By Leonard Kamugisha Akida,
KAMPALA
Ugandan government has threatened to abandon US markets over their unfair homosexuality trade terms.
Harriet Ntabazi, State Minister for Trade informed the house on Tuesday December 12, that the country has got more regional markets in which they can export their products and services than the US markets. She said that Uganda will abandon the US market if its participation is hinged on condition that the country accepts homosexuality.
“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 (United States) 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.
In October, Biden administration revealed plans to expel Uganda from a special US-Africa trade programme; African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) introduced in 2000. The expulsion was as a result of gross human rights in the country.
However, President Museveni’s government has since insisted that the sanctions were targeting to block Uganda’s economy due to the passed controversial Anti-homosexuality law.
Passed in May, 2023, the Anti-homosexuality law imposes a death penalty on people found guilty of engaging in certain same-sex acts.
The law has faced global criticism particularly from donor countries like USA, UK and international lending institutions such as the World Bank which have cut off aid to Uganda.
Uganda was sanctioned alongside three other African countries including Nigeria, Central African Republic (CAR) and Gabon. They were sanctioned over either involved in “gross violations” of internationally recognized human rights or not making progress towards democratic rule.
“Despite intensive engagement between the United States and the Central African Republic, Gabon, Niger, and Uganda, these countries have failed to address United States concerns about their non-compliance with the Agoa eligibility criteria,” US President, Joe Biden said in October.
The expulsion will take effect from the start of next year and is likely to impact Uganda’s economy because the market (AGOA) has been credited with promoting exports, economic growth and job creation among participating countries.
Last year alone, Uganda exported goods worth $174m to the US. This is likely to affect the country’s economy because the regional markets which the government boasts for have less trade fortunes as compared to AGOA.
Although economists and Ugandans have frequently called for bilateral and diplomatic talks with the US regarding the sanctions, the government says they will not allow to be pushed to the wall to accept what is deemed anti-African culture sexual immoralities in the name of trade relations and other international aids.
“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 trade minister Ntabazi.
The Minister also attacked the US Gov’t for mixing issues of trade and human rights, saying Uganda already had complaints about US demanding Uganda to only export raw materials without adding value which she says is disadvantageous to Uganda.
She suggested that more negotiations should be conducted to have such conditions changed.
“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. 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.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said in September, 2023, that LBTQ+ groups in America were interfering with Ugandan market in US prompting some companies to cancel importation of textiles this affecting country’s exports.
This according to the president was a cut off of trade ties between the two countries because exporting textiles from Uganda fall under the Agoa trade deal. He said this was because of the passing of the anti-homosexuality law.
