President Museveni has insisted that Uganda will do with or without the support of the World Bank.
In a message on his Twitter handle, Museveni said that an “official from the World Bank rang me to alert me about the statement from that Bank regarding the suspension of any new requests from Uganda for loans.”
“I want to inform everybody, starting with Ugandans, that Uganda will develop with or without loans,” he stressed.
He claims that in the past, many loans were authorised by officials behind his back, when completely unnecessary.
Many of the loans in the past were 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. Hence, we are now borrowing less and cautiously. Yet our economy is growing, other global challenges such as the war in Europe, corona, etc., notwithstanding,” he said.
“If there is an absolute need for borrowing, there are a number of non-Bretton Woods sources from where we can borrow,” he added.
The president said he was banking on Uganda to start producing oil in 2025 such that the country is able to finance its economic activities.
“With discipline, patriotism and combating corruption, we shall thrive because our agriculture is there, our industries are growing and our services sector is expanding,” he said.
Castigates World Bank over homos
The President vowed that the world bank and other factors will not coerce Ugandans into abandoning their faith, culture, principles and sovereignty, using money.
“They really underestimate all Africans.”
“I have patiently explained to some of the actors that merely being a homosexual is not targeted by this law. It is going from being a homosexual to recruit or coerce others into your deviance, that is targeted by the law.”
He said the country is willing to address any residual illogicalities in the law.
“We do not need pressure from anybody to know how to solve problems in our society. They are our problems.
We are continuing to talk to with the World Bank so that both they and we avoid this diversion if possible,” he added.
The World Bank has announced it will halt new loans to Uganda over the country’s controversial anti-LGBTQ law.
The Washington, DC-based lender said on Tuesday it would pause project financing pending a review of measures it introduced to protect sexual and gender minorities from discrimination and exclusion in its projects.
