Thank you, Madame.
There is no easy answer to your question, actually. There are many theories as to how that came about. It would be like writing a thesis to answer that question and give you the various answers.
The trouble is that recently--it was even reported on CNN--this MP, he himself, said that he would do everything to push this bill through. As I said in my speaking notes, most governments that have donated aid to Uganda and human rights groups that have applied massive pressure since the bill was proposed a year ago believed the bill had been shelved. We all thought so. Then all of a sudden there was the publishing of the names of 100 individuals in the newspapers, the reprisals, the people in hiding.
The government itself is not even putting any measures.... They will say to the western governments that they're doing everything to protect these individuals. But on the ground, nothing is happening. People are taking the law in their own hands.
You can blame it on being traditional. You can blame it on religious preachings from the U.S. trying to say that, oh, Africa will be an example to the rest of the world, that they do not agree with gay and lesbian issues.
It's a difficult question to answer, honestly. What is troubling is that we don't know what is going to happen, really. The fact remains that if people are being persecuted even now, and the government is not putting in any measures to protect these individuals.... Maybe they are barbaric, at best.