By Liesl Louw-Vaudran
ALLAFRICA - 26 June 2014
Ugandans are outraged at the United States (US) sanctions against
their country, which the Ugandan government says will harm the poorest
of the poor and jeopardise crucial joint military exercises. The US
sanctions, which were announced on Thursday last week, were in
retaliation to the stringent anti-homosexuality bill signed into law by
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in February.
Among other measures, the US suspended plans to fund a health
institute, cancelled a US-sponsored military exercise and are imposing
visa restrictions on 'certain individuals' - without specifying who they
may be. The Ugandan shilling plunged this week following the US
announcement. Predictably, Ugandan government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo
said the country wouldn't be blackmailed into changing the law and
that, in any case, it wasn't 'critical' for Ugandans to travel to the US
- or any other country for that matter.
The response in Uganda raises the question whether this is really the
best way to deal with regimes accused of curtailing their citizens'
human rights, be it through legislation or otherwise. Does the US
administration offer enough carrots in its carrot-and-stick policy
towards Africa? Or has US President Barack Obama simply failed to lure
the continent into seeing things his way - something he seemingly won't
manage to do before the end of his second mandate? And if sanctions are
maintained against Uganda, why not re-impose sanctions against Egypt?
Surely the harsh sentences against Al Jazeera journalists, announced
earlier this week, is an affront to media freedom and journalism around
the world?
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