Museveni Still Tough On Homosexuals
The Monitor,
November 24, 1999
Kampala, Uganda
By Henry Ochieng
Kampala – President Yoweri Museveni has again said he doesn't condone
homosexuality, moving away from a softer stand he had taken in the recent past.
Museveni told parliament yesterday that recent press reports which quoted him telling
journalists in South Africa, that gay people can indulge themselves quietly, were not
completely accurate.
"I wasn't condoning homosexuality, I was just describing [to them] how homosexuals
were treated in Ankole," he answered a challenge from Ken Lukyamuzi (Rubaga South).
Lukyamuzi had accused the president of being double-faced about his stand on
homosexuals; condemning them at home while taking a softer stand before the international
community.
The president said that Ankole region has always had small numbers of homosexuals.
"I told them that these few individuals were either ignored or speared and killed
by their parents. They wouldn't just go and wed another man publicly," Museveni said,
attracting prolonged laughter.
Museveni recently kicked up a storm when he directed that all homosexual must be
arrested and prosecuted.
Sections of the international community, especially the Swedish and the US governments,
responded seriously.
The Swedish parliament reportedly threatened to peg the "rights of
homosexuals" as a conditionality for future aid. The US State Department issued a
statement, also expressing worries about the rights of homosexuals.
[Home] [World] [Uganda]
