Africa-Press – Uganda. The Uganda North American Association (UNAA) is grappling with a debt exceeding Shs500 million owed to Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas, following last year’s convention.
In July 2024, lawyers for the hotel served UNAA with a notice of intent to sue over the outstanding bill of about $130,000 (Shs500 million), incurred during the association’s annual convention held in August 2023.
At the time, the association was under the leadership of Ms Henrietta Wamala Ssenabulya, who now faces allegations of mismanagement and corruption from sections of the Ugandan diaspora.
“UNAA receives more than Shs500 million annually from the Ugandan government and other corporate sponsors. How then does it fail to pay for a single convention?” a member of the diaspora told.
The government reportedly provides UNAA with $100,000 (about Shs380 million) each year to support the convention.
Following the notice from Hilton, UNAA engaged lawyers to negotiate a repayment plan.
However, sources within the association’s council, speaking on condition of anonymity, questioned whether the organisation could meet its obligations without direct government intervention.
The debt has since reached a critical point, putting the leadership under pressure.
Several efforts to reach UNAA leadership for a comment on the situation were futile at the time of publishing this story.
Ms Wamala, now positioning herself as a tourism consultant, recently led a delegation of diaspora members to State House seeking financial backing for their projects.
Reliable sources indicate that President Museveni has not yet committed to the proposal.
The Hilton debt is also casting a shadow over the upcoming UNAA elections later this month in New Orleans.
For the first time in nearly a decade, all top executive positions remain uncontested.
The last time this occurred was in 2015, when then-vice president Monday Atigo was elected unopposed, also in New Orleans.
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