Speaker Among claims US sanctions gone after Trump wins presidency
Republican presidential nominee and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump addresses supporters at his rally in Florida, U.S on November 6, 2024. Inset is Uganda’s Speaker of Parliament Anita Among. PHOTO | REUTERS/COMBO
What you need to know:
- Targeted individuals or entities remain documented on America's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list.
Parliament Speaker Anita Among Wednesday claimed that US sanctions over her are “gone” after Donald Trump dominantly reclaimed White House, defeating US President Joe Biden’s vice and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the presidential election.
Republican Trump became the first US president in more than 130 years- and only the 2nd in history to win a non-successive 2nd term.
But since the returning twice-impeached president dramatically left the White House in 2021, over 10 high-profile Uganda government officials including Among, have been designated in Biden’s 4-year administration.
Specifically for the speaker, in May 2024, the US Department of State said it was blacklisting the Bukedea Woman MP and her husband Moses Magogo who is the Budiope East MP and FUUFA President- alongside six other top officials over “corruption and gross human rights violations.”
The pair wad sanctioned together with finance state minister Amos Lugoloobi, former ministers Mary Goretti Kitutu and Agnes Nandutu, and former deputy military chief Maj Gen Peter Elwelu.
But Among has long held that she was targeted for her involvement in the enactment of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act a year before.
“I will remain the smiling me… and now that Trump has won, the sanctions are even gone,” she told Members of Parliament (MPs) on Wednesday.
“When we’re debating in this house, let’s debate with logic not politics. I want to assure members that no amount of intimidation can ever move me from where I’m,” Ms Among added.
According to the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), sanctions do not necessarily end with a particular presidency as targeted individuals or entities remain documented on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list (SDN list).
Under Trump’s previous 4-year administration, Washington sanctioned a few Ugandans- notably former police chief Gen Kale Kayihura. In principle, he is still prominent on the SDN list as his sanctions were neither lifted nor modified by the Biden-Harris administration.
‘Not for war’
Delivering his victory speech in Florida, Trump hinted on his foreign policy but repeatedly emphasized his “America first” creed.
"We wanna have security. We want a strong and powerful military and ideally, we don't have to use it. We had no wars [for] four years. Except, we defeated ISIS in record time,” he said at the Palm Beach County Convention Center on November 6.
He added that: “They said, 'He [Trump] will start a war.' I'm not going to start a war. I'm going to stop wars.”
The 78-year-old Trump will be inaugurated for his 2nd administration on January 20, 2025 once Congress approves the November 5 election in which he emphatically topped the required 270 electoral votes.
Uganda and the US have had steady diplomatic ties lasting over 60 years with nearly four decades of those under 80-year-old President Museveni.
