The president addresses donors to restore aid to Uganda

The president’s speech appealing to the donor community to restore aid suspended as a result of rampant corruption and massive mismanagement of public funds and other ills that have dented NRM image at home and abroad raised important issues many of them with virtually nothing to do with withdrawal of aid. The bulk of the speech gives the impression that he was responding to criticism he has been receiving from opposition groups and individuals. Here are some of these areas.

1. Genocide in the Great Lakes region had been confined to the Rwanda tragedy of 1994. To correct the record, we wrote that genocide in the region goes back to the genocides against Hutu committed by Tutsi in Burundi in 1972, 1988 and 1993. We have also reported on allegations of genocide of Hutu by Tutsi in Eastern DRC contained in UN reports. We give credit to the president for acknowledging that genocide has taken place in Burundi against Hutu by Tutsi.

Impose political conditionality on Uganda and lose a reliable partner

Western powers who created Museveni and depend on him for advancing their economic and political interests in Africa do not know how to handle him and Museveni knows it. The economic and political quagmire unfolding in Uganda has become an embarrassment to donors who praised Uganda sky high in the international media and international conferences as an economic and political success story in a continent mired in poverty, hunger, illiteracy, disease, conflicts, refugees and IDPs. Increasing diseases of poverty, the harassment of political opponents including whipping them in public and accumulation of political, economic and military power by Museven’s family and those close to him have betrayed donors’ quick conclusions about Uganda’s success stories and Museveni’s unparalleled quality of leadership in Uganda and beyond. Because donors needed Museveni they overlooked Uganda’s failures including adherence to IMF recommendations such as the maintenance of a balanced budget. IMF cut off assistance to Obote II regime for failure to adhere to the maintenance of a balanced budget.

International assistance as development, bribe or punishment

In this article I am referring to multilateral-to-government and bilateral or government-to-government development assistance. I have spoken and written that when development assistance is given, received and used strictly for development purposes it produces tangible outcomes that improve human quality and accelerate growth and development.

For example, assistance that was given to Uganda between October 1962 when the country became independent and December 1970 before Obote’s regime was overthrown in a military coup in January 1971 was put to good use in institutional and infrastructural capacity development.

Unlike in the past when health services were concentrated in towns, under Obote I regime, quality hospitals, clinics and staff houses were concentrated in rural areas. Doctors, nurses and midwives were trained, paid well and retained in Uganda. Because there was no need for moonlighting and corruption to make ends meet, patients received good services. Private health services were subsidized to reduce charges. Primary health care received a boost in immunization, safe drinking water, sanitation, general hygiene, housing and food and nutrition security.

In the area of education, quality schools and teachers houses on school premises were constructed again mostly in rural areas, teachers were trained, well paid and sufficient instructional materials provided.