News analysis Health Business

A photojournalist’s Uganda’s oral health crisis Bobi Wine protests hit Revamping NSSF
nightmare feeds on its modernity Uganda’s tour operators hard Pension Towers

Issue No. 538 Sept 14 - 20, 2018 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8

Fight over URA’s

Shs.1 trillion deal
Museveni awards it to
‘controversial’ company

www.independent.co.ug
 YOU BUY THE
TRUTH
WE PAY THE
PRICE

Independent Publications Limited, Plot 82/84, Kanjokya Street, P. O. Box 3304, Kampala, Uganda Tel: +256-312-637-391/ 2/ 3/ 4 Fax: +256-312-637-396
E-mail: editorial@independent.co.ug, advertising@independent.co.ug, circulation@independent.co.ug Website: www.independent.co.ug
INBOX

Issue No. 538 Sept 14 - 20, 2018

News analysis Business Health Arts Motoring

Cover story
Fight over URA’s Shs.1 trillion deal
Museveni awards it to ‘controversial’ company

4 The Week
29 Comments
Charged mourners chase government
officials from Kirumira burial Women in the digital
revolution: Prospects are
limited as their access to the
9 The Last Word
Internet and mobile phones is
Museveni’s image disaster: How about 85% of that for men
the president is disconnected from
the young, educated urbanites and
36 Health
why he cannot win them over
Uganda’s oral health crisis feeds on
its modernity: Yet modern solutions
14 Analysis like polishes, refills, dentures and
A photojournalist’s nightmare: Akena relives implants are too expensive
torture visited on him by Uganda’s military

39 Arts & Culture

27 Business
Atwork workshop
Bobi Wine protests hit Uganda’s tour 2018:Inspiring new generation of
operators hard: But Govt downplays creative thinkers
impact of recent cancellations

STRATEGY & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Andrew M. Mwenda
MANAGING EDITOR: Joseph Were
INVESTIGATIONS EDITOR: Haggai Matsiko
BUSINESS EDITOR: Isaac Khisa
PHOTOGRAPHER: Jimmy Siya
WRITERS:Ronald Musoke, Flavia Nassaka, Ian Katusiime,
Agnes Nantaba, Julius Businge.
DESIGN/LAYOUT: Sarah Ngororano
CARTOONIST: Harriet Jamwa

PUBLISHER: Independent Publications Limited, Plot 82/84, Kanjokya Street, P. O. Box 3304, Kampala, Uganda
Tel: +256-312-637-391/ 2/ 3/ 4 | Fax: +256-312-637-396 E-mail: editor@independent.co.ug | advertising@independent.co.ug
circulation@independent.co.ug | Website: www.independent.co.ug

2 Sept 14 - 20, 2018

 Offline

Natasha Karugire
introduces some of the
film directors of the
27 Guns to President
Museveni and First Lady
Janet during its premier
at Nalya in Kampala
on Saturday Sept 7th,
2018. PPU Photo

“We have lost many people in the

same way Kirumira died but what
worries us is that the government
has allowed the continuous shedding
of blood”Mufti Shaban Mubajje

Artists performing at the

Nyege Nyege festival in
Jinja.  NET PHOTO

“No amount of brutality, no amount

of repression is going to cow us down.
We swore to us that we shall fight for
freedom.”Robert Kyagulanyi, Kyadondo
East MP

Legistor Robert
Kyagulanyi addresses
a press conference
with his lawyer
Robert Amsterdam
in Washington DC on
Sept.06 2018.  NET
PHOTO
“Ugandans have found the vaccine for
fear and I do believe they have found an
alternative, I just hope that those who
aspire to replace Museveni will be better
than him.”Norbert Mao, DP president

Uganda Police Villages that will get water Reserve force of Local Defence
7 officers charged
with kidnapping
12000 as per a government plan to
improve access to safe water
24000 Unit (LDU) that President
Museveni will deploy to fight crime

Sept 14 - 20, 2018 3

week
Charged mourners chase government officials from Kirumira burial Bashir sacks cabinet,
Assistant Superintendent
of Police (ASP) Muhammad
Kirumira was buried at his
ancestral home in Mpambire
along Masaka road, a day
after he was gunned down
by unknown assailants who
were riding on motor bikes on
Sept.08.
A group of charged mourn-
ers followed the proceedings
of his burial right from Old
Kampala mosque where his
body was prayed for from to
his home in Bulenga up to his
burial grounds in Mpambire.
All through, there were chants
of ‘People Power, Our Power’
a new phrase used by sup-
porters of Kyaddondo East
Legislator Robert Kyagulanyi.
Security operatives too had
Museveni addresses nation amidst security concerns, opposition pressure
On Sept.09, President
Museveni addressed the
nation in a speech that lasted
over four hours. He started
off with a slew of figures
pointing out how the popula-
tion has expanded and how
infrastructure has grown
over the past years. However
that day, the country had
just suffered another shock
when unknown assailants
murdered vocal police officer
Muhammad Kirumira, the
second death in just three
months after killers used the
same tactic to shoot at NRM
diehard and Arua Municipal-
ity MP Col. Ibrahim Abiriga.
Also, it was just days after
4 Sept 14 - 20, 2018
opposition politicians con- reduces ministries
Kayima leaves burial
grounds in Mpambire.
deployed heavily at all places
to rule out any protests that
could spring out.
Although relatives and
tortured Kyaddondo East MP
Robert Kyagulanyi addressed
the Press in the US about his
ordeal in which he accused
security operatives of beating
him up.
Expectations were high that
many talk show pundits start-
ing predicting what would
entail the president’s speech
but rather the President said
he had called for a press brief-
ing to announce that Uganda
had reached the take off stage.
Even though, he comment-
ed on various issues including
how far court had gone with
people who have been killed,
he said the government’s
focus was on improving the
tinuously called for calm, at
Mpambire, mourners made it
impossible for Police Spokes-
person Emilian Kayima and
Minister for Internal Affairs
Gen. Jeje Odongo from access-
ing burial grounds. Accusing
government of killing the
former Buyende District police
commander, the mourners
heckled and pelted stones at
the two officials until they left.
At the time of his death,
Kirumira had gone public
about his intention to leave the
force on grounds that under
the reign ex IGP Kale Kayihura
the police had become unpro-
fessional and was recruiting
thugs.
economy by putting in place
best infrastructure especially
roads and access to electric-
ity where he said generation
increased from 60MW in 1986
to over 800MW today and
expected to be 2216MW by
2022.
On security, he said they
are deploying a temporary
reserve force of 24,000 local
defense units to be used in
Kampala and Wakiso areas
as security cameras and other
infrastructure that he pro-
posed in June when Abiriga
was murdered are also being
put in place. For this revamp,
he said they have planned to
spend about Shs50billion.
Sudan President Omar
Al-Bashir has cut his government
from 31 to 21 ministers, a
revelation made on Sept.09.
According to his top aide, Faisal
Hassan Ibrahim, the president
decided to cut his cabinet in order
to tackle the growing economic
crisis in the country.
“The economic situation
needs to be resolved and for this
President Bashir decided to cut the
government at all levels,” he said
the decision was reached after a
top level meeting with members of
the ruling National Congress Party
(NCP).
Bashir named Moutaz Mousa
Abdallah, who was the irrigation
minister in the outgoing cabinet,
as the new prime minister, while
Prime Minister Bakri Hassan Saleh
will now be the first vice president.
The New Prime Minister
Abdallah according to Ibrahim
has been tasked with forming the
new cabinet which they hope will
revive the worsening economy
that is characterized by falling
Sudanese pound against the dollar
and worsening cost of food items,
a crisis that has been escalating
even after the US lifted its trade
embargo in October last year.
The worsening economy was
first highlighted by government
in April when then Minister for
foreign affairs Ibrahim Ghandour
told parliament that government
was in a financial crisis that they
had been unable to pay staff for
several months. He has fired
shortly after and the president
announced a reshuffle replacing
ministers in key ministries such as
oil and agriculture.
*terms and conditions apply
 Week

Obama campaigns for democrats ahead of midterm polls

Former America President
Barrack Obama returned to
the campaign trail on Sept.07
in Illinois to canvass for votes
for Democrats taking part
in the upcoming midterm
elections to take place in
November. He told the
crowds that their country
was in a trying moment
and urged those that will
go out to vote in November
to reverse the situation
and restore sanity in their
politics. He noted there is a
cycle of anger and division
among Americans now
which can only be healed if
they handover the control of
congress back to democrats.
“If we don’t step up, things
can get worse,” he said
pointing out that Americans
are already about many
things including a troubled
health care system and high
costs of education among
others.
In these midterm polls, he
said, stakes are high for not
just the democrats and for all
Americans.

Oyo marks 23rd anniversary, asks

government to return kingdom property
Oyo Nyimba WE ARE
HIRING!
Kabamba Iguru,
the king of Tooro
marked his 23rd
coronation anni-
versary on Sept.08
Are you a Photo Journalist?
with celebrations We are looking for someone with
starting with a great sense of imagination,
prayers at St. John’s
Cathedral in Fort an eye for detail and a knack for
Portal and later following news events.
a reception at his
Karuzika palace. Oyo shakes hands with the Prime Minister
At the reception, during the celebrations.
the king asked ability to manage husband died,
officials who had its properties. there was a tumble
represented the The king’s down and Prince
president includ- speech who urged Oyo was crowned
ing Prime Min- his people to work king shortly after. I
ister Ruhakana hard was followed thought I was hav-
Rugunda and by his mother’s ing a nightmare
Defense Minister Best Kemigisa. that would come
Adolf Mwesige to The queen mother to pass. I have now
relay his message only congratulated witnessed a king Send CV to:
to the president her son for reach- grow from stage
that the kingdom ing this far having to stage. I have E-mail: jwere@independent.co.ug
wants its land titles come to power admired his leader-
back saying that the only at the age of ship acumen and
Tel: +256-312-637-391/ 2/ 3/ 4
kingdom has the three. “When my skills to listen”.

Sept 14 - 20, 2018 5

Week
NGOs protest accusations of sponsoring crime
Youths lit fire in the middle of Old Kira road in Kamwokya
protesting MP Kyagulanyi’s incarceration
In a special confer-
ence held at state house
on Sept.09, President
Museveni addressed the
nation about a number
of issues including the
recent waves of protests
in urban centers across
the country which fol-
lowed a ruckus in Arua
Municipality where MPs
were arrested and later
charged with treason.
“These NGOs are
using our youth to pro-
test. When they burn
tyres they pay them
MAK students strike over hiked fees
Twelve students of
Makerere University
were arrested on Mon-
day and others spayed
with tear gas as they
protested a 15% incre-
ment on tuition fees. The
charged students said
they were never con-
sulted before the incre-
ment was made. The
changes which affect
students who joined the
6 Sept 14 - 20, 2018
Shs100, 000. They were
also planning to burn a
petrol station that they
would pay them Shs300,
000 but we couldn’t let
that happen”, the presi-
dent said.
However, before this,
several government
officials had made these
claims forcing NGOs to
call for a press briefing
to clear the air. They said
the government was only
gagging them because
of their oversight role
and holding authorities
institution last month
at the start of the new
academic year were pro-
posed and approved by
the University council
three months ago. This
was after the students’
guild proposed a 15%
increment for incoming
students other than the
earlier proposed 49% by
the University council.
In July, the university
Russia showcases biggest
war games in 40 years
Incorporating Chinese armed forces for the first
time, Russia on Sept 11 launched the biggest mili-
tary drills in its history involving 300,000 troops.
Starting in Eastern Siberia, the weeklong deploy-
ment which is also involving the Mongolian army
has been named ‘Vostok 2018’ which means the
East 2018. According to International reports, the
show is compared to the USSR 1981 war games
that involved between 100,000 and 150,000 War-
saw Pact soldiers taking part in “Zapad-81” (West-
81) - the largest military exercises of the Soviet era.
Russia’s defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told
to account.“We work for journalists that this year’s games involve 300,000
development. We work soldiers, 36,000 military vehicles, 1,000 planes and
to advance democracy. 80 warships taking part in the drills.
There is no way we can “Imagine 36,000 military vehicles moving at
sponsor political unrest”, the same time: tanks, armoured personnel carri-
said Arthur Larok the ers, infantry fighting vehicles - and all of this, of
country director Action- course, in conditions as close to a combat situation
aid, one of the NGOs. as possible,” Shoigu said adding that all their lat-
But, government main- est additions like the Su-35 fighter planes, T-80
tains that they obtained and T -90 tanks are being rolled out at the show
intelligence and is now that ends tomorrow Sept.15.
probing several NGOs Their comrades in Beijing confirmed that 3,200
that are being sponsored soldiers, 900 tanks and 30 jets and helicopters are
by foreign bodies to taking part.
fund political violence However, the show happens at a time of esca-
by some members of the lating tensions between Moscow and the West
opposition. over accusations of Russian interference in west-
ern affairs and the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine
and Syria. The previous such exercise in the
region happed in 2014 and was almost half the
administration and size of this with 155,000 soldiers participating.
students’ guild agreed
to the 15% increment
in tuition fees starting
with academic year
2018/19 for the next five
years. But, students say
the increased fees are
not affordable to the
student and therefore
are being deprived from
accessing education at
the institution.
Russia’s war games
Humour
The minister of Ethics and Integrity, Father Simon Lokodo was quick
to oppose the MTN Nyege Nyege Festival claiming it is an evil event.
Former Buyende District Police Commander Muhammad
Kirumira was assassinated on September 8.
The minister for Kampala Beti Kamya urged the Parliament
to take the security of the President seriously.
Did you know?
Amazon has launched
a new tablet that’s a lot
cheaper than an iPad
Amazon has just revealed its latest
Fire tablet alongside a special dock that
effectively turns it into an Amazon Echo
speaker. The Fire HD 8 is much cheaper
than Apple’s iPad.
When put in its dock, the tablet attaches
with magnets and automatically shifts to
‘Show Mode’ which effectively turns it into
an Amazon Echo with a screen. You can ask
Alexa questions about the weather or the
sports scores and the tablet screen will react
accordingly, even if it’s locked.
“You can start watching a show on the
tablet in Show Mode in the kitchen and
then just pick the tablet up from the dock
and move to room, the video will continue
uninterrupted,” said Antoine Dreyfus, the
head of Amazon’s Fire TV and Fire Tablets
in the EU. “The same goes for video calls
or other activities both into and out of the
dock,” he added.
Like previous Fire HD tablets, it comes
with a plastic back in a choice of bright
colours: red, yellow and blue. There’s also
a black finish if you want something a bit
smarter.
The internal components give you
enough resources to enjoy consuming
media. The Fire HD 8 has a 1.3GHz quad-
core processor, 1.5GB of RAM and a
choice of either 16GB or 32GB of storage.
Amazon quotes 10 hours of battery life
on a single charge. ‘We’ve stuck with the
winning recipe of a premium device at non-
premium prices, with a focus on family and
entertainment,’ Dreyfus said.
The Fire HD 8 can also be bought as
a special Kids Edition, which costs £129
and comes with a ‘kid-proof’ case, a
2-year warranty and a year’s subscription
to Amazon’s Kids Unlimited service
which includes special tailored content
for the little tykes. The tablet can be pre-
ordered from Amazon today and will start
shipping on October 4.
Sept 14 - 20, 2018 7
Celebrations erupt in Mumbai after the supreme court unanimously ruled to decriminalise homosexual sex in a landmark
judgment for gay rights. A five-judge bench at the country’s highest court ruled that a 160-year-old law banning sex
“against the order of nature” amounted to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and was unconstitutional.

Museveni’s image disaster
By Andrew M. Mwenda
How the president is disconnected from the young,
educated urbanites and why he cannot win them over
S
unday night, President Yoweri
Museveni addressed the nation on
television in the wake of the assas-
sination of yet another public figure,
this time the District Police Commander for
Buyende District, Muhammad Kirumira. It
was a classic Musevenisque address with
his usual dissertation on history, statistics
spiced with his characteristic humour. It
lasted more than two hours. What the presi-
dent’s main aim? Who were his target audi-
ence? I thought Museveni’s address would
focus on the deteriorating security situation
in the country. Instead we were treated to a
“tour de raison” on the achievements of his
government over the last 32 years.
Television is a very visual medium;
people see and observe your every gesture.
Museveni was in jovial mood and looked
relaxed like a man in command of the situ-
ation. But he also came across as very old
fashioned. He would occasionally pause in
his speech to sip on his tea or pick a napkin
to wipe something off his nose, at one time
spitting. He would repeat himself over and
over again over mundane issues. He looked
like a grandfather speaking to his grandchil-
dren at home than a president addressing
a nation.
Did the president want to reassure his
supporters that he is still in charge? Or was
it to win over the bazukulu who are increas-
ingly restless and tired of his rule and
whom he accuses of having been misled by
his critics? His core support-base is made
up of the richest 1% and the poorest 70% –
the most rural and least educated sections of
our society. The latter group does not have
access to television. They could have lis-
tened to him on radio but they do not speak
English, the language he was using.
According to the 2014 National Housing
and Population Census, only 15% of Ugan-
dan households have access to television,
up from 4.6% in 2002. Also there are 7.3
million households in Uganda. That means
about 1.1m households, or about 5 million
people have access to television. Most of
Museveni’s supporters rely on radio which
reaches 60% of households. Yet the speech
was delivered in English and the 2014
Census report says only 23% (11 million)
Ugandans have done O’ level and above
and therefore speak English.
Therefore, the television and English-
The Last Word
speaking audience of Ugandans that the
president was speaking to is made up of
people who are largely hostile to him and
whom he needs to win over. These are the
youthful, educated and urban Ugandans
holding smart phones and criticising him
on social media. Acting like a patronis-
ing grandfather is certainly not the right
strategy to win over this specific audience
segment.
The speech was rich in substance but
lacked emotional connection to its audi-
ence. The president used a lot of history and
statistics. Yet politics is rarely about historic
facts and statistics but about people’s emo-
tional reactions to issues. Young, urban and
educated Ugandans are angry with the
current government and their feelings have
little to do with history, facts, and statistics.
To be effective in his message Museveni
needed a screen behind to visually present
his historical facts and statistics backed by
videos and photographs to illustrate his
points. Even then he would have had to
use this to make emotional connection with
young people, showing them that he cares
about their frustrations and he is the best
positioned person to provide them oppor-
tunities. But instead of addressing their
concerns, he claimed they have been misled
by the opposition. How can you win over
someone’s heart by telling them they are
gullible and misled by others?
It is easy to understand why Museveni
relies heavily on historic accounts and sta-
tistics in his arguments. It is largely because
they favour him. He has presided over a
rapidly growing economy for 32 years. He
could have used richer statistics than he did
with a wide range of indicators – growth
in GDP and GDP per capita, growth of
exports, manufacturing, banking, tourism,
public revenues, energy, water, schools,
health and education – including improve-
ment in family assets and wellbeing. But
even the poorly presented statistics were
good enough.
The older generation do appreciate his
historic facts and may enjoy his humour
and buy into his statistics. They may even
better appreciate his grandfatherly gait. But
the “bazukulu” would not connect with
both the matter and manner of his presenta-
tion. The few young people I could reach
and ask were not impressed even among
Opinion
those who really admire him. So here was
an exercise of two hours in which the presi-
dent preached to the converted and satisfied
himself that he had communicated.
Museveni cut the image of a Jurassic
president using 15th century methods to
communicate to a 21st century audience.
I wondered whether anyone advises and
preps the president before he appears on
national television. It may actually be too
late to fix Museveni’s public image because
doing this requires a message. What is
Museveni’s core idea around which young
people can be mobilised? The president
speaks a lot about social transformation.
Then again he says he is only working for
himself and his family, and that he is not a
servant of anyone.
Secondly, which one of his core poli-
cies and actions seeks to achieve social
transformation? How does such a broad
goal connect emotionally with the aspira-
tions of these bazukulu? This is even more
important because these days it is hard to
find a large community of admirers who
really believe in what Museveni stands for;
especially among the young. The few who
do are reluctant to openly identify with the
president, the ruling party, and the govern-
ment.
On social media, I often meet a few
very intelligent young people who admire
Museveni. However, and with very few
exceptions, most of them use pseudo
names. Why? Students want to be cool. But
supporting Museveni is not cool anymore.
Those who do are seen as sell-outs. Students
at the different universities of Uganda,
for example, would only openly defend
Museveni if there is something bigger to
compensate their bad reputation – promises
of a job, money or status.
This explains why Museveni has to
increasingly rely on money to have defend-
ers on social and other traditional media.
The problem is that paid defenders can
make a technical case for you, but they can-
not be passionate about your cause. Con-
sequently they cannot win for you coverts.
A movement or candidature requires
evangelists i.e. preachers passionately and
emotionally committed to the cause. These
are the ones that win new converts.
amwenda@independent.co.ug
Sept 14 - 20, 2018 9
cover story

Fight over URA’s

Shs.1 trillion deal
Museveni awards it to
‘controversial’ company
By Haggai Matsiko
A decision to lock some bidders out of a deal worth over a trillion
shillings at the Uganda Revenue Authority and award it to a
controversial Swiss company has sparked a fight.
T
he fight over the deal to
supply a digital stamps
to the taxman has sucked
in officials at the Finance
Minister, Foreign Affair
Minister Sam Kutesa,
diplomats, and President Yoweri
Museveni. The digital tax stamp
management system in question,
ensures easy tracing and tracking of
especially excisable goods or products
that are liable for excise duty; which
tax is paid by the producer or importer
before sale.
The Swiss company, which has
been awarded the deal, SICPA
Security Solutions, was competing
with Ugandan, Chinese, and Indian
companies.
The Independent has learnt that URA,
which is the procuring entity kicked
out all the other and maintained SICPA,
although the Swiss company had failed
twice during the tendering process. In
both cases, URA cancelled the processes
to enable SICPA to sort out itself.
Insiders claim URA was acting
under directives from President Yoweri
Museveni. The Independent could
not independently confirm this. URA
Commissioner General, Doris Akol did
not respond to our queries by press
time.
However, well-pressed sources at the
taxman have informed The Independent
that SICPA is fronted by powerful
lobbyist Rosa Whitaker, the former
Assistant US Trade Representative
for Africa under Clinton and Bush
administrations who has for many
years been a confidante of President
Museveni.
Whitaker was also the lobbyist for
two Chinese companies that over the
past few years have scooped the two
biggest infrastructure project contracts
in Uganda—Sinohydro, which scooped
the $ 1.7 billion Karuma dam project
and China Harbor and Engineering
Company (CHEC), which recently
got the deal for the $2billion Standard
Gauge Railway (SGR) project.
As early as 2016 SICPA was chasing
the deal through representatives
of a Kenyan company called Chess
Enterprises Ltd.
At the time, however, Uganda did
not even have a law in place that would
allow the implementation of the digital
tax stamp management system, which
ensures nation-wide control of goods
especially excise products. These goods
may range from tobacco, spirits, wine,
beer, as well as other consumer goods,
including soft drinks and mineral
water.
The digital stamps system is
aimed at putting an end to
Rosa Whitaker
Sam Kutesa
trade in counterfeit goods and the
losses tax authorities incur as a result
of smuggling and other forms of illicit
trade.
Back then, in a letter to the Secretary
to the Treasury, Keith Muhakanizi,
SICPA representative, Michele
Castegnaro interested government into
its service and boasted that they were
capable of making more money for URA
by reducing counterfeit and increasing
tax revenue.
According to a letter a copy of which
The Independent has seen, SICPA
noted that their programme had led to
a 38 percent increase in excise revenue
on spirits and seizure of 300,000
contraband products in Kenya.
SCIPA possibly cited tobacco because,
at the time, British American Tobacco
Uganda (BATU) had been complaining
that some tobacco dealers were
fraudulently keeping on the Ugandan
market cigarettes meant for export there
by avoiding paying taxes, including
excise duty, and affecting their local
sales.
cover story
Early this year, URA noted that it was
losing billions of shillings to cigarette
smuggling. Estimates indicate that the
country could be losing trillions due to
counterfeits and smuggling of tobacco,
wine, and spirits, amongst other. This
was the basis of URA pursuit of digital
stamps on all good manufactured
locally or imported. The stamp would
make it easy to trace and track goods
manufactured for export but dumped
on the local market and those imported
illegally.
When in February 2017 URA invited
bidders to provide the digital stamps
service, only SICPA and the Indian
company, Madras Security Printers
(MSP) made it to the final stages of the
bidding process. At this point, SICPA
failed to provide all the requisite
documents, and only MSP remained in
the race.
SICPA opposed in Kenya, Brazil, and
Morocco
But in a turn of events, URA
informed MSP that the procurement
had been cancelled. It did not give any
explanation.
According to correspondences seen
by The Independent, MSP would latter
learn that URA was in the process of
awarding the contract to SICPA.
SICPA is considered a global leading
provider of the kinds of solutions URA
has been looking to procure. But it is
also a controversial business operator
whose practices have been fought in
Kenya, Brazil, and Morocco among
others.
Its opponents criticise SICPA for
seeking abnormal profits at the expense
of local manufacturers and consumers.
SICPA typically includes a clause in
its tender documents that requires
companies manufacturing excisable
goods to pay SICPA a specific fee for
every stamp attached to each item.
This earns the Swiss firm billions of
shillings every year. It also pushes the
cost of production and market price
of products up. SICPA is also accused
of flouting tendering processes and
depending on the backing of powerful
lobbyists to win.
Insider sources say this could be
how SICPA has got the backing of
President Museveni. As noted, however,
it is still not confirmed that Museveni
directed URA to single source the Swiss
company. But it is these reports that
are fueling concerns in light of SICPA’s
alleged long trail of lobbying practices
and controversial methods of securing
business.
In 2015, the company was accused
of corruption in Brazil following an
Sept 14 - 20, 2018 11
cover story
Trucks carrying goods.
investigation, which found that a senior
SICPA official, reportedly paid millions
of dollars to finance ministry officials
to secure the contract worth several
billion euros. SICPA denied the claims it
committed any irregularities. The case is
still pending.
In neighbouring Kenya, concerns
emerged that SICPA was fraudulently
awarded the EGMS contract worth
Ksh17.8 billion. Specifically, it emerged
that KRA awarded SICPA the EGMS
contract in 2010, long before the
company was registered in 2013.
“Under the procurement law,
the contract was processed through
fraudulent means and it cannot be
sustained” Maurice Juma, the Director
General of the Public Procurement
Oversight Authority (PPOA), said.
Like in Uganda, SICPA was initially
disqualified from the tender process
because the Swiss firm did not meet
the required standard stipulated in the
tender process.
It then appealed through the Public
Procurement Review Board (PPRB),
which also noted that SICPA did not
meet the requirements and the tender
should have been awarded to Madras
Security Printers.
However, the contract somehow later
ended with SICPA. Another element
of the deal that raised controversy was
a clause in the tender documents that
requires companies manufacturing
12 Sept 14 - 20, 2018
excisable goods to pay SICPA Sh1.50
for every stamp attached to each item,
which would earn the Swiss firm
billions of shillings every year.
In Kenya, companies like soft drink
maker Coca-Cola and beer maker East
African Breweries Limited (EABL)
protested the digital tax system, arguing
that it increased their cost of doing
business.
At the rate of Sh1.50 stamp duty
imposed on every bottle of water,
juice and soda, forinstance, reports
indicated that Coca-Cola would pay the
Swiss firm upward of UShs300 billion
annually.
In Tanzania, SICPA has stirred similar
controversy. Apart from concerns that
the Tanzania Revenue Authority did not
award the deal in a competitive manner,
Tanzanian traders also complained
that the terms of the deal unnecessarily
increased their costs of production.
Serengeti Breweries Ltd managing
director Helene Weesie protested that
the move would result in an additional
$100 million annual cost to the industry.
Legislators on Tanzania’s budget
committee noted that while they
supported the digital stamps
development, SICPA was set to
invest slightly over US$21 million,
yet it would earning a lot much more
than that annually over the five-year
contract period. In response, SICPA
said the figures cited by the traders and
legislators were inaccurate.
URA’s opaque methods
Amidst all this, the way URA is going
about procuring this service is raising
concerns. Of particular concern is the
opaque manner in which the deal is
being handled.
Correspondences seen by The
Independent show the Indian company,
MSP, complaining that it had won initial
rounds of the bidding process only to
be informed by the Uganda Revenue
Authority (URA) that the process had
been halted.
All trouble started unraveling when
in July last year, URA shortlisted MSP
together with SICPA. The taxman then
invited both SICPA and MSP to submit
their bids, which MSP says it did.
During the Public Bid Opening, the
bid of SICPA was found to be missing
several key documents. Some samples
were missing and it had wrong Powers
of Attorney.
As per the published request for
proposal, the best-evaluated bidder
was set to be notified by October 27,
2017. However, on November 24, 2017,
MSP received an email from URA
with a letter stating that the request
for proposal was cancelled and had
to be re-tendered as there were “new
requirements which came up in the
terms of reference”.
That same day, MSP and its

President Museveni with Ravi Shankar, India’s High Commissioner to Uganda.
competitor received the Retender
Bidding Documents through an email
with the Retender closing on December
22, 2017.
Thereafter, a pre-bid meeting was
held. At the pre-bid meeting, SICPA
reportedly requested for additional time
to submit samples. URA obliged to this
request and extended the Re-tender
Submission Date to January 4, 2018 to
allow companies time to submit their
samples for evaluation.
Again, MSP submitted the Bid for
the Retender to URA and the Public
Bid Opening was held on the agreed
day. During the Public Bid Opening,
the SICPA Bid was again found to
be missing the samples which are a
vital document as stated in the RFP
document and submission samples was
the very reason that the bid submission
was extended.
In February, URA wrote to MSP
noting that the competitor’s bid
was eliminated and disqualified at
the preliminary stage due to lack of
important documents.
As the successfully qualified bidder,
MSP was invited to the public financial
bid opening set to be held on March,
2, 2018 at 10am at URA Nakawa
Headquaters.
MSP officials travelled from India to
attend the meeting and were present
at the venue at the prescribed time.
However, URA representatives were not
present at the venue. An hour later, MSP
officials were suddenly notified that
the event was postponed until further
notice.
MSP officials waited for
communication of a new date in vain.
On March 18 MSP received a letter
dated March 16 stating that the
procurement had been cancelled.
Later, MSP officials learnt that URA
is planning to single source from the
company (SICPA), which had failed in
the tendering process two times.
In an effort to fight back, MSP has
sought the intervention of India’s top
diplomats in Uganda and back home.
On July 2, the company also wrote to
President Yoweri Museveni seeking his
intervention.
“Madras Security Printers is deeply
concerned by this sequence of events
and the actions of Uganda Revenue
Authority by which it continues to cancel
procurement of Digital Tax Stamps if
it emerges from technical evaluation
that Madras Security Printers is the Best
Evaluated Bidder,” the letter reads in
part, “Madras Security Printers has been
unfairly treated in the procurement of
Digital Tax Stamp not once, but twice.”
The company added that they had since
been informed that URA was planning to
single source the procurement from the
Company who had failed the tendering
cover story
process twice.
“This will lead to a procurement of a
system without any price comparison and
set a negative precedent for procurement
process in the country,” reads their letter
in part, “Further, the total cost of the
system is expected to exceed US$ 250
Million or approximately One Trillion
Uganda Shillings over five years. This
behaviour of Uganda Revenue Authority
is shocking in the brazenness and the
audacity by which they continue to
flout and procure the system without
any consideration for international
procurement practices, guidelines of
Public Procurement Oversight Authority
or the laws of natural justice.”
In a bid to add pressure, the company
lobbied its diplomats in Uganda and India
to intervene on its behalf.
“MSP was invited in a global bid for
supply of digital tax stamps in Uganda
for URA for procurement for supply,
installation, training and commissioning
of a digital tax solutions stamp,” reads
a letter from Ravi Shankar, India’s High
Commissioner to Uganda to Foreign Affairs
Minister, Sam Kutesa, “MSP was shortlisted
and selected as best bidder twice. However,
for some reasons, the opening of the
financial bid was postponed indefinitely by
URA,” he added.
The URA Commissioner General, Doris
Akol had by press time not responded to
our queries regarding this deal.
Sept 14 - 20, 2018 13
news analysis
James Akena is cornered by UPDF soldiers before he gets battered to near death
A photojournalist’s nightmare
Akena relives torture visited on him by Uganda’s military
James Akena is a hardened pho-
tojournalist. He is also very profes-
sional, having worked and trained
with the international news agency;
Thomson Reuters.
But, on Aug.20 in Kampala, images
of Akena, kneeling with hands
raised as a gang of four or five sol-
diers battered him with sticks, guns,
and kicks; on the head, arms, ribs
– everywhere, went viral on social
media. Initially Akena is holding his
camera up, explaining, begging for
his life. But the beating does not
abate.
The images of Akena’s ordeal at the
hands of the Ugandan army have
been shared widely, showing the
world the horrors journalists some-
times endure at the hands of brutal
armed forces, and dispelling any
pretense of respect for human rights
by the Uganda army and police.
President Yoweri Museveni has
reacted with a double face; con-
14 Sept 14 - 20, 2018
demning the attacks on journalists
when it suits him and defending the
barbarous attacks on them when it
is convenient. The heads of secu-
rity agencies have picked their cue
from the President. They are unre-
pentant, unapologetic, and cocky
in their impunity. It is clear they are
ready tomorrow to torture another
journalist again.
But we, as journalists, will do what
we do best; we will document the
atrocities and hope that, one day,
the powerful men and women of
today, will be hunted down and held
to account. It happened to the brutal
armed forces of Idi Amin in 1979,
Milton Obote in 1986, Mobutu Sese
Seko in 1997 and Muammar Gad-
hafi in 2011.
But, as Akena says, the UPDF and
Ugandan police have not always
been brutes. And he hopes the old
days of the disciplined force that
respects human rights can return
before the worst happens.
Akena is one of the best trained
photojournalists and instructors in
Uganda.
For the last 16 years he has photo-
graphed some of the most tumultu-
ous events in East Africa’s most
hostile conflict environments— from
the atrocities of the Joseph Kony
rebellion in northern Uganda, the
wars in the DR Congo to the end-
less political protests in Kampala.
He has gone in and out of hostile
working environments largely
unscathed.
So why did everything go wrong
for him on Aug.20 in Kampala,
at the hands of Uganda’s brutal
armed forces? Why did they put
him through what he calls his worst
nightmare ever? Before he flew out
to London for treatment and psy-
chological rehabilitation, he recount-
ed his torment to The Independent’s
Ronald Musoke on Aug.29.

I
Akena tells his story
have been off the photojournalism
routine for quite a bit but, of
course, occasionally I follow what
is happening around the world,
especially Uganda.
Following what happened in the
Arua by-election; I got back on
the road again; to cover what was
meant to be a peaceful protest at
Constitutional Square in Kampala.
I took a night bus from Gulu on
Aug.19 and was in the city in the early
morning. I had a few private things
I wanted to do, then get my safety
gear from my home considering that
Kampala protests often get violent.
After booking my return ticket at
Namayiba Bus Terminal, I moved up
towards Hotel Equatorial. But at the
turn to Kisekka Market, I heard a big
bang. It sounded like a grenade.
Before I could process that,
something whizzed past my face.
Everybody went in panic, we all
started running. I ran until I found
a staircase to duck. I was thinking it
could possibly be a terrorist attack.
I set my camera to photograph,
got my press tag and plastered it on
the strap of my bag which I had tied
across my chest so that people could
tell I was a media person. I then
slowly walked back towards Kisekka
Market to observe what’s happening.
This part of Kampala is quite busy.
People sell electronics and car spare
parts. Now they were frantically
struggling to get their merchandise off
display outside into their shops. Many
were locking up. Bodaboda motorcycle
riders were struggling to push their
bikes off the streets. Everybody
was running. The mechanics were
running into the malls. People in the
malls were getting to the balconies.
Observing. Wondering what next.
Somebody dumped a cardboard on
Kyaggwe Road. Another followed with
a used tyre. Soon there was a pile of
trash. Then another man came and set
it ablaze. It was not one person doing
everything. The first fire was set.
The second fire was set on the upper
side of Kyaggwe Road towards Old
Kampala.
The crowds on the balconies were
now shouting excitedly. Some had
their cell phones out, making calls,
clicking away, and probably sharing
photos on social media.
Eight minutes later, three police
officers showed up; from the former
Kisekka Hospital direction. Two had
AK47s and one a pistol. They began
firing into the air; lots of bullets. It
was quite scary. In previous protests,
the anti-riot police always arrived
first. This was between 10am-11am.
The fire on the road was a big flame
with lots of smoke billowing up.
I walked up, towards Watoto
Church. In front of the church was
another fire and police fire brigade
putting it out. Just then a police
truck, with military men with helmets
and guns at the ready zoomed past;
heading down Kisekka Market.
Instinctively, I turned back to go see
what was happening.
At that point the truck with military
men stopped near the entrance
of Kikuubo, soldiers jumped off
and went after the people around;
beating them indiscriminately. Many
were pulled out of the building and
whipped, then dumped on the waiting
truck.
More trucks arrived. I was on
Allen Road and saw soldiers headed
towards Nakivubo Channel when
journalists joined me. Soldiers started
What I went
through was
not easy.
I cannot
describe it. I
lack the words
even in my
mother tongue
to describe it
IGP Okoth Brig. Richard
Ochola Karemire
news analysis
screaming at us, barking orders. I
could not hear what they were saying.
I thought they signaled us not to
continue walking. We stopped.
I turned around to retreat. But there
was another soldier coming from
the rear. My two colleagues fled. I
was caught. I tried to explain. I am
a journalist. I showed my camera
and the press tag. The soldiers said
nothing. They just began beating me
with sticks, using as much force as
they could. I remember raising my
hands, but they just continued beating
me, hitting the back of my head and
shoulders.
They took away my camera. Then a
police truck arrived and I was ordered
to climb into the back. I was shoved
underneath the seats on the bare
metal floor which was littered with
sticks. More people were brought in.
Bleeding and crying. Many of them
were youth.They were thrown on top
of me. I could not breathe. My clothes
were soaked in blood. I was also
struggling to keep my injuries from
getting worse. Then the truck drove
towards Buganda Bus Park.
They ordered us to get off the small
truck and board a bigger truck. They
beat us again. My right ring finger
was by now broken and I was in
excruciating pain. So I used my weak
left hand to hurl myself onto the
bigger truck. I was the last to get onto
the truck. More beatings and insults
continued. Everybody was screaming
at us.
Blood everywhere
This was the most worthless
moment of my life. I felt worth
nothing. We were all criminals; tried
and judged by the men in uniform.
From the big truck, they again
ordered us to board a smaller mobile
police cell. There was blood and body
fluids everywhere. Then the driver
sped off in the most reckless manner
I have ever experienced. People were
crying and screaming. We were taken
to Kampala Central Police Station.
More insults followed from the
police officers at the station. We were
badly injured but they ordered us to
run up the stairs. We tried to run but
they wanted it faster. Inside, they
continued screaming at us.
Sit down. Remove shoes. Remove
belts, watches. Remove that
other stuff. Who told you to go
demonstrating? See what they have
done to you?
My camera was gone. My cash was
gone (Akena says he had about Shs 3.9
million that morning). My spectacles
and wrist watch were all gone. My
Sept 14 - 20, 2018 15
news analysis
phone was cracked. Things
just disappeared like that. I
felt totally worthless.
Anyway, a colleague
who works for AFP (Isaac
Kasamani) soon showed up.
He had seen a post on social
media of me being tortured
and arrested. He found me
lying on my back. In pain.
They allowed him to take
my rucksack which still had
my laptop and wallet.
Then we were ordered
into the cell. As we headed
down into the cell, the
policemen advised us to
have some money on us. I
did not know what for but
I took Shs3000 with me.
As soon as they opened
the gate, we met someone
called ‘RP,’ (a prisoner
‘in-charge’ of the cells).
The inmates search every
newcomer for everything
and anything. When my
turn came, the ‘RP’ looked
at me and said, ‘Mzee, what
do you do?’ I said I am a
journalist. He said, “Oh,
you’re a journalist? Don’t
worry, please go ahead.”
I think I was the most
elderly suspect among
the people that had just
come in. So I sat with
my Shs3000. Everybody
inside the cell now wanted
to come and talk to me.
May be they thought my
profession could help them.
But my broken finger
was hurting badly. It
was swollen and the ring
had now eaten into the
flesh. Someone brought
Vaseline. But this was no
solution. Then someone was
recommended to remove it.
He looked brutal. Possibly a
hardcore criminal.
He inspected my finger
and then said:“Muganda
wange, olina okuguma,”
meaning, I should “toughen
up.”
Using thick, rough fingers
and sheer strength, he broke
the ring - just like that. I felt
this massive relief. Then I
suddenly started feeling
other aches all over my
body. The back of my head
was hurting. My left eye
felt like it was popping out.
Each time, I turned; the pain
would grow in intensity.
16 Sept 14 - 20, 2018
Meanwhile, more people
were still being brought
into the cells. Many were
wounded, limping, bleeding.
They were mostly young
men. Everybody looked
confused and everyone was
sharing their stories.
It was getting dark and
difficult to tell what time
it was when suddenly I
heard someone call my
name. “James Akena. James
Akena.”
The ‘RP’ who by now
knew my name came
No mercy. By the time the UPDF soldiers were done,
Akena’s head had deep wounds and was bleeding
running:
“My boss, they have come
for you. But don’t forget us.
I know you are not coming
back here.” Some other
suspects were screaming
their names, their family
contacts’ names, phone
numbers but there is no way
I could remember anything.
I walked up the stairs
alongside a trainee journalist
whose head was badly
battered. I was received
by Luke Oweyesigyire
(Kampala Metropolitan
Police Spokesperson).
Oweyesigyire said his
superior ordered my
release. He sounded
apologetic.
My good friend
(Kasamani) was still around
CPS and he accompanied
me out. I was in such
immense pain. I was very
hungry. I was thirsty. Most
shops were closed. So we
headed out of the city; to
the Ntinda suburb. I had
my meal before going to
Kampala Independent
Hospital for treatment.
It is at this point that we
started reflecting on what
had happened earlier in the
day. We were all in shock.
I have worked with these
people (Uganda armed
forces) in very difficult
situations like during the
war in northern Uganda.
I started photographing in
1995 and entered the news
cycle in 2002. By 2004, I had
started photographing in the
north, in the IDP camps and
you would only access these
camps through the military.
I would visit locations
where the rebels would
have caused havoc, killing
and destroying livelihoods.
But the Uganda army
would come and restore
people’s hope. That is how
I began to trust them. I
believed in them until the
day this torture happened to
me.Was I targeted? I don’t
know.
I am now on medication
and I am running between
home, police, and hospital.
I have a lot of pain. I
hardly sleep. I have terrible
nightmares. The worst one
occurred last night (Aug.28).
It was like the military
had come back for me. They
were opening the window
to my bedroom. The dream
was so real I woke up. I got
up so many times and even
drew the curtains to look
outside. Just to be sure.
My reaction to loud sound
is strange. This has never
been me before. There is
this big ache in my ears.
Everything is like repeated.
I feel like there is a lot of
pressure in my head. The
doctors are telling me it is
post-traumatic experience.
What I went through was
not easy. I cannot describe
it. I lack the words even
in my mother tongue to
describe it. The doctor
said I should take a rest
and I don’t know for how
long. This is going to take
a heavy toll on me. I live
hand to mouth and for one
week, I have not earned
anything. Even if someone
thinks they can pay my
medical bills, but how am I
going to live?
I was simply doing my
journalistic work. I was on
duty. That was my duty
call. But now, my camera
is gone. When I called the
UPDF spokesperson (Brig.
Richard Karemire), he said,
“Worry more about your
health first.”
On Sept. 5, Akena posted
on his Facebook wall thanking
his friends and well wishers
who showed concern for his
unfortunate incident. “Every
day, I am getting better,
faster, now,” he said.

Uganda Diaspora P10 Memo
Responding to the Government of Uganda’s
threat to Ugandans in Diaspora
By Jackie Oloya
Y
ou have read in various social
media platforms and in Uganda’s
major Dailies about threats issued
by various agents of the discredited
government of Uganda to arrest, detain,
torture and possibly charge Ugandans from
the diaspora when they go back home to
visit their relatives, friends and families,
simply because they were seen in activities,
including demonstrations and social media
platforms being critical of Mr. Museveni’s
blatant abuse of human rights of Ugandans.
This threat is not to be taken lightly given
that Mr. Kato Kajubi, a Ugandan living in
Boston, Massachusetts, USA was arrested,
detained and humiliated at Entebbe Inter-
national Airport on his visit to Uganda, on
suspicion that he participated in the Boston
#FreeBobiWine rally. This threat has been
issued and reiterated by highly placed
government official such as Hon. Ruth
Nankabirwa who is the Chief Whip of the
ruling NRMO Party of Mr. Museveni,Mr.
Ofono Ofondo the official spokesperson of
the government of Uganda and the highly
placed spokespersons of the Uganda Police
Force, Mr. Emilian Kayima and Mr Vicent
Ssekatte, the spokesman of the Directorate
of Criminal Investigation in the Uganda
Police.
Response to Threat
In Response to this Government of Ugan-
da’s threat of arresting of Ugandans living
abroad who are critical of the ongoing situa-
tion of lawlessness, arbitrary arrest, torture,
maiming, shootings, assassinations, and
murder of innocent Ugandans by the state
army, police and other security agencies, we
Ugandans in the diaspora respond this way.
 We have resolved to continue to be
objectively critical of the failed regime
of Mr. Museveni at home with the sole
purpose of causing regime change
using available constitutional and legal
means.
 We Ugandans in diaspora, in solidar-
ity, take these threats seriously as a
means to silence dissent and to force
us into accepting the culture of state
orchestrated impunity, gross human
rights, lawlessness and unconstitutional
means leading to abuses, torture and
deprivation of property and life for all
Ugandans
 We Ugandans in the diaspora wish to
reassert our citizenship rights, as tax
payers, and the right to a free society, a
society with good governance, equity,
social justice, peace and human dignity.
 In our resolve and solidarity, we wish
to reassert our authority as a major
contributors to the economy through
our remittances, even with limited
return for the over US$1.1b. As such,
we demand for an accountable govern-
ment that is responsive, respectful and
We Ugandans
in diaspora, in
solidarity, take
these threats
seriously as a
means to silence
dissent and to
force us into
accepting the
culture of state
orchestrated
impunity
accountable to all Ugandans, not just to
the personal appeal of Mr. Museveni
and his family.
It is therefore, in our interest to respond
to the threat from the Uganda government
with a firm and practical safeguard to send
a strong message that we shall not tolerate
any attempts for it to export its tyranny
beyond its territories, and that, as dias-
pora Ugandans, we shall not accept to be
muzzled, curtailed, threatened, or alienated
from the suffering of our people at home,
under this regime.
In pursuit of various international laws,
such as the Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment, and the Global
Magnitsky Act which allows the US Gov-
ernment to sanction foreign government
officials implicated in human rights abuses
anywhere in the world. These laws will
news analysis
deprive these officers and men of educa-
tion, training and access to their families,
properties and business interests in the
diaspora. We intend to lobby governments
that respect and commit to democracy and
rule of law, to deny these individuals visas,
where possible, block their entrance to for-
eign countries to protect Ugandans abroad,
to review and where possible revoke valid
visa to deny these people travel abroad.
As such we seek every Uganda to partake
in fighting back, standing up against the
bully and dictator Yoweri Museveni by;
a) Gathering the full identifying details
of any Official or agent of the Ugandan
government who abets, justifies, legitimizes
or denies any act of torture, human rights
violation, killing of civilian, arrests and
carrying out unconstitutional or unlawful
orders to harm, degrade, contain, threaten
or kill a Ugandan.
b) That such information to include the
following
 Full legal names and date of birth of the
individual
 Full description of the event, place, time,
outcomes,
 Full address of such person, both
office and work place
 Full rank, title and authority or institu-
tional affiliation
 Any characteristic identifier of such
a person, include physical description
eg height, color or eye, skin, includ-
ing passport number, national ID and
vehicle type, place and model
 Full list of the person’s businesses at
home and abroad,
 If businesses abroad, avail concrete
information about the business location,
city, street address.
 If the person has travelled abroad, list
the countries of their travel, how often
(frequency) and purposes
 If the person has contacts abroad,
with government agencies abroad, pro-
vide full detail of those contacts.
 Please, contact us with the above
details, in full, via a Confidential Email:
torturers_listed@writeme.com
 In solidarity we shall move the moun-
tains. #OnePeopeOneUgandaOneNa-
tion; #PeoplePowerOurPower.
Jackie Oloya is the Chairperson
Uganda P10 Diaspora
Sept 14 - 20, 2018 17
news analysis
African leaders pose with Chinese President Xi Jinping for a group photograph at the 2018 FOCAC Summit.
From the China-Africa summit
What Africa and Uganda got from Beijing
By Ronald Musoke
P
resident Yoweri Museveni was
among the 35African heads of state
who flew out to Beijing in early
September to attend what is fast
becoming a Chinese jamboree where easy-
looking deals are quickly sealed every three
years.
The 2018 Forum on China-Africa Coop-
eration edition, the seventh since the turn of
the millennium, was themed: “China and
Africa: Toward an even stronger Commu-
nity with a shared Future through Win-Win
Cooperation”. United Nations Secretary
General Antonio Gutterres attended togeth-
er with 27 international and African groups
as observers.
Although the twin issues of a growing
trade imbalance and the sustainability of
Africa’s debt to China were hot topics going
into the Forum, it remained at the back of
every participant’s mind.
Many African countries are gulping loans
from China without considering whether
the projects they invest will generate
enough economic return to match the debt
servicing requirement.
As a result, critics; especially from the
18 Sept 14 - 20, 2018
West, routinely accuse China of “debt trap
diplomacy” –intentionally miring “part-
ners,” particularly developing countries,
in unsustainable debt-based relations. The
assumption seems to be that “China’s own
economic and geo-strategic interests are
maximized when its lending partners are in
distress.”
From debt to aid
At the summit, however, African leaders
queued up to praise China’s President Xi.
Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni was not among
the big winners from the meeting.
He only signed three agreements; one
on economic and technical cooperation,
another on emergency humanitarian assis-
tance, and the general memorandum of
understanding on cooperation within the
framework of the Silk Road Economic Belt
and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road
Initiative. All were worth just 270 million
Yuan (about Shs150 billion).
So he, instead, thanked President Xi for
what China has done for Uganda in the
past; the construction of the two biggest
dams; the 600MW Karuma Hydropower
plant and the 183MW Isimba Hydropower
plant, and the expansion of Uganda’s most
modern highway; the Kampala-Entebbe
Expressway, which is the country’s gateway
to the world, as well as the expansion of
Entebbe Airport, and financing and con-
struction of the proposed Standard Gauge
Railway project.
Back home, however, senior Ugandan
officials followed Museveni’s cue. They kept
the focus on what Uganda has already ben-
efited from 10 cooperation plans announced
by President Xi during the FOCAC Johan-
nesburg Summit in December, 2015.
These covered key areas of industrializa-
tion, agricultural modernization, infrastruc-
ture, financial services, green development,
trade and investment facilitation, poverty
reduction and public welfare, public health,
people exchanges, and peace and security.
Uganda’s flat package reflected the trend
at this year’s summit. China maintained the
general package at US$60 billion; the same
as last time.
But the cake was baked to different speci-
fications and cut differently this time. The
biggest slice of US$35 billion went to pref-
erential loans and export credit lines, US$5
billion to grants, US$15 billion to capital for
the China-Africa Development Fund, and
US$5 billion to loans for the development of

African small and medium enterprises.
Keen watchers like Deborah Brautigam
who researches on the China-Africa part-
nership noted that the Chinese government
actually put up $50 billion — $10 billion
less than pledged in 2015, at the previous
FOCAC summit. According to the plan, the
$10 billion difference will come from private
Chinese investments.
China, however, is giving more money
to Africa this time via grants or interest-free
loans. It is also cutting down on interest-
bearing credit lines.
Of the Chinese government money, $20
billion is new loans. Brautigam notes that
this marks a decrease in interest-bearing
loans offered to Africa relative to 2015.
Meanwhile foreign aid (“grants, interest-
free loans, and concessional loans”) comes
in at “$5 billion per year, the highest
level ever offered to Africa from China. It
comprises $15 billion in foreign aid, plus
an additional $15 billion in two “special
funds.”
Observers say it is no coincidence that the
shift from debt to aid is occurring alongside
global debates over the merits (and demer-
its) of Chinese debt, with some critics accus-
ing Beijing of engineering “debt traps” for
developing countries by offering loans that
will be impossible to repay.
China’s Five Nos
The host Xi, however, preferred to re-
affirm China’s commitment to a “win-win
partnership” between China and African
countries.
“China values sincerity and trust in pur-
suit of partnership cooperation,” he said, “It
has neither attachment to its strength in the
continent nor does it seek any gains.”
He reminded his guests that China had
fulfilled pledges it made during the second
FOCAC summit held in 2015 in Johannes-
burg.
This time, he unveiled eight not 10 major
initiatives for future China-Africa coopera-
tion: industrial promotion, infrastructure
connectivity, trade facilitation, green devel-
opment, capacity building, health care,
people-to-people exchanges, and peace and
security. Out flew agriculture moderniza-
tion, financial services, poverty reduction,
and public welfare from 2015. In came
capacity building. President Xi also includ-
ed a pledge to work with African countries
to mitigate effects of climate change.
Xi also pledged that China would follow
the “Five Nos” in its Africa policy. These
include: No interference in African coun-
tries’ pursuit of development paths that fit
their national conditions; no interference in
African countries’ internal affairs; no impo-
sition of Chinese will on African countries;
no attachment of political strings to assis-
tance to Africa; and no seeking of selfish
political gains in investment and financing
cooperation with Africa.
President Museveni shakes hands with his host, Xi Jinping in Beijing
China has always maintained that its
model of engagement with Africa is “win-
win” cooperation between equals – mem-
bers of the global “South” and developing
countries. That message is at the heart of
Beijing’s policy of “non-interference” policy,
which China contrasts with the “strings”
attached (usually requiring political reform)
to Western aid.
Yet, although China has been Africa’s
largest trade partner over the last decade,
there remains a marked imbalance in trade
with 40 African countries. Going to China
are unprocessed products while in the
opposite direction China sends manufac-
tured cheap goods.
For Uganda, for example, the ratio of
imports to exports with China is a whop-
ping 22:1. For Nigeria, every US dollar of
exports to China, it imports US$ 11.
In response, the Chinese government
offered four new ideas set out in President
Xi’s speech during the forum.
For example, China intends to use e-com-
merce to promote African products; it also
intends to create a China-Africa Economic
Trade Expo. It also intends to help African
countries participate in the China Interna-
tional Import Expo in November, 2018 in
Shanghai. The poorest African countries
will not have to pay exhibition stand fees to
take part. These are opportunities for regu-
lar marketing activities for African products.
Second, the Chinese governments offered
50 trade facilitation programmes for Afri-
ca—that is close to one per country—and
thereby increase cooperation on market
regulation and customs procedures. Third,
the Chinese government offered to cre-
ate a new US$ 5 billion fund for financing
imports from Africa.
China also committed to continue hold-
ing free trade negotiations with interested
parties which could expand the duty—free
news analysis
access that it already gives to 97% of prod-
ucts from the so-called Least Developed
Countries in Africa.
The long-term view
Commenting about the growing China-
Africa partnership, South African Presi-
dent Cyril Ramaphosa who was also the
co-chairperson of the session said FOCAC
refutes the misconception by some quarters
that it is a new form of colonialism in Africa
pointing out that the Forum is on the con-
trary beneficial to the people of China and
Africa.
‘It is a vision of an integrated prosper-
ous and peaceful Africa, we welcome the
announcement by FOCAC initiatives that
will have positive and everlasting impact to
the people of Africa,’ he observed.
The President of Rwanda and the cur-
rent AU chairman Paul Kagame noted
that FOCAC has grown into an engine of
meaningful cooperation between Africa and
China. He saluted President Xi-Jinping for
his personal engagement in these efforts.
‘We now want to scale up and strengthen
the Forum to maximise mutual benefits,’ the
Rwandan leader said.
The Secretary General of the United
Nations Antonio Gutterres praised China
for pursuing the path that will immensely
contribute to the well-being of human kind. 
It is a view held by Ramathan Goobi, a
lecturer of economics in Kampala. He told
The Independent last month, the Uganda-
China partnership requires a long term
view since the Chinese are here to stay.
“Uganda should do exactly what the
Chinese did 30 years ago,” Goobi said, “The
Chinese structured their partnership with
the Europeans and Americans in such a
way that it was strong on local content and
technology transfer.”
Sept 14 - 20, 2018 19
news analysis

Seneglese and Chinese workers at the construction site for a new national theater in Dakar on Feb. 14, 2009. (Seyllou/AFP/Getty Images)

China good for Africa

Increased interest in the continent’s real estate and
resources will enhance the bargaining power of governments
there—but they need to bargain for the right things.
By J. Peter Pham, Abdoul Salam Bello, Boubacar-Sid ments. This year, he has pledged another more—$90 billion in the same period—but
Barry $60 billion. But Washington shouldn’t nec- Chinese aid is more sought after. Unlike

F
rom sept.03 to 06, presidents and
ministers from over 50 countries of
Africa made their way to Beijing for
the seventh Forum on China-Africa
Cooperation, a lavish pageant designed to
showcase China’s engagement with Afri-
can nations. At the last FOCAC, Chinese
President Xi Jinping pledged a massive $60
billion in commercial loans to Africa, a sum
that far outstrips U.S. lending and invest-
essarily be alarmed—at least not yet.
Since the first FOCAC in 2000, China
has grown from bit player in Africa to the
source of nearly $200 billion in trade. From
2001 and 2011, China also committed $75
billion in aid to the continent, about 20
percent of the $404 billion total that the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development’s Development Assis-
tance Committee calculated for the period.
The United States promised somewhat
Western assistance which comes mainly in
the form of outright transfers of cash and
material, Chinese assistance consists mostly
of export credits and loans for infrastructure
(often with little or no interest) that are fast,
flexible, and largely without conditions.
Thanks to such loans, the International
Monetary Fund estimates that, as of 2012,
China owned about 15 percent of sub-
Saharan Africa’s total external debt, up from
only 2 percent in 2005. And McKinsey &

20 Sept 14 - 20, 2018


Co. reckons that, as of 2015, Chinese loans
accounted for about a third of new debt
being taken on by African governments.
Many observers have warned of the
real risk of Chinese lending undermining
African sovereignty and U.S. interests in
the region. For example, in remarks early
this year, then-U.S. Secretary of State Rex
Tillerson acknowledged that “Chinese
investment does have the potential to
address Africa’s infrastructure gap” but at
the same time lamented that “its approach
has led to mounting debt and few, if any,
jobs in most countries” even as it “encour-
ages dependency using opaque contracts,
predatory loan practices, and corrupt deals
that mire nations in debt and undercut their
sovereignty, denying them their long-term,
self-sustaining growth.”
Take, for example, the tiny, sparsely
populated East African country of Djibouti,
which Tillerson visited during what turned
out to be his last trip as America’s chief dip-
lomat. Since 2002, it has been home to the
largest U.S. military base in Africa, which is
used as a launchpad for counterterrorism
operations in East Africa and the southern
Arabian Peninsula. In the last two years
alone, Djibouti has borrowed $1.4 billion
from China—an astronomical sum for a
country of barely a million people. That’s
more than three-quarters of Djibouti’s GDP.
Beijing has leveraged this money to open its
first overseas military installation, which is
located in Djibouti City next to a port that
is also owned and operated by China. The
base has badly crowded U.S. operations
and has been used to harass U.S. pilots. Per-
haps even worse, Beijing’s resident ambas-
sador has reportedly told diplomats that his
country expects to be repaid either in cash
or in kind, raising the specter that Beijing
intends to expand its military footprint in
the country—whether its government likes
it or not.
The Djibouti example aside, though,
Chinese loans are neither inherently good
nor bad—they will be whatever the African
nations choose to make of them.
Increased competition for African real
estate and resources should, in theory,
enhance the bargaining power of African
governments, which is inarguably a good
thing. The question, however, is whether
African leaders will rise to the occasion or
whether they will settle for deals that may
deliver short-term gains but at significant
long-term costs.
Kenya is a good case study of how to
leverage the opportunities. In late August,
President Uhuru Kenyatta met with U.S.
President Donald Trump at the White
House, and the two leaders announced
the establishment of a United States-Kenya
Trade and Investment Working Group and
promised to find financing for a superhigh-
way between the capital of Nairobi and the
port of Mombasa. It will be built by the U.S.
construction giant Bechtel.
After a quick trip home, Kenyatta
embarked for the FOCAC meeting, where
he met and signed further deals on top
of the $3.2 billion Chinese-funded, -built,
and -operated Madaraka Express railway
between Nairobi and Mombasa that opened
last year. In combination, the new U.S.-
funded superhighway and additional Chi-
nese-supplied railway infrastructure will
leave Kenya better equipped for internation-
al trade. The question, however, is whether
more African leaders will follow that lead.
If they use Chinese financing as a patch for
poor governance and irresponsible fiscal
policies, then China’s no-strings-attached
approach to doing business could indeed
be disastrous. It could become, in the words
of Lamido Sanusi, the former governor of
the Nigerian Central Bank (and now emir of
Kano) a “new form of imperialism,” consist-
ing primarily of extracting resources and
selling finished products back to Africans,
without much in the way of technology and
skills transfers in between. If African nations
are more strategic about the use of Chinese
aid though, then it could not only help
news analysis
the continent build necessary power and
road infrastructure but also spur economic
growth. The World Bank estimates that if
the region could just close its infrastruc-
ture gap with the median of the rest of the
developing world, GDP per capita would
increase by 1.7 percentage points per year.
Weakly democratic governments in
Africa could also let Chinese investment
become a full replacement for Western
assistance on the grounds that Western help
comes with too many conditions. In doing
so, they would miss out on a source of fund-
ing that could lead to long-term economic
health. It is not lost on observers that while
Chinese funds have poured into virtually
every corner of Africa, nearly 75 percent of
the investments have gone to just 10 coun-
tries, among which only one, South Africa,
is classified as “free” in Freedom House’s
2018 Freedom in the World report.
The United States and its partners should
not be naive about China’s advance across
the continent, but they should not view its
rival’s involvement as a zero-sum game,
either—not least because Africans would
not welcome such an approach. The world
stands to gain from China’s engagement in
Africa.
China is the only global actor that is real-
istically capable of relieving (or, at least to
date, has even shown interest in) tackling
Africa’s enormous infrastructure deficit,
especially in power and transport, which
will cost a staggering $90 billion every year
for the next decade to address. And China
needs Africa’s natural resources and export
markets to fuel its own growth.
But the partnership will only pay off
if the infrastructure projects that China
underwrites are high-quality, commercially
sound, socially responsible, and well-man-
aged. And there is no reason they can’t be.
However, it is up to African leaders to drive
harder bargains and African publics to
demand transparency in the terms of con-
tracts, especially where land or commodity
futures are at stake. The more competitors
there are in the aid space, the easier that will
be.
The Trump administration’s National
Security Strategy recognises Africa’s eco-
nomic potential and a strategic need to pro-
vide an alternative to China’s “often extrac-
tive economic footprint” on the continent.
This is all well and good, but it assumes that
U.S. businesses will be present and engaged
across Africa alongside America’s diplo-
mats, development specialists, and military
personnel in ways that they currently are
not. If African leaders are partying—and
signing deals—in Beijing, it is because they
need what those partnerships promise. It is
in everyone’s interest that the United States
and other developed countries both match
those moves and raise them as well.
Source: FP Online
Sept 14 - 20, 2018 21
rwanda
Rwanda’s parliamentary polls
RPF, women dominate, independents again flop
By John Mbaraga
R
wanda’s ruling party, the
Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF)-
Inkotanyi, will continue its
dominance of local the political
arena following its landslide victory
in the Sept.03 parliamentary polls.
Rwandans living in the diaspora cast the
ballots on Sept.02.
Preliminary results from the National
Electoral Commission (NEC) indicate
that the number of women MPs has
risen by over 3 percentage points while
independents went home empty-handed
as none secured the minimum 5% of
the total vote tally that entitles any
contestant to win a seat.
The ruling party scooped over 74%
of the votes and the other parties fared
22 Sept 14 - 20, 2018
dismally with percentages ranging from
5 to 9% of the votes cast.
The preliminary results from NEC
indicate that the coalition led by RPF-
Inkotanyi secured majority seats up
for grabs in direct polls with 74% in
the Sept.03; Social Democratic Party
(PSD) 9%; Liberal Party (PL) won 7%;
Democratic Green Party of Rwanda
(DGPR) and Social Party (PS)-Imberakuri
garnered 5% of the votes each, showing
a continued dismal performance from
opposition groups.
Representation in 4th parliament
The Chairperson of NEC, Prof. Kalisa
Mbanda, announced preliminary results
at the National Electoral Commission
headquarters in Kigali.
He said the results mean that among
political parties which garnered 5% of
the votes, PL got four seats, RPF 40 seats,
DGPR two seats, PSD five seats and
PS-Imberakuri with two seats.
There will be 10 political parties
represented in the coming parliament
- RPF-Inkotanyi, Ideal Democratic
Party (PDI), Centrist Democratic Party
(PDC), Democratic Union of Rwandese
People (UDPR), Party for Progress and
Concord (PPC), PSD, PL, DGPR and
PS-Imberakuri.
There are eleven political parties
operating in Rwanda and only the
Rwandan Socialist Party (PSR), which
had been in coalition with RPF, will not
be represented in the House.
Generally, the fourth legislative
assembly will be made of 54 (67.5%)
female legislators out of 80 MPs, while

men will be 26 (32.5%). In the past
assembly, women were occupying 64%
of seats.
Persons with disabilities elected
Eugene Mussolini (75.6%) as their next
representative in parliament; and Erneste
Kamanzi and Clarisse Maniriho will
represent youth and women special
interest groups in parliament. Kamanzi
had 66.8% of the votes, while Maniriho
got 52.9%.
For independents, Philippe
Mpayimana scored a lowly 0.87%,
and other independents - Janvier
Nsengiyumva and Elissam Salim
Ntibanyendera got 0.01% apiece and Ally
Hussein Sebagenzi 0.04%.
Hopes for independents crashed
The loss for independent candidates,
including former presidential candidate,
Philippe Mpayimana, continued the
dominance of parties in Rwanda’s
political space. The independents have
partly attributed their poor performance
to unfair and rigid requirements and
interference by electoral body officials.
Mpayimana said some of the electoral
commission staff prevented his electoral
agents from “fully monitoring the
electoral process”.
“Though I delegated few agents
during this polling period, some sites
were denying them access to voting
rooms by requesting unnecessary
documents,” he said. “I wish that
electoral commission staff should re-read
and understand the instructions properly
to avoid such incidents in future
elections.”
Calls for review of requirements
Mpayimana accepted the outcome of
the poll, but he said he was disappointed
that no independent candidate had
made it to parliament. According to
him, having independent MPs in the
House would have created new dawn for
Rwanda’s young democracy.
“It is of great value for independents
to go to parliament and collaborate with
political parties,” he said, “This would
bring new atmosphere in Rwanda’s
democracy.”
Mpayimana had, after casting his
vote at Camp Kigali polling station in
Nyarugenge District, said that for the
benefit of democracy, a review of the
electoral guidelines and requirements
was needed for future elections.
“We are still shaping our democracy,
that is why I suggest that every elections
would be more free and have many
candidates, both independents and
political parties contesting,” he said.
Mpayimana said that he would
continue his politics through writings
and media campaigns as well as
cooperating with parties in and out of
parliamnet.
In interview with The Independent,
Ally Hussein Sebagenzi, another
independent candidate, called for cutting
of the minimum percentage requirement
for any individual candidate to win
a seat from 5% presently to at least
1.5%. He committed to working hard
towards future success, and also thanked
Rwandans for their support despite
failure to make it to parliament.
Each party or
independent
candidate that
gets
5%
of all votes cast
nationwide
wins a seat in
parliament
PS-Imberakuri for quality
education, health
PS-Imberakuri leader, Christine
Mukabunani, told The Independent that
they are happy with the outcome of the
election.
“We thank people who voted for
us, we were well prepared since the
past parliamentary polls in 2013, we
conducted different campaigns as well
as mobilizing our supporters. Our
manifesto included improving the
quality of education through raising
teachers’ payment, harmonising health
insurance (Mutuelle de Sante) for
paying medicaments in pharmacies,” he
explained.
The head of DGPR, Dr. Frank
Habineza, had hoped to garner 20% of
seats up for grabs, but said the party was
“happy with what Rwandans have given
us”.
The former presidential candidate in
2017 elections commended the electoral
process and campaign, saying that it was
largely incident free.
“The campaign was very successful;
we were able to hold rallies in 25
districts as well as sending our campaign
mobilisers in the remaining five districts
without any serious incident. He said
rwanda
local authorities were at least 95%
cooperative.
“Where we had small issues, they were
quickly resolved,” he said.
Voters’ expectations from
incoming legislators
Beata Kabagwira, a Gasabo resident,
said that new parliamentarians should
work closely with the electorate to
understand their problems.
“They should always go to the
grassroots and listen to people’s
problems if we are to consolidate the
development gains made so far and also
move forward,” she said.
For Bosco Agaba, 27, and member
of the RPF-Inkotanyi, the elected MPs
should focus on policies that create
employment. He said unemployment is
the main challenge facing young people.
According to Abdul Niyomugabo, a
resident of Nyarugenge district, many
things were done by the past legislature
but people always expect a good job
for their development and that of the
country.
“We have many expectations and we
believe that they will help us to achieve
them,” he said.
Understanding the Rwanda’s MP polls
There are 80 seats in the Chamber of
Deputies, who are elected through two
methods: 53 seats are directly elected
by universal suffrage in a single
nationwide constituency, with an
electoral threshold of 5%; and seats are
allocated using the largest remainder
method. This means the country is
considered to be one nationwide
constituency and voters cast ballots
for parties and not individuals.
Each party or independent
candidate that gets 5% of all votes cast
nationwide wins a seat in parliament.
The 80 seats are allocated based on
what portion of the nationwide vote
each party or independent candidate
wins. For this to happen, each party
submits a list of its 80 aspirants to the
National Electoral Commission.
After the election, the seats are
allocated based on the position the
aspirants occupy on their party list,
starting at the top. The remaining 27
seats are indirectly elected by local
and national councils. Of these, 24
seats are reserved for women, two for
representatives of youth, and one for
the PWDs.
This year’s parliamentary polls cost
Rwf5.4 billion, according to NEC and
with 7.2 million Rwandans casting
their votes.  
Sept 14 - 20, 2018 23
rwanda

New law brings stability

in mining sector
Government published a new law on mining and quarry operations on Aug.13 which some
industry players say is anti-business and should be reviewed. But the mines board, the sector
regulator, says the new law is business-friendly and seeks to transform the sector, ensure stabil-
ity, and attract new investors. The Independent’s Stephen Nuwagira spoke to Francis Gatare,
the Rwanda Mines, Petroleum & Gas Board CEO and Cabinet member, to discuss the new law.

The new law has raised concern among industry policies. The changes in this
some sector players. Can you please new law come from those two processes;
explain what influenced its making and and there are aspects that have to do

T
what it entails? with breaches and administrative
he new law came out of two sanctions, as well as offences and
processes. Firstly, we had penalties that were previously
been undertaking reform of in the Penal Code. In
the mining sector, starting addition, there are some
with the establishment of the mining new introductions in
board as government moved to put new law, which are of
new momentum into the sector. When a policy nature that
this board was established, we were resulted from the
given the mandate to transform the reforms that have
mining sector, which required us to been ongoing many of
review our entire policy and regulatory which were discussed
frameworks. To achieve this, we in the aforementioned
held a number of workshops with workshops.
stakeholders, including members of
Rwanda Mining Association (RMA), What were the main
to review the policy. We also invited objectives of the new
the African Mining Vision team from law that has raised a
the African Union and UN Economic lot of mixed reactions?
Convention for Africa experts to also Generally, the
come and contribute in the discussion. objectives of the new law
Secondly, when the constitution centred around a number
was reviewed in 2015, one provision of different ideas; we
required some changes in the Penal wanted to introduce Penal
Code of Rwanda which saw some of Code provisions into the
the sectoral offences, breaches and law as per constitution;
penalties being removed and integrated we also
into sectoral laws. You may have seen
this in various laws that could have
come out recently; whether it’s the
environmental law, land law and
other sectoral laws that have had
specific offences and penalties
in the Penal Code that have
since been removed. Like
these sectoral laws, there
were some offences and
penalties associated with
the mining sector that
previously were in the
PC and needed to be
integrated into the
mining law. This
also coincided
with the review
of the mining

24 Sept 14 - 20, 2018


needed to streamline many aspects
to do with the licensing, rights and
obligations of licensed operators;
whether there are licensed to carry
out exploration, mining, trading etc.;
we also had to streamline the nature
of licences because there had been
different ideas on how licensing should
be done. So you will see a more robust
licensing regime that clearly outlines
the rights, privileges and obligations of
licence holders.
Another important factor is that we
wanted to give specific attention to
quarrying. In the previous law, we had
not yet articulated the responsibilities
of local governments and those of
central government and how we work
together in issuing licences and carry
out regulation given the different layers
that interact with quarry.
In addition, mining and quarrying
activities take place in a physical
environment that gets altered; and so
this new law needed to streamline the
relationship between mining and the
environment and the responsibilities
(to the environment) of those of us in
the sector. After all, while mining is
undertaken by private individuals,
the environment belongs to the public
and if it is interfered with, this has an
impact on everyone in society. And so
it’s the role of the regulator to ensure
that the interest of mining firms does
not adversely affect the wellbeing of
the general public who benefit from the
environment. That’s why the new law
needed to bring out the law relationship
between mining companies and
environment very clearly.
The other important aspect is the
health and safety of mine workers.
Mining has special consideration for
health and safety because it takes
place in a potentially dangerous
environment – working underground
in tunnels often with limited light or
air, or with workers operating heavy
equipment and sometimes
using explosives to
blast rocks.
All these
could potentially have harmful effects
to the health and safety of miners. In
fact, the sector can also sometimes
have adverse effects on the health and
safety of communities around mines.
That’s why it is important to articulate
the regulatory framework to ensure
the health and safety of everyone
concerned.
Finally, the law sought to ensure that
mining contributes to the development
of our country. So the relationship
between government and sector players,
particularly revenue generation,
employment and job-creation, and
contribution to industrialisation of the
country, needed to be articulated in the
new law to ensure the sector contributes
to the development of our country.
However, there has to be a balance
between the benefit to the investors who
put in their money to carry out mining
and benefit to the economy. Generally,
the new law enables the regulator to
manage the sector properly; it’s a very
competitive law that was drafted with
stability in mind.
Sector players raised concern about
Article 55 and are already calling for
its review. What do you say to these
concerns?
You may notice that what the mining
firms are commenting on mostly is
the offenses and penalties aspect;
this is very interesting because it’s
not a new provision. Actually, I was
quite surprised that they raised this
issue because the Penal Code was
more strongly worded than the new
law. For instance, on the issue of
criminalisation of accidents, the Penal
Code provided for life imprisonment,
but we needed to make it more business
friendly. So, many of the mining
accidents or breaches of standards
that will occur will most likely fall
under administrative sanctions, but
not criminal sanctions. However,
when someone has been injured;
extreme environment degradation or
water contamination has happened or
death occurs; let’s ask ourselves this
question; in the event that a mining firm
contributes deliberately or negligently
to these accidents, should anyone really
expect that there should not be any
consequence?
After all, this is how society is
governed. When individuals have
either willfully, negligently or
otherwise contributed to such
accidents, they have to be
accountable. It’s in that context,
but that level of accountability
is decided on by the courts, it’s
not for us or any individual
to decide. So, there is no
rwanda
criminalisation of mining accidents, but
when courts decide that the individuals
are culpable, then they need to be
accountable.
So, the new law is timely and we
believe it will help make the sector
safer for all stakeholders because it is
promoting prevention. This is against
the backdrop of the more than 90
fatalities caused by mining activities in
Rwanda last year. But there are rarely
any deaths reported in other countries
because they invest more in safety
measures, and use modern tools. So,
there will be a cost for firms that won’t
comply with the law; but we will work
with players to help them achieve what
is required by regulation.
Mining companies have been
complaining for long about the
reluctance by banks to fund their
activities. Why does government put in
place a fund to support miners like it
has done for real estate sector?
It is still difficult to finance the mining
industry because of artisanal mining
and artisanal mindset; and the only
way for firms to access funds now is
by providing collateral. However, if
firms operated professionally, it would
be easy to get funding. For instance, if
you conduct geological studies to know
the estimated volumes of the resource
in your concession, you can use the
data to attract financers. That’s why
we must move toward that direction
(professionalising sector) in the long-
term, and government is helping to
conduct geological exploration and also
in repatriation of geological information
from Belgium’s Museum of Central
Africa. Otherwise, it is now hard for
government to put in place a fund to
support the sector when there is low
information on volumes of deposits of
the different mineral resources.
How far is the repatriation exercise
of Rwanda’s geological data from
Belgium by the mines board?
The geological information that will
soon be repatriated from Belgium’s
Museum of Central Africa include
documents, maps, reports of mining
firms that were working in Rwanda
during colonial times, which gives
their views on the sector. There are also
soil samples collected by UNDP from
across the country which we believe
will be very useful going forward. In
fact, some of this information will be
important for training in geological
studies in colleges and universities.
There are almost 40,000 documents
altogether that will be repatriated.
Sept 14 - 20, 2018 25
rwanda

Youth will transform Africa’s

agriculture, says Kagame
By Stephen Nuwagira
The theme of the recent African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF 2018) Presidential
Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, was three-pronged: “Lead. Measure. Grow” as the
enabling new pathways to turn smallholder farmers into sustainable agribusinesses.

I
n the end, however, the main discussion
centred on who would lead the transfor-
mation.
The host, President Paul Kagame led
with a thoughtful analysis of the role of the
various players.
He said it is up to Africa’s policy-makers,
scientists and entrepreneurs to make agri-
culture more productive and attractive,
especially to the youth,
He said if the political and scientific
leadership at the national level create an
enabling environment for agriculture, it will
unleash its enormous potential.
Kagame noted that agriculture was the
cornerstone of Africa’s prosperity and of
our children’s health and nutrition, essential
for survival, and driver of all that Africans
are trying to do in terms of human and eco-
nomic development.
“The fact that the majority of the people
on the continent still earn their livelihood
directly or indirectly from the land calls for
concerted efforts among Africa’s policy-
makers, scientists and entrepreneurs to
make it more productive and attractive,
especially to the youth,” he said.
The (AGRF 2018) Presidential Summit
was held at the Kigali Convention Centre
last weekend.
President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana,
Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto,
Gabonese Prime Minister Emmanuel
Issoze-Ngondet, and former British premier
Tony Blair, attended.
AGRF is a platform that brings together
a range of critical individuals and bodies in
the African agricultural value chain. They
include researchers, policy-makers and
business and political leaders.
The forum discusses and commits to pro-
grammes, investments, and policies that can
counter the major challenges affecting the
agriculture sector on the continent.
The AGRF2018 was held under the
theme, “Lead. Measure. Grow: Enabling
new pathways to turn smallholders into
sustainable agribusinesses”.
Kagame also stressed that better coordi-
nation within governments and strong links
among policy-makers, scientific researchers,
financial institutions and investors were
essential to the development of the sector
and farmer support. “Therefore, we have to

26 Sept 14 - 20, 2018


make sure that Africa’s farmers are getting
the most out of the many good partnerships
that have already been set up in this ecosys-
tem,” he said.
The president also called for the revitali-
sation of the agricultural extension services
“as a matter of urgency”.
Kagame said farmers need the modern
skills and services to increase their produc-
tivity, better manage risks, and make the
sector more profitable.
Measuring agric performance
President Kagame also urged leaders to
sustain the continental commitment to mea-
suring progress and results using the Afri-
can Agricultural Transformation Scorecard
championed by former Ethiopian Prime
Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.
The scorecard, he added, was an invalu-
able tool because it keeps up the pressure to
deliver to citizens.
Rwanda’s Prime Minister Édouard
Ngirente had during the opening of the
forum observed that it will require strong
measures to translate existing strategies into
tangible actions to take the sector to the next
level. “Without leadership, measurement,
evidence-based planning and accountability
in programme implementation, Africa will
not be able to consolidate the modernisa-
tion of its agriculture and agro-businesses,”
Ngirente said.
Role of private sector
The president stressed the central role of
the private sector in helping the continent
meet its production and other targets.
He said more African governments are
achieving the necessary levels of public
spending agreed in the Comprehensive
Africa Agriculture Development Pro-
gramme (CAADP). However, it is evident
that that most funding for agriculture is
already coming from the private sector, not
from governments.
“This is a significant trend which will
only continue to increase thanks to the enor-
mous new opportunities for trade in agri-
cultural commodities created by the African
Continental Free Trade Area,” he said.
Speaking earlier, Dr. James Nyoro, the
deputy governor of Kiambu County in
Kenya, said to attract more private sector
investment needs commitment and political
goodwill. “Without it, everything else will
not work,” the Kenyan official added.
The 8th edition of AGRF2018 in Kigali
attracted about 2,000 delegates from across
the continent and the world to discuss agri-
cultural transformation in Africa.
Speaking earlier during the Youth Town
Hall session, one of the sideline events at
AGRF2018, Strive Masiyiwa, an entrepre-
neur and Alliance for a Green Revolution
in Africa (AGRA) board chair, said Africa
needed an entrepreneurial mindset to leap-
frog and make significant developmental
advances.
“Rwanda is a pretty efficient country
when it comes to doing business,” he said,
“we all have a responsibility to end food
insecurity on this continent.”
This rallying call was reechoed by Rwan-
da Minister of Agriculture and Animal
Resources, Dr. Gérardine Mukeshimana.
She said there is marked transformation
in the agricultural sector in Rwanda and
around the continent, but more needed to
be done. “Agriculture in Africa is on the
move,” she said, “The signs of its progress
and growth are evident across the conti-
nent, but there is big room for improve-
ment. “These aspirations are attainable,
but to realize them will require Africa’s
agriculture sector and its food systems to
grow more rapidly and sustainably,” said
Mukeshimana.
According to her, the African continent
is committed to addressing agriculture
and food security issues as highlighted in
African Union Agenda 2063 and the sec-
tor employs the majority of the continent’s
population.
The
8th
edition of
AGRF2018
in Kigali attracted about
2,000 delegates from across
the continent and the world
to discuss agricultural
transformation in Africa
Young people and agric
Kagame called for a mindset change
among the young people so they can con-
sider careers in agriculture noting that it’s
important to take the sector to the next level.
“We require a rapid shift in the mindset
of our young people towards agriculture as
a career choice,” he said.
According to him, the knowledge and
technology available today means there has
never been a better time for young Africans
to get involved in agriculture, agribusiness,
to create wealth and well-being for society
as a whole.
Prime Minister Ngirente had earlier dur-
ing the Youth Town Hall session reiterated
the central role of young people in unlock-
ing the sector’s potential and opportunities.
Ngirente said there was need to sup-
port and unlock the potential of young
rwanda
agripreneurs.
“We need our youth to be result-oriented
to be good entrepreneurs.
He said Rwanda was experiencing a shift
in the mindset of young people and more of
them were venturing into agriculture.
He pointed out that many young people
in the sector say it is still hard to access
working capital and extension services are
costly and not readily available among com-
munities.
Solving sector challenges
He said agriculture was performing poor-
ly previously because many governments
had neglected the sector.
“I found in our own country, not suffi-
cient attention was being paid to match the
centrality of agriculture to people’s lives,”
he said. “When we got into government,
we found largely subsistence agriculture.
We are densely populated; farmers have
small pieces of land where they were trying
to plant five crops and they ended up with
nothing of each.”
He said they implemented a policy shift
and all the while making it clear that agri-
culture was important.
“We must pay attention to what can be
done even with limited resources of land,”
he said. Instead of putting five crops in a
one hectare piece of land, choose one or two
crops that can do best there or consolidate
our small pieces of land, urged the presi-
dent. “How can we blame anybody else for
some of these shortcomings? How can we
blame anybody else for Rwanda importing
coffee from Europe when we produce cof-
fee, but we don’t process it? We transport
our coffee and tea to Europe, and they are
then imported back into the country at
about ten times more the price we sold the
beverages to the European,” he said. “We
have been shipping value for free and we
pay heavily. It just doesn’t make sense and
we all know it.”
So, it is up to us working together to
drive the necessary change in our respec-
tive communities, Kagame said, noting that
the knowledge, experience and goodwill
evident at the forum showed that “we have
everything we need to succeed”.
Food prize winner
 The International Institute of Tropical
Agriculture scooped the coveted Africa
Food Prize 2018.
 IITA was announced by former
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo
and chair of the Africa Food Prize
committee during the AGRF2018
in Kigali last Friday, making it the
first institution to receive the Africa
Food Prize since it was launched in
2005. The Africa Food Prize honours
organisations or individuals that have
exhibited their leadership potential,
specifically the ability to persevere
despite significant challenges or risks.
Sept 14 - 20, 2018 27
A tourist enjoys himself in Semiliki National Park in western Uganda.   COURTESY PHOTO
Bobi Wine protests hit
Uganda’s tour operators hard
Govt downplays impact of recent cancellations
U
By Ronald Musoke
ganda’s tourism industry
has shown signs of recovery
over the past three years,
but the recent political heat
that engulfed Kampala City
and pockets of the country
following the acrimonious by-election in
the northwestern town of Arua has left the
industry reeling, according to local industry
players.
A number of high-profile Members of
Parliament including Robert Kyagulanyi
(Kyadondo East), Kassiano Wadri (Arua
Municipality), Francis Zaake (Mityana
Municipality) and Paul Mwiru (Jinja East)
were arrested and allegedly tortured in
August for allegedly throwing stones at
President Yoweri Museveni’s convoy, a
move that triggered protests demanding for
their release.
Everest Kayondo, the chairman of the
Association of Uganda Tour Operators
(AUTO) said the political skirmishes in
August,which is the peak season for tourist
arrivals, had left a big dent on the country’s
tourism sector as a number of tourists sud-
denly cancelled their trips.
28 Sept 14 - 20, 2018
“The recent happenings had a great
impact on the economy because they were
covered by both the local and international
media. Once it was watched and read all
over the world, the tourists were influ-
enced,” Kayondo said.
Kayondo said the tourists also responded
to their government’s travel advisories
issued during the period and many who
had intended to visit Uganda were influ-
enced by these alerts.
Although some tour operators The Inde-
pendent talked to declined to give figures,
Amos Wekesa, one of the leading local play-
ers had earlier on told local media that his
company, Great Lakes Safaris, had lost over
US$300,000 in refund for already booked
trips to Uganda.
Herbert Byaruhanga, a member of AUTO
and vice president of the Uganda Tourism
Association also told The Independent that
he was affected “slightly.” He said he regis-
tered only four cancellations, but was quick
to add that he could not link the cancella-
tions to the political unrest.This, he said, is
based on the fact that cancellations are com-
mon in the tourism industry.
Albert Kunihira, the Chief Executive
Officer of Pearl of Africa Vacations told The
Independent on Sept. 7 that he did not suf-
fer any cancellations but he is certain the
impact of the recent political skirmishes will
be measured in the near future.
But Stephen Asiimwe, the executive
director of the Uganda Tourism Board
(UTB) told The Independent on Sept.10 that
contrary to the AUTO concerns, this year
has been Uganda’s best if tourist figures
UTB is picking from the national parks and
other tourist attractions are to be believed.
He said this is particularly true for gorilla
permits which he says have been sold
out for this year and the Uganda Wildlife
Authority is already selling for 2019.
“This has never happened before,” he
said.
“As far as I am concerned, tourists are
safe in Uganda and tourism should con-
tinue working normally. We guarantee that
tourists are safe in Uganda, the international
airport is safe for arrivals, the national parks
are safe and the other tourist attractions are
all safe,” Asiimwe said, “We should not mix
politics and tourism; Uganda is very safe,”
he told The Independent.
This was not the first time local tour oper-

ators came out crying to the government
due to lost tourism revenue.
In March, 2015, the Uganda Tourism
Association (UTA) issued a similar plea say-
ing over 90% of all bookings from Europe
and the United States had been cancelled
citing the Ebola outbreak in West Africa,
terrorism and the passing of the Anti-
Homosexuality law in Uganda. However,
the Anti-Homosexuality law was later over-
turned in the courts of law.
As a result, the tour operators said, over
20,000 local tour operators, travel agents,
safari guides and hotel operators were on
the verge of closing business or losing their
jobs.
Tourism remains Uganda’s leading
foreign exchange earner.
Over the last 15 years, international tour-
ism arrivals have more than quadrupled
from about 250,000 in 2001 to over 1.3 mil-
lion, last year amidst the country’s check-
ered political history.
In 2014, tourism, for the first time, became
Uganda’s biggest export earner after it
fetched $1.4 billion in 2013/14, up from $1.1
billion the year before, according to Bank of
Uganda’s monetary policy statement that
was issued in August that year.
Last year, the sector fetched the country
about US$ 1.4bn (Shs 5.1 trillion) while the
year before; close to US$1.35bn was earned
from the industry.
Tourism experts have linked the sudden
interest in Uganda as an attractive destina-
tion for tourists to the recent recruitment
of three marketing firms that have been
promoting Uganda in Europe and North
America.
The tourism industry has also been boost-
ed by glowing reports of Uganda’s attrac-
tions in international tourism catalogues.
Uganda is, for example, regarded as Africa
best destination for birders. The country
is home to over 1,000 bird species, which
account for 11% of the world’s total, and
half of Africa’s known bird species.
But despite the recent surge in tourist
numbers and the economic prospects in
terms of revenue and jobs, the sector suf-
fers from occasional disruptions— both
natural and man-made. These, according to
industry experts, have marred the country’s
brand image and undermined its marketing
efforts.
Researchers Tafadzwa Matiza and Ola-
banji Oni from the University of Limpopo
in South Africa said in their recent research,
“Managing the tourist destination: The case of
Africa,” that the tourist destination image is
becoming increasingly detrimental to the
success of individual tourist destinations
especially in Africa which often is a victim
of negative global stereotypes and percep-
tions.
“Africa’s unfortunate image is an obstacle
to the region’s competitiveness in the global
tourism market, ascertaining the continent’s
prolonged negative image and perceived
risks of a tourist destination.”
Whereas global tourism is forecast to
account for at least 1.6 billion travellers
and over $2 trillion in tourist spending
in the year 2020, Africa’s global share of
tourist travellers in 2020 is anticipated to
be between a conservative 5% and an opti-
mistic 6.3% according to a 2013 UN World
Tourism Organization report.
It is perhaps for this reason that African
governments have begun to recognize the
potential of the tourism industry as a driver
of economic development. According to the
World Bank, the tourism industry might be
one of the fastest growing industries in the
world but it is also one of the most competi-
tive globally.
For Kayondo, the recent political skir-
mishes are frustrating the local industry. “If
they (PR firms) are already doing a good job
marketing the country and then things hap-
pen at home, these efforts will just be going
to waste,” he said at a press conference on
Sept. 3.
“Once we try to portray a good image
abroad, then we should try to maintain it
at home (because) once Uganda’s image
is viewed as bad, no one will ever choose
Uganda,” added Benedict Ntale, the vice
chairman of AUTO.
Uganda’s long term development blue-
print—Vision 2040—stresses that the coun-
try’s tourism sector has the potential to earn
Uganda about $12 billion every year.
However, a 2012 World Bank study enti-
tled: “Uganda Tourism Sector Situational
Assessment: Tourism Re-awakening,” says
the country is clearly not yet realizing its full
potential as a tourism destination despite
its unparalleled resource base comprising
Business
amazing natural features which include a
unique flora and fauna.
Cuthbert Baguma, the former executive
director of UTB told The Independent that it
is important for stakeholders in Uganda’s
tourism industry to understand that tour-
ism is a global industry. He noted that
before tourists decide to visit, their security
and safety comes first.
UTB need to intensify marketing
abroad
Going forward, Baguma says it is impor-
tant for UTB to engage the international PR
firms to re-assure potential clients about
their safety, especially around Uganda’s
tourist attractions.
“They should be able to tell potential visi-
tors that yes, there might have been unrest
in parts of the city, there was no business
paralysis and that the tourist attraction
spots are still safe.”
“It’s important to paint a true impression
of the situation. It is important to acknowl-
edge the incident, point out its extent, and
point out the efforts undertaken to control
it.”
“Beyond the denials, the UTB should
engage the tourists at the airport to see what
they felt about the incident,’ he said, “That
would go a long way in pointing out the
true impressions of the incident by getting
independent feedback.”
In 2012, a CNN poll on consumers’ travel
perceptions and behaviour trends asked
respondents from more than 70 countries
to identify key influencing factors in their
decision making process before travelling to
a place for leisure.
The CNN survey found that ahead of
cost, safety and security were of greatest
concern when choosing an international
travel destination for more than two thirds
of global respondents. Reputation of the
tourist destination was also deemed impor-
tant for travellers.
The survey also asked them how they
gather information prior to travel. About
55% of international visitors surveyed
said they relied on recommendations and
information got from family, friends and
colleagues.
CNN noted that with reputation being
a key factor, tourist boards would clearly
continue to have a vital role to play in shap-
ing international perceptions to encourage
tourism growth in countries that are strong
on tourism. Belinda Namutebi, a branding
expert told The Independent early this year
that, “Because we live in a globalized world,
marketers of the country need to know that
the product they are selling is the experi-
ence of Uganda.”
“This is even more so for those selling
Uganda as a tourist destination,” she said.
“Before tourists come, they research about
the destination they intend to visit… and
we are not in full control of what they
(tourists) hear.”
Sept 14 - 20, 2018 29
 Executive Style
Ugandans are
smelling the coffee
What are the key drivers
for venturing into coffee
O
and barista training?
ur key drivers
in venturing
into coffee and
barista training
was driven by the fact
that many hotels and
coffee shops were serving
coffee that was not of
high quality. And the
reason behind that is not
that they didn’t have high
quality coffee but because
they didn’t have fully
trained baristas. A barista
need to truly understand
the whole coffee value
chain – from the farm
to the cup. Some of our
hotel owners think that
having a good machine
is a guarantee for good
coffee, which is not the
case. It is therefore for
that reason that we came
in to bridge the skills gap.
So how can one prepare
a good coffee cup?
For one to prepare a
good coffee cup, he or she
needs to understand the
type of coffee that they
intend to take across –
Arabica or Robusta. This
is followed up with a look
at the farming practices.
For example, there are
instances where farmers
grow coffee, leave it in
the bush to mature and
expect the best quality out
of it. That is not the case.
The next step is to ensure
that only ripe cherries are
harvested as they have
more sugar, flavour, and
carbohydrates. Lastly, a
barista need to work with
the roaster to ensure that
the preferred taste profiles
are attained.
How is your assessment of
the level of demand for each
type of the country’s coffee?
30 Sept 14 - 20, 2018
With regard to your
academy, what is the
criterion for one to be
admitted?
We are not
considering academic
documents for now. We
are looking at people
who can understand
the variables for
preparing the best
coffees regardless
of their ability or
inability to express
themselves in English.
We don’t want to limit
people interested in
the training. Our fees
are Shs500,000 and
Shs600,000 for basic
and advanced barista
trainings respectively.
The training takes a
period of one month.
We are working with a
number of coffee shops
Simon Ochen Eidodo is the 2018 Uganda for their absorption
National Barista Trainer and the First Runner-up, when opportunities
arises.
Africa Barista Championship and the Proprietor
at the Chariots Coffee and Barista Training What is the future
Academy. After serving for 5 years, he resigned outlook of coffee
from his prestigious barista job at the Kampala consumption?
Serena Hotel in 2016 to venture into coffee The future is quite
training. He spoke to The Independent’s Isaac bright as the local
population especially
Khisa about the crop’s opportunities ahead. the youth embrace
coffee consumption.
Over the past few
The local population their coffee crops. Often, years, youth are
tends to love more of farmers are paid peanuts being involved in both
Arabica coffee than with most of the profits coffee growing as well as
Robusta because it is going to the middle men. consumption.
mild, gentle and aromatic. There’s need for the local
Robusta mainly comes in coffee producers to be What are the firm’s future
in the form of blending. linked directly to buyers plans?
This is the main reason to ensure that they get We hope to be one of
that Robusta coffee is value for their crop. Once the leading promoters of
exported to European farmers are sure of high Uganda’s coffee locally
markets who prefer strong returns, they will invest and internationally. We
coffees. more and produce high are looking forward to
quality coffees. The other becoming the country’s
What are some challenges challenge is that coffee centre of excellence
that the coffee industry packaging materials are for coffees and related
face in promoting coffee? quite expensive and this products trainings – tea,
The presence of middle ultimately increases the Cocoa and juices.
men have denied farmers costs of the final product.
better incomes from
 Business
By Julius Businge

N
ational Social Security Fund
(NSSF) will resume the construc-
tion of its Pension Towers on
Lumumba Avenue in Kampala
before the end of this year. The project was
halted nearly seven years ago citing influ-
ence peddling in the procurement process.
The Fund’s 32-storey ultra-modern
commercial facility will comprise of three
towers – the first and second towers – each
having 10 storeys while the third tower will
have 25 stores, making it the tallest building
in Kampala.
The facility will also have four basement
levels with parking space for 500 cars and
two podium levels for shopping malls, res-
taurants and conference facilities.
NSSF Managing Director, Richard Bya-
rugaba, told The Independent on August 28
during the Fund’s Annual Members Meet-
ing in Kampala that the Fund has picked Phase one of the project.
a new contractor – China Railway Con-

Revamping NSSF
struction Corporation. Roko Construction
Limited-Uganda did the first phase.
Byarugaba together with the Board
Chairperson, Patrick Kaberenge, said the

all rightful processes had been followed in
securing the new contract to minimise any
mistakes.
However, the duo said the cost of the
entire project, which is expected to be com-
pleted in three years, is likely to go up by
57% to US$110million (Approx. Shs410bn)
due changing economic environment.
The construction of Pension Towers
started in 2008 but the work was abruptly
halted four years later, with the Inspectorate
of Government, recommending for a repeat
of the tendering process.
This followed IGG’s investigation that
claimed that the procurement protocols
were violated. The project was initially
planned for completion in 2015 at a cost of
Shs260bn.
Pension Towers is one of the projects
under the Fund’s Real Estate Investments
portfolio which constitute 6.6% of its total
assets reported at slightly over Shs10trillion
as at end of July this year.
Nearly seven year’s loss, gain
Byarugaba told The Independent that the
Fund has lost a lot of time and money but
the good news is that a new contractor is
now onboard.
He said the Fund had already invested
Shs50bn on phase one and that it also lost
10% per annum since 2012, equivalent to
Shs35bn.
He, however, insisted that the money
will be recovered once the building is com-
pleted “because we will try to compute total
investment including lost time which will
be included as part of cost recovery once the
project gets to the market.”
He also said that there have been a lot of
Pension Towers
The project cost goes up 57% to Shs410bn
revaluation gains.
“The value of land along Lumumba
Avenue grows at a rate of 20% per annum
and we think that the value of the land then
is now perhaps another 30-40% above that
when the project stalled,” Byarugaba said.
Kaberenge said the Pension Towers proj-
ect is expected to yield an annual return of
15% to the Fund.
He also said it is part of the NSSF Board’s
plan of revamping all construction projects
that had stalled for years including Lubowa,
Temangalo and others.
“We thought if we concentrated on the
housing sector, we could make a differ-
ence,” Kaberenge said.
Expert opinion
Enock Twinoburyo, an economist (PhD)
told The Independent that it is unfortunate
the Fund lost money and time and that
transparency on this loss is warranted.
“The bigger worry should be with the
feasibility of the project and the associated
cost over runs,” he said.
He added that the risk for a building of
such magnitude will be occupancy given
the prevailing conditions of dwindling
occupancy rates in the centre of the city.
On corruption and bribery allegations,
Twinoburyo said, corruption of political
nature is difficult to deal with especially
when it is entangled with administrative
networks – what the IGG calls syndicate
corruption.
“There are weaknesses of corruption
tacking across the entire cycle of account-
ability starting from budgeting, execution,
audit and its oversight,” he said adding,
“The remedy here must come from the
top.”
Asked on what NSSF should do to maxi-
mise the gains from the project, Twinoburyo
said, the costing structure should be reflec-
tive of the evolving market dynamics. He
said the costing should not be exorbitant but
able to meet costs and mark up for savers.
For such projects, he said, NSSF should
already have started with client manage-
ment by sharing information with potential
clients.
Similarly, Samuel Mabala, an urban
expert and acting director for housing at
the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban
Development, told The Independent on
Sept.07 that for NSSF to maximise the gains
from the project, it will have to be driven
by current pricing of projects located in the
same area.
He also said that commercial structures
that are beyond five levels high are not
attractive to most tenants unless one is con-
sidering specialized offers for apartments
and condominiums.

Sept 14 - 20, 2018 31

Business
aviation
Entebbe among Emirates top 10 African destinations
U
ganda was the tenth
largest African mar-
ket for Dubai based
Middle-Eastern carrier
Emirates during 2017, accord-
ing to the latest statistics com-
TAX
URA collects Shs 27 bn in OTT and Mobile Money
U
ganda Revenue
Authority (URA) has
collected Shs 27 billion
in over the top (OTT)
and mobile money transaction
taxes since the government
introduced these levies last July.
OTT tax of Shs 200 is levied
on the use of social media sites
such as Facebook, WhatsApp
and Twitter while 0.5 percent is
now charged on some mobile
money transactions.
Doris Akol, the URA
Commissioner General told
ENERGY
Total gets new MD
F
uel marketer,
Total Uganda,
has appointed
Obi Imemba as
the company’s managing
director replacing Florentin
de Loppinot.
32 Sept 14 - 20, 2018
piled by Routes Online.
The carrier deployed 128,586
seats for departures out of
Entebbe, giving Uganda a slot
among its top ten destinations
in the continent during the year.
journalists on Sept 05 a head
of this year’s tax payers’
appreciation week which will
Loppinot, who had
worked for the company in
the past three years, left last
month citing need to reunite
with his family in France.
Imemba has worked with
the Total Group for over
16 years, serving in several
leadership positions. Prior
to joining Total Uganda,
he worked as the Field
Operations Manager in
Total E&P Netherlands,
Offshore Installations
Manager, Production
Manager; and several other
roles in different countries
including France, South
Korea and Nigeria.
Uganda came ahead of big-
ger economies such as Angola
(69,832 seats) and Ethiopia
(124,382 seats) which checked in
at 16th and 12th respectively.
Uganda narrowly beat Tan-
zania (128,118 seats) to the tenth
position placing it eleventh
overall among the 18 points
from which Emirates operates
on the continent. Excluding
Mauritius for which Routes
Online, did not provide infor-
mation, South Africa (1,101,217
seats) was Emirates leading
destination in Africa followed
by Egypt (335,772 seats) and
Kenya (296,436 seats).
run from Sept 26th- 28th, said
“with a population of about
23 million Ugandans having
access to mobile phones, we are
positive this will grow overall
revenues month on month.”
Now in its second edition
and under the theme,
‘Stronger Together’, the
appreciation week will involve
various interactions with the
public, free services and a
country wide corporate social
responsibility (CSR) activity
by the taxman’s staff.
aviation
Uganda Airlines now hiring
U
ganda’s planned
comeback national
carrier, Uganda
Airlines, has started
inviting applications for key
positions. According to the
advert published on Sep 05, the
carrier is seeking for applicants
for various positions including
directors for maintenance and
engineering, commercial, fi-
nance, corporate quality manag-
MAIL
Kenya removes tax
on postal boxes
T
he Postal Corporation
of Kenya (PCK) has
effected an exemption
from value-added tax
(VAT) that effectively makes
it cheaper to rent postal
boxes.
The move, aimed at
wooing customers to the
struggling firm’s services,
is part of a proposal in
the Finance Bill 2018/19 to
exclude postal and subsidiary
services the PCK currently
offers from the levy.
Kenya’s Business Daily says
under revised price regime,
an individual post office
box now costs Shs 75, 000
every year compared to the
previous Shs 85,000.
The VAT exemption was
also to apply for postage
stamp. The move is the latest
in the state-owned firm’s
fight for survival in the wake
of stiff competition and
technological advances that
have led to a nosedive in the
demand for its services over
time.
Last year, the Corporation
recorded a Sh55.5bn billion
loss as its private letter
boxes, courier operations
and expedited mail service
business stagnated.
er, human resource, sales, cabin
crews, drivers and security.
Uganda Airlines expects to
receive four CRJ-900’s aircrafts
during the first quarter of 2019.
The short term fleet is expected
to reach six aircraft towards the
end of 2020, when a pair of Air-
bus A330-800neo’s join the fleet.
The first commercial flight is
tentatively set for April 2019.
 Business

Private sector activity slows

By Isaac Khisa 34 people including four

U
ganda’s private sec-
tor activity growth
slowed in August on
the back of currency
volatility and recent sporadic
riots.
The Stanbic Bank Uganda
Purchasing Managers’ Index
(PMI) for manufacturing
and services fell to 52.1 in
August from 53.2 in July.
This is slightly below last
year’s annual average of 52.8.
Anything above 50 denotes
growth; anything below, con-
MTN Uganda CEO Wim Vanhelleputte (L) hands over a Shs20 million cheque to traction.
Tooro Kingdom Prime Minister, Bernard Tungakwo Ateenyi. The contribution “While the country’s private
was meant to support the Kingdom’s ‘Empango’ (coronation anniversary) sector is still growing, the pace
celebrations that was held at the Karuziika Palace on Sept 08, 2018 of acceleration has been slow-
ing down over the past three
months or so. Back in June
and July, exchange rate vola-
tility was largely culpable for
this,” said Jibran Qureishi, the
lender’s regional economist
for East Africa.
“However, the sporadic
riots in parts of the country
over the last month could
have disrupted trade and
business in various parts of
the country.”
Uganda has since last
month experienced sporadic
riots following the arrest of
(L-R) Sanlam Life CEO John Lintari, IRA’s Head of Research and Development,
Sande Protazio, and Sanlam General Insurance Uganda CEO, Gary Corbit,
marks Sanlam’s 10 years of existence in Uganda at the Kampala Serena
Hotel on Sept 06, 2018. This coincided with Sanlam Group’s marking 100
years of operation. The Group has operations in 33 countries in Africa.
legislators during the Arua
by-election.
Benoni Okwenje, the
Stanbic Bank Fixed Income
Manager said only Industry
and Services sectors reported
improvements.
“… new orders from
abroad deteriorated in the
latest survey period (as)
output continued to increase
in August, with all sectors
except Agriculture reporting
growth,” he said.
This comes as the Bank
of Uganda maintained the
Central Bank Rate at 9% last
month – the lowest since it
adopted Inflation Targeting Lite
in 2011 – to stimulate economic
activities.
Going forward, Qureishi
said a more stable political
environment could help the
private sector return to more
solid growth, similar to the
early part of the year.
The PMI is a composite
index, calculated as a weight-
ed average of five individual
sub-components: New Orders
(30%), Output (25%), Employ-
ment (20%), Suppliers’ Deliv-
ery Times (15%) and Stocks of
Purchases (10%).

Weekly share price movement (September 07)

Security September 07 August 28 Movement
BATU 30,000 30000 00
BOBU 145 144 0.7
CENT 1,170 1,266 7.5
DFCU 900 900 00
EABL 7,269 7,634 4.7
EBL 1,658 1,862 10.9
JHL 18,322 18,657 1.8
KA 397 402 1.2
KCB 1,629 1,787 8.8
NIC 17 17 00
NMG 2,828 3,202 11.6
NVL 402 444 9.5
SBU 33 33 00
Soft Power Communications LLC MD Sarah Kagingo (2R), the newly
UCHM 48 52 7.7
elected president of Public Relations Association of Uganda and a section
of her new Governing Council during the Association’s 41st Annual UCL 23 23 00
General Meeting, held at Fairway Hotel Kampala. Kagingo replaces Cynthia UMEME 349 350 0.3
Mpanga who has been at the helm since 2016.   Courtesy photo ALSI -- -- --

Sept 14 - 20, 2018 33

comment
By Sandrine Devillard and Anu Madgavkar
Women in the digital revolution
Prospects are limited as their access to the Internet
and mobile phones is about 85% of that for men
D
igital technologies are a double-
edged sword for the world’s
women. Men’s greater access to
these technologies puts women
at risk of being left even further behind
economically and socially. But if women
can tap the full power of digital technolo-
gies, vital new opportunities will open up
for them.
According to estimates by the GSM Asso-
ciation, women’s access to the Internet and
mobile phones is about 85% of the level for
men, on average, and a total of 1.7 billion
women in low- and middle-income coun-
tries are unconnected. This severely limits
the prospects of women and girls.
Digital technologies enhance women’s
access to finance, with mobile banking
enabling them to avoid long journeys to
a branch or ATM. Likewise, technology-
enabled health care delivered via phone
or tablet improves health outcomes, as it
reaches women even in the remotest areas,
sparing them a long and often risky trek to
see a doctor.
The timesaving potential of digital tech-
nologies is so great that they may make the
difference in enabling women to seek paid
employment. Today, women undertake
three-quarters of all unpaid care work, pro-
ducing output of around $10 trillion, or 13%
of global GDP – none of which is translated
into income, let alone economic power.
By their nature, e-commerce and tech-
nology-based businesses offer women more
flexibility and autonomy, helping them to
manage home responsibilities alongside
paid work. In Indonesia, women-owned
businesses generate 35% of e-commerce
revenue, compared with only 15% of the
revenue of offline businesses.
Likewise, in China, 55% of new Internet
businesses are founded by women, and
Alibaba’s Taobao e-commerce platform has
an equal number of male and female store
owners. In fact, China is home to 114 of the
world’s 147 self-made female billionaires,
compared to just 14 in the second-place
country, the United States.
Women’s economic empowerment is
good not just for the women who benefit.
The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) has
estimated that advancing gender equality
could add $12 trillion per year to the world
economy by 2025. In the Asia-Pacific region
34 Sept 14 - 20, 2018
alone, getting more women into full-time
employment in higher-paid, higher-produc-
tivity sectors could add $4.5 trillion per year
to GDP, 12% above the current trajectory.
At the company level, a growing body of
evidence shows that more gender equality
is good for bottom lines. Greater diversity
of leadership styles improves the quality of
decision-making. If given the opportunity,
women could be leading innovators in the
age of automation and artificial intelligence,
and could help to ensure that algorithms are
free of gender bias.
But major barriers prevent women from
seizing these opportunities. For example, in
India, where only 29% of all Internet users
are female, girls in rural areas often face
gender-based restrictions on their use of
information and communications technolo-
gies. One village in Uttar Pradesh imple-
mented a fine for any girl using a mobile
phone outside the home.
Beyond the social attitudes that under-
mine women’s access to digital technolo-
gies, women and girls often disproportion-
ately lack the requisite skills to seize the
opportunities of the digital age. In Singa-
pore, for example, women lag behind men
in education in science, math, engineering,
and technology. At Nanyang Technological
The success
of women in
e-commerce
attests to the
power of digital
technologies to
level the economic
playing field, to
the benefit of
individual women
University, females comprised only 27% of
the undergraduate computer-science pro-
gram in 2015-2016, despite accounting for
half of all undergraduates at the university.
What is at stake is not just women’s ability
to seize the opportunities offered by the
digital revolution, but also their capacity to
withstand the coming wave of automation.
According to MGI research, in Singapore
alone, 800,000 full-time-equivalent jobs
could be displaced by 2030 due to automa-
tion. The jobs that are most vulnerable to
automation are the low-paid, lower-skill
jobs that women are more likely to hold.
At the same time, though automation
risks disrupting many jobs (or tasks within
jobs) for both men and women, it also takes
some of the drudgery out of current work,
tailoring it to human abilities. The result
could be higher wages that contribute to the
creation of more new jobs – 300-365 million
worldwide – as spending increases, with
emerging economies gaining the most.
Furthermore, among the new jobs that
will be created will be many in fields like
education and health care, where women
have traditionally thrived. According to
MGI research, more than 100 million jobs
could be created over the next 10-15 years as
health care and education needs grow.
It is not yet clear exactly how automa-
tion will affect women’s employment. But
there is no doubt that protecting – and
even enhancing – women’s job and income
prospects will require upgrading their skills,
so that they can take advantage of the new
and changing opportunities created by the
ongoing digital revolution.
The success of women in e-commerce
attests to the power of digital technologies
to level the economic playing field, to
the benefit of individual women, their
communities and societies, and the
world economy. More women in work –
particularly in the technology industries
that are shaping our collective future –
would be good news for all.
Sandrine Devillard is a senior partner at
McKinsey & Company. Anu Madgavkar is a
McKinsey Global Institute partner.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2018.

By Andrew Mafundo
Making kaveera ban work
Public support for the government ban
on single use plastic bags is important
F
Scanned by CamScanner
inally, after waiting for over eight
years, President Yoweri Museveni
has ordered that section 2 of the
2009 Finance Act that prohibits the
importation, local manufacture, sale or use
of plastic bags or bags of polymers of ethene
and polyethene should be effected.
The lag was caused by intensive lobbying
by plastic bags manufacturers and lack of
government commitment to save the envi-
ronment from plastic pollution.
While the President directive is good
news, conservationists have noted that the
government still has a lot to do if it intends
to make good on it because enforcement of
regulations in Uganda has often been poor.
That means single-use plastic bags may con-
tinue to be widely used and mismanaged
despite prohibitions and levies.
But, what’s the big deal about Plastic bags
or kaveera? The statistics about plastic pol-
lution are as disturbing as its devastating
impacts. It is estimated that polythene bags
take 20 to 1000 years to decompose. They
are made from non-renewable resources
and contribute to climate change. The
material used in their production cannot
biodegrade, they remain in the environment
for thousands of years; clogging landfills,
polluting rivers and lakes, causing harm
to our natural places, our wildlife and our
own health.
To put this in perspective, the United
Nations Environmental Programme Sec-
retariat estimates that plastic packaging
accounts for nearly half of all plastic waste
globally. The UN body goes on to warn
that if present trends continue, by 2050, our
oceans will have more plastic than fish.
If Uganda implements the single-use
plastic bags ban, there will be a great reduc-
tion in the effects associated with their use
and improper disposal. It could also be a
step towards more comprehensive policies
aiming at reducing the generation of plastic
waste and at replacing single-use plastics
with more sustainable, eco-friendly alterna-
tives.
However, let us not forget the challenge
that lies ahead. It is important that we
engage in as much public consultation
as possible to ensure a smooth transition
through the ban to implementation.
Like many environmental issues, what’s
missing is the long-term vision where all
stakeholders work towards joint solutions
to reduce the heavy burden of not only
single-use plastic bags but the entire plastic
pollution. For-example, besides the people’s
negligence, the large presence of single-use
plastics in the environment is indicative of
poor or failing waste management systems.
The solution lies in tackling the roots of the
problem. The government needs to embark
on an effective waste management system
and to educate and create awareness among
local communities.
At this stage, the government has the
opportunity to assess the best process to
follow and estimate the time and resources
needed; namely the institutional capacity
and the existing economic conditions to
ensure that the steps being considered are
realistic and have high chances of being suc-
cessfully implemented.
It is, therefore, advisable that before the
policy enters into force, the government
should assess availability of affordable and
valid alternatives to plastic bags.
The process for enforcement should also
be made clear to the users that will be
impacted by the policy and carry-out stake-
holder engagement for acceptance through
calls for early participation, policy debate,
and national-wide awareness campaigns.
To sustainably enforce and monitor the
ban, authorities have to clearly explain the
Kigali-Rwanda,
a pioneer
in banning
single-use
plastic bags,
was nominated
by UN Habitat
in 2008 as the
cleanest city
in Africa
comment
decision and any punitive measures that
will follow. The roles and responsibilities
of different stakeholders should be clearly
defined at all levels of governance.
Lastly, while this sort of environmental
issue needs to be government lead, it is not
until the public starts to care, that something
will get done. It would be encouraging
to see synergised efforts by all of society,
whether the public, industries, NGOs or
government to reduce plastic bags and push
for a gradual behaviour change and total
ban of kaveera. At family and personal level,
there are things each one of us can begin
doing to save the environment.
Drainage channels are still clogged with
plastics because too many people still do
not find it embarrassing to throw garbage
out of cars and on the streets.
We cannot continue to blame the govern-
ment and inconvenience or forgetfulness for
over-reliance on plastic bags.
We can encourage people to make small
lifestyle changes that can have a significant
impact on the environment. It is the daily
plastics that we buy or pick from shops,
supermarkets, and restaurants that have
become silent serial killers.
Plastic manufacturers and beneficiaries
should know that there are better eco-
friendly alternatives available; namely reus-
able bags which present an opportunity to
create sustainable products and the jobs that
go with them.
Kigali-Rwanda, a pioneer in banning
single-use plastic bags, was nominated
by UN Habitat in 2008 as the cleanest city
in Africa and is now is seen as one of the
cleanest nations on earth. Kenya followed
suit in 2017.
Under the new law, offenders can face
fines of up to $38,000 or four-year jail terms;
making their plastic bag ban the most
severe in the world. It is helping to clear
Kenya’s iconic national parks and boost
tourism.
Rwanda’s monthly local council clean-ups
can be a powerful tool to adopt and achieve
positive environmental impacts and com-
munity awareness and engagement.
Now is the time for big action at a global
and local scale. Together, we can do it.
Andrew Mafundo is Executive Director of
CITIZENS CONCERN AFRICA.
Andrew.mafundo@gmail.com
Sept 14 - 20, 2018 35
comment
By Yoga Adhola
Why Museveni degenerated
A rejoinder to Ulimwengu’s article on Museveni
of today meeting Museveni of yesterday
O
n Tuesday, August 28, 2018 The
East African published an article,
“If Museveni of today met Yoweri
Museveni the revolutionary,
they would shoot each other” by Jenerali
Ulimwengu. In the article, Ulimwengu
reflected: “Many of those who knew
Yoweri as a revolutionary student leader
at the University of Dar es Salaam look at
the man he has become and wonder what
would happen if the two Yoweris were ever
to meet. “They would shoot each other”
quipped an acquaintance.
Yet the flip-flops of politicians today are
nothing compared with the greatest flip-
flop of all times in our region.
I need to point out that Ulimwengu and
Museveni were students at the University
of Dar es salaam at the same time. Both
were on the left-wing of student politics.
Ulimwengu was active in TANU Youth
League and Museveni was leading USURF.
The point which seems to escape
Ulimwengu is that the so-called revolu-
tionary ideology they embraced at the
time was infantile and could not accurately
reflect the situation and correctly guide.
I have confidence to state this because I
arrived in Dar es Salaam from the Univer-
sity of Nairobi in 1971. Jenerali Ulimwengu
and Museveni had graduated the year
before. The University of Dar es salaam
was teeming with left-wing thinking. The
University of Nairobi where I had been was
very right wing. I could not follow the left-
wing ideas of my contemporaries.
I quickly embarked on a program of self-
education. It did not take long for me to
catch up with the Musevenis. And that is
when I joined Fronasa.
Fronasa was aiming at bringing about a
Cuban-type of revolution in Uganda. The
problem was the situation in Uganda was
not ripe for that revolution as defined by
Lenin.
Lenin wrote: “To the Marxist it is indisput-
able that a revolution is impossible without
a revolutionary situation; furthermore, it is
not every revolutionary situation that leads
to revolution. What, generally speaking, are
the symptoms of a revolutionary situation?
We shall certainly not be mistaken if
we indicate the following three major
symptoms:
36 Sept 14 - 20, 2018
 when it is impossible for the ruling
classes to maintain their rule without
any change; when there is a crisis, in
one form or another, among the “upper
classes”, a crisis in the policy of the rul-
ing class, leading to a fissure through
which the discontent and indignation of
the oppressed classes bursts forth.
For a revolution to take place, it is usu-
ally insufficient for “the lower classes not
to want” to live in the old way; it is also
necessary that “the upper classes should be
unable” to live in the old way;
 when the suffering and want of the
oppressed classes have grown more
acute than usual;
 when as a consequence of the above
causes, there is a considerable increase
in the activity of the masses, who
uncomplainingly allow themselves
to be robbed in “peace time”, but, in
turbulent times, are drawn both by the
circumstances of the crisis and by the
upper classes themselves into indepen-
dent political action.
Without these objective changes, which
are independent of the will, not only of
individual groups and parties but even of
individual classes, a revolution, as a general
rule, is impossible. The totality of all these
objective changes is called a revolutionary
situation. Such a situation existed in 1905 in
Russia.
The strange thing is, in his essay, `Fanon’s
theory of violence and its verification in
Mozambique’, Museveni revised this defini-
tion so that it could appear the situation was
ripe. This was totally self-serving. The situa-
tion remained far from being ripe.
Against similar background, Museveni
went on to launch what he viewed as a war
to bring about a revolution in Uganda. This
is the Luwero bush war.
In this war of his, he adapted the meth-
odology advocated by Regis Debray.
Unknown to Museveni, by the time he was
first reading Regis Debray, Debray’s writ-
ings had already been discredited and so
had his so-called revolutionary strategy.
Initially, the NRA, as the Museveni outfit
was known, was a nuisance to the govern-
ment. However, when a special brigade to
fight the insurgency came into being, things
gradually changed.
By the time of the 1985 coup, Museveni
had been defeated and had even returned
to Sweden. A coup that brought into power
an inept junta took place in July 1985.
Museveni regrouped and was able to flush
out the junta in six short months.
This victory turned out to be a poisoned
chalice. Because the situation was not ripe
for revolution, things turned up to be what
Fredrick Engels described in his essay, `The
Peasant War in Germany’. This is what he
wrote:
“The worst thing that can befall a leader
of an extreme party is to be compelled to
take over a government in an epoch when
the movement is not yet ripe for the domi-
nation of the class which he represents and
for the realisation of the measures which
that domination would imply.
What he can do depends not upon his will
but upon the sharpness of the clash of inter-
ests between the various classes, and upon
the degree of development of the material
means of existence, the relations of produc-
tion and means of communication upon
which the clash of interests of the classes is
based every time.
What he ought to do, what his party
demands of him, again depends not upon
him, or upon the degree of development
of the class struggle and its conditions. He
is bound to his doctrines and the demands
hitherto propounded which do not emanate
from the interrelations of the social classes
at a given moment, or from the more or less
accidental level of relations of production
and means of communication, but from
his more or less penetrating insight into
the general result of the social and political
movement.
Thus he necessarily finds himself in a
dilemma. What he can do is in contrast to
all his actions as hitherto practised, to all
his principles and to the present interests
of his party; what he ought to do cannot
be achieved. In a word, he is compelled
to represent not his party or his class, but
the class for whom conditions are ripe for
domination.
In the interests of the movement itself, he
is compelled to defend the interests of an
alien class, and to feed his own class with
phrases and promises, with the assertion
that the interests of that alien class are their
own interests. Whoever puts himself in this
awkward position is irrevocably lost.”
Yoga Adhola is a leading ideologue of the UPC. 
Uganda’s oral health crisis
feeds on its modernity
Yet modern solutions like polishes, refills,
dentures and implants are too expensive
S
By Flavia Nassaka
oda. Ketchup. Ice cream. White
bread. What do they have in
common? One answer could
be that they are staples of the
modern urban dining menu.
Another answer could be that
they contain tonnes of what experts call
“hidden sugar”.
While most Ugandans associate such
items with the trends of the modern menu,
very few know or care about the danger-
ous sugar in them. And that is the problem
according to Dr. Esther Lukwago, a Dental
surgeon at Kays; a private dental clinic in
Kampala.
She says the hidden sugars in such food
items are responsible for the increasing
cases of rotten teeth among Ugandans. She
says tooth decay, which is technically called
dental caries, occurs in 50% of five year olds
and under, 70% in those older to about 15
years, and 90% in adults who have at one
point had a dental problem.
According to her, this is worrying trend.
Lukwago says out of every four patients
she sees, one will have two or more caries
which they may not be aware of.
“This sugar we add to our tea is nothing.
A 300ml fizzy drink will have up to 8 tea-
spoons of sugar. The ketchup, the ice cream
they have a lot of sugar added to them and
these are what people are increasingly opt-
ing for. It never used to happen like this”.
Another expert, Dr. Francis Lakor, a con-
sultant Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon calls
increasing tooth decay “an effect of moder-
nity and civilization”. He says because of
this, what dentists in Uganda are seeing in
people’s mouths “is a pending public health
crisis”. He explains that when you eat any
food or drink, some of it is left on your
teeth. Such food, which often contains sugar
or starch become food for bacteria that live
normally on the teeth and are called den-
tal plaque. These masses of bacteria can
be seen, initially, as brown or pale yellow
masses on the surface of dirty teeth, or in
space between teeth. If these bacteria are not
removed, they start to attack the sugar and
starch in a process that produces acid which
weakens the tooth and gradually produce
holes called cavity.
Lakor says cavities and gum diseases,
which are the most common dental diseases
caused by these bacteria, can be avoided
by simple practices that preserve one’s oral
hygiene as recommended.
According to the dentists, Ugandans
are adopting modern diets without adopt-
ing modern oral hygiene practices. That is
mainly the problem. The other problem is
that it is not clear how traditional diets pro-
tected teeth. However, World Oral Health
Reports published by the World Health
Organisation (WHO) as recently as 2003
showed that most of Africa had either very
low or low rates of dental decay.
The prescribed modern quick solution for
the increasing rates of dental decay is brush-
Sept 14 - 20, 2018 37
health
ing at least twice a day with recommended
toothpaste, using dental floss regularly and
mouth washes. In the case of mouth wash-
es, use should not be daily. This should be
done together with a reduction in sugar
intake.
The WHO recommends that only 5% of
a person’s total daily calories should come
from sugar if we are to deal with such chal-
lenges as dental caries.
Dr Lakor says the best solution to over-
coming all the dental woes is to have your
teeth checked by a professional for wellness
at least twice every year. Then, a dentist
will be able to prevent a buildup of plaque
by cleaning and polishing your teeth with
chemicals. As in all things, there are those
who argue against constant visits to the
dentist. This camp insists that the key is a
proper diet, rich in calcium, magnesium,
phosphorous, and Vitamins A, B, and C.
They talk of raw milk yoghurt, vegetables,
and less processed foods like bread.
Who affords it?
The other criticism against visiting the
dentist is cost. Even among those who
agree that going to the dentist routinely can
greatly improve their oral health, many still
stay away because dental procedures are
expensive – the reason many health insur-
ance plans in Uganda don’t cover them.
Most people wait until the tooth has
decayed so much that it has cause an
abscess and the cheek is about to burst.
Then they head to government owned pub-
lic facilities where dental procedures such
as these are supposed to be done free of
charge. Often the tooth is simply pulled out.
Just thinking about such a procedure
makes experts like Lukwago and Lakor
cringe. They will never recommend remov-
ing a tooth unless all the other procedures
have failed.
“It’s dangerous to lose your teeth,” says
Lukwago, “We’ve been losing a lot of teeth
unnecessarily because all the public knew
was to get rid of that hurting tooth but now
we have all these options.”
She says the best treatment depends on
the extent of the problem and the age of
the patient but treatment includes even
cosmetic ones like reforming misshaping
teeth, sealants for those with cavities to root
canal therapies that involve killing the roots
of the tooth. She mentions technology using
ceramic materials and 3D renderings to
cover a weak tooth with a crown or replace
one that cannot be repaired with dentures.
He says if some baby teeth are removed,
it could lead to molars which appear later
failing to establish properly. The children
might not speak well and the jaw bone
might be deformed. Among the elderly, a
loss of teeth compromises nutrition as they
cannot chew certain foods. To avoid that,
start by avoiding soda, ketchup, ice cream,
and white bread. Also brush regularly. It
disrupts the plaque cause bacteria.
38 Sept 14 - 20, 2018
Bad news for the brain
These everyday chemicals may affect
brain development, child IQ
By Barbara Demeneix
A
ll vertebrates – from frogs and
birds to human beings – require
the same thyroid hormone to
thrive. Every stage of brain devel-
opment is modulated by thyroid hormone
and, over millions of years, the structure
of this critical hormone has remained un-
changed. But, increasingly, the trappings of
modern life are preventing it from playing
its critical role in human brain develop-
ment. Thyroid hormone signalling is very
vulnerable to interference by chemicals that
can scramble the endocrine communication
routes between cells.
These endocrine disruptors, as they are
called, include ubiquitous chemicals such as
pesticides, plastifiers, flame retardants and
surfactants, all of which are found in our
food, non-stick pans, fur-
niture, cleaning products,
clothes and cosmetics.
They are even found in
the air we breath and the
water we drink.
This is bad news for
our brains, and children’s
brains in particular.
Thyroid hormone serves
multiple functions in
orchestrating the produc-
tion and differentiation
of the 100 billion cells
that make up the human brain. Without
the right amount of thyroid hormone at the
right time, human babies will suffer severe
intellectual disabilities, developing an IQ of
only about 35.
In a recent experiment, conducted on
tadpoles, we tested the hypothesis that com-
mon chemicals in the environment, singly
and as a mixture, can interfere with brain
development in humans.
Global chemical production has increased
300 times over the last 50 years, according
to the United Nations Environment Pro-
gramme. Given that all of the common mol-
ecules we used in our experiment are found
at similar concentrations in human amniotic
fluid, one must be concerned about the
potential effects of this mixture on foetal
brain development.
In recent years, we have learned that
small variations in a woman’s thyroid
hormone levels during early pregnancy
significantly impact her child’s IQ and brain
structure, including the ratio of grey matter
(neurons) to white matter (glia cells).
Might intra-uterine exposure to thyroid-
disrupting chemicals, then, be linked to the
apparent rise in neurodevelopmental dis-
eases, such as autism and attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)?
Research emphasises the genetic bases of
autism spectrum disorders, but it is highly
plausible that environmental factors could
exacerbate genetic susceptibilities. In stud-
ies conducted on gestating rats, autism-like
behaviour in offspring has been linked to
disruptions in thyroid-hormone signaling,
specifically hypothyroidism.
The takeaway
Today, chemical contamination is such
that we are all exposed to hundreds of
chemicals, few of which have been fully
tested for their toxic effects. Little is known
about their potential effects on our hormon-
al systems, and even less about how they act
together as mixtures to
have a “cocktail effect”.
Our findings showing
adverse effects on tad-
poles’ thyroid-hormone
signaling, including
reduced neuronal num-
ber and mobility, indicate
the urgent need to revisit
the way chemicals are
tested before they hit the
market.
As a cautionary tale,
recall that paracetamol,
the main ingredient in many painkillers,
which was previously considered safe dur-
ing pregnancy, is now linked to behavioural
problems in children. Doctors now suggest
that pregnant women avoid all medications,
acknowledging the acute susceptibility of
fetuses to drugs and chemicals. The concept
is scientifically grounded in the develop-
mental origin of adult disease: prenatal fac-
tors, we now know, can cause disease later
in life.
In modern life, every pregnant woman
is exposed to hundreds of chemicals. Not
only are these chemicals found in her blood-
stream but also in the amniotic fluid that
surrounds her developing child.
Our tadpole experiments show that this
exposure compromises the hormonal regu-
lation that underlies brain development.
Processes honed through millions of years
of evolution are now very much endan-
gered.
Barbara Demeneix is Barbara Demeneix
is a cofounder of Watchfrog that screens
chemicals for potential endocrine
disrupting properites.
 ART | BOOKS | SOCIETY | TRAVEL | CULTURE
Atwork workshop 2018
Inspiring new generation of creative thinkers
A
By Dominic Muwanguzi
dream is an everyday expe-
rience. A projection of the
future, precisely impossible
and improbable- Mahatma
Ghandi. As such, the second
Atwork workshop was pre-
mised on the theme of “I had a dream”, as
a reflection on the individual’s desires in
life, and an inspiration from Martin Luther
King’s popular speech, “I have a dream”.
To invite participants to open up about
their personal dreams, they were each given
a small Moleskine notebook in which to
express their dreams visually. The approach
required them to free themselves from the
ordinary notion of saving the world to sav-
ing self; while inspiring the idea of creative
thinking which is the core objective of the
Atwork platform.
Willy Karekezi produced `Library’ an
artwork that demonstrated his “dream to
inspire through my life”. The library instal-
lation evoked the idea of keeping and shar-
ing stories with intent to inspire the public.
The artist perceived his life as a library; full
of books, full of stories of his life. Some look-
ing quite ragged because they have been
reread many times, other only once. People
come and go, taking their time, browsing a
bit…:” .It is the artist dream to inspire the
broad audience with the stories of his life
in order to contribute to communities and
benefit them practically.
`The Dream catcher’ by Samantha Phyl-
lia Taneta is an installation inspired by her
dream to be a photographer, sculptor and
painter. Like her multifaceted dream, her
artwork combines diverse media like pins,
spider-web- (synthetic), puzzle and strings.
The pins represent the pieces or things that
are keeping her together and at the same
time they’re the reason for her confusion
in life; her need for urgency in life, hence
the pins pierce through the photographs
of herself and family. More so, the puzzle
and web illustrate her need to free herself
with her dream (s) but still wonders where
should she start? There’re many expecta-
tions from her from her family.
These artworks reveal participants’ strug-
gles- though not necessarily personal- and
expectations in life from issues of personal
identity, wealth and success, career devel-
opment to sex abuse, rejection, and self-real-
isation. In tackling these issues, in this con-
text creatively to create an engaging visual
narrative to the audience, the artists step out
of their comfort zones and dig deeper into
their sub-conscious to interrogate the some-
times delicate topics.
“I had a dream is a deconstruction of all
the knowns to create room for other pos-
sibilities to happen…” writes Anita Kevin,
curator of the exhibit.
In order to facilitate the idea of stepping
out of the comfort zone, the participants
took advantage of the Maisha gardens,
Kampala Art Biennale 2018 exhibition at
Design Hub Kampala and Makerere Art
gallery. These spaces were crucial in stimu-
lating the thinking process of the partici-
pants. Not all participants where artists or
art students.
“The unconventional spaces displace
you out of your normality,” observes Elena
Korzhenevichm, co-founder of and commu-
nications director, Moleskine Foundation.
Why the moleskine note book?
The moleskine notebook is synonymous
with culture, imagination, memory and
personal identity in both the real and virtual
world. The notebook has been used by art-
ists and thinkers like Vincent Van Gogh,
Picasso and Ernest Hemingway. In refer-
ence to the Atwork workshop, the notebook
is a creative expression of the individual’s
(artists) dream.It immediately stimulates
the idea of critical thinking with its identity
of small pages, rounded corners and elastic
page-holder that were designed to give the
individual a convenient tool to support their
creative thinking process.
Artwork 2018 workshop has four
Chapters that include Rome, Harare,
Kampala, and Ndjamena (Chad). The
Kampala Chapter had 25 participants and
25 artworks displayed at the Makerere
Art gallery, Kampala. The workshop is
run by Simeon Njami and Elise Atangana
(Cameroun/ Paris).
Sept 14 - 20, 2018 39
Bride-to-be cancels wedding after guests refuse to pay Shs4.5m attendance fee
A Canadian woman known
only as “Canadian Susan”
recently got her five minutes
of online fame after reveal-
ing that she had to cancel her
dream wedding just four days
before it was scheduled to take
place, because guests refused
to pay a $CAD 1,500 “cash
gift” required to attend. The
couple only had a budget of
$CAD $15,000 (Approx. Shs40
million)for their wedding,
but after visiting a psychic
who told them to go with the
most expensive option avail-
able, they decided to have
an extravagant ceremony,
which they figured would cost
them around $CAD $60,000
(Approx. shs170 million). After
doing the math, they found
that if every guest pitched in
$CAD 1,500 (Approx. Shs4.3
million), they’d have enough
to cover the costs. But, appar-
ently, the idea of paying a
hefty feed just to attend the
weeding didn’t really appeal to
a lot of people. Only 8 people
signed up. The desperate
couple cut the fee and even set
up a crowd-funding campaign.
They got only $250. The couple
ended the wedding plans –and
their relationship!

School adopts unusual way to make students study more

A high-school in the Chi-
nese city of Shangqiu, Henan
Province, recently attracted
criticism for removing cafete-
ria chairs to motivate student
to eat faster and dedicate
more time to their studies.
Students were shocked to
learn that they would have
to start eating standing up
after their school’s admin-
istrators decided to remove
the chairs and benches to
deter students from lingering
around after finishing their
meal. The school plans to
assign a lunch spot for each
student to stand in, to further
discourage them from wast-
ing time instead of studying.
The school says spending 10
minutes on lunch is enough.
China already has so-called
“gaokao factories”; the top
Chinese high-schools infa-
mous for using military-style
disciplining techniques to
prepare students for the
Gaokao, China’s notoriously
difficult college entrance
exam. At some of these
schools, classes start at 5:30
a.m. every day.

Seller sticks plastic This technique that will get

Newlyweds end up
in hospital twice on
their wedding day
A pregnant bride and her new
husband were rushed to hospital on
their wedding day after a dramatic
car crash – but made it back in time
to celebrate their reception. Chelsea
Harvey, 23, and Shane, 27, were
driving from their ceremony to the
reception when their Skoda crashed
and flipped in the snow. The shaken
couple suffered cuts and bruises but
their unborn baby was unharmed
and they returned to their reception
to cheers from their guests.
But the family ended up in the
same hospital again hours later when
Chelsea’s stepdaughter, Isabell, six,
ran into a table and sliced open her
nose at the reception. This time the
reception was cancelled. After the
drama, the venue bosses allowed
them to rent it again for free for the
second reception on September 15.
eyes on fish to make
them look fresher
A fish shop in Kuwait was recent-
ly shut down by authorities after it
was revealed that the fishmonger
was sticking plastic googly eyes on
the fish in an attempt to make them
look fresher.
The con was caught after photos
went viral of a plastic eye that had
slipped off revealed the yellow eye
of the fish. The Kuwaiti Commerce
Ministry was apparently not amused
and proceeded to shut down the
offending fish shop.But that didn’t
stop people from continuing to
mock the bizarre selling tactic. Other
fish shops in Kuwait also got in on
the joke, posting hilarious adverts on
social media, like “fresh fish without
cosmetic enhancements” and “fish
without coloured lenses”.
you to sleep in two minutes
A sleep technique used
by the military could help
you nod off in under two
minutes. It is said to have
a 96% success rate after six
weeks of practice and was
reportedly developed to
eliminate mistakes made by
pilots because of tiredness.
Adults should get
between seven and
nine hours sleep
at night but many
are sleep deprived.
Chronic lack of
sleep has been
linked to health
problems includ-
ing diabetes, heart
disease and strokes. So how
does the technique work?
Relax the muscles in your
face, including your tongue,
jaw and the muscles around
your eyes. Drop your shoul-
ders as low as they’ll go
before relaxing your upper
and lower arm on one side,
and then the other. Breathe
out, relax your chest and
then, finally, relax your legs,
starting with your thighs
and moving to your lower
legs. Once you’ve relaxed
your body for ten seconds,
you must attempt to clear
your mind of all thoughts.
There are three methods
that may help with
this – according to
the book `Relax and
Win: Championship
Performance’. 1. Pic-
ture yourself lying
in a canoe on a calm
lake with nothing but
blue sky above you
2. Picture yourself
snuggled in a black velvet
hammock in a pitch-black
room 3. Repeat the words
‘don’t think, don’t think,
don’t think’ in your mind
for ten seconds. The sleep
method was first written
about in the 1981 book but
some of the techniques are
still being used today.

40 Sept 14 - 20, 2018

The 2019 Subaru Forester
Fifth-generation Forester improves in all areas
but will the lack of a manual, a diesel or a
turbocharged XT variant hurt Subaru’s best seller?
By Agencies
T
he fifth-generation Subaru Forester
has landed without a manual, diesel
or turbocharged XT variant. Built off
its modular platform, Subaru hopes
its done enough to keep its best-seller on
top form.
There’s been much gnashing of teeth over
the much-publicised dropping of a manual
transmission from the range and the loss of
the turbocharged XT version and keyboard
warriors have tried to melt the internet but
the truth is that over the last couple of years’
sales of these models has been in decline.
The entry-level Forester is well-equipped
offering Subaru’s full active safety suite via
Eyesight, a 6.5-inch infotainment screen
with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto but
no sat-nav, across the range there are rear
air vents and twin USB outlets for those
in the back. There’s only one engine and
transmission across the range, and the 2.5i
gets 17-inch alloys as well as Subaru’s clever
X-Mode system.
Move up to the 2.5i-L and you get Suba-
ru’s new Driver Monitoring System (DMS)
which can recognise the driver and adjust
things like mirrors and seats to suit. More
than this it also warns if it notices the driver
is dozing off or distracted behind the wheel.
The 2.5i-L also adds a bunch of extra cam-
era for multiple views around the vehicle
and adds reverse automatic braking.
For the 2.5i Premium the DMS adds door
mirror and seat adjustment to its function-
ality. The infotainment screen grows to
8.0-inches and adds native sat nav, there’s
electric adjustment for the driver’s seat and
a powered tailgate. The wheels grow to
18-inches and there’s a full-size alloy spare.
The top-spec 2.5i-S add a Harmon Kar-
don sound system, dual-mode X-Mode
functionality some cosmetic fripperies,
leather seats and a powered panoramic
sunroof.
The top-spec 2.5i-S variant offers a leather
interior and all the fruit. The dashboard is
an all-new design but it will feel familiar to
anyone who’s been in a recently released
Subaru.
The new Forester is 15mm longer
(4625mm) than the old car, 20mm wider
(1815mm) and has a longer wheelbase at
2770mm. This has allowed the designers to
eke out a little more space inside the cabin.
Those in the front have been pushed away
from each other slightly improving elbow
room while there’s a little more legroom in
the back now.
The 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine,
according to Subaru, is 90 percent new.
Some of the major tweaks included upping
the compression ratio and fitting an exhaust
side active valve control. In the end, both
power and torque are up marginally (from
126kW and 235Nm to 136kW at 5800rpm
and 239Nm at 4400rpm) while fuel con-
sumption has been improved. The engine
is also lighter (by 1.9kg). The only transmis-
sion on offer is a CVT; fortunately, Subaru’s
got a good handle on CVT and the one in
the Forester, like in its other vehicles, is one
of the best on the market.
Sept 14 - 20, 2018 41
Profile
Betty Aol Ochan: Tough inside,
humble and smiley outside
By Agnes E Nantaba leadership in 1996 as a councillor represent- Olao and Anna Bala Olao, and is the fifth of

I
ing two divisions in Gulu municipality. their ten children. She says routine provoca-
t is barely a month since Gulu District About the same time, she took on position tion from her younger brother trained her to
Woman MP Betty Aol Ochan of the as secretary health and welfare and was a stronger and harder but also simple.
Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) member of Forum for Women in Democ- She went to Padibe Girls School, Sacred
was appointed Leader of Opposition racy (FOWODE). This position required her Heart SS in Gulu town and National Teach-
(LOP) in parliament. Her appointment was to train fellow women but it also built her ers College Kyambogo where she attained
a surprise to fellow MPs and other politi- capacity to lead. a diploma. She started work as a teacher at
cians due to her humble, soft spoken, and In 2001, she contested for to represent Layibi College; a boys only school in Gulu
smiley character yet the role has often been Gulu in parliament but lost. She joined oth- in 1981. Ochan is a mother of seven and was
occupied by vocal men and women. Her er women who pushed for the removal of married to Michael Ochan until last year
appointment received mixed reactions from the Electoral College system in women elec- when passed on.
fellow members of the opposition but even tions which she blamed for her loss. When it
under such circumstances, Ochan says she was changed to adult suffrage
is ready to work. in 2006 she contested
“I believe that it is God who lifted me up and won.
and even when I am the LOP, it’s not an Ochan was
individual task,” she says. born in 1958
“I took up office at the most difficult time to Andrea
but I believe in team work to deal with the
current cracks in politics”.
Ochan appeals to fellow legislators to
continuously check government to achieve
effective service delivery.
She says, “We should not focus on the
differences but how best we can help our
people and that is what I am here to do as
LOP”.
Ochan takes office as the fifth leader of
opposition since 2006. She says her stay in
parliament has been based on her gender
sensitive, down to earth, and simple char-
acter.
“I am simple and make sure that I live the
life of those that I represent in parliament,”
she says.
Ochan’s rise to MP started with her work
as a social worker with the Agency for
Cooperation and Research in development
(ACORD) in northern Uganda. She says
ACORD exposed her to a lot of women
issues in its gender and rural development
division. At that time, Ochan and others
gained awareness of the absence of women
in decision making even at the lowest level
of family and started to think of a solution.
“We were happy when the constitu-
tion was made with a provision
for affirmative action to include
women,” she said.
Her work involved train-
ing and encouraging
people in rural areas to
take up roles at Local
Council level. She
first ran for position
in the Gulu district

42 Sept 14 - 20, 2018


Betty Aol Ochan’s Liteside
Any three things that we
I
don’t know about you?
am honest and some
people have actually
blamed me for being
too honest. If you
are not fair to me, I will
openly tell you because
I am frank. I am a peace
lover to the extent that
even when you hate me, I
will always get back and
work together.
What is your idea of
perfect happiness?
I am a very happy
person most times. I am,
however, happier when I
do some work that comes
with good returns.
What is the trait you most
deplore in yourself?
Sometimes being too
truthful hits me back.
What is the trait you most
deplore in others?
Being too proud and
despising others; I don’t
like very proud people and
usually, I just ignore them.
Which living person do
you most admire?
I admire many people
that may not even be
famous. For instance, I
admire my mother for
being very hardworking.
She’s ageing but still
works and I believe that
it is what has kept her
strong. I also admire
former U.S. President
Barack Obama and his
wife Michelle; theirs was
a very high level reign but
they remained humble.
What is your greatest
extravagance?
I support people a lot. I
don’t even spend most on
myself.
What is your current state
of mind?
I may be devastated
with some issues but on
the whole, I am happy.
What do you consider the
most overrated virtue?
Lifestyle has changed
and as a grandmother who
has lived on for some time,
I have discovered that
people overrate drinking
alcohol to the extent of
spending too much money
and time on it. Many
young people have been
taken up by it not knowing
that they should utilise
the time for valuable and
productive work.
What does being powerful
mean to you?
Having a heart for
others and persevering. Dr
Kizza Besigye is one of the
few powerful people.
On what occasion do you
lie?
If I tell lies, I feel so bad.
What do you most dislike
about your appearance?
I am currently very
fat something that really
bothers me. I have tried to
reduce the weight but in
vain.
Which living person do
you most despise?
I don’t despise people
because I know that all
of us have weaknesses
in one way or the other.
It’s also human to make
mistakes but it’s only good
to realise our mistakes and
make effort to correct.
What is the quality you
most like in a woman?
Caring with the heart
and action, helpful to
family building.
What is the quality you
most like in a man?
Caring and supportive
in raising children.
What or who is the
greatest love of your life?
I love my husband
Ochan Michael even when
he’s now deceased. We
lived together well; he
was reserved but very
supportive. I also love my
children and mother.
When and where were
you happiest?
The day I graduated
from Kyambogo and later
from Gulu and Uganda
Martyrs Universities
because those were once in
a lifetime. I was also very
happy on my wedding day
even when it was done
several years after living
together.
Which talent would you
most like to have?
I would have loved to
reach the level of PhD for
prestigious reasons. I have,
however, changed focus
to my children to support
them reach such levels.
What do you consider
your greatest
achievement?
I studied and that
is partly why I am in
parliament. I have built
up a very strong family
and I give the honour
back to God. Even
when my husband is no
more, we live on. Being
a representative of the
people is a very big
achievement that portrays
the trust that people have
in me.
Where would you most
like to live?
Uganda is my home so
there is nowhere else I can
go and live.
What do you regard as the
lowest depth of misery?
I have been to war and
I know that it is very
destructive. If we can find
Sept 14 - 20, 2018
Q&A
advertorial
a way of solving conflicts
amicably without going
for war, its better. I have
warned my girls against
interfering in peaceful
families and encouraged
them to start from scratch
and build up their own.
What is your favorite
occupation?
The social work that
brought me to parliament.
Without it, I wouldn’t have
known about women’s
issues which pushed me to
join elective politics.
What do you most value
in your friends?
Humility and respect for
others.
Who are your favorite
writers?
I am not a very good
reader.
Which historical figure do
you most identify with?
Nelson Mandela;
although he left his
wife because of political
reasons, I admire the man
in him. If most leaders
would be as simple as
him, the world would be
a better place for all of us
to live.
What is your greatest
regret?
There are certain things
that anyone should regret.
I regret having been too
playful as a student in
secondary.
How would you like to
die?
I should die in my
country and would love
to be buried next to my
husband.
What is your motto?
‘The Lord is my
shepherd, I shall not want’
and ‘Everything happens
by God’s grace’ .
43
Global comment
By Joseph E. Stiglitz
Beyond Secular Stagnation
There is no reason economists should agree about
the politically possible; only what would happen if…
A
s Larry Summers rightly points
out, the term “secular stagnation”
became popular as World War
II was drawing to a close. Alvin
Hansen (and many others) worried that,
without the stimulation provided by the
war, the economy would return to recession
or depression. There was, it seemed, a fun-
damental malady.
But it didn’t happen. How did Hansen
and others get it so wrong? Like some
modern-day secular stagnation advocates,
there were deep flaws in the underlying
micro- and macroeconomic analysis – most
importantly, in the analysis of the causes of
the Great Depression itself.
As Bruce Greenwald and I (with our co-
authors) have argued, high growth in agri-
cultural productivity (combined with high
global production) drove down crop prices
– in some cases by 75% – in the first three
years of the Depression alone. Incomes
in the country’s major economic sector
plummeted by around half. The crisis in
agriculture led to a decrease in demand for
urban goods and thus to an economy-wide
downturn.
WWII, however, provided more than
just a fiscal stimulus; it brought about a
structural transformation, as the war effort
moved large numbers of people from rural
areas to urban centers and retrained them
with the skills needed for a manufacturing
economy, a process which continued with
the GI bill. Moreover, the way the war was
funded left households with strong balance
sheets and pent-up demand once peace
returned.
An analogous structural transformation,
this time not from agriculture to manufac-
turing, but from manufacturing-led growth
to services-led growth, compounded by
the need to adjust to globalisation, marked
the economy in the years before the 2008
crisis. But this time, mismanagement of the
financial sector had loaded huge debts onto
households. This time, unlike the end of the
WWII, there was cause for worry.
As Summers well knows, I published a
widely cited commentary in The New York
Times on November 29, 2008, entitled “A $1
Trillion Answer.” In it, I called for a much
stronger stimulus package than the one
President Barack Obama eventually pro-
posed. And that was in November.
44 Sept 14 - 20, 2018
By January and February 2009, it was
clear that the downturn was greater and a
larger stimulus was needed. In that Times
commentary, and later more extensively
in my book Freefall, I pointed out that
the size of the stimulus that was needed
would depend both on its design and eco-
nomic conditions. If the banks could not be
induced to restore lending, or if states cut
back their own spending, more would be
required.
Indeed, I publicly advocated linking
stimulus spending to such contingencies –
creating an automatic stabiliser. As it turned
out, the banks were not forced to expand
lending to small and medium-size busi-
nesses; they cut it drastically. States, too,
slashed spending. Obviously, an even larger
stimulus in dollar terms would be needed
if it was poorly designed, with large parts
frittered away in less cost-effective tax cuts,
which is what happened.
It should be clear, though, that there is
nothing natural or inevitable about secular
stagnation in the level of aggregate demand
at zero interest rates. In 2008, demand
was also depressed by the huge increases
in inequality that had occurred over the
preceding quarter-century. Mismanaged
globalisation and financialisation, as well
as tax cuts for the rich – including the cut
in capital-gains tax (overwhelmingly ben-
efiting those at the very top) during the
Clinton and Bush administrations – were
major causes of accelerating concentration
of income and wealth.
Inadequate financial regulation left
Americans vulnerable to predatory banking
behavior and saddled with enormous debts.
There were thus other ways of increasing
aggregate demand besides fiscal stimulus:
doing more to induce lending, to help
homeowners, to restructure mortgage debt,
and to redress existing inequalities.
Policies are always conceived and enacted
under uncertainty. But some things are
more predictable than others. As Summers
again knows full well, when Peter Orszag,
the head of the Office of Management and
Budget at the beginning of Obama’s first
administration, and I analysed the risks of
mortgage lender Fannie Mae in 2002, we
said that its lending practices at that time
were safe. We did not say that no matter
what it did, there was no risk.
And what Fannie Mae did later in the
decade mattered very much. It changed its
lending practices to resemble more closely
those of the private sector, with predictable
consequences. (Even then, notwithstanding
the right-wing canard blaming Fannie
Mae and the other government-sponsored
lender, Freddie Mac, it was private-sector
lending, especially by the big banks, that
underlay the financial crisis.)
But what was predictable and predicted
was the manner in which under-regulated
derivatives could inflame the crisis. The
Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission put
the blame squarely on the derivatives
market as one of the three central factors
driving the events of late 2008 and 2009.
Earlier in President Bill Clinton’s admin-
istration, we had discussed the dangers of
these fast-multiplying and risky financial
products. They should have been reined
in, but the Commodity Futures Modernisa-
tion Act of 2000 prevented the regulation of
derivatives.
There is no reason economists should
agree about what is politically possible.
What they can and should agree about is
what would have happened if…
Here are the essentials: We would have
had a stronger recovery if we had had
a bigger and better-designed stimulus.
We would have had stronger aggregate
demand if we had done more to address
inequality, and if we had not pursued poli-
cies that increased it. And we would have
had a more stable financial sector if we had
regulated it better.
These are the lessons that we should keep
in mind as we prepare for the next eco-
nomic downturn.
Joseph E. Stiglitz is the winner of the 2001
Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.
His most recent book is ‘Globalization and its
Discontents Revisited: Anti-Globalization in the
Era of Trump’.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2018.
 Live
Live
VERA
COVE
CO GE
RAGE
We are live everywhere,
Always.

#NBSUpdates