Prime
Museveni’s king Solomon’s options
Kintu Nyago
What you need to know:
- Economic his Bill garnered the support of all shades in Parliament. And it would not be out of question, for one to even suspect that some parliamentarians may have a hidden political agenda.
Parliament should appreciate the fact that the proposed Anti Homosexuality Bill has a foreign policy dimension. Now the framers of Uganda’s 1995 constitution, in their wisdom, reserved the main prerogative to manage this country’s foreign policy to the President. Consequently, his input to this Bill, that should be on his desk, is to be expected.
And given the heightened national and international interests to this piece of proposed legislation, President Museveni is faced with a King Solomon’s type situation. That involves testing his cerebral acumen, to solve a difficult issue.
Unusually, this Bill garnered the support of all shades in Parliament. And it would not be out of question, for one to even suspect that some parliamentarians may have a hidden political agenda. For if President Museveni is to sign this Bill into law, an international backlash will follow. And some in the political opposition, currently sponsoring this Bill, would definitely jubilate!
It would not be far-fetched to also assume that they would then recast themselves, in Western capitals, as the reliable guarantors of human rights in Uganda. While the cut in donor support to Government programs is likely to be used by them to generate domestic political support.
Crucially, as has been pointed out by the prescient Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka, this Bill is actually flogging a dead horse! For Uganda, since the imposition of colonialism in 1900, more than one hundred years ago, has had homosexuality criminalized. This through the Victorian Penal Code, which refers to homosexuality as Sodomy!
Even before this Anti Homosexuality Bill has been signed into law, it has raised an international storm! Human Rights NGOs picketed outside our Permanent Mission to the United Nations, in New York City, two weeks ago. While in South Africa, Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters showed up in full force to protest outside the Uganda High Commission in Pretoria.
Consequently, one needs not to be an Albert Einstein, to imagine the flood of negative responses Uganda is bound to incur once it’s signed into an Act of Parliament!
It would be off the mark, to suppose that all opposing this Bill, are promoters of homosexuality. Many, like the fiery Malema, are concerned about its draconian content. Indeed in some ways, it resembles NAZI Germany’s 1935 Nuremberg Laws. These entrenched Hitler’s racist ideology into law while concurrently banning homosexuality. Consequently Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals were arrested and sent to death camps.
Given that Ugandan society is in the main opposition to homosexuality, as a country we could opt to use existing laws, such as the Penal Code and the Children’s Act, to protect our children from being recruited into homosexuality.
And in case President Museveni, based on well thought out strategic considerations, opts not to sign this Bill into law, we should support him, as a country. That is, rather than demonising his considered strategic view. Heavy, indeed, is the head that wears the crown!
Amb. Kintu Nyago works for the UgandaHigh Commission in Pretoria.
