The Speaker of Parliament, Ms Anita Among, has urged members of parliament from African countries to stand firm and dissociate from Western influence which aims at violating African values..
“Despite the intimidation from the West, we must stand firm against vices such as homosexuality and its associated evils; unconditionally defend our cultures and values because it’s a just fight,” Ms Among said.
She made the remarks on Wednesday in a speech delivered on her behalf by Ms Justine Kasule Lumumba, the minister for General Duties in the Office of the Prime Minister, at the opening of the 2nd African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family Values and Sovereignty in Entebbe.
“We have witnessed Western countries imposing sanctions, including threatening, withdrawing funding from countries that have resisted their cultural colonization and Uganda has been a victim of such,” she said.
Ms Among said: “Several leaders, including me, have had their visas to some Western countries cancelled. This is a cultural slavery that we must stand against to protect our integrity and sovereignty before it’s Europeanised in exchange for economic gains and favours.”
“These Europeans shouldn’t take advantage of our poverty to exploit and colonise us again. We shouldn’t take your sugar-coated grants if they threaten our independence and erode our cultural norms and family values” she said.
Ms Among said: “To emphasise Uganda’s commitment to protecting African families and values, we stood our ground and passed the Anti-homosexuality Bill in 2023 even when the whole world was against us. This is because we are a Godly nation that respects the sanctity of marriage that is ordained to be between a man and a woman for the intended purpose of procreation and companionship.”
She said it was high time for African states to create new alliances to harness new opportunities and support each other’s strengths and weaknesses to achieve a social-economic transformation agenda.
The Nnaabagereka of Buganda, Sylvia Nagginda, in a speech delivered by Ms Cotilda Nakate Kikomeko, the minister-in-charge of social services in her office, said African countries require a concerted effort from all sectors of society to safeguard African traditional and cultural values against global threats.
The Buganda queen said: “By prioritising education, leveraging technology, engaging communities, advocating supportive policies, the role of cultural institutions should be acknowledged and harmonised within development plans and processes to ensure our cultural heritage continues to thrive for generations to come.”
She said there is a need to push for policies that protect and promote African cultural heritage in today’s rapidly globalizing world.
The conference chair, Ms Sarah Opendi, also the Tororo District Woman MP, said following last year’s meeting held in Entebbe, the Entebbe Declaration was adopted with a call to all stakeholders to protect Africa from a second colonisation of African values and culture.
“We have the Pan African Parliament through which we hope to pass our deliberations in this second conference that will be taken to the African Union and all heads of state that will revise them to generate a law that will protect our families, cultural norms as Africans,” she said.
The Director Christian Council International, Mr Henk Jan van Scothorst, said African states need to stay strong against pressure from the West since it’s the last man standing in protecting values.
“Many times these days I am not very proud when I see the Dutch flag; knowing that The Netherlands is at the forefront of all kinds of policies which ruin African cultural values because of its progressive character, all the sexual rights organisations and subsidies mainly come from the Hague,” he said.
