President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has assented to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill recently passed by Parliament, effectively outlawing gay acts in Uganda.
This was revealed by Speaker of Parliament Anita Among on Monday, 29 May 2023.
In a statement, Among hailed the President and the MPs for answering the cries of Ugandans to protect the sanctity of the family.
“As the Parliament of Uganda, we have answered the cries of our people. We have legislated to protect the sanctity of family as per Article 31 of the Constitution of Uganda. We have stood strong to defend our culture and aspirations of our people as per objectives 19 & 24 of national objectives and directive principles of state policy,” she said.
“I thank His Excellency, the president, for his steadfast action in the interest of Uganda. With a lot of humility, I thank my colleagues the Members of Parliament for withstanding all the pressure from bullies and doomsday conspiracy theorists in the interest of our country. By their action, we have lived by our motto: *For God and our Country.*”
The Speaker of Parliament urged the law enforcement agencies to work towards putting the law into practice.
“We shall always stand for and promote the interest of the people of Uganda. I now encourage the duty bearers under the law to execute the mandate bestowed upon them in the Anti-Homosexuality Act. The people of Uganda have spoken, and it is your duty to now enforce the law in a fair, steadfast, and firm manner,” she said.
The Bill was first passed 21 March 2023 but was returned by the President.
The Committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs reviewed the concerns and proposals made by the President regarding distinguishing between being a homosexual and actually engaging in acts of homosexuality.
The President said the law should be clear so that what is being criminalized is not the state of one having a deviant proclivity but rather the actions of one acting on the deviance or promoting the same.
On the duty to report acts of homosexuality under Clause 14, the President expressed concern that the clause presented constitutional challenges and created unnecessary contradictions and duties which pose implementation challenges and conflicts in society.
