President Yoweri Museveni has today Monday 29, signed into law a controversial anti-gay bill in his office and the country’s parliament said, introducing draconian measures against homosexuality that have been that have been described as among the world’s harshest.
Museveni “has assented to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023. It now becomes the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023,” a statement posted on the presidency’s official Twitter account said. Uganda’s parliament on…
Uganda’s parliament on Twitter said Museveni had approved a new draft of the legislation that had been passed overwhelmingly this month by lawmakers, who defended the measures as a protection of national culture and values.
The president had called on MPs to rework the bill, although most of the hardline provisions that caused an outcry in the West and warnings of diplomatic repercussions were retained.
The amended version said that identifying as gay would not be criminalised but “engaging in acts of homosexuality” would be an offence punishable with life imprisonment.
The United States, European Union and international human rights groups have all condemned the bill, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has described it as “probably among the worst of it’s kind in the world.
But it enjoys broad public support in Uganda, a devout majority-Christian nation, where homosexuals have faced persistent discrimination in recent years, and same-sex relationships have been attacked as an import from the West.
After due reconsideration, parliament revised the bill and approved it with amendments on May 2.
Read Also: President Museveni to Address Parliament
Under the newly enacted law, individuals who knowingly allow their premises to be used for homosexual activities face a seven-year prison sentence upon conviction. Additionally, those who possess knowledge of homosexual acts and fail to report them are subjected to a fine of Shs10 million or imprisonment for up to five years.
Also, a person found guilty of aggravated homosexuality will face a death penalty while an individual convicted for promoting homosexuality faces a 20-year prison term.
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