Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, chairing the House
At the height of the debate over the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023 that saw the Parliament of Uganda legislate for hash punishments for same-sex offenders, Speaker Anita Among said she was contented with not being allowed to travel to countries where such sexual orientation is a right.
We really recognize the voices of human rights experts but the laws and aspirations of the people of Uganda will always remain supreme. This House will not shy away from legislation that protects the morals and culture of this country. That is what the majority have done today in the House, She said after the passing of the Bill in March 2023.
Later on, when the Deputy Attorney General, Jackson Kafuuzi advised President Yoweri Museveni not to sign the Bill, the Speaker lashed at those who fear being denied visas to travel abroad.
So long as you cannot deny me a visa to travel to Bukedea (District, where she is a woman MP) and Buyende (her husband’s area), I don’t need your visa, Among said then.
Raising criticism from the Western world and some international organisations, the law provides for a punishment of death sentence for a person found guilty of recruiting children into homosexuality; 20 years jail term for people found guilty of being involved in homosexuality acts; and 10 years and 14 years imprisonment for attempted homosexuality and aggravated homosexuality respectively.
Among banned
Now, almost a year after the passing of the law, Speaker Among has revealed that she is the first head of a legislative arm of government in Africa to be banned for presiding over the enactment of such a law.
While opening the 86th Executive Committee Meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) for the African region in Entebbe, near Kampala on Monday.
She said that she has been blacklisted by the western countries because of her fight against homosexuality. She, however, asked the African leaders to ensure that the resolutions taken during the CPA meetings reaffirm Uganda’s commitment to the values and aspirations of the continent.
As Uganda, we believe in family, we have values that we believe in, we have traditions that we believe in. As I speak now, I am one of the first Speakers who have been banned in the Western world because I don’t believe in homosexuality, and I passed a law to that effect, but I have reminded the Western world that I don’t need a visa to be in Uganda but I can move to any country in Africa. Will you reject me in Namibia? We can have a CPA in Africa, who says we can’t?, added Among.
Among, was supposed to take part in the Commonwealth Speakers Summit that has just ended in London, UK, but it is not clear whether she did not travel because the event coincided with the CPA meeting in Kampala or if she was denied UK visa.
The Government of Uganda continues to engage in talks with the World Bank after the bank announced last year it would not fund new requests for loans from Uganda due to the passing of the Anti-Homosexuality Act. Similarly, the United States removed Uganda from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which provides duty-free treatment for goods in designated sub-Saharan African countries.
About CPA meeting
Meanwhile , the Speaker lashed out at the United Kingdom over mismanagement of funds contributed by member states in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), wondering why only charities in the UK are funded through the Association, yet Africa contributes 63 percent to the overall budget of the Association.
Much as I heard the chairperson say that Uganda is willing to host the CPA headquarters, we can only be willing if there is respect for our African countries. All African countries should be treated equally. Irrespective of whether you are white or black like me. We should be treated fairly and equally; we can’t be seen bowing down to the Western world. Africans are contributing to a tune of 63 per cent and unfortunately, this 63 per cent goes to charitable organisations that are in the UK and nothing comes to Africa and we are still saying we are the same, said Among.
The Speaker defended her stance, arguing that Africa has more charitable causes due to colonialism, imperialism, unfair trade and climate change disasters than the UK, hence urging Commonwealth countries on the continent to desist from contributing resources in the form of subscription fees to a charity organisation in the UK, describing such actions as unfair and wrong.
This meeting should decide that enough is enough. Yes, we need to remain a member of CPA, but CPA is not a charity but an international parliamentary organisation. If the UK does not want to enact a law changing the status of the CPA from a charity to an international parliamentary organisation, and it appears it has refused, Africa should be ready to work with other regions of the commonwealth to rescue the CPA from the control of the UK Government. I believe this meeting will discuss this matter exhaustively and come up with a way forward, she added.
Lukas Sinimbo, Vice Chairperson CPA noted that the latest Executive Meeting was taking place at a time when the international arena is facing extensive challenges such as insecurity, climate change, youth unemployment, higher cost of living and lack of trust in the political institutions, while at continental level, Africa is still grappling with the issue of change of the legal status of CPA.
As we recall, the 66th CPA held in Accra, Ghana, adopted a three-prompt approach to achieve the desired goal of the International Parliamentary Organisation that the Headquarter Secretariat should proceed and assess the relevant legal and financial advice to enable CPS to create a non-charitable organisation. That the Secretariat should engage with the United Kingdom to persuade them to legislate and recognise CPA as an international parliamentary organisation, and the headquarters secretariat should provide verifiable data benchmark-related methodology and timeline to assess CPA branches as future host of CPA headquarters should the CPA choose to relocate outside the United Kingdom, said Sinimbo, a Namibian legislator.
Sinimbo added that the benchmarks were circulated to all the branches from 30th October 2023 and nations were given up to 31st March 2024 to formally apply to host the CPA and expressed gratitude towards Uganda’s interest at hosting the Africa headquarters.
The hope of the African region was that by the end of the Accra Conference, the important decision about the status of CPA as a long charity international organisation about the status of CPA as a long charity international organisation should have been taken, but that didn’t happen. However, a critical turn of events happened, and a culmination of events and it is of utmost importance that Africa remains united and unrelatedly behind our common goals in order to bring this matter to the desired conclusion. And it is for this reason that I would go further to ask colleagues, those of us in the African region to ensure that in November in Sydney, all of us will be represented to ensure that the final decision is taken, Sinimbo stated.
Speaker Among called on the Executive Committee to ensure that Africa uses its numerical advantage to end the historic colonial distortions that keep the continent divided, exploited, and marginalised, which goals she said can be attained if the continent capitalised on its numerical strength at the CPA. Africa has 19 out of 56 member states of the Commonwealth, and it also has membership in the Caribbean, Oceania, and Asia.
However, I think we have not yet leveraged our numerical strength to advance and champion our strategic interests. The Executive Committee of the CPA Africa Region has a crucial role to play in the liberation of Africa. It has the duty to plan for the elimination of major hurdles and challenges afflicting the peoples of Africa using the instrument of African Parliaments and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, she suggested.
Kabula County MP, Enos Asiimwe noted that Africa’s role in the Commonwealth keeps evolving, and the brand has, over the years, played a prominent role in the work of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association; that is why whenever there is a need, Uganda is ready to step in to offer support to the Association in any way.
We put a request as Uganda through our branch to host the CPA headquarters should the Association finalise the decision to relocate the CPA headquarters from the United Kingdom to the African region. As much as the decision to relocate the CPA headquarters is ongoing, as a branch, we are ready to support CPA in any arrangement that this Association will settle for, said Asiimwe.
The CPA is an organisation of the international community of Commonwealth Parliaments and Legislatures that works to support good governance, democracy, and human rights.
CPA Africa Region is a subset of CPA, which was founded with a mission to promote and protect the interests and perspectives of CPA Africa Regional Parliaments and countries in the Commonwealth and beyond and to promote gender equality, emancipation of women, and respect for human rights, freedoms, democracy and good governance.
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