Speaker of Parliament Anita Among has summoned MPS to discuss the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, tomorrow.

“I want to ask religious leaders to this time round be there to see who is who. We will not allow an aspect of saying there was an aspect of quorum; we are going to vote by show of hands. You are either for homosexuality or against it. We want to see the kind of leaders we have for this country,” she said during prayers at parliament.

The bill comes at a time when there are widespread cases of same-sex relationships in the community and major traditional schools.

The Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014 was passed by Parliament on December 20,2013 with life in prison substituted for the death penalty. Whereas it was signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni on February 24, 2014, the Constitutional Court on 1 August 2014 annulled the law citing that it was passed without the required quorum in the House.

In February Archbishop of the Church Of Uganda, The Most Rev. Dr. Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu warned students against the well-funded gay organizations offering to recruit them into homosexuality.

Dr. Kaziimba said while responding to the General Synod of the Church of England which on February 9, 2022, passed resolutions to allow clergy to preside at Blessings of Same-sex Unions and have approved supplemental prayers and liturgies for such occasions.

“Children are back in schools; beware of the well-funded Gay organizations that are recruiting our children into homosexuality. It is not only in Kampala but all over the country. They target our poverty and promise youth money,” he said.

“The youth, if someone invites you to a function and offers you a big transport refund, those are probably bad people. Say “No” to it. If you have already been exploited or abused by such groups, please go to your Bishop for prayer, support, and guidance. You will be received with love and compassion,” he said.

He urged Headteachers to be vigilant about and make a thorough research about the organizations which intend to fund school activities,

“If an organization is bringing money and resources to your school, or inviting your students to a function, do your research. Make sure you know who they really are. We cannot serve God and mammon. We cannot serve God and money. Do not lose your soul because you think you will gain the whole world through the money they offer you. Do not think you can take the money, but do not fall into their trap. It’s a lie; you are being exploited with that money,” he said.

He said the Church of England claims that it has not changed its doctrine of marriage, namely that marriage is a lifelong union between one man and one woman. On the other hand, they are giving clergy permission to preside at services of Blessing for same-sex unions, especially for gay couples who are already considered ‘married’ by the British government.

Dr Kaziimba said first, from the first page of the Bible in the book of Genesis to the last page of the Bible in the book of Revelation, it is clear that God’s design for human flourishing is that we are part of a family, a family that is defined as one man and one woman united in holy matrimony for life and, God willing, a union that produces children. God’s Word has said that the only context for sexual relationships is in the marriage of one man and one woman.

“We all know the story of the Uganda Martyrs, who refused to engage in homosexual sex with their leaders. They stood firm in their Christian faith and were martyred for it. We cannot betray them or our Lord Jesus Christ. We will not betray the Word of God or His ways,” he said.

The suicidal path for the Church of England began in the Anglican Communion in 2003 when The Episcopal Church in America consecrated a gay man as a Bishop.

The Church of England, together with the Episcopal Church in America, the Anglican Church of Canada, and the Church in Wales, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil, and other Provinces are reported to have walked away to support homosexuality.

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President Museveni has urged the United Kingdom (UK) and other European countries to take advantage of Uganda’s rich agricultural potential and import more from this East African country.

Speaking to a delegation of international journalists in Gulu city over the weekend, Museveni said the UK and other European countries are missing opportunities to import fresh produce from Uganda.

Citing Uganda’s high-quality fertile soils and a favorable climate for growing fruits and vegetables and a range of tropical fruits, Museveni said Uganda has a huge potential and if harnessed, could produce enough fresh produce.

The produce could be sold to Uganda’s domestic market, to its East African neighbors, to the UK and to third-party markets such as China, US and Russia, Museveni said.

The UK is currently going through a shortage of some fruits and vegetables and this has prompted rationing at most major supermarkets. Reports there indicate that the shortages could last until May because UK main growers were not harvesting tomatoes, peppers and eggplants at this time of year, as is usually the case, due to the high energy costs.

Hass avocados are one product with lucrative export potential. Until now, Ugandan avocado production has focused on local green-skin varieties, but 2023 will bring the country’s first commercial harvest of Hass – the variety with the greatest export potential thanks to its longer shelf life, fast tree maturity, and high yields.

Museveni’s comments follow the news in November 2022 that Britain plans to remove tariffs and quotas on almost all imports from Uganda by the end of 2023.

Uganda and other ‘least-developed countries’ (LDCs) are part of the EU’s Everything but Arms deal, which allows the country to export all products except arms to the EU duty-free and quota-free.

Post-Brexit, the UK ceased to be part of the deal but is reportedly in the process of signing a similar agreement with the Ugandan government.

When it comes to fresh produce specifically, trade will also benefit from the construction of new cold storage facilities at Entebbe International Airport near Kampala – for perishable export cargo such as fresh fruits and flowers.

Museveni claimed that the current vegetable shortages in Britain could have been at least partially avoided if better trade links had been established between the UK and Uganda for fresh produce. And he stressed that there are untapped opportunities for Uganda to trade more with members of the Commonwealth.

However, his comments on Britain’s fresh produce shortages do not appear to take into account the logistical challenges and price constraints involved in exporting perishable produce to the UK from a land-locked country with no seaports or direct air links to Britain.

When asked why Uganda has been slower to embrace export opportunities in fresh produce than its neighbor Kenya, Museveni said European culture and economic systems were more prominent in Kenya during and after colonization because more Europeans were allowed to settle in the country.

Uganda, by contrast, has been slower to enter what Museveni called “the global system of money”, having remained a “pre-capitalist” society “until very recently”.

One thing Museveni is keen for Uganda to avoid in future trade with Europe is what he called “the slave role” of African countries only exporting raw materials and being shut out from value addition at source.

“We cannot be producers of raw materials only and be precluded from value addition to our own products; it is not acceptable,” he said.

Post-Covid, the Ugandan government is focused on boosting exports across a wide range of industries in a bid to drive economic growth and recover the 300,000 jobs that are estimated to have been lost during pandemic lockdowns.

The target industries include fresh produce, as well as coffee, sugar, grains, poultry, beef and others.

Uganda’s Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID) was set up in 2022 to advise Museveni “on ways to address strategic and operational bottlenecks that impede Uganda from fully harnessing its industrial and export potential”.

The body wants to help Uganda double its total exports from the current total of $6.6bn to $12bn by 2027. And the fruit and vegetable sector is where PACEID is targeting some of the fastest growth, with ambitions to boost exports by 60 per cent.

If achieved, this would take Uganda’s fresh produce exports from $45 million to $196 million by 2027. But PACEID has identified several issues that Uganda must overcome to succeed on the international stage.

These include the country’s fluctuating prices, lack of investment, low-quality inputs (such as seeds, pesticides and other chemicals), weak grower cooperatives, and poor economies of scale.

Nevertheless, Museveni stressed that Uganda’s climate is an important advantage. The country has high-quality fertile soils and a favorable climate for growing fruits and vegetables, not least avocados and a range of tropical fruits. This is thanks to the country’s long daylight hours, consistent rainfall patterns, and wide range of elevation – from 5,109 meters at the country’s highest point to 621 meters at its lowest.

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