Foreign envoys shun government function at Kololo.
By STEPHEN KAFEERO
Posted Sunday, March 2 2014 at 02:00
Kampala. The United States and Irish envoys to Uganda on Friday kept
away from the launch of the government's campaign to end Mother-to
-Child Transmission of HIV (EMTCT).
The envoys did not attend a breakfast launch at State House Nakasero
and later a general ceremony at Kololo Airstrip although they had
earlier confirmed their attendance. The two ceremonies were officiated
to by the First Lady and Minister for Karamoja Janet Museveni.
The action was widely interpreted as a boycott by the foreign envoys
whose home governments have threatened to withdraw aid or review their
relations with Uganda after President Museveni signed the anti-gays
Bill into law last week.
Mr Daniel Travis, the public affairs officer at the US Embassy, said
Ambassador Scott H. DeLisi, made a decision not to attend. He refused
to divulge the reason why the ambassador refused to attend. "All I can
tell you is the ambassador decided not to attend and that is the
embassy's official position," he said.
The Sunday Monitor also learnt that the Chargé d'Affaires at the Irish
Embassy was expected to speak at the ceremony but neither he nor the
US ambassador sent a representative or an apology.
Last week, President Barack Obama warned that the US relations with
Uganda would be "complicated" if President Museveni signed the
anti-homosexuality Bill into law. The US is Uganda's largest donor,
giving more than $400m in aid annually. It also contributes a
significant portion of funding to Uganda's campaign against HIV/Aids.
About 7.2 per cent (1.4 million) of Ugandans have HIV.
In a related development, the World Bank has also suspended a $90m
loan meant for strengthening Uganda's healthcare following the signing
of the anti-gays law. World Bank officials, according to BBC, said
they wanted guarantees whether the loan projects would not be affected
by the law.
Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have also either frozen aid or
changed aid programmes for Uganda since the signing of the law.
The Netherlands has frozen Euro $9.6m support to Uganda's Judiciary,
while Denmark and Norway said they would redirect more than six
million Euros each from government budget support to private sector
initiatives, aid agencies and rights organisations.
Speaking at the EMTCT launch in Kololo, the First Lady advised
Ugandans to ignore the homosexuality debate which she said has become
widespread and overshadowed the focus on fighting HIV/Aids.
editorial@ug.nationmedia.com
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