(Kampala) “No one will move us”, assured Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday, in response to the threats of sanctions brandished by certain Western countries since he promulgated the “anti-homosexuality law 2023”, considered as the one of the most repressive in the world.
“The NRM [Mouvement de résistance nationale, le parti au pouvoir] has never had double talk, what we tell you by day is what we will tell you by night. So the signing of the bill is over, no one will move us,” Museveni said at a meeting of ruling party members, quoted in a statement released by the Ugandan presidency and on the official website of the Ugandan government. NRM.
“President Museveni has urged Ugandans to stand firm stressing that the issue of homosexuality is a serious issue that concerns the human race. He commended lawmakers for their support, adding that once they fight for the right cause, no one can defeat them,” the statement said, relaying his speech given on Wednesday to 400 NRM parliamentarians gathered in Kyankwanzi, about 200 kilometers south of the capital.
According to the statement, the president also said, “The other time when I met you in Kololo (Kampala district), I told you that you should be ready for a war. And you can’t go to war when you’re looking for pleasure, if you like the sweetness of life.
These are the first public comments by the Ugandan head of state since the announcement on Monday of the promulgation of the law dubbed “Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023”.
This text provides for heavy penalties for people who have homosexual relations and who “promote” homosexuality. A crime of “aggravated homosexuality” is punishable by death, a penalty that has not, however, been applied for years in Uganda.
The promulgation of this law sparked a wave of indignation from human rights organizations and many Western countries.
Ugandan human rights activists have urged the international community to take action against their leaders.
Denouncing a “tragic violation” of human rights, US President Joe Biden said he asked his administration to study the consequences of this “shameful” law on “all aspects of cooperation between the United States and the ‘Uganda’.
US authorities are considering “additional measures”, such as sanctions or entry restrictions on their territory for “anyone associated with human rights violations or acts of corruption”, he added.
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, also castigated a law “contrary to human rights”.
“The Ugandan government has an obligation to protect all its citizens and uphold their basic rights. If he does not, relations with international partners will be compromised,” he warned.
In 2014, international donors had already reduced their aid after the passing of a law repressing homosexuality.
Washington had notably suspended funding for government programs and imposed visa bans. European countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands) had also frozen part of their bilateral aid.
The law had finally been canceled by the constitutional court for a technical defect during the vote.