Tag: uganda

Uganda's Anti-Gay Bill Next Up on the Parliament's Agenda (UPDATED)

UPDATE: On today’s (2/20) Order Paper, the AHB has been moved down to 5th on the list of items to be considered next.  It is hard to know what to make of the Speaker’s erratic scheduling but it may be an effort to keep observers off guard. In any case, the bill remains on the agenda and may come up at any time Speaker Kadaga wants to move it forward.
According to today’s agenda, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill is the first bill to be considered after today’s business is completed. Since today’s agenda is quite full, I imagine that some of what is planned for today will carry over until tomorrow. Thus, it seems unlikely that the bill will come up tomorrow. If the Speaker’s priorities remain the same, it could come to the floor Thursday or early next week.  Here is the line up of business to follow today’s work.

(B)       BILLS THIRD READING
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE BILL, 2009
(Hon.  Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs)

  1. ADJOURNMENT

NOTICE OF BUSINESS TO FOLLOW 

  1. THE ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY BILL, 2009
  2. PETITION OF THE PEOPLE OF BULEGENI TOWN COUNCIL IN BULAMBULI DISTRICT
  3. REPORT OF THE ADHOC COMMITTEE INVESTIGATING THE ELECTRICITY SUB SECTOR
  4. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTS ON THE REPORT OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL FOR THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30TH JUNE 2009 

KAMPALA
19TH FEBRUARY 2013

It appears that the bill will come up for a second and third reading at some point in the next two weeks.  Given the opposition of the Executive branch, it may be that some maneuver will take place at the last minute to keep it from a vote. However, it appears that the bill will make it to the floor soon.

Opposition Surfaces as Uganda's Anti-Gay Bill Moves Toward Vote

In recent days, concern about David Bahati’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill has surfaced within Uganda. For instance, Keith Muhakanizi, the deputy secretary to the Treasury, acknowledged recently that the anti-gay bill has hurt Uganda’s economy.  According to a news report, Muhakanizi told MPs at Parliament: “I have never seen a country like this where politicians hurt the economy instead of building it.”
One MP, Fox Odoi, a member of Parliament’s committee on Legal Affairs has come out against the bill. According to the report,

Odoi, who has written a minority report bashing the bill, added that if lawmakers ignore his report and pass the bill, they will have set a wrong precedent–that government can enter or legislate what happens in your bedroom.

Odoi’s report can be read here and urges that Parliament scrap the entire bill. While one may debate some of Odoi’s conclusions, she points to child protection proposals that are more in line with what proponents of the anti-gay bill say they want while at the same time pointing out that the anti-gay bill infringes on individual rights and does nothing to protect children.
As opposition surfaces, the anti-gay bill moves closer to a vote. This morning the bill is listed on the agenda as the first bill to be considered after today’s business and three additional reports to Parliament.

NOTICE OF BUSINESS TO FOLLOW 

  1. PETITION OF THE PEOPLE OF BULEGENI TOWN COUNCIL IN BULAMBULI DISTRICT

  2. REPORT ON THE STATUS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

  3. REPORT OF THE ADHOC COMMITTEE INVESTIGATING THE ELECTRICITY SUB SECTOR

  4. THE ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY BILL, 2009

  5. MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE BILL, 2009

  6. THE PUBLIC ORDER AND MANAGEMENT BILL, 2011

  7. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTS ON THE REPORT OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL FOR THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30TH JUNE 2009

 
 

Uganda Watch: Parliament to Adjourn Until 2013 Without Action on Anti-Homosexuality Bill

According to Parliament spokeswoman Helen Kawesa, Parliament will adjourn today until February 4, 2013. After considering the Accountants Bill, Parliament will begin a Christmas recess with the next scheduled sitting being in the new year. Thus, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill will not have a second reading until at least February of next year.

Today’s order paper is out and lists the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in the section of Business to Follow but today the item slipped to 7th place on the list of matters to be brought before Parliament next year.

Uganda Watch: Anti-Homosexuality Bill Moved Down the List of Business to Come

In what appears to be a good sign, Parliament’s agenda for today has the Anti-Homosexuality Bill moved down to item number 6 on the listing of business to come.  From today’s order paper:

NOTICE OF BUSINESS TO FOLLOW

 1.         BILLS SECOND READING  THE PETROLEUM (REFINING, GAS PROCESSING AND CONVERSION, TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE) BILL, 2012

2.         CONSIDERATION AND ADOPTION OF THE REPORT OF THE SESSIONAL COMMITTEE ON PRESIDENTIAL AFFAIRS ON THE PETITION AGAINST ILLEGAL/UNJUST REMOVAL FROM SERVICE AND BREACH OF CONTRACT BY THE UGANDA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES UNION (Chairperson, Committee on Presidential Affairs)

3.        CONSIDERATION AND ADOPTION OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY ON THE STATE OF THE ECONOMY (Chairperson, Committee on National Economy)

4.        CONSIDERATION AND ADOPTION OF THE REPORT ON THE ADHOC COMMITTEE INVESTIGATING THE ENERGY SECTOR (Chairperson, Adhoc Committee on Energy Sector)

5.        CONSIDERATION AND ADOPTION OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL ECONOMY ON THE REQUEST BY GOVERNMENT TO BORROW SDR 87.1 MILLION (USD 135.0M) FROM THE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION (IDA) OF THE WORLD BANK GROUP FOR FINANCING OF THE WATER MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (WMDP) (Hon.  Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development)

6.         THE ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY BILL, 2012

7.         MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT TO URGE GOVERNMENT TO BAIL OUT SEMBULE STEEL MILLS LTD FROM THE INTENDED SALE OF ITS PROPERTIES

8.         THE PUBLIC ORDER MANAGEMENT BILL, 2012

9.         REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ON THE STATUS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

10.       REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ON THE AFRICAN SPACE RESEARCH PROGRAM (ASRP)

11.       PETITION AGAINST THE OFFICIAL RECEIVER OF UGANDA ELECTRICITY BOARD (UEB) AND UEB (IN LIQUIDATION) FOR NON-PAYMENT OF GRATUITY

The Accountants Bill is on the agenda for current business as are various petitions and a motion regarding HIV/AIDS policy. Given the pace of action thus far, it appears to me that the anti-gay bill will not considered before the December 15 recess.

 

 

 

Uganda Watch: Parliament Passes Oil Bill in Stealth Session

Earlier in the week, Parliament spokeswoman Helen Kawesa told me that Parliament would not meet today (Friday). There is no order paper at the Parliament website. However, the MPs did meet and passed an oil bill that gives much power to the executive branch. Blogger Jim Burroway alerted me to this fact and Reuters has the details:

KAMPALA, Dec 7 (Reuters) – Ugandan lawmakers passed new legislation on Friday meant to regulate the country’s emerging oil sector but critics said the law would invest too much control in the hands of the executive.

The Reuters’ report highlights the lack of transparency which the bill allows.

Burroway believes the Anti-Homosexuality Bill will now distract the MPs and the public away from the bad oil legislation. He believes this is by design and directed by President Museveni’s executive branch. The clearest effect of the action on the oil bill is that it moves the Anti-Homosexuality Bill closer to consideration on the floor. Burroway may be correct when he argues that the anti-gay bill will generate so much attention that most will forget about the power grab just completed by the executive branch with the collusion of the ruling party in Parliament.  It is not that the executive branch actually wants the bill to pass. However, it may be that generating loud controversy over the bill is the real aim.

However, those in Parliament who do want the bill to pass are a step closer to their objective now that the oil bill is out of the way.