By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Lawmakers in Uganda on Tuesday passed the amended anti-gay Bill, retaining some of the provisions for which it was sent back from the presidency.
President Yoweri Museveni had urged for a rework of the earlier version of the bill following condemnation by activists and Western governments.
Among provisions retained is death sentence against a “repeat offender”.
Museveni while rejecting the bill earlier sent by the parliament for his assent, advised lawmakers to delete a provision making “aggravated homosexuality” a capital offences.
Lawmakers however rejected the president’s advice, implying that that repeat offenders could be sentenced to death for same-sex relations.
“The bill passed,” parliamentary speaker Annet Anita Among said after the final vote saw the legislation win approval from all except one lawmaker.
“We have a culture to protect. The Western world will not come to rule Uganda,” she said.
They amended portions of the draft law to clarify that identifying as gay would not be criminalised, but “engaging in acts of homosexuality” would be an offence punishable with life imprisonment.
The country has not resorted to capital punishment for many years against homosexuality.
According to the reworked bill, “a person who is believed or alleged or suspected of being a homosexual, who has not committed a sexual act with another person of the same sex, does not commit the offence of homosexuality.”
The earlier version also required Ugandans to report suspected homosexual activity to the police or face six months imprisonment.
Lawmakers agreed to amend that provision after Museveni last month said it risked creating “conflicts in society.”
Instead, the reporting requirement now pertains only to suspected sexual offences against children and vulnerable people, with the penalty raised to five years in jail.
The bill will now be sent to Museveni, who can again choose to use his veto or sign it into law.
If he declines assent to the bill for a third time, a two-thirds super-majority of lawmakers could override his veto, forcing the bill to become a law.
The legislation enjoys broad public support in Uganda and reaction from civil society has been muted following years of erosion of civic space under Museveni’s increasingly authoritarian rule.
The European Parliament last month voted to condemn the bill and asked EU states to pressure Museveni into not implementing it, warning that relations with Kampala were at stake.
