Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has
written a letter expressing his doubts about an anti-gay bill
approved by lawmakers.
In his 8-page letter, published Friday
in the Kampala newspaper Daily Monitor, Museveni explains why
he is reluctant to sign the bill into law.
The bill, unanimously approved by
lawmakers last month, four years after its introduction, provides for
life imprisonment for the crime of “aggravated homosexuality” and
outlaws the promotion of homosexuality.
In his letter to the speaker of
parliament, Museveni calls gays “abnormal” because “a normal
person was created to be attracted to the opposite sex in order to
procreate and perpetuate the human race.”
“What do we do with an abnormal
person? Do we kill him/her? Do we imprison him/her? Or do we
contain him/her?”
Tamale Mirudi, the president's
spokesman, told the AFP that Museveni is opposed to gay rights but
does not believe gay people should be treated as criminals.
“What the president has being saying
is that we shall not persecute these homosexuals and lesbians.
That's the point,” Mirudi
said.
“Let us cure the economic conditions
so that we rescue our youth and, then, see how to deal with the few
abnormals that may be there among us,” Museveni wrote.
The president advised Uganda's
parliament to study the issue.
It appears Museveni is sitting on the
bill because lawmakers have the votes to override his veto.