UGANDA — Uganda President Yoweri Museveni is dragging his feet on signing a new anti-porn bill recently passed by the country’s Parliament.
The initiative was proposed in an effort to make porn production a criminal offense. Anti-porn crusaders reportedly pushed the action claiming that porn fuels sexual crimes against women and children.
If Museveni sings the bill into law, an Anti-Pornography committee would be created responsible for weeding out, collecting and destroying pornographic materials.
Strip clubs would also be banned if the law takes effect.
One of the proposal’s main supporters, ethics and integrity state minister Father Simon Lokodo, said he was not aware of any official action by the President, but maintained that his approval would show the country he is supporting the stamping out of indecent exposure.
Lokodo noted that the law would stop citizens from running around streets “half naked” and ensure safety of children against porn. “It is not freedom for someone to dress inappropriately. This is western culture, and nobody should be influenced into this,” Lokodo said.
Although porn is already prohibited in Uganda in different laws, there is no single law on the books to make it a national crime.
A government spokesperson said he is unaware of why the President has not signed the bill, but noted that he is busy with issues in South Sudan.
