KAMPALA
Government will have to tighten its financial belt significantly after donors announced deeper and longer aid cuts yesterday in response to massive public corruption. The European Union ambassador to Uganda announced yesterday that the EU, United Kingdom, the World Bank, Austria and other countries had suspended up to $300 million promised in budget support each year, up to 2013.
Other countries that have cut budget support include Belgium, Germany, Ireland and Sweden. Ugandan citizens are going to lose close to $300 million in budget support from all the eight development partners, Ambassador Roberto Ridolfi said yesterday. Though the suspension is not going to affect running programmes, it will impact highly on the lives of the citizens.
The Shs750 billion in aid cuts is about as much as government planned to spend on agriculture, water and environment in the current financial year. Sweden and Ireland had earlier suspended their project support and thus the new agreement suspends all their funds to Uganda while Norway withdrew all its support in 2011.
Speaking at an anti-corruption convention in Kampala, Ambassador Ridolfi said yesterday that although corruption in Uganda was nothing new, the extent of the problem discovered in the Office of the Prime Minister revealed a disappointing absence of financial controls. How can I now go back to Europe and ask for aid for Uganda? Mr Ridolfi asked. The recent corruption scandals are a breach of trust between the country and its development partners.
Government will have to tighten its financial belt significantly after donors announced deeper and longer aid cuts yesterday in response to massive public corruption. The European Union ambassador to Uganda announced yesterday that the EU, United Kingdom, the World Bank, Austria and other countries had suspended up to $300 million promised in budget support each year, up to 2013.
Other countries that have cut budget support include Belgium, Germany, Ireland and Sweden. Ugandan citizens are going to lose close to $300 million in budget support from all the eight development partners, Ambassador Roberto Ridolfi said yesterday. Though the suspension is not going to affect running programmes, it will impact highly on the lives of the citizens.
The Shs750 billion in aid cuts is about as much as government planned to spend on agriculture, water and environment in the current financial year. Sweden and Ireland had earlier suspended their project support and thus the new agreement suspends all their funds to Uganda while Norway withdrew all its support in 2011.
Speaking at an anti-corruption convention in Kampala, Ambassador Ridolfi said yesterday that although corruption in Uganda was nothing new, the extent of the problem discovered in the Office of the Prime Minister revealed a disappointing absence of financial controls. How can I now go back to Europe and ask for aid for Uganda? Mr Ridolfi asked. The recent corruption scandals are a breach of trust between the country and its development partners.
