US sanctions Uganda parliament speaker, other officials
The State Department on Thursday announced sanctions Ugandan Parliament Speaker Anita Among and other officials for “significant corruption or gross violations of human rights.” State Department spokesperson Matt Miller in a press release notes Among “is designated due to involvement in significant corruption tied to her leadership of Uganda’s Parliament.” The press release further indicates the U.S.
has sanctioned former Karamoja Affairs Minister Mary Goretti Kitutu, former Karamoja State Affairs Minister Agnes Nandutu, and former State Finance Minister Amos Lugolobi “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,” said Miller.
The press release also notes the U.S. has sanctioned Peter Elwelu, the former deputy chief of the Ugandan Peoples’ Defense Forces, because of “his involvement in gross violations of human rights” that include extrajudicial killings. “As a result of these actions, the designated Ugandan officials are generally ineligible for entry into the United States,” said Miller.
Miller said the State 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,” he said.
