Publishing and having nude photos on mobile and electronic devices in Uganda can land you in jail for up to 10 years under the country’s anti-pornography law, which parliament passed in 2014 with an aim to “stamp pornography out of the Ugandan society.”
As part of the clampdown, Simon Lokodo, Uganda’s minister of ethics, told state-owned media that the country has bought an $88,000 pornography-detection machine from a company in South Korea. It will arrive in Uganda next month (September), he said.
Lokodo reportedly says it will be able to “detect, control, and scrutinize porn on mobile handsets and other electronic devices.”
“It is therefore necessary to pass a law that specifically deals with the offence of pornography and derives the reform necessary to stamp pornography out of the Ugandan society,” said Hon. Tashobya while presenting the Committee Report on the Bill.
Question is, will the anti-pornography law, supported by the machine break the cycle or will simply put the habit to halt until we probably have a new state minister instituted, one without zeal to continue the drive?
It’s no secret—porn is taking both the youth and old left and right.
For anyone, it’s possible to say you’ve probably struggled with porn—or the temptation of porn—and you’ve seen the devastating effects porn has on relationships.
In recent studies, we’ve learned that viewing pornography makes us more likely to have an affair, more vulnerable to divorce, depression, and the guilt involved can often become numbing—rendering us ineffective for life and ministry.
In 2014, Google published statistics listing the countries with the greatest number of searches for gay porn on the web and found Uganda ranked third, behind Kenya and Pakistan.
The ethics minister has previously asked telecoms operators in Uganda to track and block public access to pornographic material.
Roger Ross Williams, director of the award-winning documentary God Loves Uganda, told the Huffington Post he believes the more government tries to repress sex and sexuality, the more it will continue to flourish underground.
Williams was quick to point out that the high numbers of internet searches for gay pornography in antigay nations such as Uganda are not necessarily reflective of the country’s LGBT population, but instead reflect the society’s curiosity about sex in general.
Why don’t we get to the root of the problem? The government has had several mass sensitization drives, in collaboration with several bodies, religious or otherwise and famous personalities.
Not that I critic the porn detection machine, I simply mean to say that let us address porn, its hazardous effects and let every victim know that they can do without it.
The battle is with the mind. The strong hold can be broken. You are not abnormal in case you have the struggle. Government should not take this as a man hunt kind of thing. No one was born a porn addict.
Our mind can easily be corrupted by the society we leave in, by what we see and hear from our friends and on media. Deal with the mind.
As sensitization drives are strengthened, let the porn promoters be sought out.
Covering your trail by deleting your Internet history with hopes that you’ll never do it again is a recipe for disaster. Confession is the key to break the pattern, not covering up. Every cover up digs us deeper and deeper into the darkness.
If you’re struggling with porn, I challenge you to take a bold step today and confess it to God and to someone close—and take radical steps toward accountability. This way, the cycle will be dealt with from its roots.
If you go on long enough without remembering the life-altering power of the resurrection—it’s easy to feel powerless and trapped.
But God’s desire is for you to experience the fullness of his forgiveness, redemption and sanctification. You’re not fighting this alone and you’re not fighting it in your own strength. Never forget that.
aaron@ugchristiannews.com
