{"id":25249,"date":"2016-05-11T01:48:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-11T01:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/uganda-stop-resisting-change-eu-envoy-tells\/"},"modified":"2016-05-11T01:47:32","modified_gmt":"2016-05-11T01:47:32","slug":"uganda-stop-resisting-change-eu-envoy-tells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/uganda-stop-resisting-change-eu-envoy-tells\/","title":{"rendered":"Uganda:Stop resisting change, EU envoy tells government"},"content":{"rendered":"

{The Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Uganda, Mr Kristian Schmidt, has asked government to cease the hostile reaction to calls for change if the ruling National Resistance Movement is committed to preserving its achievements of the last 30 years in power.}<\/p>\n

Speaking at the occasion to mark 66 years of European Integration (Europe Day) at his residence in Kampala on Monday, Mr Schmidt said government should not be so comfortable with its sloganeering of \u201cSteady Progress\u201d when unemployment levels are shooting into the sky and the fight against HIV\/Aids incidence is retrogressing.
\nHe warned that unless government changes its approaches, it might jeopardise the progress made on health indicators and literacy rates.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026\u2026we think that \u2013 like the rest of the world \u2013 to preserve the legacy, to ensure peace and stability, to build the future, things have to change. Even if you just want steady progress, change is needed,\u201d said Mr Schmidt. <\/p>\n

The EU is one of the world\u2019s biggest regional blocs with 28 member countries. Import\/export trade between the bloc and Uganda is now estimated at \u20acuros1 billion. Over the next six years, the envoy said the bloc will increase development assistance to Uganda to more than \u20acuros2b.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo embrace reforms, especially the way things are done, government should look at change as a stepping stone to improved governance, better service delivery for citizens, victory over corruption, and to free and fair elections for your own sake, of course \u2013 not because any outsider says so,\u201d Mr Schmidt said.<\/p>\n

The diplomat cited the recent government directive dressed as a court order banning the media from covering live proceedings\/activities of Opposition FDC party and the heavy deployment of security forces at the residences of top Opposition officials.
\nMr Schmidt further cautioned that resorting to courts of law to solve political differences \u201cmay not be the solution.\u201d \u201cWe hope Uganda\u2019s leaders; political parties and civil society will come together and agree to put Ugandan national interests first.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Foreign Affairs minister Sam Kutesa, the chief guest at the occasion, was quick to make a rebuttal, saying \u201cno society is perfect\u201d and that Uganda will \u201ccontinue working tirelessly\u201d to better itself.<\/p>\n

Mr Kutesa, citing the biblical verse (Mathew 7:5: First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother\u2019s eye), added: \u201cWe might be the one with the log but let us discuss these issues openly.\u201d
\nThe minister also raised a red flag about EU\u2019s proposed move to reduce financial support to the African Union Peace Mission in Somalia (Amisom), especially at \u201cthis time when consolidation of peace efforts is ongoing\u201d and the war-ravaged country is preparing for a new government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uganda deployed its troops in Somalia in 2007 and currently maintains the largest peace keeping force there. Other countries contributing troops to Amisom include Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti. The Somalia Peace Mission is funded by the EU, US and United Nations.<\/p>\n

\"Head<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{The Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Uganda, Mr Kristian Schmidt, has asked government to cease the hostile reaction to calls for change if the ruling National Resistance Movement is committed to preserving its achievements of the last 30 years in power.} Speaking at the occasion to mark 66 years of European Integration […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[99],"byline":[2481],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-25249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics-48","tag-greatlakesnews","byline-daily-monitor"],"bylines":[{"id":2481,"name":"DAILY MONITOR","slug":"daily-monitor","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2481,"name":"DAILY MONITOR","slug":"daily-monitor","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25249\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25249"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=25249"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=25249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}