President Museveni will on Thursday this week convene the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) Party’s Parliamentary Caucus.
According to State House, the caucus meeting will discuss among other things, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023.
Museveni, who is also the chairman of NRM, recently called on African nations to lead in rejecting the promotion of homosexuality, describing the vice as a big threat and danger to the procreation of the human race.
“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 asked.
The President who praised the Ugandan Parliament for passing the bill vowed never to allow the promotion and publicization of homosexuality in Uganda, stressing that it will never be tolerated.
Last month, Parliament unanimously passed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2023 which will see anyone engaging in acts of homosexuality facing 20 years in jail.
The Bill if assented to by the President also proposes a death penalty for anyone engaging in aggravated homosexuality.
The Bill that was passed by Parliament on March 21, 2023, now awaits Presidential assent into law.
The Private Member’s Bill was introduced by Bugiri Municipality Member of Parliament, Hon. Asuman Basalirwa 09 March 2023.
The provisions embedded in the Bill seek to protect the traditional family by prohibiting any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex and the promotion of such acts.
The Bill also seeks to address the gaps in other laws in Uganda including the Penal Code Act, Cap 120, as well as supplement provisions of the Constitution by criminalizing same-sex acts.
While considering the Bill, legislators agreed to a penalty of shs1 billion imposed on a legal entity convicted of promoting homosexuality.
The Bill proposes a life sentence in prison for an individual convicted of committing the offence of homosexuality, whereas an attempt to perform the act would attract a seven-year prison term.
The Bill provides for a three-year imprisonment for a child convicted of the act of homosexuality which is in line with section 94(1) (g) of the Children Act, Cap 120.