After four years, Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Uganda, H.E Alemtsehay Meseret, has ended her diplomatic tour of duty to Uganda.

Last week, she called on President Yoweri Museveni at State House, Entebbe, to bid farewell to him before returning to Addis Ababa. The President thanked her for concretizing the already existing cordial relationship between the two sister nations.

On her part, the Ambassador who described Uganda as a beautiful and pan-African country, thanked President Yoweri Museveni for his exemplary leadership and effort to unite Africa.

“After four wonderful years of living and working amongst you, my tour of duty as the Ethiopian Ambassador in this beautiful country and great pan Africanist nation has come to an end,” H.E Alemtsehay informed the President.

“The very warm welcome I received from my arrival and along my tour of duty from you and the people, in the Pearl of Africa testifies to the fact that Uganda and Ethiopia have been close friends for a long time. I worked fully in the spirit of friendship, committed partnership and co-operation”

“Over the past four years of my stay, I have received support from many people at different level, However, I reserve special thanks to Your Excellency  for your guidance and help during the course of my time, where my country passed challanging time here as well as for accepting my courtesy calls even in his tight schedule. Your exemplary leadership and pan Africanism will always be a source of inspiration for me. I would also like to commend the commitment of the leaders of Uganda at every level,” she added.

Ambassador Alemtesehey had earlier paid a call to Foreign Affairs Minister, Gen Jeje Odongo, to whom she conveyed her gratitude for the “relentless support rendered by Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to bolster bilateral ties between Uganda and Ethiopia in multiple areas of cooperation.”

“I express my gratitude to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uganda, for the relentless support rendered by all of you here to boost the bilateral and multilateral ties between Ethiopia and Uganda in our multiple areas of cooperation. My appreciation and gratitude also goes to Hon. Jeje Odongo and his generosity to the Diplomatic Corps, which I was privileged to be part of,” reiterated Ambassador Alemtesehey.

Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Ministry described her tour of duty as successful.

She officially left the country last week. Her next destination is yet to be made public, at least by publication of this story.

Before her departure, H.E Alemtsehay met and bid farewell to Ambassadors of other African countries in Uganda whom she upheld for offering genuine support and cooperation during her tour. This, at the Ethiopian Embassy in Kampala.

“I am humbled to be standing beside friends, serving our great continent. I want to express my gratitude to a Group of African Ambassadors in Uganda for the genuine friendship and cooperation they have rendered to me during my stay. It has been one of the best journeys in my career,” said H.E Alemtsehay.

“I would like to convey my deepest gratitude to you for granting me the honor of serving as Deputy Dean. I further extend my appreciation to my counterpart in Addis Ababa, Ambassador Rebeca, without whose cooperation would not have come this far. I appreciate her friendship through all the discussions and strategy sessions we have held, to resolve difficult issues,” she added.

The envoy started her tour to Uganda in May 2019 and has since been commended for accelerating firm bilateral relations between the two countries, as well as protecting and uniting the growing Ethiopian community in Uganda.

During her tour Ambassador Alemtesehey was part of multiple high-level exchanges between Ethiopia and Uganda including the high level official visit of our President, H.E. Sahlework Zewde (two times), the visit of our Prime Minister, H.E. Abiy Ahmed (Dr.) (once) and the visit of our Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Demeke Mekonnen (twice).

Others are the visit of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to Ethiopia (twice), the visit of Uganda’s Vice President Jessica Alupo (once), and the visit of State Ministers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uganda to Ethiopia (more than once). 

Besides the visits of high-level government officials, the 3rd Joint Ministerial Commission took place in Uganda as well as the first Ethiopian Public Diplomacy team visit, which was headed by the Speaker of Parliament of the Ethiopian House of People Representatives, H.E. Tagesse Chafo among sixty other dignitaries, made notable imprints in bolstering existing correlations during her tour.

Uganda and Ethiopia have enjoyed being strategic partners for long cementing this relationship by signing strategic partnership agreements and Memoranda of Understandings (twenty four) in Water, Defense, Tourism, Education and Security to name a few. The agreements have further reinforced and mounted the two countries stands on common regional affairs such as signing of the CFA.

In the course of her four years, she has been part of numerous bilateral and multilateral relationships such as civil societies, private sectors as well as non-government bodies and institutions. This is illustrated by Ethiopia’s cooperation with the multiple Ugandan sectors associations in areas of people-to-people relations, business and trade, tourism, and education amongst others.

Ambassador Alemtesehey further hailed Ugandans for the hospitality and cooperation shown to her while in the country.

“To you my Ugandan family, I shall always be one of you: from the policemen and immigration officers at the airport to the remarkable officers at several government offices; from the farmers I met in  villages to the students I met in boarding schools during my visits and sharing my experiences; from  service providers in hotels, banks and hospitals to vendors of Ugandan crafts; from the young and talented people in both the private and public media sectors to journalists across; from service chiefs to high level officials and ministers; from Business people to investors I had met, I thank you all for your incredible generosity and assistance during my tour,” she noted.

She said she was extremely grateful that the people of Uganda embraced her as one of their own.

“As I leave Uganda, the countless number of new and binding friendships that I leave with, overwhelm me. I shall cherish the memories of my stay in Uganda and I look forward to coming back to visit, as an African citizen. Seeing we have the same destiny.”

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni receiving Ambassador Alemtshay Meseret who called on him at State House, Entebbe to bid him farewell.
Ambassador Alemtesehey with former Speaker of Parliament, late Jacob Oulanyah
Ambassador Alemtesehey with Uganda’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Henry Okello Oryem.
Ambassador Alemtesehey with some members of the Ethiopian Community in Uganda displaying a dummy cheque of 1 million birr as contributing to rebuilding education facilities destroyed in the Tigray conflict.
President Yoweri Museveni, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Dr Abiy Ahmed Ali held talks in Kampala during her tour.
Ambassador Alemtesehey, an official of the Ethiopian Embassy pose for a photo with Plus News Journalist Kungu Al-mahadi Adam after recognizing him for his outstanding contributions and solidarity with Ethiopia and its people at a critical time when Addis Ababa was faced with a disinformation campaign by the international media on Tigray conflict.
Ambassador Alemtesehey with Honorable John Mulimba, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Uganda in charge of Regional Cooperation during Africa day.
Ambassador Alemtesehey with former Commander of UPDF Land Forces, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
Ambassador Alemtesehey with President Yoweri Museveni after one of the engagements in Kampala.

Kungu Al-Mahadi Adam is an experienced Ugandan multimedia Journalist with a background of fact checking and thorough research. He is very passionate about current African affairs particularly Horn of Africa. He...

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