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Uganda’s rubber stamp legislature is Museveni’s Condom : MPs approve Shs 200bn for DRC roads
https://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2020/10/ugandas-rubber-stamp-legislature-is.html
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http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/07/fooling-us-about-ugandas-neutrality-in.html
which other player is missing???? The USA of course
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http://www.antipasministries.com/html/file0000234.htm
Asad Ismi , The Western Heart of Darkness: Mineral-rich Congo ravaged by genocide and Western plunder
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/october-2001-western-heart-darkness
Asad Ismi , The Ravaging of Africa, Western neo-colonialism fuels wars, plundering of resources
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/october-2002-ravaging-africa
Bishop Jean Marie Runiga, Becomes a spokes person for the M23: Using Confusion, misinformation and disinformation to Hide the Central role of USA, her allies and client states in the Conflict in the ‘Democratic’ republic of Congo(DRC)
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When will President Obama weep for Congolese Children ??? Mr. President sorry about the death of innocent kids in the Connecticut shooting…but what that gun man did is exactly what US proxies are doing to innocent children in Congo….how I wish you will one day weep for Congolese black children who are your close relatives.
Oh! God when will you avenge this: Congolese abandoned by international community
Mining sites in DR CONGO
https://www.international-alert.org/sites/default/files/publications/201011TheComplexityOfResourceGovernance.pdf
Uganda to build 223km road network inside DRC
The Ugandan cabinet has approved a move that will see government build 223km of road network inside the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Ugandan cabinet has approved a move that will see government build 223km of road network inside the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The development was announced on Tuesday by the government spokesperson, Ofwono Opondo while addressing journalists about various cabinet decisions at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala.
“Cabinet approved the construction and upgrading of the national road from Kasindi section at the border to Beni(80km) and the integration of the Beni-Butembo axis(54km) to the national road and the Bunagana(border) to Ruchuru- Goma road (89km) on grounds that the project will benefit the government and people of Uganda through economic interconnectivity,” Opondo said.
According to the government spokesperson, the move to construct the 223 kilometre road network will help improve mobility and ease business between the two neighbouring countries as well as improved people to people interconnectivity of the two countries.
“The road network would provide improved security in the eastern DRC and increased trade and investment,” Opondo said.
DRC is one of Uganda’s biggest trading partner with a number of the country’s exports ending up to Kinshasa.
Last year, President Museveni held bilateral talks with newly elected DRC President, Felix Tshisekedi at State House in Entebbe and among key issues discussed included trade, security and bilateral relations between the two neighbouring countries.
During the meeting, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed agreements to work on key road networks connecting the two countries to ease business.
Museveni said the road network will ease movement of goods and other services between the two countries “so, when you produce, you supply goods, you supply services. But you also create jobs for the youth.”
The President added that the market factor is equally crucial noting that the Ugandan population of 42 million and that of the DRC of 80 million is not enough. He cited China as a country that has a guaranteed market of 1.3 billion people and yet Child is still struggling for markets in other countries.
“We need the market of all of Africa and there should be no taxes at the borders. What we need to concentrate on is the quality of production that can be done in the country where it is cheapest and there will be comparative advantages,” he said.
The latest development underscores the stable relations between Uganda and DR Congo which have been enjoyed over the last decades, albeit complicated by security tensions in the eastern Congo.
President
Yoweri Museveni has urged African countries to promote trade as one of
the strategies that will ensure the survival of the continent and the
prosperity of the people. “Today, Africans must know that trade is a
matter of survival. If you don’t trade, you will collapse because
prosperity comes from trade,” Museveni said on … Continue reading MPs reject plan to spend Shs 200bn on DRC roads
A road in DRC. Photo: Unicef
The parliamentary Budget Committee has rejected, at least for now, a government plan to fund construction of roads in the Democratic Republic of Congo using Ugandan cash.
The MPs raised the objections during a meeting with the minister of state for Planning, David Bahati. The minister appeared before the committee on October 5 to defend a supplementary budget worth Shs 3.4 trillion. About Shs 200bn in the supplementary budget is earmarked as Uganda’s contribution to the construction of 223km of roads in the DRC following a bilateral agreement between Uganda and the DRC to implement strategic infrastructure projects.
This amount is Uganda’s 20% contribution to the roads project. The total project will cost is $334.5m; therefore, Uganda’s contribution amounts to $66.9m, which is approximately Shs 254bn. Bahati had appeared along with the minister of Works and Transport Gen Katumba Wamala.
The Dokolo district Woman MP Cecilia Ogwal was angry that government had decided to prioritize roads in the DRC over roads within Uganda that need urgent attention. She told Gen Wamala that despite the economic value of the roads in the DRC, all the outstanding urgent roads in Uganda need to be fixed before embarking on the regional infrastructural project.
Her view was supported by the West Budama North MP Richard Othieno who said the Works minister had abandoned his commitment to local roads and was instead seeking funds for roads in the DRC. Bahati insisted that regional interconnectivity projects also need to be prioritized since they promote trade, security and cooperation.
He said the project was a resolution of a bilateral agreement between the two presidents – Felix Tshisekedi of the DRC and Yoweri Museveni and a sign of warm relations between the countries. The committee chairperson Amos Lugoloobi accused Bahati of suppressing funds that had been approved for local roads in order to fund the project.
Lugoloobi said that Uganda’s district roads are not being funded and all the equipment is lying idle. Bahati refuted this allegation by proving that the Uganda National Roads Authority had received 25% of its funding amounting to Shs 600bn in the first quarter of the financial year and in the second quarter, the local interconnectivity roads are going to be funded with Shs 30bn.
Gen Katumba Wamala said he hoped the committee would consider the project as a game changer in terms of trade and security. He said he was handing over to the committee for consideration the draft inter-governmental agreement and the draft project development agreement which are yet to be signed pending approval of funds by parliament.
Uganda to help build roads inside Congo, citing trade goals
Such an arrangement is unheard of in a region where governments struggle to expand road networks within their borders. Despite its vast size and wealth of natural resources, Congo remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Eastern Congo is particularly plagued by rebel violence.
“There is always a first time for everything,” Wamala said. “This is a joint project between the two countries and there is a very good reason for that.”
The office of the Ugandan government spokesman in a statement said a meeting of Cabinet had authorized the surfacing or upgrading of the road from the border to Congo’s town of Beni as well as the road from the border post of Bunagana to the city of Goma.
The projects will boost investment and improve security in eastern Congo, the statement said.
Uganda’s decision to cooperate with Congo comes amid a standoff with neighboring Rwanda, once a major export destination for grains and other produce.
Rwanda’s government closed a busy border crossing with Uganda in February 2019 in what Uganda describes as a trade embargo. Rwanda’s government ordered its citizens not to travel to Uganda, asserting that Rwandan citizens were not safe across the border.
Rwandan authorities also accused Uganda’s government of backing rebels opposed to President Paul Kagame. Ugandan officials in turn accused Rwandan state agents of operating unlawfully in Uganda, including in alleged abductions of citizens wanted back home.
Museveni: Uganda ‘badly’ needs DR Congo road projects
Friday October 09 2020
By Job Bwire
President Museveni Friday said his government had agreed with neighbouring countries like DR Congo to jointly develop infrastructure that will boost trade in the region.
However, the proposal recently received criticism.
In his Independence address at State House, Entebbe the president described the critics as shameless, arguing that Uganda “badly needs” the Shs243.7 billion ($65.9m) road projects.
“I saw some shameless people in parliament saying, this stupid man Museveni: why are you building roads in Congo yet our roads have problems. We've reached an agreement to develop infrastructure with our trade partners in the region like Congo. We are earning about USD 500 million a year from DRC. How can you stop me from partnering with DRC to develop roads there that support our trade? The terrible roads are hindering business,” he said before adding that government also plans to sell electricity to DRC.
According to the president, the road projects in DRC will earn Uganda income through trade, which income will in turn be used to construct the poor roads in Uganda.
The 223km road to be constructed consists of the Kasindi section at the border to Beni (80km) plus the integration of the Beni-Butembo stretch (54km). It also consists of the Bunagana to Rutsuru-Goma Road (89km).
In his Independence speech, the president also reiterated that Uganda will start manufacturing own cars.
“I no longer want to hear about imported and assembled busses. We are going to make them ourselves. Under Kiira Motor corporation project, two electric busses have already been made,” Museveni said.
He said government had prioritised investment in science and innovation.
“We have an educated human resource and a portion of the economy will be built from their intellect”
According to him, government plans to set up a specialised agricultural bank that will be able to give affordable capital to Ugandan farmers.
"We are thinking of setting up an agricultural bank in Uganda because the commercial banks we have are really commercial banks. They are there to fund traders who go to china and to bring taka-taka (trash)," Mr Museveni added.
