Agents of foreign governments in USA are required to register with the US government and to file certain reports annually. Such reports may be available but I have not looked into it.
In the meantime, if you are wondering "Just who is Hill and Knowlton (H & K) and what do they do?", here is something to pique your curiosity:-
"Managing the Outrage is More Important than Managing the Hazard." (H&K)
"Hill and Knowlton has transformed the leaders of Latin American death squads into agents of altruism, tobacco pushers into health nuts, toxic waste generators into saviours of the wilderness."
-- Counterpunch
Friendly governments are only part of making a successful team. The big obstacle to overcome is a potentially surly public. For this you'll need to hire the right PR firm to spin the story, sell the product and above all, do damage control when things don't go according to script. Let's look at Spin Kings Hill and Knowlton.
They were hired to put the human face on the woes of Enron Exec Kenneth Lay. "The tears shed by Lay's latest trophy wife were scripted by public relations mavens from the powerhouse firm Hill and Knowlton."
(Tears of a Clown, Counterpunch) And talk about "Wagging the Dog" in the Gulf War:
"H & K's wartime propaganda on behalf of the Kuwait government-in-exile remains notorious, even within the PR trade. Buckmaster's (General Manager of H & K) firm engineered the infamous fraudulent testimony in which Iraqi soldiers were falsely accused of ripping Kuwaiti babies out of hospital incubators and leaving them on the floor to die."
Source: http://adamsmine.f2o.org/bennett/hg/hg13.htm
Comment: 'Shock and awe' -- and a deep sense of outrage
� �In the ensuing weeks, a righteously angry President George H.W. Bush repeatedly referred to this outrage in his speeches. Some observers believe this atrocity was instrumental in persuading many of the more dovish members of congress to support the president's military plans.
But there was a tiny problem with Nayirah's poignant tale: it never actually happened. As has been well-documented -- by news outlets such as the CBC, the Guardian and the Christian Science Monitor, and programs like 20/20 and 60 Minutes -- the incubator scam was concocted by international public relations giant Hill & Knowlton (H & K). The strategically vulnerable Nayirah, it turned out, was actually the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador.
CounterPunch columnist Mitchel Cohen, and many other critics, have pointed out that H & K also created a group called Citizens for a Free Kuwait, which Cohen describes as "a phony 'human rights agency' set up and funded entirely by Kuwait's [leadership] to promote its interests in the U.S." H & K was ideally placed to help Kuwait's oligarchy, according to Peter Wirth, CEO of a PR firm called GW Associates. The CEO of H & K, Craig Fuller, "had access to the power elite in Washington, as he had served as the President's chief of staff when Bush was Vice President under President Reagan."
Hill & Knowlton's sleazy machinations helped bring about a war which became an environmental disaster and produced an estimated 100,000 Iraqi corpses. The company has never been punished for these despicable actions; according to one report, they even bragged about it. I'm sure they are doing just fine, thank you -- probably selling used incubators in a city near you��
www.canadianchristianity.com/cgi-bin/na.cgi?nationalupdates/030403shock
The Lies Our Government Tells Us
�The first Gulf War was brought to you by Hill and Knowlton (H and K) the largest public relations firm in DC at the time. They concocted the story of babies being ripped out of incubators and the Iraqi build-up of 250,000 troops and 1500 tanks on the Saudi border�.all lies. H and K got $10 million for their services�.�
www.wakingplanet.com/03-2004.asp
www.xenu.net/archive/CourtFiles/occf31.html
Govt pays UK expert Shs 1.2bn in PR deal
By Pius Muteekani Katunzi
WEEKLY OBSERVERStung by an avalanche of bad publicity from foreign media and threatened with aid cuts and sanctions from major donors, the government has hired a London public relations firm to polish its image.
The bill to be picked by the Ugandan taxpayer is $700,000 (Shs 1.26 billion), and to execute the mission is Hill and Knowlton (H & K), a renowned, aggressive public relations firm with headquarters in Washington, DC.The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sam Kutesa, confirmed the deal to The Weekly Observer.
�Yes, it is true. But the money is far below $2 million. It is about $700,000,� he said on phone. Initial reports had suggested that the figure is approximately $2 million.
DEAL MAKERS: Kutesa (above) and John Miles
Kutesa also explained that the government had contracted a London law firm, Hunton and Williams, who in turn hired Hill and Knowlton to carry out the publicity campaign.Hill and Knowlton�s UK Executive Chairman of the Marketing Communications Division, Ms Marie Louise Windeler, also confirmed the deal, although she could not disclose the amount of money involved.
�Our company has been retained by the law firm, Hunton and Williams, to assist them in providing general advice to the government of Uganda in relation to constitutional, electoral and other national matters,� she said in an e-mail sent on May 8.
�You will appreciate that our retainer is very much a matter of client confidentiality, and we are not at liberty to disclose it to you,� Ms Windeler said when pressed on the bill.
Mr. John Miles, a partner in Hunton and Williams also confirmed that they were doing some work for Uganda. He was equally tight-lipped about the amount of money Uganda paid for the deal.
�There is no way in the world where a lawyer would reveal to you the money involved. I cannot do that. But certainly it is not $2 million. I wish you could convince them to give me that money. I would retire and give you some,� Miles said, bursting into laughter.
Keen not to contradict what the government�s new PR handlers had told The Weekly Observer, Kutesa said: �Whatever those people in London have told you, is true.�
Miles, who has worked in Nigeria, Egypt and Ethiopia, said his firm has been doing some work for Uganda for about seven years. He added that he knows the Minister of Defence, Amama Mbabazi and Sam Kutesa personally. He also confirmed that the two, together with Moses Byaruhanga, President Museveni�s private secretary for political affairs, were in London in April to broker the deal.
The goal of the Shs 1.2 billion-campaign is to generate positive publicity for the Movement government and neutralise critics in light of recent negative publicity in the western press.
President Museveni, formerly a darling of the West, has recently suffered a wave of image mauling, particularly on his attempt to cling onto power after the expiry of his term in 2006.
The Irish government is on the verge of withholding 2 million Euro (Shs 4.4 billion) in aid to Uganda, citing dissatisfaction with the political process.
Ireland�s decision comes on the heels of the British government�s own decision to withhold Shs 17 billion in budget support.Like Ireland, Britain cites Kampala�s handling of the transition process, particularly the lack of a level playing field for all political groups.
Because of the strained relations between the government and the British High Commission, Mbabazi, Kutesa and Byaruhanga attempted to pull the rag under the feet of UK�s Kampala�s mission by putting their case directly to the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw. They travelled to London in April but could not meet all the top dogs in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), as the ministers were busy campaigning for the May 5 elections won by the Labour government of Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The Uganda delegation at least met the head of the Africa Division at the FCO.
The British fear that Uganda may still want to �invade� her neighbours, especially Rwanda. London also suspects Uganda has �unholy� designs in eastern D.R. Congo and Southern Sudan. That is one reason London has turned down Uganda�s appeals to have British experts train the UPDF. Several other European countries have joined Britain in denying Uganda access to military hardware.In London, Byaruhanga, Kutesa and Mbabazi were however able to talk to journalists at The Economist, culminating in the rather favourable article, �A long-standing leader�s mixed legacy� on April 14. All three were quoted in the article.
�The people at The Economist had already prepared their article, but when we talked to them, they changed and included our views also,� Byaruhanga confirmed.
Beaming First Family
He conceded that the NRM government has been �arrogant� and not taken the management of both local and international media seriously.President Museveni�s Press Secretary Onapito Ekomoloit agrees that the government has not been that responsive to nosy journalists; and is now paying �a very heavy price� through negative publicity � especially in Europe and North America.
President Museveni is angry that donors do not seem to appreciate the good job he has done in Uganda.Reacting to the British government�s decision on aid, Museveni accused the donors of contributing to Uganda�s problems, including the persistent conflict in northern Uganda and load shedding. He said increased tax collection would wean Uganda off aid.
However, Uganda�s former admirers are not convinced. Irish rock star and philanthropist, Bob Geldof, threw a spanner in the works early this year when he told President Museveni to respect the constitution and step down at the end of his term next year.
Geldof is a member of the Tony Blair Africa Commission.And the bad publicity is spreading.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Uganda, Johnnie Carson recently published an article in the Boston Globe, warning that Museveni�s attempt to cling to power could drive Uganda down the path of Zimbabwe.
According to press reports this week, the World Bank may consider reducing its support to Uganda.�Since the bank cannot weight in explicitly on Uganda�s political process, this is the only mechanism at its disposal to signal concern,� said a World Bank-sponsored report cited in The New Vision.
�Conversely, the continued provision of high levels of budget support, especially when such support can be diverted into classified budgets and used for political purposes, indirectly involves the Bank in the political process,� added the report titled, �The Political Economy of Uganda-The Art of Managing a Donor-Financed Neo-Patrimonial State.�Against this background, the government is moving fast to re-build its image through western media by, among other things, �strategically planting� positive articles about President Museveni and Uganda in the foreign press.
In fact, the choice of H & K to do a facelift on the Movement government is no accident. Hill and Knowlton work for seedy clients and those with huge wallets. One of its executives once remarked, �We�d represent Satan, if he paid.�
In 1992, the Centre for Public Integrity (U.S.) published a report on lobbying and PR efforts by repressive regimes titled, �The Torturers� Lobby�. Hill and Knowlton topped the list of earnings, making $14 million in one year from a list of human rights abusing states, including Indonesia, China, Kuwait, Israel, Egypt, and Peru. They earned $1.2 million from Turkey alone from 1991-92.
The contract with China came shortly after the Tiananmen Square massacre in June 1989 when China needed to clean up its tarnished image.
The company is only known to have turned down Iraq�s deposed president Saddam Hussein � perhaps because of its past links with Kuwait.Their biggest ever contract was to conduct PR on behalf of the government of Kuwait (the Kuwait Royal family) after the invasion of Kuwait in August 1990.
The firm crafted a campaign to persuade the American people and the world to support an all out war against Saddam�s Iraq.President Museveni may sigh with relief now that some of his critics at the British High Commission in Kampala are leaving the country. Deputy High Commissioner Jon Elliott was due to return to London this week before moving to France next year; while Adam Wood, the High Commissioner, is leaving in July for a similar posting in Nairobi. London is replacing Wood with 52-year old Francois Gordon who previously served as British Ambassador to Algeria and Angola.
Local Perspective
At home, however, many eyebrows will be raised that the government could readily spend almost $1 million on an image-cleaning venture yet basic institutions such as Makekere University and Mulago Hospital are threatened with closure for lack of supplementary funding. Primary Teachers� Colleges (PTCs) are also threatened with a dead academic year because government has only provided 50% of the funds they need to keep running.
Mulago Hospital recently threatened to suspend some critical services, including emergency surgery, for lack of Shs 3 billion. The government has since released half that money � about the same amount it is paying to the PR firm in London.
�The cheapest way to clean your image is not to waste taxpayers� money on foreign PR firms. Just do the right things at home,� said a local government critic who asked not to be named.
Many Ugandans would, perhaps, agree with that.- Additional Notes
by Ogen Kevin AliroWhat else can Shs 1.2bn do?
The Shs 1.2 billion government is paying a firm in London for image building is enough to pay the monthly salary of 3,000 secondary school teachers.
Each fresh secondary school teacher earns Shs 400,000 per month. Thus Shs 1.2 billion is enough to pay 3,000 of them.Likewise, Shs 1.2 billion could pay salaries for 8,571 soldiers at the rank of private. Privates in the UPDF earn Shs 140,000 a month each.
The money is enough to dig 300 boreholes for rural dwellers in the countryside who, according to Uganda National Bureau of Statistics figures, walk five kilometres to water points. Digging a borehole costs Shs 4 million but in some cases Shs 2 million is sufficient.Only 65 percent of rural residents have access to safe water.
Medical doctors with master�s degrees and PhDs (consultants) earn Shs 1.3 million a month each. The money spent on the image building exercise is thus enough to pay 923 medical consultants.Makerere University spends Shs 9.6 million to train a medical doctor for the duration of five years. The money to be spent on the Movement government�s image is enough to train 125 medical doctors at Mulago.
Because of inadequate funds, Makerere�s Medical School graduates only 133 medical doctors per year and Mbarara University of Science and Technology about 60.
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