Speaker Among runs to Pope for salvation

“His Holiness Pope Francis has granted a private audience to the Rt Hon Speaker Anita Among on Saturday morning, August 24, 2024,” Ambassador Mubiru wrote before requesting the Speaker to furnish his office with details of the hotel in which she will be residing, including a list of a maximum of three people who will be accompanying her to the meeting with the Pope; personnel and equipment that she will be using for media coverage purposes.

Mr Chris Obore, Parliament’s director for communication and public affairs, downplayed the significance of the meeting, noting that the House Speaker is “privileged to receive [the Pope’s] blessings and counsel”.

Another source close to the Speaker told this publication that Ms Among has been seeking papal intervention since early in December last year when the US announced expanded visa and travel restrictions on Uganda officials that it accused of being responsible for undermining democracy and repressing the rights of “marginalised groups”.

Urgency

The need for a meeting with the Pope is said to have assumed more urgency on Thursday following the announcement by the United States of its own set of sanctions against Speaker Among. Washington accused her of “involvement in significant corruption tied to her leadership of Uganda’s Parliament”.

Also sanctioned on Thursday were former ministers Mary Goretti Kitutu and Agnes Nandutu and the State minister for Finance, Mr Amos Lugoloobi, for alleged misuse of public resources and diversion of materials meant for Uganda’s neediest communities.

“All four officials abused their public positions for their benefit at the expense of Ugandans,” read a statement issued by Mr Mathew Miller, the spokesperson of the US Department of State.

Also sanctioned by the US was Lt Gen Peter Elwelu, who is accused of gross violations of human rights related to the 2016 attack on the palace of the Rwenzururu King Charles Wesley Mumbere. The spouses of those individuals are also ineligible for entry into the US.

The United Kingdom was the first to sanction Ms Among at the end of April. She was sanctioned along with Dr Kitutu and Ms Nandutu under the UK’s Global Anti-Corruption sanctions regime. The three are accused of allegedly stealing iron sheets meant for distribution to vulnerable communities in Karamoja sub-region. They are ineligible for travel to the UK and that all their assets and bank accounts there were frozen.

Mr Obore indicated late on Friday that Ms Among had confidence that Pope Francis would listen to her without judging her.

“He (Pope Francis) discriminates [against] none and sanctions none because he spreads the love of God not hatred, bitterness and anger,” Mr Obore said.

Meanwhile, investigations into whether Speaker Among owns any property in the United Kingdom continue to gather pace. This after it emerged that Flat 4, Silk, 7 Waters den Road E20 3AL in Stratford, East London is part of a block of 12 flats—said to be the House Speaker’s property—is owned by Places for People Homes Limited.

Places for People’s Homes is an association involved in the construction of low cost housing estates for renting to low income earners in Britain. The firm, whose operations are subsidised by the government, allocates the flats to tenants on the recommendation of the councils. The blocks are usually referred to as council flats.

Mr Nicholas Opiyo, a lawyer, told this publication that the “sanctions are an indictment of our anti-graft and accountability institutions”.

“Like a sword, it undercuts the regime’s tolerance of and complicity in corruption and human rights abuse. They raise the cost of corruption and rights abuse and will contribute to behavioural change at individual level,” he noted.

“At a national level, these sanctions have a signalling effect in the global markets and will be a cause for pause by global capital, especially those that invest in Uganda,” he added.