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Presidents meet today to adopt final NAM documents
Uganda's Vice president Jessica Alupo (fifth right, front row) joined by Foreign Affairs minister Gen Jeje Odongo (fifth left) with delegates after the opening of the Ministerial meeting at the 19th NAM summit in Kampala on January 17, 2024. PHOTO/ABUBAKER LUBOWA
What you need to know:
Presidents who arrived by press time include President Ismail Omar Guelleh (Djibouti), President William Ruto (Kenyan), President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (Equatorial Guinea), and President Ranil Wickremesinghe (Sri Lanka). The others are President Emmerson Munangagwa (Zimbabwe)
The week-long Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) 19th Summit climaxes today with the meeting of Heads of State and Government that will tomorrow adopt the final outcomes of the four-day deliberations by senior officials and Ministers.
Several presidents and heads of government of the member states had by press arrived in the country ahead of the Friday and Saturday meetings.
Until yesterday evening, 28 presidents had confirmed attendance with the majority expected to land in the night.
Presidents who arrived by press time include President Ismail Omar Guelleh (Djibouti), President William Ruto (Kenyan), President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (Equatorial Guinea), and President Ranil Wickremesinghe (Sri Lanka). The others are President Emmerson Munangagwa (Zimbabwe).
South Sudan’s Salva Kiir jetted into the country on January 17, ahead of the inception of the country into the movement today.
Cuba, the current chair of the Group of 77+China, whose Third South Summit kicks off on January 21, sent its Vice President, Salvador Valdés.
The prime minister of Rwanda, Édouard Ngirente, and Tanzania’s Kassim Majaliwa had arrived by press time.
The list of other presidents expected was kept tightly guarded by officials citing security reasons, and a preference for privacy by the leaders.
The advance team of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonia Guterres, who is expected to address the Heads of State and Government today was also reported to be in the country yesterday.
At today’s meeting which is the official opening of the summit, President Museveni is expected to assume chairmanship of the summit and the movement for the next three years.
Tomorrow, the heads of state and government are expected to adopt two documents; the Kampala Final Document and the Political Declaration on Palestine that have been prepared by Senior Officials and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
The Ministers yesterday adopted the Final Document after lengthy deliberations and rope-pulling over the Israeli war on Gaza. The China-South Sea conflict is also said to have taken the delegates some back and forth to agree upon.
Mr Adonia Ayebare, Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations who chaired the Political Committee of the Senior Officials however told the media the members had reached a consensus and adopted the documents in record time.
The two-day summit will also feature addresses by the President of the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, while representatives of the Regional Groups; African Region, Asia-Pacific Region, Latin America and the Caribbean Region, and European Region will raise key concerns of their respective regions.
Sources yesterday revealed that 1069 had arrived by midday Thursday, from 116 countries.
Dr Sam Omara, the Head of Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the number of Heads of Delegations had increased to 104.
The 19th Summit running under the theme, "Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence,” will close tomorrow.
