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☆ Ghana: In deciding on anti-gay law, president is caught between a rock and a hard place
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( David Mckenzie | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Sam George, the driving force behind Ghana’s harsh anti-LGBTQ legislation, portrays himself as a guardian of gay Ghanaians. Making inequality legalWhatever its origins, the bill’s passage is terrible news for LGBTQ Ghanaians. “The sentiment and emotion we are expressing right now is sadness,” said Alex Kofi Donkor, the founder of LGBT+ Rights in Ghana, an advocacy group. On one side, you have politicians like George and a broadly conservative citizenry that will publicly goad the president to act. For Ghana’s president, navigating this intricate political landscape looks set to be a daunting – and unenviable – task.

Persons: Sam George, “, ”, It’s, ” George, George, Alex Kofi Donkor, Nana Akufo, it’s, Ghana’s Organizations: CNN, Rights, Ghana’s Ministry, Finance, Bank Financing, Monetary Fund, Bank, US State Department, Ministry of Finance Locations: Accra, Ghana, United States, Uganda, Ghanaian, “ Ghana, State

was exemplary, slashing the country’s death rate by nearly 90 percent from 1990 to 2019. Now a sweeping law enacted last year, the Anti-Homosexuality Act, threatens to renew the epidemic as L.G.B.T.Q. It also requires all citizens to report anyone suspected of such activity, a mandate that makes no exceptions for health care providers tending to patients. Under the law, merely having same-sex relationships while living with H.I.V. Scores of Ugandans have been evicted from homes and fired from jobs, according to interviews with lawyers and activists.

Organizations: H.I.V

World Bank project documents will make it clear that LGBTQ Ugandans should not face discrimination and that staff will not be arrested for including them, Victoria Kwakwa, the bank's head for eastern and southern Africa, told Reuters. She declined to give a timeline for assessing the measures' efficacy and moving to a decision on whether to resume new funding for Uganda. When the World Bank suspended new funding, Ugandan officials accused the development finance institution of hypocrisy, saying it was lending to countries in the Middle East and Asia that have the same or harsher laws targeting LGBTQ people. The World Bank's portfolio of projects in the East African country was $5.2 billion at the end of 2022. Reporting by Rachel Savage and Jorgelina do Rosario, Editing by Andrew CawthorneOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ashley Karungi, Victoria Kwakwa, Kwakwa, Rachel Savage, Jorgelina, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: Bank, Reuters, Rights, World Bank, International Monetary, Uganda, Government, Thomson Locations: Kulambiro suburb, Kampala, Uganda, MARRAKECH, Morocco, Africa, Marrakech, East, Asia, Rosario

☆ This Ugandan earns a bonus for each person he gets to sign up for Sam Altman's eyeball-scanning crypto project
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

The business-to-business software firm, which has a market cap of $11.5 billion, gave users the option of logging in with their World ID beginning in June. Social media app Discord also uses World ID for verification. But ultimately, the foundation envisions a future where a World ID could be used to facilitate nationwide votes, among other use cases involving banking and e-commerce. Ava Labs president John Wu tells CNBC that the self-custody feature of the Worldcoin ID is also critical. Despite his concerns, Mwangi ultimately chose to enroll in the project because he believed in the wider mission of the World ID.

Persons: Keneth Byarugaba, Byarugaba, Namureba Abel, Abel, Muvya Muthama, Muthama, Sam Altman, Peter Mwangi, I'm, Mwangi, They're, Worldcoin, John Wu, Wu, Ricardo Macieira, Annegret Hilse, hasn't, Byarugaba indoctrinates, it's, isn't, CNBC's Jordan Smith Organizations: Worldcoin, CNBC, cryptocurrency, Social, FBI, Reuters Locations: Uganda, Kampala, Nairobi, Kenya, web3, Chile, Europe, Berlin

A participant stands near a logo of World Bank at the International Monetary Fund - World Bank Annual Meeting 2018 in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, October 12, 2018. "Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act fundamentally contradicts the World Bank Group's values. World Bank President Ajay Banga, who took office in June after the Ugandan law was enacted, has come under pressure to respond to the Ugandan law. The existing portfolio will continue to disburse funds, even as new lending is put on hold, a World Bank source said. It said the IFC and MIGA would also implement additional measures to "ensure inclusion and non-discrimination as needed."

Persons: Johannes P, Ajay Banga, Banga, Kanishka Singh, Andrea Shalal, Leslie Adler, Jonathan Oatis, Richard Chang Organizations: Bank, International Monetary Fund, REUTERS, United Nations, World Bank, International Development Association, International Finance Corporation, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, Reuters, IFC, Thomson Locations: Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, Uganda, Washington

These themes have become a common thread in his sermons and interviews, especially since Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act was signed into law last month. Nowhere is safe for any queer person living in Uganda,” Joan Amek, co-founder of Rella Women’s Foundation, told CNN. At least 300 human rights violations against suspected homosexuals have been reported in Uganda arising from the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023, the SRT told CNN. ‘My life is hell’Nash Wash Raphael, a 30-year-old transgender man, says he was attacked on the night Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act. The Church of Uganda openly defied the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and supported the Anti-Homosexuality Act, accusing the global head of the Anglican Church of misinterpreting the Bible.

Persons: Canon John Awodi, ”, Yoweri Museveni, ” Joan Amek, didn’t, ’, “, ” Amek, Joan Amekis, Asuman Basalirwa, ‘, Nash, Raphael, Museveni, Nash Wash Raphael, Fabien Muhire, ” Raphael, couldn’t, We’ve, they’ll, Anglican Church Amek, Amek, of Canterbury, Justin Welby, Welby, Bill Organizations: Uganda CNN, Saints ’ Cathedral, CNN, Rella, Foundation, Bethlehem Feleke, SRT, Anglican Church, Anglican, of Locations: Kampala, Uganda, Rev, Bethlehem, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Africa, Ugandan

☆ Uganda sends more troops to pursue attackers who killed 37 students
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Elias Biryabarema | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/StringerKAMPALA, June 18 (Reuters) - Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni on Sunday ordered more troops to western Uganda where attackers from a group with links to Islamic State killed at least 37 secondary school students. Members of the rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) killed the students late on Friday at Lhubirira Secondary School in Mpondwe, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Military and police said the attackers had also abducted six students and fled towards the Virunga National Park across the border. New Vision said 39 of the dead were students, and some were killed when the attackers set off a bomb as they fled. In April, the ADF attacked a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 20 people.

Persons: Stringer, Yoweri Museveni, Museveni, Ugandans, Janet Museveni, Elias Biryabarema, George Obulutsa, Giles Elgood Organizations: Secondary, Allied Democratic Forces, REUTERS, Sunday, Islamic, Lhubirira Secondary, Democratic, Military, ADF, Museveni, NTV Uganda, Vision, New Vision, United Nations, African Union, East, Authority, Development, Education, Thomson Locations: Mpondwe, Uganda, Stringer KAMPALA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwenzori, Congo, East African's

☆ Opinion: Uganda anti-LGBTQ law is outrageous. Here’s the smart way to fight it
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Opinion Brett Bruen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

But perhaps most importantly in this context, it actually serves to further erode LGBTQ rights around the world. Putin has used attacks on LGBTQ rights as a way to try to appeal to African leaders, suggesting Russia is more aligned with their conservative values. Slapping stiff sanctions on Kampala will reinforce this rhetoric and allow the anti-LGBTQ attacks he’s using to gain greater strength. Instead, we should look at how to prominently elevate and sustain the focus on LGBTQ rights in our relations with Uganda as well as with these other nations. We should invite more Ugandan musicians, artists and actors to collaborate with leading American LGBTQ cultural figures.

Persons: Brett Bruen, Obama, Yoweri Museveni, doles, Brett Bruen CASME, Biden, George Santos, ” Santos, Ugandans, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Putin, Sen, Ted Cruz, Saddam Hussein Organizations: Inc, Georgetown University, Obama White House, CNN, State Department, United Arab, Ugandans, Twitter, Facebook Locations: American, Ivory Coast, Venezuela, Iraq, Madagascar, Uganda, United States, Kampala, East, Russia, Zimbabwe, Africa, China, Washington, Moscow, Beijing, Russian, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Brunei, Eritrea

☆ Archbishop of Canterbury urges Ugandan Anglicans to reject anti-gay law
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - The Archbishop of Canterbury has urged the Anglican Church of Uganda to reject the country's new anti-LGBT law, saying there is no justification for Anglicans anywhere to support legislation that goes against the Christian teachings of the Gospel. Justin Welby, leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, said he had written to Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba, the Primate of Uganda, to express "grief and dismay" at the church's stance. The Church of Uganda says 36% of Uganda's population of around 45 million are Anglicans. The Ugandan church has been at the forefront of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), a conservative group. Reporting by Estelle Shirbon in London and George Obulutsa in Nairobi; Editing by Frances KerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Yoweri Museveni, Justin Welby, Stephen Kaziimba, Welby, Kaziimba, Ugandans, GAFCON, Estelle Shirbon, George Obulutsa, Frances Kerry Organizations: Anglican Future Conference, Thomson Locations: Canterbury, Uganda, London, Nairobi

☆ HIV alarm in Uganda as anti-gay law forces LGBT 'lockdown'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Abubaker LubowaKAMPALA, June 8 (Reuters) - The HIV/AIDS treatment centre in Kampala is almost empty, days after Uganda enacted one of the most draconian anti-gay laws on Earth. "The LGBT community in Uganda is on lockdown now," he said. 'AFRAID TO LEAVE HOME'A rare patient visiting the Kampala clinic said he despaired at the new legislation. In the 2021/2022 fiscal year, PEPFAR provided $418.4 million in funding to Uganda, more than half of the country's HIV/AIDS treatment budget. The Ugandan bill toughened up an existing British colonial-era law, under which gay sex was already illegal.

Persons: Andrew Tendo, Yoweri Museveni, it's, Mary Borgman, Museveni, Joe Biden, PEPFAR, Borgman, Lillian Mworeko, Ugandans, Museveni didn't criminalise, Tendo, Aaron Ross, Pravin Organizations: Ice Breakers Uganda, REUTERS, Uganda AIDS Commission, US, AIDS Relief, National Security Council, East African, International, Thomson Locations: Makindye, Salaama, Kampala, Uganda, Abubaker, KAMPALA

☆ Uganda accuses West of blackmail in its response to anti-LGBTQ law
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KAMPALA, May 30 (Reuters) - Uganda on Tuesday condemned the Western response to the East African country's new anti-LGBTQ law, considered one of the harshest in the world, and said sanctions threats from donors amounted to "blackmail". The law signed by President Yoweri Museveni carries the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality", an offence that includes transmitting HIV through gay sex. In the Ugandan government's first detailed comments since Museveni signed the law, Information Minister Chris Baryomunsi rejected the condemnation. REUTERS/Abubaker Lubowa/File Photo"While we appreciate the support we get from partners, they must be reminded that we are a sovereign country and we do not legislate for the Western world. In an interview, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk told Reuters he expects the courts to agree.

Persons: Yoweri Museveni, Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Josep Borrell, Museveni, Chris Baryomunsi, Abubaker, Human Rights Volker Turk, Turk, France's, Emma Farge, Alison Williams, Aaron Ross, Nick Macfie Organizations: Ugandan, Reuters, REUTERS, UN, Human Rights, Thomson Locations: KAMPALA, Uganda, EU, Kampala, Tanzania

☆ Uganda enacts harsh anti-LGBTQ law including death penalty
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, as in more than 30 African countries, but the new law goes much further. It imposes capital punishment for some behaviour including transmitting a terminal illness like HIV/AIDS through gay sex, and stipulates a 20-year sentence for "promoting" homosexuality. Uganda receives billions of dollars in foreign aid each year and could now face another round of sanctions. The bill's sponsor Asuman Basalirwa told reporters that parliament speaker Anita Among's U.S. visa was cancelled after the law was signed. "Our data shows that this law runs counter to the interests of economic progress and prosperity of all people in Uganda," he said.

CNN —Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has signed some of the harshest anti-LGBTQ laws in the world, the speaker of parliament said, defying international pressure. The bill includes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality’ which includes sex with a minor, having sex while HIV positive and incest. The bill criminalizes sex education for the gay community and makes it illegal not to expose what it calls perpetrators of aggravated homosexuality to the police. Uganda’s longtime president has already faced extensive criticism from Western governments, including the US, over the law. “The civil society in Uganda together with the LGBTQI community are prepared to take this to the courts and challenge the law.

☆ Uganda parliament passes harsh anti-LGBTQ bill mostly unchanged
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The legislation now heads back to President Yoweri Museveni, who can sign it, veto it or return it again to parliament. It was not immediately clear if the new bill satisfied his requests, and his office was not available for comment. Proponents of the bill say broad legislation is needed to counter what they allege, without evidence, are efforts by LGBTQ Ugandans to recruit children into homosexuality. Western governments suspended aid, imposed visa restrictions and curtailed security cooperation in response to another anti-LGBTQ law Museveni signed in 2014. The U.S. government said last week that it was assessing the implications of the looming law for activities in Uganda under its flagship HIV/AIDS programme.

☆ LGBTQ Ugandans live in fear as new law looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A British colonial-era law bans gay sex, and members of the community are often victims of violence and discrimination. One resident contrasted the current atmosphere with 2013, when parliament passed a bill that strengthened penalties for same-sex relations. After parliament passed the bill, she deleted her Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter accounts. Other LGBTQ Ugandans said they were taking security precautions like changing the routes they use to travel between home and work and carrying pepper spray. For LGBTQ Ugandans living abroad, the new reality is also clouding their prospects of coming home.

☆ Uganda's president sends anti-LGBTQ bill back to parliament for 'strengthening'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni speaks during a Reuters interview at his farm in Kisozi settlement of Gomba district, in the Central Region of Uganda, January 16, 2022. REUTERS/Abubaker LubowaKAMPALA, April 20 (Reuters) - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni supports a bill containing some of the world's harshest anti-LGBTQ legislation but will send it back to parliament for "strengthening", the ruling party's chief whip said. A group of lawmakers from Museveni's National Resistance Movement (NRM) discussed the bill with the president and agreed in principle to make it law, chief whip Denis Hamson Obua said. Obua said Museveni would hold a meeting on Tuesday with parliament's legal and parliamentary affairs committee to draft the amendments. Western governments suspended aid, imposed visa restrictions and curtailed security cooperation in response to the law Museveni signed in 2014.

☆ ‘We Will Hunt You’: Ugandans Flee Ahead of Harsh Anti-Gay Law
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a spartan safehouse with flimsy curtains and no furniture northwest of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, people from neighboring Uganda clung to the few valuables they could snatch while fleeing harsh new legislation targeting them back home. A gay man clutched the white rosary that he took to church every Sunday. A transgender woman brought her favorite shimmering blue dress. A lesbian couple clenched the one smartphone that held photos from happier days, going on dates and dancing in clubs. They began leaving after Uganda’s Parliament passed a sweeping anti-gay bill in late March that threatens punishment as severe as death for some perceived offenses, and calls for life in prison for anyone engaging in same-sex relations.

☆ Ugandan LGBTQ activist readies for the fight of his life
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Since then, as Mugisha has emerged as the country's most prominent LGBTQ rights activist, the perils have multiplied. "The Ugandan population has been radicalised to fear and hate homosexuals," Mugisha, 38, told Reuters during an interview outside the capital, Kampala. "I guess I am going to be in trouble a lot because I am not going to stop," Mugisha said. [1/5] Ugandan LGBTQ activist Frank Mugisha poses for a photograph after a Reuters interview in Makindye, suburb, of Kampala, Uganda March 30, 2023. In 2007, Mugisha took over leadership of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), an advocacy group he had earlier joined as an activist.

☆ Fact Check-Fabricated Joe Biden tweet about anti-LGBTQ legislation passed by Uganda’s parliament shared online
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The image also purports to show replies from Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and Russian President Vladimir Putin. There is no record of the tweets, and the handles differ from the official accounts of these world leaders. Reuters reported that Uganda’s parliament passed a law making it a crime to identify as part of the LGBTQ community on March 21, 2023. There is a spacing issue with Biden’s handle, which appears to have a space between “Joe” and “Biden” in the screenshot circulating online. An alleged tweet by Joe Biden on Uganda’s law making it a crime to identify as LGBTQ has been fabricated.

☆ Uganda bill one of the world's most extreme anti-LGBTQ laws- White House
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Uganda's Speaker Anita Annet Among leads the session during the proposal of the Anti-Homosexuality bill in the Parliament in Kampala, Uganda March 9, 2023. REUTERS/Abubaker Lubowa/File PhotoWASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - Uganda's anti-gay bill passed on Tuesday is concerning and represents one of the most extreme actions taken against the LGBTQ community in the world, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on WednesdayUganda's parliament passed a law on Tuesday making it a crime to identify as LGBTQ, handing authorities broad powers to target gay Ugandans who already face legal discrimination and mob violence. Reporting By Nandita Bose and Jarrett RenshawOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: Legal hurdles faced by LGBT+ people in Africa
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Africa accounts for nearly half of the countries worldwide where homosexuality is outlawed, according to the review, which was last updated in December 2020. - Life imprisonment is the maximum penalty for same-sex relations in Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, while jail terms of up to 14 years are possible in Gambia, Kenya and Malawi. - Broad protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation exists in three countries: Angola, Mauritius and South Africa. - South Africa is the only African country where gay marriage is legal and where the constitution protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation. However, South Africa has high rates of rape and homophobic crime.

☆ Uganda passes a law making it a crime to identify as LGBTQ
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KAMPALA, March 21 (Reuters) - Uganda's parliament passed a law on Tuesday making it a crime to identify as LGBTQ, handing authorities broad powers to target gay Ugandans who already face legal discrimination and mob violence. The new law appears to be the first to outlaw merely identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ), according to rights group Human Rights Watch. In addition to same-sex intercourse, the law bans promoting and abetting homosexuality as well as conspiracy to engage in homosexuality. Violations under the law draw severe penalties, including death for so-called aggravated homosexuality and life in prison for gay sex. In recent weeks, Uganda authorities have cracked down on LGBTQ people after religious leaders and politicians alleged students were being recruited into homosexuality in schools.

☆ Uganda passes bill banning identifying as LGBTQ
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The new law appears to be the first to outlaw merely identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ), according to rights group Human Rights Watch. In addition to same-sex intercourse, the law bans promoting and abetting homosexuality as well as conspiracy to engage in homosexuality. Violations under the law draw steep penalties including death for so called aggravated homosexuality and life in prison for gay sex. I support the bill to protect the future of our children," said lawmaker David Bahati during debate on the bill. In recent weeks Uganda authorities have cracked down on LGBTQ individuals after religious leaders and politicians alleged students were being recruited into homosexuality in schools.

NBC News, in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, The Washington Post, and Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, interviewed more than 40 current and former employees of contractors at military bases. According to an NBC News analysis, at least 10 companies with substantiated trafficking violations since 2007 have received billions in new government contracts. ‘Mad scramble’Foreign workers are crucial for the more than 700 military bases with U.S. service members around the world. One company that continues to get work at Middle East bases despite past violations documented in an Army compliance agreement is Tamimi, Abdulla’s employer. Lusambu Karim, a 50-year-old Ugandan, told NBC News about trafficking violations he said he encountered working for Aegis in Afghanistan from 2018 to 2020.

☆ Uganda says 9 more Ebola cases confirmed in Kampala, urges vigilance
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/James Akena/File PhotoOct 24 (Reuters) - Uganda has reported nine more Ebola cases in the capital Kampala, bringing the total number of known infections to 14 in the last two days, the health minister said on Monday. The outbreak began in September in a rural part of central Uganda. Report yourself if you have had contact or know of a person who has had contact," Aceng said in her tweet. Ebola spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. There have been more than 90 confirmed and probable cases in Uganda since the start of the outbreak, including at least 44 deaths, according to statements by the health ministry and the World Health Organization.

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