SW News: President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has inked into law a bill carrying severe penalties for those engaged in same-sex relationships and promoting homosexual behavior on Monday, May 29. The office of the president said in a statement on Twitter that the head of state had approved the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023.

The bill raised a hue and cry in Parliament on March 21 when it was put to vote and Museveni intervened asking lawmakers to once again look at the text of the legislation and clearly point out that being a homosexual was not a crime and only same-sex sexual acts were acts of crime. During the May 2 vote, the modified version of the bill was passed almost unanimously. The amended text states that “a person who is presumed or suspected of being homosexual, who has not committed sexual acts with another person of the same sex, does not commit the offense of homosexuality”.

A law dating back to the British colonial period in this African nation makes a homosexual act punishable with a life sentence. In spite of the opposition of the president, lawmakers have amended the new law to state that “aggravated homosexuality” is a capital offense. This means that repeat offenders could be executed for such behavior. However, the death penalty has not been applied in decades in Uganda.

The new law has raised the hackles of Western governments and many NGOs which support the homosexual movement. President Joe Biden of the United States termed the new law of Uganda “shameful” and a “tragic violation” of human rights. He said that passage of the new law “compromises the prospects for essential economic growth for the whole country” and sought its immediate repeal.

According to EU foreign policy head Josep Borrell, “The Ugandan government has an obligation to protect all its citizens. If he does not do this, relations with international partners will be compromised.”