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Anti-LGBTQ law: Uganda accuses West of blackmail

Anti-LGBTQ law: Uganda accuses West of blackmail

UGANDA condemned the Western response to the East African country's new anti-LGBTQ law, considered one of the harshest in the world, and said sanctions threats from donors amounted to "blackmail". The law signed by President Yoweri Museveni carries the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality", an offence that includes transmitting HIV through gay sex. Its enactment, announced on Monday, drew immediate rebukes from Western governments and puts in jeopardy some of the billions of dollars in foreign aid the country receives each year. U.S. President Joe Biden threatened aid cuts and other sanctions, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the government would consider visa…
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Ugandan soldiers die in Somali attack

Ugandan soldiers die in Somali attack

UGANDA'S President Yoweri Museveni said late there had been casualties during an attack by Somalia's Islamist group al Shabaab on a military base manned by Ugandan peacekeepers in the Horn of African country. Museveni did not say how many soldiers were killed or wounded but it was the first official admission of losses in the attack among the Ugandan troops who are serving in the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS). "Condolences to the country and the families of those who died," Museveni said in a statement, adding the country's military had set up a panel to investigate what…
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LGBTQ Ugandans live in fear as new law looms

LGBTQ Ugandans live in fear as new law looms

AT a shelter for lesbian women in Uganda's capital Kampala, gone are the days when the residents, having fled abuse and stigma at home, could breathe easy and be themselves. That came to an end a month ago when parliament passed some of the world's strictest anti-LGBTQ legislation, which would criminalise the "promotion" of homosexuality and impose the death penalty for certain crimes involving gay sex. President Yoweri Museveni said on Thursday that he supports the legislation but has requested some modifications from parliament, including provisions to "rehabilitate" gay people before he signs it. Staff at the shelter, a nondescript building in…
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Uganda’s president sends anti-LGBTQ bill back to parliament to make it even tougher

Uganda’s president sends anti-LGBTQ bill back to parliament to make it even tougher

UGANDAN President Yoweri Museveni supports a bill containing some of the world's harshest anti-LGBTQ legislation but sent it back to parliament to make it even tougher, the ruling party's chief whip said. A group of lawmakers from Museveni's ruling National Resistance Movement discussed the bill with the president and agreed in principle to sign the bill into law, chief whip Denis Hamson Obua said. "Before that is done we also agree that the bill will be returned in order to facilitate the reinforcement and the strengthening of some provisions in line with our best practices," he told a news conference…
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Corporate giants say anti-LGBT law would hurt Uganda’s economy

Corporate giants say anti-LGBT law would hurt Uganda’s economy

A coalition of international companies, including Google and Microsoft, denounced anti-LGBTQ legislation passed by Uganda's parliament last week, warning it would damage the East African country's economy. The Open for Business coalition said the legislation, which criminalises identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, would curb investment flows and deter tourists. The bill imposes the death penalty for those who commit so-called aggravated homosexuality, defined as same-sex relations with people under the age of 18 or when the perpetrator is HIV positive, among other categories. It awaits President Yoweri Museveni's signature. The White House said last week the bill was concerning and…
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Museveni’s son wants to be president

Museveni’s son wants to be president

THE son of Uganda's ageing leader, Yoweri Museveni, has said he intends to stand for the presidency in 2026, the first time the outspoken general has given a timeline for replacing his father, who has ruled the east African country for 37 years. Uganda's opposition has long accused Museveni of seeking to impose a monarchy on Uganda and claimed he was grooming his son Muhoozi Kainerugaba to take over from him. Museveni has denied such accusations. Currently, a special presidential advisor for special operations, the 48-year-old general is known for firing off controversial tweets that have earned him reprimands from…
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Uganda move to close UN rights office angers opposition

Uganda move to close UN rights office angers opposition

A move by Uganda's government to close the United Nations' local human rights office has drawn strong criticism from opposition leaders and activists, who say it highlights the country's worsening record on civil liberties. The government told the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) last week that it would not renew the mandate of its office in the east African country, effectively expelling the rights monitors. The office was set up in 2006 and has highlighted widespread rights violations including torture, illegal detentions and failure by the state to prosecute offenders. The government said in a letter to OHCHR this month…
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EBOLA: Uganda introduces lockdown measures to halt spread

EBOLA: Uganda introduces lockdown measures to halt spread

UGANDA President Yoweri Museveni said the government was implementing an overnight curfew, closing places of worship and entertainment, and restricting movement into and out of two districts affected by Ebola for 21 days. The measures aimed at curbing the spread of the disease will be introduced immediately in Mubende and Kassanda districts in central Uganda, the epicentre of the epidemic, he said in a televised national address. "These are temporary measures to control the spread of Ebola. We should all cooperate with authorities so we bring this outbreak to an end in the shortest possible time," Museveni said. Museveni said…
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Ugandan president signs law critics say will stifle free speech

Ugandan president signs law critics say will stifle free speech

UGANDAN President Yoweri Museveni signed into law a communications legislation to curb hate speech, his office said on Thursday, but critics warn it could squash free speech and cripple electronic commerce. The "Computer Misuse Amendment Act" was introduced by a ruling party legislator and then passed by parliament last month amid criticism by rights activists and opposition politicians. The law proscribes sending or sharing of information that promotes hate speech, is false or malicious and was unsolicited. It also bans sending information through a computer that could "ridicule, degrade or demean another person." The law "poses a great danger to…
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EXCLUSIVE: Western companies are blind to Ugandan investments – President Museveni

EXCLUSIVE: Western companies are blind to Ugandan investments – President Museveni

ELIAS BIRYABAREMA and KARIN STROHECKER CHINESE private investment in Uganda is growing while Westerners are losing appetite to put money to work in the country, President Yoweri Museveni told Reuters, pledging to step up efforts to tackle corruption that has made slow progress. Museveni, in power since 1986 and one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, said Uganda was working to sign a number of deals with Chinese private sector lenders in sectors such as agro- and fertilizer-processing, minerals processing and textiles. "The Western companies have lost their spectacles; they no longer have the eyes to see opportunities. But the Chinese see…
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