Political situation

Governance and human rights

President Museveni is increasingly governing the country in an autocratic and repressive manner. The work of the political opposition is being obstructed, especially before elections, and civic space is partly restricted. In order to strengthen good governance and human rights in Uganda, the BMZ is engaged in efforts such as enhancing the capacity of the Uganda Human Rights Commission as a monitoring and complaints body for human rights violations, and strengthening the work of Uganda's supreme audit institution.

Homosexuality is banned in Uganda. While it is legal to identify as homosexual, same-sex sexual acts are a criminal offence. The recent tightening of the ban came after years of controversy over legal provisions. A law to make anti-homosexuality legislation tighter was struck down by the Constitutional Court in 2014. In 2019, the government rejected calls for stricter legislation. However, in early 2023, Parliament took up these demands again. In March and, after some amendments, once more in May 2023, the Ugandan Parliament passed a drastic bill against homosexuality and LGBTIQ+ persons. The President signed the law on 26 May 2023. The law envisages long prison sentences and even the death penalty for homosexual acts. It has met with harsh criticism from other countries, including Germany. Even though the law enjoys broad popular support in Uganda, criticism has also arisen within the country. A group of prominent critics challenged the law in Uganda's Constitutional Court.

In its unanimous decision of 3 April 2024, the Court upheld the anti-homosexuality law, stating that it was constitutional. It only revoked four individual provisions of the law, including the obligation to report homosexuals and the ban on renting premises to homosexual persons. The “promotion of homosexuality” continues to be a crime. The Court also upheld the severe punishments for homosexual acts, from long prison sentences all the way to the death penalty.