A cool September breeze blew in from the direction of Lake Victoria and into the ornate room where William Wayne Popp and his delegation waited. Their host,  President Yoweri Museveni was winding up another meeting in the adjacent Stateroom at State House Entebbe. 

A few minutes later, with necessary niceties underway, William Popp presented his credentials as United States ambassador to Uganda to President Museveni. 

Reader! Like many of you, I too had never heard of William Wayne Popp. Indeed, like many of you, lately, I have come to view America’s ambassadors to our Pearl as bad meddlers and peddlers of untrue exaggerations of our country’s politics, economy, and society. Perhaps, the blame for this lies squarely on Ms. Deborah Malac and her rigid insistence on unpopular cultural shifts?! 

Thankfully, the United States remains a valuable partner of Uganda. Our bilateral relations - although strained during Idi Amin’s reign and before that, by President Obote’s Move To The Left policy direction - date back to October 10, 1962. 

Under President Museveni, however, Uganda has steadily transitioned into a functioning democracy. It is this intentional embrace of basic democratic practice that has caused our country to experience political stability and impressive economic growth. 

Through it all, the United States has remained a reliable partner. For instance, each year, the United States spends at least USD 950 million on health and development assistance to Uganda. 

Assistance has also been focused on boosting economic growth and Agricultural productivity. 

Indeed, it is from Ambassador Popp’s visit to Nakivale and Orucinga Refugee Settlements, as well as the surrounding local communities that our Eighth Photo Of The Week is taken. 

These communities and settlements are direct beneficiaries of Uganda’s friendship with the United States. Just this last year, the World Food Programme, with funding from the USA, purchased from Ugandan farmers and grain processors, goods worth about USD 72 million. 
 

The United States also supports at least 330 primary, secondary, and vocational schools within refugee settlements. 

These and many other socio-economic and defence partnerships between our brother countries bring to life Isaac Newton’s adage - “Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy.” 

It is our prayer that Ambassador William Wayne Popp’s time in Uganda will be one where we continue to “embrace human dignity” through mutually beneficial partnership by “fixing our eyes on devoting our resources to challenges that hold the keys of our collective futures.”