No money to rescue stranded Ugandans - Minister Mulimba

The government has failed to engage different authorities abroad over the possibility of repatriating stranded citizens because of lack of funds, the State minister for Foreign Affairs in charge of Regional Affairs, John Mulimba, has said.

Mulimba, who was appearing before the parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, admitted they were aware of distress some Ugandans, especially those who went abroad for labour, were going through.

He was responding to Shadow minister for Foreign Affairs Nkunyingi Muwadda, who said many Ugandans were stuck on foreign lands but were not getting the attention of the government.

There are over 200 Ugandan women trapped in India, those in Myanmar in the hands of the rebel captives, among others.

The officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs led by Mulimba and Permanent Secretary Vincent Bagiire were Wednesday appearing before the committee to present their Ministerial Budget Estimate for the Financial Year 2024/25.

In their submission, the ministry said they needed to reinstate the Shs4.5bn budget for the travel as the ministry needs to supervise the Missions abroad in addition to carrying out capacity building of the staff.

In 2023, President Museveni has urged members of parliament and civil servants to stop overseas travel to trim wasteful expenditure and save money for other priority sectors.

The funding for foreign trips was subsequently trimmed from the current national budget.

On rescuing the , among others, the Ministry says there are no funds to facilitate the process of rescuing them.

The issue of Ugandan ambassadors lacking official vehicles at their missions also attracted a serious debate in the committee.