{UAH} Fwd: PETITION: Stop odious and crippling debts to Uganda

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Progressive Nrmleague" <progressivenrmleague@yahoo.com>
Date: 20 Dec 2014 17:04
Subject: PETITION: Stop odious and crippling debts to Uganda
To:
Cc:

How the system of corruption is sinking Uganda into crippling debt, and how you can stop it.

 

This petition is for the purpose of showing Ugandans and the world how the system of international money lending syndicates works with corrupt Uganda government officials and politicians to sink the country into crippling debt, and how Ugandans and friends of Uganda can stop the plunder.

 

It is also intended to warn international money lenders that Ugandans may not pay for odious loans they offer to Uganda as long as President Museveni, who is heading the ring of corruption is in power and signing up for these loans.  The text below explains why concerned Ugandans are taking this action.

 

Let's assume we want to build a power dam along River Nile called Gulu Dam to produce 200 Megawatts of electricity.  You would get experts to study the area, identify all the technicalities involved and determine the cost of construction.  For the purpose of this petition let's assume Gulu Dam will cost us $200 million. 

 

Under normal circumstances, and according to Uganda's procurement rules, the Ministry of Energy is supposed to publish an international tender notice and avail as much information as possible to potential bidders.  The purpose of publishing a tender notice is to find a developer who can build Gulu Dam for less than $200 million not more.  The lowest bidder is supposed to win the contract to construct Gulu Dam and Uganda government is supposed to guarantee any monies the winning bidder borrows to carry out the construction.   -------- to be continued on Monday.  Sign the petition by following this link:  http://www.thepetitionsite.com/147/524/768/we-demand-a-stop-to-crippling-odius-loans-to-uganda/

 

Unfortunately for Uganda, we start losing when it comes to guaranteeing repayment of borrowed monies.   What is supposed to be a process of presenting a 'Bid Winner Certificate' to Bank of Uganda and get the necessary finance guarantees is turned into a tag of war by lobbyists representing syndicates of international money lenders.  The competition to present the best financer, who also offers the best benefit to corrupt decision makers turns the construction of Gulu dam into a by-product of corruption. 

 

The period when the winning bidder is sourcing for finances necessary to construct Gulu dam is known as the 'Valley of the Vultures'.  When in this valley, the winning bidder realizes that being the best bidder does not necessarily win them the finance guarantees necessary to construct the dam.  This is where Uganda loses money. How?

 

In the 'Valley of the Vultures' lobbyists offer incentives to public officials so that the decision of lending is favorable to their preferred lender.  They have access to the President and everyone who matters.    Rosa Whittaker, 'our' famous American friend is one of these lobbyists.  If the deal is too sweet she can fly in from America at any time, land on top of State House Entebbe and force a switch of contractors for any project in total disregard of Uganda's procurement laws and procedures.

 

The interaction of lobbyists and corrupt government decision makers causes the cost of Gulu Dam to jump from say $200 million to $800 million.  This increase facilitates only lobbyists and corrupt decision makers.  Once the figure of $800 million has been agreed upon with the 'Vultures', the contractor is then tasked to find a financer with the assurance that the government will guarantee the loan repayments. "…it will be their job to source for the money, a loan which we shall pay back" President Museveni was quoted recently by the East African after a ceremony to award the Standard Gauge Railway contract to China Harbor Engineering and Construction (CHEC).

 

In addition, the contractor is told to stick to his original bidding price with a promise of an extra about $150 million should he put the inflated sum on paper and agree to pass on the 'enjawulo' or difference of $350 million to the vultures.  Remember the 'Vultures' and the contractor get paid off immediately once a financer commits money ($800 million) to the deal and has received the repayment guarantees from Bank of Uganda.

 

For any financer to finance this deal, they must add approximately 10% interest on the inflated $800 million loan over a period of about 20 years.  For our example of Gulu dam, that can add an extra $80 million per year on the loan or $1.6 billion over a 20 year period in interest alone.  If you add interest and the actual loan, it means that Uganda will have to guarantee to pay about $2.4 billion dollars over a 20 year period for constructing Gulu dam that was originally estimated to cost $200 million.  A loss of approximately $2 billion.

 

Everyone is a winner in this deal except my brothers, sisters, friends and countrymen in Kapeka, Butambala, Ruharo, Napaak and everywhere in Uganda who will remain with a burden of debt to pay by their children and grandchildren for generations.

 

This is how Bujagali dam originally estimated to cost $300 million ended up costing Uganda almost $2 billion.  According to a World Bank Report 2012, "Bujagali is the most expensive dam in the world", yet at its full capacity it "will only produce about 220 Megawatts of electricity" according to Eng. Hon. Hillery Onek, former Minister of Energy

 

This is how the Standard Gauge Railway(SGR) project originally estimated to cost $1.7 billion may cost Uganda $11 billion.  This is why after paying $550 million for 54 km of Entebbe Express Highway, we end up with 4 lanes less compared to the 56 km and 8 lane Nairobi-Thika Highway which cost Kenyans only $350 million. We lose 4 lanes and are $150 million out of pocket on this project. The same Chinese company; China Civil Construction Company (CCCC) is constructing both roads in Kenya and Uganda!!!!!!!!

 

This is why a feasibility study of just 5 weeks for an oil pipeline which was quoted to cost $1.2 billion in 2010/11 has been finalized with Toyota Tsusho for an inflation busting $4.5 billion in November 2014.  There's an increase of $1 billion per year since the first quotation was made, losing Uganda a total of $3 billion in just 3 years.

 

This is how Uganda ends up with a mountain of debt with nothing to show for it.  This is why Ugadna looks less developed than Rwanda which borrows less than us.

 

Any project out of these kind of deals is poor because it was turned into a by-product of corruption.  Decision makers chase their corrupt payments first and do 'due diligence' later if they have to do it at all.  As was the case with Mukono-Katosi-Kyetume road.

 

Sometimes if the deal is so shameful and there are many questions being asked, as has been the case with the Standard Gauge Railway, some services are brought in to cosmetise the 'swindle' and make it look not so greedy.  This is why we are being told that soldiers will be turned into railway construction engineers under the SGR contract and that KCCA would get a Standard Metropolitan Railway as part of the 'SGR' loot.

 

In Uganda there are always elites to help cosmetise such deals.  Minister for Kampala Frank Tumwebaze and KCCA Executive Director Jennifer Musisi, both Lawyers and Master degree holders think that everyone else is so dump they can't figure out that procurement for KCCA is not done by the Ministry of Transport and Works, and that any attempt to import corrupt tendencies from anywhere into KCCA operation is illegal, null and void.  Never mind that KCCA without a Lord Mayor is an illegality itself.

 

Dr. Kiyonga, another elite and the Minister of Defense thinks that Ugandans are so dump they can't figure out that our laws state that if the army wants to train her engineers, that requirement has to be budgeted for in the Ministry of Defense Budget and cannot be done by the Ministry of Transport.

 

Therefore, before the bills for these odious loans are placed on our tables, let us issue a warning notice to all those involved in these illegal deals (lenders and their representatives or vultures), that "you will pay, or you will lose your money".  Uganda will not pay for your corrupt tendencies.

 

We assure Ugandans of all regions that the campaign to stop the unpatriotic vultures has began.  We are determined to stop these odious loans from becoming a financial burden on unsuspecting poor Ugandans of today and the future.  We guarantee that those who have Uganda at heart shall win.

 

President Museveni is involved in almost all corrupt dealing that are causing gigantic losses to Uganda.  He is following in the footsteps of Mobutu Sseseko, Gadaffi, Saddam Hussein and all despots that have ruled and robbed their countries for generations.  He wants to squander our resources on projects of greatness which include uniting Africa like Gadaffi did.  The other is to make people of his Basita clan the richest and supreme in the entire East and Central Africa region for the next 500 years.

 

This petition is for the purpose of stopping Museveni from finishing off our resources because at this rate all the expected oil money will be gone even before a single litter is drilled from the ground.  We have to stop Museveni from enslaving our children into debt and unending poverty.   But rather than chase the money when he and his cronies are gone, we are devising different tactics. 

 

We warn lenders that President Museveni is not the Procurement Officer for Uganda.  We have well laid out procedures and laws governing public procurement.   But President Museveni has hijacked these procedures.  Therefore, we are warning international lenders that if you lend to us, having gone via President Museveni, be sure that we will not pay back.  

 

This is because the man in charge of our affairs is abusing power and taking advantage of ignorance of ordinary people by signing for odious loans on our behalf. 

 

President Museveni has created a system of political patronage in Uganda where everything is inflated for the purpose of financing his system of patronage. All public department budgets for all projects are over inflated for this purpose.  The Ugandan President has taken over all public institutions including Bank of Uganda which now issues treasury bonds for financing the President's political system of patronage.

 

This is why we are saying that let President Museveni print the Uganda Shillings, we can accept the consequences of that.  But please do not place on us a burden of debt in dollars which we cannot pay back.

 

In other words, as long as Museveni is in power, there should be no loans to Uganda.  We are prepared to delay any developments until he is gone and we have a fair deal.  .  It may take 2, 5, 10 or even 15 years before he goes but he will go.

 

Museveni has been in power for 30 years.  That is enough under any circumstances.  The only reason he wants to forcefully carry on is to plunder public resources.

 

Remember that in 2005 Uganda got help after an international effort got her $5 billion debt reduced to almost $1.4 billion.  Today that debt has increase again to over $11 billion with almost nothing to show for it and if President Museveni has his way, Uganda's external debt is heading towards $40 billion if war reparations to the DR Congo ($10 billion) are included.

 

In conclusion, we also inform NRMO Party that the NRM will never manage our oil resources as long as they keep President Museveni in power.

 

FOR GOD AND OUR COUNTY

 

World Bank, IMF, Africa Dev Bank, China Exim Bank, Toyota Tshusho, European Union, Madhivani Group, United States of America and all International Money Lenders.

 

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/147/524/768/we-demand-a-stop-to-crippling-odius-loans-to-uganda/

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