Ayebare Promises to ‘Fix’ Foreign Affairs as He Takes Over Ministry

Members of the press arrived at the Wapakabulo Auditorium at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters by 8.30am for Ambassador Adonia Ayebare’s first briefing as Foreign Affairs Minister, only for the new minister to walk in more than two hours later, at 10.55am.

The irony was not lost on journalists when Ayebare, who was sworn in on Tuesday at State House in Entebbe, opened his remarks by declaring: “I am here to fix issues at Foreign Affairs.”

Ayebare officially took over from Haruna Kyeyune Kasolo, who had been serving as acting Foreign Affairs Minister, promising to address long-standing administrative and operational challenges at the ministry.

The new minister said his familiarity with the ministry, where he started his career as a third secretary before rising through the ranks and later serving as Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, gives him a clear understanding of its strengths and weaknesses.

“I think this ministry is very easy to fix. It has the best people in the government,” Ayebare said.

He said there was no reason Uganda’s diplomatic missions should struggle to receive the support they need from headquarters, calling for faster and more effective communication and coordination.

“Now that I’ve come here, there is no excuse why we cannot support missions. And support missions in real time,” he said.

Ayebare also warned against internal conflicts in Uganda’s diplomatic missions, saying disputes among staff can damage the country’s image and undermine efforts to promote trade, investment and diplomatic relations.

“A quarrel in one mission really affects our commercial diplomacy, our building relations in that country,” he said.

Several Ugandan embassies have in the past been embroiled in internal disputes, while Uganda’s mission in the United Arab Emirates was previously at the centre of controversy after allegations that its premises had been used as a casino.

Ayebare said Uganda’s embassies and high commissions should instead focus on promoting the country’s interests abroad, attracting investment and strengthening relations with host countries, noting that internal disputes can make diplomatic missions appear dysfunctional to foreign governments.

He also called for stronger accountability mechanisms for heads of Uganda’s diplomatic missions, saying ambassadors should be assessed against clear performance targets regardless of whether they are career diplomats or political appointees.

Ayebare said that while serving as Uganda’s UN representative in New York, he had sought a formal performance charter with the ministry but did not receive one.

He argued that such a framework would make it easier to assess what ambassadors achieve during their assignments and hold them accountable for their performance.

The minister also challenged Uganda’s missions abroad to play a more aggressive role in attracting investment, citing his experience in New York where, despite working with a relatively small team and fewer resources than some other missions, he said Uganda attracted major investors.

“We were a small team concentrating on maritime tourism, but I can mention that we attracted Boeing here. One of the largest companies. We attracted Starlink, Elon Musk’s company, which is going to launch low-cost internet here,” he said.

Ayebare said the Foreign Affairs Ministry must return to what he described as the basics of diplomacy: building and sustaining relationships.

“Diplomacy, the way I really simplify it, and I always talk at universities, is to build relations, simple, and sustain them. The rest really builds on that,” he said.

He also called for closer coordination between the ministry and other government institutions on matters with an international dimension, including climate change, global health and negotiations on carbon credits.

“The core mandate of MOFA is doing diplomacy and building relations. We need to go back to the basics of doing diplomacy,” Ayebare said.

Protecting Ugandans abroad, he added, should remain another central responsibility of the ministry, citing the recent repatriation of Ugandans from South Africa as an example of the ministry delivering on its mandate.

Kasolo Calls for Better Coordination

Kasolo, who handed over the ministry to Ayebare, urged the new leadership to improve coordination within the ministry, particularly in documenting and following up investment opportunities generated by Uganda’s diplomatic missions.

He said the ministry’s contribution to attracting investors is often overlooked because of poor information sharing and fragmented operations.

According to Kasolo, Ugandan diplomatic representatives frequently identify and persuade investors to consider Uganda, only for those efforts to become difficult to track once the investors arrive in the country and are taken over by other government institutions.

“We operate in silo. Our achievements are scattered, that’s why we are not seen as a vibrant ministry,” Kasolo said.

He urged the ministry to strengthen coordination between its missions abroad and headquarters in Kampala, particularly in handling investment leads generated by ambassadors and other diplomatic representatives.

Kasolo said representatives abroad should ensure investors they identify are brought to Uganda and that their engagements are formally reported to the Foreign Affairs Ministry before being handed over to other government institutions.

He argued that the ministry should remain at the centre of coordinating investment opportunities generated through Uganda’s diplomatic missions.

“This is the ministry for MOFA that is supposed to coordinate and also to receive reports from our representatives abroad,” he said.

Kasolo said the failure to properly document such achievements has contributed to a perception that the ministry makes little contribution to Uganda’s economic development, despite the role its missions play in identifying and mobilising investors.

“That’s why people think MOFA is not contributing and yet all the investors that come to Uganda have been persuaded and mobilised by our representatives abroad,” he said.

Kasolo also raised concerns about the management and flow of Economic and Commercial Diplomacy funds, saying ambassadors had complained about inadequate information on how the resources are being utilised.

“I’m struggling with ECD money. There is a problem there which we need to fix urgently because all the ambassadors are telling me they don’t even know what is happening,” Kasolo said.

He said the communication gap between ambassadors and accounting officers must be addressed so diplomatic missions can effectively use available resources to promote Uganda’s economic interests.

“What the accounting officer is doing, the ambassador doesn’t know. That gap must be breached because with ECD money we can make wonders in this country,” Kasolo said.

Kasolo made the remarks during the handover ceremony, urging the ministry’s new leadership to strengthen economic and commercial diplomacy and ensure that the contribution of Uganda’s diplomatic missions is properly coordinated, documented and recognised.