Museveni blames ‘dependent’ church for rising homosexuality in Uganda 

The Church is bestowed with the responsibility of weeding homosexuality out of Uganda after it offered a breeding platform for the Europeans to impose their homosexual beliefs onto Ugandans, President Yoweri Museveni has said. 

Museveni, who was the chief guest during the 44th anniversary of former Archbishop Janani Luwum at Wiigweng Village in Mucwini sub-county, Kitgum district, partly blamed the infiltration of homosexuality on the church leaders, who he said have been sleeping and waiting for financial aid from foreigners. 

He urged them to think of setting up income-generating activities so that they are not taken advantage of by the donors.

“These churches were, you know, depending on donations from Europe and so on. Now you see the dangers of depending on donations. That is why some of them were beginning to say; if you want money, you must support homosexuality. So Church of Uganda, the Catholic Church, the other groups, developing income-generating projects is something very good and we support it and Church House is part of that. That is why we have supported it all this time,” said Museveni.  

Museveni however commended the courage and stance taken by the Church of Uganda which has even threatened to break away from its parent Church of England after its national assembly last week voted to allow priests to bless same-sex marriages and civil partnerships but maintained the ban on church weddings for same couples. 

President Museveni said his standpoint has always been clear on homosexuality, calling it a deviation from the normal.  

“We have been telling them please, this problem of homosexuality is not something you should normalise and celebrate. I told them; it is true that there were some few homosexuals here before the Europeans came here. I have heard of some few stories, but it was clear this was a deviation from normal – like you can have somebody with six fingers instead of five. But now the Europeans don’t listen, they don’t respect people’s views and now want to turn abnormal into normal and force it onto others,” said Museveni. 

Reports indicate that the same-sex blessings are expected to begin later this year once the Church of England refines its guidance and issue supplemental prayers and liturgies for the priests to use.

The decision made by the Church of England general synod comes after five years of discussions about their position on the matter. The general synod comprises bishops, clergy, and laypeople.    

Archbishop Rev Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu re-emphasized their stance on denouncing homosexuality, calling upon Ugandans to reject it with all their will and might just like Luwum did against injustice. He said even though the Church of England has taken another direction of accepting to officiate marriages between same-sex couples, the Church of Uganda is keeping the position of faith and will not be shaken. 

He said it is time for Christians in Uganda to take the gospel back to England and America and preach it in its purest form because the gospel there is now corrupted. Kaziimba called upon parents and schools to fight the temptation of accepting money offered by propagators of homosexuality and fight painstakingly to keep the country free of all vices.  

Of late, Ugandan media has been awash with reports of coordinated recruitment and luring of students into homosexual activities using money and other luxuries such as cars, smartphones and houses.