One of the issues President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni was concerned with when he ordered finance minister Matia Kasaija to suspend the operations of Democratic Governance Facilty (DGF) was the fund’s refusal to include a Ugandan on the board.
In his letter dated January 02, Museveni expressed disappointment that the finance ministry had allowed DGF to operate without offering representations to Ugandans that the biggest NGO funder said it was serving.
“Ugandans, whose affairs are being dealt with, were told that they are only fit to be ‘resource persons who may be consulted on an adhoc basis’ by the foreign missions. This is contemptuous and scandalous,” the president went on.
“How is it possible that the Ugandans whose affairs are being dealt with here can only be spectators in the management of their affairs? This is not the financing of a private business but the funding of state and non-state actors to achieve the political objectives of the the funders in Uganda.”
Museveni was annoyed that the seven-man board comprised only representatives from missions of the seven countries that contribute to the fund: Austria, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands, Ireland and the EU.
Here are the seven board members of DGF Uganda:
- William Carlos: (Board Chair) Ambassador, Ireland
- Roswitha Kremser: Head of Office, Austria
- Nicolaj Hejberg Petersen: Ambassador, Denmark
- Attilio Pacifici: Head of Delegation, European Union
- Karin Boven: Ambassador, Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Elin Ostebo Johansen: Ambassador, Norway
- Per Lindgärde: Ambassador, Sweden
