Category: uganda

Martin Ssempa didn’t like the article on gays in Uganda

Sunday, the Uganda Observer published an article on July 22 titled, “Inside the world of sexual minorities.” The article quotes local physicians with an informative article regarding various terms for sexual minorities. The article seems to make an effort at balance and information rather than opinion and moralizations.

Well, that did not sit well with Martin Ssempa who wrote a letter to the editor published today:

Wednesday, 04 August 2010 17:50

I am responding to the story ‘Inside the world of sexual minorities’ (The Observer, July 22-24, 2010). I view the two pages of extensive research you presented in such a national newspaper as any outcry of sympathy and acceptance of homosexuality and the people involved in the evil practice. It is a betrayal of readers’ loyalty and the family values in Uganda.

Your stories created the impression that:

•Homosexuals are a minority group, which should be accepted in society.

•Families can still survive even after one spouse turns gay, probably with the other spouse getting another lover too and ‘they live happily ever after.’

•The definitions given of the various forms of homosexuality are meant to encourage the young minds to explore the vice.

•The pictures that ran with the story give an impression of happy, blossoming relationships, which is not the actual case with homosexuality.

•It is okay for children to turn to homosexuality and that their parents can just seek counselling and everything will be fine.

On the other hand, the stories missed out the following facts:

•Homosexuals are 100% more likely to contract HIV/AIDS compared to normal heterosexual couples.

•Homosexuality has a negative impact on the body’s external organs and is a health hazard.

•Homosexuals are very depressed people who face gender identity disorders.

Besides, homosexuality is already illegal in Uganda. Therefore, unless you are promoting a crime, I do not see why you presented homosexuality as a scientific normality.

As loyal readers of The Observer and parents, we demand an apology and counter coverage on the pro-family issues.

Dr. Martin Ssempa,

Kampala.

Who knows where Rev. Ssempa gets his statistics. I am not sure what external organs he is referring to but I am sure many readers will take issue with his “facts” as I do. He is however, welcome to provide supporting documentation here if he would like to.

I may be missing some of the article given what Ssempa refers to in his letter. If anyone has a more complete version, if it exists, please let me know.

Kuchus in the news

Not sure if I have used that term before to refer to homosexuals in Uganda but it appears in Huffington Post via an article by Mark Canavera.

The kuchu movement is abuzz in Uganda. Kuchu is a (plural: kuchus) word, apparently of Swahili origin, that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) Ugandans have minted to describe their identities. “We do not use the word ‘queer,'” explains Frank Mugisha, chairman of Sexual Minorities Uganda, an umbrella entity that brings together LGBTI organizations for advocacy purposes. “We’ve got our own word that encompasses the whole idea: kuchu.”

I appreciate that Canavera says that “Most American evangelical churches have distanced themselves” from the bill. He also notes that Canyon Ridge Christian Church has not done so. Indeed, Canyon Ridge has added insult to injury by misrepresenting the bill in such a way that their congregants are publicly defending a false picture (see Change.org “be informed” commenter).

Anyway for a brief summary of what is going on in Uganda among opponents of the bill, see Canavera’s article.

College of Prayer’s Julius Oyet promises arrests after the Anti-Homosexuality Bill is passed

Apostle Julius Peter Oyet is a co-laborer with Martin Ssempa in the effort to pass Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Oyet is a leader in the Born Again Federation of Churches in Uganda and has championed the “7 Mountains” theology in Uganda and the United States. Essentially, Oyet believes that the church should infiltrate the government and the media and run them by the teachings of the Bible. He is also President of the Ugandan branch of the College of Prayer, a ministry run by Rev. Fred Hartley and based in the Lilburn Alliance Church in Atlanta. I have posted on the College of Prayer previously here and here.

Oyet was deputized by Parliamentarian and bill author, David Bahati, to collect signatures on a petition to Parliament to quickly pass the bill. Oyet was with Ssempa in the gallery when David Bahati sought permission from Uganda’s Parliament to introduce the bill as a private member’s initiative. Both Ssempa and Oyet were involved in the early stages of bill development. According to Jeff Sharlet, Bahati told him that Ssempa was on the phone with Bahati nearly every day during the early stages of bill writing. In a interview to be released as a part of a film by Dominique Mesmin in September, Oyet elaborated on his role:

I was there. I have been part of the brains behind it. We worked on it. We planned who should propose it. It is the Ugandan’s bill. It is the culture of Uganda to keep purity. It is everybody’s voice. I worked with Bahati on this.

Here you see Oyet sitting next to Ssempa during one of the infamous hard core porn shows:

Oyet, Ssempa and Bahati have worked closely together to move the bill along. Oyet, however, takes a different approach to his advocacy for the Anti-Homosexuality Bill than Ssempa and Bahati. Whereas Ssempa and Bahati have misled audiences by minimizing the scope of the bill saying that it is designed to remedy non-existent gaps in child abuse law, Oyet is more forthcoming about the bill’s effects. He is also candid about his beliefs in relationship to what penalties should be enacted. For instance, watch this trailer from Mesmin’s upcoming film, Killing in the Name. At 2 minutes into the clip, you will see Oyet preaching and giving an interview where he invokes Mosaic law:

I was told by Mesmin that Oyet was acting in a more public role in March because Martin Ssempa was out of the country (at Canyon Ridge Christian Church, we now know). A bit later, in May, Oyet was interviewed for the British documentary, Africa’s Last Taboo. In this video, you can see the forceful advocacy of Oyet and the promise that once the bill is passed, gays will be arrested.

As noted, Oyet is pretty clear about the purpose of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Those who suggest that the bill only pertains to child abuse or sexual assaults will have a hard time explaining Oyet’s advocacy. Oyet cannot be dismissed as an outsider; he is a major player working for David Bahati and a colleague of Martin Ssempa.

His advocacy for the College of Prayer is signficant. He told Dominique Mesmin that he has an offices in London, South Africa, Kenya and Atlanta. I suspect the Atlanta office is the College of Prayer office in Lilburn Alliance Church in metro Atlanta (the church and the COP share the same phone number). Here Oyet speaks about his admiration for the work of the College of Prayer in the Parliament of Uganda. David Bahati and Nsaba Buturo are Parliamentary leaders for this ministry.

According to the organization’s 990 form, the College of Prayer paid $11,350 in 2007 for Oyet to travel to Atlanta. He was scheduled to speak at a COP leadership training conference in March, but the conference did not take place.  Director of the College of Prayer, Fred Hartley, told me that he did not support the bill but declined to make a more public statement. If there has been any distance between Oyet and the COP, Oyet does not seem to be aware of it.

Have gays been arrested in Uganda? Ssempa says no, Mbale says yes

In his appearance on Michael Brown’s Line of Fire show, Martin Ssempa said that homosexuals have not been arrested or killed under current law. Canyon Ridge Christian Church provided a transcript of a short portion of the show (oddly calling it an “unedited interview”) where Ssempa responds to charges from Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin:

Brown reads a written challenge from Jim Burroway posted on Box Turtle Bulletin, and Martin responds regarding death penalty provision and allegations of gays being killed or imprisoned.

One aspect of Burroway’s challenge was for Martin Ssempa to post the bill. Ssempa told Brown he would do it but did not. Ssempa goes on to discuss his view of government and says that his pastor’s group does not favor the death penalty. He calls the bill “a draft” which is not true unless you think of all bills as drafts. The bill published in the Uganda Gazette is a bill, which can be amended but it is clearly more than a draft. Drafts cannot be read in Parliament, drafts are not sent to committee where they await committee report. Bills can be amended, but they can also be voted on. But I digress.

Ssempa ends his placation of critics by saying this:

I just want to let you know in the history of Uganda for the last 50 years we’ve had this law, since we’ve had a law against homosexuality, no homosexual has been arrested or killed for homosexuality.

Ugandan activists have contested this claim and said that often they are brought in on trumped up charges as a pretense to harass them for their sexual orientation. I have been tracking a story from Gulu of a woman who was burned to death because she made a pass at another woman but cannot as yet offer conclusive evidence. However, this clip from a recent British documentary, Africa’s Last Taboo, documents in detail the arrest and detention of two gay men in Mbale under the existing sodomy law.

Please note that this situation is ongoing and was initiated prior to Martin Ssempa’s statement that such things do not happen in Uganda. I have another clip where Julius Oyet tells a homosexual that he will be arrested when the law takes effect. Martin Ssempa told Line of Fire there would not be a witch hunt. When it becomes a criminal offense to remain silent if you know homosexuals, what do you think the effect of that will be? If this can take place under current law, what could happen under this new law?

Additional footage showing the attitudes of the crowd toward the Mbale gays.

The last half of this clip features the appearance by Lou Engle. I will have a brief post about that soon…

Has Martin Ssempa’s Facebook page been removed?

It seems like a distinct possibility.

Over the weekend, various Facebook users (e.g. here) reported that Martin Ssempa’s Facebook page had been removed. Sure enough, it is not available.

 I contacted Facebook and asked if any statement could be made about the removal. Facebook spokesperson Simon Axten wrote to say he could not comment on specific users but in response to my inquiry said:

We take our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities very seriously and react quickly to reports of inappropriate content and behavior.  Specifically, we’re sensitive to content that includes bullying, pornography, direct statements of hate, and actionable threats of violence. Facebook is highly self-regulating, and users can and do report content that they find questionable or offensive.  When reported content is removed by one of our professional investigators, a warning is sent to the person who posted it. In rare cases when a person repeatedly violates our policies, we may disable that person’s account.

If Ssempa’s page has been removed, he would have an opportunity to appeal. Axten explained:

We always provide the ability for people whose accounts have been disabled to contact us to appeal the decision.

I am guessing videos like this one now removed from the Facebook page pushed the “direct statements of hate” button.

It is possible that the removal is a glitch such as effected the Facebook group which opposes the AHB earlier this year or that perhaps Rev. Ssempa did it himself. However, given the reaction of those who attend his church, it may indeed be an action of Facebook.