During the official opening ceremony for the just concluded Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC), Parliament revealed that 33 out of the 43 Speakers had attended the meeting.
The Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon Anitah Annet Among, expressed gratitude towards the Speakers who made the bold decision to attend the Conference amidst pressure from the International Community.
“We have Speakers who feared to come because of the law that we made. We don’t kill anyone who is a homosexual. We don’t reject people who come here because they are homosexuals but we only respect what we passed. We respect our values. We respect our traditions as a country,” said Among.
Among has revealed that some Speakers who had earlier confirmed attendance, later pulled out due to Uganda’s passing into law the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023.
Notably, the Canadian and British Speakers snabbed the conference due to the Law.
Meanwhile, Among has been invited to the House of Commons (UK Parliament) to speak about the controversial law which has since seen Uganda’s relationship with some Western countries go sour.
Among says Canadian and British boycott of the conference will not change Uganda’s position on the law as Uganda cannot compromise on its culture, norms and values.
