Sam Kahamba Kutesa (born 1 February 1949) is a Ugandan politician, businessman and lawyer involved in several corruption cases. with Muhoozi he became part of the inner circle of president Museveni.

Kutesa was the Minister of Foreign Affairs 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 (MP) for Mawogola County in Sembabule District. He was the President of the United Nations General Assembly during its 69th session in 2014–2015.

Early life and education

Kutesa attended Mbarara High School. He has a Bachelor of Laws degree from Makerere University, back when the institution was part of the University of East Africa. He also has a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre in Kampala.

Corruption

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

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.thumb|Minister for Africa Henry Bellingham met Ugandan Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa on 23 September in New York

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. He was officially elected by the UNGA on 11 June 2014.

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. 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. The petition – which garnered over 15,000 signatures on Change.org – was written by 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. It had been built using over 3 billion Ugx (over 820,000 USD). At the opening ceremony of the church, Mr. Kutesa had revealed that he had built the church after surviving cancer of the throat, having spent 6 months under treatment in Germany in 2022. Many Ugandans, especially on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, criticized the gesture as idiotic, emphasizing that he should have built a hospital instead, since he had to go abroad in the first place because the country has poor health services, and he should have been empathetic to poor Ugandans who cannot afford to fly to Germany in case they fall sick.

Personal life

Sam Kutesa was previously married to Jennifer Nankunda Kutesa, who died in 2002 due to a cancer-related disease, she also was a cousin to Janet Museveni. Together they had 6 children who include;

  • Isaac Kutesa (son) - married to Yvette Kamurasi
  • Ishta Asiimwe Kutesa (daughter)
  • Shatsi Musherure Kutesa (daughter)
  • Charlotte Nankunda Kutesa (daughter) - married to Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
  • Elizabeth Kutesa (daughter)
  • Inga Kutesa (daughter)

Later in 2008, He Married Edith Gasana Kutesa on August 17, 2008.

See also

  • Foreign relations of Uganda

References

  • 2006 UN General Assembly Address
  • Full Cabinet List, May 2011
  • FCPA-Uganda-Chad Prison Fine Bribery
  • Brief Profile