Uganda: Voters reject anti-LGBTQI+ lawmakers
Three prominent homophobes lost their bids for reelection to Uganda’s parliament
Voters in Uganda rejected reelection bids of three prominent MPs who had played key roles in introducing harsh anti-LGBT laws in national elections that took place in January amid widespread unrest and allegations of vote rigging.
Among the members of parliament who were rejected by the electorate are renowned anti-LGBTQI+ politicians like David Bahati, Asumani Basalirwa and Sarah Opendi.
David Bahati, who’s currently serving as Minister of State for Trade, lost the Ndorwa County West seat to Eliab Naturinda Mporera.
Bahati achieved international infamy when he introduced the 2013 Anti-Homosexuality Act — known popularly as the ‘kill the gays’ bill — to parliament.
“I am glad the parliament voted against evil,” he said when the bill was passed. His victory party was however cut short by a Constitutional Court ruling that nullified the law due to it being passed without quorum.
Bahati was serving as chief of the Scout Board of Uganda at the time and lost his slot as a member of the World Organisation of the Scout Movement over his extreme anti-gay rhetoric, including calling for ‘serial homosexual offenders’ to be hanged.
He remained a central figure in parliament’s anti-rights bloc, and he openly promoted the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023.
Sarah Opendi also will not be returning to parliament after she was defeated by Angella Akoth in the race to represent Tororo district.
In her submission in parliament on the AHA 2023, Opendi called for the ‘castration’ of LGBTQI+ persons, alleging that imprisonment would not stop them from practicing homosexuality.
She is Speaker Anita Among’s right-hand woman in the anti-rights movement that has adopted the strategy of branding all government critics as agents of homosexuality.
In 2024, Opendi was denied a visa to attend the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the UN in New York. The US Embassy in Uganda did not say why Opendi was not given the visa, but the lawmaker claimed that it was connected to her support for the anti-homosexuality legislation.
Asumani Basalirwa also lost his reelection bid to represent Bugiri municipality in Bugosa. He introduced the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023 as a private member’s bill, and it was seconded by his partner in crime, Sarah Opendi.
Besides his pivotal roles in passing the harsh law, Basalirwa made homophobic statements that left many of his admirers wondering what had become of Busoga’s rising political star.
At one point, he referred to homosexuality as a cancer eating up the world.
“We always talk about human rights but it is also true that there are human wrongs. Homosexuality is a human wrong that needs to be tackled through a piece of legislation,” Basalirwa stated upon the law passing.
Several other politicians who voted in favour of AHA did not make it back to parliament, but these three stand out because they have played a catalytic role in the passing of harsh anti-LGBTQI+ legislation in Uganda.
Despite these defeats, 81-year-old Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni was reelected to a seventh term, extending a his time in office to more than forty years. This comes amid reports of government intimidation and arrests of opposition figures in the lead-up to the election.
As a country conditions expert witness reporter I must clarify so that there is no confusion by anyone seeking to portray Uganda’s anti-Homosexuality climate as improving. It is not! . These 3 candidates did not lose the election because of their ongoing support and votes for the AHA 2023. Although they had key roles – that is absolutely NOT the reason they were not re-elected and although this article does not say that – we must be careful not to allow the implication that there may have been a backlash against them on that basis. So it needs to be clearly stated: One example is Bahati, who I have had numerous discussions with – and indeed he is a vehement homophobe. I believe he was ousted because he lost the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party primary to his challenger, Eliab Naturinda Mporeera. The party is still pro AHA 2023. After failing to secure the party flag, he ran as an independent candidate, which in Uganda’s dominant-party politics is usually politically fatal. In the general election, the official NRM candidate won handily, and Bahati’s independent bid received a fraction of the votes.
Reporters and analysts characterized his defeat as part of a broader rejection of incumbents and a signal that voters were seeking change and new representation, not because of any specific issue vote such as the anti-homosexuality bill. A lot of rejections came because of issues such as corruption and delivery failures. There is much more to be said about the analysis of losses. ALSo we cnanot forget thta opposition leaders do not believe Museveni won a free and clear election.
While it is good to hear that some of the bigots have left office, there are a number of unresolved issues -including the fact that these people continue to have influence, plus their peers are still there spreading the same hatreds and intolerances.
The whole issue of homophobia in Africa is a legacy of European colonial rule plus the current influence of the white Christian nationalists who are currently destroying the USA and seeking to spread their poison throughout the world. It seems breathtakingly naive of African politicians to implicitly claim that homosexuality is not African whereas homophobia is; African pre-colonial history teaches the exact opposite.
It is vital that Africa develops as an autonomous and independent collection of nations, but in order to do this not only the current politicians have to go but so do the entrenched hatreds of the past including homophobia.
Africa as the birthplace of humanity has a great legacy and a great potential future, if it can break out of its current shackles and work for genuine human rights and equality for all.