Ssempa denies stigmatising people living with HIV/Aids

Makerere Community Church Pastor Martin Ssempa has defended himself against claims that he is encouraging stigma against people living with HIV/Aids (PLWHA).

While appearing before the vice chairperson of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) in Kampala yesterday, Mr Ssempa said his Twitter messages were against the rewards/gifts given to PLWHA at beauty pageants.

“I am not at any point stigmatising these people. The virus is very bad and, therefore, we must always condemn the virus because it kills our people. However, a beauty contest cannot deliver a message that the person is good and that the virus is bad,” Mr Ssempa said.

He added: “But these people are accusing me of stigmatising, [that] I discriminate against people using my Twitter handle. I was discussing with 12 lawyers and two law schools, how do you say that I am discriminating?”

Mr Ssempa’s woes began when the Centre for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) petitioned the EOC over comments the pastor had made regarding the Young Positives (Y+) Beauty Pageant.

The civil society organisation alleges that on July 24, 2019, while responding to a tweet by Ms Joy Shammah, the former president of the Uganda Christian University (UCU) law society, who was congratulating Ms Gloria Nawanyaga for becoming the Miss Y+, Mr Ssempa sent out several tweets stigmatising PLWHA.

In his defence yesterday, Mr Ssempa said: “I don’t know Gloria, we have never met and I even don’t know the Y+ Beauty Pageant because they have never invited me to their events. My comments were against the rewards given to them, like vehicles, trips to other countries,” he said, adding: “This is kind of encouraging people to contract HIV so that they can participate in these beauty contests and be rewarded.”

He said he has been fighting stigma in the country for about 30 years by offering free counselling in church, organising camps, and visiting hospitals, among others.

Mr Ssempa added that he was exercising his freedom of expression on his Twitter account.

Ms Dorothy Amuron, the CEHURD programmes manager, said Mr Ssempa is unaware of the purposes of beauty pageants organised for people living with HIV/Aids.

“Given a background to beauty pageants of Y+, it’s a platform for young people who are living positively to believe in themselves and to come through the platforms to showcase that it’s okay to be HIV-positive and also to use the platform to tell young people out there that stigma can no longer be used as an excuse of not tolerating and spreading love within people who are living positively,” Ms Amuron said.

She added that beauty pageants have always been organised by the Uganda Network of Young People Living With HIV/Aids (UNYPA) and the sole purpose is to give a platform for young people to come out and share their experiences about positive living, the importance of adhering to drugs, good nutrition, among others.

Report

Stigma

A report by the Uganda Aids Commission, which was released in April, revealed that stigmatisation is still one of the structural barriers that continue to pose a significant health and developmental threat to the country, causing “less than optimal enrolment of people living with HIV into care and treatment.”

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