By John Blanshe Musinguzi
Finally President Museveni succumbed to the pressure to
sign anti-gay bill which he had earlier declined to assent due to international
pressure. He will feast on internal support but as usual a sour cup of tea is
being cooked for him by the western world.
In an eight page letter
addressed to speaker Kadaga and MPs in January this year, president accused the
speaker for passing the anti- gay bill without column. He further described the
homosexuals as ‘abnormal’ being who can be rescued through economic
empowerment.
Then why did he change his opinion?, while speaking at the
10th day of NRM caucus in Kyankwazi, Museveni said “the reason I had not signed the bill is to
scientifically answer the question; are there people genetically born
homosexual? For me, I had thought that since there are people born albino,
there could be people born homosexual.”
He added that since medical authorities, the department of
Genetics of Medical School from Makerere, say there is no proof yet that people
could be homosexual by genetic, he would go down to the request of Ugandans and
sign the bill.
President Museveni further distanced himself from fate of
the bill saying, ‘I am taking all these precautions because am historically
responsible for whatever as a leader. There were mistakes made in 1930s by
Hitler because he wanted to make German strong... some of these issues are
crucial and should be handled objectively not emotionally.’
However the question is how comes that president Museveni
has signed many controversial bills without asking expertise to present their
analysis of those bills. He assented the controversial Public Order Management
Bill ‘POMB’ in October last year which had been described by Civil Society and
International Organisations as ‘autocratic.’
The law
relinquishes unprecedented power to police to proscribe public meeting. The
provisions of the law require that a written notice of meeting is submitted to
the police seven days in advance and that such meeting can only be held between
6am and 6pm. It also allows police to stop or prevent any public meeting if
they believe it poses a breach of public order.
Excitement
Museveni could have could have bowed to assenting the bill
due to the thrill after the caucus endorsed him as the sole NRM flag-bearer for
the 2016 presidential elections. The decision by the National Resistance Movement
(NRM) caucus in Parliament to endorse Museveni for a fifth elective term in
office as President could give him a chance to extend his infinite rule to
35yrs in power if he emerges as a champ in the forth coming elections. Agree
with me he will win.
He could have also decided to
sign it in order to degrade movement of his ‘emerging arch political foe- Amama
Mbabazi’ who like him (Museveni) accused Kadaga of passing bill without column.
Mbabazi also promised Uganda’s foreign envoys on 7th January 2014
that the NRM caucus will review the bill which he snubbed.A vibrant Western World Pressure
Museveni clearly will have to master play international pressure mainly from Europe and America who have been pilling pressure on him to drop this bill.
Barack Obama, United States president warned Museveni that enacting the anti-gay bill would complicate relations with US.
A statement from the White House in Washington quoted Mr Obama as saying that the bill will “complicate our valued relationship with Uganda”, adding: “The Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda, once law, will be more than an affront and a danger to the gay community in Uganda. It will be a step backward for all Ugandans and reflect poorly on Uganda’s commitment to protecting the human rights of its people. It also will mark a serious setback for all those around the world who share a commitment to freedom, justice and equal rights.”
In 2010 he denounced the same anti-gay law as “odious” while UK Premier David Cameron revealed that he intended to slash aid for Uganda over abuse of homosexuals’ rights.
Knowing the cost of strained relations with American and Britain who have fractured Zimbabwe’s economy, ousted former Egypt and Libya presidents Col Muammar Gaddafi and Hosni Mubarak as well as cognise America’s current role in Ukraine protest, Museveni will think more about saving his ‘daily bread’ than enforcing the anti-gay bill after assenting it.
The author is an undergraduate Journalism and Communications student at Makerere University
No comments:
Post a Comment