Ugandan LGBTIQA+ rights activist Steven Kabuye says he fears for his life as he recovers in hospital from a violent attack that saw his arm slashed and a knife impaled into his stomach.

Kabuye has spoken to the media from his hospital bed where he is being treated for the severe injuries.

The well-known activist was attacked by two assailants who were travelling on a motorbike. At first, they attempted to stab the activist in the neck, when he defended himself, it resulted in a cut to his arm. As he attempted to run away the two people chased him down and stabbed him in the stomach.

The climate of intolerance towards LGBTIQA+ people is being exacerbated by “politicians who are using the LGBTQ+ community as a scapegoat to move people away from what is really happening in the country,” Kabuye said.

The activist believes the two men were attempting to murder him, and even now he’s in hospital he still fears he will be attacked again.

Steven Kabuye heads local organisation Colored Voice Truth to LGBTQ. Last year he went into exile in Kenya after new laws against LGBTIQA+ people were introduced in his home country.

Homosexuality has been illegal in Uganda for a long time with colonial era laws still enforced. Last year politicians approved the use of the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”, and 20-year prison sentences for those who “promote homosexuality”.

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