Contaminated Politics
Contaminated Politics
The politics of Uganda is highly skewed and contaminated like its domestic water supply system ,the parliament of Uganda is oblivious of it's oversight functions, on various occasions ,I have read reports of the parliament enormously approving million of dollars for water purification ,sanitation of the water ,filtration , supply improvements and system upgrades in different phases. With these billions of loans they have approved to revamp the water system it emerges the loans and grants is being used to supply households with piped water contaminated with human waste or excreta.
While the president audaciously claims poor hygiene is the reason for the typhoid beyond this outbreak be assured fast on the heels of typhoid expect the outbreak of Water related diseases:
Water borne diseases spread by contamination of drinking water systems with the urine and feces of infected animal or people.
This is likely to occur where public and private drinking water systems get their water from surface waters (rain, creeks, rivers, lakes etc.), which can be contaminated by infected animals or people. Runoff from landfills, septic fields, sewer pipes, residential or industrial developments can also sometimes contaminate surface water.
I have summarized the funds sunk in this Big Elephant in a room water projects below:
AFD: EUR 75 million loan
EIB: EUR 75 million loan
KfW: EUR 20 million grant
EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund
EUR 8 million investment grant
National contribution: EUR 34 million.
These funds are to support National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) in the up-grading and rehabilitation of the existing water treatment, transmission and distribution systems, as well as the development of a new water system and water treatment plant east of Kampala. The total cost of these investments is estimated at EUR 212m. All loan and financing agreements, as well as the Common.
The EU-AITF has supported some projects with two grant operations, a technical assistance of EUR 8m for expert services to the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) and an interest rate subsidy of EUR 14m for subsidizing AFD’s loan financing of EUR 75m for the project.
On the 5th of October 2011, the Bank approved the Uganda Water Supply and Sanitation Pro gramme designed to support the Government of Uganda towards achieving its goals for 2015 for water supply and sanitation.
In another ADF loan Euro 1,00,080 under AWF towards an Urban poor Sanitation project (KUPSIP) targeting 200,000 beneficiaries in informal settlements of Kampala capital city.
The Global Environment Fund (GEF/LDCF) has also approved USD 8.3m toward climate proofing of the bank funded Water Supply and Sanitation Program.
Bottom line where do these astronomical amounts of approved loans and budgetary allocation in development of the water sector end up? How is the country going to attain a middle income status by 2017 as promised by the president if we can not meet the demands of improving basic sanitation?what will he ever get right if after 30 years in power his regime is piping feces into households?.
The government made a commitment to supply sustainable safe water to Ugandans by 2015 ,instead its renegade on its promises like every other failed provision of services.
Museveni rhetoric of promising heaven on earth to Ugandans has become part and parcel of his life rule project ,he is always inconsistent with the truth, projects,grants,loans and programs have turned into his pet project of buying patronage to entrench himself and the system.
White elephant in a room is going to be a legacy Museveni will leave and to the legislators who are obsessed with abetting the loot through runaway levels of corruption and patronage ,you should be ashamed of the level of indebtedness you will trap the future generation of Uganda.
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