President Yoweri Museveni has directed the Inspectorate of Government and the Ethics Ministry to investigate Speaker Anita Among's wealth in the United Kingdom after revelations that he was briefed by the UK government prior to its sanctions on Ugandan officials.
The UK government imposed travel bans and asset freezes on Speaker Among and two former Karamoja Affairs ministers, Mary Goretti Kitutu and Agnes Nandutu, citing "epitome of corruption" that has "no place in society."
According to a report by this platform on Tuesday, May 7, the Central Bank of the UAE issued warnings to all financial institutions in the Middle Eastern country to block any transactions linked to Among, Nandutu, or Kitutu.
In a letter dated May 2 to Foreign Affairs Minister Jeje Odongo, President Museveni disclosed that he had an urgent meeting with the British High Commissioner, Ms. Kate Airey OBE, at State House Nakasero on the day the UK government announced the sanctions.
"She told me that they were going to sanction Speaker Among. I said: 'why?'. She said Anita Among has got a house or houses in the UK and has got bank accounts from which she pays school fees for her children who are studying there," the President wrote.
"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," he added.
The President further stated that if Among indeed had houses in the UK, the next issue would be to ascertain where she got the money to build them. He urged the Inspector General of Government (IGG) and Minister of Integrity to inform him if Among had declared owning a house or houses in the UK.
Responding to the allegations, Among denied owning anything in the UK, stating, "I don't have any properties in the UK, not even a pussycat."
President Museveni also asked the Attorney-General and Ministry of Foreign Affairs for guidance on how to handle the predicament posed by the Speaker's corruption scandal and subsequent sanctions.
Meanwhile, he questioned the legality of the UK's sanctions on Kitutu and Nandutu, pointing out that they are still in court and have not yet been found guilty.
The corruption scandal involving the Speaker came to light after Ugandan agencies revealed that she had benefited from the proceeds of theft, according to a statement released by London. In response, Among swiftly returned 500 pieces of iron sheets she had received from a government-funded housing project aimed at assisting vulnerable communities in Karamoja.
