General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son of Uganda’s long-serving President Yoweri Museveni and Chief of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF), has revealed that the East African nation is prepared to repeal its harsh anti-homosexuality law.
In a social media post on Friday, January 3, 2025, Muhoozi announced that Uganda plans to repeal the anti-homosexuality law in 2026.
The UPDF general, however, did not admit that sanctions imposed on Uganda were the primary factor prompting the country to consider repealing the law.
Muhoozi acknowledged that corporal punishment like caning would not bring about any meaningful change even though Uganda still views homosexuality as a sickness.
Instead, he advocated for compassion and prayer over punitive measures.
“In 2026, we shall remove this Anti-Homosexuality Act. They are sick people, but since the Creator made them…what do we do? Even kiboko might not work. We shall pray for them,” Muhoozi wrote.
President Yoweri Museveni signed the anti-LGBTQ law in May 2023 after the country’s parliament overwhelmingly passed it.
Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, but the new law imposed stricter penalties, including the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality, drawing widespread condemnation and sanctions from Western nations and aid donors.
The law stipulates capital punishment for serial offenders and the transmission of terminal illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS, through gay sex. It also imposes a 20-year sentence for promoting homosexuality.
Uganda’s Constitutional Court upheld the new anti-gay law after human rights activists challenged it.
In response to the legislation, the World Bank halted new loans to Uganda, and the US revoked preferential market access for Ugandan goods.
Outgoing president Joe Biden said Uganda and Gabon were removed from special US-Africa trade programme to gross violations of internationally recognised human rights.
Museveni defended the legislation as a measure to preserve traditional family values and insisted that Uganda would not bow to Western pressure.
