The Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009 continues to move up and down the list of items to be considered next by Uganda’s Parliament. Today, it is the third item but the first bill to be considered once current business is completed.
Several bills have leapfrogged over the anti-gay bill in the last several weeks and so the position of the anti-gay bill on any given day is not necessary an indicator of when the bill will come to the floor, if at all. However, Speaker Kadaga continues to keep it on the agenda.
UPDATE: The order paper for today (3/14/13) maintains the same order of business with the anti-gay bill still being third on the list of business to follow the current action on the floor.
10 thoughts on “Uganda Watch: Anti-Gay Bill Next to be Considered by Parliament (UPDATED)”
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Seems like they are playing a shell game with the bill. Perhaps hoping to catch people off guard when it comes up. Or perhaps using it as a decoy to cover something else they want to bring up.
Looks like there will now be a recess until Easter Tuesday (02-04-2013): http://www.parliament.go.ug/new/index.php/about-parliament/parliamentary-news/174-parliament-goes-on-recess
Also looks like Kadaga is keen to get the M&D Bill through (she seems to be claiming it is not a new law, but a ‘remix’ of existing measures). Many churches are not keen on the M&DB.
Looks like there will now be a recess until Easter Tuesday (02-04-2013): http://www.parliament.go.ug/new/index.php/about-parliament/parliamentary-news/174-parliament-goes-on-recess
Also looks like Kadaga is keen to get the M&D Bill through (she seems to be claiming it is not a new law, but a ‘remix’ of existing measures). Many churches are not keen on the M&DB.
Good to see this matter being debated seriously in the country that gave ‘official’ homophobia to Uganda: http://oblogdeeoblogda.me/2013/03/14/house-of-lords-calls-for-decriminalization-of-homosexuality-in-commonwealth-because-of-higher-hiv-rates/
(The British laws have been made worse by the M7 regime: women were criminalized in 2000, and life imprisonment for consensual relations introduced in 2005. HIV infection rates [the effect on actual numbers of sick people being compounded by this being a rising percentage being of a fast growing population] have moved up sharply in the past few years … with bahatism threatening to drive them higher still.)
Good to see this matter being debated seriously in the country that gave ‘official’ homophobia to Uganda: http://oblogdeeoblogda.me/2013/03/14/house-of-lords-calls-for-decriminalization-of-homosexuality-in-commonwealth-because-of-higher-hiv-rates/
(The British laws have been made worse by the M7 regime: women were criminalized in 2000, and life imprisonment for consensual relations introduced in 2005. HIV infection rates [the effect on actual numbers of sick people being compounded by this being a rising percentage being of a fast growing population] have moved up sharply in the past few years … with bahatism threatening to drive them higher still.)
There are ‘struggles’ behind the scenes, from what I hear. We know that a group of opposition MPs don’t want the Bill (on principle?), and there are those in the government who feel the same way (on more ‘pragmatic’ grounds?). Kadaga perhaps does want it in order to ‘save face’ and to get ‘one up’ on her intra-party opponents. Bahati seems rather quiet these days – maybe now he’s just a pawn in bigger people’s games? And so are many ordinary Ugandan citizens, of course.
(I lean towards to ‘cock-up’ rather than ‘conspiracy’, and suspect that sensible UG politicos see the situation in much the same light. Let’s hope they prevail.)
Seems like they are playing a shell game with the bill. Perhaps hoping to catch people off guard when it comes up. Or perhaps using it as a decoy to cover something else they want to bring up.
There’s plenty going on behind the scenes, one hears, and the two bills currently in Second / Third Reading (Marriage & Divorce; Public Order Management) are both highly contentious. My guess is that the ‘Hang-the-Gays’ Bill (as it still very much is, let us remember) will continue to languish in various positions under “Notice of Business ..” for a while yet.
There are ‘struggles’ behind the scenes, from what I hear. We know that a group of opposition MPs don’t want the Bill (on principle?), and there are those in the government who feel the same way (on more ‘pragmatic’ grounds?). Kadaga perhaps does want it in order to ‘save face’ and to get ‘one up’ on her intra-party opponents. Bahati seems rather quiet these days – maybe now he’s just a pawn in bigger people’s games? And so are many ordinary Ugandan citizens, of course.
(I lean towards to ‘cock-up’ rather than ‘conspiracy’, and suspect that sensible UG politicos see the situation in much the same light. Let’s hope they prevail.)
There’s plenty going on behind the scenes, one hears, and the two bills currently in Second / Third Reading (Marriage & Divorce; Public Order Management) are both highly contentious. My guess is that the ‘Hang-the-Gays’ Bill (as it still very much is, let us remember) will continue to languish in various positions under “Notice of Business ..” for a while yet.