Faridah N Kulumba
Africa-Press – Uganda. This month the Norwegian government announced the closure of its embassy in Uganda and Guangzhou, China, come 2024 as part of comprehensive reforms in its foreign services.
In a statement that was released by the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anniken Huitfeldt on 13th October said that several changes were underway in the country’s diplomatic presence abroad.
This announcement followed Norway shutting down five missions in July last year and Uganda will be the next.
Behind the move
According to the Norwegian government, the move is part of the government’s ongoing assessment of its foreign service to best safeguard of its development policy priorities in line with available resources.
The statement highlighted that concentrating and consolidating is expected to better serve Norwegian national interests and increase the effectiveness of Norway’s international engagement.
This means that Norway is scaling up its presence in some locations. The consequence is that painful drawdowns must be made in other places.
Norway says the closing of the embassy in Kampala is based solely on overall administrative assessments related to the need for reallocation of the foreign service’s resources. And the development cooperation with Uganda will continue.
The process
Norway explained that the closure of the mission will be done next year, while the diplomat positions from these two missions will be redirected to other Norwegian diplomatic and consular missions.
Minister Huitfeldt in a statement on the official government website added in a rapidly changing world, it is essential for the Norwegian government to have diplomats in the places where they can monitor global issues that have implications for the country and promote Norwegian positions.
At the same time, Norway must continually assess where it is best to maintain a presence in order to safeguard its interests optimally with the resources they have.
What next for the diplomats?
The government says as part of the changes, Norway will have fewer, but more robust Foreign Service missions while more diplomatic staff will be posted to the Norwegian Embassies in Accra, Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, Kinshasa and Nairobi “in order to strengthen efforts in priority areas such as food security, business development and regional security in Africa.
The Norwegian Embassy in Kampala is responsible for representing Norway in Burundi and Rwanda. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it is now working on solutions to safeguard Norway’s diplomatic representation in these countries once the Embassy in Kampala is closed.
As for the Norwegian Embassy closure in Guangzhou, starting next year, the Norwegian mission in Beijing and the General Consulate in Shanghai will be responsible for tasks currently carried out by the Consulate General in Guangzhou.
Norway and Uganda relations
Norway has maintained a presence in Uganda since 1994, with the embassy in Kampala also overseeing Rwanda and Burundi. “Uganda is a long-standing partner to Norway, and the excellent bilateral relations are highly valued.
Norway provides substantial aid to Uganda. In 2022, Uganda received NOK 382 million in earmarked funds from Norway for efforts in priority areas such as civil society, education, energy, refugees and women’s rights. Norway is wishing to maintain the strong ties that exist between the two countries.
“A substantial portion of today’s aid is already administered by the Norwegian development agency, Norad. Future cooperation will be managed by Norad and another mission in the region, yet to be determined,” the embassy explained. Norway supports a variety of projects in Uganda, spanning education, health, agriculture, and assistance to refugees.
Continuous aid assurance
The Norwegian government assured Uganda that the closure of the Embassy in Kampala does not mean that Norwegian aid to the country will be discontinued, or that there will be less focus on the rights of women and minorities. The decision has been taken based on an assessment of the Foreign Service’s overall resources.
Norwegian Minister of International Development Anne Bethel Tvinnereim promised to continue to invest significantly in development cooperation with Uganda through its civil society partners and multilateral organisations.
The government will also maintain their engagement in promoting human rights in the country, particularly the rights of women and minorities.
Another closure in Uganda
A few days after the Norwegian government announced the closure of its embassy in Uganda, the Republic of North Korea also announced the departure of their foreign mission from Uganda.
The news of the second country to exit was broken to Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni by the Ambassador of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) to Uganda.
North Korea’s exit reasons
According to Ambassador Jong North Korea has taken a strategic measure to reduce the number of embassies in Africa, Uganda inclusive in order to increase the efficiency of the country’s external institutions. North Korean connections will be continued through Malabo- Equatorial Guinea.
Uganda is a long-term ally of North Korea. Museveni has said that he learned basic Korean from Kim Il Sung during visits to North Korea. North Korea has provided training for pilots, technicians, police, marine forces, and special forces.
North Korea’s relationship with Uganda goes back to 1971, when Pyongyang provided weapons and training to General Idi Amin, who later staged a coup d’état.
North Korea promised that their physical absence would not block their hearts, minds, and souls. And that the good friendship between the two nations will continue and will be further strengthened and developed.
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