President Barack Obama is due to visit East Africa on a three-nation tour in Africa, but he will skip Kenya – the birth place of his father – and Uganda, considered America’s closest regional security ally. He will visit neighbouring Tanzania, Senegal in West Africa and South Africa for a week, starting June 26, according to an itinerary released by the White House.

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In Kampala, the US diplomatic mission said it “regrets” that Mr Obama would not visit Uganda, which has – with US assistance – been at the frontline of counter-terrorism and other military operations in the region.

For example, the UPDF constitute the largest contingent in the largely successful African Union force battling the al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate in Somalia, where American military intervention in the early 1990s ended in defeat.

Responding to the Saturday Monitor’s enquiries why Mr Obama was skirting Uganda, Public Affairs Officer Daniel Travis noted that “the President and the American people have a broad and deep relationship with many African countries”.

“We regret that the President cannot travel to every country in Africa; but our long-standing commitment remains to all of our African partners, and to the people of Africa, as we look to deepen our partnership with nations across the region,” Mr Travis wrote.

“The US and Uganda have a strong partnership, we maintain a vibrant relationship with the people of Uganda, and our mutual commitments are cemented in many areas of cooperation and understanding, including health, security, governance, and economic growth.”

A senior Makerere University Political Science lecturer, when asked about the message in Mr Obama avoiding two countries largely considered a must-visit for him, instead said the trip by the world’s presumably most-powerful president was inconsequential.
“Obama or America means nothing to me…the US collapsed in September 2008 when it went into an economic depression and is at a point of no return,” Mr Murindwa Rutanga said.

Information Minister-designate Rose Namayanja on Thursday evening, however, said the government values its close association with the US and they would have loved to welcome Mr Obama as a “US President of African origin”.

“We want to believe that the relationship is beyond individuals; it is between countries,” she said, “I don’t know the reason why he chose the three countries he is visiting out of 54 African countries. I, however, can confirm that our bilateral relationship is very strong and we take ourselves as their (US) ally especially on security and development.”

Washington has lately criticised the Ugandan government over the worsening corruption, deteriorating human rights situation and whittling down of the democratic space particularly for those with dissenting political views.

The government on May 20 casually closed two media houses – the Monitor and Red Pepper for publishing a story highlighting a fall-out between military generals over President Museveni’s succession.

In Kenya, critics say President Obama was probably uneasy meeting with his counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta, a suspect awaiting trial at the International Criminal Court. Speaking in Ghana in 2009, the US leader said “Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions” and that “history is on the side of these brave Africans, not with those who use coups or change constitutions to stay in power”.