EFF leader Julius Malema says the bill that was passed by the Uganda Parliament that promotes the imposing of harsher sentences for LGBQI+ community is not just human right violation but also threat to political freedom.
Malema led a march to the Ugandan High Commission calling on the country’s President Yoweri Museveni to not sign the bill into law.
Last month, Ugandan Parliament passed legislation that is set to impose harsher penalties and criminalise anyone identifying as LGBTQ. Under the bill, members of the queer community may face death and life in prison if found to have committed an offense.
The bill is currently on Museveni’s desk and waiting to be signed and passed into law.
“The parliamentarians who passed that bill, shame on them. But they are going to be killed themselves. One day with this law Museveni can wake up and say Bobi Wine is gay. Not because he’s gay but because he is disagreeing with him politically.
“He just says he is gay and according to the law he must be killed. He is going to use this law to kill his political opponents, he must be stopped and he must be stopped now,” said Malema.
A human rights activist from Uganda who only identifies as Papa D said the bill will have a devastating impact on the queer community.
“I understand now that being black and queer is a death sentence because you are being haunted for being black and at the same time you are being haunted for being queer. What is that life to live?
“To President Ramaphosa if you are watching please don’t be silent. We don’t need silence right now. Your being silent means you don’t care about your people either way because it will have a ripple effect.
“It will impact African nations, not only Uganda. Kenyans are crying over the same thing and even Ugandans that want to leave Uganda can’t leave right now because they can’t go to Kenya because it is in the same crisis.”
The Uganda High Commission accepted the Memorandum of demands.
