The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The European Union-EU delegation in Uganda has asked the Speaker of Parliament to push for the lifting of a suspension on Democratic Governance Facility-DGF, the single biggest donor basket established by development partners.
The fund which was started to provide well-coordinated support to various entities in Uganda was suspended early this year after President Yoweri Museveni accused the Ministry of Finance of irregularly authorizing funding to a tune of 500 billion Shillings, to be operated exclusively by foreign missions in Uganda.
He said that the approval of DGF operations, without government oversight tantamount to surrendering the sovereignty of the people of Uganda to foreign interests. “The foreign mission and its co-funders have been given free rein by the Ministry of Finance to choose which activity, entities and amounts to finance without the knowledge or consent of the government,” Museveni said in a letter dated January 2.
The suspension however crippled activities of several Non-Government Organizations-NGOs, majority of which are engaged in promoting accountability, good governance, human rights, democracy, service delivery, monitoring and capacity building at all levels.
The Deputy Ambassador of Denmark to Uganda Henrik Jespersen says that one of the issues that are very crucial for them currently is to solve the suspension on DGF so that the different organizations can go beyond the existing suspension on their actions. He said that this was important for constructive dialogue.
Jespersen was speaking during a meeting held with the Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah. The delegation led by the EU Acting Ambassador Anna Merrifield also had the Swedish Ambassador Maria Håkansson, the Belgian Ambassador Rudi Veestraeten, and the Ambassador of Ireland Kevin Colgan.
In his response, Oulanyah was optimistic that the matter will soon be resolved because Uganda needs the support that was provided through DGF.
Oulanyah however committed to having discussions with people involved in the matter.
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