Kampala, Uganda — President Yoweri Museveni and son, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, were part of a handful of African leaders at the Russia Africa summit in St. Petersburg held July 27-28 which most African leaders skipped. Only 16 African leaders attended, less than half of the 43 who attended the first Russia Africa summit in 2019.
Even from East Africa, Museveni's leading counterparts stayed away-dealing a blow to Russia which sought to tout the summit as a symbol of its strong ties with African countries. Kenyan President William Ruto was in Tanzania for one day for a Human Capital summit while Rwandan President Paul Kagame stayed in Kigali where he received an official Chinese delegation. Burundi's Evaristo Ndayishemye showed up in Petersburg but hardly registered a presence.
Some of the prominent leaders who showed up were South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Zimbabwean leader Emmerson Mnangagwa and Egyptian President Fattah al Sisi.
For Gen. Muhoozi who accompanied his father, it was a play for power: an opportunity to meet one of his idols; Russian President Vladimir Putin whose admiration he has put on display since he sent tanks rolling into Ukraine early last year.
President Museveni had a meeting with Putin on the first day of the summit where they discussed business. Museveni tweeted "In that regard, I have invited Russia to take interest in a number of business opportunities in fields of oil and gas, agriculture, production, the pathogenic economy, industry and space science."
But it was the latter part of Museveni's statement where Muhoozi, a Special Presidential Advisor on Special Operations, was likely to come in handy. "On the military side, Uganda has managed to become an island of peace in our part of the world, due to our cooperation through procurement of equipment from Russia over the years."
From Russia, Uganda has acquired six SU-30MK fighter jets, T-90 tanks, Kornet anti-tank missiles, anti-ship missiles, Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs), and other components of the SU-30 combat aircraft.
For most African leaders, a meeting with Putin usually underlines an arms deal. African delegates at the summit such as Uganda government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo excitedly posed for photos at the weapons exhibition. It was a repeat of what happened at the 2019 summit in Sochi. If anything, Russia has proved to be the largest supplier of weaponry to African countries.
While opening the second Russia Africa summit, Putin offered to send up to 50,000 tonnes of free grain supplies to six African countries as recompense for withdrawing from a UN-backed grain deal with Ukraine. The gesture appeared too little too late as many African countries have been dealing with a food crisis emanating directly from the Russian war on Ukraine.
It is believed Russia's decision infuriated African countries resulting in the snub. Experts already said the move does not bode well for poor African farmers. "We already know or can predict to a fair degree the impact the pausing of exports from that region to the rest of the world, especially East Africa and the Horn of Africa, will have on food prices," Debisi Araba, a food policy strategist and former managing director at the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) told Al Jazeera.
Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov said of the low attendance. "This is absolutely blatant, brazen interference by the United States, France and other states through their diplomatic missions in African countries and their attempts to put pressure on the leadership of these countries in order to prevent their active participation in the forum."
However Uganda and Russia maintain cordial ties. In July 2022, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Uganda and had a meeting with President Museveni at State House Entebbe. The two countries were marking sixty years of formal relations.
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A Joint Permanent Commission of Russia and Uganda was established to hash out cooperation in energy, ideological studies, hydrocarbon, cyber security, agriculture and use of nuclear technology.
With Lavrov, Museveni underscored Uganda's strong ties to Russia amid the escalating tension between the superpower and the West.
"We want to trade with Russia. We want to trade with all countries of the world. We don't believe in being enemies of somebody's enemy, no. We want to make our own enemies not fight other people's enemies," Museveni said. "It is not my job to be pro-West or pro-East. I deal with people according to my interests," he added.
At the start of the Russian war in Ukraine, Uganda opted out of the vote to condemn Russia at a UN General Assembly meeting.
