Gay man refuses deportation to Uganda
A gay Ugandan man has refused to board his flight back to his country of origin.
John “Bosco” Nyombi, 38, was due to be deported back to Uganda, where he fears he will be persecuted on the grounds of his sexuality.
Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda, and gays caught by the police can face a life sentence in prison.
Mr Nyombi, who has been employed in the UK as a mental health worker since 2002, refused to get on his plane at Gatwick Airport at 6.40am yesterday and remains with immigration services.
A group of his supporters had gathered at Gatwick to protest at his deportation.
Neil Pugmire, a spokesman from the Diocese of Portsmouth, told The Daily Echo:
“We received a telephone call from John on a landline in Gatwick Airport telling me he had refused to get on the plane and that they had accepted that decision.
“He’s still being held at Gatwick Airport. I imagine that the immigration services are looking for a detention centre that they can take him to.
“That, we hope, will buy us some time for his solicitor to take some legal action; an injunction or a judicial review.”
Whilst Mr Nyombi’s case goes on, anti-gay campaigns in Uganda continue to gather momentum.
Over the weekend, the Great Marriage Celebration organised by the National Association for Marriage Enhancement (NAME) took place at Nakivubo Stadium.
The event was held in conjunction with the National Fellowship of Born Again Pentecostal Churches (NFBAPC).
Overseer of NFBAPC Alex Mitala presented an award to Dr Martin Ssempa, a pastor at Makerere Community Church, for his “fight against homosexuality.”
Mr Mitala then spoke to the crowd of 26,000, stating that homosexuality was wrong and would lead to the extinction of the human race.
Bishop Michael Mugerwa, who organised the celebration, urged heterosexual married couples to continue in campaigning against homosexuality.
