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Anita Among arrested for corruption, not for her human rights abuses
\nAnita Among and President Yoweri Museveni in happier times. (Photo courtesy of The Monitor)Uganda\u2019s outgoing speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, is currently under house arrest with her husband Moses Magogo. Following a directive from President Yoweri Museveni, the couple is being investigated for corruption, abuse of office, illicit enrichment and money laundering.Uganda\u2019s LGBTQI+ community takes bitter pleasure in the downfall of a mastermind of the harsh Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 (AHA 2023),\u00a0 even though her arrest had nothing to do with her homophobia or the human rights abuses that legislation has unleashed.In the past, she escaped prosecution despite her reputation for corruption, which was highlighted by the sanctions that the United States placed on her during the Biden administration for corruption and theft of public resources.\u00a0 Those sanctions, starting in 2024, imposed travel bans and financial restrictions on her, her husband, and other high-ranking Ugandan officials.Her latest troubles began with Ugandan media reports that she had bought a brand-new Rolls Royce, estimated by local authorities to be worth between 3.4 and 3.6 billion Ugandan shillings (about\u00a0 U.S. $1 million). This figure includes over 1.2 billion Ugandan shillings in import taxes.When the cost of the car became a talking point, Among claimed that the car was a gift from a friend, but her damage control attempt was too little too late because General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda\u2019s Chief of Defense Forces, who is also President Museveni\u2019s son, had already launched his first attack on X.Analysts believe Among\u2019s bid to retain the position of speaker of Uganda\u2019s Parliament was crushed by 60 words contained in two posts on X by Muhoozi, referring to his father as \u201cMzee\u201d:\u201cI have been Mzee\u2019s son for 52 years but I have never sat in a Rolls Royce ever. I don\u2019t think Mzee has sat in one either,\u201d he stated on X.In another post he wrote:\u00a0\u201cOur job is to SERVE Ugandans not ourselves! I cannot support corruption! I risked my life to make this country peaceful. Now that it is, it will not be taken by thieves. Never!\u201d.After these posts, it was a free fall for Among because the People\u2019s Patriotic League, a Ugandan political pressure group chaired by General Muhoozi and loyal to President Museveni, withdrew its support from Among\u2019s bid for speaker. Among was immediately summoned to State House in Entebbe where President Museveni told her she was no longer the NRM party\u2019s choice for speaker.Before her meeting with Museveni ended, the name of someone expected to be her successor was already flying around and detectives and other security operatives were on their way to search her luxurious residences in Kampala. Over five of her residences have since been raided by a joint team of security operatives, including those in her home district of Bukedea in Eastern Uganda.In 48 hours, things had fallen apart for Among. In the past, when corruption allegations were brought against her, she blamed them on \u201chomosexuals\u201d.Things are different this time. In her response to the latest corruption allegations against her, she pledged her full cooperation. She stated:\u201cI pledge my total support to the candidates who will be endorsed by the President and the Party, and Implore all colleague MPs of the 12th Parliament to do the same.\u201cI shall remain available to the service of my country as the party and the President may assign me.\u201cIn the meantime, I pledge to continue cooperating with all ongoing investigations as initiated by the relevant organs of the state to get to the root of all the allegations raised.\u201dWinnie Byanyima of Uganda, the global executive director of UNAIDS. (Photo courtesy of Eagle News)Advocates\u2019 support, with reservationsUgandan human rights advocates have welcomed operations to end corruption by targeting Among, but with reservations.Winnie Byanyima, the head of UNAIDS, says that the allegations emerging from Parliament are not merely about one individual. She believes that they point to institutionalised corruption, breakdown of internal controls, abuse of procurement systems, and a culture of impunity.According to her, the response therefore cannot be limited to investigating the Speaker or asking her to step aside from contesting to be Speaker again.\u00a0 Byanyima called for\u00a0 \u201cdeep institutional reform to prevent recurrence.\u201dSee Also
\n\u201cWhat Ugandans want to see and see SOON is prosecutions and asset recovery, followed by dismissals and sanctions. (Yes, heads must roll this time!). Uganda also needs structural reforms to restore Parliament as a trusted public institution. This cannot only be about punishing theft. It has to be about rescuing a captured Parliament.\u201d Byanyima.Agather Atuhaire, an award-winning Ugandan human rights advocate, says fighting corruption should not undermine the rule of law.\u201cCould you please be honest enough to tell [Muhoozi] he cannot fight corruption while abusing processes, while undermining institutions, while openly and publicly appointing speakers and deputy speakers of parliament, while fronting people that have also been involved in the same corruption, you\u2019re praising him for fighting.\u201dFrank Mugisha, the head of Sexual Minorities Uganda, is quite excited that Among will not be travelling to Ghana in June for the anti-LGBtQI+ \u201cfamily values\u201d conference there.Among is currently barred from leaving the country and her bank accounts are reportedly frozen as part of the ongoing investigations against her.The current Ugandan minister of defense, Jacob Marksons Oboth aka Oboth-Oboth, Among\u2019s likely successor, has promised exactly the opposite of what Among was doing.\u201cWe need a parliament that is modest, moderate and not extravagant\u201d, he told the media.Author\u2019s commentsUnfortunately for the LGBTQI+ community in Uganda, Among\u2019s downfall isn\u2019t much to celebrate. Her departure leaves intact the deep scars of ongoing human rights abuses. Worst of all, she leaves the AHA 2023, her signature piece of legislation, in place. Therefore, for the LGBTQI+ community, the \u201creign of terror\u201d continues until the day AHA will be repealed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\tRelated Anita Among arrested for corruption, not for her human rights abuses Anita Among and President Yoweri Museveni in happier times. (Photo courtesy of The Monitor)Uganda\u2019s outgoing speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, is currently under house arrest with her husband Moses Magogo. Following a directive from President Yoweri Museveni, the couple is being investigated for corruption, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_3659155457675267_172535249438148":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-news"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ugandas-homophobic-ex-leader-of-Parliament-under-house-arrest-The.jpg",539,357,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ugandas-homophobic-ex-leader-of-Parliament-under-house-arrest-The-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ugandas-homophobic-ex-leader-of-Parliament-under-house-arrest-The-300x199.jpg",300,199,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ugandas-homophobic-ex-leader-of-Parliament-under-house-arrest-The.jpg",539,357,false],"large":["https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ugandas-homophobic-ex-leader-of-Parliament-under-house-arrest-The.jpg",539,357,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ugandas-homophobic-ex-leader-of-Parliament-under-house-arrest-The.jpg",539,357,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ugandas-homophobic-ex-leader-of-Parliament-under-house-arrest-The.jpg",539,357,false],"tie-small":["https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ugandas-homophobic-ex-leader-of-Parliament-under-house-arrest-The-110x75.jpg",110,75,true],"tie-medium":["https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ugandas-homophobic-ex-leader-of-Parliament-under-house-arrest-The-310x165.jpg",310,165,true],"tie-large":["https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ugandas-homophobic-ex-leader-of-Parliament-under-house-arrest-The-310x205.jpg",310,205,true],"slider":["https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ugandas-homophobic-ex-leader-of-Parliament-under-house-arrest-The-539x330.jpg",539,330,true],"big-slider":["https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ugandas-homophobic-ex-leader-of-Parliament-under-house-arrest-The.jpg",539,357,false]},"author_info":{"info":["Editor"]},"category_info":"News<\/a>","tag_info":"News","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xavieradioug.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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