WITH A PUBLIC DEBT MORE THAN SHS 73 TRILLION, SHOULD UGANDA HAVE HOSTED THE RUSSIA FOREIGH MINISTER?

WITH A PUBLIC DEBT MORE THAN SHS 73 TRILLION, SHOULD UGANDA HAVE HOSTED THE FOREIGN MINISTER OF RUSSIA?

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Uganda Monday, July 24 evening for a two day working visit. He came to Uganda following the NATO and individual country resolutions to implement sanctions that would end up biting given the suffering Russia has put Ukraine to, that would have been least expected at this time given the available avenues to conflict resolution.

While a number of Ugandans if given chance to vote for the Russia Foreign Minister would have voted No, it is surprising that the NRM Government decided to welcome the visit.

A war is always a human tragedy, and the war in Ukraine is no exception. The ripple effects of the conflict are extending human suffering far beyond its borders.

The war, in all its dimensions, has exacerbated a global cost-of-living crisis unseen in at least a generation, compromising lives, livelihoods, and our aspirations for a better world by 2030.

The largest cost-of-living crisis of the twenty-first century has come when people and countries have a limited capacity to cope. The war in Ukraine has trapped the people of the world between a rock and a hard place.

The rock is the severe price shocks in food, energy and fertilizer markets due to the war, given the centrality of both the Russian Federation and Ukraine in these markets.

The hard place is the extremely fragile context in which this crisis arrived; a world facing the cascading crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.

A shock of this magnitude would have been a significant challenge no matter the timing; now, it is of historic, century-defining proportions.

The Question is:

Given Uganda’s vulnerability, if the traditional donors decide to isolate the country, will Russia fill the gap? Secondly, where does that leave Ugandans as people who are supposed to be human and welcoming? How is the visit of the Foreign Minister going to affect our Tourism industry?

Does Museveni’s defense of the Foreign Minister’s visit to Uganda, help in anyway the sanctions the country may suffer? 

Entebbe (Uganda) (AFP), Jul 26 – Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday defended his country’s relationship with Russia, as Moscow’s top diplomat toured Africa to drum up support over the war in Ukraine. “How can we be against somebody who has never harmed us,” the veteran Ugandan leader said alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov […]

It is clear, the Foreign Minister is interested in strengthening ties with the African countries he is visiting. Surely, Uganda with our Motto: “For God and my Country”, would we welcome Russia given the level of human suffering the war Russia induced has caused to Ukraine, and the world at large?

In Egypt, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reassured Egyptian leaders that their orders for Russian grain would be met as he began a tour of African countries dependent on imports for their food supply. Read more: https://en.royanews.tv/news/36685/2022-07-25