Uganda's President says gays should not be harassed

He said this in the context that he would not bow to British pressure. However, he seems to be saying live and let live.

The President of Uganda Yoweri Kaguta Museveni says he is not moved by the threats issued by the British Prime Minister James Cameroon regarding the reduction of foreign aid to countries that have laws punishing homosexuality.
Museveni, while meeting the Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe at State House Entebbe says Uganda shall not promote such acts of homosexuality under any circumstances.
Early this week, the U.K Government stated that it will deduct the aid to Uganda because of its intention to pass a law that will be against homosexuals’ rights.
Museveni however says his government shall not harass homosexuals because they have lived well in Uganda for ages even before colonization. He says they should practice their acts in private and not in the limelight.
Meanwhile, the Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe says Togo is a homosexual free state.
Gnassingbe has ended his 4 day state visit to Uganda by hailing Uganda for its economical development.

Yesterday, I spoke with a Parliamentary Spokesperson who told me that the Business committee had not met to decide the agenda for the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

94 thoughts on “Uganda's President says gays should not be harassed”

  1. “,,, ‘earnest changes’ …”
    Like what? Like that meaningless change in the wording of Clause 3 proposed in May? Like getting rid of the odd clause that would have been impossible to enforce in any case?

  2. I thought someone might pick up on other parts of the article!
    Genies is indeed out of their bottles … in more ways than one. Let us not forget that – until really quite recently – people like Yoweri Museveni claimed that ‘homosexuality’ was a ‘western import’. Actually, the real ‘western import’ is Penal Code 145 (which is pretty much identical to what was in Britain up to 1967).
    Bahati’s savage machete-waving ‘genie’ has, it seems, enflamed lawlessness in Uganda. If it is not dealt with it will could well claim many surprising casualties; it is after all an ideal weapon with which to smear – even destroy – business, political or personal opponents. It is, in so many ways, redolent of the Nuremberg Laws.

  3. “There were a few homosexuals before colonialism which we were aware of. They were not killed, nor were they persecuted, but they were not promoted.”

    Obviously there were probably deviants pre-colonialism, but we were hardly aware of them (except the famous Buganda King Mwanga II coached by his Arab trader-friends). The executive branch of the Ugandan State is under pressure from the United States and the President is using funny words to try and alleviate that pressure. The parliamentarians are braver and will not bow to any external pressure. The genie is out of the bottle. Gayism has gone from being a hidden activity to a public behaviour promoted openly on radio, newspapers and news conferences by domestic puppets of the euro-american gay propaganda lobby. I was one of the naive ones who initially opposed the Bahati Bill, but not any more. Not after what we have seen in the last 6 years. Anyone who thinks the gay sex promoters wish to slink back to their hiding places is being naive. They want New York-style confetti and street parades to celebrate the pride in their deviance and they want gay marriage and gay adoption. These local puppets go abroad and are trained by foreign gay sex activists so that they can return to Uganda as gay sex missionaries spreading the good news about anal sex. Ugandan say NO !! The genie is out of the bottle and there is no going back…. Okay, the ranting is over for now !!!

  4. Genies is indeed out of their bottles … in more ways than one. Let us not forget that – until really quite recently – people like Yoweri Museveni claimed that ‘homosexuality’ was a ‘western import’.

    Well, our El Presidente has to keep his American war-junky friends on side by making “lovely speeches”. We understand him very well after all he has been the Numero Uno in Uganda for more than two decades…

    Bahati’s savage machete-waving ‘genie’ has, it seems, enflamed lawlessness in Uganda. If it is not dealt with it will could well claim many surprising casualties; it is after all an ideal weapon with which to smear – even destroy – business, political or personal opponents. It is, in so many ways, redolent of the Nuremberg Laws.

    Nuremberg Laws ? Please don’t make me laugh. This is gay propaganda at its most ridiculous. Do you think that Parliament of Uganda will back down because a bunch of foreign sex deviants slur them as “Nazis” ? The Bahati Bill will be passed eventually (though I will suggest some “earnest changes” to the bill prior to it becoming law in Uganda)

  5. Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting to hear it, and the comment was not addressed directly to me. But hear it I did. If I hear more, I’ll let you know … but I cannot give you proof, as I’m not prepared to say from whom I heard it. Sorry about that.

    You need not bother to provide me with anything purporting to be “proof of perfidy” in our parliament. Whatever you heard is just gay propaganda fodder. From where I am standing, I see no impediments to the successful passage of revised Bahati Bill into law whenever we are called upon to do our duty.

  6. Maybe you’re standing the wrong place? You are clearly obsessed by all this (it’s 2.00 am in Kampala!), so perhaps you are not looking at the whole situation objectively?

    Surprise, suprise…I usually work late into the wee-hours of the morning. And I am always 100% mentally alert when I am working and sipping the hot contents of my coffee mug. It comes from my previous concurrent profession in the XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

  7. Maybe you’re standing the wrong place? You are clearly obsessed by all this (it’s 2.00 am in Kampala!), so perhaps you are not looking at the whole situation objectively?
    Obviously, what I heard might not accurately reflect the situation (I accept that), but I heard it nevertheless.

  8. I heard what I heard.

    I find your above comment intriguing. Strictly from an English language perspective, your comment is a meaningless tautology along the lines of “I will see you when I see you” or the comment “we meet when we meet”.

  9. Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting to hear it, and the comment was not addressed directly to me. But hear it I did. If I hear more, I’ll let you know … but I cannot give you proof, as I’m not prepared to say from whom I heard it. Sorry about that.

  10. The last lot of proposed ‘changes’ made no practical difference whatsoever to Bahati’s “Slaughter” Bill, did they? (I’m glad that you understand that Bahati has – I presume inadvertently – helped the increasing powerful campaign against the arbitrary abuse of gay people; you are surely correct in this.)
    As for the Commonwealth: maybe its time is drawing to a close. Or maybe some will leave and others will join (as Rwanda did recently). Nothing is ‘fixed’ in this world, so we shall see …

  11. Anyway, let’s get back to the savage Bahati “Bloodbath” Bill. Are the next proposed changes (if any are indeed proposed, that is) going to be as disingenuous as the last lot in May, I wonder?

    Like I said earlier, I will request for “earnest changes”. I am not going to discuss those changes with you. I believe that those changes are necessary to fine-tune the bill and perhaps remove some of the negative gay propaganda surrounding the Bahati Bill.

    The Commonwealth proposal is a longer-term matter, as Cameron himself freely admits – just read what he actually said at the CHOGM.)

    Many people are asking themselves what is the relevance of this achronistic organisation called “Commonwealth of Nations” (actually it should be called the “League of former colonies of the defunct British Empire”). Let me tell you something—– Many nations in commonwealth are there out of respect for Queen Elizabeth II. I am positive that when she dies, the commonwealth will begin to fall apart. Insisting on gayism is probably going to accelerate the decline of the Commonwealth. Not many people besides British royalist supporters still basking in the old glory of the dead Empire will miss The Commonwealth when it collapses and dies.

  12. So? No amount of raging disguises the true nature of the Bahati Bill.
    (Incidentally, I think our Ugandan Opposition MP friend may be confusing two things: one is the UK‘s [and EU’s?] policy on general budget support, which is specifically targeted – at least for the time being – at those countries that are proposing more violent anti-gay policies. The Commonwealth proposal is a longer-term matter, as Cameron himself freely admits – just read what he actually said at the CHOGM.)
    Anyway, let’s get back to the savage Bahati “Bloodbath” Bill. Are the next proposed changes (if any are indeed proposed, that is) going to be as disingenuous as the last lot in May, I wonder?

  13. Make of that what you will.

    Well, it means that the Ugandan government officials are very talented in the act of unshelving, shelving and re-shelving a bunch of papers periodically to keep the war-loving US government on side. The Sovereign Parliament of Uganda looks on, bemused by such events….

  14. And the Nigerian Bill: any comments on that, ‘Maazi’?
    (Of course, as the article makes clear, the main purpose of the Bill is to criminalize freedom of conscience and expression – in the best neo-colonialist totalitarian tradition, a tradition designed to perpetuate repression and misery; the ‘marriage’ bit is just a ‘moralistic’ diversion.)

  15. Nigeria is proposing a new anti-gay law: http://www.undispatch.com/top-of-the-morning-darfurs-new-rebel-alliance-climate-change-adaptation-fund-nasty-anti-lgbt-law-in-nigeria
    It’s main focus appears to be freedom of speech (no real surprises there, I’m afraid), as the draft law allegedly criminalizes those who speak up for the human rights their gay compatriots, as well as ‘gay marriage’. This might be the model for a more subtle version of the Bahati Bill to which our coffee-drinking ‘friend’ who used to be in the XXXXXXXXXXX (not an adult movie, I hope!) likes to refer.
    This draft is clearly designed to increase suffering in Africa (sadly, we’re getting used to these kinds of proposal). It’s arrival on the scene may also have been the ‘trigger’ for the ‘rolling out’ of the new UK policy on how aid is disbursed.
    The current anti-gay laws are courtesy of the British (of course), and thus pretty much identical to those in UG (except that it’s 14 years in Nigeria and ‘life’ in UG – it was 14 years in UG until the law was changed a few years ago).

  16. (Of course, versions of this bill have been knocking around for a while. The UN report suggests that a revised version is being discussed.)

  17. ‘Maazi NCO MP’ says this:-
    I wish mainstream newspapers in our own beloved Uganda are brave and proud like their Nigerian counterparts.
    Well now, does he really think that any self-respecting press would support legislation designed to squash freedom of expression and conscience in the way that the Bahati Bill seeks to do? If he really wants papers like the Monitor, the Independent and the Observer to ‘chant his slogans’ for him, he may need to consider proposing further repressive laws. (I was chatting with the editor of a Ugandan news outlet about all this the other day, as it happens. A most interesting conversation we had, to be sure.)
    Anyway, sorry for this little aside … let’s see what he has to say on the substance of the Nigerian bill and its relationship to his own ideas regarding a more subtle and devious version of the Bahati Bill. I can’t wait for his erudite and considered opinions (which are always so thoughtfully expressed)!

  18. I reckon we should try to get hold of the text of the Nigerian draft bill. I’ll have a little hunt when I’ve got a bit more time.

    Speaking of Nigeria, what a great editorial from ThisDay Newspaper, which I am told is a top circulating newspaper in the West African country. I have gone through a couple of other Nigerian papers and they are all ferociously blasting away at gayism. I wish mainstream newspapers in our own beloved Uganda are brave and proud like their Nigerian counterparts.

  19. Oh dear, I’ve been ‘it’s-ing’ where it should have been ‘its’. Time for coffee, I wonder?

  20. Patrocles
    I agree with you the issue of ‘extortion’. However I do not see changing the way in which aid is disbursed as in any sense ‘extortion’, as long as the objectives behind those changes are to do with ensuring that the poorest and most vulnerable get as much support as possible. This objective necessarily involves diverting resources away from politicians who might use them to fund repressive activities.
    It has, in the eyes of some (e.g. ‘Maazi NCO’), always been a matter of ‘Ugandan sovereignty’ to ‘defend’ the Bill. Apart from a little more rhetoric than usual, nothing has really changed. There has, of course, been a considerable ‘hardening of positions’ on ‘both sides’ since the Bahati Bill broke cover in late 2009. Given the extreme nature of the Bill, this was to be expected.

  21. It is, of course, up to Ugandan MPs to pass this wretched bill if they choose. But pressure applied thus far has given many UG politicos ‘pause for thought’, and so it would seem to be a good idea to maintain that pressure using all peaceful and truthful means.
    The Bill is not in Uganda’s best interest: it could inter alia be enormously disruptive to the fight against HIV-AIDS (with several governments, NGOs and charities probably feeling forced to ‘pull back’, and possible riskier patterns of behaviour by married persons who are ‘in the closet’). We have already seen HIV transmission rates rise recently in UG – at a time of increasing anti-gay rhetoric and violence. This should come as no surprise: dishonesty, hypocrisy and secrecy are – along with poverty – probably HIV’s greatest allies.

  22. Maazi,
    as a Christian (of the anabaptist conviction) I personally think that extortion is a sin. I don’t think that Western mainstream christians are too lax about homosexuality, but I think that they are too lax about extortion, above all when they and their governments are involved.
    Extortion, in my eyes, implies extortion by the state (the Bahati Bill), but likewise extortion by international politics (like the Cameron-Sarkozy-Merkel’s actions against the Bahati Bill).
    I understand that it now has become a matter of Ugandan sovereignty to defend the Bahati Bill. I suppose that that problem can’t be solved – and a sober debate can’t be had – until Uganda is rich enough and can easily do without foreign help. I pray that that that day may come soon.

  23. That is not true

    My mistake. The bill belongs to Jayhuck. I apologise for daring to claim anything contrary to Jayhuck’s received wisdom. He alone can decide what needs to be done with the bill. Thanks 😀

  24. It’s always useful to be reminded of Penal Code 145, which makes consensual relations an ‘offence’ that can bring life imprisonment.
    The Bahati Bill, like its ‘ugly sibling’ the Public Order Management Bill, is of course a full-frontal, and potentially deadly, assault on freedom of expression – criminalizing as it does even expressions of support for the fundamental human rights of LGBT Ugandans. The Nigerian supposedly ‘anti-gay-marriage’ Bill also has such features (which have nothing to do with ‘gay marriage’, but are designed to criminalize what most civilized people would regard as perfectly lawful dissent).

  25. British Prime Minister James Cameroon

    Are errors of this magnitude common in the Ugandan media? How bizarre.
    (Is he being confused with with James Cameron plus the country across the continent?)

  26. Interestingly, I’ve heard today something that indicates that support may be waning among MPs for the kind of senseless repression and slaughter proposed by Bahati … but – obviously – I cannot divulge my source.

    Ha,ha, ha,ha ….Gay Propaganda as usual !!!! 😀

  27. Do take his utterances seriously? No. They are poorly argued and peppered with falsehoods.

    Oh, but you do take my utterances seriously. And even if you don’t, I will allow the actions of our parliament do the talking on my behalf.

    Maazi NCO … quoting bits and pieces from random emails you might receive off the internet is hardly the basis for an intelligent discussion. There are plenty of people in cyberspace who are really out of touch with reality (or worse) .. who only have a voice due to internet and email.

    The emails were not random. They were coordinated by the Euro-American Gay Propagandist Lobby. The only intelligent information to glean from these spam emails is that hedonistic Europeans and Americans are madly in love with gayism and wish everybody in the planet to either practise it or allow others to practise it freely and dangerously. Uganda says “NO !!” and its parliamentarians are going to pass new laws to codify their objections to attempts by power-crazed Westerners to globalize sexual deviance.

  28. No, just something I heard. I’m not sure how much to believe it, but I heard it. If I hear more, I’ll let you know … 🙂

  29. I mean, come on … if you want to ‘get one over’ your erstwhile oppressors (and I can fully understand that), there are much better ways of doing it than all this anti-gay sabre-rattling against your own people.

  30. @Maazi NCO … quoting bits and pieces from random emails you might receive off the internet is hardly the basis for an intelligent discussion. There are plenty of people in cyberspace who are really out of touch with reality (or worse) .. who only have a voice due to internet and email. They do not represent everyone .. sometimes they do not even represent their own view. They just have some odd need to get attention by saying bizaar stuff. So if you want to prop up your argument with such straw doll cyber-people have fun … its your life.. But don’t expect to be taken seriously here if you do.
    Dave

  31. I’m glad that you understand that Bahati has – I presume inadvertently – helped the increasing powerful campaign against the arbitrary abuse of gay people; you are surely correct in this.

    I can assure you that the changes I seek in the Bahati Bill has always been on my mind since the crude original version was introduced in October 2009. It has nothing to do with your gay propaganda or that of others. Unlike the executive branch of the Ugandan state, I completely immune to such gay propagandist pressures.
    Look my friend, our email accounts are innundated frequently by messages of empty threats and unsolicited documents about the beauty and pleasures of gay sex practitioning. One of these unsolicited documents I received struggled to explain the “naturalness” of anal sex and claimed bizzarely that anal sex was not being dangerous and described the anus as a sexual object. The American who emailed me the document even included some serious “scientific-looking documents” to back up his claims. Of course, I could have asked him why FDA in America bans anal sex lovers from blood donation, but I decided it was not worth replying the American gay propagandist email spammer. (UK also banned sodomites from blood donation too until political correctness overturned the ban recently).
    Another American email spammer even had the cheek to send me a revisionist history of pre-colonial Uganda where everybody was either a gay sex practitioner or a strong supporter of free-wheeling gay sex among the populace. For a moment, I tried to imagine if my great-great-great-great grand dad was one of these pre-colonial Ugandans jumping around screaming “Boys, get out there and go have some free anal sex to pass boring time !!!”. The imagination failed me. However, a vision of my pre-colonial era ancestor screaming “abomination ! abomination !!, abomination !!!” while whipping a male sex deviant with a cane looked more realistic to me.
    In any case, Parliamentarians are immune to these trash being dumped in their email inboxes by mad Europeans and Americans. The Bahati Bill will be law of the land and there is nothing Obama or Cameron or Sarkozy or Harper or Merkel can do about it (other than withdraw their grubby blackmail donor money). We will act in the best interests of the Ugandan people not in the interests of gay propagandists based in Europe and America.

  32. I don’t see the relevance of what you’ve said, ‘Maazi NCO MP’. It just looks like general ranting by someone who doesn’t like it when others point out flaws in his reasoning to me.
    Perhaps, if you must rant on this blog, you might say who you really are. I’m not going to, as I do respect your ‘right’ to behave in a distasteful and cowardly manner, squirting venom at passers by from behind a silly pseudonym.
    (How sad that a frustrated politician wants to ‘make his point’ by screwing his own people.)

  33. It’s always useful to be reminded of Penal Code 145, which makes consensual relations an ‘offence’ that can bring life imprisonment.
    The Bahati Bill, like its ‘ugly sibling’ the Public Order Management Bill, is of course a full-frontal, and potentially deadly, assault on freedom of expression – criminalizing as it does even expressions of support for the fundamental human rights of LGBT Ugandans. The Nigerian supposedly ‘anti-gay-marriage’ Bill also has such features (which have nothing to do with ‘gay marriage’, but are designed to criminalize what most civilized people would regard as perfectly lawful dissent).

  34. It is, of course, up to Ugandan MPs to pass this wretched bill if they choose. But pressure applied thus far has given many UG politicos ‘pause for thought’, and so it would seem to be a good idea to maintain that pressure using all peaceful and truthful means.
    The Bill is not in Uganda’s best interest: it could inter alia be enormously disruptive to the fight against HIV-AIDS (with several governments, NGOs and charities probably feeling forced to ‘pull back’, and possible riskier patterns of behaviour by married persons who are ‘in the closet’). We have already seen HIV transmission rates rise recently in UG – at a time of increasing anti-gay rhetoric and violence. This should come as no surprise: dishonesty, hypocrisy and secrecy are – along with poverty – probably HIV’s greatest allies.

  35. That is not true

    My mistake. The bill belongs to Jayhuck. I apologise for daring to claim anything contrary to Jayhuck’s received wisdom. He alone can decide what needs to be done with the bill. Thanks 😀

  36. I understand the point above about ‘extortion’. However I do not see changing the way in which aid is disbursed as in any sense ‘extortion’, as long as the principal objective behind such changes are to do with ensuring that the poorest and most vulnerable get as much support as possible. Such an objective necessarily involves diverting resources away from politicians who might use them to fund repressive activities.
    It has, in the eyes of some (e.g. ‘Maazi NCO’), always been a matter of ‘Ugandan sovereignty’ to ‘defend’ the Bill. Apart from a little more rhetoric than usual, nothing has really changed. There has, of course, been a considerable ‘hardening of positions’ on ‘both sides’ since the Bahati Bill broke cover in late 2009. Given the extreme nature of the Bill, this was to be expected.

  37. Maazi,

    In any case, the Bahati Bill is a property of our parliament and there is nothing any foreigner can do to prevent its passage.

    That is not true 🙂

  38. I understand the point above about ‘extortion’. However I do not see changing the way in which aid is disbursed as in any sense ‘extortion’, as long as the principal objective behind such changes are to do with ensuring that the poorest and most vulnerable get as much support as possible. Such an objective necessarily involves diverting resources away from politicians who might use them to fund repressive activities.
    It has, in the eyes of some (e.g. ‘Maazi NCO’), always been a matter of ‘Ugandan sovereignty’ to ‘defend’ the Bill. Apart from a little more rhetoric than usual, nothing has really changed. There has, of course, been a considerable ‘hardening of positions’ on ‘both sides’ since the Bahati Bill broke cover in late 2009. Given the extreme nature of the Bill, this was to be expected.

  39. I fear that ‘donors’ will indeed follow ‘Maazi NCO MP’s’ advice if the Bill goes through – and it won’t just be governments either.

  40. Maazi,

    In any case, the Bahati Bill is a property of our parliament and there is nothing any foreigner can do to prevent its passage.

    That is not true 🙂

  41. Patrocles
    I agree with you the issue of ‘extortion’. However I do not see changing the way in which aid is disbursed as in any sense ‘extortion’, as long as the objectives behind those changes are to do with ensuring that the poorest and most vulnerable get as much support as possible. This objective necessarily involves diverting resources away from politicians who might use them to fund repressive activities.
    It has, in the eyes of some (e.g. ‘Maazi NCO’), always been a matter of ‘Ugandan sovereignty’ to ‘defend’ the Bill. Apart from a little more rhetoric than usual, nothing has really changed. There has, of course, been a considerable ‘hardening of positions’ on ‘both sides’ since the Bahati Bill broke cover in late 2009. Given the extreme nature of the Bill, this was to be expected.

  42. I

    understand that it now has become a matter of Ugandan sovereignty to defend the Bahati Bill. I suppose that that problem can’t be solved – and a sober debate can’t be had – until Uganda is rich enough and can easily do without foreign help. I pray that that that day may come soon.

    Thanks for your “prayers”. Yes, one day Uganda will be free of undue foreign influence and we hope for the best with regards to our newly discovered oil riches even though what we are seeing so far from the executive branch of the Ugandan state isn’t encouraging. In any case, the Bahati Bill is a property of our parliament and there is nothing any foreigner can do to prevent its passage. We are working all 4 cylinders of the engine powering the vehicle for the bill’s passage…. Foreigners who don’t like it can get their governments to withdraw their “influence peddling bribes” (allegedly “donor aid”).

  43. Maazi,
    as a Christian (of the anabaptist conviction) I personally think that extortion is a sin. I don’t think that Western mainstream christians are too lax about homosexuality, but I think that they are too lax about extortion, above all when they and their governments are involved.
    Extortion, in my eyes, implies extortion by the state (the Bahati Bill), but likewise extortion by international politics (like the Cameron-Sarkozy-Merkel’s actions against the Bahati Bill).
    I understand that it now has become a matter of Ugandan sovereignty to defend the Bahati Bill. I suppose that that problem can’t be solved – and a sober debate can’t be had – until Uganda is rich enough and can easily do without foreign help. I pray that that that day may come soon.

  44. I fear that ‘donors’ will indeed follow ‘Maazi NCO MP’s’ advice if the Bill goes through – and it won’t just be governments either.

  45. I

    understand that it now has become a matter of Ugandan sovereignty to defend the Bahati Bill. I suppose that that problem can’t be solved – and a sober debate can’t be had – until Uganda is rich enough and can easily do without foreign help. I pray that that that day may come soon.

    Thanks for your “prayers”. Yes, one day Uganda will be free of undue foreign influence and we hope for the best with regards to our newly discovered oil riches even though what we are seeing so far from the executive branch of the Ugandan state isn’t encouraging. In any case, the Bahati Bill is a property of our parliament and there is nothing any foreigner can do to prevent its passage. We are working all 4 cylinders of the engine powering the vehicle for the bill’s passage…. Foreigners who don’t like it can get their governments to withdraw their “influence peddling bribes” (allegedly “donor aid”).

  46. From my student days overseas, I met many Nigerians and they stand out immediately because of their swagger, pride and self-confidence and their loudness. The arrogant antics of our Nigerian friends can be annoying sometimes, but you cannot deny their self-confidence and pride in themselves. The journalism practised in Nigeria does not seem to be apologetic to Western interests like that of mainstream Ugandan media outlets. I should call your attention to the fact that Nigeria has the second largest newspaper circulation in Africa after the Republic of Egypt.

    Of course, as the article makes clear, the main purpose of the Bill is to criminalize freedom of conscience and expression – in the best neo-colonialist totalitarian tradition

    Gay propaganda talk !!! Aberrant sexual activity is not a religion and therefore has nothing to do with freedom of conscience. Such activities are inhuman and self-destructive and therefore cannot be accorded any respect under the guise of “freedom of expression”. Besides the “award-winning” This Day Editorial stated clearly the following restrictions on freedoms in the Nigerian constitution—

    Sections 37 and 38 of our 1999 Constitution guaranteeing right to privacy and right to freedom of conscience and religion are curtailed by section 45(1) of the same constitution to the effect that nothing in those sections “shall invalidate any laws that are reasonable justifiable in a democratic society in the interest of defence, public safety, public order, public morality or public health”.

    I think the restrictions are along the lines of those in UK and Germany that restrict freedom to engage in consensual adult incest. The restrictions fit the laws in several European nations criminalizing “freedom of expression” when used to belittle, deny or play down the tragedy of the Jewish Holocaust.
    Uganda needs such in its constitution to make any anti-gay legislation bullet-proof to litigation in the courts.

  47. From my student days overseas, I met many Nigerians and they stand out immediately because of their swagger, pride and self-confidence and their loudness. The arrogant antics of our Nigerian friends can be annoying sometimes, but you cannot deny their self-confidence and pride in themselves. The journalism practised in Nigeria does not seem to be apologetic to Western interests like that of mainstream Ugandan media outlets. I should call your attention to the fact that Nigeria has the second largest newspaper circulation in Africa after the Republic of Egypt.

    Of course, as the article makes clear, the main purpose of the Bill is to criminalize freedom of conscience and expression – in the best neo-colonialist totalitarian tradition

    Gay propaganda talk !!! Aberrant sexual activity is not a religion and therefore has nothing to do with freedom of conscience. Such activities are inhuman and self-destructive and therefore cannot be accorded any respect under the guise of “freedom of expression”. Besides the “award-winning” This Day Editorial stated clearly the following restrictions on freedoms in the Nigerian constitution—

    Sections 37 and 38 of our 1999 Constitution guaranteeing right to privacy and right to freedom of conscience and religion are curtailed by section 45(1) of the same constitution to the effect that nothing in those sections “shall invalidate any laws that are reasonable justifiable in a democratic society in the interest of defence, public safety, public order, public morality or public health”.

    I think the restrictions are along the lines of those in UK and Germany that restrict freedom to engage in consensual adult incest. The restrictions fit the laws in several European nations criminalizing “freedom of expression” when used to belittle, deny or play down the tragedy of the Jewish Holocaust.
    Uganda needs such in its constitution to make any anti-gay legislation bullet-proof to litigation in the courts.

  48. ‘Maazi NCO MP’ says this:-
    I wish mainstream newspapers in our own beloved Uganda are brave and proud like their Nigerian counterparts.
    Well now, does he really think that any self-respecting press would support legislation designed to squash freedom of expression and conscience in the way that the Bahati Bill seeks to do? If he really wants papers like the Monitor, the Independent and the Observer to ‘chant his slogans’ for him, he may need to consider proposing further repressive laws. (I was chatting with the editor of a Ugandan news outlet about all this the other day, as it happens. A most interesting conversation we had, to be sure.)
    Anyway, sorry for this little aside … let’s see what he has to say on the substance of the Nigerian bill and its relationship to his own ideas regarding a more subtle and devious version of the Bahati Bill. I can’t wait for his erudite and considered opinions (which are always so thoughtfully expressed)!

  49. And the Nigerian Bill: any comments on that, ‘Maazi’?
    (Of course, as the article makes clear, the main purpose of the Bill is to criminalize freedom of conscience and expression – in the best neo-colonialist totalitarian tradition, a tradition designed to perpetuate repression and misery; the ‘marriage’ bit is just a ‘moralistic’ diversion.)

  50. I reckon we should try to get hold of the text of the Nigerian draft bill. I’ll have a little hunt when I’ve got a bit more time.

    Speaking of Nigeria, what a great editorial from ThisDay Newspaper, which I am told is a top circulating newspaper in the West African country. I have gone through a couple of other Nigerian papers and they are all ferociously blasting away at gayism. I wish mainstream newspapers in our own beloved Uganda are brave and proud like their Nigerian counterparts.

  51. (Of course, versions of this bill have been knocking around for a while. The UN report suggests that a revised version is being discussed.)

  52. @ Warren
    I reckon we should try to get hold of the text of the Nigerian draft bill. I’ll have a little hunt when I’ve got a bit more time.

  53. @ Warren
    I reckon we should try to get hold of the text of the Nigerian draft bill. I’ll have a little hunt when I’ve got a bit more time.

  54. Oh dear, I’ve been ‘it’s-ing’ where it should have been ‘its’. Time for coffee, I wonder?

  55. Nigeria is proposing a new anti-gay law: http://www.undispatch.com/top-of-the-morning-darfurs-new-rebel-alliance-climate-change-adaptation-fund-nasty-anti-lgbt-law-in-nigeria
    It’s main focus appears to be freedom of speech (no real surprises there, I’m afraid), as the draft law allegedly criminalizes those who speak up for the human rights their gay compatriots, as well as ‘gay marriage’. This might be the model for a more subtle version of the Bahati Bill to which our coffee-drinking ‘friend’ who used to be in the XXXXXXXXXXX (not an adult movie, I hope!) likes to refer.
    This draft is clearly designed to increase suffering in Africa (sadly, we’re getting used to these kinds of proposal). It’s arrival on the scene may also have been the ‘trigger’ for the ‘rolling out’ of the new UK policy on how aid is disbursed.
    The current anti-gay laws are courtesy of the British (of course), and thus pretty much identical to those in UG (except that it’s 14 years in Nigeria and ‘life’ in UG – it was 14 years in UG until the law was changed a few years ago).

  56. Maybe you’re standing the wrong place? You are clearly obsessed by all this (it’s 2.00 am in Kampala!), so perhaps you are not looking at the whole situation objectively?

    Surprise, suprise…I usually work late into the wee-hours of the morning. And I am always 100% mentally alert when I am working and sipping the hot contents of my coffee mug. It comes from my previous concurrent profession in the XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

  57. Maybe you’re standing the wrong place? You are clearly obsessed by all this (it’s 2.00 am in Kampala!), so perhaps you are not looking at the whole situation objectively?
    Obviously, what I heard might not accurately reflect the situation (I accept that), but I heard it nevertheless.

  58. Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting to hear it, and the comment was not addressed directly to me. But hear it I did. If I hear more, I’ll let you know … but I cannot give you proof, as I’m not prepared to say from whom I heard it. Sorry about that.

    You need not bother to provide me with anything purporting to be “proof of perfidy” in our parliament. Whatever you heard is just gay propaganda fodder. From where I am standing, I see no impediments to the successful passage of revised Bahati Bill into law whenever we are called upon to do our duty.

  59. Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting to hear it, and the comment was not addressed directly to me. But hear it I did. If I hear more, I’ll let you know … but I cannot give you proof, as I’m not prepared to say from whom I heard it. Sorry about that.

  60. I heard what I heard.

    I find your above comment intriguing. Strictly from an English language perspective, your comment is a meaningless tautology along the lines of “I will see you when I see you” or the comment “we meet when we meet”.

  61. ‘Maazi NCO MP’, I don’t take the content of your utterances seriously; they are generally a load of rubbish: full of lies (some of thsoe have been exposed in the past, haven’t they?) and cliches.

    Look at the irony of a professional gay propagandist accusing another person of talking rubbish !! :D. Please don’t make me laugh. I am one of the most honest straight-talkers you will ever meet if you visit Uganda. I am articulating the aspirations of my people. I am sharing with you the point of view of most Ugandans and I am proud of that. Gayism is transparently insane, un-African and immoral. There is nothing “political” about that statement and there is nothing to lie about. Uganda and poorer African nations are under Western pressure to implement the Gay Agenda. The only other nation which has faced more pressure than Uganda is Malawi whose brave President—a distinguished Economics Professor—has rejected all imperialist bullying and even extended the laws prohibiting gayism.
    As part of the Gay Agenda, Western nations are training local African puppet-advocates and bankrolling them to sell the unsellable abhorrent sexual behaviour to our people in the name of “human rights” and “libertarianism”. As I write this comment, I am aware of some these domestic puppets being sponsored in USA to understudy western gay propagandist skills which they will be expected to use when they return home to Uganda. I am aware of Western nations bilaterally pressuring African nations and simulataneously hijacking multilateral institutions like the United Nations,World Health Organization, Commonwealth of Nations and the European Union–Africa, Carribbean and Pacific forum to promote the Gay Agenda.
    I justed wanted to reiterate to you chaps that we will not bend over for the Gay Agenda. No way and the revised Bahati Bill shall be law even if you loudly chant the words “Nazis ! Nazis !! Nazi !!!” at Ugandan Parliamentarians.

  62. No, just something I heard. I’m not sure how much to believe it, but I heard it. If I hear more, I’ll let you know … 🙂

  63. Interestingly, I’ve heard today something that indicates that support may be waning among MPs for the kind of senseless repression and slaughter proposed by Bahati … but – obviously – I cannot divulge my source.

    Ha,ha, ha,ha ….Gay Propaganda as usual !!!! 😀

  64. No, ‘Maazi NCO MP’, I don’t take the content of your utterances seriously; they are generally a load of rubbish: full of lies (some of thsoe have been exposed in the past, haven’t they?) and cliches. However, I do take your capacity to do harm seriously, and that is why I continue to provoke you into letting us know what might happen.
    Interestingly, I’ve heard today something that indicates that support may be waning among MPs for the kind of senseless repression and slaughter proposed by Bahati … but – obviously – I cannot divulge my source.

  65. Do take his utterances seriously? No. They are poorly argued and peppered with falsehoods.

    Oh, but you do take my utterances seriously. And even if you don’t, I will allow the actions of our parliament do the talking on my behalf.

    Maazi NCO … quoting bits and pieces from random emails you might receive off the internet is hardly the basis for an intelligent discussion. There are plenty of people in cyberspace who are really out of touch with reality (or worse) .. who only have a voice due to internet and email.

    The emails were not random. They were coordinated by the Euro-American Gay Propagandist Lobby. The only intelligent information to glean from these spam emails is that hedonistic Europeans and Americans are madly in love with gayism and wish everybody in the planet to either practise it or allow others to practise it freely and dangerously. Uganda says “NO !!” and its parliamentarians are going to pass new laws to codify their objections to attempts by power-crazed Westerners to globalize sexual deviance.

  66. ‘Maazi NCO MP’, I don’t take the content of your utterances seriously; they are generally a load of rubbish: full of lies (some of thsoe have been exposed in the past, haven’t they?) and cliches.

    Look at the irony of a professional gay propagandist accusing another person of talking rubbish !! :D. Please don’t make me laugh. I am one of the most honest straight-talkers you will ever meet if you visit Uganda. I am articulating the aspirations of my people. I am sharing with you the point of view of most Ugandans and I am proud of that. Gayism is transparently insane, un-African and immoral. There is nothing “political” about that statement and there is nothing to lie about. Uganda and poorer African nations are under Western pressure to implement the Gay Agenda. The only other nation which has faced more pressure than Uganda is Malawi whose brave President—a distinguished Economics Professor—has rejected all imperialist bullying and even extended the laws prohibiting gayism.
    As part of the Gay Agenda, Western nations are training local African puppet-advocates and bankrolling them to sell the unsellable abhorrent sexual behaviour to our people in the name of “human rights” and “libertarianism”. As I write this comment, I am aware of some these domestic puppets being sponsored in USA to understudy western gay propagandist skills which they will be expected to use when they return home to Uganda. I am aware of Western nations bilaterally pressuring African nations and simulataneously hijacking multilateral institutions like the United Nations,World Health Organization, Commonwealth of Nations and the European Union–Africa, Carribbean and Pacific forum to promote the Gay Agenda.
    I justed wanted to reiterate to you chaps that we will not bend over for the Gay Agenda. No way and the revised Bahati Bill shall be law even if you loudly chant the words “Nazis ! Nazis !! Nazi !!!” at Ugandan Parliamentarians.

  67. @ Dave
    In principle, I agree with you; in practice, since ‘Maazi’ is a Ugandan legislator, so it is useful to know what strange thoughts are spinning around in that organ between his ears. This why I keep him ‘in play’ as it were.
    Do take his utterances seriously? No. They are poorly argued and peppered with falsehoods. Do take seriously the havoc he and his cronies could cause? Yes – very … partly because I know many Ugandans who find his kind of vindictive belching utterly deplorable and highly embarrassing.

  68. @Maazi NCO … quoting bits and pieces from random emails you might receive off the internet is hardly the basis for an intelligent discussion. There are plenty of people in cyberspace who are really out of touch with reality (or worse) .. who only have a voice due to internet and email. They do not represent everyone .. sometimes they do not even represent their own view. They just have some odd need to get attention by saying bizaar stuff. So if you want to prop up your argument with such straw doll cyber-people have fun … its your life.. But don’t expect to be taken seriously here if you do.
    Dave

  69. No, ‘Maazi NCO MP’, I don’t take the content of your utterances seriously; they are generally a load of rubbish: full of lies (some of thsoe have been exposed in the past, haven’t they?) and cliches. However, I do take your capacity to do harm seriously, and that is why I continue to provoke you into letting us know what might happen.
    Interestingly, I’ve heard today something that indicates that support may be waning among MPs for the kind of senseless repression and slaughter proposed by Bahati … but – obviously – I cannot divulge my source.

  70. @ Dave
    In principle, I agree with you; in practice, since ‘Maazi’ is a Ugandan legislator, so it is useful to know what strange thoughts are spinning around in that organ between his ears. This why I keep him ‘in play’ as it were.
    Do take his utterances seriously? No. They are poorly argued and peppered with falsehoods. Do take seriously the havoc he and his cronies could cause? Yes – very … partly because I know many Ugandans who find his kind of vindictive belching utterly deplorable and highly embarrassing.

  71. I mean, come on … if you want to ‘get one over’ your erstwhile oppressors (and I can fully understand that), there are much better ways of doing it than all this anti-gay sabre-rattling against your own people.

  72. I don’t see the relevance of what you’ve said, ‘Maazi NCO MP’. It just looks like general ranting by someone who doesn’t like it when others point out flaws in his reasoning to me.
    Perhaps, if you must rant on this blog, you might say who you really are. I’m not going to, as I do respect your ‘right’ to behave in a distasteful and cowardly manner, squirting venom at passers by from behind a silly pseudonym.
    (How sad that a frustrated politician wants to ‘make his point’ by screwing his own people.)

  73. I’m glad that you understand that Bahati has – I presume inadvertently – helped the increasing powerful campaign against the arbitrary abuse of gay people; you are surely correct in this.

    I can assure you that the changes I seek in the Bahati Bill has always been on my mind since the crude original version was introduced in October 2009. It has nothing to do with your gay propaganda or that of others. Unlike the executive branch of the Ugandan state, I completely immune to such gay propagandist pressures.
    Look my friend, our email accounts are innundated frequently by messages of empty threats and unsolicited documents about the beauty and pleasures of gay sex practitioning. One of these unsolicited documents I received struggled to explain the “naturalness” of anal sex and claimed bizzarely that anal sex was not being dangerous and described the anus as a sexual object. The American who emailed me the document even included some serious “scientific-looking documents” to back up his claims. Of course, I could have asked him why FDA in America bans anal sex lovers from blood donation, but I decided it was not worth replying the American gay propagandist email spammer. (UK also banned sodomites from blood donation too until political correctness overturned the ban recently).
    Another American email spammer even had the cheek to send me a revisionist history of pre-colonial Uganda where everybody was either a gay sex practitioner or a strong supporter of free-wheeling gay sex among the populace. For a moment, I tried to imagine if my great-great-great-great grand dad was one of these pre-colonial Ugandans jumping around screaming “Boys, get out there and go have some free anal sex to pass boring time !!!”. The imagination failed me. However, a vision of my pre-colonial era ancestor screaming “abomination ! abomination !!, abomination !!!” while whipping a male sex deviant with a cane looked more realistic to me.
    In any case, Parliamentarians are immune to these trash being dumped in their email inboxes by mad Europeans and Americans. The Bahati Bill will be law of the land and there is nothing Obama or Cameron or Sarkozy or Harper or Merkel can do about it (other than withdraw their grubby blackmail donor money). We will act in the best interests of the Ugandan people not in the interests of gay propagandists based in Europe and America.

  74. The last lot of proposed ‘changes’ made no practical difference whatsoever to Bahati’s “Slaughter” Bill, did they? (I’m glad that you understand that Bahati has – I presume inadvertently – helped the increasing powerful campaign against the arbitrary abuse of gay people; you are surely correct in this.)
    As for the Commonwealth: maybe its time is drawing to a close. Or maybe some will leave and others will join (as Rwanda did recently). Nothing is ‘fixed’ in this world, so we shall see …

  75. Anyway, let’s get back to the savage Bahati “Bloodbath” Bill. Are the next proposed changes (if any are indeed proposed, that is) going to be as disingenuous as the last lot in May, I wonder?

    Like I said earlier, I will request for “earnest changes”. I am not going to discuss those changes with you. I believe that those changes are necessary to fine-tune the bill and perhaps remove some of the negative gay propaganda surrounding the Bahati Bill.

    The Commonwealth proposal is a longer-term matter, as Cameron himself freely admits – just read what he actually said at the CHOGM.)

    Many people are asking themselves what is the relevance of this achronistic organisation called “Commonwealth of Nations” (actually it should be called the “League of former colonies of the defunct British Empire”). Let me tell you something—– Many nations in commonwealth are there out of respect for Queen Elizabeth II. I am positive that when she dies, the commonwealth will begin to fall apart. Insisting on gayism is probably going to accelerate the decline of the Commonwealth. Not many people besides British royalist supporters still basking in the old glory of the dead Empire will miss The Commonwealth when it collapses and dies.

  76. So? No amount of raging disguises the true nature of the Bahati Bill.
    (Incidentally, I think our Ugandan Opposition MP friend may be confusing two things: one is the UK‘s [and EU’s?] policy on general budget support, which is specifically targeted – at least for the time being – at those countries that are proposing more violent anti-gay policies. The Commonwealth proposal is a longer-term matter, as Cameron himself freely admits – just read what he actually said at the CHOGM.)
    Anyway, let’s get back to the savage Bahati “Bloodbath” Bill. Are the next proposed changes (if any are indeed proposed, that is) going to be as disingenuous as the last lot in May, I wonder?

  77. “,,, ‘earnest changes’ …”
    Like what? Like that meaningless change in the wording of Clause 3 proposed in May? Like getting rid of the odd clause that would have been impossible to enforce in any case?

  78. Genies is indeed out of their bottles … in more ways than one. Let us not forget that – until really quite recently – people like Yoweri Museveni claimed that ‘homosexuality’ was a ‘western import’.

    Well, our El Presidente has to keep his American war-junky friends on side by making “lovely speeches”. We understand him very well after all he has been the Numero Uno in Uganda for more than two decades…

    Bahati’s savage machete-waving ‘genie’ has, it seems, enflamed lawlessness in Uganda. If it is not dealt with it will could well claim many surprising casualties; it is after all an ideal weapon with which to smear – even destroy – business, political or personal opponents. It is, in so many ways, redolent of the Nuremberg Laws.

    Nuremberg Laws ? Please don’t make me laugh. This is gay propaganda at its most ridiculous. Do you think that Parliament of Uganda will back down because a bunch of foreign sex deviants slur them as “Nazis” ? The Bahati Bill will be passed eventually (though I will suggest some “earnest changes” to the bill prior to it becoming law in Uganda)

  79. Oh dear, the first sentence of the second paragraph should have read:
    Genies are indeed out of their bottles … in more ways than one.

  80. I thought someone might pick up on other parts of the article!
    Genies is indeed out of their bottles … in more ways than one. Let us not forget that – until really quite recently – people like Yoweri Museveni claimed that ‘homosexuality’ was a ‘western import’. Actually, the real ‘western import’ is Penal Code 145 (which is pretty much identical to what was in Britain up to 1967).
    Bahati’s savage machete-waving ‘genie’ has, it seems, enflamed lawlessness in Uganda. If it is not dealt with it will could well claim many surprising casualties; it is after all an ideal weapon with which to smear – even destroy – business, political or personal opponents. It is, in so many ways, redolent of the Nuremberg Laws.

  81. Make of that what you will.

    Well, it means that the Ugandan government officials are very talented in the act of unshelving, shelving and re-shelving a bunch of papers periodically to keep the war-loving US government on side. The Sovereign Parliament of Uganda looks on, bemused by such events….

  82. “There were a few homosexuals before colonialism which we were aware of. They were not killed, nor were they persecuted, but they were not promoted.”

    Obviously there were probably deviants pre-colonialism, but we were hardly aware of them (except the famous Buganda King Mwanga II coached by his Arab trader-friends). The executive branch of the Ugandan State is under pressure from the United States and the President is using funny words to try and alleviate that pressure. The parliamentarians are braver and will not bow to any external pressure. The genie is out of the bottle. Gayism has gone from being a hidden activity to a public behaviour promoted openly on radio, newspapers and news conferences by domestic puppets of the euro-american gay propaganda lobby. I was one of the naive ones who initially opposed the Bahati Bill, but not any more. Not after what we have seen in the last 6 years. Anyone who thinks the gay sex promoters wish to slink back to their hiding places is being naive. They want New York-style confetti and street parades to celebrate the pride in their deviance and they want gay marriage and gay adoption. These local puppets go abroad and are trained by foreign gay sex activists so that they can return to Uganda as gay sex missionaries spreading the good news about anal sex. Ugandan say NO !! The genie is out of the bottle and there is no going back…. Okay, the ranting is over for now !!!

  83. Oh dear, the first sentence of the second paragraph should have read:
    Genies are indeed out of their bottles … in more ways than one.

  84. British Prime Minister James Cameroon

    Are errors of this magnitude common in the Ugandan media? How bizarre.
    (Is he being confused with with James Cameron plus the country across the continent?)

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