At least 20 African presidents visited Uganda in the 2022/23 financial year, including none from Europe, America or other parts of the world, a new government report says.
The second annual Governance and Security Program Review report released on Tuesday in Kampala indicates that the highest number of visits were made by Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the President of Somalia, who visited Uganda five times.
President Salva Kiir of South Sudan has visited Uganda three times, while William Ruto of Kenya, President Évariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi and President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania have all visited Uganda twice each.
Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, Brahim Ghali of the Sahrawi, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan Abdelrahman Al-Burhan of Sudan all visited the country once.
Uganda is increasingly isolated, particularly by Europe and the United States, after the country’s parliament passed the anti-homosexuality law in May, which the president endorsed.
The World Bank and a number of donors have suspended funding to support the country’s budget, while US President Joe Biden announced earlier this week that his government was kicking Uganda out of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act ( Agoa), which African heads of government adopted. negotiated and agreed with former President Bill Clinton in 2000.
The new government report indicates that the President has never received a foreign head of state from the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Mr Museveni criticized European and American governments, accusing them of arrogance and trying to impose their foreign values on African governments.
Last year, on the sidelines of the US-Africa summit of heads of state, Mr. Museveni declared that he was president of Uganda not because of American support, but because of the will of Ugandan.
During the same period, President Museveni visited eight foreign countries across the world, from the United States in the west to Vietnam in the east, including Burundi, the United Arab Emirates , South Africa, Algeria, Kenya and the United Kingdom.
This is in stark contrast to his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto, who reportedly visited 45 cities in 38 countries in 83 days.
The report said the presidential visits strengthened bilateral relations between Uganda and the visiting countries or those he visited.
Mr Farouk Kirunda, Deputy Press Secretary to the President, yesterday said the President’s visits to other countries and visits by Presidents of other countries have been beneficial to Uganda by attracting investors and other opportunities .
President Museveni with his UAE counterpart, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in January.
“The impact is measured based on outcomes such as the influx of Ugandan investors to set up factories here and tourists. Uganda is a leading tourism and investment destination. Ugandans are already benefiting from the opportunities associated with these trades, getting jobs and supplying these factories with raw materials,” he said.
Mr Kirunda said when the President signs a bilateral agreement with a foreign counterpart, it is the responsibility of the line ministry to follow it up.
“The line ministers and technocrats of the different roles are responsible for monitoring the implementation of the MoUs, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Each MoU has signatories who must monitor their implementation,” he said.
He added: “The President is going to the Ugandan market and looking for markets for Ugandan products. During these trips, he markets, among other things, our coffee, matooke and tourism offerings.
Following these commitments, some countries are now removing visa requirements, which will facilitate the movement of goods and services. It is up to Ugandans to produce more and add value to their products to earn more foreign exchange,” he said.
What Museveni did during his foreign visits
In December last year, the President first visited the United Kingdom where he opened a meeting for food buyers and investors in Uganda’s agricultural and industrial sector, followed by a meeting with fund managers, food processors and large buyers of raw materials. He then tasked trade envoys in the Balkans, the United Kingdom and the United States to positively present Uganda as a preferred destination for investments.
At the launch, he appointed Mr. Bratislav Stoiljkovic as head of research for the Ugandan products market in the Balkans, Mr. Mark Pursey was put in charge of the UK market, Mr. Codey Lawrence and Ms. Olive Kamanzi in charge of the US market. During the same visit, he also met with British government officials led by Lord Andrew Mitchel, Minister for Development and Africa.
Across the Atlantic Ocean, the President attended the US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington DC at the invitation of President Biden, where he also met with several investors.
During the same meeting, he met with Victoria Nuland, US Assistant Secretary for Political Affairs, where they discussed a number of continental issues regarding regional security challenges and East Africa .
He then inaugurated the first ever Uganda-US trade and investment summit, held in Chicago.
However, last week the US State Department issued a business advisory, warning US companies planning to invest in Uganda that corruption in the country was worsening following the passage of the anti-homosexuality law.
The notice was followed by the announcement of Uganda’s expulsion from the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
On November 23 last year, Mr Museveni visited Vietnam and later held talks with President Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
During his visit, he visited FPT Corporation, Vietnam’s leading IT company, and the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, then visited the Vietnam-Uganda Business Forum, where he met with potential investors.
After their talks, the two presidents signed an agreement on visa exemption for holders of diplomatic and official passports; and four memorandums of understanding on cooperation in the areas of diplomacy, education, information and communications, and agricultural technology.
In the UAE, President Museveni, who was on a three-day official visit, held talks with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi.
He also attended the Abu Dhabi Sustainable Development Summit and spoke with representatives of the UAE government and business community.
President Paul Kagame (right) with President Yoweri Museveni at State House Entebbe in April last year.
It is unclear whether bilateral agreements and other commitments are monitored in terms of implementation. Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the President and the State House did not respond to our repeated calls and messages.
During the same period, the government facilitated visits by 19 high-level foreign dignitaries, including special envoys with protocol services, processed 827 jobs for migrant workers in Poland, evacuated 295 Ugandans from Sudan; and repatriated 3,000 Ugandans from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
According to the report, Uganda successfully lobbied for the presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the G77+China and that these summits will be held in January 2024.
The government has initiated, finalized and signed 151 agreements/MoUs on political, social and economic issues, according to the report.
. Training of 120 experienced peer educators
• Provided medical assistance, psychotherapy and assistive devices to 46 military veterans;
• Training of 154,780 citizens in the ideology of patriotism and change of mentality.
• Phase II of the video surveillance system covered 71 districts comprising 10 towns, 20 municipalities, 35 villages, 06 border posts and all major highways;
• 219 people with a criminal record and requesting a certificate of good conduct and morals were identified.
• 77,070 certificate of good conduct files were biometrically checked.
• 97.4% (748,946) of the 769,082 NIN applications received were registered.