Officials from China with Ugandan MPs
A section of Legislators has asked the Chinese Government to reduce on the interest rates charged on loans to Uganda if Uganda is to benefit from the decades long friendship and corporation the two nations have enjoyed.
The request was made by Nandala Mafabi (Budadiri West MP) during a meeting held between Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa and the Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference alongside the Chairman of the Central Committee of China Zhi Gong Party, during their courtesy visit to Parliament yesterday.
“There is also the issue of capital loans, we would request the Government of China, if they are giving Uganda loans, they should be at concessional rate as the other multi-nationals, maybe at 1%, instead of being very expensive so that they make up the infrastructure cost and this is the cost for the people in Uganda and yet we have a corporation with the people of China,” remarked Nandala.
His appeal comes at the time the May 2025 Minority report to the 2025/25 National Budget, authored by Ibrahim Ssemujju, Shadow Minister of Finance expressed concerns over the skyrocketing debt Uganda is owing China, having hit the UGX9.2Trn mark.
According to the Minority report, China has become the biggest beneficiary of Uganda’s debt servicing with records from the Ministry of Finance indicating that as at December 2024, Uganda paid China $178.744 million (UGX679.228Bn) of which UGX212.214Bn was paid as interest, while UGX13.2 Billion was payment of commission and other fees.
The Minority report revealed that currently, Uganda owes China UGX9.2 trillion and only World Bank with UGX18.3 trillion has lent Uganda more, although Chinese loans are very expensive as compared to the ones obtained from World Bank, thus prompting Ssemujju to urge Parliament to discourage government from recklessly contracting Chinese commercial banks’ loans.
