Minister Anite underfire over sabotaging Uganda’s economic diplomacy efforts

KAMPALA – Uganda’s Minister of State for Investment, Evelyn Anite, is embroiled in a controversy surrounding her alleged misrepresentation of a meeting with the British High Commissioner and cyber harassment of Dubai Prince Sheikh Mohammed Juma Al Maktoum.

A letter authored by the Uganda Investments Authority Director General, Robert Mukiza, has disputed Minister Anite’s claim of meeting with the British High Commissioner, Kate Airey, to discuss honorarium payments to UIA staff.

The letter, copied to the President’s Principal Private Secretary, Minister of Finance, UIA Board Chairman, Attorney General, and all UIA staff who received the payments, has sparked concerns about the economic implications of Minister Anite’s actions.

The controversy may jeopardize Uganda’s efforts to attract foreign investment, particularly from the UK and Dubai through economic diplomacy efforts. The country has been actively courting investors from these nations, and Minister Anite’s actions may have damaged relationships with these critical partners, sources have said. A decline in foreign direct investment could result in significant economic losses, potentially exceeding $100 million.

Furthermore, Uganda’s trade relationships with the UK and Dubai are also at risk. The country relies heavily on these partners for exports, particularly in the agricultural sector.

A deterioration in trade relationships could lead to reduced market access, tariffs, and other trade barriers, ultimately affecting Uganda’s export earnings. A 5% decline in exports to the UK and Dubai could result in a loss of approximately $20 million in export earnings.

President Yoweri Museveni recently conferred the distinguished Order of the Crested Crane 1st Class Medal upon Sheikh Mohammed Bin Maktoum Bin Jumah Al Maktoum from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The award recognizes Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum’s exceptional contribution to Uganda’s socio-economic transformation.

The chairman of Alpha MBM Investments LLC, is making waves in Uganda with his strategic investments in the oil and gas sector, aviation, and agriculture value addition.

His investments in Uganda are diverse and far-reaching, including the revamping of Uganda Air Cargo, a 60,000 Barrel Per Day Oil Refinery, a Fruit Processing Hub in Bukalasa, a Logistics Hub at Entebbe International Airport, and a Gold Refinery and Freezone Complex in Entebbe.

These projects aim to modernize Uganda’s air cargo capabilities, meet local fuel needs, enhance agricultural value addition, and drive economic diversification and growth.

Background of the controversy

On June 12th, 2024, Ms Anite wrote to the UIA chairman board of directors Mr Moris Rwakakamba directing him that t force the UIA staff members who received honoraria payments to refund it within 24 hours short of which would lead to dismissal.

According to the Uganda Investments Authority human resources manual, honorarium is the payment  to the staff if they do any assignment outside their usual contract duties.  Mukiza insists that selected UIA staff had been given extra assignments on the ongoing project of upgrading the  Kampala Industrial and Business Park at Namanve when they took over the roles of Owner’s Engineer whose contract had been terminated.

The UIA staff wrote to the contractor asking for the account where to deposit the refund.

But in the meantime, Ms Anite took the matter on her social media platforms, where she aggressively posted and updated the public about that matter.  It caught the President’s attention, who invited the minister, the board, and the UIA staff who received the honorarium payments for a meeting at the State House.  

During the meeting, the hunter became the hunted when it was Mukiza’s turn to speak, he described minister Anite as a manipulative, corrupt, and hypocritical leader in the history of mankind and went ahead to inform the president that the minister was just using the honorarium payments as a pretext but the real motives she wanted him out of office are different.

The rejoinder by Mukiza shocked Minister Anite who didn’t expect his junior to boldly utter such words before her boss that she cried loudly while throwing her hands in the air to the extent that the president had to end the meeting prematurely.

After the meeting with the president, Ms. Anite, filled with rage, went on her X handle and began blasting  Mukiza, accusing him of telling lies to the President.

On July 3, 2024, Minister Anite again wrote to Mukiza officially expressing her disappointment at him for allegedly lying to the President.

Mukiza has since responded to the minister in a July 23 stinger accusing her of forging all the grounds she had used to try to force the UIA staff to refund the money that was in any case legally paid.  

The UIA Director Genera accuses the Minister of lying that she had personally met with the UK High Commissioner to Uganda, who had directed that the money be refunded. He again accused her of concocting lies that the UKEF the funder is the one that put her under pressure to act the way she did. Mukiza, in the letter, further accuses the Minister of having denied that she called Mohammed Juma Marktoum a conman who is impersonating the Dubai Royal Family.  

He put her on the spot by providing evidence  of their chat, showing the message from her to him calling the Dubai Prince “a fake investor.”