By Our Reporter
NATIONAL
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has spoken out in response to the decision by the World Bank to suspend funding to the Ugandan government.
In a message addressed to Ugandans dated 17th August 2023, President Museveni says foreign aid and loans are neither decisive nor indispensable elements for our desired social-economic transformation.
On the contrary, the President says those loans and aid packages, can be a source of distortion and stunted growth as can be seen across Africa.
“If foreign aid and loans, are a source of social-economic transformation, why the present growing crisis of even security and stability in Africa?” President Museveni asks rhetorically.
Museveni who calls the Western actors ‘insufferable’ goes ahead to restrain Ugandans from getting provoked into being, automatically, anti-Western saying even in the colonial times, Africa had supporters in the west in its anti-colonial struggle.
Although he says, the provocation by the World Bank and the thoughtless homo-sexual lobbies is really annoying. “Some of these imperialist actors, are insufferable. You have to work hard, to restrain yourself from exploding with anger,” Museveni says.
He names some of the supporters as; Sir Dingle Foot, Lord Fenner Brockway, Olof Palme insisting that even today, there are many friendly forces in the West, but are being intimidated by the disoriented lobbies that include World Bank.
FULL STATEMENT
Ugandans and, especially the Bazukulu
Further to my message of the 9th August, 2023, I would like to reiterate that foreign aid and loans are welcome and can be of some use if designed and executed by patriots (not neo-colonial agents), but are neither decisive nor indispensable elements for our desired social-economic transformation.
On the contrary, those loans and aid packages, can be a source of distortion and stunted growth as you can see across Africa. If foreign aid and loans, are a source of socialeconomic transformation, why the present growing crisis of even security and stability in Africa?
Look at Guinnea-Conakry, Mali, Burkina-Faso, Niger, Central African Republic, DRC, Boko Haram in Nigeria, Somalia, Mozambique, etc. Most of these Countries, have been getting those grants and loans. Many of the loans and aid packages, are either of no value addition to the Country or are even antigrowth, all together.
In the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, for instance, we discovered that a total of USD 800million had been borrowed over a period of ten years, but that Ministry did not have zonal diagnostic labs and Research centres, did not repair the 2 mechanization centres and did not buy the mechanization equipment like combine harvesters or even tractors, no irrigation equipment for farmers, no value addition equipment, etc. Much of that money was spent on seminars etc.; yet, those are the basic requirements of that Ministry, if it is to assist in the struggle for Social- economic transformation.
Therefore, most of the borrowing, has been having no value addition to our transformation journey. Besides, in some cases, the aid policies are directly against growth. Uganda has been manufacturing ARVs and other medical drugs at our Quality Chemicals factory in Kampala – Luzira.
The Aid givers from abroad, for a long time, were not allowing us to use their money to buy the Ugandan manufactured drugs. To qualify for aid, we had to forget our own industrialization and jobs creation for our People and support, with our Kujanjabisa (getting treatment), the jobs creation for other people.
Who, then, permits the signing of such distortion causing agreements to our economy? It is the neocolonial lobby in the Country behind my back. That is why, on the 19th of June, 2017, I wrote a directive forbidding the contracting of more loans without my express approval.
