Constitutional Court’s ruling on Wednesday, April 3, that upheld the law that has been termed as among the harshest in the world.
“Today’s verdict on Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act undermines human rights and public health for all and poses grave threats to LGBTQI+ Ugandans and allies. “Uganda’s international reputation and ability to increase foreign investment depend on equality under the law,” Blinken said.
In a press release earlier, the State Department said the United States continues to be deeply concerned by reports of human rights abuses in Uganda, including against the LGBTQI+ community.
“The announcement that some provisions of the Anti-Homosexuality Act have been removed by the Constitutional Court is a small and insufficient step towards safeguarding human rights.
“The remaining provisions of the AHA pose grave threats to the Ugandan people, especially LGBTQI+ Ugandans and their allies, undermine public health, clamp down on civic space, damage Uganda’s international reputation, and harm efforts to increase foreign investment,” the statement said, adding that Uganda should respect the human dignity of all and provide equal protection to all individuals under the law.
Civil society groups in Uganda last year moved to court to appeal the law that was passed in March 2023 and assented to in May, arguing “it did not pass any constitutional litmus test”.
The law imposes the death sentence and life imprisonment for certain homosexual acts.
“such an abhorrent law whose only aim is to spread hate and institutionalise discrimination and exclusion does not belong on Uganda’s law books and should never have been enacted in the first place,” Clare Byarugaba, an LGBTQ+ advocate from Chapter Four, said.
However, the judges ruled the act does not violate fundamental rights to equality and nondiscrimination, privacy, freedom of expression, or the right to work for LGBT people.
They also ruled that those who had challenged the law had failed to prove the negative financial implications of the law, or that there had been a lack of public participation in the legislative processes, or breaches in parliamentary rules of procedures.
They concluded that the law had been “overwhelmingly passed on the basis of those views of the Ugandan people’s parliamentary representatives, who would know the sentiments of the people that they represent on the subject.”Â
Only two MPs voted against the anti-LGBT bill. The law also received widespread support from Ugandans.
The court, however, struck out sections that restricted healthcare access for LGBT people, criminalized renting premises to LGBT people, and created an obligation to report alleged acts of homosexuality.
The ruling has been criticised by local and international lobby groups, with Human Rights Watch saying it further entrenches discrimination against LGBT people, and makes them prone to more violence.
Larissa Kojoué, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said In upholding most provisions of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, including the death penalty in certain circumstances, Uganda’s Constitutional Court went down on the side of hate, violence, and discrimination instead of standing up for fundamental rights for all.
“The ruling will have a detrimental impact on all Ugandans, including LGBT people, families, and communities who continue to suffer the stigma that the Anti-Homosexuality Act enshrined into law,” Kojoué said.
DETERORIATING TIES
The exchanges signal and further escalation in the Uganda-US relations, following earlier sanctions, travel and business advisories and withdrawal of World Bank financing.
In December 2023, the US expanded visa ban on current or former Ugandan officials or others believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining democracy in Uganda and pushing against the LGBTQ.
Blinken said the visa restriction policy was extended to the officials’ immediate families for policies or actions aimed at repressing members of marginalized or vulnerable populations.
“These groups include, but are not limited to, environmental activists, human rights defenders, journalists, LGBTQI+ persons, and civil society organizers. The immediate family members of such persons may also be subject to these restrictions,” the State Department said.
Earlier in October, the US issued a business advisory against Uganda, saying enterprises face potential risks following the enactment of an anti-LGBTQ law.
This followed another move in August, when the World Bank Group on announced suspension of funding to Uganda over the Anti-Homosexuality Act. Â
The World Group said Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act fundamentally contradicts its values, and that it believes its vision to eradicate poverty can only succeed if it includes everyone irrespective of race, gender, or sexuality.Â
But hearing none of that, President Museveni in October told off the West, saying Europeans would not arm-twist him in governing the country and dealing with homosexuals.
