Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said his government will not be moved by anyone over the country’s anti-homosexuality law and has stated that Uganda is ready to go to war and to face economic sanctions.
Museveni, 78, was speaking days after he signed into law the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2023.
The law introduces tougher punishments for same-sex relations including death penalty for people engaged in gay sex with children under the age of 18. The law also stipulates capital punishment for transmission of illness such as HIV/AIDS through gay sex and a 20-year sentence for promotion of homosexuality. Firms including media and non-governmental organisations that knowingly promote homosexuality will also incur harsh fines, the law says.
In his speech at a meeting with lawmakers from his National Resistance Movement part, Museveni said his government will not be pushed into removing the new law.
“Even if they cut aid we will discipline our expenditure, if they interfere with our trade we shall trade with others,” said Museveni.
He added: “The signing of the anti-homosexuality Bill is finished, nobody will move us, we should be ready for a war. Remember war is not for the soft.”
He also defended the new law saying he had been persuaded by experts that homosexuality was not genetic but a “psychological disorientation.”
“The problem is that, yes, you are disoriented. You have got a problem to yourself. Now, don’t try to recruit others. If you try to recruit people into a disorientation, then we go for you. We punish you,” he said.
“If you violently grab some children and you rape them and so on and so forth, we kill you. And that one I totally support, and I will support.”
The anti-homosexuality law in Uganda has been condemned by rights groupings, politicians and international organisations.
United States President Joe Biden called the move “a tragic violation” of human rights and said Washington would evaluate the implications of the law.
“We are considering additional steps, including the application of sanctions and restriction of entry into the United States against anyone involved in serious human rights abuses or corruption,” he said.
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