The President of Uganda has vetoed a bill passed by Parliament that would have stiffened penalties for homosexual acts and advocacy. Following a meeting on 20 April 2023 with MPs from his ruling National Resistance Movement party at the presidential palace, a government spokesman said President Yoweri Museveni would not sign the bill.
The so-called anti-gay bill was passed by a vote of 387 to 2 in parliament on 21 March 2023. Under Ugandan law an act passed by parliament must be signed within thirty days of its passage. If not, it becomes void.
Presidential spokesman Sandor Walusimbi tweeted after the meeting that:
“H.E @KagutaMuseveni this afternoon met with the @NRMOnline caucus members of parliament to debate the anti- Homosexuality bill that was passed by parliament.
“The President told the members that he had no objections to the punishments but on the issue of rehabilitation of the persons who have in the past been engaged in homosexuality but would like to live normal lives again.
“It was agreed that the bill goes back to parliament for the issues of rehabilitation to be looked at before he can sign it into law.”
On 2 April 2023 President Museveni called on African nations to lead in rejecting the promotion of homosexuality at a two-day meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family Values and Sovereignty held in Entebbe. “Africa should provide the lead to save the world from this degeneration and decadence which is really very dangerous for humanity. If people of opposite sex stop appreciating one another then how will the human race be propagated?” he said.
The president has been under pressure from Western governments and NGOs to veto the bill, with the United States threatening to reconsider its development assistance, while a UN agency called it “an egregious violation of human rights.”
On March 25 a spokesman for Lambeth Palace told the Telegraph the Archbishop of Cantervury would be writing to President Museveni to express his concern over the vote. On Twitter the Archbishop of Wales, the Most Rev Andrew John wrote: “I intend to write to Archbishop Kaziimba about this matter. It is profoundly disturbing and utterly UnChristlike.”
