Published on 14/12/2023
Harriet Ntabazi, the Minister of State for Trade, has stated that Uganda could consider withdrawing from the United States market under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) if participation is contingent on the acceptance of homosexuality in the country.
Ntabazi was clarifying on reports which emerged indicating that President Museveni dispatched his son-in-law Odrek Rwabwogo to Washington, United States to try to stave off Uganda’s looming expulsion from AGOA, following pronouncement by the US to end Uganda’s eligibility for AGOA on 1st January 2024.
The Washington administration, while announcing the impending ban, stated the reason as gross violations of internationally recognized human rights and insisted that Uganda would not be part of AGOA going forward unless the Government publicly releases an action plan for addressing human rights concerns and repeal the Anti-Homosexuality Act.
If America insists that we should marry woman to woman, then we shall do away with the market because what we are looking for in that market are political relationships, but real trade volumes, that have shaped Uganda to the Middle-income status, that (US market) isn’t one of them. We have enough markets for Uganda, we have the East African Community, we have Southern African Development Community (SADC), we have the European Union, we have markets in China and India, said Ntabazi.
The Minister said that the team to Washington DC was supposed to be headed by Trade Minister, Francis Mwebesa; he could not make it due to ill health which could not adapt to the bad weather in the US, thus paving way for Rwabwogo, Presidential Advisor on Trade and Industry as team leader.
The team was given powers to deliver the message of President Museveni, but of course, they will not push us to the wall because the President has been passionate about homosexuality and you can’t change his mind because that is the voice of Ugandans. Ugandans are saying, you can’t go homosexual and the President can’t come up and break that law because he is part of Ugandans. He is one of the indigenous Ugandans who have shaped it to what it is now, said Minister Ntabazi.
Minister Ntabazi also attacked the Joe Biden Administration for mixing issues of trade and human rights, saying Uganda already had complaints about the US demanding Uganda to only export raw materials especially coffee without adding value, conditions she said need to be discussed in the latest negotiations.
So, what we are waiting for is the US to understand that trade is different from human rights, these are quite divergent matters and the challenge we have is that the US doesn’t want us to add any value on anything yet among the negotiations we had as AGOA as we extend for 10 years, we should start adding value to the products. But of course, they brought in other issues to do with security, violation of human rights and they assumed as if Uganda is on fire and there is going to be a coup, there is no coup that is going to be in Uganda, added Ntabazi.
The Minister added that it is wrong for the US to edge Uganda out of AGOA based on complaints from the Opposition arguing, “Uganda is secure, Uganda is safe, Uganda is comfortable”.
She lambasted the opposition which has taken abroad the issues that can only be solved by the leadership of Uganda. The Minister also boasted of the quality of coffee produced in Uganda, adding that most countries will come looking for it without putting any conditions.
Uganda’s Parliament early this year passed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2023 which was shortly assented to by President Yoweri Museveni. What is remaining are the regulations to aid the law enforcement agencies to start cracking the whip on persons suspected to have committed the act of homosexuality which attracts a range of stringent punishments.
According to Uganda Bureau of Statistics, in 2022/2023, Uganda exported goods worthy $87.766m (about UGX333.584Bn), which is higher than $203.127m (about UGX770.644Bn) worthy of goods Uganda imported from US in the same period.
The Minister’s remarks come on the same day the White House announced a wave of new sanctions to be imposed on Uganda, by pausing approximately $15m (about UGX 57.031Bn) in aid for all biological threat reductions activities with the Ugandan Ministries of Health, Agriculture, and Tourism, and will continue to review U.S. government-funded security assistance and military cooperation activities.
The U.S also announced plans to redirect more than $5m (about UGX 18.972Bn) through PEPFAR from the Government to non-governmental implementing partners due to concerns over how the Anti-Homosexuality Act impacts the Government of Uganda’s ability to deliver services in a non-discriminatory manner. However, the US noted that these actions are not intended to negatively impact HIV/AIDS service delivery to key populations.
President Biden defended his latest decision stating that the enactment of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act is a tragic violation of universal human rights—one that is not worthy of the Ugandan people, and one that jeopardizes the prospects of critical economic growth for the entire country.
The United States joins people around the world in reiterating its call for the immediate repeal of the AHA and for the Ugandan government to respect the universal human rights of all people in Uganda. No one should have to live in constant fear for their life or being subjected to violence and discrimination. The enforcement of the AHA is part of an ongoing trend of democratic erosion in Uganda, where individual Ugandans and civil society organizations face increasingly restricted civic and political space, Biden’s statement read in part.
The United States has continued to pile pressure on Uganda following the enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality Act with the North American nation imposing visa restrictions on current and former Ugandan officials believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic process in Uganda or for policies or actions aimed at repressing members of marginalized or vulnerable populations.
The Biden administration also imposed sanctions against Johnson Byabashaija, Commissioner General of Prisons on allegations of engaging in torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment against prisoners held within UPS facilities.
MPs not bothered with ban
Meanwhile, Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among last week lashed out at the US government’s decision to impose visa ban and travel restrictions on 348 MPs who voted in favour of the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023.
Among, said that although she was the first victim when her US visa was cancelled, she doesn’t regret backing the controversial law.
We don’t regret passing this law, and I want to thank the President for really assenting to this law. Some people thought that the President wasn’t going to sign that law. I am proud and happy with what the President did. We will continue protecting the family, protecting the rights of our children and our country and we will not live-in handouts. My visa was cancelled, have I died? As I have said, so long as you don’t cancel the visa to Bukedea and Buyende, I have my home. I will go there freely, said Among.
The lawmakers’ fury was further ignited by remarks made by Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine, President of the National Unity Platform (NUP) party in an interview with the BBC on his first visit to the UK after a 10-year ban. While appearing on the BBC, Kyagulanyi claimed that the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was brought to target the opposition. He also said MPs subscribing to the NUP party that supported the Bill were “working with General Museveni”.
Bugiri Municipality MP, Asuman Basalirwa the mover of the private member’s Bill that brought the Anti-Homosexuality legislation, also had no kind words for Kyagulanyi.
It isn’t true that anybody could have used any of us to bring that piece of legislation because in any case, it isn’t new in this Parliament. I am also aware that the forces behind promoting homosexuality are very strong. They have money and influence. And I know that some of our colleagues are under pressure. There is a lot of pressure, there is a lot of intimidation, said Basalirwa.
He added that as a country, Uganda must stand her ground because;
God who created us will make us survive, this idea of saying we are cutting aid, we don’t go to America, Britain, yes, it is their right. But nobody should determine how we think.
