The Ugandan National Cricket Team and its officials met the Speaker, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena at the Sri Lankan Parliament recently.

According to a Parliament statement, during the meeting, the Ugandan Cricket Team expressed gratitude to the Speaker for facilitating their tour in Sri Lanka, which included a training camp by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). 

The Uganda national team was facilitated following a request made by the Ugandan Cricket Association from the Speaker when the latter attended the 27th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth held in Uganda from January 3 to 6, 2024. (Newswire)

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President Ranil Wickremesinghe has commended Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni for assuming leadership at the 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Kampala, Uganda.

According to the President’s Media (PMD), President Wickremesinghe highlighted the current global challenges, including the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the shift in the post-Cold War order, and emerging multipolar dynamics.

President Wickremesinghe further emphasized the need for NAM to reinvent itself, transforming into the largest bloc representing the Global South.

Proposing the recognition of Palestine and addressing various geopolitical, economic, and technological issues, he called for a united NAM with updated objectives to build a multipolar world.

The President urged for a dynamic bloc capable of shaping the new global order, emphasizing that the future lies in their hands.

He also expressed gratitude to President Museveni and Uganda for hosting the summit. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali Sabry, Minister of State Chamara Sampath Dasanayake, Members of Parliament Kings Nelson, Nimal Piyatissa, Kumarasiri Ratnayake, Udayakantha Gunathilake, President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake, President’s Senior Adviser on Climate Change Ruwan Wijewardene were also present on this occasion.

Following is the full speech delivered by President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the NAM Summit;

“Let me begin by congratulating you President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda for taking over the helm of the Non-Aligned Movement at this 19th Summit. Your leadership is even more timely as Uganda assumes this role at a critical moment of collective awareness among countries of the global South. This is the first NAM Summit following the onset of the pandemic, the debt crisis, climate catastrophe, new global competition, and the ensuing multiple implications for the world, in particular, for the Global South.

As we meet today, a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the Gaza Strip and beyond. For over 3 months immense suffering and losses have been endured by the Palestinian civilian population, endangering regional security and stability. Until now, the NAM was largely silent. How can we remain silent when Gaza is destroyed? People were denied humanitarian aid and a vast majority of the dead were innocent civilians. Silence implies consent. It is encouraging that this 19th Summit has given the highest priority to this crisis in Gaza and the inalienable rights of the people of Palestine to self-determination and the realisation of an independent and sovereign state of Palestine. We must congratulate South Africa for the bold stand it has taken in regard to Gaza. The international community has already called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the release of hostages.

There cannot be a two-state solution based on one state – Israel. No resolution is possible without a state of Palestine. Therefore, in line with multiple UN Resolutions, and the Declaration of this Summit, the international community must recognise the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem as territories coming within the State of Palestine and in addition there should be no change in the ethnic composition of Gaza. Sri Lanka also proposes that the State of Palestine be established within 5 years and no more.

We are now witnessing the end of the post-Cold War order and the coming into being of the evolving multipolar world. On the geopolitical front, we are witnessing a resurgence of latent and open conflicts involving former and aspiring major powers. In Europe the transatlantic military alliance has been strengthened, past arms control agreements have collapsed, military expenditure has reached historically unprecedented levels and nuclear weapons are once again the subject of apparently serious policy discussion. Outer space and the oceans have become potential theatres of conflict and geo-strategic competition including in our vicinity in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Free trade and economic integration are being reversed by the policy-driven rise of trade protectionism due to strategic competition among major powers. Furthermore, this is being extended further with the concepts of de-coupling and de-risking. A unilateral declaration of a new trade order and the setting aside of multilateralism by the West of the WTO. The weaponising of the Dollar. New challenges of economic and the debt crisis, climate justice, food and energy security. Digital and technological divides and advanced WMD arsenals have aggravated existing inequalities between the developing states of the NAM and the developed world.

The theme of this Summit ‘Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence” reflects the need to address the inequities between our two worlds. Furthermore, experience shows us that, to succeed we need a strong and united NAM that contributes to a better world for all. To do so, we have to reinvent ourselves.
Our membership today is no longer a grouping of weak states. We must recognise that as a result of the rapid progress and economic advancement of some of Asian, African and Latin American states. A majority of the 10 leading economies of 2050 will belong to this movement. We see among us, rising aspirants for leadership status in global affairs. They must be prepared to give leadership. Furthermore, there is a vital role we must play as geostrategic rivalries in political, economic, technological and military terms become more pronounced among former and new contenders for Major Power status.

Therefore, the NAM must reinvent itself under your Chairmanship. Assume a new role in a multipolar world – to transform itself as the largest bloc representing the Global South. We must also recast our objectives. While upholding the Bandung Principles in the evolving multipolar world we need to,

1. oppose the spread of big power rivalry including the coercion of uncommitted states,
2. build a multipolar world which incorporates the political, economic, social and climate change mitigation aspirations of the Global South.

Let us transform ourselves from this loose movement to become a dynamic bloc of the Global South and its friends. Let us establish an effective permanent operational structure which is equipped to address the contemporary challenges facing the Global South. An organisation which is capable of shaping the new order.

Our future lies in our hands. We can make it or break it. Let us make it work.

Let me conclude by thanking you Mr President and the Government of Uganda for the excellent arrangements for hosting this important 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.” (NewsWire)

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President Ranil Wickremesinghe will attend the upcoming 19th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the 3rd South Summit of the Group of 77 & China, scheduled from January 19 to 22, 2024, in Kampala, Uganda.

According to the President’s Media Division (PMD), at the invitation of President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, President Wickremesinghe will not only participate in these critical global gatherings but will also address both the NAM Summit and the South Summit. 

During his visit to Kampala, he is slated to engage in discussions with counterparts from the Global South, with a special focus on strengthening ties with leaders from the African region.

This year’s Summit is themed ‘Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence’ and will kick off with meetings of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Senior Officials. The NAM, founded on the Bandung Principles and comprising 120 member-states, aims to advance the interests of developing nations, with Sri Lanka being a founding member and former Chair from 1976 to 1979.

Simultaneously, the Third South Summit, operating under the theme ‘Leaving No One Behind,’ seeks to enhance cooperation across 134 member states in areas such as trade, investment, sustainable development, climate change, poverty eradication, and the digital economy.

As the largest coalition of developing countries in the United Nations, the Group of 77 empowers the Global South to articulate and promote collective economic interests, strengthening joint negotiating capacity on major international economic issues. Uganda is poised to assume the chairmanship of both NAM and the G77 & China from Azerbaijan and Cuba, respectively.

Accompanying President Wickremesinghe are key delegates, including Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry, Secretary to the President E.M.S.B. Ekanayake, Foreign Secretary Aruni Wijewardane, Senior Advisor to the President on Climate Change Ruwan Wijewardene and senior officials from the Presidential Secretariat and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The stage is set for Sri Lanka to actively contribute to shaping the global agenda for shared prosperity and cooperation. (NewsWire)

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A bodyguard shot and killed a government minister in Uganda early Tuesday in an apparent private dispute, according to the army and local media.

The attacker, who has not been publicly identified, then turned the gun on himself, according to state broadcaster UBC and others.

The victim, Charles Engola, served in the government of President Yoweri Museveni as the junior minister in charge of labor. He was a retired army colonel.

Army spokesman Brig. Felix Kulayigye said in a short statement that an “unfortunate incident” led to the killing of Engola. “We shall inform the public the details as we jointly investigate the matter,” Kulayigye said on Twitter.

The shooting took place inside Engola’s home in a suburb of the Ugandan capital, Kampala. Police detectives are now at the scene.

The motive was not immediately clear, but the local press said there had been an apparent dispute over the guard’s wages.

“Witnesses claim that the soldier was yelling that he had not been paid for a long time despite working for a minister,” the online newspaper NilePost reported.

The incident is likely to create shockwaves in a country where other high-profile officials have been killed in gun attacks over the years.

In 2021, a former army chief in Uganda was wounded and his daughter killed when gunmen shot at their vehicle in Kampala. (Africa News)

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