President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, Uganda’s eternal leader, was graced with a peculiar surprise on a typical Monday morning at State House, Entebbe. A special message, like a bolt from the blue, arrived from none other than Faustin-Archange Touadera, the big chief of the Central African Republic.
This message, delivered by a rather highfalutin envoy, Claude Rameaux Bireau, who seems to have a title longer than a Kampala traffic jam, came bearing tidings from Touadera. Bireau, decked out in all his ministerial finery as the Minister of National Defence and Army Reconstruction of CAR, landed at State House ready to deliver his payload of goodwill.
With all the pomp and circumstance of a village festival, Bireau extended the warmest greetings from President Touadera to President Museveni, the government, and the people of Uganda. It’s like neighbors popping by with a pot of sugar, only this time, it’s diplomatic pleasantries instead of baking necessities.
Amidst the exchanging of pleasantries, the two presidents, Museveni and Touadera, delved into the nitty gritty of their nations’ relationship. Defence cooperation and trade linkages were on the table, like Matooke and groundnut sauce at a Ugandan buffet—essential and inseparable.
But the spectacle didn’t end there! Joining Bireau on his diplomatic safari were Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja, the outgoing defence minister, and Jacob Markson Oboth, the incoming defence minister. It’s like a passing of the military torch, but instead of a torch, it’s a ceremonial baton of command, and instead of a stadium, it’s State House.
As the day waned and the delegates dispersed, one couldn’t help but wonder about the intricate dance of diplomacy happening behind the scenes. From State House to the CAR and back, it seems like there’s never a dull moment in the world of international relations, especially when Museveni is involved.
In the big mix of global affairs, this meeting might seem like a mere stitch, but for Uganda and the Central African Republic, it’s a thread binding them closer together.
