PERSONS IN UGANDA

(a) All developmental efforts are directed at ensuring the maximum social and
cultural well-being of the people; and
(b) All Ugandans enjoy rights and opportunities and access to education, health
services, clean and safe water, work, decent shelter, adequate clothing, food
security and pension and retirement benefits.
This objective concerns some of the areas in which LGBTI persons in Uganda are most
discriminated: education, health service provision and work. It is important especially
regarding the right to health, which is not substantively protected in the bill of rights,
and yet access to health care is one of the most relevant aspects of rights of LGBTI
persons. The justiciability of these objectives therefore protects the rights of LGBTI
persons to health and their access to other socio-economic services.
Objective XXVIII
The objective provides that:
(i) The foreign policy of Uganda shall be based on the principles of (b) respect for
international law and treaty obligations.
(ii) Uganda shall actively participate in international and regional organisations that
stand for peace and for the well-being and progress of humanity.
This objective emphasises Uganda’s obligations under international law. Uganda has
signed different international human rights instruments that provide protection for
the rights of LGBTI persons and provide different obligations as will be discussed in
a separate section in this booklet. This objective enjoins stakeholders to interpret
and implement the Constitution in observance of the different obligations created
under the international human rights law instruments that Uganda is a party to. It
also enjoins the state to engage in foreign policy that is supportive of the well-being
and progress of humanity. Considering that rights of LGBTI persons have come to the
fore of the human rights debate recently, this objective creates the need to interpret
and implement the Constitution progressively to include the different developments
in the international arenas.
1.2.2 The Bill of Rights
This is contained in Chapter Four of the Constitution. The Bill of Rights enumerates
the various rights that all persons in Uganda are entitled to. All the rights espoused
therein apply to LGBTI persons the same way they apply to all persons in Uganda. This
has been the position in all the three cases concerning LGBTI rights in Uganda that
have been decided by the High Court. 11 As such, this seems to be settled. Therefore
for purposes of this compilation, only those rights that have a direct connection to
sexual orientation and gender identity will be focused on. They include the following:
i) The inherent nature of human rights
One of the key characteristics of human rights is the fact that they accrue to all human
beings by virtue of their being human. They are not the exclusive dictate of the state
and should therefore not be taken away at its whims. Human rights are about human
11 The Victor Mukasa case (n1 above) the Rollingstone case (n1 above) and the Lokodo case (n7 above)
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