President Yoweri Museveni has denied that the decision to scrap Uganda's draconian anti-gay laws had anything to do with the U.S.-Africa Summit taking place this week
President Yoweri Museveni has denied that the recent court decision to scrap Uganda's draconian anti-gay law had anything to do with the U.S.-Africa Summit taking place this week, reports the Mail & Guardian.
In the lead-up to this week's U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, human rights groups had urged President Obama to discuss anti-gay discrimination in Uganda and other African countries. Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act last February, which penalizes same-sex relations with life imprisonment.
Museveni has said that the decision by Uganda's constitutional court to overturn the country's anti-gay legislation last Friday had “nothing to do” with the summit or with the sanctions placed on the country by the U.S.
However, saying he intends to take the issue to the country's Supreme Court, Christian evangelical pastor Martin Ssempa, who has campaigned to “kick sodomy out of Uganda”, described the court's decision as a “judicial abortion” designed to polish Uganda's reputation before the summit.
Under earlier legislation which is expected to return following the court's decision, homosexuality in Uganda remains illegal and punishable by jail sentences.