UGANDA: VOTE ON APPROVAL OF SOMALIA DEPLOYMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L KAMPALA 000193

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/31/17
TAGS: PREL MOPS EAID KPKO ET SO ER KE UG
SUBJECT: UGANDA: VOTE ON APPROVAL OF SOMALIA DEPLOYMENT
INITIATED

Classified By: P/E Chief Kathleen FitzGibbon for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d
).


1. (U) On January 31, ruling party parliamentarians
rejected the Defense Minister's motion to short-circuit
parliamentary procedures to move forward a resolution to
approve the Ugandan military's deployment to Somalia. In a
45-43-4 vote, ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM)
parliamentarians refused to suspend a three-day rule required
for the introduction of motions. Only the ruling party and
few independents were present. The opposition had walked out
of parliament on January 30 in protest of the government's
refusal to release Peoples' Redemption Army (PRA) members who
had been granted bail in court.


2. (C) During debate over the motion to suspend the
three-day rule, NRM members argued that "rushing the
resolution" was not in the national interest or the party's.
They argued that the opposition needed to be present to
discuss an issue of this magnitude. The parliamentarians
also requested additional information on what other countries
would be joining Uganda and how large the force should be.
They expressed concern that 1500-2000 Ugandan troops would
not be able to protect themselves without the presence of
additional African contingents. One ruling party MP angered
the Speaker by accusing the government of "not playing by the
rules." Others accused the Parliamentary Speaker of trying
to push through the resolution. The Speaker's staff told
poloff privately that President Museveni would be calling
many members on the carpet for not supporting the suspension
of the rules.


3. (C) Internal Affairs Minister Ruhakana Rugunda and
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Henry Okello Oryem
expect the vote on the resolution to be on Tuesday, February

6. They both said that the Speaker was working with the
opposition leadership to persuade opposition members to
return to Parliament. Oryem bemusedly described the vote as
"democracy in action" within the ruling party. Several
opposition members had arrived after the vote, including
Reagan Okumu, an outspoken government critic. He told poloff
separately that many opposition MPs would support the
deployment to Somalia because stability in the Horn of Africa
was important for Uganda. However, the government needs to
assure the opposition that the necessary funding is in place,
and that the Ugandan troops will be joined by other
contingents.
BROWNING