Ugandan Speaker Addresses IPU

Mr. President, Mr. speaker and heads of delegations

When we come to assemblies such as this, or have been have invited, we expect respect for sovereignty, our values and our cultures

I therefore, on behalf of the ugandan delegation and the people of uganda protest in the strongest terms the arrogance exhibited by the foreign minister of canada who spent his entire presentation attacking uganda and promoting homosexuality

[Applause]

Mr. President, I was not aware that we had been invited here to promote homosexuality in this assembly.

going to the case of Mr. Kato, Mr. Kato’s death was a crime of passion. He had contracted to have sex with an ex-prisoner. Over time, he failed to pay him, and he bludgeoned him to death. So it was a crime of passion, but nevertheless the government of Uganda is assured that the person who did this was arrested, tried and is not serving his sentence.

Let me take this opportunity also to say that, as speaker of the national assembly of uganda, I have a duty to promote and protect the right of the members of parliament to move private members bills. Therefore I will not stop the private member’s bill from going ahead. The debate on homosexuality is not a settled matter. In the USA, it began 1967. And to date, 39 states of the USA prohibit same-sex marriage. But here we are being pushed to do what the people of uganda don’t want to do.

In the Anglican Church, the debate on homosexuality is not a settled matter. It has divided the Church of England, it has divided the Anglican Church. Even today, part of the church of the USA pledges allegiance to the Church of Uganda because of homosexuality. Because there’s no agreement, because there’s no common position.

So Mr. President, if homosexuality is a value for the people of Canada, we have no problem with that - it’s for them and their country. But they should not seek to force the people of Uganda to embrace homosexuality, because we not a colony of Canada. Their problems are not our problems

[Applause]

I want to remind you, Mr. President, that we came here to discuss Citizenship, Identity, Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in a Globalized world. Please, can we stick to that, instead of dividing into some things that are not of our interest. So, Mr. President, I want to close by saying please respect the people of Uganda, we paid our bills when we came here, we are not paid for by Canada. We came here of our own right.

Thank you very much.

[Applause]