Ugandan parliament protests proposed relocation of UN base

KAMPALA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Ugandan Parliament on Wednesday protested the proposed relocation of the UN regional service center from the east African country.

A report by the UN Secretary General on May 1 recommended to the General Assembly that the center be moved to neighboring Kenya.

The legislators argued that it would be unfair to Uganda since the country has contributed to various peace missions around Africa and also hosts thousands of refugees from neighboring countries.

Odonga Otto, argued that President Yoweri Museveni should engage his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta to withdraw Kenya's request to host the center.

The legislators resolved that the foreign affairs ministry intensifies diplomatic engagements with other countries to ensure that the service center stays in the country.

Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda told the legislators that Museveni has already written to the UN urging it not to move the base.

He said a final decision will be made by the General Assembly in about two months.

The base was established at Entebbe International Airport, 40 km south of the capital Kampala after Uganda and the UN signed a memorandum of understanding in July 2010, according to Uganda's foreign ministry.

The ministry said the base is used to provide services to UN field missions in Africa. It currently provides administrative, logistics and information and communications technology services to 13 missions in Africa, representing over 73 percent of all United Nations peacekeeping and special political missions worldwide. Enditem