Vice President Alupo fills in as Museveni skips Women’s Day celebrations

Uganda’s Vice President, Jessica Alupo, presided over the national celebrations to mark International Women’s Day in Kampala on Sunday, standing in for President Yoweri Museveni did not make it.

This year’s International Women’s day was held at the Kololo Ceremonial Grounds  under the theme, “Scaling up investment to accelerate access to justice for women and girls across Uganda,” as the country joined the rest of the world to mark the annual celebration. 

Uganda has held national Women’s Day commemorations for decades, with this year’s event highlighting efforts to strengthen women’s rights and access to justice.

During the ceremony, Alupo inspected an all-women parade drawn from the armed forces. 

The parade was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Evelyn Asiimwe and showcased female personnel from different branches of the security forces. 

The all-female parade serenaded the guests with melodic band tunes and exciting march performances.

The Vice President also toured exhibition stalls set up by women entrepreneurs who displayed products and innovations as part of the day’s celebrations.

President Museveni was absent from the ceremony after travelling to Arusha in Tanzania earlier in the week to attend the 25th Ordinary Summit of the East African Community heads of state. 

At the summit held on March 7, Museveni officially assumed the rotating chairmanship of the regional bloc, taking over from Kenya’s President William Ruto.

The leadership transition places Museveni at the helm of the eight-member regional organisation for the next year. 

In his remarks after taking office, he thanked partner states for the trust placed in him and called for stronger regional cooperation and economic transformation across East Africa.

Leaders at the summit also endorsed reforms aimed at strengthening the bloc and confirmed Tanzanian diplomat Stephen Patrick Mbundi as the new Secretary-General of the community.

There was no immediate confirmation by Sunday morning on whether President Museveni had returned to Uganda following the regional summit in Tanzania.