Uganda's Foreign Affairs Minister fronted for UN Assembly Chair

It is several months away but the next United Nations’ General Assembly, could be chaired by a Ugandan. The presidency of the Assembly is held on a regional rotational basis for a period of one year, and the next term which commences in September 2013 is the turn for Eastern Africa. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sam Kahamba Kutesa, has been fronted by government as a candidate for the position. Born in 1949, when the General Assembly had been four years in existence, Kutesa has been steering Uganda’s foreign policy since 2005 when he appointed to the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

The General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the world body and provides a forum for representation and discussion for the 193 UN member states on a one-state-one-vote basis on issues raised. If elected, Kutesa would be president at a time when Uganda, together with Rwanda, has been fingered by a UN report for supporting rebels in D.R. Congo which could come up for discussion in the Assembly or one of the UN organs. (Published in People in the news section, Daily Monitor, December 5 2012)