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Uganda Borrows $40m To Fight Sexual Abuse

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Thursday, April 26th, 2018
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 A Cabinet decision to borrow $40m (Shs144b) to fight sexual abuse in the country was informed by a World Bank demand for the government to safeguard women working at public infrastructure construction sites, this newspaper can reveal.

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Multiple sources told Daily Monitor yesterday that Ugandan bureaucrats led by Finance minister Matia Kasaija made the initial commitment a year ago during a meeting with senior WB officials in Washington DC.

Other members of the delegation included Bank of Uganda Governor Tumusiime-Mutebile, Finance ministry Permanent Secretary Keith Muhakanizi, Uganda National Roads Authority executive director Allen Kagina and Mr Pius Bigirimana, the Gender ministry Permanent Secretary.

President Museveni dispatched the team after the Bretton Woods institution cancelled funding for construction of the 66-kilometre Fort Portal-Kamwenge road over, among other things, “serious allegations of road workers’ sexual relations with minor girls in the community and sexual harassment of female employees”.

In Washington DC, the Ugandan delegation was castigated over government’s failure to protect vulnerable groups and it accepted to expedite itemised reforms as a precondition for WB to unlock funding.

Condition

One condition was for the Uganda government to integrate social safeguards as a key yardstick in evaluating infrastructure projects previously approved largely on the basis of internal rate of return, one official familiar with the discussions said.

Ministers agreed on the Shs144b loan during a Monday meeting chaired by President Museveni, but Members of Parliament will have to give a nod before actual borrowing can happen.

Mr Kasaija told colleagues that the government had no resources internally to bankroll the planned project to fight gender-based and sexual abuse.

The proposal passed with “no serious scrutiny or debate”, one minister said, requesting not to be named because Cabinet discussions are confidential.

Another senior government official, who asked not to be named to freely discuss the matter, told this newspaper that WB officials had during the Washington DC meeting offered to support the government in capacity building and undertaking progressive reforms.

It is in this context, the official said, that Kampala is turning to Washington for a social project loan this time being appraised on the basis of cost-benefit analysis.

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