Museveni denies “looting Congolese resources”

President Yoweri Museveni, addressing the Ugandan parliament at an extraordinary sitting to address the country’s presence in the DRC, said there was no truth in rumours that Uganda’s presence in the Congo was “somehow connected with the plundering and looting of the Congolese resources.” The DRC’s real wealth was its river transport network, its agriculture and its market potential, given a population of 50 million, he said. “In fact, if Uganda has got a real economic interest in Congo, it should be the market.

To sell what we produce, that would be the real interest of Uganda, but all this other talk is hogwash ... The UPDF is under very strict instructions not to engage in any economic activities in Congo territory,” Museveni told the assembly. Uganda had also welcomed a proposal that the UN should establish a commission of experts to investigate any illegal exploitation of Congo’s natural resources, he added. In Kisangani, Uganda’s main interest was political and not the extraction of gold, being centred on pushing for elections - in Kisangani, and Orientale more generally - so that the Congolese could elect their own leaders and establish democracy, Museveni said.