| KAMPALA � Neither the Ministry of Finance nor Parliament approved the Shs1.2 billion that the government is paying a top British firm to help improve its image abroad, several officials have said.
"I do not know anything about that deal and my ministry did not [ask for any money] to that effect; may be they tapped into the State House vote," said Mr Isaac Musumba, the minister of state in charge of planning in the Ministry of Finance.
The chairman of Parliament's Finance Committee, Mr Bright Rwamirama, said he suspects the government "could be illegally charging on the Consolidated Fund without our approval and that is illegal".
The Consolidated Fund is where the government keeps all its money, including taxes it collects from individuals and businesses.
Parliament is consequently taking up the matter and will debate it on Tuesday.
Samia Bugwe North MP Aggrey Awori said he would table the issue before his colleagues to demand that State House explains the source of the money that he says MPs never approved.
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IN CHARGE: Mr Kutesa |
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NO DETAILS: Mr Nagenda |
"They must be using taxpayers' money," said Mr Awori, who sits on the Presidential and Foreign Affairs Committee. "We have not approved such amounts of money. They must give us an explanation."
On Thursday, The Weekly Observer reported that the government would pay Hill and Knowlton (H & K), a high profile London-based public relations firm, up to $700,000 (Shs1.2 billion) to help burnish the image of the Kampala regime abroad amid growing negative publicity.
On Thursday, Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa, who is in charge of the deal, said the government would be spending $675,000, although he did not reveal the source of the money. Efforts to get further comment from the minister have been unfruitful since Thursday.
The bad press that the Museveni government has been getting stems from strong donor criticism about its poor handling of the transition to multiparty politics and the President's widely suspected move to amend the Constitution and run for a third term next year.
Mr Onapito Ekomoloit, the President's press secretary, said the expenditure is legal as long as the money is accounted for.
"This falls under media and public relations expenditure; we spend and later account for it to the Auditor General," he said.
However, Senior Presidential Advisor on Media and Public Relations John Nagenda said he was unaware of Kutesa's deal but said it would be good for the country's image.
"I do not have details of this deal. About four years ago I was directed to try and find a PR company of this kind but they were demanding half a million pounds and government said it did not have that money but if the money has now been found that's good," Nagenda said.
He then added: "The problem with these companies is that they are very expensive and whatever they bring out, people will say after all they have been paid for it.
"But I am bringing people like the BBC and others who are coming to interview the President and who have another way of doing it."
Nagenda also said that companies such as H&K "should have their work reviewed after six months to see whether it has an impact on the country's image".
It is not clear how long H&K will help polish the Kampala regime's image for the money it has been paid.
Dr James Rwanyarare of the opposition UPC said it was "unfair to the Ugandan people for Museveni to spend public money on his tainted image".
The British government recently withheld Shs17 billion in aid, saying not enough had been done to prepare for a return to multiparty politics. The Irish government followed by retrieving Shs4 billion; while a World Bank-commissioned report has also recommended aid cuts to Uganda over the next three years, arguing that recent political developments have jeopardised the country's development agenda.
It is in light of these negative developments that the government is spending big to whitewash its image. And it is not the first time.
In the early days of this government, Museveni is said to have paid Maureen Reagan (RIP), the daughter of the late President Ronald Reagan, to lobby the US government on Uganda's behalf.
In the 1990s, as corruption accusations flew about regarding the privatisation process, the government paid well over $1 million to Burson-Marsteller (B-M), another large UK-based PR firm, to do damage control.
Currently, Parliament is questioning Shs900 million the government says is to pay for public relations work done by Ms Rosa Whittaker, a former Clinton official responsible for trade in Africa, through her American-based Whittaker Group.
H&K confirmed its contract with the Ugandan government to the British newspaper, the Guardian on Friday. Mr James Barbour, associate director, said: "What we are doing is encouraging dialogue between the Ugandan government and people like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty, Oxfam. It's not about spinning a different version of the truth, it's about making sure that the Ugandans are having the right conversations with the right people." | 
