Second Lady Pastor Dorcas Rigathi has insisted that Africa is not ready to legalise relationships involving lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning persons (LGBTQ).
Speaking during the launch of Jesus’ Africa Book by Pastor Patience Museveni, the daughter of Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, Dorcas said Africa would rather miss trade opportunities with the nations advocating for LGBTQ.
“We must stand for what is true and what is right. My daughter (Patience Museveni) continue with what you are doing, don’t stop and don’t be intimidated. We will stand with you," she said.
“LGBTQ does not have a place in Africa. It is better to miss on trade but have our integrity intact.”
She spoke after Odrek Rwabwogo, the husband to Patience revealed that he was flying from Nairobi to the US to defend the stand by the Ugandan government on LGBTQ.
Rwabwogo said the US had threatened to remove Uganda from Africa Growth Opportunity Act (Agoa) trade deal after the East African nation passed a law criminalising LGBTQ.
The Bill was signed by President Museveni early this year.
“In Uganda for example, the President has stood against the world and said no to LGBTQ. We must stand for what is right. We must say no to immorality,” Dorcas said.
She also spoke strongly about family values terming it the very basic in building the nation.
“We must begin our rebuilding journey by returning to the family because family is everything,” she said.
During the launch of the book, Patience Museveni recalled her early days growing up in Nairobi when her family sought refuge in Kenya.
Pastor Patience said one of her siblings schooled in Nyeri while the rest schooled in Nairobi while the family of the Ugandan longest-serving president was living in Nairobi’s Riverside estate.
“Having this event in Nairobi is special for me and my family because of fond memories in Kenya. Many years ago, my family, like many Ugandans, fled civil war, danger and turmoil. Kenya opened its doors for my family, we lived among you as refugees,” she said.
In her book, she talks about how she received a vision from God in 2005 about the African continent. In the vision she hears a voice saying “out of what was called darkness, will come a great light, “the lord said, “this light will come from within you.”
She further narrates how the light spread beyond her native country of Uganda to other countries in the African continent.