Uganda GAY activists protest along Kampala street

       
        An exodus of gay persons from Uganda and activists could be headed for Nairobi as it turns out that Kenya and South Africa are the only countries in the continent working behind the scenes to help ‘targeted’ groups.

          Several gay rights groups and HIV activists with foreign links and collaborating with United Nations bodies have been coordinating Uganda’s agenda from Nairobi.

          Even as President Yoweri Museveni dithered over the new anti-gay law, it is now emerging that some organisations and individuals in Kenya have been working behind the scenes to convince him that scientifically homosexuality is indeed normal.

        About two weeks ago, a group of public health clinicians, researchers and academics wrote to President Museveni giving what they said was the correct science behind homosexuality.

            The group consisted of 14 organisations, most of them from the US, one civil group from Uganda, three from South Africa and the rest from Europe. Two of the South African groups are the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, and the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation. Homosexuality is legal in South Africa.

              At the same time 78 individuals signed the document majority from US, others from Uganda, Europe, South Africa and three from Kenya, the only African signatories to the document. The three are Allan Raggi, the executive director of Kenya Aids NGOs Consortium (KANCO); Keith M Mullei, a health systems and health policy researcher, and Dr Ambrose Agweyu, a clinician at the Kenya Medical Research Institute.

“Unnatural act”

             When contacted, the Kenya Medical Research Institute director, Prof Solomon Mpoke, said Dr Agweyu’s was a personal view and not that of the institute, a position the latter confirmed to The Standard On Sunday later. Mr Raggi was travelling early in the week but his office confirmed that he had signed the document on behalf of the organisation. KANCO is an umbrella organisation of about 1,200 civil groups working mainly in HIV and other health concerns. We were unable to contact Mr Mullei.

              Since homosexuality or what the law calls an “unnatural act” is illegal in Kenya and Uganda, civil groups supporting the activities are mainly registered as HIV programmes.  But this is not just restricted to civil groups with the Ministry of Health in Kenya in collaboration with the University of Nairobi and Manitoba University of Canada running medical clinics for men who have sex with men in Nairobi.