Comments on: Uganda’s Parliament May Pass the Anti-Homosexuality Bill Soon

By: Lynn David

Lynn David — Wed, 30 May 2018 17:24:41 +0000

When did “Uganda Picks” get to be a news source?

I’ve seen recently that the Irish government is withholding aid after fraud was found which channeled funds into the account of the Ugandan Prime Minister that was meant for rebuilding in the north after the fight with Kony. And Janet Museveni has had to refute allegations that she participated in the multi-billion shilling theft scandal at the Office of the Prime Minister. No doubt bringing up the AHB might be a way of shifting focus away from the fraud by scapegoating gays once again.

By: Richard Willmer

Richard Willmer — Wed, 30 May 2018 17:24:41 +0000

*or even a ‘playwright’!* (that’s what happens when one cannot write as fast as one thinks!)

By: Richard Willmer

Richard Willmer — Wed, 30 May 2018 17:24:41 +0000

(Certain things have happened – e.g. armed police* raiding a theatre, a play write being arrested, peaceful meetings being broken up by more armed police* – that would suggest that aspects of the Bill are already being treated as if they were law. The Bill being passed would make things clearer for foreign governments wishing to develop a their response to the situation.)

* If Ugandans are wondering why there are no armed police around when they are actually needed, they perhaps should wonder no longer!

By: Sebaspace

Sebaspace — Wed, 30 May 2018 17:24:41 +0000

Yes, it is time for the MPs making so much noise in the shadows to go on record with their vote on this issue. Let’s have their faces on the bill seeking to kill a section of their citizens purely on account of who they are. Let the bill be debated and passed!

By: Richard Willmer

Richard Willmer — Wed, 30 May 2018 17:24:41 +0000

My view (shared by others) is that the (long planned) re-emergence of the Bill is also (and perhaps primarily) part of the ongoing power-struggles in Kampala.

For some (eg Bahati) the Bill is a ‘matter of belief’; for others it is a tool in the power games; for others it is, as Lynn suggests, a convenient diversion from corruption. For Uganda as a whole, it could be an unmitigated disaster, and its ‘now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t’ stuff a symptom of the increasingly delicate political situation in that country.

We have been expecting anther ‘push’ on the Bill around now. The Ogwal resolution discarded by the Pan African Parliament was possibly the ‘opener’ this time round. (The notion that this ‘push’ has something to do with Baird upbraiding Kadaga is just another canard.)