Speaker of Parliament Anita Among and President Yoweri Museveni at State House following a recent meeting.
President Yoweri Museveni has confirmed meeting the British High Commissioner at her request for an urgent meeting.
The meeting was at Nakasero, said Museveni in a letter to Foreign Affairs Minister, Gen. Jeje Odong.
“The High Commissioner told me that they intended to sanction the Hons 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. She also told me about sanctioning the Rt. Hon. Anita Among. I said: “Why?” She said that Anita Among has got a house or houses in UK and has got bank accounts from which she pays school fees for her children who are studying there. I told her that the issue of houses would be very interesting if, especially, Anita Among did not declare them in her Leadership Code documents. If she had declared them, then the next issue would be how she got the money to build them. If these two are answered correctly and showing no mistake, the remaining issue would be political, ideological judgement,” revealed the President in a letter dated May 2, 2024.
However, the President wondered “Why would a Ugandan leader build or buy houses in UK or anywhere else abroad, when Uganda, the still under-developed country where she would have earned the money, still needs those investments?”
“It would definitely be a moral and ideological mistake. I, therefore, told the High Commissioner that the Uganda Government would demand from the UK Government more information about this. Attorney-General and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to advise on how this can be done and the appropriate authority to go ahead and do it,” added the President.
On the issue of bank accounts, the President said, ” I told the High Commissioner may not be a serious issue if she sent legitimately earned money to support the children who are, legitimately, studying there.”
To these, the President has ordered the Inspector General of Government (IGG) and Minister of Integrity to inform him if “the Rt. Hon. Anita Among declared in her forms of the Leadership Code her owning of a house or houses in the UK.”
