Anti-gay Ugandan President to visit London for investment summit
Uganda’s anti-gay President Yoweri Museveni is planning to visit London later this month for a investment summit.
The African leader – who oversaw the introduction of the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act before it was struck down by a court – is scheduled to attend the Global African Investment Summit.
The event will take place at the Savoy Hotel on October 20-21, with the Presidents of Tanzania, Ghana and Rwanda all also attending.
Tickets don’t come cheap, however, with a delegate place to the event costing a steep £2,495.
The event is sponsored by Visa, Sepco, Prudential, Standard Chartered, PwC, and law firm Baker & McKenzie, among others.
Isaac Kawesi of the African LGBTI Out and Proud Diamond Group told PinkNews: “It is very unfortunate that the Lord Mayor of London is planning to roll out a red carpet for President Museveni while I can’t live in my home country of Uganda because I am gay.
“I am devastated and disappointed. I will protest outside the venue.”
Out and Proud Diamond group director Edwin Sesange added: “As much as we support foreign investment in Africa, it is now clear that most foreign investors are being driven away by the increasing persecution of LGBT people in those countries.”
The homophobic Speaker of the Ugandan Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, was due to speak at another investment forum in London last month, but was dropped from the event after pressure from gay rights campaigners.
President Museveni, who has backed attempts to put another anti-gay law in place, recently warned: “We want to protect our children from homosexuality, but we do not want to kill our trade opportunities.”
His comments are a u-turn from when he proclaimed in March: “We don’t need aid in the first place, Uganda is one of the richest countries on Earth!”
He added there were “more terrible things” than homosexuality in the West – like oral sex.
He said: “Oral sex! The mouth is for eating, it’s not for that purpose.”
