Anti-gay Ugandan parliament leader blames lawmaker’s defeat on his anti-gay stance

Speaker repeatedly blames Ugandan regime’s failures on opponents of anti-gay law.

Anita Among, the Speaker of the Uganda Parliament, has blamed the defeat of her homophobic ally Asuman Basalirwa on his leading role in the enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) of 2023.

Among was speaking on Feb. 28 during an Iftar dinner that parliament hosts every year during the Islamic holy month of Ramadhan.

Among has repeatedly blamed almost all failures of the Ugandan executive, parliament and her political allies on the enactment of the AHA, without providing evidence.

Asuman Basalirwa, who lost his bid to retain the Bugiri Municipality seat in parliament, was among the Muslims who attended and spoke at the Iftar dinner. Basalirwa was the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Muslim Caucus.

In her remarks, Among described Basalirwa as a political messiah who was embattled in his constituency because of his anti-homosexuality stance. She promised him a job to compensate for his loss.

“When you hear that the homosexuality bill, no wonder my friend has been sacrificed. He’s the one who brought the law on homosexuality. And when he brought the law on homosexuality, he was fought until he lost. But in our father’s room, there are so many rooms. You will always have somewhere. And as your friends, we will never let you move alone. We’ll move with you wherever. Me and the deputy speaker will ensure that you have a place to be,” Among said.

Praise for Among

In his remarks, Basalirwa, an opposition politician and formerly a fierce critic of the ruling party’s excesses, poured praise on the house speaker for clearing the way for passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act and the Islamic Banking Act as well as for supporting Muslims’ religious pilgrimages to Mecca.

“I also want to thank you for taking the lead role in the Anti-Homosexuality Law. That law, I am very sure, if it was not because of your strength, the support you gave me as the mover of the Anti-Homosexuality Law, and for us as Muslims, because [opposition to the AHA] was intended to destroy the institution of the family, and for us family is worship,” Basalirwa stated.

Rebuttal to Among’s claim

Frank Mugisha, a human rights advocate and the head of the LGBTQ rights group Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) disputed Among’s claim that Basalirwa lost his seat because of his support for the AHA 2023.

Mugisha said the public is far more concerned with tangible issues than what he described as manufactured fear-mongering. The “anti-gay card” is a tired tactic that no longer works, he said.

Mugisha asserts that Ugandans are moving past the politics of hate.

“The irony of using ‘family values’ and ‘anti-imperialism’ to justify exclusion, only to be rejected by the voters, is a powerful narrative. Scapegoating the LGBTQ+ community is officially an outdated political currency; Hon. Basalirwa, the mover of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, clearly lacked the support of Ugandans—and that is why he lost so badly at the polls”, Mugisha wrote on X.

Rainbow Hopes Foundation under the X handle @Rainbow_Hopes_F hit back at Basalirwa’s scapegoating of LGBTQ people.

“The inhumane laws you pass and the positions you take affect real families. Families like your own”, the group stated.

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Efforts to unseat Among

Basalirwa also took aim at legislators who have announced their bids to unseat Among from the position of speaker, accusing them without evidence of being sponsored by “imperialists’” a term regularly used by President Yoweri Museveni to refer to Europe- and America-based institutions and leaders.

“No wonder, there are people who seek to come to your office, who have resorted to blackmailing, sectarianism, partly because of being sponsored by imperialists who sanctioned you, because we can no longer travel to their countries.”

Among described her challengers as “noise makers”, saying that no amount of noise will distract her from retaining her position of Speaker.

“I just want to make a point to the ones making noise out there that leadership comes from God, and if God says in the twelfth Parliament Anita and Tayebwa are the leaders, it will be and it is going to be. No noise will stop us from being the leaders. We shall be the leaders of the next Parliament,” she stated.

The race for the Speakership of Uganda’s 12^th Parliament has taken shape, with at least five lawmakers so far expressing interest in the top legislative position. The list is expected to grow in advance of the elections scheduled for May.

Among those expected to run, in addition to Among, are:

• State Minister for Housing Persis Namuganza, a member of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM);
• Norbert Mao, Democratic Party President General and Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs;
• Lydia Wanyoto, a member of the party’s Central Executive Committee and
• Yorke Odria Alioni, the member of parliament for Aringa South County and an NRM member.

Erasing 76 Crimes has learned from reliable sources that the ruling party has resolved to maintain the status quo in parliament, which boosts Among’s chances of retaining the position of speaker of an NRM-dominated house.