Corruption in Uganda

UDC Newsletter, Vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 1-4, 19 January 1995

Within 9 years of NRM's reign, public corporations which are the backbone of Uganda's monetary economy, have been bankrupted by Museveni's appointees. Thank goodness, the majority of Ugandans depend upon a semi-subsistence economy. Museveni's tribesmen stampeded into fat positions to eat the living life out of the economy under the banner of "Twarire" (we have eaten).

Most revealing of NRM's corruption is the bankruptcy of the Country's largest and government-owned Uganda Commercial Bank LTD (UCB). UCB controls over 80% of the commercial banking market.

NRM"s ruling clique gave themselves fraudulent loans worth over 62 billion shillings which they have classified as "delinquent loans". That amount was confirmed by the Central Bank Governor, Charles Kikonyogo. Later, a UCB official admitted that all the bad loans were made during the 9 years of Yoweri K. Nyandwi (Museveni) reign by and to his surrogates.

Nyandwi's (Museveni) sectarianism, corruption and outright thievery is the saga of Uganda's economic mismanagement and decay. First, appointments to high political and corporate positions are mostly based on tribal origin. Second, fraudulent loans were granted exclusively to Tutsis and Himas in order to boost their economic dominance over others. Briefcase and paper companies were concocted and flooded Kampala through which millions were borrowed on the basis of a person's ethnicity and signature. The bankruptcy of UCB has very serious adverse repercussions for Uganda's economy.

The Monitor newspaper of Oct.26-28, 94, reported that "the names behind UCB's bad debts include some of the most famous and prominent politicians, soldiers, bankers and businessmen ". The paper goes on to reveal that mifitary officers collectively owe the bank at least Shs.281.25 million. That includes many RPF commanders. Some of the soldiers who ate the money are diseased.

Here is a partial list of Nyandwi's (Museveni) closest military and political allies who have milked Uganda's economy to death:

NRM politicians are big holders of bad debts from UCB. This could be the reason why they are anxious to write off the debts. Among UCB swindlers are:

NRM's business insiders who are major pushers of corruption are also among prominent bank swindlers. The list of these operatives is very long. Unfortunately, theft true identities are hidden in company names. Only two names were unveiled, and those are:

UCB's top managers alone owe the bank a total of 3 billion shillings. Among those are:

UCB lost an additional $12 million in a rural credit scheme, according to Africa Analysis. Under that scheme, signature loans were made to Tutsis and Himas for the purpose of buying up land mostly in Buganda and dislodge the powerful Baganda from their ancestral land. If this sinister plan succeeds, Buganda will be populated and controlled by Tutsis, thus scattering Baganda into obliteration. That scheme which is part of the Tutsi master plan of colonizing East Africa, has a title of "Ranch Restructuring and Anti-Nomadism". It recently surfaced under the Ministry of Agriculture with a nyarwanda Deputy Minister (John Nasasira).

Africa Analysis of Sept. 94, reports that "American organizations have virtually taken control of Uganda's commercial banks in order to save them from collapse. The bail-out is spearheaded by U.S.A.I.D. and I.T.T." The paper also reports that other American companies are expected to participate in a proposed restructuring of the country's central bank (The Bank of Uganda).

American officials know that the collapse of Uganda's banks is caused by corrupt self-imposed rulers. They also know that the people of Uganda are consistently demanding democratic governance. Instead, the entire cabal (USA, UK, World Bank/IMF and Nordic countries) opted for undermining their own countries' commitment to the promotion of democracy and sneered at Ugandans' struggle for a democratic, responsible government freely elected by the people. It is clear that America's financial bail-out of Nyandwi's (Museveni) corrupt, self-imposed and illegal regime is immoral, inhumane, despicable and sacrilegious.

Recall in the 1950s when FIRESTONE CO. virtually owned Liberia and the exploitation it unleashed. Tax and Customs collection were run by Firestone and the population was reduced to mere serfs, peons and squatters. The U.S. State Dept. was not ignorant of the ongoing Firestone exploitation of Liberia. In the case of Uganda, ITT is playing similar tricks which will obviously antagonize Ugandan-American cordial relations. What is happening in Algeria today, could easily be replayed in Uganda.

A foreign company's major objective, be it, I.T.T, Firestone or British East African Co. is to make profits for its owners. It is a fallacy to claim that profit-seeking companies are coming to "help". Kampala International Hotel was built with Uganda's money and owned by Uganda. During that time, many nationals enjoyed its facilities. It is now owned by I.T.T. under a new name of "Kampala Sheraton Hotel", enjoyed by foreign bank-rollers of Museveni's regime and members of the Tutsi junta. ITT's encroachment into Uganda's banking system has empowered it to suggest that it will revise UCB's charter. The question is, to suit whom? Foreign companies have a tendency of maximizing piracy whenever given a chance to influence the drafting of laws which could establish the modus operandi of their own businesses in a foreign land. A classic example of that exploitation was in Libya when foreign oil companies had the liberty of drafting the laws that were to govern the newly discovered oil industry. Their shameless braggadocio of claiming to have given Libya her "oil industry laws" had an influence on the subsequent Libyan revolution.