21 November 2007
Kampala — Mozambican President Armando Guebuza is due in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, late on Wednesday to take part in the summit of Commonwealth of heads of state and government, scheduled for 23-25 November.
A source in the Mozambican president's office told AIM that a day before the official opening of the summit, Guebuza is to deliver a speech, during an official lunch, under the theme "Transforming Societies: Promoting Public/Private Partnership".
Preparations for the summit are taking place under heightened security and these measures led to the arrest and deportation of four people during the accreditation process. They included two reporters, one from Senegal, and another from Ghana, and two others who were not identified, allegedly for "security measures".
The Ugandan opposition is not happy about the preparations for the summit, and accuses the government of "monopolising" the activities.
The general secretary of the main opposition party, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Alice Alaso, said on Friday that the government of President Yoweri Museveni "does not want the involvement of other political forces in any activities to do with the summit".
She said that this summit is taking place at a moment when democratic practices in Uganda are very questionable, and urged other Commonwealth members to press Museveni to respect human rights. The FDC is threatening to boycott official summit events.
Human rights, good governance and separation of powers, promotion of tolerance and respect for differences, are among the themes in the agenda of the summit. It is also expected to discuss issues concerned with the environment and climate changes, HIV/AIDS, Agriculture and Trade.
Among those present in Kampala is the Zimbabwean opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, despite the fact that Zimbabwe stormed out of the Commonwealth in 2004, after Commonwealth leaders refused to lift its suspension for human rights abuses.
Tsvangirai travelled to Kampala from Johannesburg on Tuesday, on the same flight as much of the Mozambican delegation to Kampala.
It is not clear what Tsvangirai's plans are, although it seems reasonable to assume that he intends to lobby Commonwealth members about the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe.
Unlike other Commonwealth members, Mozambique was never a British colony. But because of the struggles to free Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) and South Africa from white minority rule, Mozambique developed close ties with many Commonwealth nations and was regularly invited to attend Commonwealth gatherings as an observer. With the support of other southern African countries, Mozambique became a full member of the Commonwealth in 1995.
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