A t the end of August, the Ethics and Integrity minster, Fr Simon Lokodo, said his predecessor, Mr James Nsaba Buturo, would take leave of Parliament to reintroduce a private member’s Bill against homosexuality.

This came more than five years since President Museveni, on February 24, 2014, signed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law before both local and international media. It became the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), 2014. The President, flanked by ministers, MPs and senior health practitioners, said people who engage in same-sex relations are mercenaries recruiting young people into gay activities to get money.

The law, among others, prescribed tough penalties such as life imprisonment for aggravated homosexuality and same sex marriages, and a minimum of seven years in jail for other related offences. Members of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer and others (LGBTIQ+) community, some MPs and other human rights activists such as veteran journalist Andrew Mwenda, immediately petitioned the Constitutional Court to quash it.

Fr Lokodo says as government, they are pushing for the reintroduction of the annulled law, adding that MPs are now ready to pass it in big numbers.

“On homosexuality, I am strong, firm and determined. The law (Anti-Homosexuality Bill) is coming back and Members of Parliament are determined to come in big numbers and ensure that the law is put in place,” he says. He also says the Sexual Offences Bill, 2015, before the Committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, will address similar issues relating to same-sex relations.

The Bill, which Daily Monitor has seen, seeks to consolidate all laws relating to sexual offenses, combat sexual violence, provide for punishment of sexual offenders, and provide for procedural and evidential requirements during trial of sexual offenses and for other related matters. “It was read for the first and second time but we found that it missed that particular component (pronouncements on same sex relations). So, it was sent back to the House committee on Legal Affairs for redress,” Fr Lokodo says.

However, the LGBTIQ+ community members say the Bill also has an implication on them. They say Clause 16 (unnatural offences) and Clause 17 (attempt to commit unnatural offences) of the Bill are a repetition of sections 145 and 146 of the Penal Code Act, which makes it an offence for an adult to engage in same sex relations. Read more via Daily Monitor