Category: Religion

Uganda's eighth parliament officially dissolved; fate of legislation still unclear

Apparently without a motion to continue the 23 bills unfinished, the Eighth Parliament will dissolve at midnight.

A proclamation to mark the official end and dissolution of the Eighth Parliament of Uganda has been issued by Parliament. The Eighth Parliament will stand officially dissolved at midnight Wednesday.The Speaker of the Eighth Parliament Rt. Hon. Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi issued the proclamation before being sworn in as a member of the ninth Parliament.
Meanwhile, the swearing in of new members of the Uganda Parliament has closed Wednesday with a total of 374 members taking oath during the last three days.
Article 81 of the Constitution requires every person elected to parliament to take and subscribe to the oath of allegiance and the oath of Member of Parliament before assuming office. No person shall sit or vote in Parliament before taking and subscribing the oaths. 
MPs will convene at Parliament on Thursday for the first sitting where they will elect the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Parliament from amongst themselves. The fisrt sitting of Parliament will be presided over by the Chief Justice who will oversee the election of the Speaker of Parliament.

Tomorrow begins the Ninth Parliament and it remains to be seen whether or not the new Speaker will allow committees to pick up work on bills unfinished from the last session. For months, observers assumed that the Anti-Homosexuality Bill would die if not passed by May 18. However, recent statements from Parliament spokespersons and from bill author David Bahati have led to uncertainty about the procedures. On the AHB, if the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs committee report becomes the basis for action on the floor, the bill remains a serious threat to the civil rights of all Ugandans, and in particular those who express any same-sex intimacy.

Uganda's Monitor provides post mortem on 8th Parliament

Uganda’s Daily Monitor provides some insight into the end of the Eighth Parliament and the unfinished business they left behind. According to this article, over 20 bills were not completed.
On the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, the Monitor reports:

The eighth Parliament officially closed business on Friday, leaving behind a number of high-profile Bills that had been expected to pass – among them the controversial Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

The Bill has garnered widespread international condemnation, notably criticised by Western leaders and human rights activists who have called it ‘inhuman’.
A private initiative of Ndorwa West MP David Bahati, its original form introduced the death penalty for “serial offenders” or HIV-positive people engaging in same-sex acts, as well as imprisonment for those who do not report those suspected of being gay, among others.
Adhering to international pressure, President Museveni set up a commission to investigate the implications of passing the Bill and recommended that it be withdrawn.
But Parliament being independent of government, the Bill was retained. It has since been amended to have the death penalty removed.  As soon as the Bill was listed on the parliamentary order paper, pressure in the House was high as activists filled the gallery in anticipation.

But in the end, it was not debated – along with 21 others, including the HIV/AIDS Prevention & Control Bill, 2010 the Regional Governments Bill, 2009 and the long-awaited Marriage and Divorce Bill.

If the report from the Legal and Parliamentary Afffairs committee that I have is the final and official report, then it is not accurate to say that the death penalty was removed.
The article does give some insight into why the women MPs walked out of Parliament on Wednesday, leading to the loss of the quorum. This action may have kept the Anti-Homosexuality Bill from getting a vote.

Jane Alisemera, chairperson of the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association, accused Attorney General Khiddu Makubuya of “killing” the Marriage and Divorce Bill, which she says has been on the backburner for 45 years.
“During our interactions with him, he said he had no problem with the document,” Alisemera said. “When Speaker Ssekandi suggested that it be debated on Wednesday, he said he was not ready for it.”

Mr Makubuya informed Parliament last week that the Marriage and Divorce Bill would not be tabled in Parliament as government was still consulting on the matter, prompting women legislators to storm out of the House. If the Marriage and Divorce Bill is passed and becomes law, it would abolish forced marriage and allow women to divorce their husbands on the basis of cruelty, among others.

Breaking: Ugandan Parliament stalled on technicality, fate of anti-gay bill uncertain; Parliament adjourned sine die

Read my concise rendering of today’s events and those leading up to today at Huffington Post.
For details, read on…
Despite being called to business today by Speaker Edward Ssekandi, Uganda’s parliamentary session has been stalled today and may adjourn (it did adjourn, see update below) without taking any action on pending legislation, including the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. According to parliamentary spokeswoman, Helen Kawesa, Parliament is stalled on a “technicality.” She said there is no Cabinet in place because it was dissolved in preparation for the end of the 8th Parliament in advance of yesterday’s Presidential inauguration. It is unclear who raised the issue of the necessity for Cabinet to be place for business to be conducted. However the effect is that the session is winding up, with members discussing how to proceed before the end of the 8th Parliament on 18th.
According to this report, Speaker Ssekandi ordered Ministers on Monday to “vacate their seats” yesterday, the same day as the inauguration of President Museveni. However, at that time, the Speaker seemed to indicate that business could be conducted.

He said the directive to vacate the front bench seats which are only a reserve for government ministers and shadow ministers (opposition) does not mean affected members should stop attending and transacting parliament work.
He said the Eighth parliament runs till May 15, a day before the members of the Ninth parliament’s swearing-in-ceremony commences. The ruling NRM ministers and shadow ministers known occupy front bench seats in the parliament chambers while transacting parliament business.

The order paper on the Parliament website shows no bills on the agenda which indicates that the matter of the missing Cabinet must have come up prior to convening the session. The fate of the AHB is still not clear and may not be resolved until the last day of Parliament. Ms. Kawesa said the MPs were discussing a motion to continue all business until the next Parliament perhaps next week, when a new Cabinet is in place.
UPDATE: Apparently, there will be no more business but it is unclear whether a motion to continue was entertained. This announcement just appeared on the Parliament website:

Emotional farewells as Eighth Parliament closes
The term of office for Members of Parliament elected to the Eighth Parliament of Uganda has come to an end. Speaker of Parliament Rt.Hon.Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi announced to MPs, in an emmotional (sic) sitting , the end of the term of the Eighth parliament urging MPs to appreciate and embrace the multiparty political system.
“This Parliament was different from all parliaments before it. But my assessment is that people still long for the movement political system other than the multiparty system. The two systems are different and what you must know is that under multiparty system, Mps on the government side came with one manifesto that the executive is trying to implement,” he told MPs.
Speaker Ssekandi announced that the official proclamation for the end of the Eighth Parliament had already been signed and would be gazetted on May 18, the day the ninth Parliament would commence.

If he was quoted properly by the Uganda Razor, he said earlier in the week that the Eighth Parliament went to the 15th and business could be conducted without a Cabinet. Today, at a session that he called, he said business could not be conducted and announced that the proclamation ending the Parliament had been signed.
UPDATE: I have confirmed with Helen Kawesa that Parliament was adjourned sine die, meaning that the Speaker could call the members back to session if needed. In this way, there is always a legislative body, even when not in session. The proclamation to close the Parliament is signed but will only go into effect on the 18th.
When I asked spokeswoman Kawesa whether or not the AHB could come up next Parliament without the continuing motion, she said she knew of no means, but would not rule it out. I also asked her why the Speaker called the members back to session knowing that there was no Cabinet. Kawesa said she did not know.
As is stands, with no further action, Bahati will have to ask Parliament permission to move AHB-II as a private member’s bill. If they give him that permission then he can introduce the same bill or a modified one and the process will begin again. Today, however, is a good day for freedom of conscience.
The AP has a report on the matter…

Speaker of Parliament Edward Ssekandi Kiwanuk said there is no time to take up the bill this session, which ends Wednesday, leaving the bill’s future uncertain. Kiwanuk adjourned the parliament Friday and set no date for the body to return.

Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill: Is the death penalty off the table or not?

Earlier today, I received a report from a source in Uganda which appears to be the report from the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs committee on the AHB. I did not write about it because I could not confirm that the report was indeed a final report from that committee. Given the time in Kampala, I won’t be able to confirm it until tomorrow. However, if the report is the committee’s final report then the death penalty may not be off the table. Let me add that the report looks like other committee reports I have seen and matches up with what I have heard it contains with the exception of the claims about the death penalty.
For now, I am going to focus on section three of the report which is where the death penalty can be found. Here is section 3 from the bill:

3. Aggravated homosexuality.
(1) A person commits the offense of aggravated homosexuality where the
(a) person against whom the offence is committed is below the age of 18 years;
(b) offender is a person living with HIV;
(c) offender is a parent or guardian of the person against whom the offence is committed;
(d) offender is a person in authority over the person against whom the offence is committed;
(e) victim of the offence is a person with disability;
(f) offender is a serial offender, or
(g) offender applies, administers or causes to be used by any man or woman any drug, matter or thing with intent to stupefy overpower him or her so as to there by enable any person to have unlawful carnal connection with any person of the same sex,
(2) A person who commits the offence of aggravated homosexuality shall be liable on conviction to suffer death.
(3) Where a person is charged with the offence under this section, that person shall undergo a medical examination to ascertain his or her HIV status.

Note especially #2 above and then read the recommendation for section three in the committee report:

1.   Clause 3 (2) is amended by substituting for the words “…suffer death’’ with words “…the penalty provided for aggravated defilement under Section 129 of the Penal Code Act”.

The justification for this change is given as follows:

Justification
To harmonise the provision with the penalty under the Penal Code Act

Now at issue is “the penalty provided for aggravated defilement under Section 129 of the Penal Code Act.” What is it? Here is Section 129 of the Penal Code Act. Read this and find the penalty:

Defilement of persons under eighteen years of age
129. (1) Any person who performs a sexual act with another person who is below the age of eighteen years, commits a felony known as defilement and is on conviction liable to life imprisonment.
(2) Any person who attempts to perform a sexual act with another person who is below the age of eighteen years commits an offence and is on conviction, liable to imprisonment not exceeding eighteen years.
(3) Any person who attempts to perform a sexual act with another person who is below the age of eighteen years in any of the circumstances specified in subsection (4) commits a felony called aggravated defilement and is, on conviction by the High Court, liable to suffer death.
(4) The circumstances referred to in subsection (3) are as follows—
(a) where the person against whom the offence is committed is below the age of fourteen years;
(b) where the offender to his or her knowledge, is infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome(AIDS);
(c) where the offender is a parent or guardian of or a person in authority over, the person against whom the offence is committed; or
(d) where the offender is a serial offender.
(5) Any person who attempts to perform a sexual act with another person below the age of eighteen years in any of the circumstances specified in subsection (4), commits an offence and is liable on conviction, to imprisonment for life.
(6) In this section unless the context otherwise requires—
“serial offender” means a person who has a previous conviction for the offence of defilement or aggravated defilement;
“sexual act” means penetration of the vagina, mouth, or anus, however slight, of any person by a sexual organ or the use of any object or organ by a person on another person’s sexual organ
“sexual organ” includes a vagina or penis.

Note that the penalty for “aggravated defilement” (underlined in bold above) is death. Now note that the AHB only refers to the penalty for aggravated defilement and not any of the offenses. The recommendation does not seem to be a substitution of defilement laws (which by the way covers both boys and girls), but rather is simply another way of wording the death penalty.
Those who are saying the death penalty has been removed have some explaining to do. No one should accept those claims after reviewing this report.

US State Department condemns Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill

Again.
From CNN:

Washington (CNN) — The State Department Thursday condemned a proposed bill in the Ugandan parliament that could make engaging in homosexual acts a capital offense punishable by death. The bill may be debated Friday by the Ugandan parliament.
“No amendments, no changes, would justify the passage of this odious bill,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters. “Both (President Barack Obama) and (Secretary of State Hillary Clinton) publicly said it is inconsistent with universal human rights standards and obligations.”