US treasury boss coming soon

By Richard Mutumba THE US Treasury Secretary, Paul O’Neill, will visit Uganda next month during a tour of four African countries, the US embassy in Kampala said yesterday.O’Neill’s trip will cover Ghana, South Africa and Ethiopia.“Uganda has experienced rapid economic growth and significant poverty reduction in recent years and was the first country to receive debt reduction under the HIPC programme,” the embassy said.While in Uganda, O’Neill will focus on conditions necessary to make development aid effective and learn more about Uganda’s efforts to limit the spread of HIV/AIDS and promote universal primary education.Last year, the US Secretary of State, Collin Powell, visited Uganda to promote ties between the two states after the enactment of the Africa Growth Opportunities Act.Recently, US president George Bush announced his Millenium Challenge Account initiative that will give more aid to countries that exhibit good governance and implementation of development policies.