Former Uganda football club boss guilty of sodomy

Former Uganda national football team official and club manager Chris Mubiru has been found guilty of non-consensual sodomy and “having carnal knowledge of his victim” by a court in Kampala.

According to the Daily Monitor, Chief magistrate Flavia Nabakooza concluded that the state had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

A man had claimed that Mubiru drugged him before having sex with him in 2009. In addition to these claims, it appears that much of the evidence was based on items found in Mubiru’s home, including creams and pain tablets.

The newspaper reported that a government analytical laboratory expert “explained that dermatological creams brought to him are used by homosexuals to ease anal penetration while the pain killers are used to reduce the pain associated with anal sexual intercourse.”

He also claimed that “sex offenders use the chloroform to induce their victims to sleep in case they resist sexual intercourse.”

Mubiru was acquitted on an additional count of sodomy because the court found that a second man, or “victim” according to the Monitor, “consented to the act.”

Mubiru’s bail was revoked and he will be sentenced on 18 September. He faces 18 years in prison.

Mubiru, who has denied all the charges against him, was the subject of a 2012 “exposé” by the notoriously anti-gay Red Pepper tabloid, which published screen grabs it alleged were of a video of him having sex with a young footballer.

The story was splashed on its front page with the headline: “SMOKED OUT! Uganda Cranes boss nabbed sodomising players – Shocking pictures inside.”

In July, a doctor testified in court about a medical examination he conducted on Mubiru, requested by his lawyers, “to find out if he had ever used his [genitals] to forcefully commit sodomy acts.”