Uganda to pay DRC US$10b for plundering resources

Government has finally agreed to pay court awards to the Government of the Democratic republic of Congo amounting to US$10bn.

In 1999, then DRC president Laurent Kabila dragged Uganda at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing it of plundering resources and committing crimes against humanity in the eastern part of the country.

The court ruled in Congo's favour and ordered Uganda to pay $10bn in damages.

The revelation was made before the Legal and Parliamentary affairs committee after MPs piled pressure on to the Solicitor General, Francis Atooke, about the status of the debt.

The Justice Minister, Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafiire, told the committee Uganda is initiating talks for the matter to be settled outside the courts of law.

Otafire insisted that he would be travelling to Kinshasa next week for talks about the debt.

He also assured the lawmakers that Uganda has not embarked on any program to see it quitting the ICC as preferred by the head of state.