UGANDA: No Bail For Rapists And Gays

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is backing a constitutional amendment which would deny bail to all those accused of rape and of being a homosexual.

The MPs who agreed to the new proposals on Feb. 13 during the ongoing NRM party retreat tasked the justice ministry to speed up the process of amending the constitution. Museveni has always maintained that giving bail to these suspects encourages crime in the country. Interestingly though, corruption is not part of the list of targeted offences and these suspects will still be able to get bail. According to sources in Kyankwanzi, homosexuality offenders were included on the list at the behest of MPs who told Museveni that it has become such an insidious problem in the country.

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Discussing the Justice Law and Order Sector, sources quoted the President saying: “I do not know why the Judiciary is giving bail to every suspect. There is bail to everybody, including the core criminals. We shall do legislation as politicians about this law to determine the categories of suspects supposed to be granted bail.” In April 2011, the President made a similar case for people accused of economic sabotage, treason, rape, murder, embezzlement and defilement. However, this time, he only singled out sodomy, defilement and rape. Caucus spokesperson Evelyn Anite confirmed the latest developments to the Daily Monitor that the Ministry of Justice was tasked to kick-start the process amid cheers from the ruling party members. The President had proposed that bail must be denied to those who rape and defile others and MPs amended it to include those that sodomise others. The proposal was overwhelmingly supported,” said Ms Anite.