Sam Kutesa

Sam Kahamba Kutesa (born 1 February 1949) is a Ugandan politician and lawyer. He is the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet of Uganda, a position he has held since 13 January 2005 and maintained through three cabinet reshuffles.[1][2][3] He is also the elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Mawogola County in Sembabule District.[4] He was the President of the United Nations General Assembly during its 69th session in 2014–2015.

Sam Kutesa
Sam Kutesa in 2018
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uganda
Assumed office
19 November 2015
Preceded byHenry Oryem Okello
In office
13 January 2005 – 16 September 2014
Preceded byTom Butime (acting)
Succeeded byHenry Oryem Okello (acting)
President of the United Nations General Assembly
In office
16 September 2014 – 16 September 2015
Preceded byJohn William Ashe
Succeeded byMogens Lykketoft
Personal details
Born (1949-02-01) 1 February 1949
Uganda
CitizenshipUganda
Spouse(s)Jeniffer Nankunda (Deceased)
ResidenceNakasero, Uganda
Alma materMakerere University
(Bachelor of Laws)
Law Development Centre
(Diploma in Legal Practice)
OccupationLawyer, politician
Known forPolitics

Early life and education

He was born on 1 February 1949. He attended Mbarara High School, for his high school studies. Sam Kutesa holds a Bachelor of Laws degree, obtained from Makerere University, back when the institution was part of the University of East Africa. He also holds a Diploma in Legal Practice, obtained from the Law Development Centre in Kampala. [4]

Career

From 1973 to 2001 Sam Kutesa was in private law practice. He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Mbarara North Constituency from 1980 to 1985 and as Attorney General from 1985 to 1986. Between 1994 and 1995, he served as a delegate to the Constituent Assembly that drafted the 1995 Ugandan Constitution. He was elected MP for Mawogola County in 2001 and was re-elected in 2006. He was Minister of State for Investment from 2001 to 2005. President Yoweri Museveni appointed Sam Kutesa as Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2005,[5] following the death of James Wapakhabulo.[4]

He is a member of the ruling National Resistance Movement political party.

Controversy

In 2011, Kutesa was accused in a parliamentary investigation of receiving bribes as kickbacks from Irish oil firm Tullow Oil.[6] Despite calls from MPs for him to resign along with the others accused, a lawyer, Severino Twinobusingye, managed to successfully sue the Attorney General and halt the proceedings and to block the calls for resignation.[6] Following further suspicion around the incident as a result of Tullow Oil’s court case with Heritage Oil over its tax on Uganda assets, an ad-hoc parliamentary committee was convened to further investigate the allegations of corruption.[7][8][9]

United Nations General Assembly

As Africa was due to hold the presidency of the sixty-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the African Union Executive Council unanimously chose him to be their candidate after the withdrawal of Cameroonian Foreign Minister Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo. His candidature was endorsed unanimously during the 17th Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement, held in Algiers, Algeria in May 2013.[10] He was officially elected by the UNGA on 11 June 2014.[5]

Because Kutesa defended the discriminatory Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014, human rights organizations felt his U.N. presidential position was not supportive of the values embodied in the U.N.'s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[11] A petition asked United States Secretary of State John Kerry to revoke Kutesa's visa and thereby keep him from assuming the role of president of the UNGA.[12] The petition, which got over 15,000 signatures on Change.org, was written by a Ugandan, Milton Allimadi, editor of Black Star News. He highlighted Kutesa's support of the Ugandan anti-gay bill and allegations of corruption. In spite of protests and the petition, Kutesa became the president.[5]

See also

References
  1. Newvision Archive (18 February 2009). "Full Cabinet List As At 18 February 2009". New Vision (Kampala). Archived from the original on 13 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  2. Uganda State House (27 May 2011). "Comprehensive List of New Cabinet Appointments & Dropped Ministers". Facebook.com. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  3. Uganda State House (6 June 2016). "Museveni's new cabinet list At 6 June 2016" (PDF). Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  4. Parliament of Uganda (2011). "Profile of Kutesa Kahamba Sam, Member of Parliament for Mawogola County, Ssembabule District". Parliament of Uganda. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  5. Bryant, Nick (11 June 2014). "Uganda's Sam Kutesa Elected As UN General Assembly President". BBC News. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  6. Administrator (27 February 2013). "MPs Protest Shs12.9 Billion Reward To Amama Lawyer". Red Pepper (Mukono). Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  7. Walusimbi, Deo (10 December 2013). "Oil Bribes: Why Mbabazi, Kutesa Were Exonerated". The Observer (Uganda). Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  8. Mutaizibwa, Emma (27 March 2013). "Uganda: Museveni 'US$50 Million Bribe' - The Inside Story". The Observer (Uganda) via AllAfrica.com.
  9. Mwenda, Andrew M. (28 March 2013). "Tullow's Alleged Bribe To Museveni". The Independent (Uganda). Archived from the original on 1 August 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  10. Odyek, John (30 May 2014). "Sam Kutesa Heads for UN Top Job". New Vision Mobile (Kampala). Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  11. Pilkington, Ed (31 May 2014). "UN Backlash As Uganda's 'Anti-Gay' Minister Heads for Human Rights Top Job". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  12. Allimadi, Milton (30 April 2014). "Why Uganda's Sam Kutesa Must Not Be Allowed to Become UN General Assembly President". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
Political offices
Preceded by
Henry Oryem Okello		 Foreign Minister of Uganda
19 November 2015 – present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Tom Butime		 Foreign Minister of Uganda
13 January 2005 – 16 September 2014		 Succeeded by
Henry Oryem Okello
Positions in intergovernmental organisations
Preceded by
John William Ashe		 President of the United Nations General Assembly
2014–2015		 Succeeded by
Mogens Lykketoft
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.