On July 24, Uganda’s Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Muwada Nkunyingi, expressed concern and called for a complex investigation into allegations saying diplomats were running a casino in Dubai’s Ugandan Consulate.
During the same statement, the minister said the misdeeds of the diplomats, which broke the laws of both the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Uganda, could possibly lead to serious diplomatic issues.
Following the allegations concerning the illegal venue depicted in media reports as a covert casino, Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa asked Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeje Odongo to formulate a response.
A Matter of National Importance The covert casino issue was called a matter of national importance by Nkunyingi on August 1, during the sitting of Parliament.
Nkunyingi further explained that, provided they are left unchecked, the allegations would trigger international ramifications.
The minister explained Parliament had pushed for the Dubai consulate as a means of the country extending “support and services” to the 70,000 living and working in Dubai.
“Surprisingly turning the consulate into a casino and a gambling house contravenes the laws of UAE, our laws and international laws governing diplomatic premises,” he added while asking for the precise “disciplinary, diplomatic and administrative steps” taken to address the respective development.
A Matter for the Minister of Foreign Affairs and ESO Nkunyingi was seeking a response from Prime Minister Robinah Nabanjja. The latter guided the matter should be tackled by the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Nabanjja explained that since the mentioned Minister was also an MP, he would make sure the Minister of Foreign Affairs would “give a statement over the matter.”
Deputy Speaker Tayebwa added that the Minister will be on schedule on Tuesday.
At the same time, the External Security Organization (ESO), the East African country’s foreign spy agency, is also busy looking into the way diplomats managed to install the illegal casino inside the consulate in Dubai.
The ESO also wants to learn how privately procured gambling machines were shipped under diplomatic cover from Russia and reached the Consulate Building, as per a report by Ugandan newspaper The Daily Monitor.
Apparently, according to the investigation by the Monitor, before exiting Russia, the respective shipment consisting of two dining tables, table legs, souvenirs, bar chairs, and decorative wheels was intercepted by customs officials in Moscow since it had been mislabeled.
Mozes Kizige, Uganda’s ambassador to Russia, explained to customs officials the items were not intended for commercial or industrial purposes, convincing them to allow the shipment to pass.
Kizige argued the items would be “exclusively” used for “official needs by the embassy to perform functions under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”
The shipment reached the UAE on October 20, 2023, via an Ethiopian Airline flight from Moscow and was supposed to be stored at the Dubai Consulate for three months before it was sent to Uganda.
There, it was scheduled to reach a hotel owned by a government official. However, the machines stayed in the consul for at least half a year and they were “mounted and operated” by two Ugandan nationals assigned as special envoys with diplomatic credentials.
Eventually, Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni, learned about the operations and ordered the machines to be pulled out of the Consulate Building.
Last week, the UAE’s freshly formed gaming regulator gave the green light to the country’s pioneering lottery license.
