Ugandan Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon Sam Kutesa has reportedly called off his tour to Budapest, Hungary which was slated for Tuesday November 21.
The cancellation comes high on heels of a corruption scandal in USA in which Kutesa is named to have received $500000 (around shs 1.8 billion) from a poweful Chinese businessman identified as Chi Ping Patrick Ho, Hong Kong’s former Home Secretary.
A complaint in Federal Magistrates Court in New York indicates that Ho conspired with Cheikh Gadio, a one-time foreign minister of Senegal, to bribe high-level African officials to secure business rights.
The duo was arrested last week and currently in the Federal Custody as domestic law agency Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) probes the case.
Kutesa allegedly initiated the bribe at a time he was UN General Assembly President in 2014
It remains unclear whether Kutesa faces arrest in the U.S or not
However, Hon Kutesa was in America last week to attend a meeting on Trade, Security and Governance in Africa” was held on 16-17 November 2017 at the U.S. State Department, Washington DC.
He was among African Foreign Ministers who were invited by Secretary of State, Mr. Rex Tillerson.
Kutesa called on U.S. business operators to do business with Uganda, as the physical and policy environment is one of the best in Africa.
He would later travel to London to execute personal errands, a source said.
Adding that on Tuesday, Kutesa was scheduled to travel to Hungary at the invitation of his Hungarian counterpart to further strengthen the two countries’ bilateral and trade relations.
The head of Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Margaret Kafeero had earlier told this website that her boss was in transit to Hungary.
But we later established that Kutesa had cancelled the trip and decided to stay in London.
This website couldn’t ascertain whether Kutesa was forced to drop his tour following the FBI probe in U.S.
When Kafeero was contacted on the new development she said she was in a meeting before referring us to the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary who couldn’t be reached.
The Ministry is expected to issue a statement anytime after thorough consultations.