There was a record attendance and a roll-call taken on the instructions of Speaker Among, who made clear she was keen on preventing flaws during the enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality law that court nullified, showed 389 lawmakers in attendance --- 55 of who logged-in on Zoom to follow the proceedings.
By the time they were done by about 9pm – many having entertained with humorous and amorous commentary during a session lasting non-stop over six hours – the MPs had tightened almost all penalties in the Bill.
For instance, Mr Basalirwa had proposed that the offence of homosexuality be punishable by 10 years in jail, but the lawmakers doubled the sentence.
They defined homosexuality as the offence where a person performs a sexual act on another person of the same sex or allows a person of the same sex to perform a sexual act on him or her. Children found guilty of engaging in homosexuality faces three years in jail, with provisions for rehabilitation, in line with the Children’s Act.
The House voted by acclamation, by shouting out “aye”, an unexplained reversal by Speaker Among who in the run-up to the enactment vowed that the vote would be taken by show of hands so that Ugandans would see which of their representatives were in support or against homosexuality – a polarising and touchy subject nationally.
A proposal by the committee, basing on submissions by the Uganda Medical Association, that an offender could face lesser sentence on proving genetic predisposition to homosexuality, was thrown out.