In our previous article about the Makerere University row that ensued at Mitchell Hostel, when holier-than-thou boys turned against their fellow students, accusing them of homosexuality, thus subjecting them to mob justice before the university police operatives quelled the situation, we discussed the deteriorating academic values—tolerance and independent thinking—at the institution.
Of course, many people who were following the incident were not looking at it from a logical perspective; instead, they came to an inference from a subjective point of view, where they agreed with perpetrators—agents of violence—for meting out brutality on the accused.
While some Ugandans, including politicians and religious leaders on social media, cheered the Mitchell Hostel boys for dehumanising their fellow students and presumed ‘suspects’ and condemned the university security for rescuing the victims, they all forget that the episode sets a threatening precedent: mob justice can be revisited in a society governed by laws, and that in incidents where society is dialectical, we should crucify whoever doesn’t buy our way of life.
Oftentimes, out of stark ignorance and shortsightedness, a set of people tend to set harsh laws, with the intention of punishing a specific category of people, forgetting that in the long run, especially in Uganda where laws work in the interest of the powerful, these deliberate rules become a cobweb that traps each of us, including those who were at the forefront of championing them.
The Makerere saga justifies violence and discredits the law—it is not about LGBTQ but the fundamental human freedoms as guaranteed by the Uganda Constitution—the right to life, personal liberty, fair hearing, and freedom from discrimination, torture, and slavery, and when we are worshippers of violators of these rights, then we are inadvertently slouching towards a lawless country, where the Constitution is only paperwork, and we are painting a grim picture that the LGBTQ people are not Ugandan enough to enjoy their constitutional rights.
In the recent report published by Makerere University, the administration, though under acute criticism from self-acclaimed moralists, disassociates itself from violence and dehumanisation of students, regardless of their identity, by others—it holds the perpetrators accountable by suspending them as it continues with its investigations. Once again, the academic giant reminds every Ugandan that spaces of learning can only thrive on tolerance and appreciation of human dignity—that true education is inclusivity, and when an institution ignores such basics, it risks its fundamental principles.
However, Mr Martin Ssempa, a pastor who has committed most of his life to fighting the LGBTQ community in Uganda and less to preaching the Lord’s true gospel—one of kindness and love for all people—continues to curse Professor Nawangwe, the Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, for protecting the university against homophobia and the hate, hate itself might produce if such barbarism is not pruned before it flowers.
In his video on Twitter (X), Mr Ssempa says that punishing violence against the minority groups is promoting homosexuality; what he forgets is that no one promotes something inherent. And so, when he says advocating for LGBTQ rights is promoting homosexuality, he only lacks the right word to rebrand his hate for the LGBTQ people in Uganda, but his revulsion and obsession for them are discernible—they can be seen without extra lenses.
However, it is quite unsettling that Pastor Ssempa has never condemned state oppression, the country’s poor road network, corruption that has been nationalised, unemployment that is now our second anthem, paedophiles who continue to rape and infect children with HIV, etc., and this speaks a lot about his agenda—to call him for what he is, a pastor of hate, and he is an epitome of the Ugandan Christian faith, whose focus is on championing hate while ignoring the problems of Ugandans.
