Hours after the World Bank Group announced it was freezing all funding to Ugandan government projects, a top official from the group called President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni to explain the decision and start talks for a possible reversal of the suspension.
On the night of August 08, an official from the World Bank rang the president “to alert me about the statement from that Bank regarding the suspension of any new requests from Uganda for loans.”
Without revealing details of the official or more of the meeting, Museveni told citizens that “Uganda will develop with or without loans.”
“As a matter of fact, many of the loans in the past were being carelessly entered into by officials behind my back when they were completely unnecessary. That is why some years ago, I put down my foot and forbade agreeing to any loan before my approval,” explained Museveni.
“Hence, we are now borrowing less and cautiously. Yet our economy is growing, other challenges such as the war in Europe, corona notwithstanding.”
The president said it was “unfortunate that the World Bank and other actors dare to want to coerce us into abandoning our faith, culture, principles and sovereignty, using money.”
Museveni also said that the World Bank, other agencies and western powers “really under-estimate all Africans.”
He added: “We do not need pressure from anybody to know how to solve problems in our society. They are our problems.”
The phone call is said to have opened the window for negotiations between Kampala and the World Bank Group.
Museveni has confirmed that talks are ongoing and that there were chances that the suspension could be lifted.
“We are continuing to talk with the World Bank so that both they and we avoid this diversion if possible,” the president confirmed.
You can see the list of Ugandan government projects which will no longer get World Bank money over homosexuals HERE.
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