Category: uganda

Bachmann staffer has history of arrest in Uganda

This is a strange story but one worth watching.
An staffer for Michele Bachmann is an international man of mystery according to the Atlantic. The same Peter Waldron who helped Michele Bachmann win the Iowa straw poll on Saturday was arrested in Uganda in 2006 for illegal possession of rifles. And he boasted a familiar Ugandan pastor as a friend:

Mugenyi could not say what Waldron’s Contact America Group is involved in or whether it is registered in Uganda. “We suspect that it could be either an NGO or a lobby group,” he said. Despite Mugenyi’s attempt to link Waldron to Besigye, Waldron says he has close relations with State House.
In an article titled Evangelicals v. Muslims in Africa: Enemy’s Enemy and published in the US news magazine The New Republic in August 2004, Waldron says he had met President Yoweri Museveni. The American doctor also says he is a friend of the first family and a friend of Pastor Martin Sempa, according to the article, written by one Stuart Price.

Waldron liked Uganda according to a New Republic report because it was so conservative and Christian:

“They embrace Americans here,” he said enthusiastically. Indeed, as we sat together, a steady stream of young admirers who had seen Waldron in church came up to greet him. They made complicated handshakes, the way Ugandans do, and Waldron boasted to me that he had met privately with President Museveni and his born-again wife.”
“It struck me that, for many Americans of faith, Uganda – a country where homosexuality and abortion are outlawed, where politicians freely mix church and state, and where outward displays of religious devotion are the norm – represents a kind of haven.” Waldron is said to have talked to several high-ranking government officials on arrest including some powerful ministers.

Quite an interesting guy, perhaps he is the inspiration for the man in the Dos Equis commercials.
Stay thirsty, my friends.
UPDATE: Andrew Rice, the author of the New Republic article mentioned in the Uganda paper, brings us all up to date on his contacts with Waldron. He also reminds us that as recently as 2004, Ssempa was a hot deal for US evangelicals.
UPDATE: Peter Waldron says on his Facebook wall that Michele Bachmann has the annointing of God on her.

HOW CAN ANYONE STAND ON THE SIDELINE? I am simply amazed that some folks are waiting for Saul-like characters who look everything like a king while Michele fights with the anointing of God upon her. She is fearless, fierce in battle, and focused on winning the nomination and securing the White House. Thinking about running, waiting to throw their hat in the ring – foolishness. The battle rages now and Michele needs an army.

Report: Bahati says Anti-gay bill back in November

Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill will likely be tabled again but the question is when? MP Otto Odonga told me recently it could come to the floor of Parliament in August. Now a source is saying that Bahati pegs the return for November of this year. Here is the story from a Ugandan blogger who writes that he recently spoke with MP Bahati:

However perhaps even matching its own record on the bizarre and grotesque was the so-called “Kill the Gays” Bill that was introduced by arguably one of the more capable Members of Parliament today, the Ndorwa West MP David Bahati. Last time I had a chat with the MP (who I had incidentally advised against the bill precisely because of the storm it may generate and because I considered it a waste of valuable time), he told me the bill would return to the house in November. “ I am winning,” he said.
These days I am sort of resigned to how disagreeable things can become what with an economic storm, a crisis of the Ugandan shilling and real hurt amongst Ugandan families that I consider this bill largely academic. But just like the bail law some people have suggested to me that the bill is intended for political purposes as well. My sources in parliament also add that because of the world wide storm it generated it will come to the House for debate in stealth not reflected in “ the order paper” of the day.

This would be possible because the Speaker there has great freedom in how the business is conducted. According to MP Odonga, the Speaker, Rebecca Kadaga, has assured MPs that the AHB will be moved ahead from the last parliament. Thus, it would be old business and could be brought forward at her discretion. Whether or not she will do that is a guessing game.
I have also heard today from sources I trust that ministers are quietly appealing to MPs to pass the bill via letters and emails. The relevance of this is that the movement to get the bill considered is not as public as during the previous parliament.

American Psychiatric Association opposes Uganda's anti-gay legislation

Over the weekend I received this from psychiatrist David Scasta:

8/14/11
Dear Warren:
I want to thank you for keeping me and the American Psychiatric Association apprised of the situation in Uganda regarding the Anti-Homosexuality Bill – which failed to make it on the agenda of the last Ugandan Parliamentary Plenary but apparently is being resurrected in a modified form for the current Plenary. As you know, the American Psychiatric Association was alarmed that there has been a credible attempt to criminalize homosexuality in Uganda with draconian punishment that includes the death penalty. While the APA likely will not comment on the religious dynamics behind the bill, the APA can comment on the psychiatric implications of the bill and the quality of the scientific pronouncements about homosexuality by Ugandan mental health organizations.
By way of context, the APA is the largest psychiatric organization in the world, numbering almost 38,000 members. On May 14, 2011 the legislative Assembly of the APA passed legislation without dissent putting the APA in opposition to criminalization of homosexuality and reiterating the APA’s longstanding positions about homosexuality that decry stigmatization and discrimination. The Assembly’s legislation made its way up to the Joint Reference Committee and the Council on Minority Mental Health and Mental Health Disparities. The Joint Reference Committee then called upon the APA Board of Trustees to direct the President of the APA to write to the President of Uganda and the Speaker of Parliament expressing the APA’s concern about the health and safety of Ugandan gay and lesbian citizens. Dr. John Oldham, the current president of the APA, sent that letter on July 26, 2011. I attach that letter for your readers’ perusal.
Thank you again for keeping all of us informed about this critical issue for the African continent.
David L. Scasta, M.D., DFAPA
Representative to the Assembly of the APA
Association of Gay & Lesbian Psychiatrists
Vice-chair, Assembly Allied Organizations Committee
Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry
Temple University Medical School

The letter from Dr. Oldham is attached and is addressed to President Museveni, Speaker of Parliament Kadaga and David Bahati, mover of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. It also is copied to Charles Tuhaise, the President of the National Association of Social Workers – Uganda. That group has endorsed the AHB which seemed to bring motivation to the APA to go on record opposing the bill and criminalization of homosexuality in general.

Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill on a fast track

I spoke yesterday with Ugandan MP Hon. Otto Odonga who told me that the Parliament will bring back the Anti-Homosexuality Bill soon, perhaps “by the end of August.” Although the re-introduction of the antigay bill had been expected, Odonga said the bill is “back from the perspective of the new parliament starting from where the last parliament ended.”
Since the end of the Eighth Parliament, observers have speculated that the Ninth Parliament might not require re-introduction of bills deliberated upon but not passed. Two weeks ago, the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, held a meeting with the chairpersons of all Parliament’s committees to orient them to their new positions. Also, in order to save time and expense, the group decided to bring forward at least three bills to the new session: the Government Assurances Bill, the Marriage and Divorce Bill and the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
In a prior post, I outlined a pretty close approximation of what the Parliament will be debating.