By Charles Odongtho
in Washington DC

Uganda is at the top of US presidential candidate Barack Obama’s African agenda, a top aide has said.

Ambassador Howard Wolpe said Obama is concerned about the suffering of children caught in the conflict in northern Uganda.

His revelation comes less than 10 days when America elects its 46th president.

Wolpe, a former top envoy in the Clinton administration, said one of Obama’s top priorities, if he won the election, would focus on peace in the Great Lakes region.

The Democratic nominee, Wolpe added, was likely to maintain the current US foreign policy of engaging “very actively in a diplomatic way.”

Wolpe was Clinton’s special envoy to the Great Lakes region that included Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, the DR Congo and Zimbabwe between 1996 and 2001.

In an interview with The New Vision in Washington, the ambassador added that Obama was concerned about the LRA war and the insecurity in northern Uganda.

Obama looks likely to win the race to the White House next Tuesday, if the opinion polls reflect the will of the voters. The polls have consistently given him a lead over his Republican rival John McCain. Obama, whose father was from Kenya, would be the first African-American president of the US.

Current US President George Bush and predecessor Bill Clinton had close ties with Uganda.

Clinton visited Uganda for two days in March 1998 as part of his 12-day, six-country tour of Africa. Bush paid a one-day visit to Uganda in July 2003.

Clinton and Bush’s policy on Uganda and Africa focused largely on fighting HIV/Aids, resolving the regional conflicts and promoting trade through the African Growth and Opportunity Act programme.

Wolpe said Obama would most likely pursue similar policies and programmes in Uganda.

Earlier, speaking to international journalists at the State Department, Wolpe said: “An Obama administration will make a very high priority addressing the various conflicts in the continent.” He said political stability, was key to economic development.

He noted that Congo was “strategically critical to the region”.

If the Congo, he said, cannot be stabilised, the potential for the nine states that surround it would be limited.

But Wolpe warned that the current financial crisis would affect US funding across the world.

“Given the enormous pressure on the budget, it will be very difficult to maintain current levels of aid flows to Africa.”

Africa has not featured prominently in the presidential race. US attention has focused on the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, China’s emergence, Iran and other Middle East concerns.

However, Obama has been outspoken on Darfur, travelling to the region in 2006 and called for a no-fly zone over the region.

Obama has also been outspoken regarding US policy toward Zimbabwe, saying in June 2008 the government of Robert Mugabe is illegitimate and lacked credibility. He called for more sanctions on Zimbabwe.

On his part, McCain wants the US to promote democracy in Africa and “open economies”.

He condemned “populist demagogues who are dragging their nations back to the failed socialist policies of the past.”