Government owes Ugandans answers, says Japanese ambassador

On June 8 you made two years as ambassador to Uganda. What have been your impressions so far?
Actually two years and three months. But very quickly and excitingly, I see many developments in the Japan-Uganda relations including, among others, more Japanese business activities, friendly relation agreements between municipalities and cooperation in the sports field. I am optimistic that there is more potential for dynamic development in the future.

Personally, I tasked myself to increase Japanese businesses in Uganda, strengthen people-to-people exchange in all possible fields and to recognise Ugandans contributing to the bilateral relations.

What have you liked, and what have you disliked?
First of all, Uganda is a unique country. The people are friendly, hospitable, accessible, have a good sense of humour and are quite good at communicating. I have nothing to dislike in particular.

I’m much aware Uganda is undertaking every step to develop and to achieve middle income status. However, for achieving this goal, timekeeping is a prerequisite in very chain – from production, delivery, to payment. Timekeeping is a big issue but there is room for improvement.

This is your second stint in Uganda, having served as deputy head of mission 10 years ago. Besides the only constant – the government and the President – did you find any changes?
Quite honestly, infrastructure has improved greatly over the 10 years from roads, electricity, to health infrastructure. There are quite a lot of buildings of sorts everywhere, and road congestion has worsened.

On the other hand, there is a clear demonstration of vibrancy of economic activities of both Kampala and the country. The situation in Karamoja has also improved a lot, which surprised me.

When I was here there was a lot of fighting between them and the UPDF over cattle rustling and disarmament. But I was impressed with what I saw when I came back.

You arrived shortly after a hotly contested election. Actually the political momentum was declining, but has been picking up, especially in recent months. What was your reading of the environment?
I see retrospectively, because the 2006 election was chaotic and many things that happened afterwards. Dr [Kizza] Besigye was prosecuted for rape and treason… so for me what I saw recently was a bit of deja vu.

But generally speaking, we are always observing the political, economic and social situation of the country as thus affects our bilateral relations. We analyse the situation, and mainly we rely on information coming from media like you.
Based on that, I see a lot of voices condemning violence inflicted on Members of Parliament, journalists and other citizens. I also hear that same tone of voices from the government side. I hope that the latest development will be a good occasion to strengthen rule of law and to ensure human rights of all citizens.

The events sparked off arbitrary arrests followed by revelations of torture by security outfits. As a development partner, did you engage government on the matter?
As I said, I don’t possess enough facts to say something definitive. But I believe that in general any government is accountable for the actions, and the Ugandan government is not an exception.

My hope is that the government will explain in public what happened, what measures it took and why they did so. Such events should provide opportunity for both sides to reflect so as not to repeat the same mistakes.

Through the appropriate channels and whenever opportunity avails we convey our message. But accountability is key in democratic dispensation and the government owes answers to the people of Uganda, not to us diplomats.

Do you think government has done enough explaining?
Like I said, the government has an obligation to explain to Ugandans, not to us diplomats. And again, I have to be cautious here because there are many claims on both sides: the government says it did what it did because the President’s car was stoned but the other side offers a different version, so we don’t know for sure. But seeing the images of honourable [Robert] Kyagulanyi and honourable [Francis] Zaake raises a lot of questions, but like I said, the government has an obligation to explain to Ugandans.

What are Japan’s main interests in Uganda?
Japan wishes to contribute to the peace and security as well as welfare of the people of the international community. Japan cannot live alone in a globalised world, but can live and achieve its prosperity in a peaceful and secured world.

In this context, Japan’s interests in Uganda lie within peace and security and beyond the region. It goes without saying that Uganda has contributed immensely to regional security, and is offering safe haven for refugees from neighbouring countries through its open-door policy. These are additional reasons why Japan is paying close attention and offers any possible support to Uganda.

Mr Kazuaki’s take on key issues

On Uganda in Japan’s foreign policy
TICAD is our policy strategy to formulate Japan’s engagement with Africa, starting in 1993. I would say there was no clear foreign policy for Africa until then. Africa’s peace and development is increasingly becoming closely related to Japan’s future prosperity. In this perspective, we are looking at Uganda which, as I said, is playing a decisive role for the stability and peace in eastern and the Horn of Africa.

On Japan’s Shs4.4 trillion development assistance to Uganda since relations were established
I assess that Japan and Uganda’s bilateral relations have been smoothly developing. The challenge is sustainable usage of the assets and technical and management skills, and soft assets contributed by Japanese development assistance projects. In case of physical assets, they will be utilised to their respective life span, sometimes beyond the life span with proper maintenance.

On Nile Jinja Bridge which is due for commissioning in October
The Jinja Bridge is indeed a symbol of Uganda-Japan relations, and my hope is that we will have high ranking officials visiting from Japan.

On TICAD ministerial meeting in Tokyo
TICAD is a principal policy forum for African development, and within that framework is a crucial player for determining the strategic policy orientations with priority areas in next three years and the measures to be taken. Japan has acted in line with TICAD conclusions in her development programme for Uganda and you are witnessing outcomes in a variety of fields, in the same way in other African countries as well.