On Tuesday, March 21st, 2023, the Ugandan Parliament made world history by passing the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. This was the second time after the first attempt to enact the same law failed some years ago.
Ambassador Julius Peter Moto, a Carrier Diplomat and the senior international economist, has opined on a critical analysis of the bill that was passed by the legislators and now awaits President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to assent into law.
According to Ambassador Moto, the former Uganda’s Envoy to Pretoria in South Africa and later to London, there are two sides to every coin; hence, the recently passed LGBTQI bill is debatable for moral reasons and other reasons.
“I highly doubt if he [the president] will sign it into law. If it’s enacted, it will have serious consequences for Uganda, given that the country relies on some Western donors who support the LGBTQI under the pretext of human rights and diversity,” Amb. Moto said.
He adds that the passed bill, once enacted into law, will also affect the source market for most high-spending tourists, and they won’t visit Uganda tourist attractions nor fly on Uganda Airlines.
“Tourists arrivals will go down, and along with it, the revenue from hotel bookings and employment from the sector will decline over time. The tourism sector will be affected somewhat, as it was in 2013-2014 or thereabouts. It took another 2 or 3 years for the numbers to start climbing up again. The tourism sector is that sensitive to LGBQTI and general tranquillity in the country,” said the former Envoy.
In his submission from the economic perspective, Amb. Moto said Ugandan officials and public officers who travel outside to western countries for official or private work, including their children in western countries, may have problems applying for visas to Western Capitals.
Citing Rwanda as a country whose tourism sector is booming, Amb. Moto suggested heavy investment in the sector but noted that Rwanda is open to all, including foreign celebrities and visitors who are LGBTQIs, for example Richard Quest and others, who would never ever set foot in Uganda if the bill is passed into law.
As a way forward, the former envoy, Amb. Moto, urged Uganda to fight corruption, which he said is the reason locally generated revenues are mismanaged and hence continuous donor dependency is needed to finance huge percentages of the country’s budget.
“Follow the anti-corruption and other rules (in all laws) and develop our abundant natural resources for the benefit of all citizens,” Amb. Moto said.
In addition to his economic analysis, Ambassador Moto maintained that the passed bill promotes standard morals and cultures for all.
Recently, during his address to Parliament, President Yoweri Museveni described gay people as “deviants” and called for an investigation into homosexuality.
“The homosexuals are deviations from normal. Why? Is it by nature or nurture? We need to answer these questions,” the president said.
“We need a medical opinion on that. We shall discuss it thoroughly. Western countries should stop wasting the time of humanity by trying to impose their practices on other people,” Museveni said in an address boycotted by opposition legislators from the National Unity Platform Party.
“Europeans and other groups marry cousins and near relatives. Here, marrying within one’s clan is taboo. Should we impose sanctions on them for marrying relatives? This is not our job,” he added.
Under the proposed law, anyone who engages in same-sex activity or who identifies as LGBTQ could face up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
The bill comes as conspiracy theories accusing shadowy international forces of promoting homosexuality gain traction on social media in Uganda.
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Of course, the president will sign; to APM; i strongly believe the tourism industry can rebrand and rengineer itself as long as security is guaranteed and the attractions stand on Ugandan soil. Look at countries like ethiopia and other Asian countries where LQBTQ is banned, yet the tourism sector continues to grow. Sometimes, we need to deal with threats to our true culture, values, and identity; people and their future. MONEY can not rebuild the moral and mental trauma arising from LGBTQ. The campaign for LQBTQ and the practice itself is another *weapon* being used to confuse, destroy, and derail the world from meaningfully focus and progress. LGBTQ should never be looked at as the gateway to economic growth and nor as a universal diplomatic solvent.