Pressure on Uganda by some countries "has no meaning," becasue Uganda is a nation of "wealth creators," President Yoweri Museveni said in a televised address as Washington suspended Uganda's membership in the AGOA program.
"We are the society of wealth creators but some of the people who get carried away by linking up with foreign interests forget our strengths. For somebody to come and say 'unless you follow what I'm telling you I’ll not' [...] they are really not serious," he said. "Those putting pressure on us are just wasting their time."
Museveni added that pressure on Uganda should not worry the East African country and called for unity among the people to address economic issues.
"If we divide ourselves then we'll be weak, but if we don't divide ourselves then there's nothing we cannot do [...] Therefore, what we can do is fight corruption; the usual problems, concentrate on regional integration," the leader pointed out.
The Ugandan president added that his country could trade "with those people who respect us."
The termination of Uganda's participation in the AGOA program from 2024, along with the Central African Republic, Gabon and Niger, was announced by Washington at the end of October 2023.
The decision to suspend a number of African countries from the program, which promotes trade between the US and "eligible" sub-Saharan African countries, was preceded by Washington's sanctions and threats to cut off aid to Uganda in response to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023 passed in the East African country in May.
In response, Museveni said in early November that the US government had overestimated its importance to Uganda and urged citizens not to be "overly concerned" about Washington's actions, noting that African countries can continue to develop without Western help.
In early December, Washington imposed a new package of sanctions on Ugandan officials involved in the law, which Ugandan Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem criticized, accusing Washington of pushing its LGBT* agenda in Africa.
* The "LGBT movement" is classified as extremist by the Russian authorities and is banned in Russia.