West Budama North East legislator Fox Odoi has said that the new Anti-Homosexuality bill is a waste of time because the constitution of Uganda and the penal code already prohibit same-sex marriages.
Odoi an avid Human Rights Advocate and defender disclosed his views on Monday while reacting to the new bill that was tabled last week by Bugiri Municipality lawmaker Asuman Basalirwa. Mr Odoi alluded that the new bill has no value addition in it but is a duplicate of other already existing laws.
“I want Hon Basalirwa to show us how unique this new bill is. He cannot even succinctly explain the difference between this bill and others already existing Acts in the constitution and even the Penal code,” he said.
Odoi warned that even if such a bill is assented into law, it will be successively be challenged.
It must be recalled that Odoi is the same person in 2014 that earnestly challenged the first Anti-Homosexuality law in the Constitutional Court hypothetically arguing that the enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality Act was without quorum in the House which was in contravention of Article 2 (1) & (2), 88 and 94 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda and Rule 23 of the Parliamentary Rules of Procedure.
He also added that sections 1, 2 and 4 of the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2014 in defining and criminalising consensual same-sex among adults in private, are in contravention of the right to equality before the law without any discrimination and the right to privacy guaranteed under Articles 2 (1) and (2), 21 (1) (2) and (4) and 27 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda respectively. Also, Section 2 (1) (c) of the Act that criminalises touching by persons of the same sex creates an offence that is overly broad and in contravention of the principle of legality under the Constitution.
Following a long court battle, on 1st August 2014, the Constitutional Court declared the passing of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill into Act null and void. The panel of five judges unanimously nullified the Anti-Homosexuality Act on grounds that it was passed without the required quorum in Parliament on 20 December 2013.
However, Odoi’s comment comes just after a few days when the leader of National Unity Platform Robert Kyagulanyi commonly known as Bobi Wine while in an interview on BBS TV also informed the country that the Anti Homosexuality Bill 2023 was a diversion by the state to cool the public’s temper on the escalating corruption scandals within the government.
“This is how Mr Museveni dupes Ugandans, we have been in corruption scandals repetitively since this year began and this was not good for Mr Museveni. Now he brought this Bill, well the Bill its self is good but Mr Museveni is going to use it for his gains, we very well know how he used his man Fox Odoi and court to nullify the first bill and I’m very sure even this one he is going to use the same tactics, this is a diversion but good enough we know it,” he said.
Meanwhile, currently, the new Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023 is before the Parliament’s Legal Affairs committee and on Monday the committee started hearing views from different stakeholders and it started with its proponent Basalirwa.
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