Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has publicly signed a bill that would increase penalties on crimes purportedly committed by gay people in Uganda. Telling CNN's Zain Verjee in Entebbe, Museveni strongly believed that the law will set to remove remnants of Western views out of its people in the region.
"We have been disappointed for a long time by the conduct of the West, the way you conduct yourselves there. Our disappointment is now exacerbated because we are sorry to see that you live the way you live, but we keep quiet about it. Now you say 'you must also live like us' -- that's where we say no," Museveni said.
CNN said homosexual acts in Uganda have been deemed illegal by law, and the bill, which was introduced originally in 2009, included a death penalty clause for gay individuals who committed some homosexual acts. The news agency said that Museveni has been undecided about the passing of the bill as repercussions could include a withdrawal of financial aid from developing countries like Britan and other nations in the Euro Zone.
Ugandan parliament had passed the bill in December last year, which included amended provisions, of which one includes impose a life sentence for individuals convicted of aggravated homosexuality. Amnesty International defined aggravated homosexuality as acts that include repeated sexual acts, sex with underage children and of one HIV-infected person engaging in sex with another partner. Additional provisions were extra prison sentence terms to anyone guilty of providing counsel to gays and lesbians, which would technically make all interest groups in Uganda operating illegally, said CNN.
When commenting about US President Barack Obama's suggestion that the bill could affect relations between the two countries, Museveni stated, "Worried? Not at all. If the West doesn't want to work with us because of homosexuals, then we have enough space here to live by ourselves and do business with other people. We see how you do things, the families, how they're organized. All the things, we see them, we keep quiet," he said. "It's not our country, maybe you like it. So there's now an attempt at social imperialism -- to impose social values of one group on our society."
