LET THE UN BASE SAGA BE A LESSON TO US

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 1^st 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)