KAMPALA, May 2 (Xinhuanet) -- The Uganda President, Yoweri Museveni, has said that the country will cease to depend on donoraid if all tax leakages and evasions in the country are stopped.

    In a speech read for him by the country's Vice President Gilbert Bukenya to commemorate the International Labor Day on Sunday, Museveni said that the country can do without donor aid ifthe tax body, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) became able to stop tax leakages and evasions.

    "Recently, I met the management of URA and their thinking is that, if we can stop leakages in tax collection, we shall move to 18 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). This would translate to approximately 270 billion shillings (about 157.6 million US dollars) if the economy continues to grow at 5 to 6 percent," saidMuseveni.

    He said that he will oversee the operations of the tax body himself to ensure its efficiency.

    A URA report recently revealed that the total tax collection inMarch was 1.36 billion shillings (about 793,466 dollars) against targeted 1.32 billion shillings (about 770,128 dollars).

    President Museveni's comments come after the British governmentannounced last week that it is withholding aid of about 17 billionshillings (about 9.9 million dollars) to Uganda, citing inconsistencies in the political transition process that the country is currently going through.

    Museveni said donors can not continue to direct how the countryshould be managed, "the so-called donors can not continue to show us how we can manage the country."

    Donors, who contribute 52 percent of Uganda's national budget, have increasingly come out to criticize several aspects of the transitional process the country is going through including the proposed constitutional amendment of lifting the presidential termlimits. Enditem