As mpox cases continue to surge in Uganda, LGBTQ rights organizations have raised concerns over its “troubling increase” among the queer community and have advised it to be on high alert.  

The Uganda Key Populations Consortium, an LGBTQ rights organization, working closely with the Health Ministry and Kampala Capital City Authority and other government bodies to stem the spread of mpox, has warned that queer people in semi-urban areas are the most affected.   

“These communities have expressed valid concerns regarding stigma and discrimination which may deter individuals from seeking necessary medical attention,” UKPC Director General Richard Lusimbo said.  

Uganda has recorded 512 new mpox cases in the last two weeks, bringing the total number of cases to 2,127 and 12 deaths, as the Health Ministry confirmed on Tuesday. The World Health Organization’s latest multi-country report on the mpox outbreak, released on Jan. 11, indicates that Uganda has recorded 1,552 cases and 12 deaths since the disease was first reported last July..      

The WHO report places the capital Kampala with the highest number of mpox diseases spread through community transmission with an infection incidence of 45 cases per 100,000 people, followed by the Wakiso and Nakasongola districts.

“Cases have been reported in at least 49 percent (71 out of 146) of districts in the country, but the epidemic remains largely concentrated in and around Kampala,” the WHO report reads. “So far, only clade Ib MPXV, linked to the outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been detected in the country, and current evidence indicates that transmission of the virus is occurring exclusively through close, physical human-to-human contact.” 

People between 20-29 are the most affected group, with sexual contact as a major mode of transmission among sex workers and men who have sex with men.

The UKPC has issued an urgent health advisory to the queer community as it collaborates with the Health Ministry and KCCA in responding to the mpox transmission through immediate and long-term actions, including integrating its response with ongoing HIV prevention and care strategies. 

Lusimbo, whose organization has also partnered with WHO and the Most At Risk Populations Initiative, a local health NGO, to stem the spread of mpox stated a unified preventive approach that is inclusive and effective is vital for the health and safety of all Ugandans.   

“The fear of stigma and discrimination can exacerbate the situation by hindering effective response and treatment efforts,” Lusimbo said. 

He noted that the fight against mpox in Uganda is not just limited to managing a health crisis. It also offers the queer community an opportunity to advocate for the rights and dignity of the marginalized groups. 

The UKPC last week unveiled an online survey on the mpox epidemic targeting queer people in Uganda to reliably understand its impact on them and their knowledge about the disease. 

“Mpox continues to disproportionately affect mostly our community, especially female sex workers and their clients, and men who have sex with men,” the survey reads. “As the national secretariat and coordinating body for key populations, UKPC, in partnership with KCCA, has been leading important discussions on the disease’s public health implications in areas where the impact is most notable.”

The report states the survey data will help develop tailored, inclusive, and equitable interventions for the LGBTQ community. The survey also seeks to provide specific numbers of queer people who have contracted mpox and those who have died from the disease.

Uganda Minority Shelters Consortium Coordinator John Grace attributed the lack of data about queer people affected by mpox to privacy concerns, stigma, and discrimination against the community by the homophobic public and state authorities tasked with enforcing anti-homosexuality laws. He said the Anti-Homosexuality Law has created a significant barrier for queer people to report such abuses.

“This makes it difficult to ascertain the true extent of stigma and discrimination or the impact of misinformation about transmission methods,” Grace said.  

Grace also noted the collaboration between LGBTQ organizations and healthcare providers in tackling mpox has been “inconsistent.” 

“While some providers have been welcoming and supportive, others demonstrate a lack of awareness or sensitivity regarding the specific needs of the LGBTQ+ community,” he said.

Despite the homophobic climate in Uganda amid the fight against mpox, Grace noted many LGBTQ organizations have proactively disseminated accurate information to educate queer people about the disease’s prevention within their communities through educational campaigns and safer sex practices.   

Ugandan Foreign Affairs Minister Henry Oryem has revealed U.S. and EU sanctions over the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act and other human rights violations have pushed Kampala to join the BRICS bloc.

Oryem noted Western powers’ decision to sanction other countries without U.N. input is against international norms, and Uganda needed to shield itself from such actions by aligning with the bloc that includes China, Russia, India, South Africa, Brazil, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Iran, and Indonesia. (Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Ethiopia. Iran is among the countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death.)

Kampala officially became a BRICS member on Jan. 1, joining eight other countries whose applications for admission were approved last October during the bloc’s 16^th annual summit in Kazan, Russia.  

“The United States and European Union, whenever they impose sanctions, expect all those other countries to make sure they abide by those sanctions and if you don’t, you face penalties or even they sanction you,” Oryem said. 

Oryem spoke before parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday.

MPs asked him to explain the circumstances that led Uganda to join BRICS and the country’s financial obligation from the membership.      

“Now because of that and the recent events, you have realized that the United States and European Union have started freezing assets of countries in their nations without UN resolutions which is a breach of international world order,” Oryem said. “Uganda can’t just standby and look at these changes and not be part of these changes. It will not be right.”

Oryem also said President Yoweri Museveni’s Cabinet discussed and approved the matter before he directed the Foreign Affairs Ministry to write to the BRICS Secretariat about admitting Uganda into the bloc.

The U.S. and other Western governments condemned Museveni’s decision to sign the Anti-Homosexuality Act, and announced a series of sanctions against Kampala. 

Washington, for example, imposed visa restrictions on government officials who championed the Anti-Homosexuality Act, re-evaluated its foreign aid and investment engagement with Uganda, including the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and reviewed Kampala’s duty-free trade with the U.S. under the African Growth and Opportunity Act for sub-Saharan African countries.

The U.S. in May 2024 imposed sanctions on House Speaker Anita Among and four other senior Ugandan government officials accused of corruption and significant human rights violations.

Although the EU criticized the enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, the 27-member bloc did not sanction Kampala, despite pressure from queer rights activists. The state-funded Uganda Human Rights Commission and several other human rights groups and queer activists, meanwhile, continue to pressure the government to withdraw implementation of the law.

UHRC Chair Mariam Wangadya, who called on the government to decriminalize homosexuality last month, has said her commission has received reports that indicate security officers who enforce the Anti-Homosexuality Act have subjected marginalized communities to discrimination and inhuman and degrading treatment

“As a signatory to several international and regional human rights conventions, Uganda is committed to ensuring non-discrimination and equality before the law,” Wangadya said.  “At the domestic level, Uganda’s constitution, under Article 21, prohibits discrimination based on gender, ensuring equality before the law, regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, or social status.”

Museveni’s son comes out against Anti-Homosexuality Act

Museveni’s son, Army Chief General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has also emerged as a critic of the Anti-Homosexuality Act.

“I was totally shocked and very hurt. Japanese are warriors like us. I respect them very much. I asked them how we were oppressing them. Then they told me about the AHA,” he said on X on Jan. 3 while talking about how the Japanese questioned him over Uganda’s persecution of queer people during his recent visit to Tokyo. “Compatriots, let’s get rid of that small law. Our friends around the world are misunderstanding us.”

Kainerugaba, who is positioning himself as Museveni’s successor, had already declared an interest in running for president in 2026 before he withdrew last September in favor of his 80-year-old father who has been in power for more than three decades.

In his X post, Kainerugaba also indicated that “we shall remove this Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2026.” He left the platform six days later after his posts threatened Uganda’s diplomatic relations.

“They (gays) are sick people, but since the Creator made them … what do we do? Even ‘kiboko’ (whips) might not work. We shall pray for them,” Kainerugaba said. 

The Supreme Court is currently considering a case that challenges the Anti-Homosexuality Act. The Constitutional Court last April upheld the law.

A Ugandan court on Nov. 22 awarded more than $40,000 (Shs 150 million) to 20 men who police tortured after their 2020 arrest for alleged homosexuality.

The High Court of Uganda’s Civil Division ruling notes “police and other state authorities” arrested the men in Nkokonjeru, a town in central Uganda, on March 29, 2020, and “allegedly tortured.”

“They assert that on the morning of the said date their residence was invaded by a mob, among which were the respondents, that subjected them to all manner of torture because they were practicing homosexuality,” reads the ruling. “The alleged actions of torture include beating, hitting, burning using a hot piece of firewood, undressing, tying, biding, conducting an anal examination, and inflicting other forms of physical, mental, and psychological violence based on the suspicion that they are homosexuals, an allegation they deny.”

The arrests took place shortly after the Ugandan government imposed a lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Based on the same suspicion (of homosexuality), the applicants were then arrested, taken to Nkokonjeru B police station, and charged with doing a negligent act likely to spread infection by disease,” reads the ruling.

The ruling notes the men “were charged” on March 31, 2020, and sent to prison, “where they were again allegedly beaten, examined, harassed, and subjected to discrimination.”

Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in Uganda.

President Yoweri Museveni in 2023 signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act, which contains a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality.” LGBTQ activists continue to challenge the law.

Sexual Minorities Uganda Executive Director Frank Mugisha on X described the Nov. 22 ruling as a “significant victory for the LGBTQ+ community.”