Uganda’s former Ethics Minister Simon Lokodo has died aged 64. The one-time Catholic Priest who was ex-communicated from the church, whose homophobia attracted global attention, died at a hospital in Switzerland.
Content Warning: This article contains mentions of suicide, sexual violence and homophobic statements.
Government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo announced Lokodo’s death during a radio broadcast on Saturday.
Lokodo was elected to the Ugandan parliament in 2006, a move that saw him excommunicated from the catholic Church by Pope Benedict XVI. He became a cabinet minister in 2009 and in a reshuffle in 2011 was appointed Minister for Ethics and Integrity.
As minister he focused on attacking LGBTIQA+ people in Uganda. In 2012 he closed down a workshop that aimed to empower local LGBTIQA+ leaders, a move that was condemned by Amnesty International.
In 2009 the government introduced legislation to bring in the death penalty for gay people, and in 2014 a revised bill without the death penalty was quashed by the country’s High Court. While the law failed to pass, people found to have participated in same-sex activity still face life imprisonment in Uganda.
Also in 2014 Lokodo oversaw the introduction of a law that banned women from dressing provocatively. Lokodo said women were responsible for ensuring their appearance did not maliciously excite other people into sex. Once again the bill failed to become law.
He was memorably interviewed by Stephen Fry for his 2014 documentary series Stephen Fry: Out There which looked at the criminalisation of homosexuality. In 2016 Fry revealed that in the hours after his confronting interview with Lokodo he had tried to take his own life.
During the interview Lokodo said he believed that men trying to rape women was natural, but two men having sex was not. He threatened to have Fry arrested during the interview and being challenged on his views.
In 2016 Lokodo was widely ridiculed when he announced he’d secured a machine that stop any pornography from entering Uganda via the internet. Two years later he pushed to have a music festival cancelled after he claimed participants would be taking part in sex, bestiality and devil worshipping.
Lokodo stopped being a Minister after he lost his parliamentary seat in January 2021, he was however subsequently appointed to the country’s Human Rights Commission.
The country’s President Yoweri Museveni said Lokodo “served the nation gallantly” and would be missed.
His “firmness against immorality & his desire to enforce culture exceedingly stood out”, Museveni said in a tribute posted on Twitter.
OIP Staff
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