30 senior diplomats undeployed as politicians take over missions

The December 12 reshuffle of ambassadors, High Commissioners and deputy ambassadors that saw many politicians who suffered reversals in last year’s general elections named heads of some of Uganda’s missions has left more than 30 Grade 1 and Grade 2 Foreign Service officers at ambassadorial level on katebe at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ headquarters in Kampala.

Katebe is a colloquial term which means on the bench. It is used to refer to people who are employed, but undeployed or underutilised and underemployed.

Mr Harold Acemah, who retired from Foreign Service in 2007, after serving in several missions abroad, told this publication that several and experienced foreign service officers are idling away in Kampala.

“If you go to the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are very many capable senior people there. All of them are just stuck there,” Mr Acemah said.

However, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Vincent Bagiire, insists that the situation is “not as bad as it sounds”.

“First of all, they are employed as Foreign Service officers. Nobody is employed to work abroad. The terms and conditions for all of us public servants is that you can work anywhere. However, you do not determine (where you work). There is nothing like katebe in Foreign Service,” Mr Bagiire said.

Sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs named some of the senior foreign service officers that remain undeployed as Mr Arthur Kafeero, Mr Charles Sentongo, Mr Catharine Otiti, Mr Godfrey Kwoba and Mr Simon Ajiku.

Mr Bagiire acknowledged that whereas there are officers at ambassadorial level who have not been deployed to serve on missions outside Uganda, that cannot be construed to be katebe as there is a lot of work to do at the headquarters.

“There is work to do at all times at the headquarters. All staff travel outside to support those very missions and it is part of the configuration that people at the headquarters indeed do a lot more in terms of supporting because when we talk of missions abroad, we are talking of missions of less than eight people,” Mr Bagiire said.

Dumping ground?

Since about 2011 when the President, invoking the powers given to him under Article 122(1) of the Constitution, started naming failed politicians to take up roles as ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions, there has been a feeling among sections of the public that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is being used as a dumping ground.

The claim was repeated earlier this week by Mr Acemah, who says people who are clueless about diplomacy are being deployed to head missions, which is destroying Uganda’s diplomatic services.

“The diplomatic service has been destroyed. It is very ineffective. You find that the head of mission is a political appointee. The deputy head of mission is also a political appointee. They are just like blind people at a mission,” Mr Acemah said.

The 41-member list that has 37 ambassadors and four deputies is dominated by the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party politicians, including former Bugabula North MP Moses Kizige, former Dokolo North MP Paul Amouru, former Hoima District MP Tophas Byagira Kaahwa, and former National Youth MP Nusura Tiperu. All those suffered defeats in the 2021 polls.

Politicians who were deployed into the Foreign Services following earlier electoral defeats include Mr Alintuma Nsambu, Ms Dorothy Hyuha, Mr Stephen Mubiru, Mr Zaake Kibedi, Mr Stephen Chebrot, Ms Rebecca Otengo, Ms Oliver Woneka and Ms Ruth Aceng.

The list of 41 also has three serving officers of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF). They are Maj Gen Matayo Kyaligonza, Brig Ronnie Barya and Lt Gen Charles Angina.

Retired UPDF officers heading foreign missions include Col Fred Mwesigye, Maj Gen Nathan Mugisha, Col Julius Kihanda and Maj Gen Robert Rusoke.

Squabbles and infighting
The Auditor General’s report of 2019 noted that staff at most of Uganda’s missions abroad were prone to feuding, which often manifested in outbursts during meetings.

Last year, Uganda’s former Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Robert Kabonero, and Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Special Envoy, Mr Adonia Ayebare, had a go at each other after Mr Kabonero accused the latter of meddling and urged him to stay in his lane. 

Mr Ayebare hit back, reminding Mr Kabonero that he became a head of mission when he was still “carrying VIPs’ suitcases” in Washington.

The exchange prompted Mr Bagiire to pen a September 13, 2021 letter to all heads of missions, reminding them that the social media has never replaced the need to conform to official channels of communication, especially when grievances arise. He urged them to be cautious while using social media, saying it is prone to manipulation, which always has devastating effects.

“In my understanding, the Foreign Service values include, among others, listening more and talking less. This principle ought to be adopted by us all while engaging on social media. The purpose of this communication is to advise and caution on the extent to which we can use social media given the unintended consequences that we know,” Mr Bagiire wrote.

Prior to the spat between Mr Ayebare and Mr Kabonero, there had been fights at missions in Rome (Italy), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Nairobi (Kenya) and Ottawa (Canada).

Uganda’s mission in Rome was, according to the Auditor General’s report of 2019, weighed down with four court cases, with a liability of Shs1.1b arising out of suits filed by four former employees; Mr Samuel Otala, Ms Esther Owusu, Mr Peter Mulindwa and Ms Fosca Ashepat for unlawful termination.

In Addis Ababa, which covers the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad), and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and bilateral relations with Ethiopia and Djibouti, Ms Rebecca Otengo, who survived the reshuffle, has been having what sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs described as “very frosty relations” with her deputy, Mr Idule Omoko.

In Nairobi, Ms Phoebe Otala, who has since been dropped and replaced by Mr Hassan Galiwango as Uganda’s High Commissioner to Kenya, was involved in running battles with her supervisors at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the renovation of Uganda House in Nairobi, which, it was claimed, she wanted to fast track outside normal public service procedures after Nairobi City Council directed in 2017 that the property be renovated to meet the standards required for buildings in the city.

Ms Otala took up the matter with the President, who in turn wrote to former Foreign Affairs minister, Mr Sam Kuteesa, asking why technocrats in the ministry were antagonising her. That made her come across as one who was answerable to only the President.

Inadequate training 

One former politician, who has since been named a diplomat, told Sunday Monitor that once they are named, they are handed three-year contracts. That is followed by induction training for one week. Ministry of Foreign Affairs organises a seminar where all the ambassadors share their experiences.

Some countries where they are deployed sometimes offer training to diplomats accredited to them. These include India, but it would appear that this is not enough to fine tune them into diplomats, who conduct themselves diplomatically.

The Auditor General’s 2019 report blamed the endless feuds among staff, which it indicated had manifested in outbursts during meetings, on inadequate training.

The squabbles have mostly involved missions headed by failed politicians who were named to supervise career diplomats. Mr Acemah believes they are not well equipped for the job.

“You can’t send a person who failed in elections to be ambassador in a country where he doesn’t know the ABC of diplomacy,” Mr Acemah said.

However, Mr Bagiire insists that one cannot blame the troubles in Foreign Affairs on failed politicians.

“There are very many former politicians who have performed exceptionally well in Foreign Service. Squabbles can be attributed to personalities,” Mr Bagiire said.