President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has alleged that the World Bank attempted to use financial leverage to manipulate the government’s stance on its contentious anti-LGBTQ legislation.
Museveni’s assertions came in response to the Bretton Woods institution’s recent decision to suspend new loans to the East African nation, as reported by RFI.
The World Bank’s announcement followed its classification of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act as one of the world’s strictest laws targeting LGBTQ communities.
The US-based global lender stated that the legislation “fundamentally contradicts” the institution’s core values. Consequently, it declared that no fresh public financing requests would be submitted to its board of directors for approval in the interim.
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In a post on [X], formerly known as Twitter, Museveni, who sanctioned the legislation in May, conveyed, “Ugandans will develop with or without loans. It is therefore unfortunate that the World Bank and other actors dare to want to coerce us into abandoning our faith, culture, principles, and sovereignty, using money.”
He asserted, “We do not need pressure from anybody to know how to solve problems in our society.”
While reaffirming ongoing discussions between Uganda and the World Bank to find common ground, Museveni underlined the nation’s intent to evade diversions from its path.
Uganda’s newly introduced law, which includes provisions designating “aggravated homosexuality” as a capital offense and imposing life imprisonment for consensual same-sex relations, has faced condemnation from various quarters, including the United Nations, foreign governments such as the United States, and global human rights organizations.
