Minister says more defence spending will protect aid workers

Uganda’s first deputy prime minister and minister for disaster preparedness Moses Ali on Wednesday said defence had to be beefed up to provide security for humanitarian workers in the country. Speaking at the launch of the UN's humanitarian appeal to donors in Kampala, he said there was some "confusion" over Uganda's needs. “The donors say to us ‘you must reduce the defence budget’ and at the same time you say you want military escorts for your aid workers and that we are a weak government because we cannot protect our people from the rebels," he stated. "What is this confusion? You are traumatising us.” Donors have said Uganda must not be permitted to spend more than two percent of its GDP on defence. But Ugandan government officials, including President Yoweri Museveni, have complained repeatedly that the restriction is too draconian for a country suffering from an insurgency. “We have tried to always provide escorts for the humanitarian agencies,” Ali said. “But some understandably do not want soldiers sitting in their trucks, which are supposed to be ‘neutral’. In that case, we are asking for more money to buy more military trucks so that we can escort them safely.” The UN is appealing for nearly US $128 million to meet humanitarian needs in Uganda.