L-R PS Local Government Mr. Ben Kumumanya, Ambassador Mumtaz Kassam, Ms. Doreen Katusiime, the permanent secretary Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities and PS Ministry of Trade Ms. Geraldine Ssali Busuulwa worked on the spouses programme
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has commended the National Organizing Committee (NOC) for successfully organizing the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and G-77 + China Summits that were held in Uganda recently.
The President made the remarks on Wednesday, January 31, 2024, as he hosted the NOC members at State House Entebbe. The NOC was headed by Ms. Lucy Nakyobe, the Head of Public Service and Secretary to Cabinet.
President Museveni thanked God for always blessing Uganda, citing it as one of the reasons why the summits were a success.
“First of all I thank God for the blessings which he gives Uganda including this one but also I can think of four letters- “VIPP” and these are Vision, Ideology, Patriotism, and Prioritization. These are practices which have guided the NRM ever since the student days,” he said.
“Now by the NRM rejecting this sectarianism of religion, tribe, race; that is how you get all the Sudhirs, the Chinese, Indians, the Arabs, the Africans of all these countries who are here. So, you can see that the vision plays a role in bringing all these people here.”
President Museveni also encouraged the committee and Ugandans at large to utilise the benefits of the summits to contribute to the development of the country.
President Museveni and First Lady Janet pose for a group photo with the NAM and G77 National Organising Committee after a luncheon at State House Entebbe on Wednesday (PHOTO/UG Standard)
“We should not only host a good conference but make a good contribution to the content of the work of NAM and G-77 by taking advantage of things which are already happening on the ground because I’m telling you South to South investment is already taking place, so it is a question of acquainting what is already happening,” he advised.
The 3rd Deputy Prime Minister, Rt.Hon. Rukia Nakadama said as leaders they are committed to continuous improvement to ensure that Uganda remains an inspiration for successful international gatherings like NAM and G-77 Summits.
“Once again I thank you all the members of the organizing committee and the participating nations and of course H.E the President of the Republic of Uganda and Maama who were also behind this team to see that everything goes on right,” Rt.Hon. Nakadama said.
“Let us use this occasion to celebrate our accomplishments, learn from our experiences and strengthen our resolve for future endeavours,” she added.
Behind the main event was the spouses programme which also had a formidable team including Ambassador Mumtaz Kassam, former Deputy High Commissioner to Italy.
In an earlier interview on UBC TV, Ambassador Mumtaz Kassam said that the spouses’ programme supported the formation of joint partnerships to improve health facilities.
“It’s very important to point out the health facilities we have currently here and more importantly, to see if we can do some joint partnerships to improve our health facilities. For example, I look at the Children’s Hospital in Entebbe, it’s a very successful hospital built by an Italian NGO, together with Uganda Ministry of Health and other government agencies, it’s a completely free-of-charge hospital,” she said adding;
“…when the first lady of Burundi was here, for example, she visited the hospital and we even take Burundi children into our hospital at Entebbe. So it’s something that we believe that by taking the spouses to such venues, we are exposing our health facilities, and we are showing them that joint partnership between government and private sector can work very well”.
President Museveni, First Lady Janet, Lucy Nakyobe, Hon Nakadama and Hon Jeje and Amb Ayebare cutting the cake during the luncheon at State House Entebbe on Wednesday.
The spouses of heads of state and government officials who attended the NAM summit commended Uganda’s development trajectory.
Ms. Bowen-Phillips, the spouse of the Prime Minister of Guyana said in a message to the organisers passed through Amb. Mumtaz;
“It was a pleasure to visit Uganda and to participate in the Spouses’ Program. Your First Lady did an excellent job at selecting those activities for us. Please convey my sincere gratitude to Mama Janet for the opportunity to visit the two hospitals and the Zoo. It was an awesome experience”.
Ms. Nakyobe also hailed the members of the National Organizing Committee for their hard work and dedication that enabled the two summits to become a success.
“I would also like to congratulate Mzee upon achieving the chairmanship of NAM and G-77. The summits were so good that everybody was so happy and appreciative.”
