The Speaker of Parliament, Annet Anita Among, has disproved reports that she has been barred from entering Samoa to represent Uganda at the ongoing Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM), saying the meeting at the Pacific Island is for Heads of States but not speakers.
According to Among, she is expected to fly out to India on Thursday evening, October 24, 2024, to attend the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of Commonwealth Parliaments (CSCOP), to which she is the current Chairperson.
“Which meeting of the Commonwealth have I been stopped? I am actually going to the Commonwealth meeting tonight. I am the chairperson of the Commonwealth Speakers; our next meeting that we have is in India. So, the one in Samoa is being attended by the Vice President, Jessica Alupo, representing the President,“ Among said.
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Among’s remarks followed concerns raised by Theodore Ssekikubo (Lwemiyaga County), who sought clarification on whether Uganda is being represented in Samoa, claiming the Speaker has been barred. It isn’t known whether Ssekikubo’s concerns are a result of the sanctions that were imposed on Speaker Among by the United Kingdom and United States governments on allegations of corruption.
The Speaker even offered to add Ssekikubo to her delegation of the people she is traveling with to India; an offer Ssekikubo declined, noting that he hasn’t been traveling and doesn’t think he will be traveling.
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The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2024 CHOGM is taking place in Apia, Samoa, and started from October 21-26, 2024, under the theme, One Resilient Common Future: Transforming our Common Wealth. It will be the first CHOGM to be held in a Pacific Small Island Developing State.
