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When parliament passed the Anti-homosexuality bill this very date last month, hope of curbing the vice was painted on the wall that indeed since the president who has always spoken tough couldn’t hesitate to sign it in whatever form it gets to his table to assent to it to become law.
Homosexuality was on the rise and continues to rise among youths and children who are recruited with promises of huge cash. Police has busted several organizations promoting homosexuality. A female teacher at PMM girls’ school in Jinja is currently on remand at Kirinya prisons for recruiting students in this only girl’s school into lesbianism. She was also found home with her female wife.
Another group of six youths are also at Kirinya prisons in Jinja after a clip of them bumshafting went viral on social media.
Majority of the legislators over 350 in a fully packed session voted to pass the Anti-homosexuality bill in unison. Despite being a private member’s bill not (government influenced) like it has been before.
The amendments which removed term limits in 2005 and age limit for president in 2017 were all private member’s bills but with government backing and were exceptional in a way that they were meant to help continue a Museveni presidency to as many as years he wishes.
Despite calls from Ugandans, religious leaders and cultural leaders to president Museveni to sign the contentious Anti-homosexuality bill into law, the president in a shocking move returned it to parliament for review of certain sections, something that has been seen as a last nail into the coffin of this bill which experts say may never bounce back on the floor of parliament.
President sending back the Anti-gay bill for review is not the surprise that Ugandans faced but shocked Ugandans is that the same members of parliament in the NRM caucus who voted to pass the bill sided with Museveni to send it back to parliament. Prior to the NRM caucus meeting, the question was that Why did the president wait for the bill to passed before suggesting changes.
The president however has been under intense pressure to from his western donors not sign the bill into law. These say the bill when signed will be a bad law that will infringe on the rights of the homosexuals whom they say have a right to chew themselves. These also warn of dire consequences especially in funding of key areas of Museveni’s government especially in security, Health, Education, Environment, democracy among others.
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In this article, we reveal to you what exactly the president based on to kick the bill back to parliament. Like Bukooli MP Solomon Silwany said, the Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka indeed wrote to president Museveni urging him not to sign the anti-homosexuality bill into law.
According to president Museveni who was delivering a keynote address to a highly attended NRM caucus said that the Attorney General based his argument on one particular issue of amnesty to those who voluntarily come out to confess of being homosexuals. Museveni says the bill passed by parliament last month criminalizes even those who come out to confess something which isn’t good.
“This country has issued amnesty for people who have carried out criminal activities of treasonous nature against this country. A similar provision would be provided in this law to ensure that a person who comes out on his own is not criminalized”-Museveni noted
The president also airs out his worry on the fact that when he signs the bill into law, western funders would pull out funding from the fight against HIV/AIDs under several projects with USAID and PEPFAR, according to the president these pump a whooping $260 Million (UGX 971 Billion). This huge funding is used to buy drugs for the over 1.2 million Ugandans living with HIV/AIDs.
Museveni he doesn’t mind about the funding in the area of HIV/AIDs and his government can handle that budget but the problem is corruption which has eaten up his government. And when he vaccinates his government from corruption, then such bills can be managed.
“One of the things they’re threatening is to kill our 1.2Million people who have been surviving on PEPFAR funds to buy drugs for HIV/AIDs, so that we don’t buy the drugs for our people and they die. This is a simple matter which we can fight but parasites can’t fight. If you fear to sacrifice, you cannot fight. In order for you to fight, I want to first cure you of parasitism. Europe is lost and they also want us to be lost. Those who want an easy life will end up being prostitutes”-Museveni said
Left with no option but to say to the president’s suggestion, the NRM legislators again resolved in unison that it’s returned to parliament to capture what the president suggested. Many of these are fighting to catch the president’s eye to appoint them ministers since many of the current ministers implicated in the ‘mabaati’ scandal stand no chance of being forgiven by the old man from Rwakitura.
President Museveni has returned very important bills to parliament before, he returned the Marriage and Divorce bill in 2013. He also some time in the last term rejected to sign the Minimum Wage bill in 2019 which was going to set a minimum salary for workers in Uganda as drafted and tabled by former Jinja East legislator Paul Mwiru among other bills.
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