Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Adonia Ayebare has bid farewell to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres following the end of his tenure as Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.
Ayebare, who served as Uganda’s UN ambassador from 2017 before returning to Kampala to take up the Foreign Affairs portfolio in 2026, said he had developed a close working relationship with Guterres during the period.
“Today I had an opportunity to bid farewell to @antonioguterres the UN Secretary General after completing my tour of duty as Ambassador of Uganda to the UN,” Ayebare said in a statement.
Ayebare said Guterres had become more than a diplomatic colleague, describing him as a “father figure” who regularly checked on his wellbeing.
“Since 2017 we have worked together on various UN processes,” he said, listing the Buenos Aires Plan of Action on South-South Cooperation, the Pact for the Future, Financing for Development, UN75, UN80 reforms, the UN budget, support to the UN Regional Service Centre in Entebbe, reform of the UN Development System, and regional peace and security.
Ayebare presented his credentials as Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the UN in May 2017, shortly after Guterres began his first term as Secretary-General.
The relationship also coincided with several major issues involving Uganda and the UN. In 2017, Guterres travelled to Uganda for the Uganda Solidarity Summit on Refugees, which he co-hosted with President Yoweri Museveni. He visited the Imvepi refugee settlement in northern Uganda and later addressed the summit in Kampala.
During the same visit, Guterres also toured the UN Regional Service Centre in Entebbe. The centre later became an important issue in discussions surrounding proposed UN administrative reforms and the future of UN operations in Africa.
Guterres returned to Uganda in January 2024 for the 19th Non-Aligned Movement Summit and the Third South Summit of the Group of 77 and China, both hosted in Kampala. He met Museveni and other leaders during the visit.
Ayebare said Guterres visited Uganda twice during his tenure as ambassador. He also wished the UN chief well as he approaches the end of his tenure, describing him as “one of the most consequential UN Secretary Generals.”
Guterres became the ninth UN Secretary-General in January 2017. His second term is due to end on 31 December 2026, after which former German diplomat António Costa is scheduled to succeed him as Secretary-General.