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Vol 55 No 19

Published 26th September 2014


Uganda

Putting US aid to other uses

Museveni uses Obama's security assistance for the fight against Al Shabaab to crack down on the opposition as well

United States' military aid and training in surveillance techniques is helping President Yoweri Museveni's government to crack down on the opposition, say political sources in Kampala. It even played a role, we hear, in a confrontation between Museveni and his old ally Amama Mbabazi, whom he sacked as Prime Minister on 21 September. Washington is bolstering the capabilities of the Ugandan People's Defence Forces with the aim of making them, and the United Nations-backed African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), more effective in the fight against the jihadist Haraka al Shabaab al Mujahideen. The US Agency for International Development, which provided nearly US$200 million in aid in 2012, describes Uganda as 'a critical force for regional stability in East Africa and a key partner to the United States in the region'.

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