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Former Speaker of Parliament and minister of East African Community Affairs Rebecca Kadaga has launched a blistering attack on Speaker Anita Among, saying she is restricted by corruption-related sanctions and is no longer able to travel the world freely.

In a widely shared video clip circulating on social media, Ms Kadaga begins by saying in Luganda: “Kubanga wesiize ebizigo” (you apply creams to your face)—an apparent reference to Ms Among’s use of skin-lightening body creams.

The crowd erupts in the kind of rolling laughter you would expect at a stand-up show.

Kadaga goes on: “This week [in late July] there was a conference [in Switzerland] for Speakers from all over the world. But our Speaker has not attended the conference. She can’t go there…because they imposed sanctions on her due to corruption.”

The Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), took place from 29 to 31 July 2025 at the United Nations Office in Geneva. It was preceded by the 15th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament, which was held on July 28, 2025.

“She cannot go to the US; she cannot go to the UK,” said Ms Kadaga, who was also deputy Speaker and has served as the woman MP for Kamuli District since 1989, when Parliament was called the National Resistance Council.

Ms Among, who is the woman MP for Bukedea District, was elected Speaker in March 2022 following the death of Jacob Oulanyah whom she deputised.

But her term in office has been plagued by corruption allegations, which she denies. Last year, the governments of the UK and the United States sanctioned her over corruption. 

In a statement, the US State Department was categorical, saying Ms Among was sanctioned for her “involvement in significant corruption tied to her leadership of Uganda’s Parliament”.

Ms Among, 52, and Ms Kadaga, 69, are arguably the most powerful women in the governing NRM. Both are seeking re-election, and Ms Among was nominated unopposed in the just-concluded party primaries. 

Despite Ms Among’s corruption-related sanctions, she still enjoys President Museveni’s support.

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