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MPs demand rescue plan for Ugandans in Ukraine
Members of Parliament debate during plenary on February 20. PHOTO | DAVID LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- In the directive issued by the deputy Speaker of Parliament, Ms Anita Among, yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was given up to Thursday [tomorrow] to come clear on a detailed evacuation plan for unidentified number of Ugandans trapped in Ukraine.
Parliament has demanded that government presents a detailed evacuation plan for all Ugandans trapped in the war-stricken Ukraine.
The lawmakers, quoting media reports, reiterated that Africans have been denied access to safe zones by officials in Ukraine.
In the directive issued by the deputy Speaker of Parliament, Ms Anita Among, yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was given up to Thursday [tomorrow] to come clear on a detailed evacuation plan for unidentified number of Ugandans trapped in Ukraine.
The directive came after Lwemiyaga County MP Theodore Ssekikubo demanded that the executive tables a detailed report on the Ugandans and the steps being taken to evacuate them.
“Whereas we may not do much as a country to stop the war, we need two things, first of all a position statement to tell us the situation and how our Ugandans can be evacuated,” Mr Ssekikubo said.
This proposal was supported by the shadow minister for Foreign Affairs, who doubles as the Kyadondo East MP, Mr Muwada Nkunyingi, reasoning that the plan is urgent.
Even when Uganda has not yet made an official pronouncement regarding its position on Russia-Ukraine crisis, the Kasilo County legislator, Mr Elijah Okupa, demanded the government clearly defines its position on the matter.
“We would also want to know, what is Uganda’s position? Because I am seeing some people tweeting that they are on one side, can we have a position?” Mr Okupa asked.
Mr Okupa’s demand, however, hit a snag after Ms Among ruled that it was unnecessary for government to pronounce its position on the matter.
“It is not correct, we shall not want to know the Ugandan side,” Ms Among ruled.
It is worth noting the First Son and commander of the Commander of Land Forces of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces Command (UPDF), Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, commented on the matter through his Twitter handle on February 28 at 3:35PM.
“The majority of mankind (that are non-white) support Russia’s stand in Ukraine. Putin is absolutely right! When the USSR parked nuclear armed missiles in Cuba in 1962 the West was ready to blow up the world over it. Now when NATO does the same they expect Russia to do differently?” Gen Muhoozi said in a tweet.
On behalf of the government, the Security Minister, Gen Jim Muhwezi, who in yesterday’s plenary session represented Government Chief Whip Thomas Tayebwa pledged that a detailed statement would be presented in the House on Tuesday next week.
However, considering that the international Women’s Day will fall on Tuesday next week; Parliament resolved that the statement be availed on tomorrow.
Background
Daily Monitor reported last week that least 100 Ugandans are stranded in Ukraine amid fears of a full blown war as Russian troops launched an all-out invasion of its former soviet territory by sea, land and air.
In an interview last week, two Ugandans living and working in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, described the situation as “tense, confusing, and a real commotion,” amid back-to-back state of emergency and martial law imposed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the light of the Russian invasion.
