【Photo Diary】 (2) Visit to Ethiopia and Uganda
Published on September 24, 2024
I would like to share with you some of the photographs taken during my visit to Ethiopia and Uganda from July 23 to 28, 2024, in my capacity as chairman of The Nippon Foundation and WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination.
[July 25, Entebbe and Kampala, Uganda]
Presenting President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni with a bouquet of preserved red roses.
At our meeting at State House Nakasero, President Museveni, who took the helm of the government in 1986, commended me for partnering with the government through the Sasakawa Africa Association-Uganda (SAA-Uganda) in promoting economic empowerment among vulnerable communities.
“We discussed impactful initiatives, that they proposed focusing on small holder farmers in Uganda with the potential to benefit over 500,000 farmers, create jobs for youth and boost agricultural output. The government will support these initiatives,” he later posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Supporting the use of organic fertilizers which he said would help make crops safe, he said he was hopeful that Uganda would further increase agricultural productivity farm produce-exporting country.
I expressed my sincere gratitude for his continued support for SAA-Uganda, pledging to do everything I can in a never give-up spirit to live up to his expectations.
Referring to my ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in February to unfurl a “Don’t Forget Leprosy” banner atop Africa’s highest peak, I called for his cooperation in our zero-leprosy campaign in Uganda and the rest of Africa.
This was our first meeting in five years. I first met with President Museveni 28 years ago when I visited Uganda with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Nobel Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug to seek his support for SAA operations to raise the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers in the country. He said he vividly remembered that meeting.
(To be continued)