The Ugandan government has vowed to strengthen its anti-gay laws and broaden police operations against homosexuals amid concern over the "mushrooming" numbers of gays and lesbians in the East African nation.

"The state of moral health in our nation is challenging and we are concerned about the mushrooming of lesbianism and homosexuality," Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Buturo told a news conference.

He added: "Ten years ago, this phenomena was not there, but the disease has penetrated everywhere.

"Who's going to occupy Uganda 20 years from now if we all become homosexuals? We know that homosexuals don't reproduce. There is now a globalization of homosexuality and people in Uganda are attempting to take advantage of the globalization.

"It is an attempt to end civilization. It is that serious."

Homosexuality is regarded as taboo in Uganda, where the Penal Code regards it as "carnal knowledge of another against the order of nature."