By Editorial
Uganda’s parliament was due to vote yesterday on anti-gay legislation which proposes tough new penalties for same-sex relations in a country where homosexuality is already illegal.
Under the proposed law, anyone in the conservative East African nation who engages in same-sex activity or who identifies publicly as homosexual could face up to 10 years in prison said Robina Rwakoojo, chair of the legal and parliamentary affairs committee, which has been studying the legislation.
The legislation enjoys broad public support in Uganda and reaction from civil society has been muted following years of erosion of civic space under President Museveni’s rule.
On Saturday, Uganda’s attorney general Kiryowa Kiwanuka told the parliamentary committee scrutinizing the bill that existing colonial-era laws “adequately provided for an offence. END.