Former Ethics and Integrity Minister Miria Matembe has led a group of prominent Ugandan citizens in petitioning the Inspector General of Government (IGG) to investigate allegations that some serving Foreign Service officers and diplomats may have acquired or retained foreign citizenship while still in active diplomatic service.
The petition, submitted on June 11, 2026, also bears the signatures of lawyer Eron Kiiza, Job Kiija, Kato Tumusiime, and Tumusiime Kakuru.
The petitioners argue that such conduct, if confirmed, could amount to a serious breach of Uganda’s constitutional and public service obligations, especially for officers entrusted with representing the country abroad.
While the petition does not name specific individuals, separate reports and official vetting processes are understood to have affected at least four minister-designates and senior diplomatic appointees this week, who were not sworn into office over unresolved questions relating to dual citizenship.
Among those reportedly affected is Adonia Ayebare, whose appointment as Foreign Affairs Minister remains pending amid concerns over reported United States citizenship, despite his long service as Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.
Another is Calvin Echodu, who was recently appointed State Minister for Foreign Affairs and is also understood to hold U.S. citizenship. Government has not publicly confirmed the full list of affected officials.
The developments have exposed what analysts describe as a growing diplomatic dilemma for Uganda’s foreign service: how to balance increasingly globalised personal identities of senior officials with strict constitutional expectations of exclusive allegiance in sensitive state roles.
Uganda’s diplomatic engagements span complex geopolitical environments, involving major development partners such as China, the United States, and the Russia—each with distinct political systems, strategic interests, and diplomatic languages.
Questions of dual allegiance among diplomats could complicate trust and negotiation dynamics in high-stakes bilateral and multilateral engagements.
“It would be diplomatically awkward, at the very least, for Uganda to negotiate sensitive strategic or security-related matters with global powers while its representatives are simultaneously citizens of those very countries,” a governance analyst familiar with foreign service operations observed.
In their petition to the IGG, the group argues that diplomatic service represents one of the highest expressions of Uganda’s sovereignty and therefore demands “undivided loyalty, fidelity, integrity, confidentiality, and allegiance” to the Republic.
They further contend that acquisition or retention of foreign citizenship by serving diplomats could create conflicts of interest, expose national security vulnerabilities, and undermine public confidence in Uganda’s foreign service.
“The acquisition or maintenance of citizenship in host countries by serving diplomats raises serious concerns relating to divided loyalty, conflict of interest, national security exposure, compromise of diplomatic independence, and possible abuse of public office,” the petition states.
The petitioners cite several legal and regulatory frameworks, including the Constitution, the Leadership Code Act, the Uganda Public Service Standing Orders, and the Foreign Service Standing Orders, arguing that diplomats are bound by strict oaths of allegiance that may conflict with naturalisation requirements in foreign jurisdictions.
They also raise concerns that naturalisation in some countries involves taking an oath of allegiance to a foreign state, which they say may be incompatible with the constitutional oath sworn by Ugandan public officers.
The petition, addressed to the IGG and copied to the Head of Public Service and Secretary to Cabinet, urges a full investigation to establish whether any laws, standing orders, or ethical obligations were breached, and whether supervising authorities failed to act.
The Inspectorate of Government had not yet issued a public response by press time.
If taken up, the matter could trigger a broader audit of Uganda’s Foreign Service recruitment, disclosure systems, and dual citizenship policies for public officers in sensitive diplomatic roles, potentially reshaping how Uganda manages its external representation in an increasingly interconnected global order.