The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
President Yoweri Museveni has assured Belgium’s Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders that he will look into the recent child adoption controversy involving the two nations.
Museveni held a bilateral meeting with Reynders and Ambassador Marc Pecsteen at the sidelines of the 71st United Nations General in New York.
The two leaders discussed the security situation in the region including Burundi and the Horn of Africa.
During the meeting the Reynders raised the issue of the adoption of Uganda children that is being contested by parents in Belgium. Museveni said he will study the issue and respond fully later as he did not have the details of the case.
Controversy arose after parliament passed a law barring adoption of Uganda children by foreigners to protect them from child trafficking and sexual exploitation. The law was however passed after the parents had concluded the adoption process but had not yet taken the children.
Later the Belgian parents were caught up in a deadlock between the Belgian Embassy and an adoption agency that facilitated the adoptions.
The Flemish Centre for Adoption (Kind & Gezin), reported that the Belgian Embassy in Kampala (Uganda) refused an entry visa to nine parents, who wanted to leave with ten adopted children from Kampala, the capital, to Belgium.
However, the Belgian authorities said the method used by the agency was mired in irregularities.
There case drew in the Belgium government with the Prime Minister pledging to follow up the case.
