Gen Kainerugaba Meets Egyptian Ambassador to Uganda

The Commander of Lander Forces (UPDF) and Presidential Advisor on Special Operations Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba met with the Egyptian Ambassador to Uganda Ashraf Mohamed Nabhan Swelam.

"Today, I was happy to meet the Egyptian Ambassador and Military Attaché. They brought me messages from Cairo," he tweeted Friday afternoon.

"Ugandan-Egyptian relations are very strong! I send warm greetings to our Egyptian brothers and sisters!"

The meeting with Ambassador Swelam follows that of October 2021 which Gen Kainerugaba had with the Egyptian Defence Attache to Uganda Brig Hany Hassanin and former Egyptian diplomat in Uganda Mohamed el-Hamzawi at the Special Forces Command Headquarters in Entebbe.

Relations between Egypt and Uganda have witnessed significant development following the visit of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to Uganda in December 2016. 

In May 2018, President Yoweri Museveni visited Cairo and met with his Egyptian counterpart. 

A number of agreements and memoranda of understanding were signed between the two countries and some are already in motion, for instance, the enterprise units of both countries' armies are already cooperating in animal production.

In April of this year, Uganda’s Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) signed an intelligence-sharing agreement with its Egyptian counterpart, the Egyptian Military Intelligence Department (MID), to facilitate collaboration in fighting terrorism and a number of other criminal activities.

Then CMI chief Maj Gen Abel Kandiho said the “two agencies [will] share resourceful intelligence on a regular basis” regarding the aforementioned operations.

The UPDF said that the Memorandum of Understanding was a follow-up of the first meeting the two agencies held in Cairo-Egypt in December 2020. Maj Gen Sameh Saber El-Degwi, who represented MID said that cooperation was crucial, as both countries share mutual challenges.

"The fact that Uganda and Egypt share the Nile, cooperation between the two countries is inevitable because what affects Ugandans will in one way or another affect Egypt," he said.

Uganda maintains a strong relationship with Egypt.

Uganda and Egypt enjoy strong, friendly relations because of the common vision the two states share towards several international and regional issues, including water, terrorism, and regional crises.

Egypt has provided Uganda with training programs in combating terrorism at the Egyptian military faculties to promote security and defense cooperation between the two countries as well as other training programs in water management, health, agriculture and media.

In May 2014, Egypt trained 10 Ugandan technicians on designing, building and maintaining rainwater harvesting dams, as part of a $2-million grant offered by Egypt to implement a number of rainwaters harvesting dams in Uganda.

Egypt runs, in partnership with Uganda, a megaproject called the Uganda-Egypt Aquatic Weed Control, launched in 1998, with an estimated investment of $20million, to eliminate water weeds from Ugandan lakes; in addition to other projects which aim to improve the lives of fishermen in different areas.

In 2010, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two countries, in which Egypt donated $4.5 million to Uganda to construct water catchment dams, boreholes, and fish ponds. Egyptian investments in Uganda also include the Cairo International Bank, Egypt Air, Mantrac Uganda ltd, Arab Contractors, al-Nasr Export and Import Company, and African Development Incorporation.