US Says May Shift Uganda Aid to Another Needy Country

{{US Ambassador to Uganda Scott H. DeLisi has come out to explain why he kept away from the launch of an HIV-prevention campaign organised by the country’s First Lady Janet Museveni.}}

Last week, the United States and Irish envoys to Uganda kept away from the government despite having confirmed attendance earlier. Mr DeLisi was speaking to journalists at his residence in Kololo during a pre-departure reception of more than 50 Ugandans travelling to the International Home and House wares Trade Show in Chicago next week.

DeLisi said he had to weigh whether attending the End Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (EMTCT) programme made sense, especially after President Museveni’s remarks to donors while signing the Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law.

He said his absence at the Kololo ceremony last week does not imply the US doesn’t support EMTCT.

While assenting to the anti-gays law recently, President Museveni said he is ready to stand up to the West if they chose to cut aid over the legislation.

The US is one of Uganda’s donor countries and its president Barack Obama had warned that the relationship between the two countries would become ‘complicated’ if Mr Museveni signed the Bill into law.

{wirestory}