Metro

Hearing in lawsuit challenging Uganda’s anti-gay law begins

Published

2 months ago

October 2, 2023

Hearing in petitions filed before Uganda’s Constitutional Court challenging the recently passed anti-gay law in the country commenced on Monday, with the petitioners labelling the law as “draconian, inhumane, and a grave violation of universal human rights.”

The petitioners, comprising individuals and human rights organizations, are contending that the law was passed without meaningful public participation, and infringed upon constitutional rights and freedoms.

They argue that the legal and parliamentary affairs committee conducted inadequate scrutiny and failed to facilitate sufficient public inputs, asserting that the law violates constitutional rights, including the right to equality, non-discrimination, dignity, privacy, health, freedom of expression, and association.

The petitioners also describe the law as a tragic violation of universal human rights.

One of the lawyers for the petitioners, who spoke on the lawsuit, said:

“Our prayer is that this petition is heard and disposed of as quickly as possible because there are people whose lives are in danger. There are people whose very life depends on the outcome of this petition.”

The Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), which was signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni in May, is seen as one of the world’s harshest anti-gay laws, with punishment up to the death penalty for some same-sex acts.

The law also imposes severe penalties for “aggravated homosexuality,” which can involve sexual acts with children or vulnerable individuals. It also applies to cases of forced same-sex relations, life-long infections like HIV, or repeated offences.

Since the law was passed, not less than six people have been charged under the law, with rights groups saying the suspects have been subjected to torture, beaten and arrested, while LGBTQ people have faced eviction and intimidation because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.

In August, a 20-year-old man became the first person to be prosecuted for aggravated homosexuality and currently risks a death penalty.

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Metro

Nigeria’s VP Shettima admits hardship, poverty, pleads for patience

Published

37 mins ago

December 10, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

Vice President Kashim Shettima of Nigeria has become the first official in the President Bola Tinubu’s administration to admit that majority of Nigerians are angry with government officials as a result of the rising cost of living and its attendant hardship and poverty.

Shettima, who made the admission in Abuja on Saturday at the graduation ceremony of the Executive Intelligence Management Course 16, however, pleaded with Nigerians to be patient and support Tinubu so that he could work to solve the problems.

In his keynote address at the occasion, Shettima said the Tinubu-led administration was aware that Nigerians were going through harrowing times, and was doing everything possible to ameliorate the pains as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy and the attendant inflation.

“All of us here belong to a tiny segment of the Nigerian population. And you don’t need a soothsayer to tell you that the poor are angry with us,” the VP said.

“The poor are the most neglected segment of our society. You can hardly differentiate between them and their animals. Even the animals they rear belong to those in the city. So, there have to be kinetic and non-kinetic solutions to all the problems.

“We have to improve the quality of governance. And what we have is a tiny window of not more than 10 to 20 years. Let’s improve the quality of governance.

“I want to ask you to give the President the benefit of the doubt. Let us be patient. Let us support him.

“Let us rally round him and be reassured that he is determined to redefine the meaning and concept of modern leadership, and is ever ready to reposition the Nigerian nation. But without the support of you and I, he can’t do much”, he just added.

Shettima also suggested that creating jobs and giving hope to the populace would go a long way in curbing insecurity in the country.

“Let’s create jobs; let’s give hope to the populace. And once we create jobs, all this madness of insecurity will disappear.

“There won’t be Boko Haram and banditry if this is done, especially for us from the North. We can blame the bandits, but we in leadership positions owe it to posterity to address this”, he said.

Metro

DR Congo: President Tshisekedi says Rwanda’s Kagame acting like Adolf Hitler

Published

18 hours ago

December 9, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

Democratic Republic of Congo President, Félix Tshisekedi, has taken a dig at President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, comparing him to German dictator, Adolf Hitler, while on the campaign trail in the troubled east of the country.

While addressing his supporters on Friday at a rally in Bukavu, capital of South Kivu, Tshisekedi, who is seeking a second term in office in the general elections scheduled for December 20 after first coming to power in January 2019, said Kagame behaved like Hitler while pursuing his “expansionist aims”.

“I’m going to address Rwandan President Paul Kagame and tell him this: since he wanted to behave like Adolf Hitler by having expansionist aims (in the DRC), I promise to end up like Adolf Hitler,” declared Tshisekedi.

“When I took power as president of this country, I proposed a plan to live in peace with our neighbors, but the problem is that our neighbors have eyes bigger than their stomachs, and that’s the case with my colleague Paul Kagame.

“But this time, Paul Kagame has met a son of the country determined to protect his country against all kinds of foreign aggression,” he stated.

Tshisekedi’s speech was not unconnected with the activities of the M23 (March 23 Movement) rebels who are mainly Tutsis believed to have the backing of the Rwandan government and have been wreaking havoc in North Kivu and Ituri in South Kivu and other eastern provinces of the DRC in the past 30 years.

Relations between the DRC and neighboring Rwanda have also witnessed tense turmoil which reached a climax in 2021 with the resurgence in North Kivu of the rebellion, allegedly supported by Kigali, seizing large swathes of the province.

On numerous occasions, Tshisekedi has denounced what he often describes as Rwandan aggression under the guise of the M23.

Tshisekedi has also accused Rwanda of sponsoring the rebels, an accusation Kigali has vehemently denied.

He has also described Rwanda as a “horrible neighbor” which wants to monopolize the mining wealth of DRC which is largely located in the eastern Congo.