Museveni downplays removal of Uganda from US trade pact

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has said that external attempts to "pressure" his country are futile, more than a week after Uganda was expelled from a major US-Africa trade programme.

The US first threatened to sanction Uganda and expel it from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade pact in May, after the East African country passed a controversial anti-homosexuality law.

The law places a death penalty on certain same-sex acts.

"For now, those who put pressure on us, they're wasting their time. And we don't have to worry ourselves about that," President Museveni said in a national address on Tuesday, speaking out for the first time since the expulsion took effect.

"What we should concentrate on is to fight corruption among ourselves. These are the real problems. Not foreign pressure, because that one has no meaning," he added.

Mr Museveni also said that Uganda will trade with international partners that "respect" it.

Uganda also doubled down on its punitive anti-homosexuality law last August, when the World Bank halted funding to the country.

The Bank said the law "contradicts" the organisation's values.