- Thousands of Ugandans took part in anti-gay rally in the capital Kampala, asking the government to sustain the ban on gay sex, despite immense pressure from the international community.
The Spokesman of the Interfaith Rainbow Coalition Against Homosexuality, Pastor Marin Sempa, said the development is a clear indication that Ugandans condemned gay sex.
Uganda is billed to host the Commonwealth Summit in October this year. Ahead of the event, the East African country has been under strong international pressure to lift a ban on same sex affairs.
A maximum of life imprisonment awaits those found guilty of homosexuality in Uganda.
Despite representing over 500,000 of the country’s population, Ugandan gays have been crying against discrimination. They deem it fitting to use the summit to shame, coerce or intimidate the government to change stiff homosexuality laws.
Covering their faces in masks [for security reasons], gay activists vented their anger at a news conference last week, calling on the Ugandan government to give equal rights to all its citizens, including the gay community who have been forced to adopt double lives for fear of harassment and violence.
Some years back, a Ugandan doctor, Steve Kabiku, fled to South Africa after President Yoweri Museveni said gays should be locked up. Dr Kabiku feared being imprisoned for his sexuality. He said to escape arrest and societal aggression, his family had advised him to remove his jewellery and avoid putting decorating his hair.
In most African countries, homosexuality is considered a taboo. Except South Africa, no other African country legalised same-sex marriage.
Presidents of Zimbabwe and The Gambia - Robert Mugabe and Yahya Jammeh - both openly abhorred homosexuality. Mugabe said homosexuals are worse than pigs and dogs while Jammeh threatened them with harsh punishments.
However, homosexuality is practiced in most African countries, though most of them prefer to go under ground. South Africa became the 5th country in the world to legislate same-sex marriages, but gay activists fear deadly attacks on gays and lesbians. In the past few months, three lesbians had been killed in South Africa.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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