By Chris Muhizi for MCN.
Three months after the enactment of harsh anti-gay legislation that sparked uproar around the world, Ugandan police on Monday announced the arrest of four people for allegedly engaging in same-sex activities.
Four individuals, including two women, were detained on Saturday inside a massage parlor in the eastern neighborhood of Buikwe, according to a police spokesperson who spoke to AFP.
According to Hellen Butoto, the police operation was conducted out after a female informant informed the local security that homosexual practices were being committed at the massage parlor.
The law, which is regarded as among the worst of its type in the world, includes clauses that might result in the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” and life in jail for consenting same-sex relationships.
In May, US President Joe Biden threatened to reduce funding and investment to Uganda unless the laws he called “a tragic violation of universal human rights” were immediately repealed.
The World Bank announced in August that it will stop making fresh loans to the country of East Africa because the law “fundamentally contradicts” the principles upheld by the US-based lender.
Yoweri Museveni, the president of Uganda, has accused the World Bank of attempting to “coerce” the government into dropping the contentious legislation by using financial incentives.
The conservative, largely Christian nation’s MPs have justified the laws as a vital safeguard against perceived Western immorality, but the administration has remained steadfast and the legislation enjoys broad support.