KAMPALA, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The Ugandan legislator who this week retabled in parliament an anti-gay bill widely condemned as draconian said a clause proposing the death penalty for repeat offenders would be scrapped.
The bill's harsh penaltiles for homosexuality, which is already illegal in Uganda, caused an international outcry when it first came up in parliament in 2009.
U.S. President Barack Obama denounced the original bill as "odious", Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to reject it and some international donors threatened to cut aid if it became law.
Uganda later dropped the legislation, but the controversy re-emerged when ruling party Member of Parliament David Bahati resurrected the bill earlier this week.
Bahati told Reuters in an interview on Friday the clause ordering the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality" had been removed from the original bill at the committee stage, and it would be removed again in the retabled bill.
"We're saying the death penalty will not be part of the bill," said Bahati.
Homosexuality is taboo in many African nations. It is illegal in 37 countries on the continent, including Uganda, and activists say few Africans are openly gay, fearing imprisonment, violence and loss of jobs.
After being introduced in 2009, the bill was subsequently shelved last May. The cabinet later took it over and, after widespread censure from western governments and gay rights activists, said in August it had decided to drop it.
The cabinet said existing laws were sufficient to deal with homosexual crimes in the east African country.
The government this week distanced itself from the bill, saying Bahati was a backbencher, the proposed law did not form part of the legislative programme and it was not supported by the prime minister or the cabinet.
"However, as Uganda is a constitutional democracy, it is appropriate that if a private members bill is presented to parliament it be debated," the government said in a statement.
"Contrary to reports, the bill before parliament even if it were to pass, would not sanction the death penalty for homosexual behavior in Uganda," it said.
Source: Reuters Africa, Feb. 10, 2012
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