The ‘Christmas gift’ that had been handed to the country in December 2014 by the then zealous and unrelenting speaker on the issues of homosexuality, Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga suffered a setback when the courts quashed the law.
The country then went back to the pre-existing colonial penal code law on the matter because it had been passed without the requisite House quorum.
Enter Rt. Hon. Anita Among, not wanting to be seen as weak on matters of “protection of our children” from the predators of the Western world, and having been pumped up by some populist religious leaders, she whipped her parliamentary members in an unprecedented overdrive in the legislation of the new law sanctioning homosexuality.
The whole country was behind her except for a few elitists, who, out of foresight had foreseen the possible unpleasant backlash this law would stalk if passed. Some of them wondered as to why we just didn’t let the country deal with the matter using the already existing penal code provisions.
Certainly, no one was ready to listen to that inclination. Many Ugandans felt that here was again an opportunity for them to be able to “redeem” the 2014 Xmas gift that had been robbed from them by Andrew Mwenda and Fox Odoi using the courts.
Ugandans were elated that the Rt. Hon. Anita Among and the Rt. Hon. Thomas Tayebwa had taken on the rally baton from their predecessor and was rallying the country for another round.
The country was gung-ho solidly behind them. The moving of the motion was thrown to an opposition MP just two weeks before while at their party caucus at the National Leadership Institute of Kyankwanzi.
It had been resolutely emphasized that no private members bill will be allowed on the floor of parliament without the express approval of the majority and ruling party. Well, as if that resolution was never made, Hon. Asuman Basalirwa got the government certificate of financial implications within a day of the first reading of the bill which was a very significant and unwavering endorsement of the law.
Within less than a week, Hon. Basalirwa, the mover of the bill was on the floor of parliament defending the report of the parliamentary committee that processed the bill.
The Attorney General was there in full representation giving the necessary legal manoeuvres to ensure that the bill qualifies for a law and indeed finally a House roll call was made to ensure that this time round, Hon. Fox Odoi and his accomplices in scheming won’t have a crack in which to smuggle their ill folies about Uganda’s moral aspirations.
The law was passed and there was thunderous chest-thumping. The West who had warned us not to go ahead with the law, were told to go to hell on rackets or to commit suicide because we were so resolute that we declared that we didn’t need anything from the Americans.
After the signing of the bill into an Act, there has been praise for the leaders of the legislature and the leader of the executive for following through with their commitment to the protection of Uganda’s children from the torrent of foreign vices.
As the West has increased its display of their displeasure with the anti-homosexualism staying in the Ugandan law books, some deliberate voices are being thrown around purporting to indicate that “Ugandans are demanding for the law to be repealed”.
So interesting how a situation can change things including people. Narratives can be created and twisted in a split of a moment. How can the very Ugandans who were until yesterday cheering and vowing never to be cajoled or cowed down by the American threats, all of a sudden be the very ones demanding that their “Xmas gift” be repealed apart and thrown in Lake Victoria!
Well, if things continue unravelling as they are right now, there won’t be a need to put the burden of eating the vomit on the MPs in having them eat their words to repeal the law as is being demanded by the US government and set as the major precondition for the extension of Ugandan continued participation in AGOA.
What we see coming out of the courts is indicative that they will be able to do the job and silence all this hullabaloo very soon probably before the end of the year and just in time before the deadline of 1st January was given to Uganda by the US government to have repealed the law.
The author is a retired politician and influential leader in Busoga
This article was first published here
