KAMPALA
Amid chants of "Hallelujah" and "Allah is great," Ugandan religious leaders on Monday showered praise on the country's leadership for having the courage to sign an anti-homosexuality law.
"The battle against homosexuality is not ours, but the Lord's," Anglican Archbishop Stanley Ntagali said at a special interfaith ceremony attended by President Yoweri Museveni.
"Does that give you hope and more confidence, Hallelujah?" the archbishop asked attendees.
Christian and Muslim religious leaders gathered at the Kololo Airstrip Stadium in Kampala to thank Museveni for what they described as his fear of God, statesmanship, courage, patriotism and defiance of those who want to impose their culture on others.
On February 24, Museveni signed a controversial anti-homosexuality bill into law over the protests of the U.S. and other western countries.
The law punishes first-time offenders with 14 years in jail and calls for life behind bars for acts of aggravated homosexuality.
"We have the mandate and the right to determine our future, and the future of our children and great grandchildren, without any fear or interference. Hallelujah!" said Ntagali, whose church broke with the Anglican Church in Canada over the issue of gay marriage ten years ago.
"And we can never compromise that," he added.
Ntagali quoted King Jehoshaphat in the Old Testament's Second Book of Chronicles when the latter was surrounded by enemies: "Do not be afraid and not be dismayed because of this vast army, for the battle is not yours, but God's. Hallelujah."
-Misguided-
The Mufti of Uganda, Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan Mubajje, for his part, quoted verses from the Quran, the Muslim holy book, in support of the anti-homosexuality legislation.
"So when Our commandment came to pass, We overthrew [that township] and rained upon it stones of clay, one after another. Marked as from thy Lord: Nor are they ever far from those who do wrong!" Mubajje recited.
The Muslim scholar went on to explain: "This is so because the purpose of marriage is procreation and the continuation of mankind."
"This is liberation of Ugandans – not from bad regimes, but from the wrath of the Almighty God the creator," he asserted to cheers from the crowd.
"Before anyone misguides the human being who is guided by Almighty God, let them first convince the animals without such conscious and guidance to do what they promote," said Sheikh Mubajje.
Leading Ugandan human rights activists, meanwhile, have filed a petition with the Constitutional Court challenging the new legislation's constitutionality.
They argue that the law violates the constitutionally guaranteed right to privacy; freedoms of expression, thought, assembly and association; and the right to be free from discrimination.
By Halima Athumani
englishnews@aa.com.tr
