The head of Public Service, Lucy Nakyobe, has inspected the state of readiness of the new Munyonyo Convention Centre that is set to host the 19th Summit of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Heads of State and Government from January 15-20, 2024.

Nakyobe is serving as the chief executive officer of the organising committee. NAM is a forum of 120 member states.

According to Ofwono Opondo, the executive director of the Uganda Media Centre, Nakyobe made a briefing on December 28, 2023, to government officials.

Present were the chief of protocol at the foreign affairs ministry, Charles Sentongo, Dr Amina Zawedde, the permanent secretary at the ICT and national guidance ministry, Joseph Musanyufu, the permanent secretary of the internal affairs ministry.

Sudhir Ruparelia, the proprietor of the Munyonyo Commonwealth Convention Centre and chairman Ruparelia Group of Companies, was present.

The government provided sh85.4b for the construction of the convention centre at Speke Resort Munyonyo to host NAM after entering into a joint venture agreement with Meera Investments Ltd as the feasible option for constructing and operating the centre.

A joint venture agreement and shareholder agreements were signed between the Uganda Development Corporation (UDC) and Meera Investments on August 19, 2022, and September 2, 2022, respectively. A share certificate was issued. A board of directors was constituted of seven members. Each party has an equal representation of three members on the board. A joint venture company Speke Resort Convention Centre Uganda Ltd, was incorporated on September 2, 2022, to implement the project.

Nakyobe has been undertaking inspections of the various facilities that will host the guests during the NAM summit. This includes Entebbe International Airport, and Regional Service Centre Entebbe (RSCE). The RSCE provides administrative, logistics, and ICT services to 18 UN missions and entities in Africa and Speke Resort Munyonyo.

The advance teams to receive have been tasked to inspect the available accommodation options and reserve rooms for members of delegations who may not be catered for under the courtesy arrangements. For the security and integrity of the summits, printing of accreditation badges shall only be done after receipt of official delegations' lists submitted through diplomatic channels.

Given that all NAM member states are represented at the United Nations, log-in credentials for registration portals for the #NAMSummitUg2024 and #G77ChinaSummitUg24 have been sent to the missions in New York, to share with the designated delegations’ points of contact.

Gratis visas will be granted to all members of official delegations through diplomatic channels. In addition to that, there will not be any corona testing done during the NAM summit.

The Republic of Cuba holds the chair position for the Group of 77 in New York for 2023, a significant role in shaping international economic policies and fostering cooperation among developing nations. The G77 summit will also be held at Speke Resort Munyonyo from January 21-22, 2024.

The summit, organised under the framework of Group of 77 and China, serves as a platform for diplomatic discussions and collaboration among member nations. The First Ministerial Meeting was established to promote economic cooperation and collective bargaining power, the meeting addressed issues such as trade, technology transfer, and economic development. The first meeting for this was held in Algiers, Algeria in 1967.

The G77 China Summit provides an opportunity for Ugandan leaders to engage with global economic growth.