Tag: uganda

Former Member of Uganda Ministry of Health Committee on Homosexuality Objects to Political Direction; Declines to Sign Report

According to a Uganda Media Centre spokesman, President Museveni will sign the Anti-Homosexuality Bill today. However, he will do so amid discord on the committee he has appointed for political cover. Dr. Eugene Kinyanda is one name that was on the initial committee but does not appear among the signers of the final report. I have learned that he has declined to sign the report.
Dr Kinyanda wrote to fellow committee member Dr. Ezati and said:

I would like to state that I will not be signing the above document. This is mainly because what was initially just an inquiry to inform the scientific understanding of homosexuality from a medical standpoint has taken a very political direction. I will not be used to justify the passing of a bill which as a doctor I do not fully understand.
Regards
Dr Eugene Kinyanda

Dr. Kinyanda is certainly correct to question the political direction of the committee and I applaud his action.

Exclusive: Changes Made in Final Report of Uganda's Ministry of Health Committee on Homosexuality

I have obtained a copy of the final report of the Ministry of Health Committee on Homosexuality. Dated February 23, this report is more extensive than the first report with changes to the contents as well as the membership of the committee.
This report provides a more extensive look at research (although it is still missing some very important papers) and more significantly does not include recommendations regarding legislation. Two members were added to the committee: Assoc. Prof Charles Ibingira and Dr. Hannington Kasozi, and two names which were on the meeting minutes and first report do not show up on this report: Dr. Seggane Musisi, and Associate Professor Eugene Kinyanda.

The premise of this whole exercise should be called into question. If genetic determination is going to be the doorway to civil rights, then we should begin looking for the gene which determines membership in the NRM. It is beyond discouraging that the members of this committee did not raise this concern and discuss the limits of science to address the questions Museveni raised.
A particularly cruel part of this report is the recognition that reparative therapy interventions have not been successful. So what are Uganda’s GLB people to do? This anti-gay law can only be seen as abusive if the people who are the target can’t help it and can’t change it.
The copy of the report I have does not yet have signatures. One can only hope that the members will rethink their stance before the report comes to them for their signature.
UPDATE: Apparently, Museveni will sign the bill at 11am.

Is Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill On Hold?

In a statement dated February 18, but widely available just today (e.g., the Observer), Uganda’s President Museveni seems to leave open the door that the Anti-Homosexuality Bill could be put on hold while he seeks additional input from researchers and scientists. Here is Museveni’s statement in full:

According to a Reuter’s report, the president’s spokesperson said the bill was on hold pending more research.
As I noted earlier this evening, one of the committee member’s of the Ministry of Health ad hoc committee is raising questions about how the committee’s work has been misused.
According to Museveni’s statement, he wants the U.S. government to work with Uganda’s scientific community.
 
 
 

African Media Watchdog: NRM Caucus Misinterpreted Ministry of Health Report on Homosexuality

Earlier this week, Peter Mwesige of the African Centre for Media Excellence scrutinized the way the Ugandan press handled the facts surrounding President Museveni’s decision to sign the Anti-Homosexuality based on a report by an ad hoc committee of the Ministry of Health. In his article on the matter, Mwesige points out that the president’s political party caucus distorted the committee report by saying homosexuality was “an abnormal behavior.” Significantly, Mwesige quoted one of the committee members, psychologist Paul Bangirana. Bangirana accused the caucus of leaving out vital information which influenced many media reports.
While there are problems with the committee report, Mwesige is correct that the NRM press release did not accurately portray the report. Mwesige ends his article by pointing out that Uganda’s press should have included input from those who will feel the effects of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill:

And [balanced] factual or accurate reporting would also include journalists not ignoring the human rights-based argument that the gay community invokes in defending their sexuality.

 

Uganda's President Museveni Misuses Letter from Scientists and Researchers

I don’t know how President Museveni came up with the conclusion he did but it is obvious that he misread our letter about scientific consensus on sexual orientation.  On the website of Uganda’s State Department, the following was posted yesterday:

While attending the NRM Parliamentary Caucus Retreat at the National Leadership Institute (6th -16th February 2014), President Museveni promised to circulate a letter in response to his request to rule out a possibility that some human beings are genetically born homosexual.
The President partially read out the response by over 200 international experts on the science of homosexuality written to him on the 5th of February 2014 before he said he would sign the anti-homosexuality bill on grounds that no evidence was adduced to the effect that there are human beings homosexual by genetics, by both the international experts and the department of genetics of Makerere University Medical School.
The letter states clearly that “While it is unlikely that there is one simple biological or genetic cause for homosexuality in all people, there are neural, cognitive and personality differences between homosexuals and heterosexuals which appear to have at least some basis in biology.”

Elsewhere in the letter, we were clear that choice plays no role in the onset of sexual attractions:

For the vast majority of people, homosexual and heterosexual, sexual attractions emerge spontaneously without any prior sexual experience, exposure or recruitment. Sexual orientation is not a matter of choice.

There was risk involved in writing the letter and engaging in this process. However, we felt it important to go on record in the manner we did. The signers of our letter are united in condemnation of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, and it is completely false to imply otherwise. After getting the Ugandan Ministry of Health report, President Museveni expressed his desire to pass the buck to others for his decision. However, the world is watching, and if Mr. Museveni signs that bill, history will record that he is responsible for that action.