The topic of an anti-LGBTQ bill has been closed, according to Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, since May 29 when he agreed to the Bill that the Parliament handed to him.
In a statement made public by the presidency, he emphasized that “nobody will move us,” comparing the backlash the Bill has caused to a war situation that he said the nation was prepared to face.
The National Resistance Movement (NRM), which is in power, will put up a fight against any resistance, according to Museveni, who has consistently used harsh language to criticize same-sex relationships.
“The NRM has never had two languages, what we tell you in the day is what we shall say to you at night. The signing of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill is finished, NOBODY will move us, We should be ready for a war. Remember war is not for the soft,” Museveni is quoted to have said.
On May 29, the 78-year-old made the much-discussed anti-homosexuality law official. The maximum punishment under the new law, which limits the offence of homosexuality to gay sexual conduct, is life in jail.
The death sentence is an option for serious crimes such sexual assault against children or people with disabilities or inflicting a lifelong illness on a victim, according to the BBC Africa LIVE page.
The law also requires that any homosexual assault on children or other vulnerable people be reported. Concerns about the law’s effects on AIDS health education and outreach programmes as well as the safety and well-being of LGBTQ people were expressed by international partners and organizations.
