By Mulengera Reporters
It seems the full normalization of relations between Uganda and Rwanda won’t happen as fast as many people would wish to see. Even after the two leaders Museveni and Kagame meeting in Angola, at the prompting of Angolan president Joao Lourenco, Rwandan authorities seemingly remain cold-hearted towards Uganda perhaps preferring a gradual approach.
How else could we contextualize Rwanda’s conspicuous absence at the Friday launching ceremony for the Regional Gene Bank that took place at the GoU NAGRIC facility in Entebbe. The gene bank is a project funded by AU and the EU in order to collect and store indigenous livestock genetic breeds that risk extinction as more livestock farmers embrace crossbred cattle perceiving them as more productive and higher-yielding in both the beef and dairy business.
The RGB project is part of the broader FAO-championed Global Action to preserve animal resources for purposes of food security and improved nutrition. Achieving food security and improved nutrition is part of the broader agenda by the UN to achieve Social Development Goals (SDGs).
That is why the development partners are generously funding the situation of the RGB at Entebbe under the care and management of NAGRIC which is one of the 7 agencies we have under the agricultural sector.
The project is to benefit 13 EAC and IGAD member countries to serve what has been designated by the AU as the Eastern African region. The countries include project host Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Burundi, Djibouti and Somalia. Others are Eritrea, Comoros, South Sudan and Sudan.
At the Friday launching ceremony for the center of excellence in Entebbe, all the countries sent powerful delegations to represent them at the launch and in the two-day retreat (General Assembly) preceding the launch except Rwanda. Besides the 13 countries, there were representations from AU, IGAD and the EAC Secretariat.
So high profile was the launching ceremony, President Museveni had all along been expected to preside over as guest of honor this being a multi-billion project and only one of the 5 the AU has put in place-the others being in Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Tunisia. In each of the other countries, regional gene banks were simultaneously launched on the same day Friday.
Unable to make it, Museveni sent Premier Ruhakana Rugunda who spent almost the entire day there listening to speeches and touring the multi-million-dollar complex that will be housing the high-tech project.
True to his amiable character, Rugunda was also abundantly available for selfies and photo opportunities with especially foreign delegations from the other 12 project countries.
The Rwandans’ conspicuous absence didn’t pass unnoticed as the gathering kept murmuring about it. This prompted Ministry of Agriculture PS Pius Wakabi, who was the day’s MC, to offer a general brief explanation saying unavoidable circumstances prevented Rwandans from participating. He said they send apologies but was uncomfortable disclosing what these “unavoidable circumstances” were. Did Kigali have a genuine reason or their stay away related to the ongoing gradual restoration of relations between the two countries? Only time will tell. (For comments, email us at mulengera2040@gmail.com).
