Jacob Marksons Oboth (MP)

One of the key highlights of the just concluded 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in New Delhi was my meeting with the Russian State Duma delegation. In a move to further our Parliamentary Diplomacy doctrine, I invited my Russian counterpart and his delegation to Kampala. They invited me to Moscow in return. I told the delegation that Uganda and Russia enjoy a deep historical relationship that our Parliaments should leverage. I noted that, to my knowledge, no Russian Speaker has ever led a delegation to Uganda, and the first to do so will make headlines. There is a lot their Parliament can learn from us, and a lot we can learn from them. I welcome the Duma’s plan for a group of deputies dedicated to Uganda. Trade between us remains small: in 2024 we imported $190.69m, mostly wheat, and exported $39.30m, mainly coffee. We must close that gap. I was joined by Leader of the Opposition Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi, Hon. Annet Katusiime Mugisha, Hon. Sowedi Ismail Mulemya, Hon. Betty Mpongo Nakisita and High Commissioner Prof. Joyce Kikafunda. #BRICSIndia2026 #ParliamentaryDiplomacy

A Sino-Ugandan Friendship Forged in 1962, Renewed in New Delhi, India! During the just-concluded 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in New Delhi, I held bilateral talks with H.E. Zheng Jianbang, Vice Chairperson of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress. Uganda and China have been friends since 18 October 1962, and I was pleased to build on these cordial ties. I invited the Chinese delegation to visit Uganda, and Vice Chairperson Zheng kindly accepted and invited me to China in return. China’s Parliament has a unique model that we in Uganda can learn from. This meeting was part of the deliberate parliamentary diplomacy we are pursuing in this term. It supplements the work of our Government and our missions abroad, giving Uganda another channel to build trust, open markets and follow up on agreements. China’s decision to open its market to African products without tariffs gives our farmers and manufacturers an opportunity. I hope to see more Ugandan coffee, fish and processed goods reach Chinese consumers. Exchanges of Members of Parliament and staff can bring our two peoples closer. I thank Vice Chairperson Zheng for a warm and constructive meeting. I was accompanied by the Leader of the Opposition, Hon Joel Ssenyonyi, Hon Betty Nakisita Mpongo, Hon Sowedi Ismail Mulemya and Hon Annet Katusiime Mugisha.

Dear fellow Citizens. I greet you all. This morning, at the Extraordinary Meeting of the EAC Speakers' Bureau in Nairobi, I committed Uganda to turning the decisions of our Heads of State into action. I thank my colleague Rt. Hon. Moses Wetang'ula and the National Assembly of Kenya for their warm hospitality, and our Bureau Chair, Rt. Hon. Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, and the Speaker of EALA for convening us. On the proposed change under Article 50(1) of the Treaty, allowing each Partner State to identify and select its nine EALA Members under its own procedures, Uganda is ready. We will support the necessary Treaty amendments, and Parliament will amend its Rules of Procedure to implement the decision. On the Summit's decision that Partner States pay their EALA Members, Parliament of Uganda will review its budget provisions so we can implement it at the earliest opportunity once the Treaty is amended. I also reaffirmed our full participation in the EAC Inter-Parliamentary Games in Arusha, 5–15 December 2026. Uganda has already remitted its contribution of US$19,239. The strength of our Community lies in working together. Uganda remains committed to regional integration and effective parliamentary cooperation. Please, enjoy the full speech and join us on this journey as we make our Community stronger and more unified! I thank you!

Building bilateral partnerships that last beyond a single meeting requires House-to-House friendships in the form of Parliamentary Diplomacy. I have held several meetings on the sidelines of the just concluded 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum, which included two important partners – the Russian State Duma and the Thailand House of Representatives delegations. While meeting the delegation from Russia early this week, in New Delhi, we exchanged invitations to visit Kampala and Moscow. The meetings will help our parliamentarians and staff to learn from the experiences of both countries. The Duma will set up a group of deputies dedicated to relations with Uganda. Russia supplies most of the wheat we import, and I want to see more Ugandan coffee reach Russian consumers. With Speaker Sophon Saram of Thailand’s House of Representatives, I exchanged gifts in the historic Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan. Uganda and Thailand are both BRICS partner countries, yet our trade remains small. In 2025, Uganda sold goods worth $383,530 to Thailand and bought goods worth $27.25 million. A parliamentary friendship group between our two Houses will help close that gap. Our delegation, including Leader of the Opposition Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi, showed both partners that Government and Opposition stand together on matters of national interest for Uganda. #BRICSPF2026 #BRICSIndia2026 #Uganda #Russia #Thailand

Uganda and China have enjoyed an excellent bilateral relationship since October 18th, 1962. And so, in New Delhi, India, I had the honour of building on that relationship and friendship with H.E. Zheng Jianbang, Vice Chairperson of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress. While meeting him on the sidelines of the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum, I told Vice Chairperson Zheng that China’s Parliament has a unique model that we in Uganda can learn from, and I invited him and his colleagues to visit Kampala. I was glad that he accepted and extended a similar invitation to us. Our two countries already work closely, from the Kampala–Entebbe Expressway and the Karuma and Isimba power plants to the scholarships that take young Ugandans to study in China every year. There is room to do more together. China’s decision to open its market to African products without tariffs gives our farmers and manufacturers a real opportunity, and I hope to see more Ugandan coffee, fish and processed goods reach Chinese consumers. Parliaments can bring our peoples closer through exchanges of Members and staff, and I look forward to deepening these ties. I thank Vice Chairperson Zheng for a warm and constructive meeting. For God and My Country.

The just-ended 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in New Delhi has been a crucial event, especially regarding the critical role of Parliaments. In my address to the forum today, I raised the key issues that parliaments ought to focus on in order to be trusted by the people and also be able to construct people-centred legislation for the millions of people across the BRICS countries. I outlined some of the issues that Parliaments have to grapple with to earn the trust of the masses and ensure that legislation passed makes a difference in the lives of millions of people spread over the vast terrain of the BRICS countries. The word sustainability means nothing if you do not improve the lives of the people by providing them with clean water, decent jobs, education, and a means to earn a living to sustain themselves. For the theme of the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum on the role of Parliaments in fostering a sustainable and inclusive future for their nations, sustainability for Uganda’s millions of people would mean a lot more if they had clean water, decent employment, education, etc to create secure livelihoods for them. The climate change committee and environment committee of the Uganda Parliament have begun to include sustainability in the national development planning framework. But more important is the implementation of the sustainability policies on the ground in terms of funding and what more we can do as parliament, be held accountable, and ensure that the climate change funds are reaching where they are supposed to reach. Present was the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi, and other members of the delegation who demonstrated that the Government and Opposition of Uganda stand together. For God and My Country. @ParliamentUG #BRICSPF2026 #BRICSIndia2026 #ParliamentUG #PeoplesParliamentUG

Thank you, Rt. Hon. First Deputy Prime Minister!

Today, on the sidelines of the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in New Delhi, I met HE Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council of the United Arab Emirates. It was a fruitful and successful meeting. We discussed how to strengthen bilateral and parliamentary cooperation between Uganda and the UAE, and how to expand our partnership in areas of mutual interest. The UAE matters a great deal to Uganda. It is our largest export market. In 2024, we sold goods worth $2.61 billion to the UAE and bought $1.29 billion, mostly fuel. UAE investment in Uganda had reached about $3.5 billion by 2024. Much of what we sell to the UAE is gold. I want to see more Ugandan coffee, fish, fruit and other processed goods reach that market, and more investment in processing at home. Parliaments can help by keeping our people in touch, sharing experience, and following up on agreements made by our governments. This meeting adds to our talks here with India’s Lok Sabha and Russia’s State Duma. I look forward to more bilateral engagements with the FNC, and I thank Speaker Ghobash and his delegation for a warm exchange. For God and My Country. @fnc_uae @ParliamentUG #BRICS #BRICSIndia2026 #UAE #Uganda #FNC #PeoplesParliamentUG

It was a fruitful and successful meeting , looking forward to more bilateral engagements

This morning at Samvidhan Sadan in New Delhi, I was pleased to meet the Prime Minister of India, Shri @NarendraModi, at the opening of the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum. Our exchange builds on the warm engagements we have had since we arrived, including with my counterpart, Lok Sabha Speaker Shri Om Birla. Uganda and India share a long friendship rooted in history and trade, and in the many Indians who have made Uganda their home and contribute so much to our economy. As a BRICS partner country, Uganda is here to deepen these ties. Our two-way trade is about $1.35 billion a year, and there is room to grow it, especially by bringing more Ugandan products to the Indian market and attracting investment in processing at home. I thank Prime Minister Modi and the people of India for their hospitality. For God and My Country. #BRICSPF2026 #BRICSIndia2026 #ParliamentUG #PeoplesParliamentUG

I have been humbled and privileged to host the Inter-Religious Prayers and Thanksgiving of the Parliament of Uganda this morning at Parliament. Christians, Muslims, and people of other faiths gathered on the Parliament grounds to thank the Giver of life and leadership. We would not be where we are without God’s grace. I reminded colleagues that in the 12th Parliament we see God’s hand in our progress as an institution, and that leadership is a responsibility we carry out in service of the people. I invited staff in attendance to recall the parliamentary prayer that we invoke at the opening of every sitting. In that prayer, we ask God to grant us wisdom and guidance to handle matters before us justly and faithfully for the good of those that God has entrusted to our care. We must take those words seriously. I said that public office is a trust. That trust must show in the laws we pass, in how we use public resources and in how faithfully we represent our constituents. I thanked the Rt. Rev. Samuel George Bogere Egesa, Bishop of Bukedi, for both reminding and challenging us. Every day, even in this House, we stand at a crossroads. I also thanked the religious leaders of all the different denominations that joined us today. In my remarks, I stressed that our people want a better life. Good Schools and healthcare. They want jobs. They demand that we leaders lead by example and use public resources responsibly. I joined all the faithful to pray for wisdom, courage, and humility. I prayed for wisdom and courage to correct our mistakes whenever they occur. This is because a people-centred Parliament begins with us. I thanked the choir, especially Hon. Zambaali Mukasa, for singing so well. I should have joined them, but next time. I thank the Parliamentary staff who joined us in prayer. I thank Imam Kasozi Iddi, whom I met at Makerere University in 1997, for attending. Thank you to everyone who came. God bless Uganda. FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY!

This morning, I bid farewell to H.E. Majid Saffar, Iran’s Ambassador to Uganda, who called on me at the end of his four-year tour of duty. The Ambassador noted that agreements signed between Uganda and Iran on judicial cooperation, customs, banking and trade have stalled at the final stage of administrative review. From my background in Defence, I know executive channels often face bureaucratic bottlenecks. I proposed parliamentary diplomacy to break this deadlock, with Parliament creating direct frameworks, incentive laws and business connections between our two countries. To anchor this, I committed to reviving the Iran-Uganda Parliamentary Friendship Group with a fresh cohort of Ugandan legislators. We also discussed Iran’s offers in steel and fertilizer supply, drones for agricultural irrigation and security, and fully funded scholarships for Ugandan students. I thank Ambassador Saffar for his service and wish him well in his next assignment.