‘Kasese was my saddest moment in Uganda’

What is your response to President Yoweri Museveni’s appeal during the celebrations to mark the EU’s 60th anniversary for the EU to continue assisting Uganda to invest in infrastructure, which clearly is the government’s current priority?

We share the view that infrastructure is of great importance to Uganda (since) it is the basis for developing markets. You need better roads and railways, for instance, to reduce the cost for transport and to make participation of the 68% of Ugandans still limited to subsistence economy at the market possible. You need electricity to enable companies to work because depending on generators and diesel is too costly. We Germans reflect on this by having made the energy sector a priority of our cooperation with Uganda. Having said that, one has to acknowledge that, first and foremost, Uganda’s development depends on her people. We need each and everyone to participate in building the country. And for this to happen, Ugandan people need to be empowered. They need to be healthy and well trained. So we need clean water, decent hospitals and sufficient medication, as we need good schools and universities. Hardware like infrastructure can only serve people if there is software like education and health so that they can make use of it. One cannot go without the other. The art of politics is to balance it out wisely.

What is your contribution to the current debate on the removal of the presidential age limit?

Constitutions around the world handle this question differently. There are reasons for limitations of the number of terms in office, and there are reasons for giving more flexibility. The reason for limiting terms is to prevent from the outset that one person could shift balance within the political system to his favour in a way over time so that others still might have the right but no chance in reality to replace the incumbent. It is a decision of favouring institutions over individuals. What is important is that even where there are no limits, the people must retain not only the right but the real possibility to vote the incumbent out of office. Now, the reason for an age limit like the one you have in Uganda is the idea that if people reach a certain age, they should be aware that even if they still might feel strong, their strength shrinks, at a point possibly faster than they might imagine. It is a sign to put one’s house to order. This should be done from a position of strength and not of weakness.

What will you remember most about Uganda?

The friendly spirit of her people, the beauty of her nature, the wonderful climate and the cute mixture of German and English our little daughter started to speak here.

Where are you headed next?

My next posting will be in Berlin. I will be dealing with the return and readmission which is set in the wider context of migration. This gives me the opportunity to thank the Ugandan government and the Ugandan people once again for their overwhelming hospitality which they have granted to more than a million refugees. Germany has supported Uganda from the beginning in hosting these refugees, and I am very satisfied that Uganda together with the UN system are hosting a solidarity conference that seeks for more support from other donors.

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