The U.S. Department of State has imposed sanctions on five current and former Ugandan politicians, including Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, for their involvement in significant corruption and gross violations of human rights.
Speaker Among is being sanctioned for her involvement in corruption tied to her leadership of Uganda’s Parliament, while former Ministers Mary Goretti Kitutu, Agnes Nandutu, and Amos Lugolobi are being designated for their involvement in corruption related to the misuse of public resources and diversion of materials from Uganda’s neediest communities.
Additionally, Peter Elwelu, former Deputy Chief of the Ugandan Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF), is being sanctioned for his involvement in gross violations of human rights.
Also sanctioned are the spouses of the sanctioned politicians.
“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.”
As a result of these actions, the designated Ugandan officials are generally ineligible for entry into the United States. 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 sanctions are being imposed under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2024, and Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
The embattled Speaker Anita Among has blamed her woes on the passing of the Anti-Homosexuality Act. However, the MPs who moved and seconded the the Bill which led to the passing of the act are not sanctioned.
The former Speaker, Rt Hon. Rebecca Alitwaala Kadaga, was unequivocal about Anti-Homosexuality. She even stated so on western soil but she was not sanctioned.
