Following the passing of the bill by members of parliament in Uganda and introducing tough penalties including death sentences, the United Nations and human rights bodies have condemned the passing of the bill and called on the president not to sign the bill into law.
The speaker of Parliament Hon Anita Among who had presided over the sitting vowed they would do whatever it takes to preserve the cultural norms and values of the country.
However as celebrations rocked having passed the bill ,messages of condemnation also started coming in from the global community including the UN as well as the United States calling the law as discriminatory and regressive.
Mr Volker Turk the UN high commissioner for human rights called on the president not to sign the bill into law.
“ The passing of this discriminatory bill probably among the worst of its kind in the world.” “it’s a deeply troubling development and if signed into law by the president it will render lesbian ,gay and bisexual people in Uganda criminals simply for being who they are..”
However similar sentiments were also voiced out by the US Secretary of State Mr Anthony Blinken. The anti homosexuality Act passed by the Ugandan parliament yesterday would undermine fundamental human rights for all Ugandans and could reverse gains in the fight against HIV / AIDS and we urge the Ugandan government to strongly reconsider the implementation of this legislation,” Mr Blinken tweeted.
The spokesman for the US Embassy in Kampala Mr Anthony Kujawa when contacted told our media that it would impinge upon the human rights of Ugandan citizens and jeopardise the progress in the fight against HIV/ AIDS as well as deter tourism in Uganda.
However the government has maintained they will not be manipulated. During the parliamentary address on March 16 ,president Museveni told legislators that he would be guided by scientific evidence to establish if homosexuality is natural or not.
He added in the same address where he lashed out at Western powers for imposing homosexuality on Africans.
All these reactions mirror events of the aftermath of the passing of the same bill law in 2014. US government imposed sanctions on Uganda for its counter to universal human rights laws .individuals like State Minister for Trade David Bahati were banned from entering the US.
These sanctions further more affect funding to health and security exercises that are heavily donor reliant.
Other countries in Africa where homosexuality is banned include Ghana, Nigeria, Sudan, Zambia among others.
The position of the church in Uganda still remains firm and are happy that the parliament also stood against homosexuality and hope the president will affirm that.