I have watched with much interest as the issues of the UN
base in Entebbe have played out in recent days.
At the beginning of the month it was reported that the UN
secretary general Antonio Guterres, had signed off on a new structure, The
Global Services Delivery model, that it was suggested would see Uganda losing
the Regional Service Center in Entebbe (RCSE) to Nairobi.
Under the new model the UN would have three key centers in
Hungary, Kenya and Mexico.
In response to a letter by President Yoweri Museveni,
Guterres assured him that the RCSE would remain in Entebbe. Though some
functions will be relocated to Nairobi in the short term, in the middle to long
term he sees the role of RCSE expanding and growing in importance.
The new development takes effect from 1st July
this year.
According to their website the RCSE serves more than 20,000
personnel on the continent, does administration and communications support for
thousands more around the world and has an annual budget of $33m (sh122b).
Of course there was a lot of concern for the assumed
development and with good reason.
It’s been almost ten years since the base was set up. It has
provided employment for more than 400 Ugandans and created numerous economic
opportunities for the residents of, the once sleepy town, Entebbe.
Real estate values have jumped, as have rents. Businessmen
in the hospitality and transport businesses have thrived. New services in
education, health and logistics have sprung up. It is safe to say the lakeside
town has received a shot in the arm, to the benefit of its residents and
businesses.
The effects of the pull out would have put a lot of
livelihoods in jeopardy and nip the town’s economic boom in the bud.
On a much wider level the base’s exit may have affected our
currency and weakened our influence in international fora.
But there are some lessons to learn from this event about
how the international community operates and our place in the grand scheme of
things.
To begin with, while it seems like this development came out
of the blue, Guterres in his letter to the President points out that the
conceptualisation and implementation of the global services delivery model had
been going on for at least six years.
The last minute flurry of activity by our officials if the
UN had decided to take our base away would have been a waste of time at best or
at worst playing to the gallery – in this case the Ugandan public.
The UN, the world’s biggest bureaucracy, like any other
bureaucracy works slowly and once decisions are made, no amount of jumping up
and down will change things.
I am loathe to suggest our diplomats were caught napping,
but if the UN had decided to take our base away, which they did not, we would
have lost it anyway despite our government’s last minute efforts to salvage the
situation.
It is clear that we need to be more proactive in fighting
for our interests and seeking out new opportunities that may be floating around
international corridors. This calls for a beefing up of our diplomatic
capacity.
This is important because beyond vying for markets for our goods abroad, there are real and lucrative markets for our services too. The
400 Ugandans working at RCSE are but a fraction of what we can offer to the
world, given the tens of thousands we pass out of our universities every year.
There is also the issue of leverage. The RCSE base is not
only lucrative but strategic as well. Our commitment to international peace and
security that the base represents will always be a card up our sleeves in international
discussions. We should not take its importance for granted.
We dodged a bullet this time. Next time we may not be so lucky. Let us use
this incident as a learning opportunity for our government to pay more
attention if they are to promote and defend this country’s best interests.
(MAY 2018)
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