This morning I spoke with Stephen Tashobya, the chair of the Ugandan Parliament’s Legal and Affairs committee. This committee has jurisdiction over the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. I asked Hon. Tashobya if he had any current plan for action on the AHB. He told me that the Parliament was currently preoccupied with the upcoming Christmas break and then the elections. About the AHB, he said, “So I suppose I can say it will come up after elections which is the 18th of February.”
He said he did not promise that the bill would be next in line, but said
Ideally, what we are trying to do is to ensure that we clear all the bills that are before the committee before the end of this Parliament in May. I am not in a position to say we are going to handle it in this time framework, but we are trying to get out all of the bills by the end of May, including that one [the AHB].
Mr. Tashobya confirmed that if the bill is not considered during this Parliament, then a new bill would need to be tabled in the next one. He then outlined the procedure he envisioned for the bill.
What I can say is that there is special interest in that bill, both for and against and we are mindful of the interest in that bill. We are looking first of all in the context of the Parliament and the public interest, we are trying to see how we can handle it. We shall have public hearings, where all come and give their views and finally the committee report will take into account those views we are receiving from the public.
Mr. Tashobya said that the committee report would be presented then to the Parliament as a whole and discussed prior to a second and third reading. Often the required second and third reading occurs on the same day, followed by the vote, also on that same day. If passed, the bill is sent on to President Museveni. At that point, Museveni could do nothing and allow the bill to become law or he could send it back to Parliament if there were elements he did not like. However, according to Mr. Tashobya, that would be “unusual” saying, “In the life of this Parliament, he has not sent a bill back.”
For opponents of the AHB, it appears that the public opportunity to speak out will be in a relatively short window in the public hearings convened by the Legal and Parliamentary Committee sometime between late February and early May.
‘Maazi’
We’d love you to comment, dear! But there are other places I can go for ‘comment’ …
I doubt the stuff mentioned above will ever happen in Uganda after the passing of the revised Bahati Bill.
Okay then. It is probably time for you to reach out to UK Foreign Office and your “well-connected contacts” in Uganda.
One last point, then it’s bedtime:-
In my experience, Ugandans are pretty smart when it comes to ‘getting round’ silly laws, so even if a dramatically watered-down Bahatiish Bill does pass …
actually, it’s a fairly common sentiment that bahati’s bill is a cheap distraction to take the focus away from many failures, most notably corruption. much like the publicized national day of prayer attended by many corrupt officials to pray away corruption etc… many of those officials later engaged themselves in a public orgy of rigging within their own party’s primaries… fewer people are willing to join them in their hissing, huffing and puffing over irrelevant distractions such as bahati’s bill.
How can you have experience of a place you have never lived in? This is quite funny. Its like me saying that I am confident that Outer Mongolians will reject a law increasing Chinese investment in their nation.
‘Maazi’
I shall say no more – for now. Will you be having ‘sweet dreams’ about mass arrests? If so, don’t dribble too much in your excitement.
Anteros
I’ve heard much the same (from Ugandans) – often.
I disagree on the matter of the Bahati Bill, but do agree that there is a lot of hypocrisy and corruption going on in Uganda, which is a surprise why Western nations are threatening to cut their useless donor aid over gay sex, but not over corruption. In any case, tackling gay militancy is not a distraction at all. It should be tackled together with all other problems. This is where most Ugandan stand on this matter. We are working hard and confident that this emerging threat to African culture will be beaten back before the end of the 8th parliament.
‘Maazi’
And just who are ‘we’? The Ugandan people (a committee of 33.8 million)? A little group of Bahatiites with false names? Buturo’s gang? Who?
Thanks for the confirmation of the ‘intended time frame’. I’ve been aware of this for some time, of course.
donor’s give aid on many conditions, mainly accountability which is one way of keeping corruption in check. and unlike bahati’s attack on human rights, both donors and ugandans are in agreement over corruption… it’s an ongoing battle like poverty eradication, with both sides supposedly working together. it’s obvious why the bill would trigger ‘threats’ – or more accurately, why the bill would justify the reconsidering of support in the form of donor countries’ taxpayers’ money to a country that directly or indirectly uses that support to implement discriminatory laws that those same taxpayers would never entertain in their own country… bahati’s bill is a one-sided, deliberate, direct and bold diversion from the agreed principles of cooperation… we’re talking about the unilateral trashing of internationally recognised and respected human rights like privacy and freedom of association/speech… at least 8 violations of the Ugandan constitution in one sudden bill. what type of reaction from donors did you expect? that reaction was even publicly anticipated and invited by Uganda’s minister of ethics and integrity months before the bill was introduced.
Indeed: UG does what ‘Maazi’ says it wants to do; donors respond as they wish to. Very simple really.
My prediction is that, if a watered-down Bahitler Bill were to be enacted, Germany, Sweden, Belgium and maybe Canada would reduce or cancel aid programmes. Maybe also the WHO. I don’t know, but suspect that the UK and the US would respond in a more ‘tokenistic’ manner.
Germany recently signed an aid deal with UG, with the explicit condition that no further discriminatory legislation be enacted. Sweden’s position is well-known. In Belgium, human rights activist are strong and well-organised.
i don’t think that donors opting to reduce or cancel their aid on account of the bill is an attempt to punish or coerce or neo-colonialize or any such nonsense. i wouldn’t be willing to shake hands with a nose-picking, ball-scratching obnoxious hypocrite… why should anybody else be expected to do something similar?
No – it would simply be a ‘response’.
M7 has been forewarned of such a possible response so that he, and others, can make a ‘fully informed choice’.
Here’s a parallel scenario:-
Opinion polls suggest that a majority of Britons want capital punishment to be reintroduced for certain particularly heinous crimes. British MPs will not do this for a variety of reasons, one of these being that there would be sanctions imposed by the EU. Same thing really.
(I’m very happy with this, as I oppose capital punishment as a matter of principle.)
I don’t understand how Uganda’s Parliament can actually believe all Christian sects endorse this point of view of theres. I’m a gay person who’s a member to, what could be conceived as, the largest gay Christian alliance in the world. We literally span all nations and there are affirming Churches throughout the entire world. I would say Ugandan Parliament is taking a extremely narrow and, in my personal belief, uninformed view on homosexuality.
Has no one questioned these witnesses who brought homosexuality legislation to Parliament on why they cant find any biblical scholars to back up their assertion? I also wonder why they took testimony from books of men who in their own country when pertaining to the psychology of homosexuality. Have lost their license to practice psychology in America. I know they sited Cohen but he has no license to practice medicine in America. These Ministers and Pastors they brought before committee are register hate offenders in America. No different than the Klu Klux Klan, or the Neo Nazi’s in our society.
I am so sorry for the crime that has been pushed on Uganda from our hate groups such as The Family. My heart truly goes out to Uganda for the fact that they have been duped into this anti homosexual bill. I just pray when this is all finished and the GLBTQ start being imprisoned or killed. That we in America can start hearings to have those from America responsible for the assistance of this despicable bill. Tried for Genocide and have them put in prison or put to death along with all the GLBTQ Ugandans who are going to suffer this fate. I am truly sorry for what America has done to Uganda. This brings shame to all of America.
Sidney
As I’m sure we would agree, there is no biblical basis whatsoever for ‘hating LGBT persons’; furthermore, careful study of the (small number of) passages in the Bible that purport to deal with ‘homosexuality’ reveals no sound basis for the condemnation of loving same-sex relationships. As a ‘mainstream’ Christian (who is not in a sexual relationship of any kind, as it happens – but this is strictly, ‘by the by’, as it has nothing to do with the issues of principle here), I think that the Church generally is ‘waking up’ to this fact. Some groups (esp. in the US and in Africa, it would seem) within Christianity don’t like this at all … but the truth will prevail in time. It always does … eventually.
The controversy over the Bahati Bill has helped to focus people’s minds – both here and in Uganda. This is why many Ugandans are abandoning their prejudices (support for the ‘anti-gay’ line has dropped by about 15% over the last three years in UG, according to the Per Forum – something that our fiend ‘Maazi’ is finding hard to come to terms with).
FYI: 15% of the adult population of UG equates to around three million people.
BREAKING!!! NEW YORK – The United Nations General Assembly just voted on a crucial resolution on extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings that, for the first time, includes explicit language protecting LGBT people.
This resolution urges member states to thoroughly and promptly investigate all killings committed for any discriminatory reason, even on the basis of sexual orientation.
The vote was 93-55 with 27 abstentions.
The opposition mostly came from Arab and African nations where human rights are limited.
Last month, a General Assembly resolution opposed the unjustified killing of minority groups, including the LGBT community. It drew widespread criticism, and the United States lead the effort to amend the resolution.
Pastor and advocate (Ssempa) detained for implicating Kayanja in sodomy case
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1077294/-/cjw8roz/-/index.html
Police fail to interrogate pastors over sodomy
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/741996
Thanks for the update, Jame.