Prime
MPs ask Museveni to reverse suspension of DGF
What you need to know:
- On January 2, Mr Museveni wrote to Finance Minister Matia Kasaija inquiring how government started working with DGF and ordered the immediate suspension of activities of the donor agency.
Members of Parliament have asked President Museveni to review the information he relied on to order the immediate suspension of Democratic Governance Facility (DGF), a donor agency.
The MPs argued that the suspension will affect both government and civil society organisations (CSOs).
On January 2, Mr Museveni wrote to Finance Minister Matia Kasaija inquiring how government started working with DGF and ordered the immediate suspension of activities of the donor agency.
The President also directed police, the Inspectorate of Government and State House Anti-Corruption Unit to investigate how Ministry of Finance authorised DGF to operate in Uganda.
Mr Museveni, who was declared winner of the just concluded presidential elections, accused the DGF of funding non-governmental organisations to undermine him.
But yesterday, MPs said it is likely the President was misinformed and that his directive will affect thousands of Ugandans who were either directly employed or have been benefiting from the projects of the NGOs and government agencies being funded by DGF.
“The closure of activities of DGF has affected many people. DGF has played a very big role in many fields. When we heard that the President has ordered the closure of its activities, we were concerned because so many NGOs and Ugandans were employed under those arrangements,” Mr Latiff Ssebaggala, the Kawempe North MP, said.
Partnership affected
Raising a matter of national importance, Mr Ssebaggala said Parliament too has been affected by the DGF suspension since it has a number of partnerships with the donor agency in promoting good governance in the country.
The Government Assurance Committee is one of those affected in Parliament.
Mr Ssebaggala said it will give Uganda a bad international reputatiuon if it is found out that politics was the basis for the suspension of DGF activities.
“As Parliament, we have friendly partnerships with DGF. I would not like the President to be misled that DGF has been involved in politics. The President must find out what activities DGF was funding and how it has impacted the lives of people. I also don’t want the President to relate DGF to NRM’s poor performance in Buganda because it had many activities there,” he said.
Mr Museveni and his ruling National Resistance Movement party lost the vote in Buganda region to the Opposition, mainly the National Unity Platform (NUP) party.
All government ministers in Buganda, including Vice President Edward Ssekandi, were defeated in the January 14 parliamentary elections. NUP also dominated local government seats for Lord councillors and division mayors in Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and the surrounding areas.
Yesterday, Mr Asuman Basalirwa, the Bugiri Municipality MP, expressed concern over the future of political parties, saying they have been receiving funding from DGF through the Interparty Organisations for Dialogue (Ipod). Mr Basalirwa is Justice Forum (Jeema) party president.
Parliament Speaker Rebecca Kadaga tasked the First Deputy Prime Minister, Gen Moses Ali, to brief the House about the DGF suspension.
“I have not had time to read about the issues of DGF but Prime Minister can tell us what is going on,” she said.
Gen Ali did not have immediate answers but promised to return to the House with a statement after finding out more information about the matter.
