Views: 1
(Pictured from left: UNAA Speaker Mike Mukasa, Uganda Parliament Deputy Speaker Hon. Thomas Tayebwa, UNAA Female Youth Representative for Canada Basemera Carol Nerima, and UNAA Pacific Representative Justus Mirembe)
Speakers Affair: UNAA Speaker Mike Mukasa Meets Uganda Parliament Deputy Speaker Hon. Thomas Tayebwa in Canada
July 1, 2022; Ottawa, Canada
The UNAA Speaker, Mr. Mike Mukasa met and held fruitful discussions with the Deputy Speaker of Uganda Parliament, Hon. Thomas Tayebwa. The duo, who are also old friends, met on the sidelines of the Uganda Canada Business Expo, that took place in Ottawa, Canada from July 1st to July 4th, 2022. The Uganda Canada Business & Expo, organized by Mr. Ronnie Mayanja, Geoffrey Kizito and Justus Mirembe. The Business Expo is an annual event that brings Ugandans in North America – primarily those in Canada together – to network, promote business and investment ideas as well as have access to government social services such as National IDs, passport renewals, banking, real estate and to share empowerment experiences.
The UNAA Speaker was accompanied by Councilors Basemera Carol Nerima and Justus Mirembe (the UNAA Female Youth Representative for Canada, and the Representative for Pacific Region, respectively).
Mr. Mukasa highlighted several challenges affecting Ugandan Communities in North America – including inadequate and inefficient consular and immigration services (Passport Renewals, ID Registrations, Dual Citizenship Applications, etc) provided by the Ugandan Government. The Ugandan diaspora community in North America is estimated to be approximately 150,000; and sends remittances of over USD $100 Million annually to Uganda. (Please add source as reference to this information)Mr. Mukasa further explained to the Deputy Speaker how the three Uganda embassies (Washington DC, New York, and Ottawa) are not adequately staffed to handle the high volumes of service requests from such a expansive community.
The UNAA Speaker also noted the absence of youth and tech savvy staffers at these embassies; and asked the Hon. Deputy Speaker to implore the government of Uganda to recruit more young people to work at these embassies. Mr. Mukasa further suggested coordination of services with Ugandan community organizations and leaders – as well as proper consultations.
Hon. Tayebwa welcomed the idea of coordinating the improvement of services with Ugandan community organizations and leaders – to easily improve service delivery to Ugandan diaspora community in North America. He informed the UNAA Speaker and his colleagues that the Ugandan government values the contribution of Ugandans in North America, and some of these problems will be eased by the soon opening of new consular offices in California, Texas, British Columbia, and possibly Boston.
Additionally, Hon. Tayebwa promised that a team of Uganda Revenue Authority officials will be attending the UNAA Convention in San Francisco, California (September 2nd to September 5th, 2022), to answer questions related to the Property Tax Bill, and any other questions related to URA taxes.
The Hon. Deputy Speaker further pledged to present the issues discussed to his ‘chain of command’, and to personally follow-up to make sure that these important constituency of Ugandans is getting reliable, coordinated, and efficient services.
Hon. Tayebwa also thanked the UNAA Speaker and other individuals who made the trip from the US to strengthen community ties with fellow Ugandans in Canada. And, in kind, the UNAA Speaker thanked the Deputy Speaker for taking time to attend the Uganda Canada Business Expo; and for taking time to meet him and his team, to listen to their community concerns.
Mr. Mukasa also thanked his fellow Councilors Justus Mirembe (Pacific), Carol Basemera (Canada Youth, Female), Deputy UNAA Speaker Henry Luyombya (Atlantic) and all Canadian based UNAA Council Representatives for mobilizing community members to attend the Uganda Canada Business Expo in Ottawa, and all other events in their communities. Â Hope to see everyone in San Francisco at the UNAA Convention from September 2nd to 5th at the Hilton Hilton