A section of Ugandan MP’s have questioned the conduct of the US Ambassador in Uganda Ms Deborah Malac saying they are irked by her diplomatic etiquette which they say is lacking.
In a press briefing held at parliament on Monday, Bufumbira County East MP Dr. James Nsaba Buturo said Malac’s conduct of always wanting to interfere into Uganda’s internal issues is unbecoming and unacceptable.
Dr. Nsaba Buturo cited Amb. Malac’s comments about President Museveni’s refusal to assent to the GMO Bill twice, to which she said she was upset.
Dr. Buturo who said he was speaking on behalf of majority MP’s in Parliament said as a diplomat, Amb. Malac has no business interfering in the affairs of Uganda, and government should warn her against this conduct.
“We want government to remind her of the required etiquette when you are an ambassador. Who are you to be upset about what we have chosen in our interest? It’s not allowed! It’s wrong for an ambassador to comment on issues of internal nature.”
Alongside other MP’s who support a ban on GMO’s, Dr. Butuuro said diplomatically, ambassadors do not comment on affairs of the host nation in public. He said if the diplomat is aggrieved, she should have quietly engaged the foreign affairs ministry and put her case over the matter.
He said with 45 percent of arable land in East Africa, Uganda has a comparative advantage in food production in the region, and a ban on GMO’s will be a strategic trade protection move that will galvanize its status in the region as far as food production is concerned.
He also said anti-GMO MP’s who he said are majority in parliament, are ready to challenge the law if it is passed claiming it’s introduction is an attempt to enslave Ugandans and deprive them of their sovereignty. He said because of greed and other factors some people have been made to support certain policies.
President Museveni has on two occasions rejected The Genetic Engineering regulatory Bill 2018 citing irregularities in the bill. However, parliamentary procedure gives powers to parliament with two-thirds majority to debate and enact such a bill into law.