US ambassador Malac bids farewell to Museveni as tour of duty ends

Head of US mission to Uganda, Deborah Malac has bid farewell to President Yoweri Museveni as she marks the end of her tour of duty to Uganda.

Malac who started her duty in Uganda following a nomination by President Barack Obama on September 19 2015, has not had the best relationship with the sitting government, clashing on several occasions in 2016 and 2017.

President Museveni while meeting Malac on Thursday at State House Entebbe wished her luck in her next move.

“After thirty-nine (39) years in diplomatic service alone for the United States of America, Ambassador Deborah Malac tells me she will be retiring at the end of her term here in a few days. I congratulate her and wish her good luck in her next move,” he said.

Malac replaced Scott DeLisi in 2015, and she will reportedly be replaced by Natalie E. Brown, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service.

Malac has had an outstanding role in Uganda, specifically advocating for freedom of speech, democracy and respect of human rights among others.

Malac’s major task as she came to Uganda was to help Uganda avoid complacency in regards to HIV/Aids after the progress made and also ensure that Uganda enforces tenuous peace agreements in war-torn South Sudan.

While being vetted for the posting to Uganda by the senate foreign relations committee, Malac told the committee that if she was confirmed, she would urge the Ugandan president to ensure the political space necessary for a spirited and robust campaign in which all parties participate fairly as the country was heading to elections.

In April 2016 while speaking at the post-election symposium on Youth, Democracy and Governance at Hotel Africana in Kampala, Malac called on the Ugandan government not to sacrifice the rights of its citizens in the name of maintaining stability.

Edited by David Tumusiime