Joel Ssenyonyi, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP), has urged other nations to deport all incompetent ambassadors, citing Canada as an example.

He said that Uganda has become an expert at exporting its incompetence to the world stage by appointing jokers and political failures to represent Uganda abroad.

Ssenyonyi made these remarks on August 22, 2024, during a press briefing at parliament, while reacting to the recent decision by Canada to deport Uganda’s High Commissioner, Joy Ruth Acheng.

“We are glad that Canada took that decision. While incompetence can thrive here in Uganda, in some countries it is unacceptable,” Ssenyonyi said.

According to Ssenyonyi, people are not appointed based on meritocracy, and many times they are political failures and not career diplomats.

“Many times, somebody running for political office fails, and then they are appointed ambassador? So, they extend their politics and this incompetence in some of these countries,” Ssenyonyi stated.

Additionally, Ssenyonyi called for a comprehensive evaluation to be conducted for all the ambassadors in Uganda.

“We are glad that these steps have been taken; our hope is that there can be a thorough review of all the ambassadors we have in this country because the majority of the ambassadors that we have sent as a country are political failures, and I’m not saying that in a bad light,” Ssenyonyi stated.

On August 16, 2024, the Canadian Government declared Joy Ruth Acheng a “persona non grata” for allegedly engaging in “uncouth behavior.”

A few days before that decision, Acheng was involved in an altercation with a group of National Unity Platform protestors.