President Museveni has insisted that Uganda will do with or without the support of the World Bank.
His comments followed an announcement by the US-based global lender on Tuesday that it was suspending new loans to Uganda over what is considered among the world’s harshest laws targeting LGBTQ communities.
In a message on his Twitter handle, Museveni said that an official from the World Bank rang him to alert him about the statement from that Bank regarding the suspension of any new requests from Uganda for loans.
But Museveni, who signed the measures into law in May, insisted, that Uganda will develop with or without loans. He claims that in the past, many loans were authorised by officials behind his back, when completely unnecessary.
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. Museveni nevertheless said Uganda was continuing discussions with the World Bank so that they and we avoid this diversion if possible.
The United Nations, foreign governments including the United States, and global rights groups have condemned the new law. In May, US President Joe Biden called for the immediate repeal of the measures he branded a tragic violation of universal human rights and threatened to cut aid and investment in Uganda.
