| Tales of rich investors who get handouts from State House | ||
| March 21, 2006 | ||
| Way too many schemers have received their blessing to rob Ugandans blind from the loftiest office in our land. And what sleight of hand do they employ to get past the brooding gates watched by the hawk-eyed men and women of the fearsome Presidential Guard Brigade? For those who expect an intriguing tale of magicians with rattling bags of tricks snapping open the portals to influence, power, and riches, I'm sorry to disappoint. No, there is no abracadabra. All an aspiring scam artist need do is talk and walk like an investor. That 's right. Play the high roller and you're likely to have doors swing open even before you knock. Which usually means that even an empty suit or robe accompanied by obsequious sidekicks carrying briefcases has a fat chance. Take the case of Prince Al Waleed Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. By many accounts the world's fifth richest man, this Saudi billionaire hotelier is about to get wealthier by acquiring a Shs10 billion piece of prime real estate in Kampala from our government as a gift. So, how did it happen that a filthy rich man gets a donation from the impoverished Ugandan government? The story is still unfolding, but from what we now know, we can extrapolate that while drinking tea with President Yoweri Museveni, Prince Al Waleed laid the basis for a deal sweeter than any State House beverage. For the promise of planting a gleaming five-star hotel in Kampala, just in time for the 2007 Commonwealth Summit, the prince gets for free a 99-year lease on the 14-ac re plot on which Shimoni Demonstration School and Shimoni Teachers College now sit. Kingdom Holdings International (KHI), the prince's real estate company which is pursuing this deal, will not pay any of the estimated Shs10 billion cost of relocating the two educational institutions.
Our government will be stuck with that bill, on top of gifting away the Shs10 billion plot in the name of attracting an investor. And here is the icing on the cake Chef Museveni and company are baking for Prince Al Waleed: KHI will most likely receive a 10-year tax holiday from the day the hotel opens its doors, in addition to a basket of customs dues exemptions on construction mat erials and other inducements. Listening to how Uganda Investment Authority boss Maggie Kigozi and Semakula Kiwanuka, the minister of state for investment, are stretching credulity to explain this extreme case of the tick donating blood to the cow, one senses a mixture of ignorance, naivete, collusion, sleaze, and desperation in government circles when it comes to attracting foreign capital. Giving away family silver The NRM has an unenviable track record of giving away the family silver for a song, often to the detriment of our economy and environment. The KHI deal just happens to be an obscene example of the breathtaking incompetence with which the regime has handled matters of public finance and investments. From the acquisition of junk helicopters to fire sales of public enterprises, the country has witnessed what can only be called a 20-year bonanza for every sleaze bag smart enough to do the investor's routine. Some State House guests, like Prince Al Waleed and Sheik Mohammed Al-Amoudi (owner of the Addis Ababa-based Midroc group) are otherwise bankable businessmen men or women, who with more sensible policies could actually bring investments into the country. But since the peddlers of international finance capital are overwhelmingly not saints, the NRM regime's very low estimation of Uganda's worth and ranking makes us a magnet for predatory businesses that have the audacity to demand to be handsomely bribed to even consider setting up shop in our country. Thus, rather than attract serious capital, we tend to get driftwood on our shores, such as the BCCI mafia of the 1980s, the wheelers and dealers associated with Westmont Land (Asia) Bhd the Malaysian company lined up by Salim Saleh, President Yoweri Museveni's brother, to buy UCB, the Sri Lankan owners of Tri-Star Apparel who need multi million-dollar doles to prop up the lame lie that Uganda has a viable textile industry, or the recently deceased money launderer Arthur Van Brink (also known as Gilbert Allen Zigler), who charmed his way into NRM and allied Congolese rebel circles with sweet talk of investment banking. The common thread linking these modern-day pirates is that they correctly recognise that Uganda has been primed for the taking by our unscrupulous, if not clueless, ruling class. Almost to a man, the buccaneers rightly or wrongly boast connections to State House. Once upon a time, Museveni derided his predecessor Godfrey Binaisa for debasing State House by writing chits for businessmen from its hallowed grounds. The President used to take pride in pointing out that he wasn't that kind of leader. Many years later, the NRM has perfected the art of government by dispensing patronage to all manner of clients through chits emanating from State House. Ministers and other creatures lower on the totem pole have been quick to emulate the example, if not orders, from above. The moral of this story is that the President needs to get out of the business of (re)writing the rules of the investment game as it plays. Until that happens, there will always be some truth to the cynical quip that the best way to catch a high-profile thief in Uganda is to lay a trap on the road to State House. Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
Michael BWambuga wa Balongo
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