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Former Ugandan envoy to Canada speaks out on deportation
Former Ugandan envoy to Ottawa, Joy Ruth Aceng. PHOTO/COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Acheng now says “Uganda should stand up and demand Canada to give reasons for her expulsion.”
Former Ugandan envoy to Ottawa, Joy Ruth Acheng, who the Canadian government declared persona non grata on August has finally spoken out following her looming deportation.
The Canadian government ordered Aceng out citing behavioral concerns, but she is reportedly still in Canada, as of August 26, 2024.
“My trouble with the Canadian government started way back at the time when Uganda’s government started the processes to enact the famous Anti-homosexuality Act and this escalated when this bill was signed by President Museveni,” Acheng told Monitor in a Monday interview.
“I was summoned four times by the Canadian government. In one of the summonses, I was just called never allowed to sit on a chair. I was not treated like a diplomat. I had rough times,” she narrated.
According to Acheng, her expulsion was earlier planned but long waiting on an execution opportunity.
“They termed me a human rights abuser. I left with the letter in my hand. In that letter; Canada said they will never recognize me as the High Commissioner…that they will also not deal with me as the dean for the African diplomats,” she explained.
Aceng said she had previously been invited to attend a Canada Day ceremony as a dean before she was stopped at the last minute. However, she was able to deliver a speech with backing from other undisclosed African envoys.
“I told them off to leave Uganda with her sovereignty. I told them this is the last time, I will ever come back. That's when they started summoning my deputy Allan Kajik,” she explained.
“When all this roughness was happening to me, I travelled back and informed the appointing authority.
Even our ministers including Gen Jeje Odongo (foreign affairs) and Permanent Secretary (PS) Pius Bigirimana, were denied a chance of meeting with the Canadian government officials,” Aceng added.
There’s belief that Aceng could have been expelled following an August 7 confrontation on the Canadian streets with people loyal to the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) party.
Using X, NUP president Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine accused Aceng of openly engaging in partisan politics in Canada.
“I have had many clashes with NUP starting from the time Uganda passed the Anti- homosexuality Act; I suffered in Canada from the time the law was passed,” she said.
"I also had clashes with NUP in 2018 during the Uganda–Canada trade and tourism expo in Toronto. Everyone ran away but I came and confronted them,” she noted.
Acheng now says “Uganda should stand up and demand Canada to give reasons for her expulsion.”
“Why would they use a law which gives them power to expel an ambassador without reasons,” she lamented.
Canadian officials were not immediately available for a comment by press time Monday evening.
