A section of Ugandans living in the Nordic country of Denmark are demanding a public apology from the journalists who recently visited and “bowed” to President Yoweri Museveni despite the regime’s accusations over acute human rights violations.
A group of Danish Journalists who have been in Uganda since 4th November met Museveni at State House on 10, November where his host implored them to preach the country’s immense tourism potential to the World.
The journalists were led by the Ambassador of Denmark to Uganda, H.E Signe Winding Albjerg and the Ambassador of Uganda to Denmark, H.E Margaret M. Otteskov.
During the meeting, President Museveni informed the journalists that Uganda is a unique country which is naturally endowed with various tourist attractions.
Ugandans in Europe have however slammed the Danish government and their continued association with the Kampala regime which has severely come under fire for its inhumane treatment of its people.
Mr Nico Schoonderwoerd, a top human rights activist with a specific focus on Uganda says he is utterly dumbfounded by the actions of the journalists and the Ambassadors who he says are expected to speak out loudly are ending up in bed with the perpetrators of evil.
He has challenged the group and the Danish people to sober up and stand for justice by rejecting what he calls the barbaric regime by stopping all the support to Uganda until there is sanity regarding human rights observation.
Sadati Dafa, a Ugandan who has been in Denmark for over a decade has called upon the Ambassadors and the group of journalists who dined with Museveni to hurry and make an apology to the people of Uganda many of whom he says have lost their loved ones to the atrocious regime to mitigate the impact their actions are likely to have on the hood image of Denmark.
” It’s very unfortunate that the people I saw dining with the devil are from this good country I have called home for all these years. As far as I know, these are not the values of this country and its people. They are individual misjudged decisions.”
“My humble appeal to the Ambassadors and the journalists is that they should quickly apologise to all Ugandans who have been affected by the abusive regime, whose relatives and friends have died or become incapacitated at the hands of the regime. If not, their actions risk soiling the good image of Denmark.” Said Dafa, an outspoken NUP diaspora activist.
Ronald Ssentamu, also from Denmark challenged the Danish people to disassociate themselves from the ” greedy journalists and show solidarity with the people of Uganda whom he says are threatened by the Museveni criminal regime.
While in Uganda, Ssentamu says the journalists should have first interested themselves in finding out about the 18 opposition supporters whose whereabouts remain a mystery after the government denied having them in their custody.
He says there is a plan to present a petition to the Embassy reminding them of the situation in Uganda regarding human rights which he says the Ambassador might have forgotten.
” We are preparing a document on all the head-turning human rights violations which we plan to present to our Ambassador upon return from Uganda to remind her in case she might have forgotten,” Ssentamu reveals.
The issue of human rights abuse has become a contentious one with activists calling for action from the outside World. Early this year, a petition was filed at the International Criminal Court(ICC) seeking its action against the Kampala regime over gross human rights violations.
In April this year, Ugandan Opposition leader, Bobi Wine visited Denmark and presented the ICC petition against the Museveni regime to the Secretary of State and solicited the Nordic country’s collaboration in weakening Museveni’s grip on power and ending its abuse of Ugandans.
Denmark remains an influential partner of Uganda with an estimated €270 million in annual support.
The Minister of State for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Hon. Martin Bahinduka Mugarra recognized the contribution of tourists from the Nordic countries, saying that they play a vital role in promoting Uganda’s tourism.
“We used to get around 17,000 visitors from the Nordic countries before covid Now the difference between them and other visitors is that they tend to stay longer and spend a bit more,” Hon. Mugarra said.
“On average, the Nordic visitor would spend around 6,000 USD dollars in Uganda. So even with the small number of 17,000, you can see they brought in 102 million USD. So, it’s a good group to target,” he added.
The Minister further called upon stakeholders to work together to see how best they can market Uganda.
“The tourists have reduced a bit because of Covid but we can work and bring them back because the numbers are good in terms of business.”
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