Author of Uganda's gay execution
bill to attend prayer breakfast with Obama
David Bahati said he would attend the prayer
breakfast
David Bahati, the MP who authored Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill, is
expected to attend a prayer breakfast with US president Barack Obama.
Bahati told the Ugandan newspaper Sunday Monitor he would be attending
the National Prayer Breakfast on February 4th.
The event usually attended by the president, who the newspaper described
as a "gays-tolerant liberal president".
The breakfast is organised by The Fellowship – a secretive conservative
Christian organisation which is also known as The Family. Its members include
politicians, religious leaders and corporate executives.
Bahati may be asked to speak at the event, which will also be attended
by Congress members and Cabinet secretaries. Previous speakers have included
Tony Blair, Bono and Mother Theresa.
Uganda's president Yoweri Museveni signalled last week that he was
stepping back from the bill, which would execute gays in some circumstances.
He said his country must consider its "foreign interests" and
cited world leaders such as British prime minister Gordon Brown, who had
expressed his concern about the proposed legislation.
Bahati, the MP for Ndorwa West, has refused to back down, saying his
bill will "protect the traditional family".
The country's minister for ethics James Nsaba Buturo said recently he
believed Museveni did not support the death penalty for gays and said the
provision was likely to be removed from the bill.
Aston Kajara, minister of state for investments, has also said the bill
is "unnecessary".
The bill would impose the death penalty on gays who sex with minors,
disabled people or while living with HIV, along with repeat offenders. Other
homosexuality offences, such as failing to report incidents to police, would
result in imprisonment.
It is expected to come before parliament in late February or early
March.