Rolling Stone newspaper, Uganda. (Photo: AP)

Grim news from Uganda. Some of you may remember a few months ago I wrote about an appalling story in that country, in which a newspaper called Rolling Stone (unrelated, of course, to the music mag) did a name and shame of Ugandas top 100 homos, disgustingly reminiscent of a British newspapers similar piece about sex offenders in 2001.

Hang them, the front page said.

Now, of course, David Kato, an outspoken Ugandan gay rights activist, has been found beaten to death in his home. He had been attacked with a hammer. The inevitability is sickening.

Police are saying that it was a robbery gone wrong, not a hate crime, but understandably, given that homophobia is state-sponsored in the country other activists are profoundly unconvinced.

Last time I wrote on this, I placed some of the blame on US evangelicals who had gone to Uganda and co-authored a bill by the government making homosexuality a criminal act, although one of them -  Reverend Scott Lively did say they had gone too far by making it punishable by death. I slightly regretted that, as it removes culpability from the Ugandans themselves homophobia is endemic in much of Africa, among Muslims, Christians and others, and the continent must take responsibility for its dreadful record in that area.