President of Uganda: “No One Will Move Us” Regarding Anti-Gay Law
Wednesday, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni disregarded worldwide demands to repeal one of the worst anti-gay laws in the world, which carries the threat of the death sentence for “aggravated homosexuality.”
Following a meeting with members of his National Resistance Movement party, Museveni said in a statement that “the signing of the bill is finished, no one will move us.”
What we tell you during the day is what we will tell you during the night, he said, adding that the NRM has never spoken in two languages.
Ugandan activists have urged foreign donors to put penalties on the government of the central African nation because of the bill.
The rights organizations criticized a “dangerous and discriminatory” legislation that will further restrict freedoms for civil society under Museveni, whose rule has become more authoritarian since he came to office in 1986, in a joint statement on Monday after the bill was signed.
US Vice President Joe Biden, the European Union, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres have all denounced the bill, saying that foreign investment and help to Uganda may be at risk unless the law is overturned.
After Museveni signed a law in 2014 that attempted to sentence gay relationships to life in prison but was subsequently reversed, Western donors drastically reduced their help to Uganda.
But in the conservative nation, MPs have justified the most recent anti-gay bill as an essential safeguard against Western immorality, enjoying overwhelming support.
According to a statement from his office, “President Museveni urged Ugandans to remain steadfast, pointing out that the issue of homosexuality is a serious one that concerns the human race.”
