‘Kill the gays’: Uganda resurrects overturned bill introducing death penalty for homosexuals

The Ugandan government has announced plans to reintroduce legislation paving the way for the execution of homosexual people, five years after the bill was thrown out by the constitutional court on a technicality.

The bill, dubbed ‘Kill the gays’ within Uganda, will be reintroduced within weeks, according to officials. Currently, Ugandans face life imprisonment if convicted of having sex with another person of the same gender.

Ethics and Integrity Minister Simon Lokodo said the bill is being reintroduced because of allegedly “massive recruitment of gay people” and current laws are too limited in scope.

“We want it made clear that anyone who is even involved in promotion and recruitment has to be criminalised,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “Those that do grave acts will be given the death sentence."

The minister said he’s confident the measure will get the backing of the two-thirds of parliamentary members required to pass a bill.

Several countries cut their financial support and aid to Uganda when the ‘Kill the gays’ bill was first brought forward in 2014, but Lokodo said the country is prepared to stand up to a fresh backlash over the legislation, adding “we don’t like blackmail.”

In March, Brunei introduced an amendment to its Islamic penal code that included stoning gay people to death, but suspended the measure following international outcry. 

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