By Sandra Birungi

Uganda has refunded the money she was asked by the government of Norway to refund after massive mismanagement of the funds in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) was discovered.

A total of 30 million euros was given back to the Norwegian government roughly sh107b and $40m. The refund of the money was confirmed by Norway’s International Development Minister, Heikki Holmås who stressed that despite the money refund, Norway will never offer help to the Ugandan government again.

Norway’s International Development Minister, Heikki Holmås

The money was meant for the northern Uganda reconstruction program and Mr. Holmas said stealing the money was like stealing for a poor person.

At the time of withdrawing their help, Mr. Holmas said, “It’s totally unacceptable that aid is being misused. Any form of corruption is a theft from the poor. Norway has a zero tolerance for corruption and monetary abuse. Norway has requested the money that has been abused be paid back. Uganda has agreed to refund the entire amount that has been revealed to have been misused.”

Norway joined countries like Ireland, Denmark and Britain, among others to withdraw aid from Uganda after it was discovered that the aid money was being banked personally by a few individuals. Ireland and Denmark also want money refund.