Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni has an interesting strategy to lift the recent sanctions imposed by the US over the country's Anti-Homosexuality Act. His plan involves using its own lawmakers and other political powerhouses in the US's own backyard.
According to federal disclosure filings, the government of Uganda has hired the services of DC consulting firm Mercury to aid in its public relations and lobby in US soil. The signing of the one-year, $600,000 contract came one month after the Obama administration announced its initial substantial sanctions against the African country for its harsh laws against the LGBT community there.
When Buzzfeed contacted Mercury regarding its latest client, the firm's representatives refused to comment on the matter. However, part of the contract read, "Mercury will provide consulting and communications services to promote trade and investment opportunities in Uganda."
The federal filing is reportedly signed by ex-Republican congressman and Mercury partner Vin Weber. Weber is also a former campaign adviser to Mitt Romney.
Attorney Nicholas Opiyo, who led a constitutional challenge of the anti-gay law in Uganda, told TIME that he is expecting that the road towards the country free of LGBT discrimination is still long. Opiyo and the rest of the plaintiffs were able to successfully repeal the controversial law on the basis that it did not follow the proper legal procedures to pass it as legislation.
Opiyo, referring to initiatives such as the public relation plans of the Ugandan government, made some brazen claims about the US' response to the law. He told the magazine, " I think that the American government must understand that their response to this issue in Uganda at some point escalated this debate and shifted the narrative of this debate from being a human rights issue to a new colonial attempt by Americans to impose their values on Ugandans. The politicians are very quick to pounce on that. The debate shifted to America versus Uganda, not about Ugandan people who face discrimination every day."
