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Uganda’s Ethics Minister James Nsaba Buturo, who publicly supports the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill, just made the audacious claim that Gay Uganda, the live-from-Uganda blog we’ve been covering for some time, was among three recipients of some $20 million (million!) provided by some unnamed foreign entity. This would be laughable, were the ridiculous assertion not being made by a top government official.

Already lacking credibility among rational people, Buturo — who falsely claimed lawmakers would drop the death penalty — has upped his fanciful reputation with the completely false declaration.

If Gay Uganda — one of “three civil society organisations allegedly promoting homosexuality activities in Uganda,” reports Uganda’s Daily Monitor, including Sexual Minorities Uganda and Integrity Uganda — is on the receiving end of USD$20M, why is the blog running on Google’s Blogspot using such an amateur theme? Where’s the marketing and promotion?

As the blog’s anonymous author points out: “I, gayuganda, I am a single human being. Sorry, but my English fails me. This is not a group, or a family, or a cabal or whatever. This is one human being, a Ugandan, living, working in Uganda, who happens to be gay. I am certainly not a Civil Society Organisation. IS THAT CLEAR? … Secondly, huh, 20 Million USD? I would really love to get at least a tenth of that. Ok, I will not be greedy, I will settle for much, much less. Christmas is here, and the bills are not completely paid. My lover wants more than I can give him, the usual problems of life. If I had just a fraction of that, I would be really, really happy.”

And naturally, any of the “several hundred” Kill The Gays bill protesters who demonstrated in the capital Kampala on Tuesday are also being provided with foreign funds, eh?

Buturo knows he’s lying, but that doesn’t matter. His statement is another way of saying opposition to the bill is a foreign, a Western construct, while reminding native Ugandans that true patriots support further criminalizing homosexuality.

He’s framing the debate as “us versus them.” And frightfully, it’s working out.

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