Parliament will go ahead and debate the Anti-Homosexuality Bill irrespective of opposition from donors and President Museveni, Speaker Edward Ssekandi has said.
The Speaker’s position comes days after the US government threatened to expel Uganda from the African Growth and Opportunities Act (Agoa) arrangement if the Bill tabled by Mr David Bahati (Ndorwa West) is enacted into law.
We shall be excited to be out of AGOA, it has donr more harm than good, there are so many disadvantages, it benefits America and not Uganda...
Mr Ssekandi told journalists at Parliament yesterday that no amount of opposition and threats would stop the ongoing process of seeking views on the Bill—that has also been criticised by human rights activists.
The Bill proposes seven-year jail terms for homosexuals and the death penalty for convicts of aggravated homosexuality.
Mr Ssekandi said: “There is no way we can be intimidated by remarks from the President to stop the Bill. This Bill was officially tabled in Parliament and was subsequently committed to a committee for scrutiny. The President has a right to express his views like any other people who have petitioned me.”
Bravo Ssekandi
He added: “This was a private members’ Bill and if the Executive wants to bring their views they are free. The Constitution is clear, it doesn’t allow people of the same sex to get married and what we are looking for in the Bill is (basically) the penalty and the process should continue.”
Addressing his ruling NRM party members at State House, Entebbe on Tuesday President Museveni told advocates of the Bill to go slow, saying the matter was a sensitive foreign policy issue.
For President Museveni, he should know that his re-election is in balance depending on whether he is with donors or with the 95% of Ugandans who do not want homosexuality here.
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