“I Am Already Doing Investigations Into Speaker Anita Among’s Houses , Bank Accounts In UK” IGG Confirms

The Inspector General of Government (IGG) has revealed that an inquest into the goings-on that culminated in the United Kingdom (UK) sanctioning Parliament Speaker Anita Among has commenced.

“I have received the President’s letter and have started compiling the information that the President asked of me,” ombudsman Beti Kamya tersely told this publication on Friday night.

President Museveni, in a May 2 letter, directed the IGG and the Integrity minister to inform him if Speaker Among “declared in her forms of the Leadership Code her owning of a house or houses in the UK.” Any red flag from the investigations could spark impeachment proceedings against the head of the legislative arm of government.

The President, however, downplays the issue of Ms Among having bank accounts in the UK, saying he told Ms Kate Airey, the British High Commissioner to Uganda, that it “may not be a serious issue if [the House Speaker] sent legitimately earned money to support the children who are, legitimately, studying [in the UK].”

On May 4, Ms Among told Parliament that she was not bothered by the sanctions and that she did not own anything in the UK. This was two days after President Museveni wrote the letter addressed to Foreign Affairs minister Jeje Odongo and copied to Ms Among, the Attorney General, Uganda’s ambassador to the UK, the ombudsman, and Integrity minister.

“I am told that I have many assets in the UK and lots of accounts in the UK. Unfortunately, I have only been in the UK once. I don’t even have a pussycat in the UK,” Among said in her first verbal reaction to UK sanctions.

Speaker Among, who was on April 30 sanctioned by British authorities together with ex-ministers Agness Nandutu and Mary Gorretti Kitutu over corruption regarding the controversial Karamoja iron sheets, is the most senior government official under President Museveni’s close to four-decade reign to face such sanctions by a foreign government.

Implications

Although Ms Among has largely downplayed the possible impact of sanctions, saying the only visas she needs are to travel to Bukedea District, where she is the Woman MP and Buyende, where her husband Moses Magogo is the area MP, the intervention of President Museveni could mount pressure on her locally.

This is especially so if she is found to have the alleged wealth. In the letter, President Museveni narrates that he had an “urgent meeting” with the British High Commissioner at the envoy’s request, who appraised him about the sanctions.President Museveni indicates the meeting with Britain’s top diplomat in the country took place at his residence in Nakasero at 10am on a Tuesday.

While the incumbent doesn’t state the specific date, the narrative, however, suggests the meeting happened prior to the public announcement of the sanctions by the British authorities.

“The High Commissioner told me that they intended to sanction the [honourables] Kitutu and Nandutu for their roles in the mabaati issue. I would like, by the copy of this letter, to ask the Attorney-General the legality of this action since this is a purely internal matter for Uganda. The alleged theft was discovered by our agencies and the Uganda courts are handling the case. The accused are not yet convicted. How do other countries come into the matter? Attorney-General advise,” Museveni writes.

At least 22 ministers, including Vice President Jessica Alupo, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja, Speaker Among, 31 legislators, several local government officials, and other private individuals, are believed to have irregularly received the iron sheets meant for the vulnerable people of Karamoja Sub-region.

Only Dr Kitutu and Ms Nandutu were fired by President Museveni in the latest Cabinet reshuffle. Mr Amos Lugoloobi, the Minister of State for Finance and Planning, who was also charged and briefly remanded, was retained in cabinet and did not face the sanctions by British authorities.

Meanwhile, Ugandan legislators and other officials responsible for the enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), 2023 are likely to face sanctions in a move pushed by a section of British lawmakers. During a debate on Thursday, some members of the House of Lords, the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, went as far as calling for regime change in Kampala.L

ord Richard Benyon, the UK Minister of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, told the British House of Lords that the AHA law has increased violence and discrimination against LGBT+ people.

On April 3, he revealed that the UK Deputy Foreign Secretary, Andrew Mitchell, met with Mr Norbert Mao, Uganda’s Justice minister, and underlined the importance of ensuring that people are free from persecution regardless of sexuality and stressed our concern at this legislation.