The National Unity Platform (NUP) leader, Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, has suffered a devastating blow from the conviction of his top funder in the US, Senator Bob Menendez.
On Tuesday, July 17, 2024, Bob Menendez, a United States Senator from New Jersey, was found guilty of accepting bribes of gold and cash from three New Jersey businessmen and acting as an agent for several foreign governments, politicians, and militias.
Menendez was convicted on all 16 counts, and he will spend over 200 years in jail, which will incapacitate him from performing his tradecraft that enabled him to amass enormous wealth. He used his money to fund several politicians, who in turn granted him access to their countries’ natural resources, such as gold.
Uganda’s opposition politician, Robert Kyagulanyi, who has been a beneficiary of Menendez’s shady dealings, has been handicapped by the conviction since his top funder will no longer be available to aid his endeavors.
In addition to the financial support, Mendez has been using his position as senator to push for sanctions on Ugandan officials over their support for the Anti-Homosexuality Act to create leeway for Bobi Wine to come to power.
Following the enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 in Uganda, Senator Bob Menendez tabled a resolution in the US Senate pushing for targeted sanctions and visa restrictions on Ugandan government officials who supported the Act and recommended that the US redirect its funding to Bobi Wine since he is willing to uphold LGBTQ rights.
“Uganda’s appalling Anti-Homosexuality Act is the latest indication of President Museveni’s hostility to human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the law makes Uganda one of the most dangerous places for the LGBTQ+ community,” Menendez remarked.
“As I’ve done before, I call on [Biden] to review all support for the Museveni regime and redirect assistance to those fighting to uphold democracy and human rights protections for all Ugandan people,” he added.
However, the conviction has exposed Mendez as both a funder and a beneficiary of gross human rights abuse, having been caught with gold bars traced back to brutal militias from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Several reports have also exposed Menendez for sponsoring unrest in several countries across the world, with Kenya’s riots being the most recent the thieving senator has funded.
It is not yet clear whether the US will impose an asset and account freeze and other forms of sanction on Menendez and his stooges, like Bobi Wine, as they have done to other people who they accuse of corruption in different countries.