Recently released city lawyer Male Mabirizi has rushed to court to nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Bill,2023 that was recently tabled in parliament and sent to the committee for scrutiny.
Male Mabirizi opines that the way in which Parliament granted leave to Hon Asuman Basalilwa is biased and unbalanced.
Mabirizi filed the petition today at Magistrates grade one court, city hall Kampala.
It should be noted that a few weeks ago, Bugiri Municipality lawmaker Asuman Basalirwa obtained permission from the House to present a private member’s bill dubbed the Anti-Homosexuality Law, 2023.
The legislation aims to outlaw same-sex relationships.
Basalirwa requested permission from the House to propose the Bill during a plenary session by using Rule 79 of the Rules of Procedure, Article 79, and Article 94 of the Constitution.
On October 14, 2009, David Bahati, a Member of Parliament from Ndorwa East and the present Minister of State for Commerce, Industry, and Cooperatives, introduced the Anti Homosexuality Bill, 2009 as a Private Member’s Bill.
The Bill called for the death penalty for same-sex marriages and gay partnerships, including oral sex. It also called for the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” which includes having sex with a juvenile or while HIV-positive.
On December 20, 2013, Parliament approved the Act, which calls for a life sentence with the possibility of the death penalty.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni signed the Act into law on February 24, 2014, however, the Constitutional Court declared it invalid on August 1 on the grounds that it was enacted without the required quorum.
