An angered Ugandan official has vowed to ensure a proposed anti-homosexuality bill will be passed by the House, following a visit to Canada that went sour.
The claim made by Rebecca Kadaga comes after a confrontation with the Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, where he accused Uganda of making a hostile environment for sexual minorities.
‘When we came to Canada… we expected respect for our sovereignty, our values and our country,’ said Kadaga.
‘I therefore on behalf of Ugandan delegation and indeed the people of Uganda, protest in the strongest terms the arrogance exhibited by Foreign Affairs minister of Canada who spent most of his time attacking Uganda and promoting homosexuality.’
The parliamentary speaker has claimed that the Ugandan people are ‘demanding’ the law change, and vows to have the bill up and running by 2013. Although it is already illegal to be gay in Uganda, the new bill will enforce tougher sentences for those convicted.
Retorting to the dispute with Minister Baird, Kadaga stated – ‘If homosexuality is a value for the people of Canada they should not seek to force Uganda to embrace it. We are not a colony or a protectorate of Canada.’
Anti-homosexuality views were further enforced upon Kadaga’s return home from Canada, where she was greeted with rapturous support from hundreds of anti-gay supporters at the Ugandan Entebbe airport.
Initially tabled in 2009, the bill has been condemned by Western leaders including Barack Obama, who has described the bill as ‘odious’.
International donors have threatened to cut aid in light of the proposed bill, such threats have not deterred Kadaga, who has referred to the bill as a ‘christmas gift’ for Ugandans.
Nadine Walker
