US sanctions delivered through telephone call

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.

ssekika@observer.ug