Uganda’s Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has received lots of praise from members of parliament after she harshly criticized the president of the Inter Parliamentary Union Gabriella Barroza for trying to move a motion on homosexuality on the agenda of the IPU summit without the consent of both Arab and African representatives.
According to Parliament Watch Hon Nsaba Butuuro who was once Minister of State for Ethics & Integrity in the Office of the Vice President presented the motion to heap praise on the speaker urging her to persist on her commitment towards upholding African values, the motion was seconded by Hon Alum Sarah Oyam Districts Woman Representative who said the team that Kadaga worked with should be thanked for defending African and religious culture. While presenting the motion Nsaba Buturo said “I am informed that there is a growing network of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender. These include businessmen, lawyers and organisations that go to schools disguising to discuss AIDs but instead entice the students with money into homosexuality.” Hon Baba Diri the Koboko Woman representative said, homosexuality is not a right it is inhuman. We as Africans shall continue fighting and shall not bend low fir the money. Buhweju county MP Francis Mwijukye quipped, “I want to thank the speaker and all members on her team because it is not easy work, we saw some neighbors shying away from the issue. Homosexuality is not a human right it is a sickness.”
While in Geneva the legislator raved; “This is not fair. We cannot allow it.” She said threatening that Africa and Asia would withdraw from the union.
This was the second time that a motion on legalising homosexuality an IPU summit has been put on the agenda. Legislators attending the summit that was in Geneva from14 to 18 October, 2018 voted to ban debate on the subject of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) from appearing in the IPU agenda ever again.
There seems to be a new homophobic wave around East Africa. In September Kenya Film and Classification Board (KFCB) head, Ezekiel Mutua took to Twitter and ranted about a film called Rafiki he said “It would be a tragedy and a shame to have homosexual films defining the Kenyan culture.” This after Kenya’s High Court
Lifted a ban lifted the ban imposed by the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) on the lesbian film to allow it be considered for an award at the Oscars.
In Tanzania, the Dar-es-Salaam regional commissioner Paul Makonda ordered the arrest of all LGBTI in Tanzania a stance the government distanced itself from. Makonda said he had identified more than 200 suspects after encouraging residents to inform on their neighbors and troll through their friends’ social media accounts for signs of homosexual behavior. The legislator seen in a series of breakdowns in several churches. He said he had gone to church to seek divine power to help him fight against homosexuality and other forms of perversion that have kept him in a state of “torment for some time.” Word on the street is that he pulled this stance after his much younger boyfriend broke up with him.
