[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12520-12521]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   WELCOMING NEW AMBASSADOR OF UGANDA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 22, 2006

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to 
welcome the new Ambassador of Uganda to the United States.
  His Excellency Perezi Kamunanwire presented his credentials to 
President Bush last month, succeeding the long-serving ambassador, Mrs. 
Edith Ssempala.
  Ambassador Kamunanwire's previous diplomatic experience includes 
serving as his country's ambassador to Germany (1986-88) and to the 
United Nations in New York (1988-96).
  In his capacity as a senior African diplomat, Ambassador Kamunanwire 
has also served as chairman of the Committee of African Ambassadors to 
the UN (1990-91); chairman of the Special Political Committee of the 
45th session of the UN General Assembly (1991); chairman of the 
Organization of African Unity (OAU) Committee to Elect the UN Secretary 
General (1991); vice chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the 1992 
UN Conference on Environmental Development (1991); chairman of the 
Committee for Rationalization and Revitalization of the Work of the UN 
General Assembly (1993); co-convener of the Seventh Pan-African 
Congress in Kampala, Uganda (1994); and vice president of the UN Non-
Proliferation Treaty Review (1995).
  Ambassador Kamunanwire has also had a distinguished career in the 
academic world. Since 2003, he has been an adjunct professor at the 
Center for Conflict Management and Organizational Research at 
Bulgaria's Sophia University.
  From 1997 to 1999, Ambassador Kamunanwire was director of the Black 
Studies Program at the City College of the City

[[Page 12521]]

University of New York, where he has also been a lecturer since 1974. 
Since 1997, he has also served as a lecturer in the International 
Relations Program of City College's Department of Sociology. At City 
College, he has developed and taught courses on the United Nations, 
African politics, human rights, and other related topics.
  Ambassador Kamunanwire was educated at Columbia University in New 
York, where he earned a B.A. in political science and a master's degree 
in international relations.
  Ambassador Kamunanwire is the author of Education for Development: 
The Establishment and the Success of Universal Primary Education in 
Uganda (2000) and co-editor of A Study Guide for Uganda (1970). He 
contributed the foreword to We, The PanAfrikans: Essays on the Global 
Black Experience, by Professor Kannuti Kiteme (1973).
  In 2003, Ignatius College in New York awarded Ambassador Kamunanwire 
an honorary doctor of laws degree, in recognition of ``lifetime 
achievements in the field of international relations.''
  On June 14, my colleague (Mr. Smith of New Jersey) and I, in our 
capacity as cochairs of the Congressional Caucus on Uganda, hosted a 
welcome reception for Ambassador Kamunanwire. The Department of State's 
``Washington File'' published an article about that event the next day 
(``U.S. Lawmaker Hails Uganda as Emerging `Superstar'''), which, 
without objection, I would like to insert in the Congressional Record.
  Ambassador Kamunanwire is a personable human being and an able 
diplomat. I look forward to working with him on issues of common 
concern to Uganda and the United States.

               [From the Washington File, June 15, 2006]

          U.S. Lawmaker Hails Uganda as Emerging ``Superstar''

                        (By Jim Fisher-Thompson)

       Washington.--Uganda is ``emerging as one of the superstars 
     of Africa,'' in part because of its success in fighting HIV/
     AIDS, House Africa Subcommittee Chairman Chris Smith 
     (Republican of New Jersey) said at a June 14 reception 
     honoring Ugandan Ambassador Perezi Kamunanwire.
       Smith was joined by fellow lawmaker Edolphus Towns 
     (Democrat of New York). The lawmakers are co-chairmen of the 
     Congressional Caucus on Uganda, formed in November 2004.
       Congressional staff members, including Smith's Africa 
     specialist, Greg Simpkins, also attended the evening event, 
     as well as Rwandan Ambassador Zac Nsenga and former U.S. 
     Ambassador to Sierra Leone Joseph Melrose.
       Smith welcomed Ambassador Kamunanwire, most recently 
     Uganda's envoy to Germany, who presented his credentials to 
     President Bush on May 15, noting that he represents a country 
     that has made significant inroads in AIDS prevention.
       ``Uganda is truly emerging as one of Africa's real 
     superstars, and that is well known to people here on Capitol 
     Hill--on both sides of the [political] aisle,'' Smith said.
       In particular, the nation is setting an example for AIDS 
     prevention, the lawmaker said, because of President Yoweri 
     Museveni and his government's strategy of ``working with 
     local faith-based organizations and others . . . especially 
     to reach young people with the message of [sex] deferral and 
     of life for themselves and their loved ones.''
       Smith, a champion of human rights and health issues in 
     Africa who has visited the continent numerous times, 
     including a recent trip to Uganda, said, ``Frankly, I was 
     blown over by the enthusiasm I saw for family values [there] 
     . . . so it was a very remarkable trip.''
       Uganda is one of 12 African nations targeted in the U.S. 
     President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPF AR), 
     initiated by President Bush in 2003. The program is a five-
     year, $15 billion effort aimed at battling the killer disease 
     in 120 nations worldwide using the ABC strategy, which stands 
     for ``Abstain, Be faithful and Correct and Consistent use of 
     condoms. ``
       On the treatment front, as of March 31, life-saving 
     antiretroviral medicines have gone to 561,000 people 
     worldwide under the PEPFAR program--61 percent of them women. 
     During that period, 75,000 people received anti-AIDS drugs in 
     Uganda. Antiretroviral prophylaxis was also provided to women 
     for 342,200 pregnancies, preventing an estimated 65,100 
     infant HIV infections, according to a PEPFAR fact sheet.
       On the security front, Smith added, ``We're also very 
     encouraged and hopeful about what's happening in northern 
     Uganda with the Lord's Resistance Army [LRA],'' the rebel 
     movement that has kidnapped children from villages, forcing 
     them to serve as child soldiers.
       ``I know the government of Uganda is doing everything it 
     can to try and mitigate and hopefully end that despicable 
     activity by [LRA leader] Joseph Kony in abducting young 
     children,'' Smith told the gathering.
       Turning to Kamunanwire, the lawmaker pledged: ``We will 
     work with you. Our committee is a workhorse committee. We 
     write a lot of laws'' in areas such as human trafficking, and 
     ``we want to work with you on trade, environmental 
     protection, humanitarian and human rights issues.''
       Kamunanwire, who described himself as ``the new boy on the 
     block,'' thanked the caucus for the welcome and pledged to 
     work closely with Congress, as his predecessor Ambassador 
     Edith Ssempala had done, on issues of interest to both Africa 
     and the United States.

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