Simon Lokodo
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| “ | Take it the way you want, but what I'm telling you is it is not permissible in Uganda for single-sex relationships. Finished! And if you are [inaudible] that, I'm sorry but I will treat you as a destroyer of Uganda's ideologies. (...) I will arrest you. I will arrest you! I have the lawyers! | „ |
| ~ Simon Lokodo |
Simon Lokodo (October 28, 1957 - January 29, 2022) was a former Catholic priest serving as the Ugandan Minister for Ethics and Integrity. He is also the elected Member of Parliament for Dodoth County, Kaabong District, and formerly served as Minister for Industry.
Biography edit
Simon Lokodo was born in Kaabong District on 28 October 1957. He attended the Pontifical Urban University in Rome and graduated with both a Master's and Bachelor's Degree in Theology. He also graduated from various other schools around the world with a series of language certificates. He was parish priest of Kaabong Parish until his entry into politics.
At the age of 49, Lokodo first entered politics to contest a special election on 29 June 2006, following the death of the incumbent member of parliament. He was ex-communicated from the Catholic Church by Pope Benedict XVI when he entered politics. He won the special election and began representing Dodoth County, Kaabong District, in the parliament. In February 2009, he was appointed to the cabinet as the Minister of State for Industry & Technology. In the cabinet reshuffle of 27 May 2011, he was relocated to the Ethics & Integrity portfolio, replacing Nsaba Buturo. In the cabinet reshuffle of 1 March 2015, he retained his cabinet post.
Lokodo is well known for his opposition to homosexuality, having supported a proposed law that would allow judges to sentence gay men to death. While this bill, known as the "Kill the Gays bill", was successfully enacted in 2014, the High Court later reversed the decision because of alleged misconduct. Despite this, it is still illegal to be gay in Uganda, with gay men receiving prison sentences of seven years to life if found guilty.
Lokodo garnered some controversy in 2014 after an interview with gay British actor Stephen Fry after he condoned the practise of corrective rape and possibly all forms of heterosexual rape. Fry confronted Lokodo during the interview after he stated that rape is ok as long as it is done "the right way", in other words as long as it is a man raping a woman. Throughout the interview, Lokodo accused Fry and other gay men of trying to undermine his country. He also ominously told Fry that "I will arrest you. I have the lawyers" after Fry jokingly suggested that Lokodo should try being gay. Fry later claimed that he had attempted suicide after talking to Lokodo.
Lokodo is also a misogynist, having enacted dress code laws in 2014 that prohibit "sexually provocative" women's clothing. This is similar to laws in many fundamentalist religious states that also prohibit revealing clothing. Lokodo defended this by saying "If you dress in such a way that you irritate the mind and excite the people then you are badly dressed... with a malicious purpose of exciting and stimulating him or her into sex,".
Lokodo died in Geneva on 29 January 2022, at the age of 64 from COVID-19.