Kadaga tasks Foreign Affairs Ministers on visas

The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, has tasked Foreign Affairs ministers of Africa to take interest in the challenges faced by their people in securing visas to other countries with an aim of easing restrictions.

Kadaga made the call while addressing Ugandans living in Canada at the 3rd Uganda Canadian Diaspora Business Expo and Convention in Toronto, Canada at the weekend.

She said that the time lag of receiving a visa to other countries, most times of which are given out of the country of the passport’s origin, have proved a barrier and have many a time limited the movement of people.

“When the Schengen arrangement started in 1995, a visa of Germany could take you anywhere in Europe, but now almost each country wants the processing of their own visas and it seems our foreign affairs office is not aware about this,” Kadaga said.

She therefore tasked foreign affairs ministers to set up a reciprocal arrangement which she said would go a long way in easing access to visas by Ugandans.

“Uganda processes visas at the port of entry whereby persons getting into the country can get a visa on arrival at Entebbe Airport. We need to set up such arrangements with other major countries which our people travel to so as to ease their access to visas,” Kadaga added.

The Speaker however assured the audience that plans were on course to facilitate Ugandans living in the diaspora to be able to renew their passports as well as acquire Uganda national identification cards and certificates of dual citizenship.

“We agreed in 2018 that for a start, Government would facilitate six centres around the world which can give services to Ugandans in the diaspora. We have a Middle East office in Abu Dhabi, a UK office in London, a US office in Washington, a SADC office in Pretoria and the Canada office will be in Ottawa,” Kadaga noted.

Key on the agenda at the convention included among others Uganda’s tourism potential for which the diaspora residents have been called on to invest in owing to the fact that religious tourism is taking root in the country.

“It’s a very big thing that Uganda has the martyrs that is why we have been visited by three Popes. On Martyrs Day, Namugongo had up to five million people. This is an opportunity that Ugandans in the diaspora can tap into and invest in things like hotel facilities,” said the Speaker.

The chairperson of the Uganda Canadian Diaspora Business Expo and Convention, John Nalima, noted that the convention aims at linking Ugandans living in Canadian to sector players who can facilitate investment back home as well as give Ugandans an opportunity to live in Canada.

The three day convention under the theme, ‘Building Uganda and Networking Diaspora Initiatives’ was graced by Vice President, Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi, Members of Parliament, the Uganda High Commissioner to Canada, Joy Ruth Acheng and the Uganda Hotel Owners Association chairperson, Susan Muhwezi among others.