Speaker Anita Among has confirmed she held discussions with President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni. The meeting happened a day after the US slapped sanctions against Speaker Anita Among and her husband and MP Moses Magogo.
The US Department of State has publicly designated five current and former Ugandan officials for their involvement in significant corruption or gross violations of human rights, a statement issued by Matthew Miller, the Department Spokesperson on May 30, indicated.
“Speaker of Parliament Anita Among is designated due to involvement in significant corruption tied to her leadership of Uganda’s Parliament. Former Minister of Karamoja Affairs Mary Goretti Kitutu, former Minister of State for Karamoja Affairs Agnes Nandutu, and Minister of State for Finance Amos Lugolobi are being designated due to their involvement in significant corruption related to conduct that misused public resources and diverted materials from Uganda’s neediest communities. All four officials abused their public positions for their personal benefit at the expense of Ugandans,” the department announced.
“Additionally, Peter Elwelu, former Deputy Chief of the Ugandan Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF), is designated due to his involvement in gross violations of human rights. Specifically, Peter Elwelu was involved, while commanding UPDF forces, in extrajudicial killings that were committed by members of the UPDF. As a result of these actions, the designated Ugandan officials are generally ineligible for entry into the United States.”
Some spouses of sanctioned officials were also affected. “The Department is also designating Among’s spouse, Moses Magogo Hassim; Kitutu’s spouse, Michael George Kitutu; and Lugolobi’s spouse, Evelyne Nakimera; they also are generally ineligible for entry into the United States.”
The US is also planning to announce sanctions on other Ugandans.
“The Department is also taking steps to impose visa restrictions on multiple other Ugandan officials for undermining the democratic process and repressing members of marginalized or vulnerable populations in Uganda. These individuals are responsible for, or complicit in, the repression of Ugandan members of political opposition groups, civil society organizers, and vulnerable communities in Uganda,” Miller’s announcement further read.
“The United States stands with Ugandans advocating for democratic principles, a government that delivers for all its citizens, and accountability for actions committed by those who abuse their position through corruption and gross violations of human rights. Impunity allows corrupt officials to stay in power, slows the pace of development, facilitates crime, and causes unequal distribution of resources, which can affect underrepresented and underserved populations disproportionally. Today’s actions reaffirm the U.S. commitment to support transparency in Uganda’s democratic processes, counter corruption globally, and address the broader culture of impunity that prevents all Ugandans from enjoying their human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
TOUGH MONTH
But for Speaker Anita Among, May 2024 has been a complicated month. The UK also announced sanctions against her and former ministers Kitutu and Nandutu. (See Details Here).
Museveni has been inquiring into Speaker Anita Among’s properties in the UK, which she said had become “a subject of diplomatic engagement between our two countries.” The speaker insisted that she did not even own a pussycat in the UK. (Read Story Here).
Insisting that she did not own the house the UK alleges she does, Speaker Anita Among accused London of forgery.
“Indeed, like the known principle of natural justice recognized in most jurisdictions of the Commonwealth (including Britain), the one who alleges must prove. Since the UK government claims I own property, it should be prudent of them to state which property I own as Anita Annet Among. Forgery should be the least the world can expect from them. I am sure this is the answer my President, our government, and myself want from them. Nothing else,” she wrote.
“The alleged house plot, Flat 4, Silk House, 7 Waterden Road, London, E20 3AL, United Kingdom, which they informed the President is owned by myself, surely has an owner who is registered in their own system (the UK Government), and this owner, as per their own record, is not Anita Among.”
As has become norm now, Anita Among blamed her woes on her stance “against homosexuality” and that “the rest is a cover-up.” (More is Here and There).
MEETING
Some reports suggested that Museveni had summoned Speaker Anita Among to explain her properties in the UK. Others claimed that with the US sanctions coming through, the two principals had no option but to meet and discuss what to do next.
On May 31, Speaker Anita Among posted about the meeting with Museveni on X, formerly Twitter. She did not offer details about the meeting but hinted on the discussion being on “several issues related to the affairs of our beautiful nation.”
“Earlier today [May 31], I met with H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni at State House Entebbe. We discussed several issues related to the affairs of our beautiful nation. We look forward to hosting our great leader as he delivers the State of the Nation Address next week,” she wrote.
At an event to launch the speaker’s teaching hospital in her home district, President Museveni asked Anita Among about the source of her wealth. (See Details Here).
