Museveni pardons NGO GiveDirectly; to give shs106bn cash to Ugandans
President Museveni has directed the Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja to work on ensuring the reopening of the operations of GiveDirectly and international NGO operating in Uganda.
GiveDirectly is a nonprofit organization operating in East Africa that helps families living in extreme poverty by making unconditional cash transfers to them via mobile phone.
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The NGO transfers funds primarily to people in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.
However, it was one of the NGOs whose operations were recently suspended by government.
On Wednesday, the leaders of the GiveDirectly met with President Museveni at the State Lodge in Nakasero , following an earlier meeting in June at State House in Entebbe.
The meeting was attended by the Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja, the Minister of Gender, Labor, and Social Development, Betty Amongi, the Minister of Local Government, Raphael Magyezi, and the State Minister of Internal Affairs, Gen David Muhoozi .
The President outlined three key principles for deepening collaboration between the government and GiveDirectly .
He said there should be a transparent engagement to ensure government understands the activities of the NGO.
Museveni urged the NGO to protect its recipients from fraud or scams targeting them and safeguard donor funds.
“The president tasked the Prime Minister to build on the progress made to align on a path to reopening GiveDirectly operations,” a statement by State House said.
GiveDirectly’s Global Managing Director, Joe Huston said he was happy to support Uganda’s journey out of poverty.
“We are grateful to be granted a second audience with Your Excellency and are thrilled to deepen our collaboration to support the Government of Uganda in assisting Ugandans’ journeys out of poverty,” he said.
According to GiveDirectly, they have US$30m(shs106bn) available for current and planned projects in Uganda for poverty alleviation, emergency relief, refugees, disaster preparedness and social protection.
GiveDirectly had before the suspension of their activities launched a $10 million direct cash assistance program as part of the national Covid response strategy aimed at supporting those who lost income as a result of the pandemic and who are at risk of food insecurity.
The cash transfer program targeted 120,000 people in six cities, with each getting about $27(shs95,000) per month for three months.
By September, over 47,000 Ugandans were enrolled.
With President Museveni giving a second chance to the NGO, it is good news for the beneficiaries of the cash transfer program that is expected to resume .
