Speaker Oboth seeks relations with Russian Parliament

What the report says

Uganda’s Parliament is seeking closer ties with the Russian State Duma as part of an effort to deepen parliamentary diplomacy and support broader relations between the two countries, according to Watchdog Uganda. Speaker Jacob Oboth raised the idea during talks with Russian lawmakers on the sidelines of the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in New Delhi, India, on Monday, 26 October 2026.

Oboth said Uganda and Russia have a long-standing relationship that their legislatures should build on. He told the Russian delegation that both parliaments have experience and ideas to exchange, and that visits in both directions could help expand cooperation. He was accompanied by several Ugandan lawmakers, including Opposition Leader Joel Ssenyonyi and other members of Parliament, as well as Uganda’s High Commissioner to India, Prof. Joyce Kikafunda.

The Russian side included Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Alexander Babakov, along with other lawmakers and Russia’s ambassador to India, Denis Alipov. They said parliamentary engagement should reinforce the relationship already established by the two presidents. The delegation also said the State Duma would create a group of deputies focused on Uganda.

More broadly, the report fits into a pattern of governments using parliamentary contacts to support diplomacy, trade and political cooperation. In this case, the development signals an effort by Uganda and Russia to formalize legislative channels alongside executive-level ties.