Anger against homosexuality and rumours of its instances in Ugandan schools continues to be rife with leaders and Citizens across the political spectrum calling upon authorities to step up in the fight against the quirk sexual practice.
Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa – who has become Uganda’s newly-found champion against homosexuality, has directed the Parliamentary Committee on Education to investigate allegations of homosexuality in schools a few days after a rumour emerged on social media that the practice is prevalent in King’s College Budo – one of the elite schools in the country.
A visibly saddened Thomas Tayebwa told Parliament on Tuesday, 24th January,2023 that he is “getting painful, gruelling stories” regarding homosexuality in schools and suggested that Parliament could consider injecting funds in the Country’s security apparatus to bolster intelligence over the practice.
“I talked to one student personally. He told me in one of the schools you cannot move in the compound at night. You fear being grabbed and sodomised. ” The Deputy Speaker said.
“It seems our schools have been penetrated completely. Not only schools but it seems recruitment centres are very open. It is extremely painful.” He added.
In response to Tayebwa’s outcry, the immediate former Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga said under her tenure the August house had raised concerns and alarm over the bug of homosexuality and “even enacted a law.”
The Former Speaker, now 1st Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of East African Community Affairs was referencing the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2014 which was invalidated by Court on grounds that it was passed without the required quorum.
The Constitutional Court in a petition filed by some 10 activists led by Makerere Law Professor, Joe Oloka Onyango had discarded its constitutional duty under Article 126 (2) (e) to render Justice without undue regard to technicalities thereby not considering the substantive issues in the case effectively casting the Country into a lacuna in regards to the question of gay sex.
Uganda’s Constitution prohibits marriage between people of the same sex but is silent on same sex intercourse outside marriage.
Legal Analysis against homosexuality is therefore left to rely on an ambiguous provision in the Penal Code Act that criminalizes “carnal knowledge against the order of nature.”
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“I am sure you are aware how its annulment (of the law) was sponsored and facilitated.” The Former Speaker told Tayebwa in a tweet on Wednesday, 25th January, 2023.
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Hon. Rebecca Kadaga’s remarks insinuate the Judiciary and the activism leading up to the invalidation of the Anti-Homosexuality law were compromised highlighting how corruption is eating at the core of our social and moral fibre.
It should be noted however that the law was indeed passed without quorum and the Constitutional Court heard that Speaker Rebecca Kadaga who presided over the vote had ignored counsel from then Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi and Hon. Betty Aol that there was no quorum.
For a law to be valid it must be passed with the presence of at least one third of voting Members of Parliament. (quorum).
Benjamin Ahikiiriza is a Legal Writer And Digital Communications & Marketing Specialist majoring in Lawyers, Law Firms And the larger Legal Sector.
Benjamin currently Works as the Director of Content and Business Development At LegalReports.