President Yoweri Museveni has congratulated Queen Elizabeth and the people of the United Kingdom upon her 89th birthday noting that the Queen’s 63 years of dignified and visionary leadership, has seen the Commonwealth that was formed in 1949, grow not only as a big family of 53 member states but also registered success in overcoming a number of challenges.
The President, who was accompanied by the First Lady and Minister for Karamoja Affairs, Mrs. Hon. Janet Museveni, was last evening at the official celebrations marking Queen Elizabeth’s birthday held at the residence of the British High Commissioner along Kyadondo Road in Kampala.
Mr. Museveni hailed Uganda-UK relations saying it has existed for a long time. He appreciated the UK government for the development support to Uganda in several areas of the Ugandan economy particularly in education, health, peace and security and investment through the Uganda-UK Investment Forum. He said that the two countries’ cooperation in the investment sector has attracted a number of investors into Uganda especially in the oil and gas, infrastructure and agri-business sectors, among others.
The President commended the British government for its efforts and dedication to peace and security, the support to recovery in Northern Uganda and other East African member countries especially to the African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Great Lakes’ Region. He congratulated the people of the United Kingdom on last month’s successful general elections that saw Premier David Cameroon and his Party attain victory.
The British High Commissioner to Uganda, Ms. Alison Blackburne, paid tribute to the sacrifice of Ugandan men and women of the UPDF and the Police deployed as part of the AMISOM contingent in Somalia. She said that UK attaches great importance to the partnership with Uganda on many international issues such as climate change and the post 2015 development agenda, among others.
By Joshua Mutale