Goal chief executive Mr John O'Shea today accused the Government of having a "credibility problem" over its continued financial aid to Uganda.
His comments followed this morning's publication of an Oireachtas joint committee report into Ireland's development aid programme to Uganda that highlighted the advances the country has made in combating HIV/AIDs and poverty.
Mr John O'Shea, Chief executive of Goal
Last year Development Co-operation Ireland (DCI), the state body responsible for financial assistance to developing countries, donated €32 million to Uganda from the current €480 million aid budget.
However, Mr O'Shea, claims this support is "misguided" and said the Ugandan President, Mr Yoweri Museveni, is rated by the UN as "the 6th most corrupt politician in the world".
He argues President Museveni's implication in the slaughter of five million people in the DR Congo and the looting of that country's mineral wealth amounts to "a greater trail of destruction than both Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda".
A recent independent judicial commission in to the plundering of DR Congo's diamonds by Uganda cleared President Museveni of any direct involvement but resulted in prosecutions of his senior military officers and business leaders.
Currently the Ugandan president is the subject of an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for a massacre earlier this year in the northeast of the country.
Mr O'Shea argues the Government recently redirected €10 million in aid to Uganda because it feared an ICC indictment might occur during its EU presidency term.
However, Dr Michael Woods, chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, rejected Mr O'Shea's claims, stressing the DCI money was "carefully targeted and focused".
He pointed out "most African governments are tainted by corruption" but said this "does not mean we should abandon them". He said: "Africa has been ignored by the world for too long. We must do our best to facilitate democracy there."
He also compared the situation to the Northern peace process, arguing that little progress would have been achieved if we had not "brought in groups like Sinn Féin and the IRA.
"Mr O'Shea wants to keep concentrating on the past but I believe we should try to build for the future."