Museveni and Bashir speak out on Somalia, South Sudan

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  Visiting Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir and host Yoweri Museveni of Uganda have called upon the international community to support the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) with the resources and requisite capabilities to more effectively assist the current government.

In a statement released Monday at the end of day one of Al-Bashir’s two day visit to Uganda, the two presidents “called upon the international community to support building of the Somalia’s institutions, particularly in the security sector, to enable the government to deal with the challenges posed by terrorist groups and stabilize the country.”

In their Monday meeting, Museveni and Bashir also underscored the need to support the IGAD led revitalization of the implementation of the Agreement on Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (ARCSS) and the unique roles being played by both Sudan and Uganda as immediate neighbours of South Sudan. They undertook to intensify efforts, bilaterally and within the IGAD and AU frameworks, towards finding a lasting political solution through an all-inclusive National dialogue.

Following the lifting of the trade and economic sanctions that had been imposed on the country by the United States for nearly 20 years, business was on the agenda at the Museveni-Bashir meeting. They called upon the business communities and private sectors to take advantage of this positive development.

During the visit, a Business Forum which brought together the Sudanese Business Delegation and their Ugandan counterparts was held. The forum discussed opportunities for trade and investment particularly in agriculture, agro-processing, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and commodities especially coffee and tea.

Coffee deal

Sudan imports 20% of Uganda coffee and is the single biggest export market for the product from which about US $ 100 million is earned.

A delegation from the Sudanese Standards and Metrology Organization visited Uganda from November 5-8, 2017 to inspect the coffee testing/quality assurance facilities of Uganda Coffee Development Authority, Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) and private coffee processors.

Ahead of the Bashir visit, the Undersecretary/Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sudan visited Uganda from October 5-6, 2017 and met his counterpart Amb. Patrick Mugoya, during which the two sides agreed on steps to implement the decisions taken by the 5^th session of the Joint Ministerial Commission which was held in Khartoum.

President Omar Hassan AL-Bashir was received at #Entebbe International Airport, by his host H.E .@KagutaMuseveni #BashirInUg pic.twitter.com/TguXL6xbSa

— State House Uganda (@StateHouseUg) November 13, 2017

Among the issues they discussed were opportunities for trade and investment, immigration, air transport, regional issues and security matters. They also held a meeting with respective Ministries and stakeholders to discuss ways of improving the Coffee trade with Sudan.

Uganda will be hosting the 6^th Session of the Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) by March 2018.

Despite an international war crimes indictment, Bashir has travelled to Uganda, Rwanda  and South Africa in the past two years.

The European Union and its Member States issued a statement saying they regret the visit of President Omar Al-Bashir to Uganda, a State party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).