President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has dropped Hon. Okello Henry Oryem from Uganda’s new cabinet for 2026–2031.
Oryem, who served as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2026, was left out of the lineup announced Tuesday evening.
He was replaced by Amb. Adonia Ayebare, Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.
A former journalist turned diplomat, Ayebare has built a long international career in peace negotiations, regional security, and multilateral diplomacy.
He formerly served as Senior Adviser for Peace and Security at the African Union Permanent Observer Mission to the UN in New York, and as Director of the Africa Program at the International Peace Institute. Ayebare is a career journalist by training and has been published in regional and international outlets.
His field experience includes over 10 years with mediation teams in Burundi, Somalia, and Sudan. He also served as Ambassador and Head of Mission in Rwanda and Burundi from 2002–2005, and later as Principal Adviser and Special Envoy of Uganda to the Burundi peace process.
While Uganda chaired the Burundi Peace Initiative, he worked closely with President Pierre Nkurunziza, his predecessors, and mediators from South Africa and Tanzania.
Ayebare holds two master’s degrees from Long Island University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and a certificate in International Security from Harvard Kennedy School.
He also holds two doctorates from Indiana University and Rutgers University, with research residence at the UN in New York.
