Uganda, April 4 -- The government yesterday welcomed a Constitutional Court verdict upholding the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023, despite an announcement by petitioners earlier in the day to take the legal battle to the Supreme Court.

In Kampala and western capitals, the decision of the five-member Coram triggered closed-door meetings to scrutinise the text of the 200-page judgment, the implications and how to respond.

The World Bank, which froze new lending to Uganda after President Museveni last May signed the Act into law, said it was still studying the verdict while the United States, whose President Joe Biden condemned the legislation as a "tragic violation of universal human rights", had said nothing by press time.

Other developmen...