Ugandan MPs vow to pass Anti-Homosexuality Bill

Despite Cabinet’s wish to shelve the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, Ugandan MPs voiced defiance in a Daily Monitor article today,

Members of Parliament yesterday accused Cabinet of bowing to pressure and described the Executive’s decision to block the gays Bill as “moral corruption”.

The lawmakers said it was immoral for government to think that donor funds matter more than traditional values and vowed to push for the Bill and ensure that it is passed even without the support of government. “Whether they want or not, we are going to pass it. For government to come up and throw out such a Bill means we are living in a crazy world,” said Mr Andrew Allen (Bugabula North).

Ndorwa West MP David Bahati, the architect of the Bill, says Cabinet cannot throw out his Bill because it is now property of Parliament and insists that he is going to push for it.

As I reported yesterday, Parliament spokeswoman Helen Kawesa said the bill was in the jurisdiction of Parliament. Today, MPs echoed her words.

Prior to the move, the international community had put pressure on government by threatening to cut aid if government passes the Bill. Ms Betty Amongi (MP Oyam South) says Cabinet has given Parliament a chance to exercise and prove its independence and not allow donor influence to “also jeopardize its works.”
The Anti-homosexuality Bill is a private members Bill and Shadow Attorney General, Abdu Katuntu (MP Bugweri) said Cabinet cannot throw out a Bill it didn’t bring. “The only option they have is to come and oppose it on the floor of the House,” he said.

32 thoughts on “Ugandan MPs vow to pass Anti-Homosexuality Bill”

  1. Obviously, when I was referring to ‘[publically] saying no more’, I was meaning in relation specifically to the Bill and the current politicking in Kampala, and not wit respect to ‘general issues’ like how aid is allocated and strategies to combat the spread of HIV.

    Has anyone ever told you that you are a talented comedian. You flip-flop at a faster rate than our rather clownish Ken Kaunda and Raila Odinga. You said you were taking a break and now you are no longer taking one. Then you trot out an excuse to cover your clumsiness. 😀 😀

    I think it would be very wrong if western governments used the Bill as some kind of ‘excuse’ to cut assistance to East Africa generally, though I’m fairly confident that such a ‘general cut’ is not going to happen.

    Western governments are free to do whatever they want with their money. If they don’t like what we are doing in Parliament of Uganda then they can take their blackmail money and hit the road !!

  2. On the issue of aid: my hope is that it will not be ‘cut’ if the Bill goes through – but that how it is used is, and to whom funds are disbursed, in altered appropriately.

  3. POINT OF CORRECTION:
    Your fingers may be burning from the beating they have received whenever you furiously tap the buttons on your computer keyboard. Even your computer deserves a break from you as well 😀 . I wish you success in more productive endeavours. I would imagine that those “productive endeavours” would be geared towards helping the failing economy of Britain rather than organizing doomed colonial gay expeditionary missions to Africa 🙂 🙂

  4. We are determined to ensure that gayism remains firmly criminalized here in Uganda.

    Maazi NCO,
    Ok, what exactly does one have to do or be to commit gayism? Also, please answer my earlier question about how your government knows and can prove what kind of sex, if any, two consenting adults are having in private? How do the private citizens know what kind of sex two consenting adults in your government or parliment are having in private? What is the monitoring process?

  5. Maazi – I don’t think I ever said you were joking. Really early on (2009), I thought like most Westeners that Museveni would do what he wanted. However, I have been clear since 2010 that Parliament owned the bill and would act on it.

    Actually, I discussed Ms Melanie Nathan’s threats with a couple of my colleagues across partylines yesterday and I am happy to confirm that we are all in agreement that US and UK governments should seriously think of their geopolitical and geostrategic interests in Somalia and the Great Lakes Region of Africa before they act rashly against the Ugandan people. I can assure you that we do not take those silly threats from that woman lightly and we are ready to do what it takes to compel our government not sell us to the Euro-American Gay Lobby.

  6. Despite Cabinet’s wish to shelve the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, Ugandan MPs voiced defiance in a Daily Monitor article today,

    Warren, did you think I was joking when I told you that Parliament will never give up its sovereign right to debate a bill? No foreign forces shall be allowed to veto our parliament. We are determined that the executive branch will not be used as a buffer against the Ugandan people. And you can take that to the bank !!

  7. (Whoops! That sentence didn’t quite work, did it? Try again!)
    On the issue of aid: my hope is that it will not be ‘cut’ if the Bill goes through – but that how it is used, and to whom funds are disbursed, is altered appropriately.
    An example: since HIV doesn’t respect international frontiers, the current over-reliance on Ugandan ‘churchlets’ to deliver anti-HIV strategies is perhaps far too ‘parochial’ an approach (and the recent rise in the rate of HIV transmission suggests that this approach has not worked well). Maybe a more ‘regional’ approach would be better, especially if there is some ‘population movement’ as a result of the Bill passing.
    I think it would be very wrong if western governments used the Bill as some kind of ‘excuse’ to cut assistance to East Africa generally, though I’m fairly confident that such a ‘general cut’ is not going to happen.

  8. By the way: thanks for the early warning, ‘Maazi NCO’. It has helped me to pass on reports (that have later been shown to be true) to FCO officials before the UK High Commission was able to provide a true picture. This has enhanced the credibility of our cause.
    But now, I think things will be decided by what goes on behind the scenes in Kampala. Everyone now ‘knows the score’ and I strongly suspect that western governments have taken ‘decisions in principle’ on how to deal with any changed circumstances. I’ll now be taking a little break from public comment – so bye for now.

  9. Maazi – I don’t think I ever said you were joking. Really early on (2009), I thought like most Westeners that Museveni would do what he wanted. However, I have been clear since 2010 that Parliament owned the bill and would act on it.

  10. By the way: thanks for the early warning, ‘Maazi NCO’. It has helped me to pass on reports (that have later been shown to be true) to FCO officials before the UK High Commission was able to provide a true picture. This has enhanced the credibility of our cause.

    I am glad that I was of help to your FCO officials, though I am confident that in the end your imperial mission shall fail. 🙂 🙂

    But now, I think things will be decided by what goes on behind the scenes in Kampala. Everyone now ‘knows the score’ and I strongly suspect that western governments have taken ‘decisions in principle’ on how to deal with any changed circumstances. I’ll now be taking a little break from public comment – so bye for now.

    I hope you are rewarded handsomely for your efforts by Her Majesty’s Government. Tell your FCO handlers that we are not ready to sacrifice our independence to any foreign nation. Like I explained in May 2011, there are several alternative legal and legitimate pathways to reach our final goal. We shall never stop doing the right thing by the majority of our citizens. So long Mr. Willmer. Nice speaking to you. You really need the break 😀 😀

  11. Final Solution

    I have already told you that conjuring images of nazism, stalinism, facism and all the other “-isms” is rather pointless. The Parliament of Uganda is NOT in the business of conducting any genocidal programmes. We are not intimidated by this gay propagandist strategy of accusing the representatives of the Ugandan people of being “clones of Adolf Hitler “. We are determined to ensure that gayism remains firmly criminalized here in Uganda. Like I said earlier, you really need to rest a bit. Your fingers may be burning from the beating they have received whenever you furious tap the buttons on your computer keyboard. 🙂 Just make sure the FCO chaps do not cheat you out of your well earned money. You will need money for your vacation 😀 😀

  12. Obviously, when I was referring to ‘[publically] saying no more’, I was meaning in relation specifically to the Bill and the current politicking in Kampala, and not wit respect to ‘general issues’ like how aid is allocated and strategies to combat the spread of HIV.
    Just on more thing on ‘Maazi NCO’: isn’t is funny how he assumes that people do things only for money (or some other ‘reward’). This is perhaps telling …

  13. No he didn’t; and neither did I.
    Of course, the idea that the Government is somehow less legitimate that the Parliament is stupid. Most ministers are MPs in their own right, and the President was elected in the same round of elections as the Parliament (either those elections were free and fair – in which case both the President and the Parliament have true legitimacy – or they were not – in which case both are suspect).
    Uganda does not have the same kind of clear separation between the executive and legislative branches in the way the USA does.

  14. By ‘final goal’, ‘Maazi NCO’, do you mean Final Solution?
    (By the way, unlike you, I don’t conduct my political activities for financial reward.)
    Anyway, over and out!

  15. I have always taken view that any reduction in assistance to the world’s poorest countries would be deeply regrettable. ‘Refocusing’ resources to reflect changing circumstances would be much better.
    And of course western governments do have the freedom to make certain choices concerning how funds are disbursed. We all understand that, I think.

  16. I have always taken view that any reduction in assistance to the world’s poorest countries would be deeply regrettable. ‘Refocusing’ resources to reflect changing circumstances would be much better.
    And of course western governments do have the freedom to make certain choices concerning how funds are disbursed. We all understand that, I think.

  17. Obviously, when I was referring to ‘[publically] saying no more’, I was meaning in relation specifically to the Bill and the current politicking in Kampala, and not wit respect to ‘general issues’ like how aid is allocated and strategies to combat the spread of HIV.

    Has anyone ever told you that you are a talented comedian. You flip-flop at a faster rate than our rather clownish Ken Kaunda and Raila Odinga. You said you were taking a break and now you are no longer taking one. Then you trot out an excuse to cover your clumsiness. 😀 😀

    I think it would be very wrong if western governments used the Bill as some kind of ‘excuse’ to cut assistance to East Africa generally, though I’m fairly confident that such a ‘general cut’ is not going to happen.

    Western governments are free to do whatever they want with their money. If they don’t like what we are doing in Parliament of Uganda then they can take their blackmail money and hit the road !!

  18. Obviously, when I was referring to ‘[publically] saying no more’, I was meaning in relation specifically to the Bill and the current politicking in Kampala, and not wit respect to ‘general issues’ like how aid is allocated and strategies to combat the spread of HIV.
    Just on more thing on ‘Maazi NCO’: isn’t is funny how he assumes that people do things only for money (or some other ‘reward’). This is perhaps telling …

  19. (Whoops! That sentence didn’t quite work, did it? Try again!)
    On the issue of aid: my hope is that it will not be ‘cut’ if the Bill goes through – but that how it is used, and to whom funds are disbursed, is altered appropriately.
    An example: since HIV doesn’t respect international frontiers, the current over-reliance on Ugandan ‘churchlets’ to deliver anti-HIV strategies is perhaps far too ‘parochial’ an approach (and the recent rise in the rate of HIV transmission suggests that this approach has not worked well). Maybe a more ‘regional’ approach would be better, especially if there is some ‘population movement’ as a result of the Bill passing.
    I think it would be very wrong if western governments used the Bill as some kind of ‘excuse’ to cut assistance to East Africa generally, though I’m fairly confident that such a ‘general cut’ is not going to happen.

  20. On the issue of aid: my hope is that it will not be ‘cut’ if the Bill goes through – but that how it is used is, and to whom funds are disbursed, in altered appropriately.

  21. We are determined to ensure that gayism remains firmly criminalized here in Uganda.

    Maazi NCO,
    Ok, what exactly does one have to do or be to commit gayism? Also, please answer my earlier question about how your government knows and can prove what kind of sex, if any, two consenting adults are having in private? How do the private citizens know what kind of sex two consenting adults in your government or parliment are having in private? What is the monitoring process?

  22. POINT OF CORRECTION:
    Your fingers may be burning from the beating they have received whenever you furiously tap the buttons on your computer keyboard. Even your computer deserves a break from you as well 😀 . I wish you success in more productive endeavours. I would imagine that those “productive endeavours” would be geared towards helping the failing economy of Britain rather than organizing doomed colonial gay expeditionary missions to Africa 🙂 🙂

  23. Final Solution

    I have already told you that conjuring images of nazism, stalinism, facism and all the other “-isms” is rather pointless. The Parliament of Uganda is NOT in the business of conducting any genocidal programmes. We are not intimidated by this gay propagandist strategy of accusing the representatives of the Ugandan people of being “clones of Adolf Hitler “. We are determined to ensure that gayism remains firmly criminalized here in Uganda. Like I said earlier, you really need to rest a bit. Your fingers may be burning from the beating they have received whenever you furious tap the buttons on your computer keyboard. 🙂 Just make sure the FCO chaps do not cheat you out of your well earned money. You will need money for your vacation 😀 😀

  24. By ‘final goal’, ‘Maazi NCO’, do you mean Final Solution?
    (By the way, unlike you, I don’t conduct my political activities for financial reward.)
    Anyway, over and out!

  25. By the way: thanks for the early warning, ‘Maazi NCO’. It has helped me to pass on reports (that have later been shown to be true) to FCO officials before the UK High Commission was able to provide a true picture. This has enhanced the credibility of our cause.

    I am glad that I was of help to your FCO officials, though I am confident that in the end your imperial mission shall fail. 🙂 🙂

    But now, I think things will be decided by what goes on behind the scenes in Kampala. Everyone now ‘knows the score’ and I strongly suspect that western governments have taken ‘decisions in principle’ on how to deal with any changed circumstances. I’ll now be taking a little break from public comment – so bye for now.

    I hope you are rewarded handsomely for your efforts by Her Majesty’s Government. Tell your FCO handlers that we are not ready to sacrifice our independence to any foreign nation. Like I explained in May 2011, there are several alternative legal and legitimate pathways to reach our final goal. We shall never stop doing the right thing by the majority of our citizens. So long Mr. Willmer. Nice speaking to you. You really need the break 😀 😀

  26. By the way: thanks for the early warning, ‘Maazi NCO’. It has helped me to pass on reports (that have later been shown to be true) to FCO officials before the UK High Commission was able to provide a true picture. This has enhanced the credibility of our cause.
    But now, I think things will be decided by what goes on behind the scenes in Kampala. Everyone now ‘knows the score’ and I strongly suspect that western governments have taken ‘decisions in principle’ on how to deal with any changed circumstances. I’ll now be taking a little break from public comment – so bye for now.

  27. Maazi – I don’t think I ever said you were joking. Really early on (2009), I thought like most Westeners that Museveni would do what he wanted. However, I have been clear since 2010 that Parliament owned the bill and would act on it.

    Actually, I discussed Ms Melanie Nathan’s threats with a couple of my colleagues across partylines yesterday and I am happy to confirm that we are all in agreement that US and UK governments should seriously think of their geopolitical and geostrategic interests in Somalia and the Great Lakes Region of Africa before they act rashly against the Ugandan people. I can assure you that we do not take those silly threats from that woman lightly and we are ready to do what it takes to compel our government not sell us to the Euro-American Gay Lobby.

  28. No he didn’t; and neither did I.
    Of course, the idea that the Government is somehow less legitimate that the Parliament is stupid. Most ministers are MPs in their own right, and the President was elected in the same round of elections as the Parliament (either those elections were free and fair – in which case both the President and the Parliament have true legitimacy – or they were not – in which case both are suspect).
    Uganda does not have the same kind of clear separation between the executive and legislative branches in the way the USA does.

  29. Maazi – I don’t think I ever said you were joking. Really early on (2009), I thought like most Westeners that Museveni would do what he wanted. However, I have been clear since 2010 that Parliament owned the bill and would act on it.

  30. Despite Cabinet’s wish to shelve the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, Ugandan MPs voiced defiance in a Daily Monitor article today,

    Warren, did you think I was joking when I told you that Parliament will never give up its sovereign right to debate a bill? No foreign forces shall be allowed to veto our parliament. We are determined that the executive branch will not be used as a buffer against the Ugandan people. And you can take that to the bank !!

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