The Queen of England is expected to have a three-day state visit to Uganda late this year ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting (CHOGM) scheduled for Nov. 23 here.
Uganda's Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa was quoted by Sunday Vision saying that the Queen would arrive here on Nov. 20.
Kutesa's statement came shortly after two British newspapers, The Times and The Guardian, quoting an anonymous government source, reported that the summit might be moved to another country possibly South Africa or Canada over concerns about the security of the Queen and the dignitaries attending the summit.
"The Queen is to stay at Serena Hotel because we don't want to strain her," Kutesa said in a briefing in the parliament on Friday on the progress of CHOGM preparations.
"To commemorate her visit, 1 million trees are to be planted in Entebbe as part of the plan to make CHOGM a carbon-free event. The forest is to be named after Her Majesty," Kutesa said.
He added that forests would be planted in 53 Ugandan districts, each named after a head of state of a Commonwealth country.
Meanwhile, a senior government official has accused the Ugandan opposition, some NGOs and Ugandans in the Diaspora, of being behind the campaign to discredit Uganda and move the venue of the Commonwealth meeting.
"Somebody planted those stories," said James Mugume, the permanent secretary in the Foreign Ministry.
"Opposition groups, together with certain international NGOs and Ugandans in the Diaspora are working hard to undermine our credibility in a bid to stop Uganda from hosting CHOGM," he said.
"Their mission has not been and will not be successful. All the Commonwealth countries, including Canada and South Africa, have pledged their support to Uganda and we are working closely with them," he added.
Mugume stressed that South Africa was helping with the preparations while Canada had already sent a team to book hotel rooms for its delegation.
He also explained that Uganda, together with Britain and other European countries, were working on a code of conduct for demonstrations.
"A code of conduct will be drafted about designating routes for demonstrations and responsibilities of the organizers, including compensation for property damage and liability to prosecution if the demonstration gets out of hand," Mugume said.
The Ugandan government has planed to spend some 70 million U.S. dollars to host the CHOGM, seeing it a unique opportunity to attract more foreign investment and promoting its tourism sector when an estimated number of 10,000 guests gather here in a week for the summit.
