Joy Ruth Acheng, Uganda’s High Commissioner to Canada, was notably flamboyant in a video clip that surfaced on August 7, 2024. Wearing a yellow dress and dark glasses, she was seen interacting with protesters in Toronto. The video, shared by National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi, went viral and soon backfired on Acheng.
Canadian authorities acted swiftly, giving her 72 hours to leave the country and declaring her persona non-grata.
On August 21, 2024, she left her station and returned to Kampala – not the kind of short tenure she anticipated.
During the altercation with protesters, recorded on video, Ms Acheng accuses the NUP members of staging abductions of their members in order to taint the image of the Ugandan government.
“You people should stop abducting yourselves; stop killing yourselves and saying it is Museveni,” she said, referring to NUP’s frequent complaints that authorities were abducting and torturing the party’s members.
According to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, ambassadors are strictly expected to represent the interests of their countries, foster good relations, promote peace, and not to engage or influence political play. They are discouraged from taking part in partisan politics, but maintain neutrality.
Canada, one of the most liberal countries in the world and one that usually speaks up for civil liberties in international fora, did not take kindly to her moves.
The video clip seemed to have sealed her fate, although Foreign Affairs Minister Henry Okello Oryem told the local media that she had had other unelaborated issues.
Mr Oryem expressed disappointment at the turn of events, explaining that the envoy had been involved in many issues in Canada, before adding that she had fallen of her own accord and that the incident would not affect Uganda’s ties with Canada.
He said the fate of the envoy now lies with the President Yoweri Museveni, who is the appointing authority.
A persona non grata stamp in the passport means the holder has been kicked out of a country with orders never to return.
As Ms Acheng was heading home on an undiplomatic journey, her counterpart in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was also heading home, accused of turning Uganda’s mission into a casino.
Henry Mayega, a politician-turned-diplomat who worked in Beijing before moving to Dubai as deputy ambassador and consul general, was recalled last week following reports that the Ugandan House in Dubai had been partly turned into a casino.
Uganda’s Consul General to UAE Henry Mayega,…