VZCZCXRO3482
RR RUEHGI RUEHRN RUEHROV
DE RUEHKM #1396/01 3450941
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 110940Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY KAMPALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0003
INFO IGAD COLLECTIVE
RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0001
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 0001

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KAMPALA 001396 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KDEM UG
SUBJECT: UGANDA: ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY BILL REMAINS UNCHANGED, NOT 
LIKELY TO BE DEBATED IN PARLIAMENT UNTIL MARCH 
 
REF: KAMPALA 01344; KAMPALA 01381 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: On December 10, Member of Parliament and sponsor 
of Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill David Bahati said a Bloomberg 
newswire report misquoted Ethics Minister Nsaba Buturo and that 
provisions on the death penalty and life imprisonment for 
homosexuals remain in the bill.  A separate but apparently equally 
erroneous December 10 local newspaper article claimed that the 
Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) endorsed the bill.  An 
IRCU official told the Mission that the IRCU has yet to formulate a 
position on the legislation.  The ICRU receives PEPFAR funding, and 
given the popularity of the bill in Uganda, it will likely emerge 
in the weeks ahead that the leaders of some organizations that 
directly or indirectly receive USG funding support the legislation. 
For example, two faculty members at a Ugandan university about to 
receive $1.5 million in USAID central funding recently spoke out 
publicly in favor of the bill, albeit in their personal capacities. 
Contacts continue to report that Parliament's Legal and 
Parliamentary Affairs Committee will likely not open public 
hearings on the bill until perhaps March 2010 at the earliest.  End 
Summary. 
 
 
 
------------------------------------------- 
 
Anti-Homosexuality Bill Unchanged 
 
------------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Bahati told the U.S. Mission on December 11 that a 
Bloomberg newswire report stating that Ethics Minister Nsaba Buturo 
had agreed to remove provisions on the death penalty and life 
imprisonment from Bahati's anti-homosexuality bill was in error. 
Bahati said the report misquoted Buturo and that Buturo never 
mentioned removing these provisions.  Bahati said he is following 
international coverage of the bill on the internet, and that all 
aspects of the bill will be reviewed publicly by Parliament's Legal 
and Parliamentary Affairs Committee.  Bahati added that he has 
asked Buturo to refrain from commenting on the bill as the 
legislation is sponsored by Bahati and not the Government of 
Uganda. 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) On December 9, the only human rights lawyer in Uganda 
courageous enough to legally defend Ugandan homosexuals told the 
Mission that he does not believe the Legal and Parliamentary 
Affairs Committee will open debate on the bill until March 2010 at 
the earliest (septel).  The lawyer noted that the bill now in 
Parliament is actually a moderated version of an even more 
offensive first draft that mysteriously disappeared on the way to 
the government printing office.  He observed that the Legal and 
Parliamentary Affairs Committee has much more important legislation 
to consider - such as critical electoral reforms that must be 
passed by the end of February - and that the anti-homosexuality 
legislation will likely remain stationary for at least several 
months.  Along similar lines, 
 
on December 11, the Chairman of the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs 
Committee told PolOff that there is still no movement on the bill 
and that his Committee has more important issues to consider (ref. 
A).  The Chairman noted, however, that he has been travelling 
within the region - he is currently in Kinshasa - and therefore not 
up-to-date on events in Kampala. 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
Local Groups Pro-Anti-Homosexuality 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU) A second and apparently equally erroneous press report 
appeared on December 10 in the local Daily Monitor newspaper.  The 
Monitor reported that after a three-day conference, the 
Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) endorsed the bill and 
 
KAMPALA 00001396  002 OF 002 
 
 
called on the Ugandan government to refuse international aid from 
countries opposed to criminalizing homosexuality.  IRCU Secretary 
General, Joshua Kitakule, told the Mission on December 10 that the 
Monitor article was inaccurate and that quotations attributed to 
him regarding the need to criminalize homosexuality and reject 
donor funding were actually articulated by Bahati.  Kitakule said 
the IRCU has yet to articulate a position on the anti-homosexuality 
legislation. 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) More than 200 local religious leaders belong to the IRCU, 
and USAID has a contract with ICRU funded by PEPFAR for HIV/AIDS 
counseling, testing, and prevention.  IRCU has about 50 faith-based 
sub-partners, and it is possible that the leaders of some of these 
organizations have come out in support of this bill.  Pastor Martin 
Ssempa's Campus Alliance to Wipe Out AIDS is one of these 
sub-contractors, carrying out abstinence work among students at 
Makerere University with IRCU PEPFAR funds.  Ssempa is one of the 
most vocal proponents of the anti-homosexuality legislation (ref. 
B). 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU)  Two faculty members employed by Ugandan Christian 
University (UCU) have publicly endorsed the anti-homosexuality 
bill.  UCU is slated to receive a $1.5m USAID/DCHA ASHA grant for 
the construction of a new library. UCU Vice Chancellor, Amcit 
Professor Rev. Stephen Noll, told the Mission on December 9 that 
the statements of UCU faculty member, Rev. Canon Michael Okwii 
Essakan, who a local newspaper quoted as stating that not even 
"cockroaches" engage in homosexuality, "in no way represent the 
position of the University."  Noll said he communicated to Essakan 
that "in my opinion his reference to homosexuality was 
inappropriate... and his example of cockroaches was reprehensible." 
However, Noll has yet to publically distance the University from 
Essakan's comments or a November 24 newspaper column endorsing the 
bill by another UCU faculty member, Reverand Dr. Fred Mwesigwa. 
LANIER