Uganda: Agoa Ban - Museveni Responds to President Biden

5 December 2023
The Independent (Kampala)

Entebbe, Uganda — President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has written to United States President Joe Biden about his decision to suspend Uganda from the African Growth and Opportunity Act -AGOA.

At the end of October, President Biden wrote to the US House of Representatives informing them that starting next year, four countries; Central African Republic, Niger, Gabon, and Uganda were to stop benefiting from AGOA, the American initiative that allows African countries to sell products to the US market without restrictions. Biden cited the deteriorating human rights environment in Uganda for the decision.

In a press release from the Presidential Press Unit, Museveni sent his letter through the US ambassador to Uganda, William Popp who was at State House Entebbe for a meeting.

However, the contents of the letter were not divulged.

"President Biden wrote to me about AGOA, so I have answered him. You will deliver the letter to him," Museveni said while handing the letter to Popp.

For his part, Popp reiterated the US government's commitment to continue cooperating with Uganda through improved bilateral relations. "We do want to continue conducting business with Uganda as a whole through different projects. These projects could be worked on without any restrictions," Popp noted.

This development came a day after the US imposed visa restrictions on members of the Uganda government for abuse of human rights and the undermining of the democratic process.

On Monday, the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said despite the imposition of similar restrictions following what he called flawed 2021 general elections, the human rights record of the government hasn't improved; necessitating widening the restrictions. "Today, I am announcing the expansion of the visa restriction policy to include current or former Ugandan officials or others who are 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. These groups include, but are not limited to, environmental activists, human rights defenders, journalists, LGBTQI+ persons, and civil society organizers.

He added" The immediate family members of such persons may also be subject to these restrictions," Blinken said in a statement.

Read the original article on Independent (Kampala).

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