KAMPALA. Saudi Arabia has said it enjoys deep, cordial relations with Uganda and that its government will work to protect all foreign nationals working in our country.
The comments by Saudi’s Ambassador to Uganda, Jamal Mohammed Al-Madani come in the wake of last week’s protest at the Saudi embassy in Kololo where people demonstrated saying their families were being killed and tortured in Saudi Arabia.
But Ambassador Jamal Mohammed Al-Madani in a press statement said that the facts that his country is bare and available for all to know.
“Our two countries have a strong relationship than the small problems. The authorities in Riyad has always taken action where there are complaints of torture- and my government will always protect human rights,” Mr. Mohammed said.
He said that whenever there have been complaints of abuses, investigations have been undertaken and solutions devised.
He said Uganda’s relationship with Saudi Arabia is deep and tied on common interests for the mutual benefit of the two countries and that this is visible in various exchanges of diplomatic visits.
Mr. Mohammed said that his government has supported developments in Uganda, citing the Islamic Development Bank, in which Saudi Arabia owns more than 25%.
The ambassador also addressed the e about the upcoming Saudi Arabian National day that has since 1932 been celebrated annually on September 23rd.
He added that Uganda and Saudi have worked closely bilaterally in “multilateral arenas on regional and international issues as they share joint membership in the United Nations and the organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), among the membership of international organizations”.
“The growth of trade between the two countries is expected after the adoption of Saudi Arabian Airlines to officially operate in Uganda,” the Ambassador added.
In November last year, Foreign Affairs Minister Gen. Jeje Odongo invited investors from Saudi to explore sectors of agriculture, mining, tourism, health, information and communication technology and “expand its import of products from Uganda to include fruits, vegetables, spices, milk and cereals, in addition to the invitation to take advantage of the investment incentives provided”.
Currently, Uganda has about 200,000 migrant workers working in Saudi Arabia and there is an agreement signed between the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Uganda on employment. “This agreement is subject to development, evaluation and review.”
Locally as Al-Yaom-ul-Watany Saudi Arabian National day is celebrated on September 23rd every year. It marks the September 23rd 1932 King Abdulaziz announcement of the unification of the country as a kingdom.
Since Pre-Islamic times, the Arabian peninsula had been occupied by nomadic tribes. The Islamic prophet, Muhammad united these tribes to create a single Islamic religious state. In the years following his death in 632, the territory under Muslim rule rapidly expanded across the middle east, from Spain in the west to parts of the Indian subcontinent in the east.
In the 16th century, the region first came under the control of the Ottoman Empire and although various sultanates would be formed from time to time, it wasn’t until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World war I that modern Saudi Arabia emerged.
Ibn Saud (the son of Abdul Rahman bin Faisal who had been the last ruler of the ‘Second Saudi State’), became the Sultan of Najd, the central region of Arabia in 1921.
Walusimbi speaks out
Meanwhile ambassador Abbey Walusimbi has said that Uganda has over 600,000 migrant workers in the Middle East a majority of whom work in Saudi Arabia but that out of the 200.000 in Saudi Arabia, those who may be suffering are less than 5%, which means that our sisters and brothers are doing a good job
Walusimbi speaking to reporters in Kampala on Friday aid that social media posts have misrepresented the facts.
“The is largely about the plight of Ugandans working in the Middle East. However, that is not to say all is well. Our government has often worked worked with other governments to iron out any issues raised,” Walusimbi said.
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