Senate rallies Biden to sanction Uganda over anti-homosexuality bill

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has asked the Department of State to impose crippling targeted sanctions and reduce “assistance to the abusive Ugandan military” following Legislators’ passing of the Anti-Homosexuality bill.

The West has taken a belligerent stance on Uganda for alleged institutionalized homophobia after lawmakers on Tuesday cast a vote to endorse the passing of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023.

“The abhorrent legislation passed yesterday in Uganda places the LGBTQI+ community at grave risk & is an affront to all Ugandans’ rights. We must respond with concrete measures including targeted sanctions & reduced assistance to the abusive Ugandan military as we did in 2014,” said Senator Robert Menendez, D-N.J, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Uganda is a top recipient of US foreign aid with a total aid budget exceeding $950 million a year to support health programs, including fighting AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis and improving maternal and child well-being, according to the US State Department.

Previously, the NUP party president Kyagulanyi Ssentamu Robert aka Bobi Wine has been rallying the West to cut ties with Uganda over aggravated human rights violations but his appeal has been falling on deaf ears. However, the West has hurriedly responded when the rights of the minority LGBTQI Community have been tampered with by the East African nation that has languished under authoritarian rule for the past 37 years.