President Museveni, A champion of Equality in Uganda

Following the rejection of the infamous bill by President Yoweri Museveni came at a time when Africans are fighting to unite under the same banner of lasting peace and unity. I don’t know where to start from but the words of the Kenyan president of the Supreme Court and the chief justice, Dr. Willy Mutunga of the need for East African legislative bodies to create laws which do not contradict with the provision of the bill of rights and liberties. 

Dr. Mutunga while in Uganda shortly after he was appointed as Chief Justice in Kenya, he stressed that East Africa should give a clear blueprint in the implementation of the human rights. He argued that the controversy that does exist in the individual constitutions should not be used at the expense of human rights adding that gay rights are human rights too.

While working for Ugandan Media, the subject of whether Gay Rights are human rights or not was deemed as ‘not to talk about issue’.  I remember protesting to Giles Muhame, my Editor at Chimpreports for changing my story to the negative side and to display the gay society as people without future. 

President Museveni not only prove to House speaker Rebecca Kadaga that he is a president of all Ugandans but all reminded the Ugandan parliamentarians that the law is meant to protect each and everyone in regardless of religion, creed, gender or even sexuality. 

President Museveni distanced himself from the infamous Anti-Homosexuality bill 2008 which has created harm not only to Uganda but also to other countries In Africa was a clear indication that the bill does not only foster diplomatic policy implication but also violate the liberties of those born with hormonal imbalance which leads to the abnormal behavior.

I have always stressed that you cant legislate on morality and what you call immoral maybe moral to someone else and therefore its time for the government of Uganda to fight the LRA and distance itself from the evangelicals to avoid ‘Killing in the name of the law’.

Former Ugandan national assembly clerk Aeneas Tandekwire had raised the issue that the law was reintroduced to Parliament without following the required parliamentary procedure. While leaving office, he appealed to the house speaker Rebecca Kadaga to follow parliamentary rules to avoid pushing for half baked bills, A matter the president noted in his rejection letter to parliament where he argued that Parliament makes laws and not to break them. 

Museveni criticized House Speaker for overseeing a vote without quorum. It’s a great move that president Museveni saved Uganda from a complex diplomatic hitch by failing to sign draconian kill the gays bill which will do more harm than good.

The purpose for parliamentary procedure is to make laws that promote a just government of men and that includes the so called Kill the Gays bill that Ugandan parliament was trying to push. 

In a letter to the chairman of the inter-parliamentary union 12+ group hon. Robert Del Picchia, hon. Kadaga had emphasized that the infamous bill was a private members bill which had been dully tabled following all constitutional rules and parliamentary procedures, but the aftermath proved that the speaker was using the bill to gain undeserving publicity from the Ugandan voters and creating a scenario that Gays are not Ugandans.

 It’s the high time the equally powerful Ugandan parliamentary speaker to exhibit and promote democracy and human rights in Uganda through promoting sound parliamentary democracy and the war of words she initiated while in Canada in 2012 was not a good gesture at all .

According to former US secretary for state for foreign affairs Hillary Rodham Clinton,  it’s the high time when the US government uses diplomacy to push for equality in Uganda and other countries that discriminate the LGBT people stressing that “gays rights are human rights too.”

In early 2013, the University of Buckingham of Britain which offers validation to Victoria University’s suspension was seen as the formative consequence of the bill which by then was before the parliament of Uganda.  Despite the good the bill means for the Ugandan society if the argument of evangelicals is anything to go by, the passage was leading to alienation of the pearl of Africa. Uganda leads in terms of number of LGBT in East Africa. 

I quote the statement in part as "Over the last few months, the University of Buckingham has been in discussions with our partners, Edulink, who own Victoria University in Kampala, Uganda, about our continued validation of some of Victoria University’s courses. We have both become increasingly concerned about the proposed legislation in Uganda on homosexuality and in particular the constraints on freedom of speech in this area. In the light of this we have agreed to suspend our validation on the assurance that Edulink would produce viable arrangements for existing students on our validated courses to complete their studies. We will of course assist Edulink with any validation support needed to achieve this."

The above statement is among the very few consequences that was to face Uganda if the bill made its way into the law books.  

Speaker Rebecca Kadaga had a war of words in Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting in Quebec, Canada. She arrogantly ignored the members of the diplomatic community when they shared their views on the bill that was re-introduced in the August house against Uganda’s parliamentary procedure that requires the private member table a certification of financial implication from the ministry of finance. 

Kadaga was quoted having said ‘that countries that pushed for gay rights can 'keep their Visa and aid' in contrary to President Museveni’s speech to NRM politicians that they should revisit the foreign policy implication of the bill that comes with the so called kill Gays bill.

Kadaga was however not mindful of Uganda being denied aid and her being denied entry visas to pro-gay countries. Kadaga and Canadian Foreign Minister, John Baird had an altercation at the 127th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Quebec where Kadaga accused Baird of meddling in Uganda's sovereignty. So will the president’s rejection to the draconian Kill the Gay bill wake up the Kadaga-Museveni stand-off? In the late 2012 the two differed and Kadaga resigned from NRM with media in Uganda portraying her too noisy for the president to accommodate.

My advice to Uganda parliament to throw away that bill into the dustbin and create laws that contribute in the economic growth of the land locked country. I urge journalists such as Giles Muhame to tell story in a way that does not promote hatred but foster tolerance among the readers and Africa will celebrate them as men of integrity.