Leaders of the Civil Society Organisations in Uganda have accused Yoweri Museveni of diverting citizens’ attention from what they term, “the most fraudulent electoral process” in their response to the president’s decision to suspend the activities of the Democratic Governance facility (DGF).

In a statement, that was read to the media by Margret Sekaggya, the Executive Director of the Human Rights Centre Uganda, the CSO leaders called upon Ugandans to confront the issues of “democratic reversals and an affront on their freedoms.”
 
“We believe that President Museveni is trying all manner of actions to divert the Uganda public and the international community from one of the most fraudulent electoral processes which culminated into a disputed election on January 14, 2021,” Sekaggya said.

The DGF is a multi-donor basket fund supporting democracy and accountability work in Uganda since around 2011. It is financed by governments of Denmark, Ireland, Austria, UK, Sweden, Norway and the European Union,  with an aim of ensuring equitable growth, poverty eradication, rule of law and long term stability in Uganda.
 
On Wednesday, the President ordered that the operations of the DGF be “immediately suspended”. He also ordered the Inspector General of Government (IGG), police and State House Anti-Corruption Unit to investigate how the Ministry of Finance authorised the DGF to operate in Uganda and allegedly bankroll NGOs and government agencies to undermine him.
 
In a statement, Ugandan Civil Society (CSO) leaders express their dismay on the directive to have this donor busket suspended. The statement outlines three issues these leaders believe discredit the President’s claims in the letter he wrote to the Ministry of Finance, IGG and Police.
 
The CSOs argue that the current phase of the DGF was negotiated between the Government of Uganda represented by the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED) on the one hand and the contributing European bilateral donors on the other hand.

“The support was given a green light by the Prime Minister and Leader of Government Business and signed off by Uganda’s Secretary to Treasury,” the statement from the CSOs reads.

Some government agencies including the Parliament, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Lands are beneficiaries of the fund. These will suffer the effects of the suspension. They CSOs believe that this disregards the President's claim of subversion.
 
“Funding for Ugandan civil society organizations is provided upon rigorous scrutiny of regulatory compliance standards and financial management profiles of the recipient organizations. We assume that similar scrutiny is undertaken for Government of Uganda agencies supported by the Fund,” the statement reads.
 
The CSOs warn the President against restricting the activities of development partners. They say - pointing out the recent announcement by the President of the country attaining COVID-19 vaccines through the COVACX initiative -  that these are the same partners who are putting money in projects that the country benefits from.
 
“The said European donors are providing funding to the Government of Uganda through bilateral development assistance to fund a wide range of government programs and public infrastructure projects,” the CSOs’ leaders say.