From: Leo Odera Omolo
Date: Mon. Oct. 19 2009
The first session of the African Union Special summit on refugees , returnees and internally displaced people opened in the Ugandan capital, Kampala this afternoon. But there was no clear indication as to whether the Sudanese President, Omar al Bashir would be in attendance.
Under the theme ,“African Union, Addressing the challenges of forced displacement in Africa,” The Summit is being held at the Commonwealth Resort at Munyonyo.
The Heads of State s Summit that begins on Thursday will be opened by the current chairman of the AU, Libyan President, Col Muamor El-Gadhafi.
Over 600 delegates from Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Eritrea Tanzania, Eritrea , Mozambique , Namibia, South Africa, Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, DRC Congo. were expected to attend the opening ceremony later this afternoon.
A Foreign Ministry official spokesman, Ambassador Guma Muganda, explained to the newsmen that a full list of attending Presidents, Prime ministers, and heads of delegations was also expected to be released later today.
However, the NEWVISION, Uganda’s leading daily has reported that Liberia President, Ellen Johnson Sir leaf, Rwandan Prime Minister Bernard Mukiza, and former South African First Lady, Mrs. Graca Michel Mandela, had confirmed their participation.
Ministers of Foreign Affairs, and Reliefs and Disaster Preparedness are also expected at the meeting.
But the man the media wants to know about, Sudan President Omar al Bashir, who has been invited to attend, has yet to confirm his attendance by today {Monday} . It seems highly doubtful whether he is really coming to Uganda. In the recent past, Bashir has ignored the warrant of arrest against him, which was issued on March 4,2009 by the International Criminal Court of Justice in the Hague. Since then, he has visited Egypt, Ethiopia and South Africa, but never ventured for a visit to Europe or Asia and the United States.
President Museven has given a firm assurance that President Bashir will never be arrested on Ugandan soil and that his personal attendance was more essential, taking into account that Uganda hoss the largest number of Sudanese refugees.
Uganda’s Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness, Musa Ecweru, said the Summit would tackle the causes of internal displacement of people in Africa.
The African continent is estimated to have 17 million internally displaced people and refugees. And the Summit is expected to find solutions to curb the growing number of refugees and displaced people in Africa..
Today’s opening session will be addressed by the chairperson of the Executive Council, the Commissioner for Political Affairs, and a representative of the Ugandan government.
The session will consider the 2008 report of the meeting of Ministers in charge of forced displacement issues, consider the draft on AU convention of the protection and assistance of IDPs and draft the agenda for the Head of State Summit.
Uganda’s Disaster Preparedness Minister, Tarsus Kibwagyere ,said his country was chosen to host the summit because it has been handling issues of human displacement ever since the Second World War, when Uganda hosted thousands of Polish refugees at Mpumudde in Mukono district.
Since then, said the Minister, Uganda has been hosting refugees from her neighboring countries and beyond. Besides the refugees from neighboring countries, Uganda has also been handling internal displacement since 1971, following the military coup by Idi Amin Dada.
“Between 1981 and 1986, the Luwero War displaced over 500.000 Ugandan people, and shortly after, the Lord’s Resistance Army rebellion displaced more people in the North during the last 20 years”, the Minister said.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees {UNHCXR] external relations officer in Uganda, Needa Jehu-Hoya, was quoted as saying the refugees in Uganda are mainly from Sudan, DRC, Rwanda, Somalia, Burundi, Eritrea and Kenya.
The breakdown of the refugees in Uganda are as follows; 30,508 are from Sudan,72,595 Congolese and 17,22- Rwandans. Those coming from Eritrea, Somalia and Kenya are of negligible number.
ENDS
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com
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Subject:THE AFRICAN UNION SPECIAL SUMMIT OPENED IN KAMPALA TODAY, BUT WITH NO INDICATION OF THE SUDANESE PREESIDENT BASHIR COMING.