Ugandan prosecutors drop case against two women arrested for kissing

Ugandan prosecutors said Friday that they had withdrawn a case against two women who were arrested for kissing in public under the country's anti-gay law.

The two women, both in their 20s, were arrested in February after a complaint by neighbours in the northwestern city of Arua. Local police spokesperson Josephine Angucia told AFP at the time that neighbours had taken photos of them and that they were suspected of "same-sex orgies".

Irene Nakimbugwe, the deputy spokesperson for the prosecutor's office, told AFP that the Director of Public Prosecutions had withdrawn the case from court.

Human rights lawyer Frank Mugisha welcomed the decision, but said the case should not have gone that far. He said kissing is not a crime, called for similar prosecutions under the Anti-Homosexuality Act to be dropped, and called for the law to be repealed.

Uganda's 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act sets penalties of up to life imprisonment for consensual same-sex relations. It also makes "aggravated homosexuality" punishable by death.

Rights groups say the law is often used to blackmail and extort members of Uganda's LGBT community. The law drew criticism from rights campaigners, the United Nations and Western countries. The World Bank suspended funding to Uganda after the law was passed, although funding resumed in mid-2025.