US sanctions delivered through telephone call
The Observer - 4 hours ago
SUNDAY, 22 JUNE 2014 22:17 WRITTEN BY EDWARD SSEKIKA 4 COMMENTS   
The government said at the weekend that it had not received formal
notification of American sanctions, days after the Obama
administration punished Uganda for enacting the locally popular
anti-homosexuality law.
On Thursday, the US announced that it had cut aid to Uganda, imposed
visa restrictions, and canceled a regional military exercise. Uganda
was punished for its Anti-Homosexuality Act, assented to in February,
which imposes harsh punishments for homosexuality and homosexual
crimes.
James Mugume, the permanent secretary in the ministry of Foreign
Affairs, told The Observer Uganda was yet to receive formal
communication on the sanctions.
"So, we don't know who is on the travel ban, whether all Ugandans have
been banned or selected individuals perceived to be anti-gay. It was a
blanket statement; they simply called our ambassador to the US [Oliver
Wonekha] and explained to her verbally," Mugume said by telephone.
The yet-to-be released list of sanctioned could include names such as
MP David Bahati, the mover of the law; Speaker of Parliament Rebecca
Kadaga, who promised to pass the law as a Christmas gift to Ugandans
in 2012; Fr Simon Lokodo, the junior minister for Ethics and
Integrity; as well as political and religious leaders who spoke loudly
in support of the law.
Mugume said the sanctions were in response largely to the anti-gay law
and not corruption as the US government wants people to believe. The
sanctions come just a week after the election of Foreign Affairs
Minister Sam Kutesa as president of the United Nations General
Assembly. Some activists in Western nations had opposed Kutesa's
election due to Uganda's position on homosexuality.
It was Africa's turn to assume the presidency and Kutesa was the
continent's unanimous choice. Responding to the aid cuts, Mugume said
government had already directed the ministries of Internal Affairs,
Defence and Health – heavily targeted by the sanctions – to calculate
how much aid has been cut, so that government can adjust accordingly.
He was optimistic that since the country expected the aid cuts after
passing the Anti-Homosexuality Act, there would be no drastic impact
on activities. In March this year, at a thanksgiving ceremony
organised by the Inter-religious Council of Uganda to thank President
Museveni for signing the law, the president said he was mindful of the
American support towards HIV/Aids programmes before he assented to the
law.
He was convinced that even in the face of US aid cuts, the government
would support the estimated 1.5 million Ugandans on ARVs.
"Our friends, the Americans, were handling mainly these health issues,
especially our Aids people. Remember we have got 1.5 million people
who have got Aids today. So before I signed this bill, I had to check
with Dr [Ruhakana] Rugunda [minister of Health], on how much the
Americans were giving us? I was told $450 million [about Shs 1
trillion].
But not much of that money is used usefully; some of it is being used
just for kulya [eating]…… I asked how much of it is used for buying
ARVs. Then Dr Diana and others calculated and found that we need about
Shs 350bn. I said okay if it is 350bn, if our American friends are so
careless and they want to cut off the aid so that 1.5 million people
die, then we shall fund it ourselves," Museveni said.
Minister Kutesa, now president of the UN General Assembly, was quoted
by Germany's Deutsche Welle TV as saying that Uganda would find
resources elsewhere to fill the gap.
"It is assistance, we need it, but if someone chooses to take it away,
it their decision," he reportedly said.
Henry Okello Oryem, the minister of state for Foreign Affairs on
Saturday described the sanctions as unfortunate. "The sanctions were
based on a subject matter [Anti-Homosexuality Act] which was
democratic and fully passed by the Parliament of Uganda. So, as
government, we are not going to have any formal response to the
sanctions," he said.
David Bahati, Ndorwa East MP, the main sponsor of the
Anti-Homosexuality Bill, said there were many other places Ugandans
could travel to outside the US.
"The Obama administration is playing on the minds of the American
people for reasons I don't know. They are trying to divert Americans
from debating the failed US foreign policy," he said. "No amount of
intimidation and coercion will force the people of Uganda to accept
values we don't believe in."
Jacqueline Kasha, a lesbian and prominent Ugandan rights activist,
told AFP that the sanctions were long overdue: "The impact will be
huge but Uganda needed to be held accountable. We have a
state-sponsored hate campaign looming over our heads. It's an
atmosphere of anxiety, depression and stress.
"So taking this strong action on Uganda will send a clear message to
the rest of the countries that they will be consequences for their
inhumane decisions and actions."
Sanctions
The US will also halt $2.4m in funding for a Ugandan community
policing program in light of a police raid on a US-funded health
programme at Makerere University and reports of people detained and
abused while in police custody.
The government will also reallocate $3m in funding for a planned
national public health institute in Uganda to another African country,
which it did not name. A National Institutes of Health genomics
meeting would be moved from Uganda to South Africa, the White House
said.
Uganda is a key Western ally in the fight against Islamic extremism in
Somalia, where Ugandan troops provide the backbone of the African
Union force battling al Qaeda-aligned militants. However, the support
for the hunt for Joseph Kony, the elusive rebel commander seeking to
topple the Ugandan government will not be affected.
Although Western nations and rights activists have attacked the
anti-gay legislation, the law is immensely popular across Uganda's
religious, political and ethnic divides. Dozens of other countries
across the world have similar laws to Uganda's.
http://www.google.ca/gwt/x?gl=CA&hl=en-CA&u=http://www.observer.ug/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26view%3Darticle%26id%3D32398:-us-sanctions-delivered-through-telephone-call%26catid%3D34:news%26Itemid%3D114&source=s&q=US+sanctions+delivered+through+telephone+call
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