Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni insists the legislation is a done deal, and has urged cabinet members to be “ready for a war” FILE PHOTO: Activists protest outside the Ugandan Embassy over Uganda’s parliamentary Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2023 on April 25, 2023 in Washington, DC. © Anna Moneymaker / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has rebuffed international calls to repeal the country’s recent anti-LGBTQ legislation, insisting that no amount of intimidation will persuade his government to do so.
“The signing is finished, nobody will move us… I said you people should be ready for a war. And you cannot fight a war when you are a pleasure seeker, if you like a soft life,” Museveni said in a statement after a meeting with members of his National Resistance Movement (NRM) party on Wednesday.
Kampala has attracted widesp
He further urged lawmakers and all Ugandans to remain firm and fight for his cause. “If you are fighting for the right cause, there’s no force which can defeat you,” he added.
The Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 mandates life imprisonment for anyone found guilty of engaging in same-sex sexual activities. It also provides for the death penalty for “aggravated cases,” which include instances such as statutory rape involving a minor or cases where one person involved is infected with a chronic illness like HIV. Additionally, the act imposes a 20-year prison term for those convicted of “promoting” homosexuality.
