State House Entebbe ebbed and flowed with dramatic contrasts : laughter at sexual jokes versus the pain of impending persecution and prosecution ; Western freedoms clashing with African culture ; an unwinnable battle between science and learned behavior ; nature and nurture . Who decides ? President Yoweri Museveni did , in this moment , inking into law harsh penalties for gay people , supported overwhelmingly by Ugandans . I was floored at the barrage of criticism belted out to The West . `` Arrogant western groups are to blame . '' Applause . `` Leave us alone . '' Applause . `` We do n't need your ( donor ) money . '' Huge applause . The press conference was attended by MPs , scientists , Ugandan officials and other journalists . I stepped out for a moment to do a report by telephone , which we call a beeper at CNN , and returned to a room that was pretty jovial . It felt uncomfortable to laugh about something that had such serious implications . `` What did I miss ? '' I asked my producer Antonia . `` Something about the mouth being for kissing and eating only , and not for going south , only north , '' comments delivered by the president to more laughter , she said . I approached the mic and asked two questions that were significantly less amusing -- there was palpable tension in the room as a blanket of silence descended . I was in the minority , raising subjects like human rights and freedom of speech , and asking if he was n't taking Uganda a step backwards in time ? The response tore into Western values and ripped to shreds any willingness to tolerate Western ideas around sexuality or `` social imperialism , '' as the president put it . Now it 's easy to roll your eyes but I know this region , and many Africans think the imposition of social norms by the U.S. or Western and former colonial powers is offensive and unwanted , though they love Western music , movies and cutting-edge technologies . Overall , East Africans are not generally anti-Western . I was shocked when Museveni declared , to even more clapping , that Uganda does n't need aid money from the West . I turned to Antonia : `` Did he really just say that ? '' She nodded and folded up the note we wrote to an aide requesting an exclusive interview with the president . Newsflash to me : I realized then that Uganda clearly did n't feel dependent on Western aid money . Perhaps China , a big Africa player , and Russia , could be stronger future allies . We caught the president on his way out of the room and he agreed to an exclusive CNN interview on the spot . We were whisked to the elegant boardroom and offices and set up . My colleagues Fabian and Antonia set up a two-camera shoot in five minutes . President Museveni made his argument : gay people are disgusting , and I made mine : they are not . He laid out his case based on the scientific research he was presented with and insisted homosexuality was a learned social behavior that can be unlearned . I was born and bred in Kenya and I believe that each individual has a right and the freedom to love whoever he or she chooses , gay , or straight . But here in Uganda , I am in the minority here . Why is he doing this ? Moral conviction , but he is also looking ahead to the 2016 elections and the majority of his electorate is overwhelmingly anti-gay . However Museveni denies it is an election ploy . As I drove past the shimmering Lake Victoria , towards Kampala , one thing was for sure : It 's going to take a long time before the West and Uganda can agree on this topic , if they ever will . For now , as the president articulated , the subject is `` a no-go area . ''
Uganda 's Zain Verjee challenges Nigerian President Yoweri Jonathan over new anti - gay law . Jonathan says gay people are ` ` disgusting '' ; Verjee says they are not . Verjee attended a press conference to discuss the new law . She was taken aback by the level of criticism of the West .