Uganda retains Great Lakes top job for next three years

Ambassador Onyango Kakoba

What you need to know:

  • Sources familiar with the activities at the secretariat say initially the seat was set to be handed over  to the Central African Republic, but during the meeting, Mr Kakoba put a strong case, swinging the speakers to his side.

Members of the Forum of Parliaments of the International Conference in the Great Lakes Region have reappointed Uganda’s ambassador Onyango Kakoba as the Secretary General for another three years.
A statement from the secretariat says ambassador Kakoba was re-appointed following satisfactory performance.

Sources familiar with the activities at the secretariat say initially the seat was set to be handed over  to the Central African Republic, but during the meeting, Mr Kakoba put a strong case, swinging the speakers to his side.

“Ambassador Kakoba’s mandate was unanimously renewed by the Speakers of the National Parliaments of the ICGLR member-states during a virtual meeting held via video conferencing last Friday,” the statement says.

 Mr Kakoba yesterday told Daily Monitor in a phone interview from the  secretariat in Kinshasha that his  reappointment is a sign of confidence in his work which he intends to use positively.

“It is a sign of confidence from my superiors who are the national speakers of the member states with what I have done. This can clearly be seen by the fact that we held all the meetings we were supposed to hold even during lockdown when many organisations were not working, we continued with our programmes and  held meetings of the speakers online and I think they were satisfied with my performance,” he said.

Kakoba also said he will use his term to push for Uganda’s national interests and promote regional peace
He added that issues of interstate conflicts are still persistent and that he has made proposals to address them.

“As a country, this reappointment is very important because national parliaments play a very important role and I will use this time to push for Uganda’s national interests at the regional level,” he said.
Kakoba said the interstate conflicts are still a big problem that needs to be tackled and that his focus will be in handling them.

“As far as interstate conflicts are concerned my priority will be to ensure that they end. It is unfortunate that these conflicts are still happening among member states so that we need to get to a roundtable and resolve them all,” he said.

“I have made proposals for the speakers’ forum and heads of state to meet every year. This will help in dialoguing and addressing interstate conflicts. There will also be meetings of national speakers to address issues affecting the region so that we get solutions to interstate and internal conflicts,” he added.

Forum of Parliaments of the ICGLR was set up on December 4, 2008, with the aim of making a parliamentary contribution to the implementation of the pact.

 The ICGLR  General Secretariat is based in Kinshasa, DR Congo, with the  main mission  of facilitating effective engagement of parliamentarians in the implementation of the Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes region and its Protocols.

It brings together national parliaments of the 12 member-states of ICGLR, namely Angola, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, South Sudan, DR Congo, Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville) , the Central African Republic and Uganda.

As Secretary General, Mr Kakoba is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Diplomat of the Kinshasa-based organization operating at the level of a diplomatic mission.
In his acceptance speech shortly after being reappointed, Mr Kakooba said he will use the three years to accomplish pending businesses.

“I am glad to be given another opportunity to continue serving the region. Having worked hard to have my contract renewed, I will even work harder during the new mandate to leave a good legacy,” he said.

Kakoba was first appointed to his current position in April 2018.
He is also a former Member of Parliament in National Parliament of Uganda and Pan African Parliament based in Midrand, South Africa.

 He previously served as Uganda’s representative on the Executive Committee of FP-ICGLR.
 He has  a Masters  in International Relations and Diplomatic studies , as well as Bachelor in Social Sciences  from Makerere University.