UN chair: Kutesa starts work today

Kampala. Mr Sam Kutesa, Uganda’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, will later today assume the presidency of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly (GA).
He will, for the next one year, be the referee during the deliberations of the 193–member organisation’s sessions.

How it concerns Uganda
Kutesa’s new responsibility has partly contributed to the increase in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget from Shs58.253 billion to Shs64.939 billion.
Running the UN GA presidency will cost Uganda Shs2.6 billion; a figure the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, says could have helped to offset “pressing needs at foreign missions”.
However, Mr Fred Opolot, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says the Shs2.6 billion is “certainly value for money”.
“There is nothing wrong with that; it is certainly value for money,” he says.
The Daily Monitor is yet to get a breakdown of how the Shs2.6 billion will be used. What is known is that the UN will pay for the running of the UN GA president’s office.
Mr Opolot says Kutesa’s election as the president of the UN GA symbolises the confidence other countries have in Uganda.
Ms Freda Kase–Mubanda, who worked with the UN from 1971 to 1999, says the stature of the office means Kutesa would be in position to fast-track some bilateral talks.
“If my country wants something from, say, Barack Obama’s, and [my country] goes through the President of the General Assembly, it would get quite a hearing,” says Ms Kase–Mubanda
However, Mr Jack Wamanga Wamai, the Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs, adds that there is nothing much Uganda will gain from Mr Kutesa’s presidency of the GA.
“It is a prestigious job. But there is not much Uganda will gain from it. Uganda missed an opportunity to benefit substantially when it refused to support Mr Olara Otunnu to become the Secretary General of the UN. It is the UN Secretary General who can influence things,” Mr Wamai said.
Mr Kutesa will assume the presidency at a time when the world powers are still pondering how best to tackle the Islamic State, a conflation of mercenary fighters now in Syria and Iraq.
According to The New York Times, the US States now wants “a legally binding UN Security Council resolution that would compel all countries in the world to take steps to prevent and suppress the flow of their citizens into the arms of groups considered to be terrorist organisations”.
During Mr Kutesa’s stint at the UN GA, Mr Henry Oryem Okello will be Uganda’s acting Foreign Affairs minister.

Functions of the UN general assembly

Among other functions, the UN GA discusses any question(s) relating to international peace and security and, except where a dispute or situation is being discussed by the Security Council (SC), makes recommendations on it.
The UN GA considers and approves the UN budget.
It also makes recommendations for the peaceful settlement of any situation that might impair friendly relations among nations and considers the reports from other UN organs.
The GA elects the non–permanent members of the Security Council.
According to information on a UN Website, the GA also initiates studies and makes recommendations to promote international political cooperation, the development and the codification of international law, the realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

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