E.Guinea president in Uganda for two-day visit
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is the official AU champion of 2019 on finding solutions to forced displacement in Africa. Upon his arrival on Friday, he held private talks with his host, President Yoweri Museveni in Entebbe.
AFRICAN DIPLOMACY
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea arrived in Uganda Friday for a two-day official visit at the invitation of President Yoweri Museveni.
 What the President tweeted This afternoon I received His Excellency Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, who is in Uganda for a two-day official visit in his capacity as the African Union (AU) champion for finding solutions to forced displacements on the continent. In our discussion, I reiterated our government's Pan-Africanist ideals that influence our open-door policy when dealing with refugees. These displaced people from neighbouring countries are our brothers and sisters, we have no reason to shut the doors in their faces. A lot of the conflicts in the continent that cause these displacements are a product of bad politics, influenced by identity, tribe and religion. To stop the refugee crisis, Africa must fix this wrong political premise and emphasise people's interests rather than identity. I welcome His Excellency Mbasogo and his entourage from the AU and Equatorial Guinea to Uganda. They will be visiting some of the refugee camps in our country. I wish them a fruitful sojourn. |
State House announced that his visit comes shortly after UN refugee agency UNHCR welcomed Equatorial Guinea's accession to the Kampala Convention on internally displaced people, becoming the 29th African Union member state to do so.
This year, the African Union, UNHCR and partner organizations, governments and millions of people in the world are commemorating the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the 2009 Kampala Convention on Internally Displaced Persons (IDP).
The Kampala Convention is the world's first and only regional legally binding instrument for the protection and assistance of IDPs, who often face heightened risks, violations and sexual violence because of their displacement, while they struggle to access their rights and basic protection.
Equatorial Guinea deposited its instrument of ratification of the Kampala Convention at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in October this year. With this development, 29 of the AU's 55 member states have now acceded to the Kampala Convention.
In October 2009, African states adopted the world's first and only binding continent-wide treaty to protect people forcibly displaced within their countries (internally displaced persons, or IDPs). Its full title is the African Union (AU) Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, but the treaty is better known as the Kampala Convention.
Teodoro Obiang arrived at State House Entebbe on a sweltering Friday
His host, President Yoweri Museveni, emerged to receive him
The visiting statesman looked sharp in a dark suit
He then majestically walked up the steps of State House to meet President Museveni
The two leaders shook hands on yet another meeting
President Nguema will be in Uganda for two days
The Kampala Convention builds upon the 1998 UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, the internationally recognized framework on internal displacement, which restates the principles of international human rights, humanitarian and refugee law applicable to IDPs. The Kampala Convention gives these non-binding principles the force of law in Africa.
President Nguema is the official AU champion of 2019 on finding solutions to forced displacement in Africa. He also represents the AU at the Global Refugee Forum in .
On his arrival, the visiting head of state had private talks with President Yoweri Museveni at State House Entebbe.
Nguema will on Saturday head upcountry where he will inspect Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement center, Panyandoli Health Centre 111, Panyandoli vocation school and Kiryandongo Hospital to have a first hand experience on how Uganda has successfully handled the refugee situation.
Over one million refugees have fled to Uganda in the last two and a half years, making the Pearl of Africa the third largest refugee-hosting country in the world after Turkey and Pakistan1 , with 1.36 million refugees by June 2018.
Wars, violence and persecution in the Horn of Africa and Great Lakes Region were the main drivers of forced displacement into Uganda, led by South Sudan's conflict, insecurity and ethnic violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and political instability and human rights violations in Burundi.
Nguema's recent visits to Uganda
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo previously visited Uganda on a number of occasions
25 January, 2018 - The President Nguema, arrived in Uganda for a one-day official visit ahead of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) celebrations.
April 27-28 , 2017 - President Nguema was in Uganda for a two-day state visit.
May 12, 2016 - President Nguema was among VIPs at Swearing in Ceremony of President Museveni. The event was held at Kololo Independence Grounds.