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Uganda signs anti-LGBTQ bill into law
The new law contains a provision that would punish “aggravated homosexuality” with the death penalty. The legislation has been met with broad international condemnation.
gandan President Yoweri Museveni signed new anti-LGBTQ legislation on Monday.
Museveni “has assented to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023. It now becomes the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023,” the Ugandan presidency said on Twitter.
Uganda’s ‘Anti-Homosexuality Act’
Uganda’s head of state had called on lawmakers to amend the bill, and a new draft of the legislation was presented earlier this month.
The amended version clarifies that merely identifying as gay would not be cause for imprisonment.
Museveni had also advised lawmakers to remove a provision that made “aggravated homosexuality” subject to capital punishment, but this suggestion was rejected by Uganda’s parliament. The provision pertains to repeat offenders and those found to have had sex while HIV-positive.
Uganda has not carried out capital punishment in many years.
Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda under a law that dates back to the British colonial period.
Uganda enacts harsh anti-gay law with death penalty | Watch (msn.com)
The new law introduces a 20-year sentence for “promoting” homosexuality.
“With a lot of humility, I thank my colleagues the Members of Parliament for withstanding all the pressure from bullies and doomsday conspiracy theorists in the interest of our country,” parliament speaker Anita Among said.
However, Ugandan LGBT rights activist Clare Byarugaba said it was “a very dark and sad day for Uganda.
“We shall continue to fight this atrocious legislation through the judiciary until human rights for all are upheld,” she said.
“We shall win, because as Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us, the moral arc of the universe always bends towards justice.”
Law draws international condemnation
The new law has been widely condemned by rights groups and Western countries.
US President Joe Biden slammed the new legislation, branding it a “tragic violation of universal human rights.” He threatened to cut US aid and investment in Uganda, calling for the law’s immediate repeal.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the UN’s HIV/AIDS program and the US AIDS relief program all expressed concern over the harmful impact of the newly signed law.
Amnesty International said that the law “flagrantly violates the human rights of LGBTI people in Uganda, including the right to a private life, protection against discrimination and the right to equal protection before the law.”
The British Foreign Office said it was “appalled” by the new law, while Canada’s foreign minister called it “abhorrent, cruel and unjust.”
International partnerships under threat
The new law has also jeopardized Uganda’s international standing.
“This law is contrary to international human rights law and to Uganda’s obligations under the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, including commitments on dignity and non-discrimination, and the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment,” EU foreign policy chief Josip Borrell said in a statement.
“The Ugandan government has an obligation to protect all of its citizens and uphold their basic rights. Failure to do so will undermine relationships with international partners.”
When Museveni signed a less restrictive anti-LGBTQ law in 2014, Western governments suspended some aid, reduced security cooperation with Uganda and imposed stronger visa restrictions on its citizens.
Source: zc, sdi/kb (Reuters, AFP, AP)
Ghana Tourism Authority is leading Ghana’s participation at ITB Berlin, which opened in Berlin with a vibrant national pavilion highlighting Ghana’s rich cultural heritage, tourism destinations and investment opportunities.
March 5 has been designated as Ghana Day, a special platform to promote Ghana’s languages, cuisine, Kente, festivals and business prospects to the global tourism community. The stand has already drawn strong interest with traditional arts and crafts displays, immersive multimedia presentations and popular Ghanaian snacks.
Seven private-sector players are exhibiting alongside government officials as part of efforts to deepen trade partnerships, expand market access, and attract investment across the hospitality, heritage tourism, ecotourism, and creative arts sectors.
Ahead of the official opening, the Ghana delegation also engaged young Ghanaian investors in Germany in collaboration with V Afrika-Verein and the Ghana Embassy, strengthening diaspora investment linkages and highlighting opportunities within the tourism value chain.
Ghana’s coordinated presence at ITB Berlin 2026 reinforces its strategy to position the country as the Gateway to Africa and a competitive destination for leisure travel and global investment.
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
