President Yoweri Museveni has received a special message from the Emir of Qatar, H.H. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The message was delivered by a special envoy of the Emir, Dr. Muhammad bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, the Deputy Minister for Regional Affairs, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State of Qatar.
The special message was delivered on Tuesday March 07, 2023, at State House, Entebbe by the Special Envoy. Dr. Al-Khulaifi affirmed the keenness of H.H the Emir of Qatar to visit Uganda in response to the invitation of H.E the President of the republic of Uganda.
President Museveni visited Qatar in
April 2017 and invited his Qatari counterpart to reciprocate the visit, in a letter dispatched to H.H. the Emir in February 2022.
During the meeting with the Special Envoy, President Museveni praised the
existing bilateral relations between Uganda and Qatar. He said the relationship has great potential to improve, especially in the areas of trade
and investment.
The President briefed his guest on the security situation in the Great Lakes region. He told the delegation that what was needed was to deliver lasting peace, development and regional integration was a new ideology of nationalism, not sectarianism.
The President also welcomed the proposals made by Qatar on how to end
conflicts in the region. He said the Qatari initiative should complement the current interventions by the East African Member States.
The regional efforts are led by the East African Community Chair, H.E. Gen. Evariste Ndayishimiye, President of Burundi, and the former President of Kenya, H.E Uhuru Kenyatta as mediator and guarantor.
On the Ugandan side, the meeting was attended by: Minister of Defence, Hon. Vincent Bamulangaki Sempijja; Minister for Security, Hon. Jim Katugugu Muhwezi, and the former Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. John Patrick Amama Mbabazi.
Others included: the Minister of State for Regional Affairs, Hon. John Mulimba,
and Amb. Dr. Rashid Yahya Ssemuddu, Special Presidential Envoy to the State of Qatar as well as Uganda’s Ambassador to Khartoum, Republic of Sudan.
H.E Dr. Muhammad Al-Khulaifi, the Emir’s Special Envoy was accompanied by H.E Ambassador Jabor Ali Al-Dosari, the Non-Resident Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Uganda; Ambassador Abdullah bin Hussein Al-Jaber, Head of the Africa Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Mr. Jassim bin Muhammad Al-Asmakh, Advisor at the Qatari Foreign Ministry.
When contacted, and asked about the reason why the Emir chose to send
the Envoy to Uganda, Ambassador Ssemuddu, the Special Presidential Envoy to the State of Qatar said, the State of Qatar, like any other countries in the
world, appreciates the efforts of H.E.
President Museveni in building peace
and security in the region. He added that the President’s wisdom and wide experience in solving Africa’s problems have been drawn on by many leaders and institutions.
Ambassador Ssemuddu thanked the Special Envoy and his delegation for the
visit and applauded them for their affirmation to return to Uganda and to
promote the country as a tourism and investment destination in Africa.
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