Uganda says police will arrest planners of gay pride parade

KAMPALA, Uganda – A Ugandan official says police will arrest organizers who are planning a gay pride parade in the capital, Kampala.

Simon Lokodo, a cabinet minister in charge of ethics and integrity, said in a statement Wednesday that the event had not been cleared by the police and would offend the country's laws.

Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda under a colonial-era law.

In 2014, Uganda's president signed an anti-gay bill that originally had proposed the death penalty against some homosexual acts, but a court later jettisoned the law as unconstitutional.

Frank Mugisha, a gay rights leader, says he had been awaiting police authorization to hold a parade this weekend at a beach on Lake Victoria.