UK withdraws £11m Uganda aid

[mtotowamjini]

[h=1]UK pulls plug on £11m Uganda aid: Minister acts over fears YOUR cash is being stolen[/h]By NICK FAGGE
PUBLISHED: 22:55 GMT, 16 November 2012 | UPDATED: 23:20 GMT, 16 November 2012

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Justine Greening, International Development Secretary, has halted UK aid to Uganda over fears it may have been misused​

Britain last night froze direct aid to the Ugandan government amid growing evidence of a multi-million pound fraud.

Justine Greening, the International Development Secretary, halted the transfer of the final £11million of £27million routed to the office of prime minister Patrick Amama Mbabazi.

The money was intended to fund poverty alleviation programmes, such as an education and training scheme for young people in the north of the country.

It had been due to be paid before the end of March next year. And last night there was growing speculation at just how much of the £16milion already transferred has been siphoned off.

Mr Mbabazi has denied any wrongdoing but acknowledges there has been ‘massive theft’ from his office in the country’s capital, Kampala.

A Department for International Development spokesman said: ‘Britain has frozen all UK aid spent through the Ugandan government.

‘This is a result of initial evidence emerging from our ongoing forensic audit of the office of the prime minister, which indicates aid money may have been misused.We are extremely concerned by these preliminary findings and we will assess the decision further when we have considered the full findings of the report.

‘Unless the government of Uganda can show that UK taxpayers’ money is going toward helping the poorest people lift themselves out of poverty, this aid will remain frozen and we will expect repayment and administrative and criminal sanctions.’

British aid, totalling £72million, will still reach projects supporting the poor and needy in Uganda this year but only if they are in conjunction with non-governmental organisations such as the United Nations and development charities.

Under suspicion: Ugandan PM Patrick Amama Mbabazi has denied any wrongdoing but acknowledges there has been 'massive theft' from his office​

Last month, Ireland’s government suspended all aid that it had channelled directly through the Ugandan government. A draft report by the auditor general of Uganda found £3.33million had been misappropriated. It had been transferred to unauthorised accounts in Mr Mbabazi’s office.

The prime minister denied any knowledge of the fraud through his office and insisted that none of the missing money was ever paid to him. He has also pledged to pay Ireland the money back.

Sweden, Norway and Denmark also suspended aid to Uganda following the publication of a special audit in Uganda.
Last year it was revealed that British aid money was used to buy a £30million Gulfstream jet for Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni. The autocratic 67-year-old, who was criticised after he launched a violent crackdown against democracy campaigners, bought the plane while millions of his countrymen struggled to feed themselves.

 

[mtotowamjini]

Ningeomba UK nao waingie mpaka TZ, kuna hela zao nyingi wanazituma bongo lakini sinaishia mikononi mwa ccm na ndio hizo zinatumika kwenye kampeni za chama na zingine zinaingia mifukoni mwa viongozi kama CAG reports zilivyokwishaeleza....ni bora hii misaada tusiletewe kwa sababu ikiletwa inatumiwa isivyo halali, tatizo ni kwamba je watakua tayari kubana misaada hapa tz wakati tayari makampuni ya kuchimba gas kutoka UK tayari yameshapewa mikataba ya hapa nchini? Ninavyowajua UK watajidai huku bongo hawajaona coz kuna interests zao nyingi huku bt ukweli unabaki pale pale kua hela zao nyingi wanazotuletea zinaishia mikononi mwa vigogo na haziwafikii wananchi wa kawaida

 

[Dingswayo]

Britain has suspended all direct aid to the Ugandan government with immediate effect, the international development secretary, Justine Greening, announced on Friday.

Aid to the Ugandan prime minister's office was frozen in August, following allegations of fraud, while an independent forensic audit was ordered. Greening has now suspended other bilateral aid, which is spent throughUganda's financial systems, known as direct financial aid.

In the 1990s the Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, was considered an aid darling among donors for his swift response to the Aids crisis and his efforts to stabilise the country after decades of political turmoil and repression under Milton Obote and Idi Amin. But his reputation has dimmed in recent years because of his heavy-handed tactics in dealing with political opposition and following accusations that he has been

arming troops in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He changed Uganda's constitution to allow him to run for office after more than two terms. In 2005, the UK diverted £15m of aid meant for the Ugandan government to be channelled through the UN over alleged rights abuse, and withheld an additional £5m until fair, multiparty elections were held.

Total direct financial aid to Uganda planned for this financial year was £26.9m. The UK has frozen the remaining £11.1m due to be paid before the end of March. This includes general budget support and other projects. The forensic audit has raised questions about a small proportion of this. The Department for International Development (DfID)said there has been no confirmed loss to UK taxpayers at this stage as the investigation continues.
"Britain has frozen all UK aid spent through the Ugandan government. This is a result of initial evidence emerging from our ongoing forensic audit of the office of the prime minister, which indicates aid money may have been misused," said DfID. "We are extremely concerned by these preliminary findings and we will assess the decision further when we have considered the full findings of the report. Unless the government of Uganda can show that UK taxpayers' money is going towards helping the poorest people lift themselves out of poverty, this aid will remain frozen and we will expect repayment and administrative and criminal sanctions."

Total planned bilateral aid from Britain to Uganda this financial year is £98.9m. Bilateral aid to the east African country is delivered through channels including the Ugandan government, the private sector, multilateral bodies and NGOs.

In August, DfID froze money to the Ugandan prime minister's office amid reports that funds from several European countries had been funnelled into the private bank accounts of officials in prime minister Patrick Amama Mbabazi's office. No British money was taken.
According to the Daily Mail, questions were raised when the Irish government was told by Ugandan auditors that its joint funding of €12m (£10m) with

Norway, Denmark and Sweden had ended up in accounts belonging to the prime minister's aides instead of going to pay for a peace recovery and development programme in northern Uganda.

The UK's coalition government has come under strong pressure from Tory backbenchers to reduce foreign aid at a time of deep budget cuts at home. David Cameron, the prime minister, has pledged that Britain will meet the UN target of spending 0.7% of gross national income on development assistance.

 

[Nyani Ngabu]

They should just end aiding these third world countries.

 

[Ngida1]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]While Ugandans are struggling to make ends meet and can barely afford to pay school fees for their children, leave alone find enough money to feed their families, it was revealed last year that President Museveni took £30million out of foreign aid money from Britain to buy himself a private jet for use on his frequent trips around the globe. He has been heard bragging to close friends that he is probably the biggest land owner in the whole of Africa after changing the country’s land laws to make it easier for him and his cronies to grab land from struggling land owners.
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[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]During this year’s celebrations to mark the country’s independence from Britain, diplomats were amazed to see Museveni arriving in a brand new Mercedes Benz limousine estimated to have cost nearly £350,000. Not to be outdone, his neighbour, Rwandan President Paul Kagame had a $1million Suburban Chevy transported from Kigali on a truck to enable him drive in presidential comfort from Entebbe Airport to Kampala and back to the airport. The limo was then re-loaded on the truck and driven back to Kigali. Kagame had arrived in Uganda in one of his two private presidential jets. Both countries have up to now been receiving large amounts of aid money from the United Kingdom.

Jamani, huyu Museveni tumuachilie mbali, lakini Kagame sio anasifiwa na wengi kuwa ni mwenye the best government in Africa? Sasa tena imekuaje hata anavuruga tu uchumi wa nchi? Anyway, yetu macho. Dunia imekwisha. Kila mmoja anachumia tumbo lake tu!

Source: Zanzibar Ni Kwetu
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