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China Has Not taken Over Our Airport – Ugandan Govt

Ugandan government says China has not taken over its only international airport.

Gatekeepers News reports that the Ugandan government and Chinese embassy in the country have denied the viral media reports that China has taken over the Entebbe International Airport.

Last week, a section of the Media (not Gatekeepers News) reported that Uganda has “surrendered” its only international airport and other assets in the country to China over an unpaid loan deal.

The report further stated that the East African country signed an agreement with the Chinese Exim Bank in 2015 to borrow $207 million at two per cent upon disbursement for the “expansion and upgrading project” of the airport.

According to the reports, the failure of the Ugandan government to meet up its financial obligations has put the country’s critical assets in the hands of the Chinese lenders.

Entebbe which handles over 1.9 million passengers annually, is said to be Uganda’s only international airport.

The story of the Chinese takeover has sparked different reactions online and in public discourse and the implications of Chinese loans in Africa.

The Chinese embassy in Uganda said it has not taken over the asset of the East African country in a statement on Sunday.

The embassy wrote, “All loan agreements, including that of the Entebbe Airport Expansion and Upgrading Project, are voluntarily signed by both parties through dialogue and negotiation on equal footing without any hidden terms or political conditions attached.

“Terms of the loan agreement for Entebbe Airport Expansion and Upgrading Project are in full compliance with the prevailing conventions and practices in the international financial market. The malicious allegation that “Uganda Surrenders Key Assets for China Cash” has no factual basis and is ill-intended only to distort the good relations that China enjoys with developing countries including Uganda.

“Not a single project in Africa has ever been “confiscated” by China because of failing to pay Chinese loans. On the contrary, China firmly supports and is willing to continue our efforts to improve Africa’s capacity for home-driven development.”

The Spokesperson of the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA), Vianney Luggya, in another statement said the viral media reports on the takeover of the airport is false.

Luggya said, “I wish to make it categorically clear that the allegation that Entebbe Airport has been given away for cash is false. The government of Uganda can’t give away such a national asset. We have said it before and repeat that it has not happened. There isn’t an ounce of truth in it.”

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