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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’s 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’s LGBTQI+ community takes bitter pleasure in the downfall of a mastermind of the harsh Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 (AHA 2023), 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. 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 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’s Chief of Defense Forces, who is also President Museveni’s son, had already launched his first attack on X.
Analysts believe Among’s bid to retain the position of speaker of Uganda’s Parliament was crushed by 60 words contained in two posts on X by Muhoozi, referring to his father as “Mzee”:
“I have been Mzee’s son for 52 years but I have never sat in a Rolls Royce ever. I don’t think Mzee has sat in one either,” he stated on X.
In another post he wrote: “Our 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!”.
After these posts, it was a free fall for Among because the People’s Patriotic League, a Ugandan political pressure group chaired by General Muhoozi and loyal to President Museveni, withdrew its support from Among’s bid for speaker. Among was immediately summoned to State House in Entebbe where President Museveni told her she was no longer the NRM party’s 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 “homosexuals”.
Things are different this time. In her response to the latest corruption allegations against her, she pledged her full cooperation. She stated:
“I 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.
“I shall remain available to the service of my country as the party and the President may assign me.
“In 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.”
Winnie Byanyima of Uganda, the global executive director of UNAIDS. (Photo courtesy of Eagle News)
Advocates’ support, with reservations
Ugandan 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. Byanyima called for “deep institutional reform to prevent recurrence.”
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“What 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.” Byanyima.
Agather Atuhaire, an award-winning Ugandan human rights advocate, says fighting corruption should not undermine the rule of law.
“Could 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’re praising him for fighting.”
Frank Mugisha, the head of Sexual Minorities Uganda, is quite excited that Among will not be travelling to Ghana in June for the anti-LGBtQI+ “family values” 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’s likely successor, has promised exactly the opposite of what Among was doing.
“We need a parliament that is modest, moderate and not extravagant”, he told the media.
Author’s comments
Unfortunately for the LGBTQI+ community in Uganda, Among’s downfall isn’t 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 “reign of terror” continues until the day AHA will be repealed.
, https://76crimes.com/2026/05/26/uganda-homophobic-ex-leader-of-parliament-under-house-arrest/
