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Ugandan government sets up pornographic control committee

Uganda’s Minister of Ethics and Integrity Simon Lokodo has equipped a pornographic control team with top gadgets to monitor and intercept pornographic material. Uganda has been in the news for passing laws that curb sexual expression.

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Uganda’s major fight is around sexual morality, orientation and expression. The Ugandan government passed an Anti-Pornography Act that defines pornography as the representation of the sexual parts of a person to bring about arousal. The legislation led to a ban in mini-skirts. The most recent uproar came when Ugandan civil servants were given a strict dress code to abide by.

Uganda’s Minister for Ethics and Integrity Simon Lokodo inaugurated a nine-member pornographic control team to prevent use or spread of pornographic materials and information. The team was inaugurated at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala and would be allocated $555,000 (Ush2bn) a year with a secretariat of 30 to 40 members of staff.

Read: Uganda Anti-Pornography Bill Could Prohibit ‘Provocative’ Clothing on Women

Ugandan pop singer Jemimah Kansiime is the first person to be indicted under the anti-porn law for her graphic music video. Photo: ANP/AFP Isaac Kasamani

The committee is set to acquire top-end gadgets to monitor and or intercept, downloading, watching, sharing and or transmission of electronic pornographic material. Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has been co-opted under the arrangement to handle media and cinema proprietors that broadcast such material, this according to the report. The committee has also been authorised to identify, seize and destroy any pornographic materials.

The minister said, “The display, sale and circulation of pornographic images in the print and electronic media is one of the key reasons we have escalating cases of drug abuse among youths, incest, teenage pregnancy and abortion, homosexuality and lesbianism and defilement.”

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Lokodo believes pornography is “one of the deadliest moral diseases in Uganda.”

Read: Gay rights campaigners in Uganda risk it all by publishing new LGBTI magazine

Uganda has one of the most repressive laws against homosexuality and generally clamps down on sexual expression and dressing. These laws, which border on the infringement of human rights have been subject to protest from different sections of society.

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