UGANDA IN SWISS ROW OVER FROZEN ASSETS

By FREDERIC MUSISI

Kampala.
A diplomatic row is simmering between the Ugandan government and that of Switzerland over last month’s freezing of all assets, precious stones and any official accounts of Uganda’s Permanent Mission to the UN by the Swiss High Court in Geneva.
The Swiss High Court seized Uganda’s assets until the Kampala government complies with its order to pay about Shs1b ($300,000) in damages to a Ugandan woman Irene Kalibala for unfair dismissal from her job.

For a second month in a row, diplomatic sources in Geneva intimated to Sunday Monitor that all activities that require the Mission transacting through its eight bank accounts in the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) have ground to a halt, provoking jitters from Kampala. Among the activities affected include payment of salaries and of utilities.
The Geneva High Court on July 14, gave express orders to the Debt Collection and Enforcement Agency to collect Ms Kalibala’s court award, which is now regarded as a debt to the Swiss government. However, diplomats at the Mission, with advice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kampala, invoked diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961.
Several diplomatic correspondences seen by this newspaper indicate the Uganda Mission has protested and pleaded to both the Swiss Judicature and the government, through the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Mission in Geneva, respectively, arguing that its accounts enjoy diplomatic immunity and are likewise armor-plated by the 1961 treaty, which defines diplomatic relations between countries. They say the treaty specifies privileges of diplomatic missions, but the cries have not yielded any fruit.
In one of the protest correspondences dated August 4, the Head of Chancery at the Mission, Mr Michael Wamai, warned that the freezing of their accounts, besides the Vienna Convention, also contravenes the Swiss Federal Act of 2007 on the Privileges, Immunities and Facilities and the Financial Subsidies granted by Switzerland.
“The suit was against the government of Uganda represented by the Attorney General. Therefore, any execution should be against the government, not the Mission,” Mr Wama’s note reads in part.
“Thus, the attachment of the Mission’s bank accounts is erroneous and negates the spirit and interpretation of the privileges and immunities provided under the Vienna Convention, which is also enjoyed by the Mission to facilitate the proper discharge of its functions,” he further states.
The court has, however, insisted and consequently given the Mission/government up to August 29 to explain each of the eight accounts and show proof that what they are used for enjoys diplomatic immunity. Court also advised the government to make its submissions regarding the suspension of the accounts in French.
According to documents, the Swiss court implied that the Mission cannot raise objections on ground of diplomatic immunity yet they challenged the judgment of the labour court, which awarded Ms Kalibala the $300,000 in damages and appealed to a superior court through its Swiss lawyer Pascal Tourette. The lawyer was reportedly paid between an equivalent of Shs69 million and Shs138m ($20,000-$40,000).
The court says the Uganda government lost the appeal and then turned around to claim immunity.
Already, the $300,000 attracts a five per cent interest per annum until payment is completed.
Boxed into a tight corner with no seemingly workable solutions, sources intimated that the head of Mission, Mr Christopher Onyanga Aparr, and his deputy Benedict Lukwiya, were in Kampala last week for consultations on the way forward to avert a possible diplomatic row or embarrassment.
Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary James Mugume told this newspaper earlier that they had “referred the matter to the Solicitor General for guidance and the Ministry of Finance for payment.”
The background
According to available details, Ms Irene Kalibala was employed by the mission since 1999, first as a front desk administrator and was later elevated to handle public and investor relations.
Her woes started in 2011 when she fell out with then deputy head of mission, Ms Rosette Nyirinkindi, who she claimed caused her sacking. By the time she was terminated, Ms Kalibala was living in Geneva and, therefore, protected by the Swiss laws.
SOURCE: MONITOR