Kampala – Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has lifted an 18-month ban on a European-backed programme that promotes democracy and human rights in the East African country, his office said on Friday.
The government had suspended the activities of the Democratic Governance Facility after accusing it of meddling by allegedly sponsoring opposition parties ahead of the January 2021 election that returned Museveni to power.
Museveni’s decision followed an appeal by Denmark’s Minister for Development Cooperation Flemming Miller Mortensen, whose country is one of the backers of the DGF along with another seven European partners.
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The president said after meeting Mortensen that the DGF, which was first set up in 2011, could run until December 2022, when the project was due to expire.
He said on Twitter on Wednesday however that it would operate “with the government represented in the decision-making”.
According to its vision statement, the DGF aims to promote “a Uganda where citizens are empowered to engage in democratic governance and the state upholds citizens’ rights”.
In May, a Ugandan court ordered the government to reconsider its decision to suspend the country’s most prominent rights organisation, after its operations were forced to a halt last August.
Chapter Four was one of 54 NGOs ordered to suspend activities in the wake of the presidential election which saw opposition leaders arrested, activists disappeared and several dozen people gunned down.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Getty Images
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