False: Speaker Among Did Not Hire US Delegation to Influence Trump to Lift Sanctions Against Her

A claim on the microblogging app (X) that the speaker of the parliament of Uganda, Anita Annet Among, hired a US delegation of ” lobbyists” to influence the United States of America President Donald Trump to lift sanctions against her for corruption and human rights abuses is False

The published claim states:

“Speaker Among hires US lobbyists to influence Trump to lift sanctions on her over rights abuses and corruption. The speaker met to notch US lobbyists whom she believes will influence Trump whose victory she celebrated during plenary last year.”

Analysis.

Whereas it is true that Anita Annet Among, alias “AAA,” faces sanctions from 2024, with seven others on the hands of the US government under former president Joe Biden over corruption and violations of human rights as reported here, here, here, here, here and here. Among dismissed the motive behind the sanctions, calling them politically motivated, and linked it to her ground on the Anti-Homosexuality Act.

Since then, articles were written about H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni defending Among and others who were sanctioned as reports show here, here, and here, to which it is argued to be Dr. Rollan Roberts’ (republican) motivation to commend him as seen in a post on his X account on Friday, 17 January 2025.

Evidence

We downloaded the pictures captioned on the post by KJNews and did a Google reverse image search on the second picture on the post, which led us to various articles about the meeting here, here, here, here and here.

Throughout the articles, you will notice that they indicate that the delegation from the United States White House came to Uganda to meet with the Ugandan president, H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.

The meeting took place at the State Lodge in Nakasero, Kampala, on Friday, 17 January 2025, in the company of Speaker Among. The US delegation consisted of former US presidential candidate Dr. Rollan Roberts, Mr. David Woodruff, representing the Senate of West Virginia, and Mr. Siljander Mark Deli, the former Congressman and Ambassador. According to reports, the group discussed various matters, such as infrastructural development, trade, and international relations.

“In line with the new US administration, the team assured Museveni of strengthened bilateral relations between the two nations. The president welcomed the delegation to Uganda and thanked them for the important visit. “It’s a good initiative because we need dialogue to agree on a way forward. Sometimes there is a lack of discussion, which has led to scattered positions,” Museveni said.” reads the third paragraph of the Independent Magazine’s article

As you continue to navigate the evidence, you can barely find anywhere the speaker, Among, is quoted on anything having hired the delegate as claimed on social media.

Additionally, Dr. Roberts is quoted agreeing with Museveni on what Africa needs instead of handouts and nothing about the speaker’s sanctions as claimed by the Kampala Journal.

“Dr. Roberts agreed that Africa does not need handouts but basic fundamental advancement in infrastructure, a factor which he said is well received by President Donald Trump’s administration. “I think you are going to see a marked shift towards this direction, which we both agree is the right way for Africa.” reads the sixth paragraph of the same article.

Looking through X on Museveni’s account, photos of him, Among, and the delegates were posted with details from the meeting.

“I welcome the delegation of friends who paid me a courtesy visit at State Lodge Nakasero, led by Mr. Rollan Roberts, a lawmaker from the state of West Virginia and a former Presidential Aspirant.” reads Museveni’s post.

“ The need for engagement on the core minimum issues such as trade, democracy, security, transport, energy, and other basic components of economic competitiveness is a step in the right direction away from insisting on peripheral issues like Sexuality/Homosexuality where we may never find cohesion, especially with high-handed methods and coercion.Uganda, like other African states, is making strides in readying itself to be a centre of gravity and willing to partner with actors that recognize and support this effort.” concluded the post.

Speaker Among, on the other side, who is also known for updating her followers about her activities, did not share about the meeting; however, she reposted the president’s post on the meeting here.

The visit also led to a surfacing of a screenshot of a quoted post made by Dr. Roberts at 12:18 PM on July 17, 2024, as seen here which is being used as a basis for those claims blown out of proportion as people are making it look like it’s a recent post.

Verdict

False, although she shared a light moment with Dr. Roberts, Speaker Among did not “hire” US “lobbyists” to influence President Trump over her sanctions as the Kampala Journal claims or other X users, but rather the delegation came to see President Museveni on White House duties.