Sam Kahamba Kutesa (born 1 February 1949) is a

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

n politician, businessman and lawyer involved in several corruption cases. By the marriage of his daughter Charlotte Kutesa Muhoozi with Muhoozi he is part of the inner circle of president

Museveni Museveni is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Janet Museveni (born 1948), Ugandan politician *Muhoozi Kainerugaba Museveni (born 1974), Ugandan general *Yoweri Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 19 ...

. Kutesa was the

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

in the Cabinet of Uganda, a position he held from 13 January 2005 and maintained through three cabinet reshuffles until May 2021. He was also the elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Mawogola County in

Sembabule District Sembabule District is a district in the Central Region of Uganda. The town of Sembabule is the site of the district headquarters. Other urban centers in the district include Lwemiyaga and Ntuusi. Location Sembabule District is bordered by Mu ...

. He was the

President of the United Nations General Assembly The president of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis. The president is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly. Election ...

during its 69th session in 2014–2015.

Early life and education

Kutesa attended

Mbarara High School Mbarara High School (MHS), is a boys-only boarding middle and high school located in the city of Mbarara, in Mbarara District in Western Uganda. Location The school is located in the Western Ugandan city of Mbarara, approximately , by road, sou ...

. He has a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree from

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of n ...

, back when the institution was part of the

University of East Africa The University of East Africa was established on 29 June 1963"Universities: East Africa", ''A Historical Companion To Postcolonial Thought In English'' (Columbia University Press, 2005) Prem Poddar and David Johnson, eds., p. 489. and served Keny ...

. He also has a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the

Law Development Centre The Law Development Centre (LDC) is an educational institution in Uganda for higher learning that offers various legal courses ranging from one month to one year. Overview The LDC is the only institution in Uganda that offers the Bar Course leadi ...

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

Career

Kutesa was in private law practice between 1973 and 2001. 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 A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

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 Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...

appointed Sam Kutesa as Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2005, following the death of

James Wapakhabulo James Francis Wambogo Wapakhabulo (23 March 1945 – 27 March 2004) was a Ugandan politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uganda from 2001 to 2004. Background Wapakhabulo began his career studying law at the University of Ea ...

. He is a member of the ruling

National Resistance Movement The National Resistance Movement ( sw, Harakati za Upinzani za Kitaifa; abbr. NRM) has been the ruling party in Uganda since 1986. History The National Resistance Movement (NRM) was founded as a liberation movement that waged a guerrilla ...

political party.

Corruption

In 2011, Kutesa was accused in a parliamentary investigation of receiving bribes as kickbacks from Irish oil firm

Tullow Oil Tullow Oil plc is a multinational oil and gas exploration company founded in Tullow, Ireland, with its headquarters in London, United Kingdom. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. His ...

. 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. 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. On 5 December 2018 a federal jury in New York City convicted Chi Ping Patrick Ho of paying bribes to top Ugandan officials Sam Kutesa and Yoweri Museveni. In May 2016, Ho and CEFC China executives traveled to Kampala. Before departing, Ho ensured that $500,000 was wired to the account provided by Kutesa. Ho also advised his boss, the Chairman of CEFC China, to provide $500,000 in cash to President Museveni, supposedly as a campaign donation, even though Museveni had already been reelected. Ho intended these payments as bribes to influence Kutesa and Museveni to use their official power to steer business advantages to CEFC China.

United Nations General Assembly

As Africa was due to hold the presidency of the

sixty-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly The Sixty-Ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on 16 September 2014. The President of the United Nations General Assembly was chosen from the African Group with Uganda's Sam Kutesa being the unanimous African Union's Ex ...

(UNGA), the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...

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 Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...

in May 2013. He was officially elected by the UNGA on 11 June 2014. Because Kutesa defended the discriminatory

Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014 The Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014 was an act passed by the Parliament of Uganda on 20 December 2013, which prohibited sexual relations between persons of the same sex. The act was previously called the "Kill the Gays bill" in the western mainst ...

, 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 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal De ...

. A petition asked

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

to revoke Kutesa's visa and thereby keep him from assuming the role of president of the UNGA. The petition – which garnered over 15,000 signatures on Change.org – was written by Ugandan

Milton Allimadi Milton Allimadi is a Ugandan-American author, journalist, professor, and a co-founder of '' Black Star News''. He is known for his critique of racist writing by white authors about Africa and Africans, in his 2003 book '' The Hearts of Darkness' ...

, 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.

References

External links

2006 UN General Assembly Address

* ttps://www.un.org/africarenewal/africaga/he-mr-sam-kahamba-kutesa Brief Profile , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kutesa, Sam 1949 births Living people Foreign Ministers of Uganda Attorneys General of Uganda Members of the Parliament of Uganda Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly Ugandan Anglicans 20th-century Ugandan lawyers People educated at Mbarara High School Makerere University alumni Law Development Centre alumni National Resistance Movement politicians People from Sembabule District 21st-century Ugandan politicians People named in the Paradise Papers