Dubai, UAE:- Uganda’s External Security Organisation (ESO) has launched investigations into circumstances under which privately procured gambling machines were shipped and opened for operations at Uganda’s Consulate building in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
The casino machines, this publication understands, were reportedly shipped under diplomatic cover between Russia and the Middle East, a practice that breached provisions of the April 18, 1961, Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
“The premises of the mission must not be used in any manner incompatible with the functions of the mission as laid down in the present Convention, or by other rules of general international law, or by any special agreements in force between the sending and the receiving State,” reads Article 41 of the convention.
It is further reported that the equipment was then moved to UAE on October 29, 2023, aboard Ethiopian Airlines flight ET600 from Domodedovo Mikhail Lomonosov Airport in Moscow, the Russian capital. A couple of days later, the Ugandan embassy in Abu Dhabi, which oversees the Dubai Consulate sought authorisation from the host government, through the Emirati Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Department of Privileges and Immunities, to clear the cargo.
Upon grant of permission, the wrapped consignment was hauled for storage at the Consulate in Dubai where it was to be kept for no more than three months before eventual transfer to Uganda where it was reportedly for installation at a hotel of a minister. Why the buyer did not fly the personal property straight to Uganda or why Uganda’s Consulate in Dubai was particularly chosen for storage remains a question with no answers to-date.
However, Monitor reported in a MOnday breaking story that highly placed sources unearthed the rot at the embassy saying “it is a common practice by top government officials, including ministers, to store personal valuables at diplomatic missions around the world, sometimes for several months, leaving diplomats conflicted on how to say no to their political supervisors without a risk to their jobs.”
Upon learning of the existence of Casino machines at Uganda’s Dubai Consulate, a senior minister in Kampala reportedly dispatched a pastor, who was a prayer warrior during the famous Opposition Black Monday demos, as a special envoy and instructed diplomats there to grant the individual keys to access the Second Floor of the Consulate Building, where the machines were kept in pallets. The reason? So, the machines could be disassembled, installed and tested if they would work well.
These operations under the pastor’s watch are reported to have sporadically continued over six months double the time the machines were meant to be stored at the Dubai Consulate until President Museveni, who is Uganda’s chief diplomat, ordered their removal.
When contacted on Monday, The Senior Presidential Press Secretary, Mr Sandor Walusimbi, said he was not aware of the matter. But the newspaper (Monitor) would further report that the ESO Director General, Mr Joseph Ocwet, went to Dubai about two weeks ago as part of his inquiries into a matter described by insiders as a potential diplomatic powder keg.
Top Foreign Officials implicated
Inquiries into the alleged Casino scheme seized the attention of the technical wing at Uganda’s Foreign Affairs minister, with Permanent Secretary Vincent Bagiire flying to Dubai in May, while en route from Ankara, Turkiye, where he was to defuse in-fighting among senior embassy staff.
He later addressed the Ankara embassy staff retreat, to underline priority areas in the Uganda-Turkiye bilateral relations, held in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya.
Sources close to the investigations said PS Bagiire, while in Dubai, toured the two-storied Consulate building, but found the room with the gambling machines locked, and the attendant with the keys away. It remains unclear whether and what Mr Bagiire reported to his seniors on the fact-finding mission to the Consulate.
Museveni orders probe
In the aftermath of the mess in themiddle east country which forbids gambling of any kind, President Museveni is said to have directed Mr Zaake Kibedi, Uganda’s envoy in Abu Dhabi who oversees the Dubai Consulate, to intervene.
Consequently, on May 12, Ambassador Kibedi, accompanied by the ESO attaché, flew to Dubai and, in the presence of Ambassador Henry Mayega, who heads the Consulate in Dubai, authorised the room to be forcibly opened for removal of the equipment.
The removed equipment, it turned out, was one that the Ugandan embassy in Abu Dhabi that he heads, on November 1, 2023, asked the United Arab Emirates Foreign Affairs ministry, through its Department of Privileges and Immunities, to clear as diplomatic cargo.
“The embassy … has the honour to inform the latter (UAE) that cargo under airway mail No. 071-49449864 in the number of seven packages was transported on Ethiopian Airlines from Domodedovo International Airport (in Russia) en route to Dubai International Airport and arrived [in Abu Dhabi] on October 29, 2023. In this regard, the embassy wishes to request the esteemed ministry for clearance of the cargo,” reads the diplomatic note under reference ADM/230/39/2023-25.
According to the air waybill, the consignment included “used furniture parts”. Our investigations show that Uganda’s Ambassador to Russia, Mr Moses Kizige, designated one Kurshev Roman Igorevich as holding power of attorney to pay for and ship the items.
In an undated letter referenced XM/AD/01, and addressed to the Domodedovo Customs, Ambassador Kizige noted that Uganda’s embassy in Moscow that he superintends, “… empowers Kurshev Roman Igorevich … to carry out customs clearance, receive the goods from the warehouse/hand over the goods to the warehouse and sign for the receipt/delivery of the goods, pay all fees and duties as well as perform all procedures [and] actions related to the shipment of the diplomatic cargo”.
It was not yet clear why the envoy committed the state of Uganda to a shipment of a consignment said to be personal property and where a private individual picked associated bills.
Ambassador Kizige when contacted referred inquiries to Gen Jeje Odongo, the Foreign Affairs minister, without indicating why. “From time to time we receive requests to clear cargo. But on this matter, please, call Gen Odongo,” Ambassador Kizige told Monitor.
Similarly, Ambassador Mayega, who heads the Dubai Consulate where the cargo ended, according to the official account for storage on instructions of supervisors, referred this newspaper to Gen Odongo. “Please, call Hon Gen Jeje Odongo for details about this matter,” he said before cutting off the conversation.
Foreign Affairs Ministry speaks out
In Kampala, and upon learning that Monitor was investigating the story, Gen Jeje Odongo, the Foreign Affairs minister reached out and offered to to tell his side of the story. However, he did not when we got back to him, saying he was down with high blood pressure.
A day later, on Friday, when contacted the minister for the second time, he texted back: “I believe you need something detailed and that can only be possible through face-to-face interaction.” He however offered no appointment and had said nothing more by Monday morning.
The publication could not establish if the minister had prior knowledge that the equipment had been mounted and operated by two Ugandan nationals – assigned as special envoys – with diplomatic credentials issued by Foreign Affairs headquarters in Kampala. However, it was reported that the minister alongside other officials were taken by ESO officers for questioning as part of the broader inquiries.
Sources said the emissaries had access to the Consulate building, which under diplomatic protocol is considered sovereign premises of Uganda, and would enter and exit freely, including hosting alleged punters during evening hours.
Officials in Kampala feared this practice is likely to prompt the host government, in this case of the United Arab Emirates, to investigate what exactly happened at the post, the outcome of which could impact Uganda-UAE bilateral relations.
Article 42 of the Vienna Convention provides that “a diplomatic agent shall not practice for personal profit any professional or commercial activity in the receiving state”.
In a separate interview, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Okello Oryem said, if true, conducting a lottery inside diplomatic premises is “criminal”.
“I’m hearing about this for the first time from you, but if our diplomatic staff engaged in such activity then it is absurd and criminal. An embassy building and Consulate enjoy a diplomatic privilege; so, to turn them into a Casino is not only in contravention of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations but also a breach of trust,” Mr Oryem told this newspaper by telephone.
He added: “What I know [is that] there were fights over resources at the Consulate and the PS went there to address the situation. I will particularly ask my technical staff about this particular case.”
About the Consulate
The UAE allowed Uganda in April 2022 to open the Consulate, a key financial and commercial hub. Its purpose is cut out: promote trade relations and facilitate diplomatic services for Ugandans in the UAE northern territories of Sharjah, Fujairah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, and Ras Al-Khaimah.
The consulate started as a Liaison Office for the Dubai 2020 Expo, which was held in 2021 and attended by Mr Museveni. Its achievements under Ambassador Mayega have included scouting investors some of whom met President Museveni in Uganda and have set up real estate and financial businesses in Kampala.
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