President Yoweri Museveni has directed Foreign Affairs Minister Gen. Jeje Odongo and Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka to immediately write a letter to the relevant authorities in the United Kingdom (UK) demanding the source of information that Speaker of Parliament Anita Among has assets in the UK.
In a letter dated May 11, Museveni stated that Deputy IGG Dr. Patricia Achan Akiria wrote to him revealing that, according to their records, Speaker Among has no property in the UK. He further noted that the Speaker herself confirmed to him that she does not have any assets in the UK.
“Therefore, working with the Attorney-General, write an appropriate letter to the relevant authorities in the UK to demand the source of the information,” said Museveni, emphasizing that the UK cannot falsely accuse any Ugandan and he will not let it pass.
This development comes a few days after Museveni wrote a letter questioning how a public official in Uganda could afford such expensive assets.
“Why would a Ugandan leader build or buy houses in the UK or anywhere else abroad, when Uganda, still an under-developed country where she would have earned the money, still needs those investments?” reads a letter addressed to Minister of Foreign Affairs Gen. Jeje Odongo.
The Speaker’s alleged UK properties, including a luxurious mansion in an upscale neighborhood, were confirmed by HE Kate Airey, the British High Commissioner to Uganda, in a brief to President Museveni.
Prior to these letters, the UK government imposed stringent sanctions on Speaker Among and two former ministers, Mary Goretti Kitutu and Agnes Nandutu, for their alleged involvement in corrupt activities that have deprived vulnerable communities of essential resources and undermined the rule of law.
The two ministers, now subject to a travel ban and asset freezes, are alleged to have stolen iron sheets from a housing project in the Karamoja region and provided them to prominent politicians and their families. Speaker Among is alleged to have benefited from the scheme.
