What 43 years of diplomatic service have taught Mugume

It is a sunny Tuesday afternoon, and he is dressed-down, in a striped t-shirt, blue jeans and brown sandals. Ambassador James Mugume’s working table is cluttered; comprising books, newspapers, a laptop, a glass of drinking water and his spectacles which he occasionally takes off.
The recently retired career diplomat is relaxing seated on an exterior sofa set on the veranda, reading from books off a glass table. It is beside a big living room window from which I can see art pieces dotted on the wall.
The floor is made of mahogany wood with rich and subtly shiny brown vanish. The gardens in front of the veranda are well-tended, with a few trees through which cool air softly wafts.
Here, the career diplomat, with 43 years’ experience, will be retiring to after handing the baton, as Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to friend and fellow career diplomat Ambassador Patrick Mugoya.

1n 1972, Mugume was another statistics student looking for internship placement. He got placement at the Institute of Statistics. Unfortunately, two of his supervisors were killed. They had apparently published a story portraying the negative aspect of the economy. President Idi Amin had just taken over power.
Perhaps sighting the fate of his mentors, Mugume decided to apply for a job at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In June, 1973, he was taken on as foreign service officer grade six, with a salary of Shs1, 300, which was good money since the dollar (then) was about Shs7.
A year later, he was posted to New Delhi, India where he served until 1980 which exposed him to Indian culinary. In 1976 though, he was selected to travel to New York as a junior member of the delegation, for three months.

“It was exciting. There was a lot to learn too. I got to appreciate the goodness in reading because when you have read about a subject, you have the authority to speak. Even those who disagree with you, respect your opinion because you’re informed,” he says.
While in foreign missions, Mugume missed Kampala’s social life particularly bufundas (ungazetted hangouts), which sprang up as a result of insecurity. He says during that time, people preferred to enjoy their beer within their neighbourhoods for fear of being arrested during security round-ups.

He used to reside in Makindye and recalls that to keep on the safe side of the law, he would go to town at about 10am and go back home by 3pm. When he returned after the war, in 1980, there were shortages of a number of items. “Sometimes, we would walk the whole day in search of warm beer. I had friends in Nile Breweries in Jinja Town, so we would go there and pick beer off the conveyor belt. Otherwise, there was a risk of not getting any beer,” he recounts.
As a bachelor at the time, he would engage in a few youthful excesses. When he returned from New Delhi, he served as second secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In June 1985, he enrolled at the Kennedy School of Governance for a post graduate degree in public policy and management.
The following year, he was posted to New York and whereas one would imagine that it was all splendour, this meant a lot of work, sometimes to the wee hours.

“I spent most of my time in the basement of the United Nations. We dealt with issues of Least Developed Countries like debt sustainability, Structural Adjustment Programmes climate and environment issues,” Ambassador Mugume recalls.
And when he had to take a break, it was on budget because the social life in New York was great but expensive. Along the way, he enrolled for a master’s degree in public policy and management at Harvard University.
Besides the academics, he was able to quit smoking owing to the institute’s strict policy on smoking and programmes it set up for those willing to quit. He had met his wife, Mable, who he decided to marry in the city dubbed ‘the big apple’. There, they had their two sons. He was there until 1990.

In 1991, he returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then back to US, at the University of Merryland in 1992 and taught how diplomacy is developed, made and projected.
In 1994, he was posted to start the High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa.
“There were people who thought there would be war between Whites and Blacks but president Nelson Mandela (RIP) calmed the tension by speaking to people. It was liberation for Whites. When I went out to look for a house, it was whites helping me. The only Black people were the tea girls,” the ambassador recalls.

When he returned from South Africa, the country had witnessed the entry of South African companies like MTN, Stanbic, Shoprite and Game. Motorcycle taxis christened boda bodas were also becoming a common sight on the roads. On return, he was promoted to director, international cooperation, a position he held until 2006 when he was appointed Permanent Secretary. His biggest assignment, was handling the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
Mugume says being humble enabled him rise through the ranks and thanks his parents, who raised him with good Christian values. He is the first born and one of four boys and three girls.

About Mugume
Starting out. Back in 1973 when he took up his first assignment, he was young, eager man but now he leaves public service satisfied that he played his part in the grand scheme of serving his country.
And he did so with discipline, diligence and humility, traits he attributes to a good, humble upbringing thanks to his parents (who are still alive).
Relationships. He is that officer who returned a call if he could not take it, one who was curious to start conversations with strangers to get to know what they did, how they did it and what their motivations about life were.
The plan. It is with little surprise when he says he intends to use much of his retirement reading and writing. He is already penning his memoirs and has contacted a publisher.
“Fountain Publishers has given me someone to work with. I hope to complete the book in five months,” he says.