Political funding: DR Stella resorts to Gay people for Money
Opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) flag bearer for Kampala City woman MP Dr Stella Nyanzi appeals to guy people for to fund her parliamentary campaigns.
Former Makerere medical anthropologist lecturer popularly known as Nnalongo Owenene wrote a letter to renown guy activists Ellen DeGeneres and Elton John asking for campaign funds.
The letter titled “Application for funding” Dr Stellar Nyanzi pleaded how he was tortured and jailed for her political views.
Dr Stella Nyanzi writes;
Dear Ellen DeGeneres and Elton John
My names are Stella Nyanzi.
I am an academic researcher, a human rights defender, a dissident protester, and an activist from Uganda.
I am running for political election as the Kampala Woman Member of Parliament for 2021-2026.
In February of this year, I was released upon acquittal from Luzira Women Prison where I had served (sixteen months) most of my sentence for offensive communication against President Yoweri Museveni.
I joined the race for Kampala Woman Member of Parliament during the COVID-19 Lockdown in Uganda.
During my public media engagements, my opponents and their supporters are masterminding a political smear-campaign in which they call me “a promoter of homosexuality,” “a violator of Kiganda, Ugandan and African traditional values,” and “a dangerous example to youths.”
They denigrate my academic research about, defiant activism for and diplomatic advocacy for the human rights of LGBTIQA+ people.
My opponents and their fans assert that my campaigns for political office are heavily funded by white gay men and white lesbian women.
In a deeply conservative national context where patriarchy, misogyny, heterosexism, homophobia and transphobia thrive, this homophobic propaganda is detracting potential supporters from my campaign.
I have never denied that I am a strong ally of the LGBTIQA+ communities in Uganda specifically, but Africa more broadly.
I acknowledge my academic research and scientific knowledge production through scholarly journal articles, book chapters, poetry and conference presentations on same-sex relationships and non-binary genders.
I embrace my queer activism, and pro-LGBTIQA+ rights advocacy. Indeed, I participated in several local pride marches, variously supported individuals and organisations, and attended diverse processes that challenged the Anti-Homosxuality Bill and Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda.
However, I have never received any funding support for either my activism or my political campaign from any white gay man or white lesbian person.
This letter is therefore to formally and publicly invite both of you to fund my campaign for political office. My total budget is UGX 1,300,000,000 Uganda Shillings, which is equivalent to USD 340,000$ United States Dollars.
If the funds requested for are too much to afford, can you please find praise for me among other LGBTIQA+ people of means?
Please generously support my journey!
I look forward to your swift and kind consideration in this matter, the letter read.
Stella Nyanzi is a feminist, queer rights activist, and scholar of sexuality, family planning, and public health.
She is contesting for Kampala Woman MP, and facing tough competition from National Unity Platform (NUP) party flag bearer Counsel Shamim Malende.