Fighting terrorism is top priority, says envoy

Aline KUSTER-MENAGER is France’s new Ambassador to Uganda. Sunday Monitor’s John Njoroge spoke to her on a wide range of issues including bilateral relations with Uganda, Human Rights, the fight against terrorism in the region and France- Uganda business relations.

Is France satisfied with its development cooperation with Uganda? Will we see increased funding for the various development projects France is undertaking with the Uganda government? Could you project how much it could be?

First of all let me stress that France sees Uganda as a full political partner and not as a mere beneficiary of its development assistance. There are very good prospects for our economic relationship, French investors are no longer shy to invest in Uganda. Good examples are Orange, Total Distribution, Lafarge/Hima Cement and Bolloré/SDV Transami. More and more French companies are continuously establishing themselves in Uganda and many others are prospecting.

As the French Ambassador to Uganda, I definitely encourage them to get to know East Africa better, and Uganda in particular; and to realise the economic potential of the region. Of course the arrival of Total Exploration in the oil exploitation field would be a major fact in our relationship.

In the commercial field, our bilateral exchanges have been multiplied by four since 2003 from $ 65million to $230 million now and this is increasing every year. We see further prospect with the opening of the Common Market within East African Community.

On development cooperation, our relationship is on the rise with three key sectors: water, energy and support to local investment and to small and medium enterprises. We have excellent links with Makerere and Kyambogo universities: 50 scholarships from the Embassy for students of bachelor of arts in education with French as a teaching subject, and ancient and strong involvement of French researchers of Institut français de development (IRD) and centre international de recherche agronomique et de développement (CIRAD) with their Ugandan partners.

France contributed to 10 per cent in the financing of Bujagali Dam and Power Plant, through its development agencies, with a part of the funds dedicated to attenuate the environment impact of the project.

The French Development Agency (AFD) provides $12 million to National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) to finance Ggaba and Jinja intakes projects which improve the access and quality of the water for the population. The sites will be inaugurated soon.

More is to come; a significant participation of France to the financing of the rehabilitation of the Kampala Network -Lake Victoria WatSan project through a soft loan up to $100 million is also due. The project is pending approval by the board of AFD. We expect good news before the end of this year. There is also prospection underway in the energy sector. Electrification of Africa and access to clean energy is also a top priority for France.

Our Minister of state of ecology, sustainable development and energy, M. Borloo, has been a strong advocate of this priority for the development of Africa; he thinks it should be fully part of the picture when it comes to an international agreement on climate change.

As a member of the United Nations Security Council, what is France’s reaction to the accusations labelled against Uganda in the Congo mapping report?
France, just like Uganda is supportive of the fight against the culture of impunity. All steps in this respect are positive ones. Coming to the report, we took good note of remarks made by Uganda and other countries. Attention will be paid to them in the follow up of the report.

Developing countries have expressed interest in supporting Uganda in its fight against terrorism. Is France joining in support? Which forms of support should Uganda expect from France?
Fighting terrorism is a top priority for France -as President Sarkozy put it in his speech to the annual conference of the French ambassadors– and international cooperation is the key to succeed.

President Sarkozy mentioned his sadness after the last July terrorist attacks in Kampala and his worries about the possible extension of terrorism in Africa; France praises President Museveni personal commitment in this respect. As with other African partners, France values its cooperation with Uganda.

France cooperates with the UPDF in support of AMISOM in strengthening the transition federal government in Somalia. This is a good testimony that these are not only words but also concrete supportive actions. We have at this very moment in Uganda 65 French military instructors. 40 of them are training Ugandan battle groups before they leave for Somalia. We have such one month training session twice a year, 9423 UPDF troops trained from 2006 to 2010.

Others are working within the EU training mission to build Somali army. I have to mention that France is a strong supporter of this operation: politically, financially through the EU peace facility for Africa and through its contribution to the UN. Between 2009-2011, France will give $20million in this support and of course through human resources. We also promote the sending of Ugandan trainees, between 10 and 20 per year, to French military schools or in African schools with regional mandate backed by French support.

Corruption is chronic in Uganda. In its development programmes with Uganda, has France faced accountability challenges with those it is working with? If so, how has it overcome these challenges?
Corruption is a phenomenon that affects both the developed and developing economies, its consequences being more serious for the latter. In French view, fight against corruption is important both for achieving the MDG’s and for a good climate for business and foreign investment. That’s why we welcome personal commitment of President Museveni in this respect. Coming to our experience of the matter in Uganda, I would say it’s limited since France doesn’t provide budget support to your country. Nevertheless, as second contributor to Global fund for AIDS and TBM, France follows closely what is going on in this sector in Uganda.

Is France satisfied with Uganda’s human rights record so far? In your opinion which areas for improvement? Is France supporting Uganda’s young democracy in the run up to 2011elections?
France’s policy in the field of Human rights is not to act as a censor. We put emphasis on dialogue both with government and civil society. This applies to Uganda. France supported Uganda’s membership in the Human rights Commission. We appreciate Uganda’s leadership on the issue of women in conflict which is presently debated in the UN Security council.

We praise the liveliness of Ugandan civil society on Human Rights issues and the active role played by the Ugandan Human Right Commission. It is also a good point that key Ugandan personalities are internationally involved in issues of Human Rights for instance the special rapporteur for human rights defenders Margaret Sekaggya or special counsellor of the SG of the UN for gender issues and promotion of women, Rachel Mayanja.
As a new comer it’s difficult for me to go too deeply in this matter. I would say that I was able to observe that there is a lively press expression with real debate in this country. Liberty of the press is an important point in a democracy. We see strong signs of the independence of justice.

I am also impressed by the readiness to dialogue on sensitive issues as death penalty or the question of violence, including to women. France, together with its EU partner will of course remain attentive at the transparency, fairness and peaceful holding of the coming elections.

Is France supporting Uganda’s young democracy in the run-up to the 2011 general elections and in what way? Would France continue to support Uganda in the event that these elections are not free and fair?
I would like to refer to my previous answer. I don’t want to anticipate on this question. We remain attentive and want to be helpful. We stand available to participate to the observation of the elections together with our EU partners

Putting into consideration the environmental consequences of oil exploration and lessons learnt from the Niger Delta, what would you advise Uganda over its newly discovered oil potential?
Environmental considerations are key to the sustainability of the oil exploration projects. France and French companies have a wealth of experience in this field. They are ready to share their expertise with Uganda is asked to.

Is France feeling despondent over her loss of Central Africa to the Anglophones?
I wouldn’t put the question like this… As I explained earlier, France is working with its African partners including Uganda for the stability of Africa and particularly of this great lakes region. It’s not a question of language.