News analysis Health Business

Launch of the Panic as China stops Why blood shortage Banks rollout lebrating
Mutebile centre import of plastics hit hospitals agent banking Ce

Issue No. 504 Jan 19 - 25, 2018 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8
Years

Surprises in 2018/19
budget plan
Finance Ministry makes right
moves, but timing could be wrong
Works &
Agriculture transport
831.7 Bn 4,706.7 Bn
Interest
Accountability payment
866.4 Bn 2,700.7 Bn

Justice/Law
order 29.2 Energy &
mineral
1,104.2 Bn
Trillion development
2,529.2 Bn

Security
Education
1,356.6 Bn
2, 419.2 Bn
Public sector
mgt Health
1,448.9 Bn 1,636.1 Bn

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Celebrating
         
         
INSIDE: BUSINESS
Economic
POLITICS: Godber SUDAN: Matthew Museveni’s vision
GOVERNANCE: FEATURE NEWS  A NALYSIS NEWS  A NALYSIS Why do experts, World Bank
anxieties

Charles Onyango- Tumushabe on Stein on the want shift in strategy?

Poverty looms as
gambling booms
Obbo on the new lessons from Ivory South’s walk to Foreign big-money Police PRO reappointed Experts divided NEWS  ANALYSIS NEWS  ANALYSIS BUSINESS

look of corruption Coast crisis freedom investment frenzy in again as major changes over HIV Teachers on Museveni can Shs 68 trillion
Tullow’s backyard rock force strategy new transfer save Zziwa but economy
policy what after?
Emirates Airlines in control

INDEPENDENT
Issue No. 239 November 09 - 15 , 2012 Ushs 5000, Kshs 200, RwF 1500, SDP 8
THE

You Buy the Truth, We Pay the Price Issue 144 January 07 - 13, 2011 Ushs 4000, Kshs 180, RwF 1200, SDP 6

Issue No. 230 September 07 - 13, 2012 Ushs 5000, Kshs 200, RwF 1500, SDP 8
Issue No. 347 December 12 - 18, 2014 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8
Obama II Win  excites  world Papal Visit

The Besigye, Museveni

How Museveni killed Amama’s vision Exercise, diet against IMF cuts Uganda’s 16-page
anti-Lukwago Bill for Uganda cancer of prostate growth prospects Special
Edition

problem

Secret
As  seen  from  the  
delegates  conference
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oil deals
New  rules  to  force   www.independent.co.ug

CNOOC,  Total,  Tullow  

to  reveal  money  paid  
By  Haggai  Matsiko

Welcome
Inside the hunt
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          Issue 347.indd 1 12/9/14 8:21 PM

Pope
for Al Shabaab
INTERVIEW NEWS ANALYSIS BUSINESS
Land grabbers
50 years of Joy & tears
All Makerere money Crane Bank

A SPECIAL INVESTIGATION
should be put in
one basket for
better staff pay
hit Entebbe






















opens Malaba
Branch
Shs 234 Bn brewery opens
INSIDE:  Prof.  Frederick  Jjuko,  Prof.Daniel  Schydlowsky,  Prof.  John  Ssali,  Lawrence  Kagwa,  Mayanja  Nkangi,  Prof.  
Mwambutsya  Ndeebesa,  Godber  Tumushabe,  Maj.  John  Kazoora,  Yoga  Adhola,  Eliya  Kisembo,  Andrew  Mwenda,  Abbey  
Francis
Ssemuwemba,  Naomi  Wolf,  Simon  Mayende,  Moses  Byaruhanga,  Moses  Matovu,  Diplock  Ssegawa,  Ronald  Kerajo 27: 11: 2015
By Andrew M. Mwenda THE ANNIVERSARY EDITION
         

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INTERVIEW INSIGHT BUSINESS NEWS  ANALYSIS TRIBUTE:   BUSINESS
Economy on Why
www.independent.co.ug
Issue No. 234 October 05 - 11, 2012 Ushs 5000, Kshs 200, RwF 1500, SDP 8 Museveni Call rates stay up Independence Ali Al’amin NSSF’s
speech was thin but UCC says new
track- IMF on substance law will compel
Day in
pictures
Mazrui
Feb.24  1933  to  
Shs 366
billion

Museveni’s war within NRM

RWANDA: 37 men SUDAN: What are the COMMENT Prof. SPECIAL REPORT: SUDAN:INew BUSINESS: With RWANDA: SUDAN:Recent violence BUSINESS: Oct.13,  2014
accused of grenade implications for the Ian Buruma on Killed by the state currency still govt broke, oil Rwanda becomes in Abyei has potential Mobile money:
attacks are alleged ongoing stalemate in why Obama has at Kololo army base, shrouded in firms gain upper a Nyakatsiless to spark a wider north- So far so good,
FDLR agents Darfur? gotten it right buried in secret grave secrecy hand country south conflict but…





 








INDEPENDENT INDEPENDENT INDEPENDENT
THE
THE

THE

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Supplement
Uganda Health system
strengthening project
scholarships

Tight budget
scheme

The  challenge  behind  the  2012/13  numbers What next

Banks make for Afande
Lord Mayor huge profits Kaweesi?
Lukwago 


  
Police  boss  Kayihura’s  
The  ‘Field  Commander’   


 

brings  common  man’s   Crane  Bank  


 
approach  to  the  city billion

Besigye pays the price

FDC  leader  unleashes  powerful  strategy  against    Museveni  

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RWANDA: SUDAN:IDanger of NEWS: Budget reading Economic turbulence War looms large in
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Can its’ economy NGO’s providing basic Whistleblower is ritual of same won’t shake the South Kordofan,
services to almost Abyei and Darfur
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Q&A BUSINESS
Avalanche of banks
ROAD  TO  2016 NEWS  ANALYSIS BUSINESS
Richard Byarugaba Don’t BoU committed
spiraling birth rate? 90% of the country ring inside tax body on reducing NSSF politicise `The country Foreign
suspense account fight against
corruption
EU to lead new UN
energy initiative World Paul Kagame, Yoweri Museveni, Barack Obama, Uhuru Kenyatta, Goodluck is about to be
plunged
TV wins
to ensuring
economic

INDEPENDENT
Jonathan, Bill Clinton, Augustine Ruzindana, Olara Otunnu, Ssebaana Kizito,
mourns Gerald Ssendaula, Pope Francis, Andrew Mwenda, Yusuf Sserunkuma,
Rebecca Kadaga, Kintu Musoke, Norbert Mao, Paul Kawanga Ssemwogerere,
into chaos’ stability
THE

Mandela
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Issue No. 212, May 04 - 10, 2012

Amama Mbabazi, Ruhakana Rugunda, Prince William...
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SUPPLEMENT:

Kayihura sacks
BUJAGALI LINE

Land grabbing,
You Buy the Truth, We Pay the Price Issue No. 159, April 22 - 28, 2011 Ushs 4000, Kshs 180, RwF 1200, SDP 6
COMMISSIONED
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top police officers investors exposed

Museveni  reacts,  Oxfam,  Uganda  
Is  it  punishment  or  a  purge? Land  Alliance  in  trouble   Issue No. 295 December 13 - 19, 2013 Ushs 5000, Kshs 200, RwF 1500, SDP 8

2016
Election
         
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Security  experts  

Walk www.independent.co.ug
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Corruption in
RWANDA
Rwanda’s
BUSINESS
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Unwanted
INTERVIEW
Politics should
BUSINESS
In-flight catering
raise  alarm  over  






to war
High costs threaten comes of age
low cost housing investors be a sacrifice -
F
C igh
Uganda business capital sector
Making  resource  
rich  regions   Dr Ian Clarke Wining but not winning, yet
orr ti
INTERVIEW:
Besigye wants to
RWANDA:
Is corruption on
SUDAN:
South Kordofan’s up ng
in  Uga
nda 
 






American  companies  make?
inflows firm Rwanda targets medical tourism become  food  poor
ti
topple the govt - the rise in the EAC’s volatile governor on
Public  anger  greets   Kabushenga cleanest country? vote
Museveni  even            
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before  he  is  sworn–in  

INDEPENDENT Nelson
THE

NEWS  A NALYSIS INTERVIEW BUSINESS

Mandela
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learn Police Force’
1918-2013
Uganda, Sudan How Monitor was






SUDAN:
South Sudan’s
COMMENT: Onyango-
Obbo: Museveni won
BUSINESS:
Ugandan business SPECIAL REPORT: RWANDA: INTERVIEW:
Cut down on
ICC trial looms over Special Commemorative Issue

closed, re-opened
From bitter rivals

enter arms race

How Museveni’s

Kayihura, Kivejinja
free or fearful because he is bad, not women coming teargas and
good president into their own success is creating to friends - how
press? conditions for Kagame and increase teachers
his downfall Sarkozy reconciled pay- Prof. Kajubi

INDEPENDENT
THE

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Museveni  doubles  military  expenditure,   The  Inside  Story www.independent.co.ug





NEWS  ANALYSIS INTERVIEW BUSINESS

Makerere
Issue 295 copy peter new.indd 1 12/10/13 4:04 PM
Central Bank Ministers Bank profit

Inside Umeme




to investigate have become delight
Was it under fire MTN too lazy
Big regional trade boost
News  analysis
Besigye  gains  in  the  east,   


 

Interview
WFP  launches  
Business
Low  tea  price   EAC  Top  donor  

bought Museveni  sweeps  the  north   related  violence   
 

worries aid  recipients

shares deal
University’s  problems  go  beyond  












or stolen? pay  and  strikes



 


!
%#$&




  




Issue No. 362 April 03 - 09 , 2015 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8
Issue No. 404 Feb. 05 - 11, 2016 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8

















Electricity  sector  


 






Politicians battle over  


Shs800 billion








Sejusa’s money,  investor  

 
 
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arrest
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www.independent.co.ug What Museveni
         
camp feared
By Haggai Matsiko

NEWS ANALYSIS: Are government INTERVIEW NEWS  ANALYSIS BUSINESS

HEALTH NEWS  ANALYSIS BUSINESS

INTERVIEW: officials are lying on oil? Telecom fees to drop Health Spying Imperial Bank’s
Grounds exist for Museveni financial woes
Museveni is in REGIONAL: UNHCR’s direction affirms Rwanda’s a rebellion - Col. insurance's on wrong
the midst of a stability, yet some refugees remain sceptical losing support, Online fraudsters empty promises `enemy’ Large consumers task Umeme
Tsunami Felix Kulayigye Besigye gaining threaten car market
BUSINESS: Greasy path for Uganda’s oil industry

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Issue No. 208, April 06 - 12, 2012 Ushs 5000, Kshs 200, RwF 1500, SDP 8

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Fight over
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Why is Museveni          
Fina M
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building region’s nc inis

strongest army? oil pipeline STOP PRESS
World shocked as
government shuts
BUSINESS

Bad debts
relee qu try of
asesarte
r IV
NEWS  ANALYSIS FOREIGN  PRESS
UNEB In Uganda,
BUSINESS
Unhoused
News  analysis
Museveni’s  bread  and  bullets  
Health
Unease  as  only  cancer  treatment  
Business

 

ERA  announces  
Uganda  outspends  Kenya  on  military   
 


 
down Daily Monitor
choking banks experiment it’s bust generation 


 machine  breaks  down investor  quits 


Besigye predicts: 




 Chinese  plans  for  Uganda  oil and Red Pepper
Experts  warn  banks  
on  poor  due  diligence goes wrong before boom
Tenant versus landlord
Museveni’s
regime is Issue No. 414 April 15- 21, 2016 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8

collapsing Issue No. 266 May 24 - 30 , 2013 Ushs 5000, Kshs 200, RwF 1500, SDP 8
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Uganda: Defense Kenya: Defense

Tinyefuza Fallout Jennifer
Musisi
expenditure 2011 expenditure 2011
US$1.02 billion. US$735 million.

Museveni intervenes in
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Israel arms dealer case under siege
INTERVIEW NEWS ANALYSIS BUSINESS Concern  over  private  
BUSINESS: PERSPECTIVE: Oil-bribes scandal agencies  using  security   After Museveni, Kampala
Behind the
in historical perspective Lukwago Kyambogo EAC’s monetary
union minister, MPs, Lukwago spell
scenes at
By Andrew Mwenda
on Museveni
University’s Mr. Fix it
Prof.  Ndiege  seeks  to  reconcile  an   of the unequal in  turf  wars   out terms of engagement
Muhairwe’s exit and Musisi 





Time to eat, travel less

Issue No. 189, November 18 -24, 2011 Ushs 5000, Kshs 200, RwF 1500, SDP 8
News  analysis Health Business
Issue No. 294 December 06 - 12, 2013 Ushs 5000, Kshs 200, RwF 1500, SDP 8 Massacre  on   IGG  Mulyagonja  launches   
 


 
 





Masaka  road 







 





 
  



Museveni, Besigye Museveni Vs Mbabazi www.independent.co.ug

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Issue No. 431 Aug 12- 18, 2016 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8

need to talk 














Experts  warn  of  ‘explosion’  if  they  don’t   





 

  
 News  analysis

 


  
Eastern  DR  Congo  
erupts  again
Health
 


 

skin  bleaches
Business
Stanbic  Bank’s  
  
 
Social  
 
 



pounce
Issue No. 432 Aug 19 - 25, 2016 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8
Top lawyers reveal details
of land grab plot

 






 



 
over Karuma, Isimba






 

Muloni, Kabagambe

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Issue 294.indd 1 12/3/13 3:09 PM

AmAzing
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Years of telling a story

INBOX

Issue No. 504 Jan 19 - 25, 2018

Surprises in 2018/19
budget plan
Finance Ministry makes right
moves, but timing could be wrong

The Week The Last Word Analysis Business Arts &

Culture
4|Semujju moves Is America 14|Panic as China 21|Surprises in
motion against stops import of 2018 budget :
free cars for a shithole recycled plastics: Finance Ministry
43|When
picking up
public servants country?: Ugandan traders makes right
art pieces is
How Trump fear losses but Coca- moves, but timing
a bold move:
Cola offers hope could be wrong
4|Museveni and his At Ronex’s
Memories
declines to sign African and… exhibit
GMO bill, to be admirers
re-tabled 16|Why blood
judge the shortage hit
43|Why
quality of hospitals: 24|Banks rollout is Subaru
Donor cuts, low
4|Muntu starts something agent banking: Forester so
consultations government funding The new banking popular?
amidst Nandala’s
based entirely contribute, but the model is expected
new notice on on money bigger problem to deepen
mobilization could be you financial inclusion
activities

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2 Jan 19 - 25, 2018

 Offline

Former FDC
presidential candidate
Kizza Besigye, during
the launch of a new
campaign against
the age limit law
called “Tubalemese”
on Jan 11. It's
intended to reject the
amendments. Under “We shall not use our army titles to
the campaign, the
opposition politicians
influence this but we shall remain
plan to reject MPs humble and use our revolutionary
who voted for the methods although this should not be
law.   INDEPENDENT/ taken for granted.”Gen Elly Tumwine on
JIMMY SIYA
dispute involving Ngabo Academy in Mbarara

President Yoweri Museveni

at the fundraising event
for the construction of the
Seventh Day Adventist -
Kasese Community Better
Living Centre estimated to
cost Shs.5bn. Museveni
contributed shs200m.
“It is good we are getting all this
feedback [calls to form a new party]. We
shall make a conclusion after carrying
out nationwide consultations.”Gen
Mugisha Muntu, after his first consultation
workshop in Hoima

Light Primary School

Bulenga Wakiso
district, primary seven
candidates celebrate
with the school Directors
Joseph Ssalongo Kiberu,
and Nalongo Kiberu,
after receiving the
PLE results for their “The remarks we make are none other
school on Jan 12.  than those telling the truth because
INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA the church is the conscience of the
state. So see us as your conscience
and we shall continue being a good
conscience.”Kampala Archbishop Cyprian
Lwanga to government

PhD graduates at Stranded Police Applicants for

69 Makerere University
this week 4000 officers in Naguru
Barracks who were 6000 e-jobs advertised by
government
told to vacate

Jan 19 - 25, 2018 3

Week

Semujju moves motion against free cars for public servants Lawyers seek annulment
A motion for a resolution
of parliament to provision
of vehicles to leaders, public
and civil servant was moved
by Kira Municipality MP
Ibrahim Semujju Nganda
on Jan.11 Seconded by
shadow Attorney General
and Ndorwa East legislator
Wilfred Nuwagaba and
Kawempe’s North’s Latif
Sebbagala, Semujju seeks
Shs185billion on purchase
for a policy of offering free
cars to public servants to
be changed in order for
government to cut down
expenditure so that the
money can be invested in
limping sectors like social
services, tourism and
agriculture.
He noted that this
financial year alone,
government plans to spend
of age limit law
of vehicles, shs99billion on
maintenance of vehicles
and Shs150billion on fuel,
lubricants and oils which
is not wise expenditure
for a poor country that
relies heavily on loans for
infrastructure development.
He now calls for
government to sell all its
current fleet of vehicles
to the current users at the
current value and where
the user is not in position to
buy the vehicle, government
should auction it. He also
proposes that government
extends loans to those who
have the vehicles and the
money be recovered from
their salaries over a period
of four years.
Lawyers under their umbrella – Uganda
Law Society on Jan.15 petitioned court
challenging the constitutionality of the
recently passed constitutional amend-
ments where presidential age limits were
removed from the constitution and the
term of office of members of parliament
and district council leaders increased from
five to seven years. In their petition, law-
yers led by their president Francis Gimara
note that the extra two years that the MPs
gave themselves are unconstitutional since
the contract the elected leaders have with
their voters is for them to serve for five
years.
Putting the Attorney General as the
respondent, the lawyers say that the events
that followed enactment of the amend-
ment act where parliament was invaded
and MPs clobbered and the process of con-
sultations where human rights violations
were committed when gatherings orga-
nized by the opposition were dispersed
undermined the integrity of parliament.

Muntu starts consultations amidst Nandala’s new notice on mobilization activities

Former Party president Gen.
Mugisha Muntu started off his
consultations with Hoima district
on Jan.15 days after the opposition
Forum for Democratic Party Secretary
General Nandala Mafabi wrote a
notice requiring members to always
seek permission from the party
headquarters if they are to hold
activities at the district level.
In the Jan.10 letter seen by some as
a move to block Muntu from carrying
out his nationwide consultations
meant to engage members about
which direction the party should
be taking Nandala asked district
Mugisha Muntu Nandala Mafabi
chairpersons and general secretaries
not to allow anybody to carry out any
activity in the name of the party if
they are not approved by the National
Executive committee. “Anyone from
headquarters or anywhere who
intends to carry out any activity
should demonstrate that the activity
was discussed and passed by the FDC
National Executive committee. This is
for purposes of harmonizing the party
activities”, it reads.
However, since the November
presidential elections in which Muntu
was trounced by former legislator
Patrick Oboi Amuriat, the party has
been faced with strong divisions that
whatever happens now is viewed in terms
of whether it favors the Amuriat faction to
which Nandala belongs or Muntu’s.

*terms and conditions apply

Dial *134 * 7#
4 Jan 19 - 25, 2018
 Week

Museveni declines to sign Court orders fresh poll in Jinja

GMO bill, to be re-tabled The court of appeal on and Paul Mugamba in the court of appeal.
Jan.11 ordered the Electoral concurred with the earlier However, the appeals
The National Bio technology and biosafety Commission and Jinja East decision of the High court faulted the high court
bill tabled in 2012 is set to be shelved longer Member of Parliament court that there was non- decision of announcing
after the President refused to sign it into law. Igeme Nabeta to pay Forum compliance with the law Mwiru winner basing on
The bill that came to be commonly known for Democratic Change’s from the time when ballot results
as the GMO bill will now be retabled by the Paul Mwiru all the costs boxes were opened and that had
Minister for Science and Technology Elioda he incurred both at the results transmitted to the been
Tumwesigye after the president sent it back High court and the court time when Nabeta was altered.
to parliament noting that it’s not clear in its of appeal while pursuing declared winner.
current form. a case of vote rigging In 2016, citing the same
The bill seeks to provide a regulatory following alleged altering of reasons, high court had
framework that facilitates the safe election results. thrown Nabeta out of
development and application of Ordering fresh polls parliament and
biotechnology, research, development and to be held in Jinja East announced
release of genetically modified organisms constituency, judges of the Mwiru the
but Museveni says there is need for clarity court of appeal – Richard winner, a thing
on its title, patent rights for indigenous Buteera, Stephen Kavuma that Nabeta contested
farmers and sanctions on scientists who mix
GMOs with indigenous breeds. For instance
he says he needs to understand some of the
clauses for instance he wonders why they
plan to have GMO materials in the irrigated
areas of Mubuku Irrigation scheme.
On Jan.10, deputy speaker Jacob
Oulanyah called for the re-tabling of the bill
giving the committee two weeks to analyze
it and give a report to parliament. As this Atlas Oranto | Proudly Exploring Africa
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years in prison for causing the fund financial
We have the following vacancies for which we shall be recruiting during 2018.
loss of Shs3billion.
The justices – Kenneth Kakuru and Rubby
Opio observed that Jamwa sold several gov- Oil and gas exploration vacancies at our soon to open Entebbe office.
ernment bonds held by NSSF to Crane bank
before their maturity date at a price below  General Manager
their value. The said bonds were bought at  Exploration Manager
Shs34 billion and were to realize a value of  Administrative Secretary
Shs39billion after a period of three years not  Communities / Public Relations Officer
Shs36 billion that Jamwa sold them at.  National Content Officer
The court also convicted Jamwa who has  Technical Services Manager
since 2011 been on bail of abuse of office
 Legal Advisor
– a charge he had been acquitted of by the
Anti-corruption court. For this he has been
 Administrative and Human Resources Manager
sentenced for four years to be served concur-  Finance Manager
rently with the 12 year jail term.  Geophysicist
However his lawyer David Mpanga told  Geologist
journalists that they are considering petition-  Technical Assistant
ing the Supreme Court over the sentence.
Visit www.atlas-oranto.com for a list of the current vacancies.

Jan 19 - 25, 2018 5

Week
Liberia’s out-
going president
Sirleaf expelled
from own party
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf,
the outgoing president of
Liberia has been expelled
from her ruling Unity Party
over alleged meddling in
the October 10, presidential
election something they say
affected the party’s candi-
date badly. The president is
said to have held inappro-
priate private meeting with
the electoral commission
something she says isn’t
true.
According to a statement
released by the party’s
executive committee on
Jan.13, Sirleaf was expelled
together with four other
officials who are said to
have behaved in a way that
sabotages and undermines
the existence of the party.
Sirleaf who has been
president for the last 12
years will later this month
handover to former Football
Star George Weah who
defeated Unity Party’s
Joseph Boakai. It will be the
first peaceful transition of
power in the country after
sirleaf let go of the seat
when her constitutional
term limits elapsed. This
is unique for a country in
Africa where leaders tend to
over stay in power that even
when their constitutional
mandates end, they always
try to amend the constitu-
tion to extend their grip.
6 Jan 19 - 25, 2018
NDA stops licensing drug shops in Kampala, municipalities
In a Jan.10 press statement,
the National Drug Authority
(NDA) announced that they will
no longer license drug shops in
Kampala and other municipali-
ties saying there are pharmacies
already sufficiently serving
those areas and that the move is
to address the equitable distri-
bution of drug outlets in Kam-
pala in order to improve access
to pharmaceutical products in
the City.
Murder charges on Baguma dropped
Interdicted Central
Police Commander Aaron
Baguma is a free man
after the Director of Pub-
lic Prosecutions (DPP)
dropped murders charged
against him. Principal
State Attorney Alex Ojok
told court on Jan.10 that
the DPP had on Decem-
ber 21 given instructions
to discontinue charges
against the commander.
Baguma was arrested
and charged in connec-
tion with the alleged mur-
der of Donah Katusabe a
business woman by a city
car dealer Muhammad
Ssebuwufu following a
disagreement over a car
she had purchased.
No reasons were given
for the discontinuation of
the charges but the consti-
tution gives DPP powers
to discontinue a case at
any stage before judg-
ment on it is made.
NDA Executive Secretary
Dona Kusemererwa said Kam-
pala has a population of 1.5mil-
lion people and a total of 478
pharmacies which translates
to a pharmacist to population
ratio of 1; 3,172. This ratio to her
implies that Kampala is well
served even in comparison to
countries for example the UK
which recommends a ratio of
pharmacist to population of
1;5000.
Aaron Baguma
Ssebuwufu and seven
others will return to court
on February 06 for trial
over murder, attempted
murder and aggravated
robbery for allegedly
using sticks and pangas
to torture Katusabe to
death after she failed to
clear Ssebuwufu’s debt of
Shs9million after purchas-
ing a car from his Pine
Car bond in Kampala.
Encouraging existing drug
outlets to move to high density
underserved areas in Kampala
like Kasokoso and Makerere
Kivulu, Kusemererwa said any
outlet that has not been licensed
yet will be asked to close. This
comes at the time when the
authority is battling increas-
ing quack dealers who operate
without licenses and required
certification.
Public officials, districts
top IGG most corrupt list
Investigations done by the Inspector-
ate of Government (IG) have exposed
public officials, district administration as
the most corrupt entities in Uganda with
a combined total of 658 cases brought
against them. Municipals and town
councils, head teachers, district service
commissions, and sub country officials
follow closely among those implicated in
corruption cases. The report also revealed
that funds were also recovered from
officials in the Ministries, Departments
and Agencies and Local Governments
(on administrative sanctions) and depos-
ited on the IG Asset Recovery Account
in the Bank of Uganda. In April 2017, a
total of Shs643million was returned to the
consolidated account of the Ministry of
Finance, Planning and Economic Devel-
opment. In addition, the Inspectorate of
Government (IG) made 12 arrests and 14
prosecutions between January and June
2017. However of the 14 cases which
were prosecuted, only 4 did the Ombuds-
man secure convictions. By the end of
June, The Inspectorate of Government
was prosecuting 57 other cases.
Humour Did you know?
The largest known
prime number is…

The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) will begin monitoring all mobile phones by March.
The number was revealed
this January under the
Great Internet Mersenne
Prime Search (GIMPS).
The largest known prime
number, 277,232,917-1, has
23,249,425 digits. A computer
volunteered by Jonathan Pace
made the find on December
26, 2017. Jonathan is one
of thousands of volunteers
using free GIMPS software
available at www.mersenne.
org/download/.
The new prime number,
also known as M77232917,
is calculated by multiplying
together 77,232,917 twos,
On Jan. 11 former Presidential candidate Dr. Kizza Besigye of Forum of Democratic and then subtracting one. It
Change (FDC) announced a new anti-government ‘defiance campaign’ called Tubalemese
is nearly one million digits
larger than the previous
record prime number, in a
special class of extremely
rare prime numbers known as
Mersenne primes. It is only
the 50th known Mersenne
prime ever discovered,
each increasingly difficult to
find. Mersenne primes were
named for the French monk
Marin Mersenne, who studied
these numbers more than
350 years ago. Large primes,
like the one just discovered,
play a critical role in cyber-
security, including in online
Former Kampala Central Police Station commander Aaron Baguma is now a free man after
the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) dropped murder charges against him on Jan 1. 0. transactions and commerce.

Jan 19 - 25, 2018 7

 News analysis Health Business
Inside Somalia’s Archbishop Nkoyoyo's HIV self-testing Banks scramble lebratin
wars and UPDF life of miracles improves uptake for insurance pie Ce g

Issue No. 503 Jan 12 - 18, 2018

Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8

Years

MTN licence expires,

rivals fight renewal
Dirty details of telecom
sector exposed

Inbox
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Letters are
welcome !
The Editor welcomes short and
concise letters from our esteemed
readers on topical issues. Please
send them to:
The Editor, The Independent
Publications Ltd,
P.O Box 3304,
Plot 82/84 Kanjokya St,
Kamwokya.
Kampala,Uganda.
Email: editor@independent.co.ug
Tanzania to buy
19 electric trains
Refer to: “Tanzania to
buy 19 electric trains”
(The Independent
online Jan.08). This
is good news for the
region as a whole, but
TZ will need more than
17 trains to operate an
efficient 205km railway
transport service. I
hope that in addition
to the railway line
they have or will build
depots for maintenance
of the fleet, and have
made arrangements
for the training
of engineers and
technicians who will
maintain the railway.
Railways are very
costly to operate
and require a lot
of commitment,
particularly from the
state. Funds in form of
grants will be required
regularly in order to
maintain the fleet and
the lines. In addition,
health and safety are
very important. The
Diaspora in the UK is
willing to help.
Henry Baisi
Blood gold trouble
Refer to: “Museveni Jan. 05). It could land minerals is dirtier than
defends ‘fake’ gold Uganda in hot soup cocaine.
dealer” (The Independent internationally. Blood Rwasubutare
Low quality education
Refer to: “Uganda’s a legal system is the become workers for
(Africa’s) paradox” (The other. The low quality the cormorant ruling
Independent Ja.05). of education is such classes, not their
Education is one of that it is meant to replacement.
the control structures; create graduates who Ocheto
On fight over migingo
Refer to: “Fight over to roam, work, mingle, resources therein.
Migingo” (The Independent develop, and settle was  Sometimes one wonders
December 29,2017). To a clearly demarcated by whether Man’s so called
Naturalist and pan African- natural processes: it superior ‘intelligence’
ist, several points stand out stretches from the Indian is worth what we think
in this article. ocean in the East to the it to be: Fish in the lake
 Man – made ‘Law’ needs Atlantic in the west. And know where best to
regular revision to match for black Africans, it breed and where best
circumstances of the stretches from the fringes to reside after breeding.
times of the Sahara (roughly Man says they are ‘born’
 African ‘independence’ Tropic of Cancer) to the in Kenya but are Ugan-
leaders made a strate- Cape. That is one block dan. What logic is this?
gic mistake to ‘blindly’ of a ‘country’ which Same with the Masai –
accept colonial masters’ our ancestors used to Mara animal migrations.
borders ‘freely’ migrate in. With Museveni, Kenyatta,
 Post-independence Afri- so called ‘civilisation’ Magufuli: what do you
can leaders and elites are or ‘modernisation’ we have to say?
essentially today’s ‘Afri- should be working for Dr. Eng. Kant Ateenyi
ca’s curse’ for failing to its consolidation as one
correct their forefathers’ political entity, but not
mistakes. this stupidity of ‘quarrel-
 The land where all Afri- ing’ over small pieces of
cans are naturally free land and the few natural
Museveni defends ‘fake’ gold dealer
Refer to: “Musev- name of fighting ing while keeping
eni defends ‘fake’ the Ugandan rebels Rwanda off. It’s
gold dealer” (The of the Allied Demo- called geopolitical
Independent Jan. cratic Forces (ADF) economics.
05). operating from
Let President eastern DR Congo. Rajab
Yoweri Museveni That way we will Kakyama
fight the M23 of the keep the gold from
DR Congo in the DR Congo flow-

8 Jan 19 - 25, 2018


Is America a shithole country?
By Andrew M. Mwenda
How Trump and his African admirers judge the
quality of something based entirely on money
J
ust before the outbreak of the Nama-
Herero rebellion in modern day Na-
mibia in April 1904, Chief Hendrick
Witboi of the Nama tribe penned a
letter to the then German military gov-
ernor of that colony. “He (the colonialist)...
introduces laws which are entirely impos-
sible, untenable, unbelievable, unbearable,
unmerciful and unfeeling,” he wrote, “He
punishes our people… and he has already
beaten people to death for debt. He thinks
we are stupid and unintelligent people but
we have never punished people in the cruel
and improper way he does.”
Witboi was to lead one of the most fero-
cious and equally tragic wars of resistance
that Africans fought against colonialism.
Although he died after one year of rebellion,
the Nama and the Heroro people continued
the struggle for another three years. By the
time the rebellion was crushed in 1908, 50%
of the Nama and 90% of the Heroro people
had been exterminated by the Germans in
one of the genocides Europeans carried out
in Africa.
Thus, when U.S. President Donald Trump
stirred the waters of controversy recently by
referring to our nations as “shithole coun-
tries”, Witboi’s letter came back to my mind.
A few Africans reacted by denouncing this
overt and crude racism. Yet a large section
of our elites found Trump’s racism justified
because they also think our nations are shit-
hole countries.
But what makes a country a shithole
country? Is it the size of its wallet or the col-
lective decency of its people? Trump and
many of those who agree with him believe
that money and the things it can buy define
a country as a shithole or a good place. If a
country (or individual) has a high income,
it allows them to provide a large basket of
public (or private) goods and services in
large quantities and of high quality.
Witboi saw through this arrogance of
money. The contempt Germans had for
Africans was mistaken. He felt they were
actually much more morally repugnant
compared to the Nama given their cruel
behaviour; they lacked humanity in them.
To him Germans were shithole people
regardless of their money and technology
because their cruel barbarity showed that
they lacked basic human decency, empathy,
feelings, and mercy.
Just imagine a mafia gang-leader who
The Last Word
made a fortune killing, robbing and pil-
laging the neighbourhood. Once wealthy,
he buys mass media – television, radio and
newspapers and hires an army of propa-
gandists to propagate the idea that he is a
decent fellow and a civilized member of the
community. The media show him driving
luxury cars, living in expensive mansions,
sending his family for highly specialised
medical treatment abroad and his children
studying at some of the best universities.
Whenever he sends his gangs to loot in the
community, his propaganda machinery
refers to it as cleaning the neighbourhood of
undesirables. Who would fail to see him as
a shithole member of the community?
America is a country that was built on
the genocide of native peoples and the
enslavement of black people. Today it keeps
bombing nations and massacring people
or assassinating leaders or staging military
coups in other countries in order to keep
looting their natural resources to enrich it.
This sickening brutality may have made
America the richest nation on earth but it
does not change its basic character as a shit-
hole country.
Most nations of Africa have low levels of
income. This is less because they have been
badly ruled but more to do with the fact
that they were integrated into the global
economy where opportunities for rapid
transformation are limited. For example,
public spending per person in Uganda
this financial year is $170, Rwanda $208,
Tanzania $268, Kenya $435, Senegal $333,
Zambia $642, Ghana $445, Malawi $92,
Zimbabwe $256, Botswana $860 while
the USA is $21,250. Even with the best of
intentions, our nations just don’t have the
resources to fund a large basket of public
goods and services to all citizens in the
quantity and quality demand.
This poverty and the material deprivation
that accompanies it do not make African
nations. Money does not make a person or
country. Character does. Therefore, contrary
to the common assumption among African
elites and their cheerleaders in the West,
poor delivery of public goods and services
in our nations is not due corruption,
incompetence, and the personal greed
of our leaders. These factors play a role,
but as consequences, not causes, of poor
performance in service delivery.
High income cannot be the only criterion
Opinion
to judge a country’s worth. Many poor
people in my village lead materially
deprived lives but are decent human beings,
and morally superior to the hundreds
of rapacious cheats and thieves who are
wealthy in Kampala. And this was the gist
of Witboi’s letter: money is not enough to
make one great. The United States, in spite
of the most advanced technologies, great
institutions of learning, high levels of skill,
good institutions, high income and huge
public spending still has over 45 million
people in poverty and another 32 million
lacking (or being stripped of) medical
insurance, 550,000 citizens are homeless and
2.3 million in jail, the highest in the world.
Yet in 2009, the Obama administration
was spending $100 billion per year on a
fruitless war in Afghanistan. Over the last
15 years, and as millions of her citizens went
without medical insurance, many were
homeless and or were jobless, their incomes
stagnating and their lives heavily in debt,
America spent over $2.5 trillion on foreign
wars that destroyed millions of lives and
livelihoods. And in spite of this, the world’s
most powerful military was unable to defeat
poorly armed and poorly trained Taliban
and Iraqi militias. The $2.5 trillion was spent
to whet the appetites of a tiny minority of
superrich white corporate elites in the mili-
tary industrial complex.
Remember that average household
incomes in America have not risen in real
terms (after adjusting to inflation) since
1973. How have its citizens been able to con-
tinue consuming? Through debt! And how
have the political elite mobilised impov-
erished poor and middleclass whites to
support policies that destroy their lives? By
making barely disguised racial appeals. The
difference between most American politi-
cians and Trump is that he says bluntly
what they say using coded racial language.
It is no longer socially permissible to use
explicit racial slurs in America. But politi-
cians in America have learnt how to use
coded racial language to promote racist pol-
icies against ethnic minorities like African
Americans, Hispanics, Arabs, etc., a subject
best handled by Ian Lopez in his book, Dog
Whistle Politics.
amwenda@independent.co.ug
Jan 19 - 25, 2018 9
cover story

Surprises in 2018 budget

Finance Ministry makes right moves,
but timing could be wrong
Proposed Sectoral Nominal Allocations - FY2018/19
Works &
Agriculture transport
831.7 Bn 4,706.7 Bn
Interest
Accountability payment
866.4 Bn 2,700.7 Bn

Justice/Law
order 29.2 Energy &
mineral
1,104.2 Bn
Trillion development
2,529.2 Bn

Security
Education
1,356.6 Bn
2, 419.2 Bn
Public sector
mgt Health
1,448.9 Bn 1,636.1 Bn

Legislature Public ICT & Tourism, trade

Sciences, 483.8 Bn Admin National & industry
technology 566.2 Bn Guidance Lands, 119.4 Bn
& 109.1 Bn Housing
Innovations Social
development Water & & Urban
71.8 Bn environment development
175.1 Bn
713.7 Bn 147.7 Bn
Source: BFP 2018/2019
10 Jan 19 - 25, 2018
 cover story

F
By Julius Businge and Mineral development, and interest pronouncements on cutting government
payments. On the other hand, Education expenditure, providing cheaper credit
or years now, Uganda’s budget and Health is proposed to consume 11.0% through the Uganda Development Bank
making process has been and 7.4% (FY2018/19) compared to 11.4% (UDB), timely payment of domestic arrears
dominated by debates about and 8.3% in FY2017/18 respectively. owed to the private sector, and increasing
four contentious issues; the Other areas proposed to be cut are support to the private sector’s capacity in
government’s huge investment Security; from 6.7% this year to 6.2% in Research & Development.
in infrastructure, domestic 2018/19, Justice, law and order sector will Badagawa told The Independent in an
resource mobilisation, the size and rate of get 5% down from 5.1%, and the remaining interview that money saved from cuts in
external borrowing, and the squeeze on 10 sectors will take the balance with each the cost of running government, can be
some expenditure; especially on agriculture, getting less than 4% of the resource envelop. deployed to support needy sectors.
education, and health. Only the public sector management retains The proposed budget allocations also
As the 2018/19 budget making process its 6.6%. appear to obliterate any good news in the
reaches its mid-point this January, the budget. Experts, including Prof. Augustus
Ministry of Finance has released the Budget Top planners disappointed Nuwagaba, an economist and managing
Framework Paper (BFP) indicating that Civil society organisations consultant at REEV Consult
this budget could have the most dramatic (CSOs) under their umbrella International, who have been
changes in a long time; especially regarding body – Civil Society Budget clamouring for these moves,
the areas of contention. Advocacy Group (CSBAG) should be happy that the
For the first time in over five years, the criticise the budget government proposes to
government is proposing pulling the breaks allocations because the reduce development related
on general budget expansion – the resource beneficiaries have, in the spending from 9.6% of GDP
envelop will increase just slightly by Shs past, failed to utilise the in FY2018/19 to 8.6% of GDP
200bn in 2018/19 from this year’s Shs 29 money. In the last 10 years, over the medium term as
trillion. Unfortunately, it could be a case of the CSOs say, the Works large infrastructure projects –
right move, done wrongly, at the wrong and Transport sector has Karuma and Isimba Hydro
time. The proposed literally flat budget for reportedly failed to absorb Power Projects (projected to
2018/19, if maintained, will be riding against 60% of borrowed money the cost approx. US$2 billion)
the current mood of optimism locally, and government pumps into it. –are expected to be
globally. Some top planners,
Locally, optimism is reflected in the including Gideon Badagawa;
rise of the Business Tendency Index above the executive director of Private
the 50% threshold, the latest World Bank/ Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU)
IMF reviews that forecast growth above want more aggressive
5% in 2017/18 and 6% in 2018/19, and up
to 7% according to the government’s own
projection as presented by the Minister of
State for Finance at the National Budget
Conference.
Global forecast for growth is equally
robust on the back of high growth in the
USA, China and Europe. This means more
kyeyo remittances. Inflation has been held
in check, ending 2017 at 3.3%, which
is far below the Central Bank
target of 5%.
But Uganda’s flat
budget is also structured
oddly because the
government proposes to
continue pumping big
sums into infrastructure
and energy. It proposes
to cover the increased
financing to these sectors
by slashing funding to
social sectors like health
and education that are
already starved. On the
revenue side, it proposes to
tax the same payers more,
instead of innovatively
expanding the tax base.
As a result, and as in
the recent past years, up to
45.2% of budget spending
is proposed to go to Works
and Transport, Energy

Jan 19 - 25, 2018 11

Matia kasaija
cover story
finalised by December 2018.
Critics should also be happy that
the government is proposing to reduce
domestic borrowing from Shs954.2 billion
in the current FY to Shs940 billion in
FY2018/19 and reliance on project support
(external financing) from the current
budget Shs7.0 trillion to Shs6.7 trillion in the
coming FY. An additional sweetener is that
domestic borrowing is projected to decline
further to Shs 611bn in FY 2019/20 and
reach Shs 409 bn by FY 2022/23.
But the experts say the government’s
moves are inadequate and wrongly
matched. Nuwagaba told The Independent
that instead of reducing, the government
should stop domestic borrowing as it
crowds out private sector borrowers and
raises the cost of money.
“Interest rates cannot go down unless
government stops domestic borrowing,” he
told The Independent.
Nuwagaba says borrowing to fund
development projects like roads, railway
and power dams and short term projects
like irrigation and storage facilities for
agriculture is okay because, at 36% of
GDP, national debt remain sustainable.
Nuwagaba says, however, the funds
should not be abused and projects should
be delivered on time and with best quality
standards. But he opposes prioritising
development projects that do not deliver
short term growth.
“In an economy like ours where
production is still low, spending on long
term projects would yield zero returns
in the short term, and it would constrain
demand because people’s disposable
income will not be growing,” he says.
Nuwagaba says the 2018/19 budget needs
to be restructured to focus on accelerating
production for Uganda’s largest sector,
agriculture.
“Our budget should be production
driven but not consumptive; agriculture
should be taking 50 percent of the budget
instead of 3 percent,” he said.
Agriculture employs over 70% of
Ugandans and contributes around 26% to
the national GDP, but has largely been left
in the hands of the private sector with its
annual budget funding recorded below 5%
over the past years.
Nuwagaba says funding to the sector
should be increased to cater for irrigation,
financing, and inputs; including seedlings,
pesticides and more. He says yields have
potential to transforming the economy in
general and that of other sectors.
Chasing middle income dreams
The BFP concentration on infrastructure
and energy and not agriculture
appears anchored in the 2018/19 theme
`Industrialisation for Job Creation and
shared Prosperity’. The government has
determined that agriculture does not yield
12 Jan 19 - 25, 2018
Augustus Nuwagaba Gideon Badagawa
Government is
proposing to reduce
domestic borrowing
from
Shs954.2 bn
in the current FY to
Shs940 bn
in FY2018/19
as many paying jobs as industry.
This reflects the government’s continued
commitments to achieve a middle income
economy by focusing on improving
productivity in all the so-called primary
growth sectors – agriculture, manufacturing
and industry, tourism and minerals.
The government also proposes modest
increases in spending on salaries and wages
and other recurrent expenditure which is
expected to average 10.8% of GDP per year
over the medium term. Pay rises have been
a big issue in 2017; especially teachers and
health workers. In the BFP, the government
proposes spending Shs 1.8 trillion in
FY2018/19 and Shs 3.6trillion over four
years on pay reform.
But analysts want categorical
commitments not to create new
administrative units like districts and
municipalities which are increasing
politically-motivated spending.
In a joint statement issued on Jan.09,
the CSOs say, to control expenditure
on salaries, wages, and other recurrent
expenditure, the government needs to
merge some government ministries,
departments, and agencies (MDAs). The
government agrees. It proposes to review
and rationalise expenditures on non-
core items like allowances, workshops,
travel inland and abroad in addition to
reorganising and merging the MDAs.
On public servants salary reforms,
Nuwagaba says the budget should consider
funding equally what he dubs the “four
frontline sectors” – health, education,
agriculture and Justice, Law and Order
Sector (JLOS).
“I am advocating for equal pay for work
of equal value,” he says, “This is done in
developed countries; why should a police
officer earn less than a doctor yet they all
work for frontline sectors?” Even as the
expenditure side of the budget is being
criticized as misdirected in allocations, the
revenue side is being hammered for lack of
innovation.
Out of the estimated Shs 29.2 trillion
2018/19 budget, domestic revenue
collections will be Shs15.5 trillion; Shs
15.1 trillion tax and Shs418 billion non-
tax revenue. Domestic borrowing will be
Shs940billion and external financing Shs6.7
trillion. Domestic refinancing is flat at Shs
4.9 trillion and appropriation in aid will
contribute Shs 872 billion up from Shs757
billion.
The CSOs say large compliance gaps, a
large informal sector, and a small tax base
(49% of GDP) mean the Uganda Revenue
Authority (URA) lacks capacity to generate
the ever increasing local revenue targets.
In a radical proposal aimed at netting
more tax payers, the CSOs say the
government needs to give citizens one
number which will work as both the current
Tax Identification Number (TIN) and
National Identification Number (NIN).
The government proposes only modest
adjustments to the current tax regime.
They goals are equally timid; ensure
increased productivity of the tax system,
close loopholes in the tax laws, index
specific tax rates for inflation, enhance tax
administration efficiency and facilitate
tax payer compliance. But the bill URA
is charging the government for these
administrative baby steps is nothing but
small; in fact Shs 90 billion.
The BFP medium term strategy also
is anchored on the Second National
Development Plan (NDPII) that seeks to
strengthen Uganda’s competitiveness for
sustainable wealth creation, employment,
and inclusive growth. The BFP employs
high flying terms; taking Uganda into
modernity and inclusive development.
But its real test is basic: Can it deal with
stubborn poverty numbers that increased
from 19.7% in 2012/13 to 27% in 2016/17?
As Badagawa told The Independent, to
reduce poverty and positively impact
the economy and the common person,
the government must prioritise fighting
corruption, improving standards,
negotiating for markets, and ensuring
proper coordination of government
agencies involved in service delivery.

Launch of the Mutebile centre
Longest-serving central bank boss feted at inaugural lecture
By Ian Katusiime
T
he launch on Jan.11 of the
Tumusiime Mutebile Centre of
Excellence was the perfect moment
to fete the long-serving governor of
the central bank. At the helm since 2001,
Mutebile is the longest serving governor the
bank has had in its 50 years of existence and
he cheerfully joined a chorus of speakers
at the event held at Naguru Skyz Hotel in
Kampala to celebrate, reminisce and reflect
on that period.
The event also witnessed the Inaugural
Tumusiime Mutebile Centre of Excellence
Business Dialogue held under the theme
‘Three Decades of Economic Reforms in
Uganda: Building a Base for Wealth and Job
Creation’.
Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, as
chief guest, hailed Mutebile for stabilising
the economy during its most difficult times.
“Mutebile is the bedrock of our current
macroeconomic stability, a role he has
played diligently in the last three decades,”
he said.
As the event started, Prof. Nuha
Mwesigwa, the executive director of the
MUK Private Sector Forum, showered
Mutebile with compliments and high
sounding praise of the Governor’s
professional and intellectual standing in the
worldwide banking fraternity.
He asked, “How do we harness the
person, character and potential of his
network to answer questions of Uganda’s
economy?”
He cited Mutebile’s frankness,
professionalism and management style.
“The rare but envied qualities
Mutebile has will permeate through the
characteristics of the Centre of Excellence,”
he said.
In his remarks, Mutebile also laid out his
hope about Uganda’s economic challenges
and his vision for the centre.
“It is a new hub for providing
transformative and alternative solutions
for private sector growth and employment
creation in Uganda,” he said.
He was reflective on the path Uganda has
taken since the reform process started years
ago.
“As you may all be aware, Uganda
was a vanguard in economic reforms in
the 1990s,” he said. Then he turned to the
key note speaker of the day, the former
president of African Development Bank,
Donald Kaberuka and added, “I want to
Tumusiime Mutebile
appreciate Dr Donald Kaberuka here with
whom I share the fact that those reforms
though tough at the beginning created
conditions for a performing economy.”
When he spoke, Kaberuka adopted
the posture of someone who did not
want to appear to be giving advice to any
specific African country and was futuristic
in his remarks. He described several
complex challenges that economies on the
African continent face, and said many of
them require the government, business,
academia, and the private sector to come
together to confront them.
The former Minister of Finance in
Rwanda listed some of these challenges
as massive unplanned urbanisation,
geopolitical tensions, population growth
and climate change. He said African
countries should have a sense of urgency.
“Make sure your policy is translated
into practice and your intent is turned into
implementation,” he said. Kaberuka also
advised those in charge of planning for
African economies against “overloading”
their work plans to avoid creating a
mismatch between ambitions and capacity.
He added caveats for good public policy.
“It must be technically sound, politically
feasible and administratively deliverable,”
he said.
Kaberuka also weighed in on the current
debate of state and private sector fusion in
doing business. “Smart countries usually
employ their private and state sector for
economic management at both a macro and
NEWS ANALYSIS
micro level.”
He cited a case of the Asian financial
crisis in 1997 when a number of Asian
countries took steps to limit the number of
bankruptcies.
After praising Mutebile on the reform
process he led in the early years of the NRM
government, Kaberuka urged that the
spirit of reforms needs to be maintained.
“Economic reforms require discipline, hard
work and persistence,” he stated.
It was on this basis that Kaberuka, now
a Special Envoy of the African Union on
Sustainable Financing for the Union, called
upon the Tumusiime Mutebile Centre of
Excellence to use its convening power to
lead new thinking on challenges facing the
economy.
“The only definition for such a
center should be a programme that
combines expertise and related resources
in a competitive manner with an
interdisciplinary approach.”
Kaberuka asked the centre to explore
further on recurring issues like natural
resources. “There is evidence of a weak
link between economic transformation and
natural resources; a centre like this should
guide the way on such topics,” he urged.
The Tumusiime Mutebile Centre of
Excellence will be based at Makerere
University. Prof. Mwesigwa mentioned
some of the objectives of the dialogue as
bringing into focus the Centre’s strategy
for private sector transformation through
executive programmes, entrepreneurial
training and capacity development
for quality, productivity and for local
companies to go global.
The organisers of the dialogue were
Makerere University (MUK) Private Sector
Forum and Bank of Uganda (BoU). It was
attended by former Finance Minister Maria
Kiwanuka, Patrick Mweheire Stanbic Bank
MD, Richard Byarugaba NSSF MD, Jolly
Kaguhangire Uganda Investment Authority
ED, Capital Markets Authority CEO Keith
Kalyegira among other top managers.
The launch of Tumusiime Mutebile
Centre of Excellence, which some people
have described as the central bank boss’s
legacy project, comes at a time when
the central bank is being scrutinised for
its handling of recent challenges in the
monetary sector; including the eventual
sale of Crane Bank. But there is no doubt
that, for Mutebile, it is well-deserved
recognition.
Jan 19 - 25, 2018 13
news analysis
Aquila Investment's yard on the edge of Kiteezi landfill clogged with piles of used plastic bottles. Ugandan plastics recycling
entrepreneurs are pondering their next market following the Chinese ban on New Year's Day.  INDEPENDENT/RONALD MUSOKE
Panic as China stops import
of recycled plastics
Ugandan traders fear losses but Coca-Cola offers hope
By Ronald Musoke
A
trader without a market now; that
is Peter Musiige, the manager of a
small plant that has been exporting
recycled plastics to China. He lost
his market when the Chinese government
on Jan.01 started implementing a world-
wide ban it announced on July 20 last year.
Musiige told The Independent on Jan.12
that his company, Aquila Investment, was
established primarily with the Chinese
market in mind. Located on the edge of
14 Jan 19 - 25, 2018
Uganda’s biggest garbage landfill at Kiteezi,
20km north of Kampala City, it has been
exporting about 50 tonnes of recycled
plastic materials to China every month and
earning Musiige hundreds of thousands of
dollars in return.
Asked what he plans to do following the
Chinese ban, Musiige is clear: “If the Chi-
nese government ban continues, I am sure
we will get out of business,” he said as he
stared at piles of plastic mineral and soda
bottles strewn all over the company’s yard.
He added: “The Chinese have been a
very big market for us. The challenge we
have now is that we no longer have a mar-
ket.”
George William Munobe is another
dealer in plastic waste at the Kiteezi land-
fill. He is a medium scale dealer who, for
the last four years, has been buying from
wholesalers and selling to recycling plants
like Aquila.
He told The Independent that the plastic
waste market fell around November last
year when a company he has been selling
plastics in bulk to got communication that

China would not be taking any plastics
anymore.
Before that, he was buying a tonne of
plastic bottles at Shs 350,000 and selling
it at around Shs 550,000. The market for
plastic mineral water bottles has since gone
downward. A kilogramme of empty plastic
mineral bottles which was selling at Shs 600
before then now goes for half that price.
But unlike Musiige, Munobe remains
optimistic.
“I am worried because I am not work-
ing as I used to but I hope the new market
(India) will soon pick-up,” he says.
“Everything here (Kiteezi) is valuable,”
Munobe says pointing at young women
and men sifting through the filth and put-
ting away any “dirty gold” they find. Above
them vultures hover in the sky and around
them, marabou storks and stray dogs too
get into action searching for a meal.
It is a busy scene with a bulldozer danc-
ing through mountains of garbage which
has just been delivered by a truck. It levels
and spreads it widely simplifying the task
for the hundreds of eager women and men
who elbow one another as they jostle to
pick the latest assortment of valuable gar-
bage from Kampala City and neighbouring
towns.
They fight over everything: cardboards,
metal cuttings, broken glasses to a kaleido-
scope of polythene bags and plastic bottles.
But from the piles of plastic bottles mount-
ed on either side of the road to the landfill,
plastic bottles are the most sought after,
thanks to the ready market for them.
In fact, the plastics recycling industry in
Uganda, which is largely informal, has been
growing and some estimates value it at
about $10 million.
It has been responsible for eliminating
waste material from urban drainage chan-
nels but also creating jobs for thousands of
Ugandans who would otherwise be unem-
ployed. These include those who pick the
plastic bottle irresponsibly thrown about
to the ones who package the final product
destined for China. Many of these now fear
for their future without jobs.
Joel Mwesigye, a KCCA engineer per-
manently stationed at Kiteezi landfill says
business is now down.
“The piles of plastic waste you see over
there are yet to be purchased because the
demand is not as high,” he says, “The
sellers seem to be stuck with their stocks.
When the Chinese are buying, there are no
stockpiles.”
Ambrose Nuwagira, the senior educa-
tion, information and communication
officer of the National Environment Man-
agement Authority (NEMA) also told The
Independent that China’s ban is a blow to
those who have been earmarking the coun-
try as an export destination.
The Independent's week-long investigation
as expected found Uganda’s plastics recy-
clers already in panic mode, not knowing
what they will do with the mountains of
plastic waste in their yards which they had
stocked for processing to export to China.
But reactions to the Chinese ban are not
uniform.
When The Independent recently visited
Plastics Recycling Industries in Nakawa
Division on the eastern side of Kampala
city, we found youthful workers clad in
their blue and black overalls busy working
in the mid-afternoon sweltering tempera-
tures.
As the machines gobbled and shred-
ded the plastic bottles, outside the plant’s
entrance, we observed the young men and
women moving in heaps of thousands of
empty plastic bottles in various sizes—from
half a litre bottles to five litres ones.
Coco-cola’s new markets
The different reactions appear to be driv-
en by the level of information and attitude
of the business owners.
At the time the Chinese government ban
filtered through to Uganda in September
last year, Conrad van Niekerk, the manag-
news analysis
ing director of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa
Uganda whose affiliate; Plastics Recycling
Industries, is the largest plastic recycling
industry in Uganda received the news with
shock.
“It was disappointing because that
meant all our efforts at clearing Uganda’s
towns and cities of post-consumer plastic
waste would be severely challenged,” van
Niekerk said in a recent statement.
“That means tonnes of plastic waste will
be going into the drainage channels and
wetlands.”
Van Niekerk said Uganda also risked
losing slightly over $2 million (Approx. Shs
7 billion) in annual revenues.
In a recent interview, however, Simon
Kaheru, the Public Affairs and Commu-
nications Director at Coca-Cola Beverages
Africa Uganda told The Independent the
company has already found alternative
markets for its recycled plastics in India and
Dubai for the short and medium term.
He said the company is also working
with Uganda Export Promotion Board to
explore more options; including plans to
innovate and turn the recycled plastic flake
into products that the local Ugandan mar-
ket can utilize in the long term.
Peter Kaujju, KCCA’s publicist also told
The Independent that the city authority has
plans for Kampala’s garbage challenge;
including plastic waste recycling initiatives
with several private sector agencies.
“We are setting up recycling plants in
each of Kampala city’s five divisions in con-
junction with Coca-Cola (Coca-Cola Bever-
ages Africa),” he said.
Kaheru said Co-Cola will continue work-
ing with its partners to recover and recycle
the equivalent of 100% of the bottles the
company introduces into the Ugandan
market.
“Our goal is to retrieve not only the plas-
tic bottles that we introduce to the market
but other plastic waste that we remove from
the community and convert into economic
and commercial use.”
It is not clear how effective Coca-Cola’s
drive will be as statistics on volumes of
plastic waste are scanty. Kaheru says Coca-
Cola has been collecting over 220 tonnes of
plastic waste per month from various inde-
pendent collectors across Uganda.
Last year, over 2000 tonnes were collected
and of this, 1996.45 tonnes was polyethylene
terephthalate (PET) or recyclable plastics.
The company which started operations a
decade ago has been exporting over 1000
tonnes of PET to China every year.
Uganda is not alone in this. For over 30
years, China had become the world’s larg-
est importer of waste or “foreign trash”— a
valuable source of raw material for China’s
booming manufacturing sector.
China has been importing recyclable
plastic waste even from large countries
like the US, the EU states and Japan. The
Jan 19 - 25, 2018 15
news analysis
Kiteezi landfill provides employment to hundreds of Ugandans.  INDEPENDENT/RONALD MUSOKE
Bureau of International Recycling China
estimates that in 2016, China imported 7.3
million tonnes of plastic scrap from Europe,
Japan, the US and 27 million tonnes of waste
paper.
In 2016 alone, the US exported 1.42 mil-
lion tonnes of scrap plastic worth about $495
million. Of all recycled plastic waste collect-
ed in the 27 EU countries, up to 87% of this
waste ended up on the shores of China.
But a lack of effective supervision led
to the trash being a source of enormous
environmental and health problems. China
moved to reform the import system of solid
waste, drawing up a time table to ban solid
waste for each industry and category of
refuse, to reduce the quantity of imported
garbage.
In July, the Chinese government told the
World Trade Organization that it would
ban imports of 24 categories of recyclables
and solid waste by the end of 2017. The
campaign against yang laji or “foreign gar-
bage” applies to plastic, textiles and mixed
paper and has resulted in China taking a lot
less material as it replaces imported materi-
als with recycled materials collected in its
own domestic market, from its growing
middle-class.
As expected, the impact of the Chinese
ban is being felt in far-flung places. Some
environmental experts in countries affected
by the China ban around the world have
looked at the recent Chinese policy shift in a
positive manner.
They say the Chinese ban has the poten-
tial to propel many waste-exporting coun-
tries—who for far too long had taken an
“out of sight-out of mind” attitude to waste
disposal—to adopt far more progressive
disposal and recycling systems.
Writing in The South China Morning Post
16 Jan 19 - 25, 2018
in December, Tom Baxter, the communica-
tions officer at Greenpeace East Asia and
Liu Hua, a Greenpeace East Asia’s plastics
campaigner, noted that China’s refusal to
remain the dumping ground for foreign
garbage highlights the need for countries
to start facing up to their plastics addiction,
and for markets of plastics and disposable
goods to take responsibility for the environ-
mental damage inflicted.
In Uganda, Lawrence Bategeka, the MP
for Hoima Municipality and vice chairper-
son of the Parliamentary Committee on
National Economy is supporting the setting
up of more recycling plants in Kampala and
around the country to manage the plastic
waste. But he notes that it is important for
the government to come up with effective
regulations to manage the recycling process
which could leave a negative effect on the
environment.
One way of doing this, Bategeka says,
would be for the government to come up
with regulations which compel owners of
recycling plants to neutralize or minimize
the negative impacts on the population.
This is an idea Lawrence Oketcho, the
head of policy and advocacy at the Uganda
Manufacturers Association (UMA) also
agrees with. He told The Independent that the
Chinese ban should be taken as an opportu-
nity by local entrepreneurs.
“If we take the trouble to understand
what the Chinese have been importing this
plastic waste for; we can start doing the
same here in Uganda,” he said.
“On one hand, the Chinese ban could
be depriving us but on another it could be
opening up new opportunities,” Oketcho
said. Oketcho told The Independent that plas-
tics are here to stay because they are used
everywhere.
“You have containers for water; you have
construction materials, food processors
use plastics, cars use plastics and even the
clothes we put on these days carry a good
amount of plastics, so you cannot say, you
will eliminate plastics.”
Unfortunately, plastics are not biodegrad-
able. When the plastic bottles have served
their primary purpose; people have no way
of getting rid of them.
“The best thing to do is that we must
have responsible consumers and respon-
sible regulators,” Oketcho says.
“Plastics are now part of our lives and
the best thing for us is to look for innovative
ways of using plastics.”
Alfred Rwabugahya, the Business Coor-
dinator of the Uganda Plastics Manufactur-
ers and Recyclers Association (UPMRA)
told The Independent on Jan. 09 that the asso-
ciation is already looking at “Plan B.”
“As UMPRA, we are not worried because
we also have bigger plans for plastic waste
(because) exporting plastic waste to China
is not the solution to Uganda’s plastic waste
problem.”
“Why should we export to China and yet
we can also turn those raw materials right
here in Uganda where we can create jobs
and generate revenue for the government.”
He says he is aware of Chinese
entrepreneurs who want to establish a
manufacturing plant here in Uganda.
Rwabugahya told The Independent that
the only frustrating thing at the moment
is a lack of clear government position on
plastics (polythene bags).
“Importing machinery that can convert
those plastics into other products is quite
easy,” he said.

Rwanda expands gorilla home
Targets more from growing population of tourism magnet
By Francis Byaruhanga
R
wanda has got a new additional
habitat for its growing population
of rare mountain gorillas, the Go-
rilla Berengei Berengei.
The 27.8-hectare property (about the size
of 70 standard football fields, was donated
by the AWF (African Wildlife Fund) and
will be incorporated into the 16,000 hectare
gorilla habitat of the Volcanoes National
Park in Kinigi, Northern Province.
Volcanoes National park is one of the
Africa’s oldest national parks. It is part of
what was formerly called the Albert Nation-
al park, which was established in 1925
and comprised the highest protected areas
located in the greater Virunga Trans Bound-
ary Landscape, part of the Albertine region,
in Rwanda, Uganda, and the DR Congo.
The region is one of the most ecologically
significant ecosystems in the world in terms
of species diversity and endemism.
The Minister of Industry and Trade, Vin-
cent Munyeshyaka, said more land to the
parks will add value on its importance and
national parks in Rwanda and contribute
greatly to the national economy through
eco-tourism. “In fact, for the last six con-
secutive years, tourism has become the
number one foreign currency earner, and
the volcanoes National parks has been a
contributor,” he said.
To illustrate, he said volcanoes National
Park in 2016 received 32,818 visitors who
directly generated US$16 million, while
between 2007 and 2016, Volcanoes National
Park generated over US$115 million.
Since 2006, over 298,000 tourists have vis-
ited the Volcanoes National Park. An aver-
age number of 29,000 tourists have visited
the Park between 2011 and 2016.
Munyeshyaka said communities around
the park have also benefited directly from
more than 40% of its total contribution and
this has been achieved through support
provided by Rwanda development Board
(RDB).
Rwanda praised
Clare Akamanzi, the Chief Executive
Officer of RDB which is in charge of the
habitats, said despite its extraordinary
biodiversity, the volcanoes National Park,
on the Rwandan side of the Virunga
Massif, is relatively small, covering
only 160km2 which results in Mountain
Gorilla’s leaving the park, causing conflict
with farmers and making themselves
vulnerable to diseases which is the greatest
threats to this endangered species.
Speaking during the handover ceremony
in Kinigi, Akamanzi said the AWF dona-
tion is a major step in the consolidation of
Rwanda’s conservation gains.
She described how Rwanda was already
gaining from the tourism supported by
the gorilla conservation. She said, over the
last nine years, up to US$ 107 million have
gone to the national coffers revenues from
the mountain gorilla conservation and the
resulting tourism.
Akamanzi also revealed that over Rwf
531,466,921 was distributed by RDB to more
than 158 community-based projects through
the revenue sharing program.
“This support will increase this year fol-
lowing the Government’s decision in 2017,
to increase the revenue sharing program
from 5% to 10% of all tourism revenues,”
she said.
In addition, in partnership with fellow
conservationists, over 731 community based
projects, with an estimated value of US$6.1
million have been set up to provide hous-
ing, schools, health clinics and water tanks
for the community living in the 45 sectors
and 12 Districts surrounding Akagera,
Nyungwe, and Volcanoes National Parks,
she said.
The AWF President, Kaddu Sebunya,
praised Rwanda for having distinguished
itself as a leader in conservation because of
the most remarkable recovery of the great
apes. He said Rwanda and RDB had pro-
vided a template for sustainable develop-
ment.
He said through its proactive govern-
ment policies, community involvement and
open governance, Rwanda is demonstrating
that development and conservation are not
mutually exclusive.
“I am excited by the great strides Rwanda
Rwanda
is taking to develop its natural heritage
sustainably and guarantee long-term socio-
economic stability for its people,” he said,
“Such a win-win approach to conservation
suggests that there is nothing inevitable
about conservation challenges in Africa
today.”
Sebunya said AWF recognises that if
mountain gorillas are going to survive in
the long-term, the Volcanoes National Park
must be strategically protected. Therefore,
he said, AWF is committed to supporting
RDB in this endeavor.
He said AWF, with support from the
Annenberg Foundation, bought the 27.8
hectares of land directly adjacent to the Park
to donate to the Government of Rwanda to
be incorporated into the Park.
Tackling challenges
The rare mountain Gorilla, which is listed
as `critically endangered’ by the Interna-
tional Union for Conservation of Nature,
is found in only two location in the world.
One location straddles the Virunga moun-
tain ranges in Rwanda, the DR Congo, and
Uganda. The other is in the Bwindi Impen-
etrable Forests of Uganda. Most estimates
say there are less than 1000 of the primates
today and there has been concerted effort
protect them; especially by conserving their
habitat.
According to the last census of 2010 by
the Rwanda Development Board (RDB),
the Virunga Massif which includes three
national parks; namely the Volcanic Nation-
al Park in Rwanda, The Virunga South
National Park in the DR Congo, and the
Mgahinga Gorrilla National Park in Ugan-
da, with an area covering 450km2, hosts
480 gorillas. This represents an increase of
26.3% over the previous seven years, or an
average growth rate of 3.7% per annum.
The Volcanoes National Park on the
Rwanda side, has registered the biggest
success in the effort. Estimates claim that
the habitat had decreased by 54% since its
establishment in 1925.
Due to conservation efforts by the Gov-
ernment of Rwanda, as well as its conserva-
tion partners, mountain gorilla numbers are
recovering. The population has increased
from a low of 285 in 1978 to 480 in 2010.
Between 2003 and 2010, gorilla numbers
have increased by 26.3%. This represents an
annual growth rate of 3.7%.
The increase in Rwanda’s mountain goril-
la population has led to a major challenge;
the provision of adequate habitat.
Jan 19 - 25, 2018 17
Rwanda
Rethinking Rwanda’s towns
World Bank says growth higher than stated
By Agencies
 Large scale urbanisation has already
taken place in Rwanda, with the pace
of it much faster than official records
suggest because the definition of urban
areas needs refining.
 Urbanisation appears to have had a
positive impact on structural transfor-
mation and helped raise the national
average of GDP per worker.
 The link between urbanisation and the
creation of non-farm jobs is stronger in
areas with a higher population density
and better connectivity in terms of
transport and access to markets.
“I came to Kigali about five years ago
to look for a job and other opportunities,”
says 35-year-old Hassan Mudenge, a con-
struction site assistant, “I can say I am now
financially stable. I pay my rent regularly
and send some money home to help my
parents. And I am saving to build myself
house in the village.”
His is the story of many young Rwan-
dans who leave their homes in the country’s
rural areas to seek work in fast-growing
urban areas, especially in and around the
capital city, Kigali.
Greater urbanisation is explicit in
Rwanda’s plans for becoming a middle-
income country by 2020. The World Bank
is supporting the government’s urbanisa-
tion strategy with a $95 million Rwanda
Urban Development Project that aims to
provide basic infrastructure and services to
six secondary cities around the country—
Muhanga (formerly Gitarama), Rubavu
(Gisenyi), Nyagatare, Huye (Butare), Rusizi
(Cyangugu), and Musanze (Ruhengeri)—
and to Kigali City, which makes up the core
of the greater Kigali area.
The Bank’s new Rwanda Economic
Update focuses on the rapid pace of urban-
isation as its special topic, `Rethinking
Urbanisation in Rwanda: From Demo-
graphic Transition to Economic Transfor-
mation’. The report finds the urban share of
Rwanda’s total population (now about 12
million) has increased far faster than official
records suggest because the definitions of
urban areas need streamlining. A 2012 cen-
sus and 2014 household survey calculated
the urban share of the population at 16.5
and 17.3 percent respectively.
However, using another, simple defini-
tion of urban, the report’s researchers found
that the level of urbanisation had increased
far more—from 15.8 percent to 26.5 percent
between 2002 and 2015, an increase of 132
18 Jan 19 - 25, 2018
percent or almost 2 million people.
In other words, says the report, large
scale urbanisation has already taken place
in Rwanda.
Urbanisation and jobs
Despite rapid urbanisation, a dual migra-
tion pattern of internal migration is emerg-
ing: a move toward density in search of
work, with districts of Kigali city attracting
many migrants between 2011 and 2014 (29
percent of them). And a parallel move away
from density in search of land, with a high
share of migrants (33 percent) flocking to
Rwanda’s less populated Eastern Province.
The Rubavu (Gisenyi) area on the border
of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC) is the only urban area other than
Kigali that has significant appeal for inter-
nal migrants, as part of the busy transport
corridor that runs from the DRC through
Rwanda to the border with Uganda just
north of Musanze.
Links between urban population density
and non-farm job creation are particularly
strong in Greater Kigali and the cores of
the six secondary cities, the report says.
Within 20 km of Kigali, and within 5 km
of secondary cities, a 10 percent increase in
density is associated with higher non-farm
employment. The estimated effect of urban
population density on poverty reduction is
similarly strong, with a 10 percent increase
in density associated with a 6 percent drop
in the rate of moderate poverty within a
5km radius of a secondary city in Rwanda.
Capitalising on demographic shift
As Rwanda draws up its long-term eco-
nomic strategy for reaching high-income
status (by 2050), how can it increase its
urban dividend even more?
Effective public policy could provide
an enabling environment for investment,
says the report, rather than deciding where
investments should be located. And towns
and cities could be managed as part of a
separate portfolio, with special support
given to Kigali as the lead economy and
recognition for the distinctive roles other cit-
ies play in the national economic geography
as well.
Increasing economic (and not just popu-
lation) density is also critical, particularly
where opportunities for connecting urban
peripheries to surrounding rural areas
remain untapped. So far, urban expansion
has followed a pattern of low density settle-
ment. “We need to work on the factors that
attract people to towns to achieve this type
of urbanisation and transform our cities into
settlements,” says James Musoni, Rwanda’s
Minister of Infrastructure. “We must be able
to identify sites for settlement and source
the funds we need to support that.”
And, while Kigali’s rapid expansion
could be managed with more urban plan-
ning, the report says investment in other
cities should focus on improving basic
services.
“Urbanisation not only involves a demo-
graphic transition but, more importantly,
facilitates socio-economic transformation,”
says Narae Choi, World Bank Urban Devel-
opment Specialist. “It is time to rethink the
urbanisation strategy to leverage its poten-
tial for economic growth and the improve-
ment of welfare.”

By Paul Kagame
Unleashing Africa’s inner strengths
Institutions, policies, and champions
D
espite the myriad challenges we
still face, over the past two genera-
tions our world has become more
prosperous and equitable, and
also safer. Cooperation among nations has
been a foundation of that progress, as well
as the best mechanism for sustaining it.
This is nowhere truer than in Africa. At
independence, our continent and our indi-
vidual countries were profoundly divided
and unable to capitalise on our own wealth.
For decades, Africa only seemed to fall
further and further behind the rest of the
world. Those days are drawing to a close,
and closer regional integration within Africa
is a major reason why. The benefits are
already being felt as our markets become
more visible to the global economy. Secu-
rity issues are increasingly being handled
constructively and sustainably by African
institutions, in many cases in collaboration
with partners, thereby reducing the burden
on everyone.
But we still have a long way to go to build
the Africa we want. This is why African
leaders decided in 2016 to give full force to
the African Union’s founding ambitions by
bringing to term the institutional reform
of the organisation. The achievements of
the African Union are significant and often
unheralded, but it can and must do more.
The first pillar of the reform is to finance
our activities ourselves. African Union
programs are almost entirely financed by
external partners. Africa’s interests and
sense of ownership get lost, and the inter-
ests of donors could be better served as well.
It is also unsustainable. It is reckless for
Africa to rely so heavily on sources of
funding that are likely to dry up sooner
rather than later, especially when we have
the means to pay for programs that are ben-
eficial to us.
In July 2016, African leaders adopted a
plan to finance the African Union with a
0.2 percent levy on eligible imports, a for-
mula that has been successfully employed
in other regional organisations. Twenty
member states have so far implemented
the mechanism, out of which 14 are already
collecting funds.
This strong momentum is solid evidence
that there is political will to strengthen the
capacity of the African Union, despite the
complex politics involved in coordinating
among more than 50 member states.
In July 2016,
African leaders
adopted a plan
to finance the
African Union
with a 0.2
percent levy
on eligible
imports
The shift to self-financing has had another
important consequence: increased attention
to the efficiency and performance of the
African Union Commission and associated
organs. After all, when you’re spending
your own money, you want to make sure
it’s being used well.
Accordingly, African leaders decided to
complete the institutional reform of the
African Union, and mandated me to consult
with stakeholders around the continent and
present recommendations, which was done
at the AU Summit in January 2017.
More than 30 separate recommendations
were formally adopted, grouped into five
main areas: (1) focus on key priorities with
continental scope, and improve the division
of labor with Regional Economic Commu-
nities; (2) re-align African Union institutions
to deliver on those priorities; (3) connect the
work of the African Union more directly
to citizens; (4) manage the business of the
African Union more efficiently at both the
political and operational levels; and (5) sus-
tainably self-finance its activities.
This reform had been pending for several
years, and indeed most of the organisation’s
problems had already been meticulously
analysed. Indeed, key reforms have been
approved before, only to be abandoned.
Rwanda
Our focus therefore was to ensure imple-
mentation. From the outset, we were
conscious that the risk of failure was real.
The political obstacles are complex because
change is required not only in the African
Union Commission, but in each member
state.
A Reform Implementation Unit is up and
running in the Office of the Chairperson of
the Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat,
who has left no doubt about his personal
commitment to the reform agenda.
The politics is also not being taken for
granted. While there is very strong support
for the reform, the implementation process
requires regular attention and consulta-
tion at the head-of-state level to address
concerns and find practical solutions to
technical issues experienced by individual
states.
Myself, together with the current African
Union Chairperson, President Alpha Conde
of Guinea, and the previous Chairperson,
President Idriss Déby of Chad, have been
mandated to oversee the implementation.
A more effective African Union is not only
good for Africa, but for all of us.
What is important is to preserve the prin-
ciples and purpose that inspired the reform,
while showing flexibility on certain details
where member states require it. In this way,
momentum and progress can be sustained.
Africa is increasingly called on to speak
with one voice on the global stage. A more
effective African Union is not only good for
Africa, but for all of us. A more unified and
assertive Africa will mean improved coor-
dination on common security challenges,
where indeed Africa already shoulders a
significant share of the common burden.
This may require some accommodation
and adjustment in terms of how we do busi-
ness with each other, and it should be seen
as a positive evolution, not a challenge to
the existing order.
What should never get lost is the urgent
need to work together in good faith and
with mutual respect to build a more stable
and prosperous world for everyone. The
momentum we have seen thus far in imple-
menting the African Union reform suggests
that good progress will continue to be made
in 2018 and beyond.
Paul Kagame is the President of Rwanda
Jan 19 - 25, 2018 19
INTERVIEW
`I’ll fight for Ugandan coffee’
Dr. Albrecht Conze is Germany’s new Ambassador
to Uganda. He talked to The Independent’s Ronald
Musoke about first impressions and more.
What have been some of your impres-
sions of Uganda since you arrived in the
I
country?
am amazed by the stability in Uganda
because I am not used to it. I have spent
the second half of my diplomatic career
in Africa and mostly served in compli-
cated and unstable countries or post-conflict
scenarios. May be many Ugandans don’t
see it that way because they got used to
it – but living in a peaceful country is some-
thing wonderful. My previous mission was
in war torn Mali. I could not move freely in
Bamako. I had a personal protection detail;
I drove around in an armoured car, and I
could not leave the capital on weekends.
So, in Uganda, my first impression was one
of disbelief. I could sit outside on the street
and have a coffee, or walk through a shop-
ping mall. In the meantime, I have got used
to my new freedom, and I am enjoying it.
Any other unique thing you have noticed
in Uganda?
I discovered a very important difference
between Uganda and many other African
countries. Your country never was a colony,
it was a protectorate. So even during British
rule, Ugandans were able to preserve many
features of their identity, often linked to the
continuing existence of your kingdoms. The
result is that Ugandans do not seem to have
a post-colonial complex, something still
prevalent in many African countries. This
makes cooperation at eye level – the kind
of relation on which I have learned to insist
between Europe and Africa – much easier.
But to be fair to the other Africans, es-
pecially the southern Africans,
the Europeans stayed there
much longer than in
20 Jan 19 - 25, 2018
Uganda. Greater Kampala but in many of the larger
Obviously, those parts of Africa which secondary towns. The next major water
attracted larger numbers of European set- project co-financed by KFW, the German
tlers had a longer road to go to leave behind development bank, will be a pipeline from
the colonial era. Not only southern Africa, Gulu to Karuma. It will bring water from
but also the French speaking countries are the Nile to Gulu, seriously improving this
often struggling to finally turn the page. It fast-growing city’s water supply. Regard-
is an enormous advantage for Uganda to be ing energy, I was pleased to learn that most
relaxed about her history and identity. For of the energy generated in Uganda comes
a German ambassador and long standing from water. Germany is supporting hydro
friend of Africa, this is a wonderful point of energy both technically and financially.
departure for maintaining and deepening Moreover, we are also engaged in solar
constructive relations. energy. I have just had the opportunity to
be part of the opening of the Tororo solar
The Uganda-Germany bilateral power plant which we supported together
relations have in the re- with Norway and the EU. Solar power
cent past focused plants should be installed in other
on improving places because Uganda has abun-
the country’s dant sun. Germany will remain
energy and Uganda’s partner in all three
water sec- sectors you have mentioned.
tors as well
as the rural Uganda wants to ramp up its
economy. energy supply portfolio by
What will be venturing into nuclear pow-
your main er. Would you recommend
focus? nuclear energy for Uganda
From what considering that it is now be-
I have seen ing phased out in Europe?
so far, coop- Nuclear energy, if generated
eration in the under the highest possible
water sector safety parameters, can be a
works very temporary solution
well. We have for certain
intervened
not only in

countries. However, I am not sure that it
would be a good choice for Uganda. Your
country is densely-populated already
today, and growing further. Safety is
a huge issue in such cases. Worldwide
research in energy production has
advanced enormously since the turn of
the century. We now live in the era of
renewables, and they have become the
best development choice globally. In my
view, nuclear power is very much energy
of the 20th century and will be less needed
in the 21st. You have many other options to
generate energy, both for the national grid
and in a decentralized way. Hence, I would
think twice before building nuclear energy
plants in Uganda.
How do you intend to promote trade be-
tween the two countries?
Germany is better known in Uganda
than Uganda is in Germany. I would like to
change that. We need more bilateral trade,
and more German investment in Uganda.
Whenever I go back to Germany, I try to
meet with potential investors and raise their
interest in doing business here. There is
enormous potential in the agricultural sec-
tor. We already have an important interna-
tional player here, Neumann Coffee. Their
plantation in Kaweri on the road to Fort
Portal is a major investment. It employs
thousands of Ugandans. However, more
could be done. The coffee beans are being
exported unprocessed, and then blended
and roasted in Germany. The established
German coffee roasting companies in
Hamburg and Bremen have been doing this
for centuries. As a result, more money is
being made out of coffee in Germany than
in Uganda. If we want to be serious about
development, we should start to rethink.
More value could be added in Uganda to
your high-quality coffee. I will try my best
to explore new ways of coffee processing
with the German roasters. I also believe
that cotton spinning is possible in Uganda,
enabling your country to build up a value
adding chain from the cotton field to tex-
tile production. Why spin cotton in China
when you can do it in Gulu?
You were already here during the recent
debate in Parliament over the removal
of an article on the presidential age limit
from Uganda’s Constitution. What were
some of your impressions of this debate?
This was the first Parliamentary debate
of substance that I have witnessed as a
foreign envoy on Ugandan soil. I was
pleased by the lively and politically-
minded spirit of controversy among
your MPs. As in most other parlia-
ments, the opposition is usually
weaker than the ruling party
but the debate was there.
The debate was country
wide. Religious
leaders and other stakeholders of civil soci-
ety took part in it. I wouldn’t want to com-
ment on the issue itself as it was an internal
constitutional matter. Parliament, as the
people’s voice, has the last word on how
long a president should be allowed to stay.
If citizens are unhappy with a decision of
their elected representatives, they are free to
vote for someone else next time.
Your predecessor, Dr. Peter Blomeyer not-
ed before he left that much as Uganda re-
mains peaceful on the surface, underneath
it are a number of unresolved issues or
“frozen conflicts.” As a conflict resolution
expert, how do you intend to contribute
to the taming of some of Uganda’s many
simmering conflicts?
My experience in Africa is that conflicts
are rarely fully resolved. At best, they can
be brought down in temperature. Your
president and your government have suc-
ceeded in cooling down most of Uganda’s
traditional tribal conflicts. These conflicts
are really a curse of the African continent,
and some of your neighbours have done
less well in tackling them. Acholiland is
now peaceful and Karamoja has been dis-
armed; these are enormous steps. Right
now, the whole country can be considered
to be peaceful, and that is an enormous
achievement for Uganda. However, these
conflicts have not simply faded away,
and could flare up again unless you keep
watching the fault lines. I very much hope
that the younger generation, without the
individual memory of the stormy past after
independence, will remain conscious of the
precious good of internal peace now reign-
ing in Uganda. Beyond this hope, I have no
advice to give.
Uganda and Germany’s compassionate
refugee policies have been praised in
recent years, but as you recently noted,
the Ugandan government cannot afford
to take in any more refugees. How do
you think this refugee crisis should be
handled?
At first sight, there is similarity. Ger-
many and Uganda have each welcomed
a million refugees in a very short time.
But the comparison stops there. For you,
these are neighbours; they come from the
Equatoria region in South Sudan where
they even belong to the same ethnic group
as the people from West Nile. They walked
across the border with their families and
cattle, and once peace is established back
home, they are likely to walk back. In Ger-
many, the refugees came from far away,
from another culture, language and reli-
gion. They may have come for the same
reasons as your brothers and sisters from
South Sudan or eastern DRC. Syrians were
escaping from war. But their movement
was then joined by fellow travellers from
other countries under less pressure of
INTERVIEW
instability and war, or none at all. A sudden
wave of economically motivated migration
emerged in parallel with the war refugees.
That was much more difficult to accept for
many German citizens, and brought about
some strong reactions, including in our
recent general election results. In Uganda,
you are welcoming neighbours, expecting
their presence to remain temporary. You
have been commended for your generosity
towards your neighbours in distress. They
seek shelter in Uganda because your coun-
try is peaceful and stable. But where are
the limits to the hospitality you can afford?
I am afraid we are close to reaching them.
This is why all efforts right now must be
on solutions for peace in South Sudan and
eastern DRC. I can only renew my appeal
to Uganda and her neighbours to assist the
South Sudanese in sorting out their issues.
The West Nile Region is stressed to its lim-
its, and cannot afford to welcome a second
million of refugees from the north. Now
is the time for a political solution in South
Sudan.
On climate change, Uganda’s carbon
contribution is currently negligible but in
a few years’ time, it could shoot up with
the advent of oil production. How do you
think Uganda should go about managing
its carbon footprint?
Uganda’s exploitation of her oil reserves
has the potential of making the country leap
ahead. I am glad to note that there is con-
cern for the environmental side effects that
will come with it. You intend to export most
of your oil, and that is what the pipeline is
for. Its construction needs to be state of the
art, and German companies are already
working with Total, the project manager,
to contribute to the challenge. You will also
have an oil refinery close to Lake Albert.
Gauff Engineers, a German company well
established in Uganda, has been tasked
with drafting the master plan for the indus-
trial and environmental development of
the Hoima region. I am confident that they
will be able to contribute to finding solu-
tions that guarantee both economic viability
and maximum protection of the environ-
ment. Pollution in Kampala is a growing
problem. Much of it is due to the traditional
habit of cooking with charcoal. That habit
ought to change. German cooperation has
developed a simple energy-saving cooking
stove which saves trees (by not using any
wood) and blows much less carbon into the
air. These stoves can be made in Uganda
at affordable cost. These are only some
examples among many for the numerous
opportunities for Uganda to reduce and
control the negative side effects of progress
and modernization, and to avoid becom-
ing a carbon-intensive country. Germany is
happy to assist in this endeavour.
Jan 19 - 25, 2018 21
Tourists at Murchison falls National park.  INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA
W
By Susanne Becken
ould it not be great if
something as simple
and pleasurable as
international travel
could help end
something as grinding
and enduring as poverty? After all, the
industry is booming, globally growing
at least 4% a year since the 1960s (with
a brief slowdown in 2009), according
to the United Nations World Tourism
Organisation (UNWTO).
In 2016, over 1.3 billion international
tourists spent an estimated US$1.4
trillion. That’s the equivalent of
Australia’s gross domestic product,
dispersed around the world.
The UN even declared 2017 the
International Year of Sustainable Tourism
for Development, heralding the role of
international travel in reducing poverty.
But how much global tourism money
22 Jan 19 - 25, 2018
Making tourism work
Tourism cannot aid economy unless
some things are done right
really makes its way to poor countries?
Researchers from Griffith University
and University of Surrey provide a
mechanism to get find out – Global
Sustainable Tourism Dashboard. And,
spoiler alert, it’s not inspiring.
The dashboard was launched in
January 2017 to measure tourism’s
impacts and contribution to the UN’s
2015-2030 Sustainable Development
Goals. Among other sustainability-related
indicators, it can determine whether
tourism is really redistributing wealth by
tracking how much travel money arrives
in the world’s least developed countries
(LDCs) and small island developing
states (SIDS).
Some 14% of the global population
lives in LDCs (which includes Cambodia
and Senegal, among others) and SIDS,
like Vanuatu and the Dominican Republic.
Yet in 2016 these countries saw just
5.6% of global international tourism
expenditure. If we take Singapore (a small
island developing state in name only) out
of the mix, it falls to 4.4% – just US$62
billion out of the US$1.4 trillion spent
worldwide on travel in 2016.
Mainly, the dashboard shows, global
tourism is an economic exchange between

rich countries. Citizens of ten nations, most
of them in Europe and North America,
make about half of all international travel.
China, which in 1995 was not a member of
this frequent flyer club, broke into the top
ten in 2000.
Money can’t buy everything
If the share isn’t great, the total amount
of traveller money spent in these countries
is still substantial – US$79 billion in 2016
alone. This is as much as the foreign aid
budget of the U.S., Germany, UK, and
France combined, based on figures from
the World Economic Forum.
But money alone doesn’t reduce
poverty. If it did, Thailand, the world’s
fourth most popular tourism destination,
would be rich (it earned US$54 billion
from international tourism in 2016).
Whether a cash injection turns into
development depends on many well-
studied factors. For example, less
developed countries lack the critical
goods and services that tourists require,
including airports, accommodation,
key attractions, tour guides and
telecommunications, to name just a few.
This leads to what economists call
“leakage”. When a country must import
everything from generators and solar
panels to certain kinds of food, it spends a
considerable proportion of tourist dollars
before they can multiply in the local
economy.
In developing countries, leakage ranges
from 40% in India to 80% in Mauritius,
according to researcher Lea Lange who
wrote a 2011 paper for the German
development agency GIZ, depending
also on the factors that are included in the
analysis.
Part of the broader leakage problem is
that tourism investors are often foreign,
so the profits are expatriated. Cruise lines
are notorious for this. Ships may well visit
a dozen small island developing states on
any given marine jaunt, but most of the
profit goes back to headquarters, which
are typically located in Western countries.
Don’t let that dollar go
Governments can reduce leakage by
thinking strategically about procurement,
emphasising local business development,
integrating supply chains and investing
in education and training to prepare
workers for tourism jobs.
Such changes helped Samoa, where
tourism is one of the economy’s main
pillars, develop a more diversified and
lucrative portfolio. Tourism income has
grown from US$73 million in 2005 to
US$141 million in 2015 (at current prices),
when the industry contributed 20% of the
country’s GDP. It welcomes about 134,000
international visitors annually.
Among other innovations launched
jointly by donors, government and
community groups, Samoa increased
locals’ share of traveller resources by
reinventing its fales – simple, sometimes
open-air beach huts that often attract
backpacker-types – to appeal to luxury
travellers.
Out of the 2,000 hotel rooms in Samoa,
about 340 are now fales, which are
typically owned and operated by local
families. The Samoa Tourism Authority
assists them in business planning,
marketing and service delivery.
Samoan tourism was given a boost by
a lucrative 2009 contract with the Body
Shop to produce and sell coconut-based
beauty products. With the Samoan
Women In Business Development
Initiative securing continuity and scale,
this deal is likely to create positive
domestic tourism spin-offs like greater
entrepreneurial capacity among Samoan
women, business confidence, and brand
business
enhancement of Samoa with luxury
connotations.
By 2014, Samoa was no longer classified
as a least-developed country.
Making sure that visitor dollars
benefit local people also depends on
the commitment of foreign-owned
companies, particularly hotel groups,
to partner with and invest in local
communities.
The Marriott in Port au Prince, for
example, has been feted not just for
setting up shop in earthquake-shattered
Haiti (one of the world’s least-developed
countries) in 2015 but for hiring local,
paying well and focusing on professional
development. This has proven to be a
good business strategy, too. With happy
workers, the hotel has very low turnover.
Making tourism work
Ecuador, Fiji and South Africa are
among other countries illustrating that
tourism can contribute to development
and alleviate poverty. The English travel
agency; Responsible Travel, which holds
annual World Responsible Tourism
Awards, showcases more great examples.
International organisations such as the
UN can help countries find this balance
by financing transport connectivity, for
example, and facilitating infrastructure
investment that’s mindful of potential
tourism uses.
Capacity-building among domestic
stakeholders is also critical. Only when
a destination’s tourism offices, luxury
hotels and ecoparks are run and staffed
by well-trained locals can the benefits
of tourism be equitably distributed, its
costs effectively managed and its growth
sustainable.
Individuals have a role to play,
too, by making ethical travel choices.
Tourists visiting developing countries
can maximise the community benefits of
their trip by “going local” on everything
from food and tour companies to craft
purchases.
Opting for certified “responsible”
companies and simply by asking the right
questions may also send an important
signal over time that tourists care about
their impacts.
Tourism will never end poverty. But if
governments, industries and consumers
start paying attention, they can make it a
force for change.
Susanne Becken is professor of Sustainable
Tourism and Director, Griffith Institute for
Tourism, Griffith University
Source: Theconversation
Jan 19 - 25, 2018 23
business
KCB Agency and Digital Finance Manager, Michael Ssekyondwa, (R) demonstrates how to use the point of sale terminal to some of its banking agents on Dec. 12.
Banks rollout agent banking
The new model is expected to deepen financial inclusion
By Isaac Khisa
U
ganda’s commercial banks have
started rolling out agent banking
following Kenya and Rwanda’s
footsteps in an effort to grow de-
posits and customer base.
This follows the coming into force of the
Financial Institutions Act amendments of
2016 that gave the Bank of Uganda powers
in consultation with the Minister of Finance
to make regulations in respect of agents and
agent banking.
Agent banking model works in such a
way that a commercial bank appoints a
third party (agent) to transact business on
its behalf instead of visiting a nearby ATM
or branch. The agent could be a petrol sta-
tion, retail or hardware shop, a supermarket,
pharmacy, and consumer goods distributors.
Currently, Equity Bank and Centenary
Bank have already rolled out agent banking
as a pilot with 1,000 and 392, agents respec-
tively.
Stanbic Bank, which has so far signed an
excess of 400 agents, plans to roll out the
new banking model next month while KCB
plans to follow suit in the second quarter of
the year.
KCB has about 300 agents countrywide,
according to the lender’s Marketing and
Communication Manager, Samuel Matekha.
Speaking to The Independent in an inter-
view, Fabian Kasi, the managing director at
Centenary Bank, who also doubles as chair-
man of Uganda Bankers Association (UBA),
said the new banking model is expected
to boost the number of people consuming
banking services.
“Also, our informal and agricultural sec-
tors form the backbone of our economy,” he
24 Jan 19 - 25, 2018
said, “By innovatively riding on technology;
banks will be able to offer relevant services
to players in this space which we envisage
will lead to a totally new customer segment
within the financial sector.”
At the moment, Uganda has merely eight
million bank accounts out of the country’s
34.5million people, according to the World
Bank. Kasi revealed that Centenary Bank
is looking at growing its agent network to
10,000 in the next three years.
Though BoU was yet to respond to our
inquiries on the total number of banks that
have been issued with licences to operate
agent banking, executives in the Bank ear-
lier stated that the new banking model will
stimulate financial inclusion and deepen the
financial sector as customers will now be
able to deposit, withdraw and carryout any
other transactions through the bank agents.
Beyond Uganda
In the East African Community, Kenya
and Rwanda have already rolled out agent
banking model. Data from Central Bank of
Kenya shows that agent banking that was
started in 2010 with the main objective being
improving financial inclusion witnessed a
rise of 56 million transactions in the first-
quarter of 2016 compared to 10 million trans-
actions noted in the same period in 2015. The
value of banking transactions undertaken
through agents almost tripled from Ksh 65.0
billion to Ksh176.7 billion over the same
period.
The bank attributed the good jump in
numbers to increased confidence and accept-
ability of the banking model by banks and
the public as an economical, convenient
delivery channel of financial services.
As at the end of Q1 of 2016, there were
17 banks out of the country’s 43 commercial
banks in the country that had contracted
40,224 agents which had facilitated over
170.5 million cumulative transactions valued
at Ksh930.2 billion as compared to 16 com-
mercial banks that had 34,381 agents that
had facilitated 149.4 million transactions val-
ued at Ksh817.7 billion in the same quarter
the previous year.
In Rwanda, four of the eight banks – KCB,
Equity, Bank of Kigali and Cogenbanque –
that rolled out agent banking since 2012 had
signed more than 3,544 agents as at the end
of 2015, according to the study conducted
by Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and
Technology, with Equity Bank alone having
signed 1,746 banking agents.
More than 66.35milllion Rwanda Francs
passed through the four banks' agents dur-
ing the same period under review, signalling
increased financial performance due to con-
venience and efficiency.
Analysts say Kenya and Rwanda’s success
story offer an opportunity for the 24 Ugan-
dan Banks to learn and design product in a
way that it achieves its core purpose in the
banking space.
Going forward, Kasi said with the rollout
of its agent banking which comes with cash
deposits and withdrawals, account opening
initiation, school fees payment, cente
voucher and inquiries services, it now plans
to add more services onto this new banking
channel. This includes utility payments
like Umeme, Uganda Revenue Authority,
pay TVs, National Water and Sewerage
Corporation and all other relevant services
to this new platform for its customers and
society, he said.
Executive Style
ICPAU to train 10,000 accountants by 2025
What is ICPAU’s role in the major gaps have you identi-

O
accounting arena in Uganda?
ur role dates back
in 1962 where there
was an emergency
of a requirement
of qualified accountants in
Uganda. But the government
had up to 1966 not come up
with the law to regulate the
profession. Therefore in 1966,
the government at the time
came up with one but was
not completed. During the
Idi Amin era, we went into
limbo and when Obote II
came, there was no recourse
that was addressed to the
accounts until 1992 when we
got the law. A lot of things
have since taken place includ-
ing regulating accountancy
profession, accounting re-
ports and practice and the
qualification of students. We
started examining students in
1997 and to date, the number
of students that have qualified
is 3,144. The Institute has played
an important role in popularis-
ing the accounting profession
and standardizing reporting and
bringing the country to a global
map in accounting practices.
How are you responding to a
belief that accounting profes-
sion is complicated?
Accounting is not difficult. We use as expected and we report to URA on this matter.
want to demystify that percep-
tion. Accounting is simple and
logical. We have seen persons
who have done law, engineer-
ing, medicine who have come
to it and went ahead to finish
it. We have a girl who is deaf
and is doing the course…and
passing the papers. We are con-
ducting outreaches in schools
and telling people about this
course and how to go about it.
We have also published read-
ing materials for students to use
to pass exams. While passing
exams is one thing; the objective are able to know people using
is to understand the profession
and be an enabling professional The only thing is that they now
accountant.
Accountancy and economy are
two inseparable words when it is eliminated from interfacing
comes to running a transparent with the taxpayer. Presently,
government and private sector. there is a new international regu- In relation to your work, what
Frederick
Kibbedi (CPA) is
the vice president
of the Institute of
Certified Public
Accountants of
Uganda (ICPAU).
He spoke to The
Independent’s
Julius
Businge about
accountancy
profession
and its roles in
stirring economic
development.
How has the Institute faired in lation called Non-compliance
this situation? with Laws and Regulations
Accountancy and economy which came into play on July 1,
cannot be separated. Account- 2017. This works in such a way
ing survives by measuring that when you don’t comply
economic terms. The persons with laws and regulations, quali- cies and private sector. The good
running government run it as fied accountants handling your
hired managers. They run it on work are required to report it
behalf of the people of Uganda. under international law. This is
We have a role of making sure new and it means we are going
that resources allocated through to bring more sanity in the
the national budget are put to economy as we collaborate with
Parliament. The Auditor General
is a representation of the accoun- How are you dealing with
tancy profession in government quacks in the profession of
and many times he will out- late?
source his work to us to do it on There is an accountant’s act
his behalf. which criminalises persons
undertaking work without a
What is your advice to Uganda license. Police and other law
Revenue Authority in relation enforcers are now aware of the
to dealing with multinational law and the pitfall that we have
companies that employ aggres- in our economy of people carry- which they wouldn’t if they
sive tax planning practices to ing out illegal accounting busi-
evade tax? ness. We have four cases that we ing tax exemptions and other
URA has done well to go elec- are handling in court to date. We incentives.
tronic, because with that, they will continue to fight quacks. We
also have a unique indentifying
various schemes to evade tax. seal that a professional accoun-
tant stamps on the report to
need to go to another level. In qualify it as genuine. We are also Uganda?
other countries, the human inter- publishing the names of profes-
face which is highly corruptible sional accountants in the media
regularly.
fied in Uganda’s education
system as far as accounting
is concerned. What are your
recommendations?
The teaching of mathemat-
ics which forms a very fun-
damental block in accounting
needs to be made more inter-
esting. It needs to be taught at
an early stage and has to be
included in decision making.
Curriculum for universities
need to change to adhere
with changes in the account-
ing world. Also inculcating
the aspects of accounting as
part of people’s life right from
school is important when it
comes to calculative spending
of what one has earned.
In FY2017/18, government
exempted professional bod-
ies like ICPAU from paying
income tax; why did you sup-
port that yet government needs
more tax to offer services?
ICPAU plays an important
role in enforcing compliance in
accounting by government agen-
thing is that our members pay
tax from what they earn and so
taxing ICPAU which gets money
through membership subscrip-
tion would be double taxation.
What message do you have for
businesses that are yet to for-
malise?
Informal businesses need
to formalize, because in their
current form, they don’t know
whether they are growing or
not, they don’t know where they
are going and what strategy to
get themselves out of that situ-
ation. They are recording losses
were formal. They are also los-
In relation to your strategic
plan, what is the future like
for accounting profession in
We are targeting 10,000
professional accountants by
2025. This will meet the market
demand for our work

Jan 19 - 25, 2018 25

business
ICT TOURISM

YahClick to offer UWA boosts domestic tourism with buses

e-services is a true gesture that the gov-

Y
ahClick, an internet service
provider, which has been
in Uganda since 2012, plans
to strengthen its business
by going further than providing sat-
ellite broadband but to also provide
solutions in e-healthcare, e-educa-
tion and e-government services.
In a recent notice, Farhad Khan,
the group’s chief commercial officer
said by venturing in new areas,
they would connect more people,
organisations and businesses.
“To make this happen we will
ernment supports the devel-
opment of domestic tourism
in the country,” said Godfrey
Kiwanda, the State Minister
for Tourism during the launch
of the buses at UWA head-
quarters in Kampala.
“One of the challenges that
has been hindering UWA to
promote domestic tourism
is transport costs. Ugandans
should take the advantage of
the buses to tour their country
since the rates will be afford-
UWA's newly acquired tourism buses .  INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA able to local people,” he said.

be launching our third satellite
Al Yah 3 which will extend our
coverage to an additional 20
markets on the African continent,”
Khan said, adding once the satellite
is commercially launched, their
customers can expect more capacity
and a wider coverage.
U
ganda Wildlife Au-
thority has boosted
domestic tourism
with the acquisition
of five brand new tourism
buses worth US$800,000.
The funding was part of
the US$100 million World
Bank funded Competitive
and Enterprise Development
Project (CEDP) overseen by
the Private Sector Foundation
Uganda (PSFU).
“The purchase of the buses
UWA Executive Director,
Andrew Sseguya, said the
new development is part of
the agency’s strategy to grow
tourism and improve conser-
vation in all the national pro-
tected areas.

RETAIL AVIATION

NDA to suspend licencing new pharmacies in Kampala African airlines experienced

N
ational Drug “No new drug per the population cen- a 7.9% rise in demand

Authority has
suspended
issuing licences
to new pharmacies in
Kampala citing over con-
centration. This excludes
licences to new pharma-
cies in private hospitals.
The drug agency said
in a statement that new
approvals will be given
only to pharmacies in
the periphery of the City
and upcountry location.
AVIATION
KQ starts flights to New York in October
A
shops will be licensed sus of 2014 against the
in Kampala and other total licensed pharma- frican air-
municipalities since cies in 2017 of 478, which lines experi-
there are pharmacies translates into a pharma- enced a 7.9%
already sufficiently serv- cist to population ratio of rise in demand
ing the population,” 1: 3,172. compared to Novem-
the agency said, adding This implies that ber 2016, according to
that new outlets need Kampala is well served the International Air
to move to high density even in comparison to Transport Association’s
underserved areas coun- countries such as the UK (IATA) latest analysis.
trywide. which recommends a Data supplied by air-
NDA statistics shows ratio of pharmacist to lines around the world unique city-pair connec-
that Kampala City has population of 1:5000, the last November indicates tions now tops 20,000.
1.52 million people as agency said. that volumes started to Passengers not only
trend upwards strongly have more travel choices
again in seasonally- than ever, the cost of
adjusted terms in recent travel in real terms has
months, in line with an
improvement in busi-
never been cheaper.
Along with delivering
and the US. ness confidence in key great value to consum-
“This is an exciting moment for us. It economies including ers, airlines are reward-
fits within our strategy to attract corpo- Kenya and Nigeria. ing their shareholders
rate and high-end tourism traffic from Capacity rose 3.7% and with normal levels of
the world to Kenya and Africa. We are load factors climbed 2.7 profitability.
honored to contribute to the economic percentage points to He said they expect
growth of Kenya and East Africa.” said 68.3%. 2018 to be the fourth

K
enya’s national carrier, Kenya
Airways, is set to start daily
flights between Nairobi and
New York on October 28.
The carrier, which started selling
tickets for the inaugural flight on Jan
11, becomes that first airline to offer
a non-stop flight between East Africa
KQ Group CEO Sebastian Mikosz. “The airline industry year in a row where
The ultra-long-haul flight, unique is in a good place enter- the industry’s return
to Kenya Airways network, will take ing 2018. November’s on invested capital will
15 hours. This is a reduction from the strong demand gives exceed the cost of capital
current flight time of over 22 hours the industry momen- amidst a number of chal-
due to connecting flights. The airline tum,” said Alexandre de lenges including security
already serves Africa, Europe, Middle- Juniac, IATA’s Director threats and inadequate
East, Indian sub-continent and Asia. General and CEO. infrastructure.
“The number of

26 Jan 19 - 25, 2018

 business

Land donation enlarge Rwanda’s

gorilla protection zone
By Isaac Khisa Mountain Gorilla, the Vol-

R
wanda’s gorilla protec-
tion zone has enlarged
following the African
Wildlife Fund move to
donate 27.8 hectares of land to
Rwanda Development Board
(RDB).
The land is to be incorpo-
rated into the 16,000 hectares’
Volcanoes National Park,
located in north-western part
of the country, bordering
Donald Kaberuka (L) with the Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda during Virunga National Park in the
the inaugural Emmanual Tumusiime Mutebile Centre of Excellence business Democratic Republic of Congo
dialogue at Naguru Skyz Hotel on Jan 11.  INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA and Mgahinga Gorilla Nation-
al Park in Uganda.
Clare Akamanzi, the Chief
Executive Officer of RDB, said
the donation to the park is a
major step in the consolidation
of the country’s conserva-
tion gains for the benefit of
the present communities and
future generations.
“Through gorilla conser-
vation and tourism, we are
directly benefitting from these
wonderful animals,” she said
in a statement on Jan 10, add-
ing that revenues from gorilla
conservation and the resulting
tourism has brought into the
national coffers US$107million
in the past nine years.
Joseph Awino, (M) General Manager Fresh Dairy and Henry Samanya Sales Home to the endangered
Manager Fresh Dairy (R ) hand over bicycles to Fresh Dairy Agents Sebugwawo
Fred (L), Besigye Didas (2L), Katwesigye Clever (2R) and Mulamula Emmanuel
(R) during the launch of an exclusive agent bicycle distribution initiative at
Fresh Dairy offices on Jan 12 aimed at improving product transportation and
creation of jobs for youth.  INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA
canoes National Park has
decreased by 54% since its
establishment in 1925, accord-
ing to RDB.
However, the population of
gorillas has increased from 285
in 1978 to 480 in 2010 due to
the government’s conservation
efforts.
AWF President, Kaddu
Sebunya, said he is excited
by the great strides Rwanda
has taken in developing its
natural heritage sustainably
and guaranteeing long-term
socio-economic stability for its
people.
“Through proactive gov-
ernment policies, community
involvement and open gover-
nance, Rwanda is demonstrat-
ing that development and
conservation are not mutually
exclusive,” he said. “A win-
win approach to conservation
suggests that there is nothing
inevitable about conservation
challenges in Africa.”
Last year, RDB distributed
over Frw 531.5million to more
than 158 community-based
projects living near the park
through the revenue shar-
ing program. The park has
received 298,000 tourists in the
past 12 years.

Weekly share price movement (Jan. 11)

Security Jan. 11 Jan 04 Movement
BATU 30000 30000 00
BOBU 113 113 00
CENT 1,568 1,549 1.2
DFCU 681 680 0.5
EABL 8,472 8,542 0.8
EBL 1,453 1,409 3.1
JHL 17,689 16,454 7.5
KA 574 631 9.0
KCB 1,524 1,470 3.7
NIC 12 13 7.6
NMG 4,076 4,096 0.5
NVL 515 520 1.0
Women groups of Kawempe displaying some of their crafts during the SBU 27 27 00
Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) campaign UCHM 136 145 6.2
against domestic violence and women empowerment. SIHA has partnered
UCL 29 29 00
with organizations dealing with women vendors in Kampala to skill and
sensitize them on their rights.  INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA UMEME 400 400 00
ALSI -- -- --

Jan 19 - 25, 2018 27

Feature
The hydro power dams puzzle
How do we ensure that new dams do not
add risk to power supplies down the line?
By Declan Conway
I
n the 1980s and 1990s parts of Africa
saw a surge in dam building for energy
production. After a brief hiatus, there has
been renewed interest. Many new con-
struction projects are planned and underway
across sub-Saharan Africa.
Hydropower represents a significant and
rapidly expanding proportion of electric-
ity production in eastern and southern
Africa. Around 90% of national electricity
generation in Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozam-
bique, Namibia and Zambia comes from
hydropower. The share of hydropower in
sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for 20%
of electricity production, is likely to grow
rapidly. (If South Africa – which relies on
coal powered electricity – was excluded, this
figure would be much higher, but separate
numbers aren’t available.)
An energy initiative, the Programme for
Infrastructure Development in Africa, that
has the buy in of all African countries, argues
for major hydropower developments within
a broader clean power agenda. The initia-
tive argues that this would enable African
countries to keep pace with rising demand
for electricity. It estimates that total generat-
ing capacity, which is presently 125 GW, will
need to increase by 6% per year to 2040.
The large hydropower dams planned for
southern and eastern Africa for construction
by 2030 could double the current installed
capacity for hydropower taking it from
17 000 MW to 49 000 MW. They include a
number of new developments, such as the
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the
Blue Nile. The Renaissance Dam on its own
will have an installed generating capac-
ity of 6000MW. This is similar in size to
the world’s largest nuclear power station,
Japan’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. The
dam will generate just under a quarter of
the power generated by the world’s largest
hydropower station, the Three Gorges Dam.
The new dams in Africa have the potential
to meet increased electricity demand. But
28 Jan 19 - 25, 2018
our research into the links between climate
and the water, energy and food nexus in
Africa shows that in the longer term the loca-
tions of the new planned dams could put the
security of electricity supply at risk for large
parts of southern and eastern Africa. This is
because the majority of planned dams are in
the same river basins and will rely on similar
patterns of rainfall and hence be vulnerable
at the same time to drought and dry years.
This will create a vulnerability because a
lack of rain and droughts could lead to elec-
tricity supply being disrupted. This is why
it’s important to factor climate variability
and change into dam design and manage-
ment, and to diversify the electricity produc-
tion to avoid over reliance on hydropower.
Hydropower relies on the flow of water
to drive turbines for electricity generation. It
uses natural changes in elevation or artificial
storage in reservoirs to take advantage of the
water level difference. Drought or successive
dry years can result in not having enough
water to drive electricity generating turbines
and a shortage of electricity.
In countries like the U.S. and in parts of
western Europe, hydropower is compli-
mented by other power sources. This means
that in times of drought other sources of
power can balance the shortfall. But in coun-
tries where the energy mix is dominated by
hydropower – as in sub-Saharan African
countries, Norway, and Brazil – climate vari-
ability is much more of a problem.
Without alternative power sources, fluc-
tuations in hydropower can disrupt electric-
ity supply. And supply might need to be
turned off either to ration dwindling water
resources or because demand simply can’t
be met.
Our study shows that if all the planned
large dams are built, 70% of total hydro-
power generating capacity in eastern Africa
will depend on rain within the same rainfall
clusters by 2030. In southern Africa, 59% of
hydropower generation will depend on a
single area of similar rainfall variability.
Rainfall clusters represent large areas
that experience similar rainfall patterns.
Sometimes this happens because they are
influenced by climate phenomena like El-
Niño events, where ocean and atmospheric
shifts in the Pacific Ocean influence weather
and climate across the tropics. This includes
much of eastern and southern Africa.
For example, the Nile and Zambezi, where
multiple dams are planned on the same river
channels, lie in the same rainfall clusters.
This means that dry years will affect storage
in all the dams. This will lessen their ability
to refill fully. This could create a significant
challenge for the supply of hydropower.
There are already examples of this hap-
pening. In December 2017 Malawi’s state
owned electricity company saw power
output plummeting after a severe drought.
Malawi relies almost entirely on hydropow-
er. And during the 2015–16 El Niño event,
Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe
all experienced electricity outages due in
part to reduced rainfall.
Climate risks must be built into planning
Infrastructure around the world is being
put to the test as a result of new combina-
tions of intensity and duration of extreme
weather associated with climate change.
It’s therefore critical that the resilience of
infrastructure is tested. This is particularly
true when it comes to river flow in many of
Africa’s river basins because they are highly
sensitive to changes in rainfall. Although
climate model projections of future rainfall
still include wetting and drying throughout
Africa, studies of the impact on hydropower
generally show high sensitivities.
These new findings, together with the
increasing importance of hydropower and
the potential for increasing levels of rainfall
variability under climate change, underscore
the need to incorporate climate risks into
infrastructure planning in Africa.
Declan Conway is professorial Research Fellow,
London School of Economics and Political Science

By Ezra Munyabonera
Meeting rising debt obligations
Uganda has favorable debt sustainability rating but
current pressures could worsen its servicing position
D
uring the past 10 years,
Uganda has registered a
consistent rise in the level of
indebtedness. Public debt as a
share of GDP has risen from 20 percent
in 2006 to 37 percent of GDP in 2017
to amount to USD 8.7 billion. Recent
estimates by PricewaterhouseCoopers
(PwC) and Bank of Uganda show
that the level may hit at target of 45
percent by 2020. This would be close to
threshold of 50 percent recommended
for countries with in the East African
Community (EAC). The rising trend
in Uganda’s public debt is similar
to other developing countries in
sub Saharan Africa who have been
heavily investing in infrastructure
development. Nonetheless, Uganda’s
public debt remains below a number of
other African countries such as Ghana,
Zambia, and Tanzania with public debt
to GDP ratio of 73 percent, 53 percent
and 41 percent respectively.
Although Uganda has more favorable
debt sustainability ratings than most
of the SSA countries, current pressure
to realise infrastructure developments
that could worsen the debt position.
Apart of infrastructural investments,
new demands to increase civil service
staff salaries and poverty reduction
expenditures may necessitate further
borrowing. Also, the move by the
traditional donors like USA and Japan
to increase their domestic lending rates,
as they consolidate their economies,
may further compound Uganda’s debt
position.
Specifically, increasing the interest rate
will increase the level of debt payment
in terms of dollar equivalents and will
have a negative effect on economy
performance.
Unless properly managed, the
country’s debt burden could reach
unsustainable levels. Furthermore,
with low levels of tax collections, this
may crowd out national development
unless the government quickly
explores measures to boast domestic
revenue mobilisation to finance public
expenditures.
The International Monetary Fund
(IMF)) projects that the level of public
debt servicing could rise from the
current level of 12 percent of the
national budget to about 16 percent
by 2020 at current trends. This may be
counterproductive if more resources
will be required to meet public debt
repayments at the expense of service
delivery.
Apart of the level debt, there
are persistent challenges that will
continue to characterise Uganda’s debt
management strategy. These include
the low debt absorption being caused
by poor project selection, design, and
implementation. Delays in project
implementation may continue to
arise due to limited staffing capacity
in project feasibility, appraisal, and
execution at the level of government
ministries, departments, and agencies
(MDAs). Other risks to public debt
management include the continued
rolling over of maturing debt by
government which may expose it to
the risk of inability to refinance its
maturing domestic debt. With Uganda’s
debt position, which is likely to be
dominated by external borrowing in
Apart of the
level debt, there
are persistent
challenges that
will continue to
characterise
Uganda’s debt
management
strategy
comment
the medium term, that may result into a
failure to meet external debt obligations
arising from exchange rate volatility and
slow growth in exports. Slow growth
in exports could be a potential risk to
Uganda’s ability to repay her external
debt. Exchange rate volatility could
also remain a potential risk to Uganda’s
external debt position in high interest
rates payments.
In order to maximise benefits from
Uganda’s public debt, greater efforts
are needed to reduce transaction
costs, improve mechanisms of loan
acquisition, and improve utilisation
and absorption of the loans across
the MDAs. Persistent low public debt
absorption; especially of the externally
funded projects, has had negative
implications on the achievement of the
key national development objectives
and may affect the government’s
ability to transform the economy from
a low-income country to a medium
income country by 2020. Government
should, therefore, aim at strengthening
systems for efficient and effective loan
contracting and utilisation amongst the
institutions. The Ministry of Finance
should expedite the preparation of
the Medium term debt management
strategy and the borrowing plan.
This will help explore appropriate
strategies to achieve a composition of
the debt portfolio which encapsulates
the cost/risk trade-offs desired by the
government. This should encompass
a fuller analysis of the risks and
opportunities posed by long-term
trends in Uganda’s macroeconomic
environment, and spell out linkages
between debt management and the
fiscal, monetary and financial policies
of government. These documents
should also be published to enhance
transparency and accountability in the
management of public debt.
Ezra Munyabonera (PhD) is Senior
Research Fellow and Head of Macro-
Economics Department at the Economic
Policy Research Centre
Jan 19 - 25, 2018 29
COMMENT
By Alexandra Borchardt
Making journalism great again
News outlets must set their own agendas, rather
than wasting resources on pursuing someone else’s
I
n the debate over the future of jour-
nalism, “fake news” has taken center
stage, with storylines featuring a ranting
American president, Russian communi-
cation “bots,” and betrayal and subterfuge
competing for public attention. But in an era
of diminishing profits and shrinking audi-
ences, is fake news really the biggest threat
that traditional media face?
In a news environment increasingly
prone to hyperventilation, it can be dif-
ficult to separate fact from fabricated or
deliberately skewed content shared via
social media. The proliferation of “bots”
– computer programs that automatically
spread disinformation – has blurred
these lines further. And as the methods
of manipulation multiply, the problem is
only likely to worsen.
And yet the near-constant focus on
fake news has distracted many in the
industry from more serious challenges
confronting professional journalism. The
erosion of business models and growing
dependence on third-party digital dis-
tributors – like Facebook and Google –
have handcuffed news organisations and
cut deeply into their profits. Worse, audi-
ences no longer trust the information
presented to them. This suggests that the
problem is bigger than fake news.
In fact, large, traditional, or legacy
media organizations still trump social
media as trusted sources. As the Reuters
Institute for the Study of Journalism’s
Digital News Report 2017 revealed, 40%
of news consumers say that established
media organisations – The New York
Times, for example – accurately differen-
tiate fact from fiction. For social media,
this share is only 24%.
But this also means that 60% of news
consumers regard the legacy media as
being careless with facts. That statistic
alone should be a cause for grave con-
cern to everyone in the industry.
According to the report – which sur-
veyed some 70,000 Internet users in 36
countries – 29% of respondents said
they were avoiding news altogether. For
many, this was either because producers’
preference for negative stories put them
in a bad mood, or because they viewed
30 Jan 19 - 25, 2018
the reporting as politically slanted and,
therefore, untrustworthy.
Without trust, there is no audience;
and without an audience, there is no
business. If the survey’s results are rep-
resentative of broader trends, one of
the world’s most important pillars of
democracy – a free and open press – is in
jeopardy.
Perhaps this should come as no sur-
prise. In the digital era, trust deficits have
affected most major institutions, from
political parties and big companies to
religious organisations and universities.
This could be a sign of a more informed
and critical citizenry; or, more likely,
it could be a response to feeling over-
whelmed by choice and powerless in a
complex world.
But what has changed for news organ-
isations is that, thanks to social media,
they no longer have a monopoly on
holding the powerful to account. On the
contrary, they have come to be identified
with the powerful – part of a media-busi-
ness-political elite divorced from the con-
cerns of ordinary people. Having become
a target of popular anger, journalism will
need to “disrupt” itself to regain cred-
ibility and restore audiences’ trust.
To this end, media organisations
should take at least six steps. For starters,
news outlets must set their own agendas,
rather than wasting resources on pur-
suing someone else’s. The international
investigation that led to the Panama
Papers and the Paradise Papers are bril-
liant examples of journalism that is rel-
evant and interesting – two fundamental
criteria that all reporting should meet.
Second, reporters have a responsi-
bility to their audiences to analyze what
powerful actors are doing, rather than
what they are saying. As the Washington
Post’s media columnist Margaret Sul-
livan recently observed, coverage of U.S.
President Donald Trump has focused
narrowly on his words, at the expense of
his policy.
Third, the media must become better
listeners. Journalists’ distinction between
“reporting” and “reporting on the
ground” highlights the reality that a siz-
able proportion of newsroom staff never
leave their desks. Journalists don’t neces-
sarily do this by choice; many are glued
to their screens because their companies
lack resources, or force them to follow
and report on twitter feeds. In a sense,
reporters’ behavior is merely a symptom
of an editorial pathology.
Fourth, news organisations must
engage audiences – talking to them, not
down to them. Very often, the news cycle
is driven by assumptions about what
viewers or readers might like, rather than
what they actually want. Diversity in a
newsroom is vital to broadening the rel-
evance of its coverage.
Fifth, in the rush to experiment with
new forms of storytelling, some media
companies are forgetting their mission.
News outlets should forego expensive,
flashy projects if they do little to further
audiences’ understanding of a story.
Finally, rebuilding trust will require a
new definition of news itself. When audi-
ences feel overwhelmed by information
and complexity, the response can be to
tune out. The media must give people
a reason to tune back in. (One example:
positive news is dramatically under-
valued in today’s media environment.)
If traditional media outlets allow them-
selves to be defined by the fake-news
debate, they, too, will be overwhelmed.
So long as social media companies opti-
mise for advertising revenue, their algo-
rithms will tend to reward the extremes,
and news organizations will waste valu-
able resources battling disinformation.
A better approach would be to make
news less boring. Reputable media com-
panies have always sought to capitalize
on facts: the scoop, the exclusive inter-
view, the probing investigation. Truth,
like trust, is a commodity. The future of
the industry depends on getting better at
producing it.
Alexandra Borchardt is Director of Strategic
Development at the Reuters Institute for the
Study of Journalism.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2018.

Dr. Eng. Kant Ateenyi Kanyarusoke
Religiosity and politicking
A pan Africanist’s comment on the on-going
debate between the clergy and Museveni
P
resident Museveni’s year-end ad-
dress might have rubbed some
religious leaders the wrong way.
Particularly, Archbishop Kizito
Lwanga of Kampala Catholic Archdiocese
and Euro-Africa’s David Kayumba were
most succinct in their responses. As a pan
Africanist activist, I will briefly comment
on some of their retorts as reported in the
newspapers.
First, Arch. Bishop Kizito Lwanga is
reported to have implied that the presi-
dent is diverting from his written word
in ‘Sowing the Mustard seed’ and that
members of parliament no longer mind
the original NRM ten point program –
both of which writings, he apparently
admired. On face value, to many sup-
porters and admirers of the original
movement, there can hardly be a fault
with those particular implications. But
those writings were done by a then intel-
lectual guerrilla who was not encum-
bered with competitive electoral politics
in a ‘poor’ economy. As early as during
write-up of the 1995 constitution, local
and external ‘retrogressive, but intel-
lectual forces’ started recovering lost
ground in forcing through arguments
for running government the way they
seemed to understand and to want it
best. To the mass ‘Movementists’, that
was the real path to the ten point pro-
gram’s graveyard. The eventual arrival
was the coming of the ‘winner takes all’
form of so called ‘multiparty democracy’
in 2005’s referendum.
Other problems of the times aside
(e.g. the Kony war), the issue for what
could be thought of as the ‘Movementist’
champion ought to have been how to
save some threads of the ‘Movement’ in
the new dispensation: lest a then-40 year
project crumbles at ‘his’ feet. Hence,
the manoeuvres on presidential term
limits removal then, and by a very long
extension, on age limits recently. Bishop
Lwanga – may be the ‘devil’ you seem
to see, deserves some benefit of doubt:
might it be that, that is one way of
keeping hopes of your cherished original
movement on a ‘life support’ machine
in an era of haranguing hyenas and
vultures? There could be other ways of
course – and to some people, failure by
Museveni to explore and nurture these
others so far, is his greatest failing.
As for Pastor David Kayumba’s mes-
sage, though I find it quite civil and
respectful of the head of state, I note bits
of ‘arrogance’ the president accuses some
(please not all) religious leaders of, and
shortfalls of logic in some instances. I
will not comment on everything I could
here – but would rather focus on issues
related to pan Africanism.
First of all, most of us African peoples
are interrelated – and in almost all cases,
before present borders were drawn by
outsiders, we were moving about settling
in different parts of our nature-given
continent – and trading with each other
on equal terms: the Luos in present day
Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania are
one example; the Bantu dialects speakers
are well known all way from present
day Cameroon to the Cape. So are the
hunter-gatherers of unsettled areas from
the Cape to the forests of Congo and
Uganda. Working in South Africa now,
I can tell you of names like Ntwatwa,
Lungi (Karungi), Lungu (Ddungu,
Irungu), Ilanga/Langa (Maranga,
Baranga) etc. all carrying nearly identical
meanings. The Hausa-Fulani peoples
of mid-Western Africa from the Niger
to Senegal; the Sudanic peoples all way
from Ethiopia’s western border to the
mid-Eastern Atlantic coastline. Colonial
borders simply divided specific nation-
alities and stopped natural migrations
that could have helped ease some of the
problems we are currently witnessing on
the continent.
In present circumstances, why should
we be working to dissolve those bor-
ders? Many reasons - given by others.
But to those, add the creation of a critical
mass of talented individuals (call them
geniuses) within one political entity
not encumbered by limited operational
spaces or opportunities for service of the
African nation. Nobody owes Africans
a living – except Africans themselves.
There is no ‘free’ charity on this resource
scarce planet. And as other peoples seek
to settle on other planets - in part due
to resource scarcity here, it may not
COMMENT
be long before some suggest resettling
this continent to the peril of its present
occupants. I would suspect that this is
what the president is afraid of when he
asks: “Who will guarantee security of the
African?” Also add the fact that outside
the continent, your treatment by others
really matters less whether you claim to
be from Nigeria, Botswana, South Africa,
Somalia or Chad. The fact that your skin
is melanin-rich, these others, first suspect
you as a potential economic parasite car-
rying zoonotic diseases or ‘unwanted
substances’ and running away from
primitive tyrants. Therefore, among
so many other reasons, present day
Botswana, South Africa, Ghana, Rwanda,
etc. need people thinking like Museveni
on this issue not just within their borders
but across the entire length and breadth
of the continent. Dissolving borders is
simply not a one country affair.
The question of so called local service
delivery calls for more serious thought
than Kayumba seems to care to por-
tray. Present day African governments,
including the so called ‘rich’ South
Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, and the so called
‘better governed’ Botswana, Ghana,
Rwanda, need meaningful resource
mobilisation first before resource allo-
cation suggested by our good pastor.
Wealth of nations is never created by dis-
tribution or by moralising but by actual
scientific hard work. This latter is lacking
in sufficient measure in each and every
tiny enclave, otherwise called country –
on our continent. Mr Pastor, kindly note
that even in those African enclaves where
you think there is ‘good’ wealth utilisa-
tion, the little was – and is created by
outside scientific persons primarily for
their own benefits, not for Africans. The
sooner we Africans consolidate to form a
big enough pool of such persons to freely
work in any corner of the continent for
our people, the easier will be the issue of
‘resource allocation’.
Dr. Kanyarusoke is a pan Africanist
Engineering Don and head of Progressive
Africa Solar Engineering Company in Cape
Town, South Africa.
Jan 19 - 25, 2018 31
COMMENT
By Gerald Mbanda
Burning Africa’s ivory
Why Africa should not celebrate the ban of ivory
markets even if ending poaching is noble
C
hina, which for decades has been
the world’s largest ivory market, is
hailed for her recent ban on ivory
trade and shutting down more
than 150 ivory factories and shops for ivory
products. Unfortunately, but not surpris-
ingly, African countries supported this anti-
Africa conservation concept, claiming it will
end poaching and protect elephants. Chi-
na’s decision came as a result of persistent
pressure from Western conservation groups
and governments under the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES) drafted in Washington DC in 1963.
It should be noted that it is only in Africa
and Asia where elephants are found in the
world.
African countries possess the largest
elephant population in the world; led by
Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, and Zim-
babwe. These countries have previously
and rightly rejected burning ivory, and
researchers confirm that there is no scien-
tific evidence linking the burning ritual to
reduction of elephant poaching. The coun-
tries mentioned have hundreds of tons of
ivory worth millions of dollars that would
support their economies. But they are not
allowed under the CITES convention to sell
them. Interestingly, the same convention
has never outlawed trophy hunting; usually
enjoyed by western tourists in Africa, and in
this way, no endangered species are seen to
be killed.
Under the CITES convention, African
countries have since 1989, been ill-advised
to burn all ivory confiscated from poachers
as a means of protecting the elephants.
Kenya has since 1989 taken the advice seri-
ously, and in 2016 alone, 105 tons of ivory
valued at $15million, the largest single
ivory burn globally, was put to flames at a
time when a number of wild life conserva-
tion projects were underfunded. Ironically
Kenya begged Western countries for finan-
cial support.
Foreign imposed polices like CITES con-
tradict logic in all ways. For example, if I
catch a thief stealing food from my store,
and I conclude that destroying the food is
the best way to keep thieves away, then
something is wrong. I would instead be
risking starvation. The same applies to
poachers and burning ivory as a deterrent.
Kenya has been burning ivory since 1989,
but poaching has not ceased, and now the
32 Jan 19 - 25, 2018
reasoning by CITES is; “ivory must be
worth nothing”!
Ivory use is traced for the last 35,000
years; since man discovered that ivory is
an important commodity that has value
attached because of its unique qualities.
Therefore rendering it value less in the 21st
century raises more questions than answers.
If one may ask; why is Africa still sub-
jected to pre-colonial and neo-colonial trea-
ties like CITES which do not serve Africa’s
interests? The countries that have elephants
should have better knowledge on how to
protect their species, rather being subjected
to treaties that serve foreign interests. It is
possible for Africa to take control and make
commercial value and use of ivory, referred
to as “white gold”, through legal markets
while at the same time maintain measures
to protect the elephants. Africa needs ivory
dollars to improve conservation, build
health centres, schools, and ultimately end
poverty.
In the first place, African elephants were
rendered endangered species mainly due
of Western insatiable affinity for African
resources. The trans-Atlantic- slave trade
that lasted for 450 years, is estimated to
have taken more than 4.5 million African
slaves to Europe and America along with
hundreds of tons of ivory, leaving millions
of elephants dead. The West benefitted
millions of dollars from ivory trade but
today, the rule of the game has changed,
that Africa should not sell ivory because
elephants will die, and we agree!
Both burning and banning of ivory mar-
kets to end elephants poaching makes no
economic sense; it is like a doctor treating
symptoms and not the root causes of a dis-
ease. In his analytical book: `How Europe
Under Developed Africa’; Walter Rodney
observes that, “The phenomenon of neo-
colonialism cries out for extensive investiga-
tion in order to formulate the strategy and
tactics of African emancipation and devel-
opment”. The African Union reform pro-
cess needs to investigate and take measures
on Rodney’s counsel and wisdom.
The CITES policy of killing ivory markets
resonates with the 1980s World Bank and
IMF advice on structural adjustment pro-
grams in Africa. Countries were plunged
into a debt cycle where they needed more
loans to pay debts and were unable to use
the loans for development. The Zambian
government for example, is said to have
spent 35 times more money on debt repay-
ment than on both primary and secondary
education, between 1990 and 1993. Nigeria,
which borrowed $5billion in 1978, had by
2000 had paid back $16billion (more than
3 times of the borrowed money), but still
owed $31 billion! Similarly, the killing of
world ivory markets apparently prevents
Africa’s self-reliance, and promotes foreign
interests and aid dependence.
The slogan by foreign conservation groups
that, “ivory is worthless unless on a live
elephant”, implies that elephants are only
good for Western tourists to come and see.
This is wrong. It is possible to earn both
tourism and ivory sale income and at the
same time eliminate poaching.
Tangible conservation measures like
embracing modern conservation methods
supported by new technologies like drones
to fight poachers have given impressive
results in some countries.
Poverty by people around the game parks
may tempt them to kill the animals and
therefore, effective community based con-
servation approaches that educate and eco-
nomically empower, local communities by
benefiting on tourism revenues, turn both
real and potential poachers into partners in
protecting the animals. Measures to fight
corruption among game rangers and tough
laws to prosecute poachers and fight cor-
ruption are among pragmatic ways to end
the vice. Governments should further take
action to eliminate land conflict between
animals and humans, like installation of
electric fences and digging of wide trenches
along game parks.
The killing of elephants for ivory is bad
and should be fought. However, harvested
ivory through culling, elephants that die of
old age, diseases and accidents, must be a
tradable commodity and source of revenue
for African countries with elephants. Legal
Ivory markets and industries to process
ivory products are, therefore, necessary.
Africa should be bound by international
treaties that benefit the African people, and
I believe it is not too late to advocate for the
reversal of CITES action and re-open legal
ivory markets.
Gerald Mbanda is a journalist and Pan
Africanists based in Kigali-Rwanda
Twitter: @GeraldMbanda
Joyce Nasuuna, (L) from Uganda Blood Transfusion Services talks to Roy Tumwizere, (R) the Brand Manager Uganda Waragi as he donates blood.
This is part of Uganda Breweries Limited corporate social responsibility as they mark 71 years of existence.   INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA
Why blood shortage hit hospitals
Donor cuts, low government funding contribute,
but the bigger problem could be you
T
By Flavia Nassaka
his is not a good time to be sick
and in need of a blood transfu-
sion as hospitals across the
country experience an acute
shortage.
“We only have 10% of what
we need,” says Micheal Mukundane the
Coordinator Blood Donation at the National
Blood Bank based at the Uganda Blood
Transfusion Services (UBTS) headquarters
in Nakasero in Kampala.
And he offers no hope of respite soon.
“We can only have good news if more
people come out and give us blood,” he told
The Independent on Jan.11.
Mariam Nantongo who has a daughter
who suffers an inherited blood disorder –
sickle cell anemia, has felt the pain of failing
to get blood. As the recent shortage raged,
we found her camped at St. Stephen’s hos-
pital in Mpererwe, North of Kampala city.
Sitting on a bench in the waiting area,
with her arms crossed and legs tucked
tightly to her body as her long black dress
swept the floor, panic was written all over
her and her eyes remained glued on an a
door marked ‘Laboratory Room’.
Inside was a lab technician who had just
given her a ray of hope about getting blood
for her anemic daughter, Fathira Mbaziira.
She said he was making some calls.
“You know her blood group is O+ and
these people don’t have it,” she said, adding
that her five year old had just gone through
a severe crisis that put her in the acute care
unit at the National Referral Hospital Mula-
go for about 40 days. She is worried about a
repeat of the same.
Faced with cases like this from all over
the country, Mukundane spoke of the
frustrations his team endures as they cajole
Ugandans to donate blood.
“Ugandans lack humanitarianism,” he
says, “They will tell you they fear the nee-
dle. Others will say they just don’t want. ”
He says it’s because of such attitude that
Uganda has failed to meet the World Health
Organisation recommendation of collecting
blood equivalent to 1 percent of the coun-
try’s total population.
One percent, for Uganda with population
of 37million, would be 370,000 units. But by
end of 2017, for instance, the country had
collected only 240,000 units and this was a
reduction from the previous year when they
collected 260,000 units.
Mukundane anticipates the collection
could sink further. And yet, the daily blood
needs seem to be increasing. Accident vic-
tims, cancer patients, women in labour, and
Jan 19 - 25, 2018 33
health
children requiring transfusion, are on the
rise. Ministry of Health figures show that
Uganda’s blood needs are increasing at 20%
per year.
The ideal now, according to Mukundane,
would be to collect 1200 units of blood
daily. He says his team struggles to make
800 units.
Dr. Dorothy Kyeyune Byabazaire, the
UTBS Executive Director, says the institu-
tion has always had challenges but they
worsened when donors pulled out in
March 2016. Before that, despite inadequate
funding, blood collections by UTBS had
been increasingly annually. They started
experiencing a drop when donors pulled
out and yet the annual budget allocation
from the government was not increasing.
This meant most of the activities; including
blood donation drives, were reduced.
“The budget for fuel of over Shs190 mil-
lion was cut and at the wrong time when
our donor support was also expiring. A lot
of money is spent on movements and main-
tenance of the cold chain. On fuel alone we
spend about 1.2 billion,” Byabazaire says.
The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan For
AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) had been contribut-
ing $2 million (approx. Shs7 billion) in addi-
tion to the government allocation of Shs9
billion.
With the gap left by PEPFAR, health
experts say government should be looking
for alternatives of ensuring that blood is
available; especially now that the country is
moving into carrying out more specialised
procedures like organ transplants which
require a lot of transfusion.
But, according to the just released Nation-
al Budget Framework Paper that gives a
picture of how much money each sector is
likely to receive in a financial year, UBTS is
proposed to get just Shs8.8 billion - a further
reduction.
This trend worries Dr. Sam Uringi
Uringtho; a hematologist. Although he
acknowledges that some corporate compa-
nies are already considering blood dona-
tion drives as part of their Corporate Social
Responsibility plans, he says it’s time for
everybody to get involved and not to just
rely on students, who comprise 90% of the
donors. Apparently students are easy to
catch as they are always found at school
and easily agree to donate. Once they go
for holidays; usually blood challenges come
up. Uringtho says Uganda should emulate
countries in Europe where civil society
spearheads blood collection drives and
the community is fully aware of why they
should donate. Statistics show about 30%
of global blood donations occur in Europe,
which has about a tenth of the world’s pop-
ulation. Africa, which has a larger share of
the global population accounts for less than
5% of blood supplies.
Uringtho says the challenge of relying
on students for donations is that they are
34 Jan 19 - 25, 2018
In Uganda, up to
10%
of the blood is
discarded annually due
to infections
not regular. Uringtho says people become
reluctant to give blood after school with
lifestyle changes that come with joining the
corporate class whereby the safety of their
blood becomes questionable as some start
drinking alcohol and engaging in sexual
activities. He adds that adequate and reli-
able supplies of blood can only be guaran-
teed by a stable base of voluntary unpaid
donors. He says these donors are the safest
group because prevalence of blood borne
infections is lowest among such people who
voluntarily offer to donate.
According to the World Health Organisa-
tion, anybody wanting to donate should
first be screened for HIV, hepatitis B, hepa-
titis C, and syphilis. In Uganda, up to 10%
of the blood is discarded annually due to
infections. This too cuts off some people.
Fortunately, there are regular donors
like Christopher Mukwaya. In an interview
with the Independent on Jan.12, he said he
started donating ten years ago giving birth
to a child with sickle cell anemia - a condi-
tion that found him needing blood almost
on a monthly basis.
“We would struggle looking for blood
and I saw many children dying because
they couldn’t be transfused. Then I realised
I needed to thank God for the blood he gave
me. My daughter is an O+ and I am an A+.
I can’t donate to her but I know my blood
saves someone out there,” he says. He
recounts a night when his being a regular
blood donor saved the whole children’s
ward when he run to Nakasero with his
card and was given a full box of blood even
after the laboratory at Mulago had suffered
a stock out. Mukwaya now donates thrice
every year. Mukwaya believes many Ugan-
dans do not donate blood because they lack
basic information, including why they need
to donate, what’s likely to happen to them
when their blood is drawn, and even where
to go when they need to donate.
While Mukwaya’s point of people’s
ignorance is rubbished by Mukundane who
says Ugandans just have an `I don’t care
attitude’, it was also pointed out in a value
for money audit done on UBTS by the Audi-
tor General (AG).
The AG found that UBTS was setting
its blood collection targets the wrong way;
according to the number of teams it has
rather than the number of people they have
to reach to get blood and that the public
was unaware of the institutions’ activities.
The auditors also found that the institu-
tion was understating the country’s blood
requirement needs by over 67% in addition
to observing that UBTS was not employing
common standards throughout its blood
bank network and lacked a system for regu-
lating deviations from standard procedures.
Basics about blood and donation
Uringtho says blood transfusion is an
expensive venture that requires constant
investment in maintenance. He explains
that blood’s shelf life is 35 days but one
has to maintain an appropriate cold chain
of 2 to 6 degrees Celsius for it to stay safe.
Beyond 6 degrees, it will become warm
enabling the bacteria in it to multiply and
below 2 degrees, the cells will be destroyed.
In some cases, blood has a shorter shelf life.
The platelets concentrates used by cancer
patients, for example, must be stored under
room temperature and can only last five
days.
Uringtho gives facts about blood and
donation
 While a man’s blood can be drawn
every after three months, a woman can
donate every after four months.
 There are four blood group types – O,
A, B and AB whereby one’s blood
group is determined by the genes they
inherit from their parents.
 Most Ugandans are of blood group O.
Group O donors contribute to 48% of
blood collections annually.
 There are four types of transfusable
items that can be derived from blood –
red cells, platelets, plasma and cryopre-
cipitate. A single donation can poten-
tially help up to three patients.
 In Uganda just like other low income
countries, up to 65% of the transfusions
are for children below five years. In
high income countries, the most fre-
quently transfused patient group is of
over 65 years of age.
 ART | BOOKS | SOCIETY | TRAVEL | CULTURE

I
By Dominic Muwanguzi

n Ronex Ahimbisimbwe’s
ongoing exhibit, `Memories
and…’, he picks some of his old
works, spanning over 15 years,
and reworks them into new art.
The resulting large tapestries of
collage, therefore, show familiar tech-
niques and motifs that the audience
easily associates with Ronex. But they
are presented in a different format.
The composition of monochromic
and bright coloured patches of paint-
ings stitched together would ordinar-
ily be seen as worthless. But the techni-
cal dexterity, nuance, and critical per-
spective in the salvaged artwork exude
something unusual. His deployment
of recurring human figures in the
tapestry creates a figurative narrative
that runs through the work and acts as
intriguing entry points into the art.
The conceptual sculptures hang-
ing alongside the assemblages evoke
the idea of both experimentation and
the power of the subconscious. Built
of insatiable imagination, the large-
scale wall hangings composed of hard
paper, aluminum plates and bolts con-
jure up concepts of the nature of the
human mind that is responsible for the

When picking up art

creative processes we see. Besides their
form and depth that stimulate the idea
of sculpture formation, the artwork
fascinates with its use of inexpensive

pieces is a bold move

material to create art. The materials
used are mostly collected from Ron-
ex’s loe end neighbourhood of Maker-
ere Kikoni where many motor garages
filled with discarded metal abound.
Ronex is increasingly taking stock of
his past, the years since he graduated
from art school in 2002, and using it as
a platform for innovations.
In an earlier exhibit, `Constructs
2016’, he again delved into previous
works and tweaked them with touch-
es of technical innovation.
Ronex is bold when he picks up a
pair of scissors and cuts his old paint-
ings. He is innovative when he picks
up the pieces and stitches them to cre-
ate a new artwork. Not many people
can take something they treasure and
rework it into a new thing they are not
quite sure about. The desire to recycle
is not powerful enough of a driver.
But Ronex says he is fascinated by
the idea, at once, of rejection and love
At Ronex’s Memories and… exhibit
of an artwork. It is a carryover of his affinity
for contrast or contradiction in his art. His
art often tackles contrasts in relationships;
between beauty and ugly, naivety and sophis-
tication, and simplicity and complexity. This
could be a metaphor of consistence verses
inconsistence in his art and he does not mind
the tag.
“I am always blamed for being inconsistent
as an artist. Maybe by being inconsistent I am
consistent,” he says.
Ronex’s art is a symbol of an artist who
has refused to succumb to the stereotype
that an artist should produce art to sell. The
work in the show is experimental, meaning;
it is not primarily commercial but to invite
visual inquiry and dialogue on the art. It is
another bold statement from an artist who
says he was nurtured to think that art was
only limited to cultural objects. He has since
evolved in perception and technique, and it
is difficult to predict what Ronex will be up
after this exhibit.
Memories and…is now showing at Afriart gal-
lery Kamwokya, located on Kennethdale Drive,
old Kira Road.

Jan 19 - 25, 2018 35

 Dubai beggars earn more than you
Begging is illegal in Dubai, but just so
we’re clear, these are not your average
beggars. They are professional or smart
beggars who target people who “look rich”
with a well-rehearsed heart-wrenching
story, often involving their families who
are either sleeping on the streets or living
in a war torn region and in need of urgent
assistance. But what really sets these beg-
gars apart is the fact that they don’t settle
for the usual Dh10 (Approx. Shs10,000) or
even Dh100 (Approx. Shs100,000) handouts.
They ask for considerable amounts, like
Dh1000 (Aprox.Shs1 million) or more, and
some people actually give it to them out of
pity. “I used to give money to such people
in the beginning. Later I realised that this
has become a phenomenon and ignored
their stories,” Nawal Al Naqbi, a resident of
Dubai, says. In 2016, police nabbed one beg-
gar who was making more than Dh270,000
(Approx. Shs270 million) a month. He, like
most other smart beggars in the city, was
a “tourist” with a valid three-month visa.
Those caught begging in Dubai or other
UAE cities risk jail time and deportation.

‘Big Brother’ satellite launched More African

A British video that could ish manufacturer will create billionaires
one day provide footage of another five called `Vivid-I’
individual people on earth designed to be the first to give Buoyed by rising stock
from orbit in high definition full-colour, high definition markets and commodity
and is capable of gathering 50 images from space. It will prices, Africa’s billionaires
frames of images per second orbit at an altitude of 314 miles are collectively wealthier
has been launched. (505km) and can point at spe- than a year ago. The 23
If the pre-production pro- cific locations, taking pictures billionaires that Forbes
totype performs well the Brit- or creating two-minute films. found in Africa – up from
21 billionaires last year
-- are worth a combined
Wayne Rooney catches fake T-shirt seller $75.4 billion, compared to
$70 billion in January 2017.
The richest African, for
ing replica items the seventh year in a row,
from sports shops is Nigerian cement and Driver spots snake
and using Sharpie commodities tycoon Aliko
permanent markers Dangote, with a net worth at his car window!
to fake autographs that Forbes pegs at $12.2
of stars. He also billion. That’s up $100 An Australian man
faked memorabilia million from a year ago. experienced the fright of his life
of Lionel Messi and Dangote is looking beyond recently after a venomous snake
Christian Ronaldo, cement –his most valuable scaled his car window as he
and Brazil’s Pele. asset – and has been drove home.
The faker supplied investing in a fertilizer Ted Ogier said he spotted
with his items production company the black, red-bellied snake
a ‘certificate of and a large oil refinery. slithering alongside his car from
Everton F.C ing dodgy football authenticity’ that The list has 8 billionaires the hood of his car. It wrapped
player, Wayne memorabilia. was also fake. One from South Africa, 6 from itself around his side mirror,
Rooney recently Fraudster David item he sold was a Egypt, 3 from Nigeria, 2 looking and apparently hissing
helped investiga- Rennie sold 4,500 2013/14 Liverpool from Morocco and one at him. He said the snake
tors catch a conman autographed items FC shirt bearing 24 list member each from was “tapping on the window
who had made £1 to sports enthusi- autographs includ- Algeria, Angola, Tanzania a couple of times because it
million (Approx. asts for as much as ing Gerrard and and Zimbabwe. obviously wanted to get in.”
Shs5 billion) sell- £700 each after buy- Luis Suarez.

Millionaire buys anti-Trump book for every member of Congress

Democratic mega-donor and
billionaire environmentalist Tom
Steyer has bought every member
of Congress a copy of Michael
Wolff’s controversial book `Fire
and Fury: Inside the Trump
36 Jan 19 - 25, 2018
White House’.
The book portrays Trump as a
Republican candidate who did
not actually expect to win the
presidency and questions his
mental fitness for office. It also
paints the picture of a President
who neither knows nor cares
about policy and doesn’t seem to
perceive the vast responsibilities
of his role.
By Motoring Guru
W
hen it comes to
versatility there’s
no vehicle like the
Subaru Forester.
It has it all: performance, reli-
ability, economy and function.
Subaru’s engineering and track
record are exceptional.” Words
written in 2004 when Subaru’s
latest offering at the time; the
Subaru Forester 2.5XT (T-for
turbo) had just been unleashed.
Of course we now have
the 2017 Subaru Forester; a
blocky compact crossover with
extra-sleek redesigned grille,
front fascia, headlights, and
LED highlighted taillights. It
also boasts modern technol-
ogy; including the optional
EyeSight safety camera system,
automatic high-beams head-
lights, and reverse automatic
breaking in case of imminent
collision. So why are we talk-
ing 2004 when we have 2017
(that is Second generation
[2002 to 2008] models versus
Fourth Generation [2012 to
present])? The reality is that in
spite of the talk of Ugandans
buying more cars, we are driv-
ing mainly by far older cars
than before and the most com-
mon Subaru Forester models
are Second Generation.
Fortunately, Subaru has
Why is Subaru
Forester so
popular?
some standard features that
change only slightly in all the
numerous tweaking. So the
2017 model boasts rear spoiler,
optional power rear liftgate,
and updated heated steering
wheel and steering ratio, and
Intelligent Drive mode selector.
But the rest is standard
Subaru ware i.e. comfortable
ride, elevated seating position,
and all-wheel drive. These are
the things that make the Suba-
ru Forester the most popular
cross-over (voted best compact
SUV 2014, 2016 in Japan) and
globally.
Subaru Forester is extremely
popular because of its superior
traction.
Size
Subaru Foresters have never
been eye-catching and are
virtually unnoticeable when
parked alongside a mid-size
SUV like the Honda CR-V, but
it is the details, functions, and
possibilities in the Subaru that
matter an Explorer. It appears
small because it is boxy and,
therefore, uses space effi-
ciently.
The Forester is large enough
to carry the whole family com-
fortably, but compact enough
to pass for a small car when it’s
necessary.
Power
There’s nothing like having
confidence in the vehicle you
are driving. Forester inspires
driver confidence because of
Subaru’s permanent AWD
system. Its X Mode is helpful
when driving off-road.
Comfort
Foresters boast suspensions
that are rugged enough to han-
dle the tough stuff, but easily
Jan 19 - 25, 2018
smooth out bumps in highway
drives. The seating position is
high despite the fact that the
Forester isn’t a tall vehicle.
Rear-seat passengers get good
head and leg room. The For-
ester has great cargo capacity
for its size.
Safety i
The Subaru brand is known
globally for its superior safety
ratings. The latest EyeSight
driver assist safety system is an
optional safety system on the
2016 Forester SUV.
High-quality
The Forester is built at the
Gunma factory in Japan which
is known for brand quality.
It has been voted the “Best
Compact SUV” over the years
because of its size, capability,
ride quality, safety, and qual-
ity construction. The Forester
invented the semi-SUV in 1998,
before the word crossover was
coined. Over the years, the For-
ester line has offered reliability,
fuel efficiency, cargo room,
safety, and its time-tested all-
wheel-drive system. On the
road, the Forester offers excel-
lent handling and brakes. It’s
a better vehicle on treacherous
roads than an SUV.
37
 Profile
Peninah Kabenge’s life of sports
By Agnes E Nantaba
P
eninah Kabenge is
smiley most times.
Perhaps it is the reason
she doesn’t dwell on
regrets even when she has been
portrayed in negative light. She
loves to keep on the positive
side of life and being a sports
woman, she cheers up often.
She says, “Life is full of chal-
lenges but it still doesn’t help to
dwell on them because we have
to move on”.
Kabenge is the head of sports
and recreation department at
Makerere University, a position
she has held for the longest time.
She is also the Principal sports
tutor at the institution. But aside
from that, she also holds other
titles; including the General
Secretary of Federation of Africa
University Sports (FASU),
Executive Board member of
International university sports
and the president of National
University Sports Federation of
Uganda. She is also the serving
president of International Wood
Ball Federation.
But even with all these roles,
some of which are continental
and global, Kabenge mostly
prides in her role at Makerere
University.
“All the other roles stem from
Makerere University; so I am
proud to be part of the oldest
and best institution in the coun-
try,” she says.
Sports has always been part
of her life stemming from the
early days of primary school
when sports was part of life’s
menu. The eighth born of the 11
children of Mr and Mrs. Aligaw-
eesa, having a sports field at
home meant being an active
sports person. Back home in
Luwero were both parents were
head teachers, Kabenge had the
privilege to participate in differ-
ent games some of which were
male dominated such as foot-
ball, netball as well as track and
field athletics.
Kabenge schooled at Kiyenje
Home School which started as
a home school and eventually
grew as it became open to the
38 Jan 19 - 25, 2018
neighbors and the village com-
munity. And schooling from
such an environment meant
adjusting to be tolerant, com-
petitive, and survive in all back-
grounds without discrimination.
“At home, we have a big foot-
ball pitch where the community
comes to participate in differ-
ent outdoor games so we had
no choice but to engage in the
games,” says Kabenge.
“We however took on mainly
male dominated sports where
the competition was big,” she
says.
Upon completion of pri-
mary education, Kabenge joined
Bugema Adventist from where
she built on her sports career.
The war would soon break out
forcing the family to relocate to
Eastern Uganda as fate landed
her into Namasagali
College where
she completed
advanced
level. And
while she
had previ-
ously par-
ticipated
in sports,
it was a
notch higher
at Namasagali
where participa-
tion meant extra
marks. Participation
earned her the title of
netball team captain
and sports prefect.
A year later, Kabenge
was among the lucky few
to be admitted to Maker-
ere, the only university at the
time. Months after admission,
Kabenge took part in the inter-
hall competitions for the first
time playing basketball some-
thing that earned her trip to the
East Africa University Games
in Morogoro. She later qualified
to represent Uganda at World
University Games playing Track
and Field athletics and sports
minister representing Mary Stu-
art hall.
With such active participa-
tion, Kabenge caught the eye of
then University sports leaders
who invited her to start working
with the department in 1988 as
a graduate fellow. The new role
pushed her to enroll for training
in sports.
She says, “I did a post gradu-
ate diploma in education with
physical education and when-
ever opportunity came up, I
did more coaching and sports
administrative courses”.
In 1999, she took over as head
of department, sports and rec-
reation a post she holds to date.
For sports in Uganda, Kabenge
points to growth in terms of
numbers and professionalism.
And at the university level, she
prides in Makerere producing
some of the best swimmers and
athletics for the country.
Kabenge now looks at
a humble retirement
as she completes her
PhD also related
to sports. In her
almost 25 year
marriage ten-
ure, Kabenge
was blessed
with two
children.

Peninah Kabenge’s Liteside
Any three things we don’t
I
know about you?
am a metamorphosed hard
person who was previously
soft. I didn’t have a ‘No’
and would struggle to make
through with everything but I
have learnt to say no to certain
things.
What is your idea of perfect
happiness?
I love making others happy
because it also makes me happy.
I am also happy seeing my
children succeed.
What is your greatest fear?
I am not a coward, so I can go
for anything.
What is the trait you most
deplore in yourself?
I used to work so hard
to please everybody
but it would
overstretch me
going out of my
way so I have
since relapsed.
What is the trait you most
deplore in others?
I am very accommodative but
find it hard to take on dishonest
people.
Which living person do you
most admire?
It is very difficult to single
out a person because I admire
people for different reasons.
However in line with my
career, I admire the current
Vice Chancellor Prof. Barnabas
Nawangwe for being very
fast to act upon an issue. He
is somebody who can give a
listening ear to anything many
times.
What is your greatest
extravagance?
It depends on the moment but
if I have money, I would spend
it on anything that gives me joy
and happiness. It can be having
a moment with my children or
friends.
What is your current state of
mind?
I am always a happy person.
What do you consider the most
overrated virtue?
We talk a lot yet it doesn’t
grow us. We are always looking
out for negative stuff related
to scandals and focus on such
things that don’t elevate us. We
therefore need to focus more on
the positive things that help us
grow.
What does being powerful
mean to you?
Someone who has created
a positive impact on other
people’s lives is a powerful
person. I despise those who brag
about political power because
many use it for the wrong
reasons.
On what occasion do you lie?
I have told lies before;
especially when it requires
saving a situation. At this
moment, I would tell a lie to
save Makerere University.
What do you most dislike
about your appearance?
As a young girl, I didn’t like
the poor quality of my hair but I
have come to terms with it since
I may not have the power to
change it.
Which living person do you
most despise?
There are several people that I
despise; for instance there is one
person I stepped out of my way
to help but turned up against
me. He is one of the regrettable
decisions I have ever made in
my life.
What is the quality you most
like in a man?
Honesty and caring for
others; especially family.
What is the quality you most
like in a woman?
Honesty and the ability to
balance all roles as a female
being.
What or who is the greatest
love of your life
I love my children the most.
When and where were you
happiest
Seeing my children graduate
and every time I interact with
my siblings. We are many, so
we hardly get together but the
moments when at least nine of
us meet are happy moments.
I am also happy every time
Makerere University wins.
Which talent would you most
like to have?
I am just contented with what
I was exposed to.
If you could change one thing
about yourself, what would it
be?
Absolutely nothing.
What do you consider your
greatest achievement?
I have achieved a lot at
different points or levels in life.
For instance in 2008, we bid to
host the All Africa University
Jan 19 - 25, 2018
Q&A
Games at Makerere University
which turned out successful.
It was a big success which also
changed the face of Makerere
University through renovations
and touched many lives.
If you were to die and come
back as a person or a thing,
what would it be?
I don’t want to imagine
something I have never lived so
I am okay coming back the same
person and doing the same
things.
Where would you most like to
live?
I love Uganda because it is
home.
What do you regard as the
lowest depth of misery?
People suffer but going
without food is a very tough one
What is your favorite
occupation?
I love my sports related work.
What do you most value in
your friends?
Honesty and openness.
Who are your favorite writers?
I don’t go too much into
writers but enjoy motivational
writings.
Which historical figure do you
most identify with?
Nelson Mandela came, did
his part and left when people
were still yearning for him.
He started a struggle that was
worthwhile.
What is your greatest regret?
I have regretted quite a
number of times and I believe
it is normal. I have, however,
moved away from taking them
as regrets to lessons in life.
How would you like to die?
I prefer a painless death.
What is your motto?
I am the living proof of Gods
goodness.
39
Global comment
By Jim O’Neill
Good times at last?
People are increasingly acknowledging that the
global economy is stronger than they thought
I
n February 2017, I wrote an optimistic
commentary called “The Global
Economy’s Surprising Resilience.”
The piece came as a surprise to those
who saw only bleak prospects for Western
countries, not least the United States,
where U.S. President Donald Trump had
just been inaugurated.
Now, nearly a year later, my three
decades of experience in global financial
markets leads me to believe that the eco-
nomic situation is not quite as straightfor-
ward.
On the positive side, the half-dozen
cyclical indicators I listed last February
remain strong, and some have even
strengthened further. One key indicator
is South Korea’s monthly trade data. The
country’s exports grew by 15.8% in 2017,
the largest increase since 1956, when it
began reporting these data. Moreover,
export growth occurred even as Trump
threatened to withdraw from the US-
Korea Free Trade Agreement and stoked
tensions with North Korea – a powerful
rebuke to those who have predicted
retrenchment of global trade.
As I suspected a year ago, the slowdown
in global trade in past years probably
stemmed from the euro crisis and falling
commodity prices, and would thus prove
temporary. Now that those two events are
behind us, global trade appears to have
picked up.
Of course, much will depend on
whether trade momentum can be main-
tained. Although South Korea’s export
performance in December was impres-
sive, it fell slightly short of forecasters’
expectations. We will have to wait and see
if it remains strong in 2018.
Another key cyclical indicator is
reflected in monthly Purchasing Man-
agers’ Index (PMI) surveys for manu-
facturing and services, which include
underlying sub-indices for inventories
and sales. Here, the news is remarkable:
PMI survey results in many countries
around the world are the strongest they
have been in years.
That includes the U.S., where I have
found the Institute of Supply Manage-
ment’s manufacturing index to be
consistently accurate and indicative of
40 Jan 19 - 25, 2018
underlying realities. It also includes the
eurozone, where PMI-survey data have
reached their highest levels since before
2000.
Even the United Kingdom’s monthly
PMI surveys are showing momentum,
though not as much as in other Western
countries, most likely owing to the Brexit
effect. If the global economic environment
continues to improve, the UK might luck
out in its timing for withdrawing from
the European Union, notwithstanding the
growth-weakening effects that Brexit will
surely have.
Crucially, key indicators for China are
looking good, too, particularly in terms
of long-term growth in services and
domestic consumption. I continue to
believe that these two factors will prove
immensely consequential not just for
China, but for the rest of the world as
well. Many countries want to export more
than just commodities and manufacturing
inputs to China, and companies around
the world are jockeying for access to Chi-
na’s massive domestic market.
All told, forecasts projecting global
GDP growth of 4% or more for 2018 seem
credible. I would not be surprised to see
sell-side forecasters lifting their numbers
even further in the next two months. The
International Monetary Fund almost cer-
tainly will at its annual spring meeting, if
not sooner.
So, what’s not to like in the global eco-
nomic picture for 2018? For starters, as a
veteran of financial markets, I am usually
wary of a strong consensus. While many
oft-cited concerns in 2017 turned out to be
unwarranted, that doesn’t mean economic
risks have disappeared.
In contrast to a year ago, people are
increasingly acknowledging that the
global economy is stronger than they had
thought. But if growth continues to accel-
erate, the U.S. Federal Reserve might end
up hiking interest rates more than mar-
kets anticipated. And the other major cen-
tral banks, particularly the People’s Bank
of China, the European Central Bank, and
the Bank of Japan, might reverse their
exceptionally loose monetary policies.
To be sure, if the global economy is
truly returning to relatively high and
stable growth, monetary-policy tightening
need not be harmful – and may even be
less harmful than waiting for stronger
evidence of inflation to emerge. Neverthe-
less, the world’s major economies have
enjoyed remarkably generous monetary
policies for a decade – and for far longer
in Japan’s case. At the end of the day, no
one really knows what the consequences
of higher interest rates will be.
For my part, I suspect that productivity
growth will accelerate in a number of
places, which would justify monetary-
policy adjustments and make rising
interest rates more tolerable. But that is
just a hunch, based on my reading of ten-
tative wage and productivity data in the
UK and the U.S., among other places.
One final concern is that, while not
having gone full circle, the global mood
has shifted from fear about political risks
to obliviousness, even though many such
risks still loom large. The potential fallout
from poor U.S. leadership in the Middle
East and on the Korean Peninsula cannot
be ignored; nor can the long-term chal-
lenges still confronting Europe. I have
long believed that, at least for financial
investors, it is better for everyone to be
worried about everything than for a small
minority to be worried on everyone else’s
behalf.
Still, and more important, as long
as financial conditions don’t tighten
excessively as a result of today’s
cyclical strengthening, global economic
performance for the rest of this decade
could end up being more robust than
anyone would have imagined just a few
years ago.
Jim O’Neill, a former chairman of Goldman
Sachs Asset Management and a former UK
Treasury Minister, is Honorary Professor
of Economics at Manchester University and
former Chairman of the British government’s
Review on Antimicrobial Resistance.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2018.
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