Parliament moves to save UN base in Entebbe

PIC: Sekikubo said Uganda needs the UN base here as a way of appreciation for its role in peace keeping in Somalia and hosting refugees

DIPLOMACY

PARLIAMENT- Lwemiyaga County MP Theodore Ssekikubo on Tuesday moved a resolution for Parliament to support Government's effort to save the UN service base in Entebbe that is due to be relocated to the Kenyan capital Nairobi. 

"The UN base in Entebbe has been employing over 420 Ugandans directly and others, who have been benefiting with the inflows of $11m (about sh40b)," he said. 

"In Entebbe, there are vibrant malls, real estate industry, infrastructure and as Uganda, we shall be losing the leverage because Entebbe is the only regional and continental base of the UN here in Uganda."

However, on May 1, the UN Secretary General wrote to the UN Advisory Committee recommending that the UN should remove its base from Entebbe to Nairobi, Ssekikubo added. 

Ssekikubo said the only way Uganda can be appreciated is to maintain the UN base in Entebbe. 

The need to reward Uganda

Meanwhile, Speaker Rebecca Kadaga said the matter should be critically debated.

"We need a serious debate on this matter. It is very serious for our country.

"Kenya has many UN bodies and yet Uganda has paid with blood much more than our Kenyan counterparts. We have shed blood on the African continent so we deserve to be supported," Kadaga said.

Aruu County MP Odonga Otto said Uganda has contributed peacekeeping troops to Somalia and in southern Sudan - not forgetting Uganda's open policy to refugees.