World Bank Punish Uganda for Anti-Gay Law

On March 21, 2023, Uganda's parliament passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023, a law that would criminalise identifying as LGBTQ. 

 

And on May 29, the country's president, Yoweri Museveni (right) signed what has been described as one of the world's toughest anti-LGBTQ legislations into law, drawing Western condemnation and risking sanctions from aid donors. 

 

Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, as in more than 30 African countries, but the new law goes further. It stipulates capital punishment for "serial offenders" against the law and transmission of a terminal illness like HIV/AIDS through gay sex. It also decrees a 20-year sentence for "promoting" homosexuality. 

 

As expected, the World Bank announced a halt to new funding for Uganda, citing the said law as the reason for the decision. 

 

“We believe our vision to eradicate poverty on a liveable planet can only succeed if it includes everyone irrespective of race, gender, or sexuality. This law undermines those efforts. Inclusion and non-discrimination sit at the heart of our work around the world”, the global financing body stated on Tuesday. 

 

Uganda's state minister for foreign affairs, Okello Oryem, accused the bank of hypocrisy, claiming that they had been "put under pressure by the usual imperialists". 

 

"There are many Middle East countries who do not tolerate homosexuals, they actually hang and execute homosexuals, in the United States of America many states have passed laws that are either against or restrict activities of homosexuality... So why pick on Uganda?" Reuters quoted Oryem as saying.