The widely social supported
law against homosexuality in Uganda has been deemed null and void by a Ugandan
Constitutional Court of five judges citing that the law was passed illegally in
a parliamentary session that lacked a QUORUM.
A quorum is…. “the minimum number of
members of an assembly or society that must be present at any of its meetings
to make the proceedings of that meeting valid.”
December 20th
2013- Kampala, Uganda, the speaker of parliament and a hand full of MPs proceeded
to passing into law a bill that was so childish a first grader would disagree
with most of it.
Amidst opposition to the bill due to “lack of quorum” by some member of the government like the Prime
Minister of Uganda, John Patrick Mbabazi, the bill was pushed through and it
passed and the measure was enacted into law by a signature from the head of
state, the fountain of honor, the conquer of the African Empire; His Excellence
President Yoweri Museveni on February 24th this year.
The anti-gay law or the NO
HOMO law as I have come to call it provided for jail sentences of up to life in
prison for anyone convicted of being GAY!
Key word: convicted: because
in Uganda we know that “mu kooti zaffe, ebisinga bi gwa nanguzi.” ( in our courts most rulings end with bribery)
Homosexuals in Uganda may
have some breathing room but should not rejoice so quickly; they are still
colonial-era laws in Uganda that could be used against them to criminalize
their sexual preferences as against order of nature.
Another downfall is that although the laws
passed without quorum; it is likely to come up for debate again in the August
House since the legislation has wide support in most; if not, all of the social
makeup of Uganda.
Sad however is the fact that
many laws in Uganda pass everyday without a quorum and become law. It is unsure
how the court came to such a conclusion knowing that this is one law the
country supported widely.
The ruling has helped express
two things: (1) the incompetence of the
Ugandan Parliament; a body that can pass a law in such a mafia manner (2) the
incompetence of leaders outside of Parliament who are willing to sign illegal bills
into law.
For God and MY country,
I am Jeremy Jjemba blogging!
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