What US sanctions can do to generals December 16, 2020 Written by ROBERT SPIN MUKASA US lawmakers have focused their recent anger against Uganda and the ruling NRM government’s use of force to slow the march of the coronavirus and in the process restrict freedom of association and expression during the electoral period. They have written to US Secretary of State Mike R. Pompeo urging the US administration to conjure up a more muscular response to human rights abuses in Uganda and the country’s slide toward authoritarianism. In an apparent response to that plea, Mike R. Pompeo in a recent tweet, said Uganda was a long-standing partner and Washington expected its partners to hold free and fair elections.