Uganda: kill the gays bill could return

Uganda: kill the gays bill could return

Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill, also known as the ‘Kill the Gays Bill’, may return to the floor of the Ugandan Parliament before the end of the year.

Sources close to the MP who introduced the law, Ndorwa West MP David Bahati, told media he intends to reintroduce the bill in November. Speaking of his efforts to reintroduce the bill, Bahati is reported to have told Ugandan blogger Angelo Izama, “I am winning”.

Another Ugandan MP, Otto Odonga, has suggested the bill could be introduced as early as August. Powers given to the Speaker of the Ugandan Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, give her the authority to revive the bill from the last Parliament whenever she likes.

Izama wrote that the combination of the law and a proposed anti-bail law gave reason for all Ugandans to be concerned. The Ugandan Government is seeking to “detain without trial” suspects by refusing them bail until they have spent six months in prison.

The law would “lock up critics and throw the key away”, Ugandan opposition leader Dr Kizze Besigye said.

Sources inside the Ugandan Parliament are believed to want to avoid a repeat of the global public outcry generated in response to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill last time it came before Parliament.

“It will come to the House for debate in stealth not reflected in ‘the order paper’ of the day,” Izama wrote.

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