Politics

Uganda’s speaker, army commander, ministers get US travel ban

Published

7 months ago

May 31, 2024

The US sanctioned five public officials in Uganda, including the Speaker of Parliament and the immediate past Deputy Chief of Defence Forces. This action increases pressure on Kampala to take action regarding the officers’ integrity and human rights record.

Only one month has passed since the UK imposed comparable sanctions on the head of the national assembly and two former ministers.

In a statement dated May 30, 2024, the US State Department declared that Speaker Anita Among was subject to sanctions because of her substantial involvement in corruption connected to her position as head of the Ugandan Parliament.

According to the statement, the Speaker is also fighting against sanctions against her for corruption that the UK imposed at the end of April. As a result, her financial holdings and real estate in London have been frozen.

The Speaker, Yoweri Museveni, has been tasked by President Yoweri Museveni to explain her purported property and financial holdings in the UK and whether or not Ms. Among declared them as required by the Leadership Code Act. The UK sanctions have sparked investigations.

The US also imposed sanctions on Amos Lugolobi, the Minister of State for Finance, Mary Goretti Kitutu, the former minister of Karamoja affairs, and her deputy, Agnes Nandutu, for their roles in serious corruption involving the misappropriation of public funds and the diversion of supplies from Uganda’s most impoverished communities.

“All four officials abused their public positions for their benefit at the expense of Ugandans,” says the statement issued by Matthew Miller, Department of State spokesperson.

However, Washington disregarded the UK and went after President Museveni’s most dependable state institution—the military—by penalizing Lt-Gen Peter Elwelu, the deputy CDF of the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) until two months ago. He faces consequences due to his involvement in egregious human rights breaches.

“Specifically, Peter Elwelu was involved, while commanding UPDF forces, in extrajudicial killings that members of the UPDF committed. As a result of these actions, the designated Ugandan officials are generally ineligible for entry into the United States,” the statement reads.

In 2016, while he was Commander of UPDF’s Second Division, Elwelu led the attack on the palace of the Rwenzururu King Charles Wesley Mumbere, resulting in a massacre that left a chilling air all over the area’s main town Kasese, with over 100 people killed, including children and more than 180 others arrested and detained.

Despite wide condemnation of the raid on the palace by politicians, religious leaders, and local and international human rights groups, Elwelu, then a Brigadier-General, was not held accountable for the killings. Still, instead, he was promoted and appointed Chief of Land Forces. Currently, Elwelu is a Member of Parliament, representing the army in the national assembly.

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Politics

Burkina Faso releases 4 French spies after Moroccan intervention

Published

5 days ago

December 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In a diplomatic spat over their imprisonment, France and Morocco announced Thursday that four French nationals detained in Burkina Faso for a year had been freed after mediation from Morocco.

They were spies, according to a prior statement made by the director of France’s foreign intelligence organisation, the DGSE.

A request for comment was not answered by the DGSE or a representative of the French military, which is in charge of the agency.

Since December 2023, they have been held in Ouagadougou.

President Emmanuel Macron hailed King Mohammed of Morocco on Wednesday for his intervention, “which made possible the liberation of our four countrymen who had been held in Burkina Faso for a year,” according to a statement from the French administration.

King Mohammed and President Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso were also commended by Morocco’s foreign ministry, which stated that “this humanitarian act” was made possible by their positive bilateral ties.

In October, France made peace with Morocco, one of its former protectorates, after three years of hostilities between Paris and Rabat stoked by immigration concerns and the disputed Western Sahara region.

Morocco offers Burkina Faso and other military-ruled Sahel republics Atlantic trade.

However, France’s relations with former West and Central African colonies, such as Burkina Faso, remain difficult. In Ouagadougou, French troops and diplomats were ejected, the defence attache and ambassador were asked to depart, and certain French media were suspended.

The military junta that took control in 2022 in Burkina Faso has been criticized by international rights groups for cracking down on free expression and harassing dissidents to handle a security crisis precipitated by Al Qaeda and Islamic State extremists.

Politics

Ghana: President-elect Mahama appoints anti-corruption team

Published

6 days ago

December 19, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to a statement released by his transition team on Wednesday, Ghana’s President-elect, John Dramani Mahama, has designated an anti-corruption committee to investigate allegations of wrongdoing.

When he takes office next month, Mahama, the leading opposition candidate in the presidential election held on December 7 and who received almost 56% of the vote, has pledged to reclaim the proceeds of corruption and hold those responsible for it accountable.

In anticipation, an anti-graft squad has been established. The parliament’s Committee on Assurances, which has previously raised suspicions of governmental corruption, is chaired by MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah.

An investigative journalist, a private attorney, a former auditor general, and a former police officer with experience in high-profile robbery cases make up the other three members.

After looking into alleged financial irregularities that took place during the previous administration, Daniel Dumelovo, the former auditor general, was fired.

Recovering lost assets and fighting corruption were two of Mahama’s main campaign pledges.

“He intends to hit the ground running on these commitments,” the statement said.

Eight years after leaving office, former President Mahama is back to head the West African country. Despite not being personally contaminated, he faced criticism during his 2012–2016 administration due to claims of political corruption.