Dutch warning on aid

The Dutch ambassador to Uganda, Matthew Peters, has warned Uganda that it risks losing budget support unless it does more to strengthen its democratic credentials. He was speaking on Wednesday at the signing of Uganda's budget support agreement, valued at € 23.9 million. "It is my great fear that the space for political parties will be opened up at a late stage, which would not allow sufficient time for the democratic process to run its course," he said. Political parties were banned in Uganda when President Yoweri Museveni’s National Resistance Movement (NRM) took power in 1986. Presidential and parliamentary elections were allowed, but forming parties was forbidden on the grounds that they were divisive. Since then, Museveni has agreed to restore multiparty politics, although some observers have pointed to restrictions such as the Political Parties and Organisations Act which forbids parties to campaign outside the capital. "Uganda has never had a peaceful transition of leadership," Peters added. To do so, he said, "would be a major step towards embedding a democratic tradition in Uganda". Uganda is the fourth biggest recipient of aid from the Netherlands.