President Museveni says all government loans must get his personal approval

david nganga

July 13, 2017 11:23 AM

The Head-of-State says that all government loans must get his approval before they are tabled in Parliament

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Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said that all State loan requests to Parliament will require his personal endorsement.

In a letter to the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and copied to Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga, President Museveni warned State departments against taking loans that do not add value to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The directive came after he rejected 11 loans, amounting to US $1 billion that are not targeting infrastructural development.

Mr Museveni ordered that only 16 loan requests be approved, explaining that only infrastructural development in the health and education sectors be funded by loans.

Among the loans rejected include; a $200 million loan for the construction of the Kampala-Jinja Expressway, a $100 million loan from Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for poverty reduction and a $200 million loan for fiscal transfers and management.

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“The president feels that we are over burdening the country by contracting so many loans, many of which do not add any value to the GDP of the country. He proposes that the loans must have his personal endorsement to the ministry of finance before they come to parliament,” Kadaga said while addressing the House on Tuesday.

She added that the committee on National Economy shall always scrutinize the loans and ensure that the president has endorsed the loans.

“The president would like us to address loans related to health, skills development and education. He [president] believes that only infrastructure like hospitals and education should be the ones facilitated by loans; otherwise, the rest should be by the government of Uganda,” she noted.

david nganga