America versus Museveni

Two former US top diplomats who have slammed the move by US diplomats to walk out of the swearing in ceremony also adopted the same lines.

Jendayi Fraser, who was Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs between 2005—2009, was the first to call out the US diplomats over what she called empty symbolism.

“US walking out of Museveni inauguration over ICC comments is empty symbolism effectively walking US away from real influence in Africa,” Jendayi tweeted on May.14, two days after the walk out.

She added: “Also if the U.S. thinks Bashir should be taken to ICC it has means to take direct action rather than harassing African partners”.

Jendayi was also a former ambassador to South Africa, which sparked controversy last year when it declined to arrest Sudanese President Bashir, as obliged under the Rome Statute. Bashir was indicted by the court over war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Rosa Whitaker, the former Assistant US Trade Representative for Africa in the Administrations of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush also decried the walkout.

She said she was dismayed as two American diplomats walked out on the inaugural address “of a respected African leader and that other African leaders attending the ceremony were visibly angered”.

“To see two decades of goodwill built up under Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush so carelessly forfeited was deeply saddening,” Whitaker said, “Having worked for years in both administrations and the Congress to build a strong American partnership with Africa this unprecedented walk-out was personal.”

That is the same script that Sam Okuonzi, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, pushed when he spoke to The Independent.

“These comments by the American diplomats and others will not amount to much. Diplomatic relations have not been severed. It will eventually all calm down,” he said.

30-year relationship at stake

The prediction of blue-sky relations ahead between Uganda and the U.S. are based on what has happened in the last 30 years.

As Okuonzi told The Independent, the military and economic relations between the two have remained intact. For the U.S., Uganda has been the most significant security partner in the Great Lakes region. Together they have fought the Lord’s Resistance Army of Joseph Kony in DR Congo and CAR and Al Shabaab in Somalia. The U.S. has also relied on Uganda in mediating peace and resolving conflicts in Kenya in 2007, South Sudan in 2013 and currently in Burundi.

In an investigation on America’s military bases in Africa titled AFRICOM: America’s Empire of Military Bases in Africa published in 2015, Nick Turse showed how America maintains Uganda on its list of strategic military bases, including outposts at Entebbe Airport and Kitgum Airstrip.

Apart from the security partnership, U.S. companies also do business in Uganda. The American Chamber of Commerce has held important summits in Kampala. American firms have been involved in geothermal projects, the Bujagali hydro-power plant, and as transaction advisors in the oil sector’s multi-billion dollar oil refinery.

American Logistics giants; Halliburton, Baker Hughes and Weatherford (also started in America) have been the main contractors in oil prospecting and exploration.

In 2013, total U.S. government assistance to Ugandan was approximately US$723 million, including US$323 million for PEPFAR programs, US$116 million for other health programs, US$153 million foreign assistance, US$129 million in military assistance, and US$1 million in assistance through Peace Corps programs.