Preparations are underway for Norway to close its embassy in Kampala, Uganda.

“The Embassy will close its doors at the end of this month, but development cooperation and engagement with Uganda will still continue,” the Mission said in a brief statement this Tuesday morning.

In October 2023, Norway said closing of the embassy in Kampala was based solely on “overall administrative assessments related to the need for reallocation of the foreign service’s resources.”

In 2022, Uganda received NOK 382 million (Shs 131bn) in earmarked funds from Norway for efforts in priority areas such as civil society, education, energy, refugees and women’s rights.

However, many Norwegian firms continue to do business in Uganda’s banking, agriculture, ICT and renewable energy sectors.

Norway’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said the “closure of the Embassy in Kampala does not mean that Norwegian aid to the country will be discontinued, or that there will be less focus on the rights of women and minorities.”

The Norwegian Embassy in Kampala represents Norway in Rwanda and Burundi. 

Homosexuality Law

It was feared that Norway could have closed the Kampala mission over Uganda’s recently-enacted Anti-Homosexuality Law. 

The law attracted protests from the United States and European countries including Norway. 

The western countries said the law violated the rights of homosexuals. 

Uganda maintained the law was meant to protect the African traditional marriage system.

Norway’s Mission in Kampala had taken a strong stand on human rights of minority groups. 

However, Norway’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said it was undertaking structural reforms of the foreign service and that as part of the reform process, changes are being made in the diplomatic presence abroad. 

“Concentrating and consolidating is expected to better serve Norwegian national interests, and to increase the effectiveness of Norway’s international engagement,” said the embassy. 

“This means that Norway is scaling up its presence in some locations. The consequence is that painful drawdowns must be made in other places.”

Five Norwegian missions were closed in July this year. 

Norway said the Consulate General in Guangzhou, China, would be closed too. 

“The missions will be closed in 2024. The diplomat positions from these two missions will be redirected to increase staffing at other Norwegian diplomatic and consular missions,” said the Norwegian government.

“In a rapidly changing world, it is essential for us to have diplomats in the places where they can monitor global issues that have implications for Norway and promote Norwegian positions. At the same time, we must continually assess where it is best to maintain a presence in order to safeguard Norwegian interests optimally with the resources we have,” said Minister Anniken Huitfeldt. 

Minister Tvinnereim said the country would also “maintain our engagement in promoting human rights in the country, particularly the rights of women and minorities.” 

Tvinnereim added: “Uganda is a long-standing partner to Norway, and the excellent bilateral relations are highly valued. Norway wishes to maintain the strong ties that exist between the two countries….Norway will continue to invest significantly in development cooperation with Uganda through its civil society partners and multilateral organisations.”