Nakadama is new Pakistani consul
KAMPALA.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has given the green light to former State minister for Gender and Culture, Ms Rukia Isanga Nakadama, as the Honorary Consul of Pakistan to Uganda.
A former NRM Woman MP for Mayuge District for three terms, Ms Nakadama replaces Bonny Katatumba, who passed on in February last year.
The position has been vacant since then. Ms Angela Katatumba, daughter of the late Katatumba, was claiming to act the interim but both the Pakistani High Commission in Nairobi and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kampala dispelled her claims.
Granted
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a May 3 letter, in response to a January 16 letter by the Pakistani High Commission in Nairobi nominating Ms Nakadama, said “the agreement has been granted.”
Asked by this newspaper yesterday if she had lobbied for the job, Ms Nakadama said she did not have any prior contacts nor engagement with the Pakistani government.
“They called me and told me that they were considering me to be their Honorary Consul and I said yes,” she said. “All responsibilities come from God, and given my former experience as a public servant I could not turn it down,” she said.
Ms Nakadama said she “was waiting for guidelines from” the appointing authorities on how to proceed.
Honorary consuls
Privileges. Honorary consuls are not professional diplomats and are not entitled to most privileges enjoyed by counterparts in Foreign Service.
Voluntary. They serve on a voluntary basis, including using their own resources to serve economic interests of foreign governments.
Authority. They have limited authorisation to act and conduct on behalf of foreign governments and do not enjoy diplomatic immunity nor treatment as well.
