Uganda gays feel threatened by bill

Linda Muriuki — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:23:47 +0000

Being gay or lesbian in Uganda is illegal and those who are risk being locked away for up to 14 years. Now, a new parliamentary bill wants gay people to face even stiffer penalties and is proposing life imprisonment and even death sentences in some cases.

Pepe Julia Onziema and her partner, who asked that her identity be hidden, spend most of their time together — indoors. They are a lesbian couple living in Uganda where homosexuality is against the law. Pepe is also a gay rights activist in Kampala and is openly vocal about her sexuality and because of that she is often victim to discrimination and harassment.

“Myself I am at risk,” Onziema told Reuters Africa Journal “I can’t move on the streets as I used to, I can’t go to a shop … I have been picked off the streets, detained for sometime, ridiculed, intimidated, some money taken away from my wallet…”

David Bahati, an MP for Uganda’s ruling party, proposed the bill. “Homosexuality has become a huge issue in this country we know that it is not our values, it” not Ugandan, it’s a threat to our traditional family and the children of Uganda…”

The bill has the support of many Ugandans. Anti gay protests have been used to support the bill. The reaction from the west and human rights activists has been the opposite. Donors — who fund about a third of Uganda’s budget, have been piling on the pressure to get leaders to shelve the bill.

Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda, said recently: “When I was at the Commonwealth conference, the Prime Minister of Canada came to see me and what was he talking about? Gays, Prime Minister Gordon Brown came to see me and what was he talking about? Gays, when I go to New York when I was coming back, Assistant Secretary Carson rang me, what was he ringing to talk about? Somalia and gays.”

The bill also targets straight Ugandans who will face up to 7 years in prison for withholding information about homosexuals.

According to the International Lesbian and Gay Association, the African continent is still largely against homosexuality. It is illegal in 36 countries.

South Africa is seen as the most tolerant. In 2006, it became the first African country to legalize gay civil unions. The constitution protects gays from discrimination and same-sex couples are even allowed to adopt children.

In Malawi, one gay couple has grabbed international attention lately. Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza were arrested after they married in a traditional ceremony in December last year. Homosexuality is banned here and carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

Uganda’s anti-gay bill goes into its second reading in February. Lawmakers may soften the punishment but they maintain that homosexuality is a crime. Lesbians and gays across the continent now face a fight to practice their sexuality freely.

The struggle against drought in northern Uganda

Linda Muriuki — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:20:18 +0000

The people of Karamoja in north-eastern Uganda have made ritual sacrifices for as long as anyone can remember, slaughtering their precious animals to ask for rain.But even this age-old belief hasn’t been able to protect the Karamajong from a drought that has now gone on for 4 years. They still sacrifice because they have nowhere else to turn.”I don’t know why the rains have disappeared. We believe it is God who has stopped the rain. God is punishing us for our sins, so we must unite and pray that God will listen to us,” clan elder Laurien Lokwareng told Reuters Africa Journal.Environmentalists blame the situation here on climate change. Forest cover is decreasing around the world and populations are growing. High carbon emissions from industries and big cities are contributing to global warming.Today, unusual weather has become commonplace — storms, longer drier spells and fluctuating temperatures. Africa only contributes 4 percent of global carbon emissions; the United States and China together contribute almost 40 percent. But regardless of emissions, the effects are felt most by poor communities because their resources were already stretched before the weather started changing.The U.N. World Food Program provides food aid to at least 970,000 of Karamoja’s 1.1 million people.Karamoja is mostly populated by pastoralist communities who keep livestock and migrate in search of pasture. Because of the drought, their animals have to move further and further to find food, and many are dying of hunger. The migrating herds also catch and spread new diseases as they move into different areas.In places like Karamoja — already plagued by violence due to armed cattle raids between ethnic groups — less water is likely to make insecurity worse. Over the years, residents here have been forced to diversify into farming. But the crops are failing and there is widespread hunger. A recent report by British charity OXFAM predicted hunger is likely to deliver “climate change’s most savage impact on humanity in the near future”.Experts warn Uganda will lose its entire forest cover in the next 50 years if thegovernment does not stop the rapid deforestation. The Karamajong are now being encouraged to plant trees and receive seedlings from charities. But the problems affecting the Karamoja are too big for them to solve on their own.Without the commitment of the world’s biggest economies and industries to take drastic measures to reverse the effects of climate change, traditional communities like these may cease to exist, and future generations will inherit a world that was destroyed by those who came before them.