Mr Museveni insisted the signing of the law was a done deal, defying calls to have it repealed.

"The signing of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill is finished, nobody will move us. We should be ready for a war," he said in a statement after a meeting with members of his National Resistance Movement (NRM) party.

"The NRM has never had two languages, what we tell you in the day is what we shall say to you at night," he added.

It comes amid condemnation from Western nations and human rights groups.

US President Joe Biden criticised the law as a "tragic violation of universal human rights" and called for its repeal, adding that the US was considering sanctions.

The European Union and UN chief Antonio Guterres have also condemned the law.

The signing of the law was done after parliament watered it down – but It is still among the harshest anti-LGBTQ laws in the world.

Anyone convicted for gay sexual acts faces life imprisonment. The law also imposes the death penalty for "aggravated cases", which include statutory rape of a person younger than 18, or where one is infected with a life-long illness including HIV.