Minister Kutesa bids farewell to Egyptian ambassador to Uganda

Minister of Foreign Affairs Sam Kutesa on Saturday said bye-bye to the outgoing Ambassador of Egypt to Uganda Mohammed Tarek Sallam.

Amb. Tarek Sallam's tour of duty came to completion in mid-August, according to the ministry of foreign affairs.

The farewell ceremony was attended by Minister of Security Gen. Elly Tumwine, Director-General ESO Amb. David Ocwet, Permanent Secretary Amb. Patrick Mugoya, Chief of Protocol Amb. Charles Ssentongo, and Amb. Arthur Kafeero.

Uganda maintains a strong relationship with Egypt. In 2018, President Museveni visited his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and they penned a number of agreements to promote bilateral cooperation in the fields of agriculture, industry, electricity, and renewable energy.

Uganda and Egypt enjoy strong, friendly relations because of the common vision the two states share towards several international and regional issues, including water, terrorism, and regional crises.

Egypt has provided Uganda with training programs in combating terrorism at the Egyptian military faculties to promote security and defense cooperation between the two countries as well as other training programs in water management, health, agriculture and media.

In May 2014, Egypt trained 10 Ugandan technicians on designing, building and maintaining rainwater harvesting dams, as part of a $2-million grant offered by Egypt to implement a number of rainwater harvesting dams in Uganda.

Egypt runs, in partnership with Uganda,a megaproject called the Uganda-Egypt Aquatic Weed Control, launched in 1998, with an estimated investment of $20million, to eliminate water weeds from Ugandan lakes; in addition to other projects which aim to improve the lives of fishermen in different areas.

In 2010, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two countries, in which Egypt donated $4.5 million to Uganda to construct water catchment dams, boreholes, and fish ponds.

Egyptian investments in Uganda also include the Cairo International Bank, Egypt Air, Mantrac Uganda ltd, Arab Contractors, al-Nasr Export and Import Company, and African Development Incorporation.