Maintaining good relations with donors has been costly to Uganda
Obote became Prime Minister at Uganda’s independence with the tacit backing of foreign interests. During the initial years he pursued an economic policy based on the World Bank’s recommendation to continue a colonial economic policy of growing and exporting raw agricultural materials in exchange for manufactured products. He would also allow foreign companies to continue business as before October 1962 when Uganda became independent. Besides, being Protestant Obote was preferred to Kiwanuka who was Catholic (W. O. Oyugi et al., 1988).
In the second half of the 1960s Obote began to make adjustments in economic policy including partial nationalization of foreign enterprises. Foreign business interests and their governments were not happy and Obote’s government was shown the exit in January 1971. A gentle giant and pliable Amin was installed. When Amin like Obote before him nationalized private companies, he incurred the wrath of the British and the UK government cut off $58 million of credit to Uganda.