Uganda: Politics sinking Uganda into debt

Uganda's external debt last month hit an all-time high of $4.3 billion, despite a commitment by the government to reduce the burden, as the effects of the charged political atmosphere created by debate over President Yoweri Museveni's third term and the grant of a federal status to the Buganda kingdom begins to bite. Debt service payments have also risen from $133 billion in 1999/2000 to $172million in the 2002/03 financial year, before reaching the current rate of $180 million, thus making the benefits accruing from the debt relief initiative announced by donors in 1998 negligible.