Some Ugandan queer rights organizations have asked the government to repeal the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act that is currently under appeal at the Supreme Court to save the country from huge economic losses.

The organizations, while reacting to a new report that reveals the Anti-Homosexuality Act has cost Uganda up to $1.6 billion since President Yoweri Museveni signed it in May 2023, note the draconian law is not just “regressive” to LGBTQ rights, but also the economy.   

The report that Open for Business, a coalition of leading global organizations that champion LGBTQ inclusion, released on Oct. 10 identifies foreign direct investment, donor aid, trade and tourism, and public health and productivity as major areas that economic losses have impacted.

“Combined losses over five years are projected between $2.3 billion and $8.3 billion,” the report states.

The estimated annual loss breakdown to Uganda’s economy includes $75 million in foreign direct investment, more than $1 billion in donor funding, $312 million in the fight against HIV/AIDS and other public health efforts, $99 million in tourism and $500,000 in trade for tariff payments after the Biden-Harris administration suspended Kampala from the preferential Africa Growth and Opportunity Act.

Other projected annual losses over the next five years because of the Anti-Homosexuality Act are $24 million in labor production because at least 15,000 queer people have fled Uganda, $58 million in national productivity from homophobic stigma and legal repercussions for LGBTQ people, and $500,000 from over-policing and legal costs associated with the law’s enforcement.

The recorded and projected Uganda’s economic losses are attributed to its strained relations with international partners, such as Western countries that imposed sanctions on Kampala over the Anti-Homosexuality Act, and global financiers, such as the World Bank Group that suspended funding.

The Open for Business report notes Kampala’s damaged global relations and funding suspension has impacted Ugandans’ access to antiretroviral therapy because of shortages and medical workers who refuse to treat queer patients because they fear that authorities will punish them.

It also indicates the impact on Uganda’s tourism sector because of the Anti-Homosexuality Act’s negative global perceptions has indirectly affected the hospitality, transport, and retail industries.  

“As the global economy becomes more interconnected and competitive, countries that fail to embrace diversity, and inclusivity are likely to fall behind,” the report states.

The report points out that nearly half of the 49 percent of Ugandans who sought asylum in the UK last year said homophobia prompted them to flee the country. It warns this exodus diminishes Kampala’s growth potential and urges Museveni’s administration to amend or repeal the Anti-Homosexuality Act to restore international confidence in economic support and investment.   

“Uganda continues to enforce the AHA (Anti-Homosexuality Act) without addressing international concerns, leading to severe economic isolation,” the report states.”In this scenario, FDI (foreign direct investment) and donor aid could decline sharply, tourism might collapse, and key partners could impose more trade sanctions.” 

Uganda Minority Shelters Consortium, a local NGO that supports and advocates for the rights of LGBTQ people who are homeless and/or victims of violence, described the report’s findings as “alarming,” and added it shows how the Anti-Homosexuality Act and other anti-LGBTQ policies affect the economy.

UMSC Coordinator John Grace told the Washington Blade that the Ugandan government should heed the report’s warnings and “take immediate action to repeal the AHA in its entirety” and not to hurt the country’s economic development.  

“The economic cost of this discriminatory law is too high and the human rights violations it perpetuates are unacceptable,” Grace said.

Grace also noted the projected exodus of 15,000 LGBTQ people from Uganda because of the Anti-Homosexuality Act would be a “tragic loss” for the country in terms of skilled manpower. 

Let’s Walk Uganda, a local lobby group that openly LGBTQ people lead, also responded to the report, noting its findings add more economic pain to the “ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“The anxiety within the investment and general business community as a result of the AHA cannot be underestimated,” Let’s Walk Uganda Legal Manager Alex Musiime said. “The ridiculous law should be dropped. The court (Supreme Court) ought to do the right thing and annul this apartheid law.”

Musiime said the World Bank and Uganda’s other international partners and financiers should “intensify dialogue” with Museveni’s government to repeal the Anti-Homosexuality Act to save the vulnerable population from the suffering that the freezing of crucial aid to them has caused.

“The Ugandan government should be moved to commit to respecting the rights of LGBTQ+ persons in the implementation of World Bank projects. It should treat this piece of hate in the AHA as no law at all,” he said.

Both Musiime and Grace applauded the Uganda’s Human Rights Commission’s recent plea for the government to decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations. They consider it a “positive step” that should be “followed by concrete actions” to end homophobic discrimination, violence, and harassment.

Uganda’s state-funded human rights body has broken its silence on the queer community’s rights by advocating for their protection amid the enacted Anti-Homosexuality Act that is currently under appeal at the Supreme Court.

The Uganda Human Rights Commission on Sept. 26 while defending LGBTQ rights asked President Yoweri Museveni’s government to decriminalize homosexuality and other “victimless crimes.” 

“Criminalizing such acts often results in unjust and disproportionate punishment, especially for vulnerable groups in our society,” Mariam Wangadya, who chairs the commission, said. 

Wangadya, a lawyer and human rights advocate, spoke for the first time about the commission’s position on queer rights in Uganda since President Yoweri Museveni in May 2023 signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act.

She spoke during the annual stakeholders meeting for ACTV-Uganda, a rights organization that advocates against torture, gender-based violence, and other forms of violence, and has provided care to victims and survivors for 30 years with the commission’s support. 

Wangadya acknowledged ACTV-Uganda’s important role in providing the commission with medical reports for torture cases to assist it in determining compensation for survivors of torture to rebuild their lives.    

“Of the 939 cases currently pending a hearing before our tribunal, 50 percent of those are allegations of violation of the right to freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment,” she noted.  

Her sentiments on the commission’s stand on LGBTQ rights also come barely two weeks after holding talks with two rights groups: The Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF) and Support Initiative for People with Congenital Disorders (SIPD), an intersex lobby group, on Sept. 14.

The meeting between the commission, HRAPF, and SIPD, which also documents and publishes reports on queer rights abuses in Uganda, explored human rights violations based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics.     

“We must ensure that every person in Uganda enjoys their human rights without discrimination,” Wangadya said. 

The commission also noted that engaging the intersex lobby group was vital to address their “often-overlooked issues and rights.” 

The Ugandan government has yet to recognize intersex people as a protected minority group, unlike in Kenya. This year’s national Census did not count them.

HRAPF Executive Director Adrian Jjuuko applauded the meeting with Wangadya as a “progressive step” in defending the rights of the queer community and intersex people.

“We commend the commission on creating a space for dialogue on issues of criminalized minorities in Uganda,” Jjuuko said. 

Wangadya held the first meeting with Jjuuko on Sept. 9. It focused on HRAPF’s periodical reports on violations against sexual minorities in Uganda.

Wangadya and Jjuuko during the meeting both agreed that all people deserve protection under the law and the commission has to protect everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity.   

“You need to talk to the Judiciary, the police, and the director of Public Prosecutions. These are our major disturbing areas,” Jjuuko said, accusing the three government agencies of undermining intersex and LGBTQ rights in the country.

Wangadya acknowledged the contribution of the three judicial agencies in protecting and upholding human rights, but noted that there is a need for working with Kenya, South Africa, and other countries to understand how they navigate LGBTQ and intersex legal issues.

“Kenya will be much better for benchmarking considering that in South Africa the constitution provides for that (queer rights.) Benchmarking from a country like Kenya with similar laws may be more helpful,” she said.    

The Wangadya also committed to tapping into HRAPF’s human rights strategies and experiences to improve the commission’s mechanisms. 

HRAPF promotes respect for the rights of marginalized and minority groups in Uganda through advocacy, offering legal aid, and providing capacity building. Its latest August report on monthly advocacy, violence and other human rights abuses based on sexual orientation or gender identity since the Anti-Homosexuality Act took effect shows anti-LGBTQ violence remains rampant, while evictions and arrests continue to drop.

The report states that a total of 56 human rights violations were recorded in August, versus 72 cases in July. 

Of the 56 cases, 20 cases (35.7 percent) were based on sexual orientation or gender identity, versus 34 cases (41.2 percent) in July. The number of also reported victims also dropped from 40 people in July to 24 people in August. The 20 cases targeting LGBTQ people involved violence and threats (10), eviction from housing (nine), and one arrest.

Uganda’s Women Human Rights Defenders Network welcomed the commission’s inaugural meetings with HRAPF and SIPD, and asked the state-funded rights body to continue holding regular dialogues to help “create an enabling environment for SOGIESC (sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.)” 

Wangadya’s comments coincided with a protest outside Uganda’s Permanent Mission to the U.N. in New York that a group of activists organized. 

The World Bank Group in August 2023 suspended new lending to Uganda in response to the Anti-Homosexuality Act. The activists who organized the protest demanded the World Bank not resume loans to the country.

A group of activists who organized a protest outside Uganda’s Permanent Mission to the U.N. in New York on Thursday demanded the World Bank Group not resume loans to the country.

The World Bank in August 2023 suspended new lending to Uganda in response to the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act that President Yoweri Museveni signed.

“The law needs to be struck down and repealed. Hard stop,” acting U.S. World Bank Executive Director L. Felice Gorordo told the Washington Blade during a March 27, 2024, interview at his office in Washington. “We continue to advocate for that.”

Thursday’s protest coincided with the U.N. General Assembly that began earlier in the week in New York.

A press release the activists issued before the protest notes the World Bank “recently started testing a package of ‘mitigation measures’ to determine if discrimination is taking place.” The Council for Global Equality, the Human Rights Campaign, Immigration Equality, Outright International, Sexual Minorities Uganda, and Health GAP are among the more than 100 LGBTQ rights organizations from around the world that urged World Bank President Ajay Banga in a Sept. 16 letter not to restart lending to Uganda.

“We are writing to you from Uganda and around the world now because we are alarmed by the World Bank’s plan for mitigation measures in Uganda,” reads the letter. “The World Bank has announced that it will be testing the effectiveness of ‘mitigation measures’ from July-September 2024 and that the World Bank will restart lending if they decide the measures are effective in protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination.”

Richard Lusimbo, director general of the Uganda Key Population Consortium, in the press release said the World Bank’s “so-called ‘mitigation measures’ are a façade, designed to provide the illusion of protection.”

“They rely on perpetrators of discrimination — the government of Uganda — to implement the measures fairly,” he said. “How can they be taken seriously?” 

A World Bank spokesperson on Friday responded to the Washington Blade’s request for comment about the protest.

“The World Bank cannot deliver on its mission to end poverty and boost shared prosperity on a livable planet unless all people can participate in, and benefit from, the projects we finance,” said the spokesperson.

The spokesperson referred the Blade to an Aug. 8, 2023, statement that announced the suspension of new loans to Uganda. 

“Immediately after the law was enacted, the World Bank deployed a team to Uganda to review our portfolio in the context of the new legislation,” reads the statement. “That review determined additional measures are necessary to ensure projects are implemented in alignment with our environmental and social standards. Our goal is to protect sexual and gender minorities from discrimination and exclusion in the projects we finance. These measures are currently under discussion with the authorities.”  

“We will not propose any new public financing for Uganda to our board until we are satisfied that additional mitigation measures are in place,” the spokesperson told the Blade on Friday. “These mitigation measures have been designed to ensure beneficiaries of bank-financed projects are not discriminated against and receive equal access to services.”  

One such mitigation measure is “stakeholder engagement” that, among other things, seeks to strengthen “consultations to detect instances of exclusion or discrimination (do-no harm safety.)” Another specifically highlights “labor and working conditions” and focuses on the need for “training on inclusion and non-discrimination for borrowers (e.g., contractors and sub-contractors) and mobilization of communities” and including “provisions of non-discrimination in contracts.”

The World Bank has said the Ugandan government has agreed to the mitigation measures.

Clare Byarugaba of Chapter 4 Uganda said there “can be no business as usual between the World Bank and the government of Uganda while this law remains in force.” 

“We are gravely concerned that President Banga is turning his back on us, and breaking his commitments to ensuring non-discrimination,” she said.