News analysis Health Business

Museveni’s money Sexual harassment at Why Sugar Bill is bad

fights with MTN work & culture of silence for the sugar industry

Issue No. 573 May. 24 - 30 2019 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8

Good people
come out,
says Muntu
But how does moderation fit
between populism, defiance
of Museveni, Besigye?

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May. 24 - 30 2019 1
INBOX

Issue No. 573 May. 24 - 30 2019

News analysis Business Health Arts Motoring

Cover story
Good people come out, says Muntu
But how does moderation fit between populism, defiance of Museveni, Besigye?

5 The Week
30 Comments
Oulanyah takes over mediation
in Apaa land dispute Disappearance and extrajudicial
killing: It’s time for Kenya,
South Sudan to account for
9 The Last Word
the enforced disappearance of
Debunking Africa’s delusions: Samuel Dong and Aggrey Idri
Why our everlasting obsession with
the state, its leaders and politics as
32 Health
the problem is misguided
Sexual harassment at work:
14 Analysis The culture of silence that
allows it to continue
Museveni’s money
fights with MTN: Details on
deportations, licence talks
35 Arts & Culture
27 Business
Ugandan art at PIASA:
Behind the sugar zoning politics: French auction art house
Why the proposed Sugar Bill is bad falls for `unique, fresh’
for the country’s sugar industry

STRATEGY & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Andrew M. Mwenda WRITERS:Ronald Musoke, Flavia Nassaka, Ian Katusiime,
MANAGING EDITOR: Joseph Were Patricia Akankwasa, Julius Businge.
INVESTIGATIONS EDITOR: Haggai Matsiko DESIGN/LAYOUT: Sarah Ngororano
BUSINESS EDITOR: Isaac Khisa 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 May. 24 - 30 2019
 Offline

“As Ugandans, we have more than 10000

questions on who is choosing which
Ugandan to kill like chicken. I was going
to be the next but God saved me.”Aidah
Nantaba, State Minister for ICT on state agents she
fears are after her life

Palestinians break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan, near the rubble of a building
recently destroyed by Israeli air strikes, in Gaza City, May 18, 2019.

A Sadhu (Hindu “Go to Busoga now, there is so much

holy man) sugarcane and out growers are asking
show his ink- why we are not taking the cane. It is
marked finger
after casting because they just plant. And these new
his vote in
Varanasi in
factories also tell farmers to plant and not
Uttar Pradesh worry, promising to buy their sugarcane,
state during eventually you have a lot of sugarcane.”
the 7th and
final phase of Mayur Madhvani, MD of Kakira Sugar Factory on
India’s general sugar zoning
election.

A cyclist
wearing a
costume of
a cartoon
character rides
during the
Cycling Festival
in Moscow,
Russia “We have been refraining from conducting
diplomacy in newspapers, because that
is not how things are done, despite
provocations by our friends and their
media.” Sam Kutesa, Minister for Foreign Affairs
on Uganda-Rwanda tension

People feared dead UPDF soldiers Money the government

30 after their boat
capsized on Lake Albert
1798 undergoing counselling
after a one year tour of Shs1.7trn will borrow from China
to finance oil roads
duty in Somalia

May. 24 - 30 2019 3
week

Oulanyah takes over mediation in Apaa land dispute Why is government

Immediately after taking
over from Prime Minister Dr
Ruhakana Rugunda, Deputy
Speaker of Parliament asked
government to stop any form
of eviction on Apaa land pend-
ing further investigation into
the disputed land bordering
Adjumani and Amuru dis-
tricts. President Museveni
appointed Oulanya who will
be deputized by Rugunda. A
few days before, Uganda Wild-
life Authority (UWA) rangers,
accompanied by police closed
Apaa Market, leaving more
than 1,500 vendors helpless.
Reports say the closure of the
market was aimed at conserv-
ing land for the East Madi
Wildlife Game Reserve. “If any
eviction activity is going on in
Apaa, it should stop now until
further communication on
what we should do with the
movement of the people to get
Kadaga denies MP allowance increase
Speaker of Parliament
Rebecca Kadaga has distanced
herself from the alleged
increment of allowances for
MPs and the much talked
about Over The Top (OTT)
tax which is going to be borne
by the tax payer. “On the
issue of allowance increment,
I was also shocked to see in
the newspapers pictures of
cars, houses and increased
outside the conservation area so
that there is smooth handling
of the process,” Oulanyah said
while briefing the reconstituted
Apaa land committee members
at his boardroom at Parliament.
Present at the meeting were
Rugunda, Lands Minister Betty
Amongi, Disaster Preparedness
and Refugee Minister Hill-
allowances yet I am the
chair of the Parliamentary
Commission. We did not
increase anything of the
ary Onek, First Deputy Prime
Minister Moses Ali, Minister in
charge of Water and Environ-
ment Ephraim Kamuntu and
Grace Freedom Kwiyucwiny,
the State Minister for Northern
Uganda. Oulanya also barred
settlements in Apaa which is
largely a conservation area.
sort but what we did was to
increase the fuel pump price
and that was all we did in the
budget of February,” Kadaga
said in an interview with
the New Vision. The issue
of increased allowances for
houses, cars, burial expenses
caused furious backlash from
the public which accused the
lawmakers of being selfish
and greedy.
forming advisory
committees?
It’s the second time in three
weeks a ministry is unveiling
a committee to perform an
advisory role on a subject
it should be able to handle
internally. As expected,
government will have to
cater for sitting allowances
for these committee members
some of whom are already
employed in government. The
duplication of roles could be
another example of needless
squandering of public
finances. First the ministry
of finance inaugurated a
committee to advise on
investment and management
of oil production and
exploration. The Ministry of
Education has now unveiled
a 17-member committee to
analyse the recommendations
of the Abel Rwendeire
committee report on Makerere
University in 2016 and use
it as a model to streamline
management of public
universities. Janet Kataaha
Museveni the First Lady and
minister of education tasked
the committee chaired by
Prof. Frederick Ian Bantubano
Kayanja to draft a White Paper
on the overall governance
of public universities. The
committee will work over a
period of three months.

Buganda Land Board signs lease agreement with KCB

KCB Uganda has today signed an
MoU with the Buganda Land Board to
establish a product under which KCB
BANK, shall finance the Kibanja/Bibanja
holders to obtain certificates of title to the
Kabaka’s official 350 square miles of land.
The Buganda Land Board shall undertake
the identification of the rightful Bibanja
holders, recommend and forward their
applications for financial support to KCB
BANK in the process of obtaining a lease to
the land or registration certificate from the
Buganda Land Board.
“In the letter of recommendation to
be signed by Buganda Land Board’s
authorized representative shall pend the
issuance of a certificate of title, consent for
and on behalf of the Kabaka of Buganda
(the registered owner of the land on which
the Kibanja and or Bibanja is/are located to
pledge the Kibanja interest of the Kibanja
owner to KCB BANK, as security for credit
facilities upon terms approved by KCB
BANK,” said the Buganda Land
Board Managing Director Owek.
David Kyewalabye-Male. The aim
of this MOU is to create awareness
among the various Bibanja holders
occupying the land and all land
returned to Buganda Kingdom
and to ensure smooth valuation
of the processes of the respective
Bibanjas on Kabaka’s land before the
preparation of Certificates of Title
at the respective Kibanja holder’s
cost and expense. The agreement
will also leverage management of the
process of obtaining the certificates of title
and registration certificates for respective
Kibanja/Bibanja holders.

4 May. 24 - 30 2019

Museveni intervenes in Bugoma Forest Reserve stand off
After Minister of Finance
Matia Kasaija made an
entreaty to President Musev-
eni over the degradation
of Bugoma Central Forest
Reserve, Museveni directed
that the clearing of the reserve
should stop immediately.
Kasaija said vast chunks of
Bugoma were being cleared
by Hoima Sugar Limited for
sugar cane growing after
the Omukama of Bunyoro
Iguru Gafabusa leased it to
the company. He told the
President during a press brief-
ing at Masindi State Lodge
that his intervention was
necessary since the National
Forestry Authority no longer
had control over Bugoma. The
Masindi High Court recently
ruled that 8,000 of the 40,000
hectare forest reserve belong
to the Omukama of Bunyoro.
Reports say after the Omu-
kama obtained a freehold title
in 2016, he leased part of the
land to Hoima Sugar Ltd. “We
shall not allow this to con-
tinue,” Museveni said while
on his tour of Bunyoro region
last week. Environmentalists
were already up in arms over
the encroachment of Bugoma
who said more deforestation
would cause devastating cli-
mate change. Bugoma Forest
Reserve is a catchment area
for Lake Albert and River
Semiliki, besides being a sanc-
tuary for chimpanzees.
Week
NFA on the spot
over forest reserve
encroachment
As riot police remains
deployed around some areas of
Bugoma Forest Reserve due to a
stand-off between Hoima Sugar
Limited and some residents,
questions are emerging over
the mandate of the National
Forestry Authority (NFA) under
whose watch a number of forest
reserves have been degraded.
8,000 hectares of the Bugoma
Reserve have already been
cleared for sugarcane growing.
The land probe commission
headed by Justice Catherine
Bamugemereire tasked
officials from NFA over the
encroachment of 1950 hectares
on Wamale Central Forest
Reserve in Kayunga district
which have been turned into
a sugarcane plantation. The
commission was shocked to hear
from four employees of NFA
who said they had no idea who
was behind the encroachment
of the reserve. “This leaves us
with a big question as to how
NFA is managing these forests.
Who are the foot soldiers?
Bamugemereire wondered.
Sugar barons have cleared away
forest reserves for sugarcane
growing.

Liquid Telecom joins Muslims in Ramadan

Liquid Telecom, the leading
independent data, voice and IP provider
in eastern, central and southern Africa
joined the Muslim community in
fasting and observing the holy month
of Ramadan. On May 17 at the Kibuli
mosque, Liquid Telecom CEO Dennis
Kahindi and staff acknowledged the
contribution that Muslims bring to
business and to the country. While at
Kibuli, they handed over food stuffs
and gifts to Muslims in celebration
of Ramadan. “Our agile, flexible and
dynamic business model keeps us at the
forefront of telecoms innovation.”

AfricellUG @AfricellUG

Dial *133*2# *terms and conditions apply |

Regulated by Uganda Communications Commission

for more bundles

May. 24 - 30 2019 5
Week
UBL donates Shs335m to Bududa
Uganda Breweries Limited (UBL) has
donated Shs335million towards the con-
struction of a water supply system that is
aimed at improving access to safe and ade-
quate water in Bududa. The two year water
project is being implemented in partnership
with the Rotary Club of Kampala North. It
will see both entities construct a piped water
supply system that will serve over 2,000
people in Buwali Sub County and the neigh-
boring communities. The announcement
6 May. 24 - 30 2019
was made by the UBL Managing Director
Mark Ocitti at a ground breaking ceremony
held at Budei education center in Bududa.
According to a community assessment done
by Rotary Uganda, Bududa has insufficient
access to clean and safe water as the few
spring wells serving the residents are hard
to access due to the terrain of the area. In
addition the majority of the people in the
area have disabilities making it even more
difficult for them to reach the water sources.
Nakalema probes land
ministry over Shs98bn
World Bank project
The State House Anti-Corruption Unit
headed by Lt. Col. Edith Nakalema is
investigating the ministry of lands, housing
and urban development over alleged mis-
management of 98bn World Bank-funded
project on digitisation of land information in
Uganda. Nakalema and her detectives are
at the National Land Information Centre in
Nakasero gathering data on some aspects of
the project. Her team has back up from the
Office of the Auditor General, the Accoun-
tant General and the National Information
Technology Authority (NITA). The funds
were availed under the Competitiveness and
Entreprise Development Project with the
aim of setting up a land information system
to digitally handle the records, issue freehold
titles and protect customary land.
Humour Did you know?
Why you love coffee
and beer

Why do you swig bitter, dark roast coffee

or hoppy beer while your coworker guzzles
sweet cola?
Scientist Marilyn Cornelis searched for
variations in our taste genes that could
Police officers who vandalized the vehicle of Bobi Wine during his arrest on Easter explain our beverage preferences, because
Monday are to face the Police Disciplinary Court for excessive usage of force. understanding those preferences could indi-
cate ways to intervene in people’s diets.
To Cornelis’ surprise, her new North-
western Medicine study showed taste
preferences for bitter or sweet beverages
aren’t based on variations in our taste genes,
but rather genes related to the psychoactive
properties of these beverages. “The genetics
underlying our preferences are related to the
psychoactive components of these drinks,”
said Cornelis, assistant professor of preven-
tive medicine at Northwestern University
Feinberg School of Medicine. “People like
the way coffee and alcohol make them feel.
That’s why they drink it. It’s not the taste.”
The paper is published in `Human
Molecular Genetics’ highlights important
behavior-reward components to beverage
choice and adds to our understanding of
the link between genetics and beverage
consumption -- and the potential barriers to
intervening in people’s diets, Cornelis said.
Parliament is set to spend at least shs16.5million monthly to Sugary beverages are linked to many
provide MPs with internet and over the top tax (OTT) services.
disease and health conditions. Alcohol
intake is related to more than 200 diseases
and accounts for about 6 percent of deaths
globally. Cornelis did find one variant in a
gene, called FTO, linked to sugar-sweetened
drinks. People who had a variant in the FTO
gene -- the same variant previously related
to lower risk of obesity -- surprisingly pre-
ferred sugar-sweetened beverages.
“It’s counterintuitive,” Cornelis said.
“FTO has been something of a mystery
gene, and we don’t know exactly how it’s
linked to obesity. It likely plays a role in
behavior, which would be linked to weight
management.”
Beverages were categorized into a
bitter-tasting group and a sweet-tasting
group. Bitter included coffee, tea, grape-
fruit juice, beer, red wine and liquor.
Sweet included sugar-sweetened bever-
ages, artificially sweetened beverages and
Doctors urge pastors to go for HIV/AIDs counselling and testinsg since the church is no exception non-grapefruit juices.

May. 24 - 30 2019 7

Inbox
Letters are
welcome !
The Editor welcomes short and
concise letters from our esteemed
readers on topical issues. Please
send them to:
The Editor, The Independent
Publications Ltd,
P.O Box 3304,
Plot 82/84 Kanjokya St,
Kamwokya.
Kampala,Uganda.
Email: editor@independent.co.ug
Bobi can’t be angel in hell
Refer to: “Uganda’s democratic contradic-
tion” (The Independent May 10). Mwenda
is licking his wounds after the devastating
blow landed by a coalition between Kizza
Besigye and Robert Kyangulanyi. Mwenda
and Muntu had naively thought that they
could succeed in isolating Besigye from
the people power equation. They thought
that this would leave Kyangulanyi with no
choice but to come running seeking for an
“organised” political sanctuary for money
and a “political structure.” Had Kyangulanyi
fallen for the bait, then, the NRM would go
on to support a bill in Parliament urging that
the political party with most members in
Parliament nominates/chooses the president.
When this passes through, they will embark
on Kyangulanyi canvassing for votes so as
their chosen members make the numbers
and once they have ascertained those mem-
bers in Parliament then they pull the rug
underneath Kyangulanyi.
Fairness is not always about doing the
right thing, sometimes it is about doing the
correct thing. In Uganda were opposition
rallies are foiled by teargas, opposition lead-
ers are chased out of radio studios, arrested
and criminal charges are imposed, and the
Public Order Management Act (POMA) is
being applied selectively, how do you expect
the opposition to restrain itself and “order”
their supporters to act “rationally?” How
do we expect the opposition to act fairly in
a typically violent saturated situation? If
Mwenda expects “fairness” in the Ugandan
political space, it is possible he expects Ange-
les in hell.
Rajab Kakyama
8 May. 24 - 30 2019
News analysis Health Business
Museveni reversing 30 Your recurrent Medical, agric boost
years of privatization miscarriages insurance premiums
Issue No. 572 May. 17 - 23 2019
Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8
Bobi Wine
and Besigye
Who gains, loses
in partnership?
Follow us on Twitter @
http://twitter.com/#!/ugandatalks
Follow us on Facebook @
www.facebook.com/TheIndependentMagazineUganda
www.independent.co.ug
Wapakabulo resignation from UNOC
Refer to: UNOC: “Board such a bright and talented da with oil management
to decide on Wapakabulo CEO resign. It might, hiow- knowledge rise up.
resignation”. (The Indepen- ever, be an opportunity to Godfrey Jeje
dent May 13). It is sad to see see another talented Ugan-
HIV prevention breakthrough
Refer to: “HIV prevention breakthrough” (Lamivudin+Efavirenz+tenofovir disoproxil
(The Independent May 10). Can you name fumarate)? What then can be judged the
any newly approved Antiretroviral Therapy progress made by researchers in past 10
(ART) medication in past 10 years that is years?
superior to classical three drugs regimen Kiran
MPs, be fair to the people you represent
Last year, MPs approved a whole MP can fail to pay astonishing that even when
the ‘Over-the-top’ (OTT), for his or her data and OTT their sessions are covered
which is charged to every tax yet they increase their live on TVs, some are seen
telecom internet user in allowances and salaries playing solitaire on the
Uganda. Although it faced a almost every year and get Ipads. Such benefits should
lot of resistance, we accept- other benefits. be removed and the money
ed that it should be charged Their proposal for Parlia- for items like Ipods, OTT,
if it is to develop our coun- ment to pay their OTT tax data and meals among
try since collecting revenues and data has proved how other benefits be diverted
is one of the ways govern- selfish these MPs are yet into doing other things that
ment can use to deliver they keep telling us how benefits the nation.
services. The approved tax they represent the views of We need to develop
was that every internet uses the voter. It is unfortunate Uganda together. The MPs
had to pay Shs200 per day, that even the opposition decision pay their data and
Shs1,400 per week, Shs6,200 MPs are also silent on such OTT tax is embarrassing
per month or Shs72,000 per uncalled for allowances yet and shows how selfish they
year. they keep fighting govern- have become.
Their voters continue to ment. David Serumaga
pay the same taxes but the I know that our MPs serumagadavid916@gmail.
big earners, who are their got Ipods to help them in com
leaders, do not want to communication and doing
pay. I am wondering how Parliament work. But it is
Does being in opposition make someone ever right?
Refer to: “Uganda’s democratic contradic- to being the government of the minority
tion” (The Independent May 10). I support opposition? How do you claim to be a
Mwenda. He must be a very democratic peace keeper by inciting violence? I believe
man. How comes that opposition leaders that to oppose is to build not to destroy. If it
themselves do not take it positively when- is meant for destruction then no single lead-
ever opposed? Should we take it that being er in power would uphold it. Museveni is
an opposition member makes someone kind, patient and patriotic. It is through his
ever right? How can you convince any rea- democracy that we can criticise and express
sonable person that you are a democratic ourselves.
fighter while you cannot respect the major- Job Bwogo
ity rights? Did democracy change meaning

Debunking Africa’s delusions
By Andrew M. Mwenda
Why our everlasting obsession with the state, its
leaders and politics as the problem is misguided
T
here is a near unanimous view
that the problems of our nations
in Sub Sahara Africa are a result of
leaders, specifically our presidents.
Others broaden this view arguing that
our problems are a result of the state and
its politics. To such analysts, the societies
of Africa are capable of rapid economic
transformation like in East Asia but are
being stifled by corrupt and autocratic
leaders and states.
I find this argument weak. African leaders
do not spring from the heavens. They come
from our societies, are propelled to power
largely by domestic interests combined with
regional and global forces. Therefore, they
can only keep power by balancing these
interests; where the domestic is primary,
and the regional and global secondary.
Jean Francois Bayart, coined the
term “extraversion” – referring to how
African leaders draw resources from the
international system (such as economic
and military aid) to further their own
domestic competitions in a bid to gain and/
or consolidate power. Therefore, external
interests only further domestic conflicts and
struggles but do not create them.
Visit any public office in Uganda and the
people you will meet there, bureaucrats
or politicians, are our school or university
alumni, live in the same neighborhood,
come from the same region or district;
some could be relatives, friends or in-laws.
Therefore, whatever they do in public office:
corruption, apathy, incompetence, etc. is not
a reflection of their individual pathologies
but of our societies.
It is more than 60 years since most of
Africa got independence. Some, including
the young Yoweri Museveni, argue that
Africa’s biggest problem is leaders who
stay long in power. Yet there is scarcely
any difference between countries that have
enjoyed short tenures of presidents (such as
Nigeria, Sierra Leon, Liberia, Mozambique,
Burundi etc. where no single president
has ruled for more than 12 years since
1960) and those that have had long serving
ones (Cameroun, Gabon, Togo, Angola,
Equatorial Guinea, Uganda, DRC, Ethiopia,
Chad, Zambia, etc.).
Indeed, leaders have been changing
regularly in most of our nations. Nigeria,
for example, has had 15 presidencies and
none of them has served for a continuous
period of more than eight years. Yet
governance in Nigeria – with its corruption,
The Last Word
tribalism, incompetence, etc. – has scarcely
changed over these years and changes in
the presidents. Ghana has had 14 presidents
and nothing dramatic has happened in
its governance. Between 1962 and 1987,
Uganda had eight governments in 25 years,
an average of 3 years per president yet the
country had become a failing state.
Some argue that the problem of Africa
is a lack of democracy. Yet there is little
difference between Africa’s democracies like
Zambia, Malawi, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal
and Benin and Africa’s “autocracies”, such
as Ethiopia, Cameroun, Eritrea and Chad.
And this can be seen whether one measures
the rate of economic growth or the level of
service delivery. Indeed states like Rwanda
considered autocratic are more responsive
to the needs of their indigent citizens than
democracies like Kenya and Malawi.
The major weakness of Africa is that
the domestic groups, whose interests
politicians need to placate in order to gain
and/or retain power, do not constitute a
progressive social force. Instead, they are
predominantly retrogressive with parochial
interests, largely seeking patronage and/or
welfare from the state rather than political
institutions and public policies that promote
economic dynamism.
Imagine you are Museveni trying to hold
onto power in Uganda, or Bobi Wine and
Kizza Besigye trying to wrestle it from him.
What constituencies do you need to win?
These include peasants (who are a majority
of voters), workers, underemployed and
unemployed youths, salaried professionals
and petty traders. You most effectively
reach these social groups through such
powerful social institutions as traditional
authorities (Mengo especially) and our
religious bodies (Namirembe, Rubaga and
Kibuli) plus the new churches.
Now none of these social institutions is
dominated by progressive social forces
– such as manufacturers, innovators or
large-scale farmers. Some individuals from
these progressive groups may belong to
these institutions but will most certainly not
be the dominant voice. The most powerful
influence on domestic economic policy is
international “donors” – World Bank, IMF
and other bilateral donors – who represent
the interests of multinational capital.
Multinational firms cannot transform our
economies (in spite of our everlasting love
for them). This is because as a rule they
do not transfer the most advanced and
Opinion
innovative components of their businesses
– those parts that create the greatest value
– to their subsidiaries. Apple is not going
to transfer the design of the iPhone from
California to Kampala. Thus, at best they
can assemble parts i.e. keep us working in
the lower rungs of the value chain.
Yet dominance of multinational capital in
our countries may not be the cause but the
result of weaknesses of indigenous capital.
Idi Amin’s expropriation of foreign capital
in 1972 led to economic collapse. Why?
Indigenous entrepreneurial capacity was
low. In South Korea, mass expropriation of
Japanese owned businesses in 1945 – banks,
factories, insurance and logistics firms – did
not lead to economic collapse. When the
American Military Government arrived
to take charge of the country, after Japan’s
surrender, it found factories and other
businesses that Koreas had just grabbed
from the Japanese, were running very well.
There are inherent weaknesses in
our societies that reflect in the capacity
of the state to be an effective agent of
transformation. In the 1990s IMF and World
Bank forced our governments to adopt
policies like privatisation and liberalisation.
These handed the commanding heights
of our economies back to multinational
capital, which had been expropriated by the
nationalisations of the 1960s and 70s. These
policies kick started economic growth and
efficiency in resource allocation. But they
did not address the challenge of structural
transformation that lies at the heart of
development.
For our nations to undergo capitalist
transformation, we need a strong national/
indigenous/local class of accumulators who
can also exercise powerful influence on
state policy. Currently this class is small and
weak to be effective politically. Equally, our
ruling elites class does not enjoy autonomy
in the formulation of its values and in its
decision-making processes independent
of external forces. So it is incapable of
promoting a national project of any heft.
Instead, African ruling elites are tied to a
web of social obligations to their kith and
kin, making them unable and/or unwilling
to inflict the kind of costs – whether it is
in land expropriations or ruthless labour
exploitation – that in other times and places
have accompanied the process of rapid
economic transformation.
amwenda@independent.co.ug
May. 24 - 30 2019 9
cover story

Good people come

out, says Muntu
But how does moderation fit between
populism, defiance of Museveni, Besigye?

10 May. 24 - 30 2019

I
By Ian Katusiime
n the middle of the excitement
and activity leading to the
launch of the Alliance for
National Transformation
(ANT); a new party which
he leads, Maj. Gen. Gregory
Mugisha Muntuyera aka Mugisha
Muntu managed to appear calm and
unhurried.
Currently operating out of a small
office in Bukoto, a Kampala City
suburb; Muntu spoke about 2021
elections, which already have other
politicians running around in a mad
rush, as if they were in a very distant
future.
At 61 years old, Muntu appears
almost debonair in designer suit,
well matched tie, and well-trimmed
jet black hair. But he retains an erect
soldier carriage and focused gaze and
toughness that his boyish good looks
cannot hide.
He says the Alliance for National
Transformation party (also called The
Alliance) plans to field candidates
in the 2021 elections but first it must
recruit members, establish grassroots
offices, elect an interim leadership,
and hold a delegates conference.
What about you, Muntu; will you
run for president in 2021?
Where most leaders of political
organisations often put running for
president first, Muntu reacts to the
question as if it is at the bottom of a
very long list of more important things
he has to consider. Appearing to place
his priority away from gunning for
the presidency sets Muntu apart from
most Ugandan politicians, including
President Yoweri Museveni.
Since he has desperately clung to
power for 30-years using a mixture
of strong-man tactics and populist
politics, Museveni has conditioned
most Ugandans to expect opposition
politicians to pursue power with equal
fanaticism. Muntu’s self-control is
unexpected.
And it excites long-term strategists
like Zachary Olum, a retired professor
of political science.
Olum told The Independent; that
there is a misconception about starting
a party and gunning for power
immediately.
“People think that once you start a
party then your immediate goal is to
get power. Parties are about shaping
public opinion, moderating people in
government. They perform better at
other things,” Olum said when asked
about Muntu’s approach.
Olum agrees with Muntu about a
political party being akin to a vehicle
that is supposed to be properly
prepared before hitting the road. In
Muntu’s politics, that means first
putting party systems in place before
you think of running.
Muntu would agree with something
else that Olum said; that “a party is a
conscience of people who think alike
and a moderating factor”.
Olum, a member of the Democratic
Party (DP) says his party has not been
in power for more than 50 years but it
has played a key role in constitutional
development and the rule of law.
“Muntu’s party can go on to be a
model of democracy in Uganda.”
Frank Rusa, the Executive Secretary
of the Inter Party Organisation on
Dialogue, a forum funded by the
Netherlands Institute for Multiparty
Democracy that brings together parties
in parliament also welcomed the entry
of The Alliance of Muntu.
“I think it is an interesting scenario.
It will bring a new flavor to our
politics. He seems to be pushing for
a moderating line,” Rusa told The
Independent about Muntu.
“He comes in with a sobering tone
which will improve the way politics is
practiced,” he added.
A party of values
Muntu’s quiet strength is matched
by The Alliance’s chief strategist,
Richard Todwong
Frank Rusa
cover story
whom they refer to as a convener,
Alice Alaso.
Alaso who was Soroti District
Woman MP before becoming Serere
Distrct Woman MP and a former
Forum for Democratic Change (FDC)
secretary general, is a born-again
Christian with firm political positions
and very opinionated. But she exudes
calmness.
Together with Muntu, Alaso
supports the same old approach-
building platforms where different
leaders can be groomed as opposed
to an obsession with who the leader
is. Although some observers think
that this approach is either vague or
unambitious about holding power,
the moment to test its appeal among
Ugandans has now arrived.
As Alaso coordinated all the
promoters of The Alliance, the people
who championed the new party, most
preferred to remain in the background,
perhaps afraid of reprisals.
When Muntu spoke to The
Independent, he appeared to directly
speak to them when he said he wants
good Ugandans to actively join politics
and be agents of the change they want
to see.
“We appeal to those who
understand our reasoning that there
is no magic or other formula other
than ensuring that the good people in
any organisation being the dominant
force,” he said.
He added: “The character and
identity of the party we want to build
is based on values. Due to the political
challenges we have faced as a society,
all those values have been eroded and
the moral fabric has broken down. We
have to go through a recovery process
focusing on those values. When we
have more leaders subscribing to such
and practicing them, we will see good
governance”.
He said the current government
has not paid attention to values in
the politics and focused instead on
physical things; building power lines,
bridges, roads.
Muntu says physical things
are important and necessary but
corruption free politics, honesty,
transparency, unity, and equality
before the law, fairness and justice, are
more important.
Muntu told The Independent that The
Alliance was formed on the premise
of re-instilling values and ideals
into Uganda political and social life.
He says its members want to avoid
confrontational politics, intrigue, and
personality cults in parties. He says
these are the matters that drove him
out of FDC.
May. 24 - 30 2019 11
cover story
Anti-riot police deployed in Kampala in 2016. Muntu wants to steer clear of confrontational politics.
When Muntu says The Alliance
will emphasise building structures
from the grassroots, he is echoing an
abstraction that put him at odds with a
strong faction of his former party.
Mainly because of such views,
respected by many, understood by few
is a dictum that best describes Muntu.
The 61-year old has been in the thick
of Ugandan politics virtually all his
life, but he remains a puzzle.
Before he officially launched The
Alliance on May 22, Muntu had run
the gamut of Ugandan politics. He
was just 31-years old when he became
commander of the Uganda Peoples
Defence Forces (UPDF).
He went onto be a member of the
Constituent Assembly that wrote
the 1995 constitution and an army
representative in Parliament until 2001
when he moved to the East African
Legislative Assembly (EALA) based
in Arusha, Tanzania. Muntu joined
a political pressure group, Reform
Agenda, which in 2004 morphed into
the Forum for Democratic Change
(FDC), the dominant opposition party.
12 May. 24 - 30 2019
Muntu retired from the army in 2004
and went on to serve as president of
the FDC from 2012 to 2017 and now he
is the main “promoter” as The Alliance
leaders prefer to be called.
Early political consciousness
Muntu’s complexity first surfaced
in 1981 when he was a student at
Makerere University Kampala. This
was in the immediate post-1979
liberation period that saw former
military president, Gen. Idi Amin
Dada ousted and the return of Milton
Obote as president following the
disputed 1980 elections.
Muntu, as vice president of the
outgoing university students’ guild
government, was heavily involved
in the campaign of the incoming
students’ guild at a time when
university student leaders played a
major role in national politics under
the National Union of Students of
Uganda (NUSU).
The candidate Muntu favoured won,
but a powerful group of students who
were ruling Uganda Peoples Congress
(UPC) functionaries and with the
backing of the new government
installed one of their own, causing
chaos and confusion.
Muntu belonged to the top echelons
of UPC by way of his parents; Enock
Ruzima Muntuyera and Aida Matama
Muntuyera who were powerful state
functionaries and close confidants
of President Obote. Many people
were, therefore, surprised that he
broke ranks and led students into
a demonstration against the party-
imposed guild leaders.
He was just a 23-year-old political
science student, but Muntu was
already brimming with democratic
ideals. He was astonished by the level
of arbitrariness that the new Obote
government had reached.
And more surprises were coming
for Muntu watchers as he “went to
the bush” – in 1981- as joining the
National Resistance Army (NRA)
rebels of Yoweri Museveni fighting
Obote’s government from the jungles
of Luweero was called.
Many people, including President

Obote who knew and liked Muntu,
were surprised and perplexed. But
many of Museveni’s rebels were
equally disgruntled contemporaries
of his at Makerere, among other
politically conscious Ugandans who
felt the state of affairs in their country
had taken a wrong turn.
Five years later, the NRA took
power in 1986 with Muntu among its
elite.
NRM reacts to Muntu
While his unusual positions appeal
to many people, they have equally
led many to be suspicious of Muntu’s
motives. He has often been branded a
mole; first for the Obote government
when he left the comfort in the UPC
corridors of power to join Museveni’s
rag-tag rebels in Luwero and later he
was branded a Museveni government
mole when he rejected a ministerial
position in the government to join the
opposition FDC.
Muntu cannot now be a “mole” in
a party he has founded. But the NRM
appears determined to maintain that
suspicion; first by treating Muntu
A few days
after Muntu
lost the FDC
presidency
to Patrick
Amuriat in
November 2017,
he started
schmoozing
with Bobi Wine
different to other politicians and
pushing a knife between him and
them.
When asked to comment on the
new party and Muntu, NRM Deputy
Secretary General Richard Todwong
told The Independent that The Alliance
will have to deal with how it is
perceived and received in the political
arena. He portrayed it as a splinter of
FDC which must now deal with the
fallout from the separation.
“It is a breakaway from FDC. The
first line of engagement will be FDC,”
he said, “We see a lot of tension
between them and the FDC. The FDC
is fighting to retain its numbers. So
those who are breaking away; there
will definitely be something between
the two parties.”
“Second is how the other opposition
parties will view him,” he added, “The
third is how Muntu and his party
will mobilise and marshal themselves
against the might of NRM.”
As a leader of FDC, Muntu was
criticised by those within the party
who preach “defiance” of the
government and measure the strength
of a leader by how confrontational
they are.
Muntu’s cool and calm approach
was viewed with suspicion especially
when he was treated with some
sympathy by state authorities and
those in NRM. The view still holds
and could be deliberately used to
discredit him. Around the party
launch, for instance, the attitude of
the police which has been blocking
all other opposition party activity
appeared odd.
On May 13, the Police Spokesperson
cover story
Fred Enanga issued a statement
clearing The Alliance for a promoters
meeting scheduled for May 21 and the
launch the day after.
The third paragraph in the statement
is what could have riled members of
FDC even more. “We want to welcome
and assure the intending participants
that their safety at both events is
guaranteed. We would also like to
praise their efforts of the organisers
for their peaceful engagement.”
Muntu has always had the support
of moderates and those who feel
alienated by the belligerence of both
NRM and FDC. However, to what
extent the moderates take him will
prove critical for how far he can go. As
voters, moderates have been known to
be passive participants in the political
process. Within parties; NRM, FDC,
DP or UPC, the moderates have been
overshadowed by their hardline
members; FDC MPs like Angelline
Osegge, Herbert Ariko, Elijah Okupa,
Paul Mwiru all moderates and known
Muntu sympathisers are easily out-
elbowed by Mubarak Munyagwa,
Semujju Nganda, Francis Mwijukye,
and Odonga Otto.
It is, therefore, unclear how Muntu
and the new Alliance will relate with
other political players; especially the
opposition FDC leader Patrick Oboi
Amuriat and Kizza Besigye.
A few days after Muntu lost the
FDC presidency to Patrick Amuriat
in November 2017, he started
schmoozing with Bobi Wine. Since
Muntu is not locked on being on
the presidential ballot come 2021,
it is believed by some that he could
easily back Bobi Wine, who holds the
momentum now.
What makes the coalition more
possible is that Bobi Wine is already
in talks with the DP bloc of Norbert
Mao, Michael Mabikke of the Social
Democrats Party (SDP) and Abed
Bwanika of the People’s Development
Party (PDP). Besides, Muntu has
already been working with these
groups since he began his countrywide
consultations, just before The Alliance
was formed.
It also remains to be seen how he
plays on the big stage; especially
at IPOD. Frank Rusa, the Executive
Secretary of IPOD says though that
Muntu will have to prove the mettle
of his party by having representatives
in parliament before The Alliance
can join IPOD. But many things are
possible for people like Muntu who
appear logical and unemotional and
not confrontational.
May. 24 - 30 2019 13
interview
Our party wants people
with values – Muntu
Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Mugisha Muntu is the leader of the Alliance for National Transformation (also
known as `The Alliance’), a new political party which was launched on May 22 in Kampala. He
spoke to Ian Katusiime about the party’s agenda and what it wants to do differently.
What’s it been like; launching New
Formation, then the hurdles of getting
registered by the Electoral Commission
W
and finally launching The Alliance?
hen we started the plan
for launching a party, we
thought it would be through
by December 25, 2018. We
gathered all signatures from all districts
and had them in by November 28. But we
couldn’t launch in December because the
Electoral Commission (EC) took much
longer in verifying signatures from the
different districts. It was a new experience.
The exercise we went through was
rigorous. It was not the same process when
we were registering FDC; it was under
a different law then because registration
was done by the Registrar of Companies
and yet this one is by EC. The EC ended
the exercise in March and then went into
gazetting and we patiently waited until we
got a certificate of registration. Then we
zeroed on May 22 for the launch.
What does `national transformation’ in
the name of your party involve?
The character and identity of the party
we want to build is based on values. We
have not paid attention to values in the
politics of this country. We focus a lot on
physical things; building power lines,
bridges, roads. They are important and
necessary and need to be done but when
you look at the time from 1962, until now,
even the value system we had traditionally
as communities has been eroded. Shortly
after Independence you would just find
a population completely overwhelmed if
any official was involved in corruption.
That was the nature of the culture
back then. People believed in honesty,
transparency, unity, and equality
before the law, fairness and
justice. Due to the political
challenges we have faced
as a society, all those
values have been eroded
and the moral fabric has
broken down. We have
to go through a recovery
process focusing on
14 May. 24 - 30 2019
those values. When we have more leaders
subscribing to such and practicing them,
we will see good governance.
This country has never been short
of good ideas or policies. If you do
research from 1962 until now,
you will find the nature of our
policies have been good, if
they had been implemented,
this country would be in the
skies. There have always
been inconsistencies between
what is said and what is
practised. That is what we
want to resolve as a party
by attracting good people
into The Alliance so that we
shift the balance of forces in
favour of those who want
to do good and build a
strong foundation for good
governance. Our success or
failure will be hinged on that.
If those people become the
dominant good force in the
Alliance, then we will break
through. That is what has always
impeded the sustained forward
movement of our society. That is
where the solution lies.
What will be your approach
towards mobilisation?
We will project the
policy agenda that we
want to attract
people to
what we

stand for and build our identity around
that. Then we will start mobilising right
from the villages. In the villages there are
opinion leaders whom we will appeal to;
those who understand our reasoning, that
there is no magic or other formula other
than ensuring that the good people in any
organisation being the dominant force.
The moment you achieve that whether it
is us in The Alliance or whichever other
party it is, they will become the solution
to the problems of the country. For as long
as there is an imbalance and the balance
of forces believe in self-aggrandisement,
that kind of vehicle will promote
corruption, nepotism, and repression and
the population will resist you.
It is really as simple as that. If more
people get that, the turnaround of this
country will be easier. No form of magic
will turn this around. The good people
who want to do the right things must
go into the parties and influence them. I
cannot understand how something that
simple can elude our understanding for
so long. As the Bible says; whatever a man
sows, so shall he reap.
You barely have time to recruit people
to stand on the ANT ticket in the 2021
elections. How do you plan to pull this
off?
The good thing is that we are operating
in an environment where a significant
number of people want change. So we
will not be going to ripen a raw situation,
we are simply going to pick fruits. We
have to apply the techniques needed to
tap into that favourable situation and
recruit and organise them.
Organising is not as a hard as trying
to change people’s minds. When you
find they are not ready to change, it is
an uphill task. But when they are ready,
then you only present yourself. If they
believe you as an organisation as the right
solution, then the task becomes simpler.
You just have to organise and attract
resources. If we are to run alone as a
single organisation, we must
focus on fielding 100% in all positions.
If we engage in coalition building and it
is successful, we would have to sit and
negotiate and decide who fills where and
who doesn’t fill where.
It is surprising when you say you are not
so much interested in being president or
holding power. Then how will you make
the changes you desire if you don’t have
the power to do so?
Even if you become President and
you don’t have a vehicle to change the
things that are in a mess then what is the
purpose? Our approach is different; we
want to start with the vehicle, create one
that is robust and efficient and that can
take you the longest distance you want to
If we are to
run alone
as a single
organisation,
we must
focus on
fielding
100% in all
positions
go and then we look for the driver. How
can we concentrate on looking for the
driver when we are not working on the
vehicle itself?
Once the vehicle is built, then you
can come and say you want to be the
driver. In the vehicle you must put in
place mechanisms for who becomes the
best driver. We concentrate so much on
who the driver is even when there is no
vehicle.
You also don’t want your personality to
dominate The Alliance. But some people
believe strong personalities are what
builds institutions.
It is a balance, even if you are
strong you must put your strength
and capabilities in building a strong
organisation so that at a particular point
in time as it grows it must be stronger
than all of you who are in it. But if you
become dominant, the tendency is that
the organisation becomes weak. And for
people who want to build things that last
interview
- I subscribe to that philosophy, I have to
do a balance to ensure that we build an
organisation to ensure that even when
we are leaving it, the next generation is
already prepared to carry on, on the basis
of the principles we established and on
the long term objective of where we want
to take that country.
You have hinted about a coalition
with People Power. What gains do you
envision from this?
Ever since we went across the country
doing consultations, we have been
consciously and deliberately reaching out
to opposition groups to brief them as to
where we were; telling them the situation
as we interpreted it within FDC; telling
them about the different scenarios and
the different options that were there.
When we reached the point of taking
one of the three options open to us, we
again briefed them. And then when we
started the New Formation as a holding
ground, we also briefed them. When we
reached a point of starting The Alliance,
we briefed them so that they know where
we are and where we intend to go. It’s
very important to us that when you are
on one front, that the other friendly forces
need to be aware of our intentions; the
short term and medium term so that we
establish an atmosphere of trust. We have
been briefing leaders of DP; Norbert Mao,
Hon Robert Kyagulanyi of People Power,
Asuman Basalirwa of JEEMA. We would
also tell them that much as we are starting
our own organisation, we are open to
working with other opposition forces that
are pro-change.
The 2021 elections are looming and
the incumbent; President Museveni, is
pulling out all the stops to make sure
he wins. How do you see the elections
playing out?
We do not expect any free and fair
election at all. At least for me as an
individual, my background is in the
military; in warfare you don’t expect
that if you are moving your forces, your
enemy will not ambush you or that if
he has artillery that he is not going to
pound you. When you are operating in
a situation where there is a dictatorship,
expect what is coming. Therefore, build
your capabilities to a level where you
will overwhelm the regime in spite of
the impediments it puts in your way.
That is my understanding. Don’t expect
them to do fair things when they are
not fair in their mentality and character.
Don’t throw your hands up and start
complaining, that is the nature of things.
As the Pan Africanism motto says: Don’t
agonise, Organise.
May. 24 - 30 2019 15
news analysis
By Haggai Matsiko
M
oney, policy and misinforma-
tion are at the centre of the
long-running tension between
Uganda’s leading telecom op-
erator, MTN, and the government.
That much was confirmed at a meeting
last week between President Yoweri Musev-
eni and MTN Group CEO Rob Shuter,
MTN Group Chairman Phuthuma Nhleko
and another official from the company
headquarters in South Africa on May 13.
What remains to be seen is whether the
meeting will lead to a resolution of the
issues and a quick renewal of the teleco’s
licence to operate.
The company currently operates on a
temporary 90-day licence after its licence
expired in October 2018 and Museveni has
refused to renew it in spite of holding sev-
eral top level negotiations with company
officials; both local and from MTN head-
quarters in South Africa.
The main disagreements between MTN
and the government have been over licence
fees and the government’s insistence
that MTN lists on the Uganda Securities
Exchange (USE).
But tensions went a notch higher in
February when the government deported
four top MTN officials, including the CEO,
amidst accusations of clandestine anti-gov-
ernment activity, espionage, and sabotage.
Sources knowledgeable about the latest
meeting told The Independent on condi-
tions of anonymity that there were positive
indicators for MTN.
Museveni reportedly authorised the
Ministry of Ministry of Finance to finalise
licence fees negotiations with MTN and the
sector regulator; the Uganda Communica-
tions Commission (UCC) to make the final
decision. At the meeting, Museveni also
appeared to have had a change of attitude
regarding the deportation of the MTN
bosses; especially former CEO Wim Vanhel-
16 May. 24 - 30 2019
Museveni’s money
fights with MTN
Details on deportations, licence talks
leputte aka Wim.
“I am the one who ordered for the depor-
tation of Wim but I was misled,” a source
privy to the details of the meeting quoted
President Museveni as telling the officials.
The Independent understands that fol-
lowing the State House meeting, another
was held between MTN and government
officials at the Ministry of Finance offices.
This was chaired by the Minister of ICT,
Frank Tumwebaze, and attended by rep-
resentatives from UCC and the Attorney
General.
When contacted, UCC Executive Direc-
tor, Godfrey Mutabazi told The Indepen-
dent that UCC would look at the arguments
MTN is raising and advise the authorities
accordingly.
Hopes of licence renewal for MTN were
dealt a major blow when the government
in February deported former CEO Wim
Vanhelleputte, then chief marketing officer,
Olivier Prentout, general manager for Sales
and Distribution, Annie Tabura, and mobile
money general manager Elsa Mussolini.
Before that government operatives from
the Internal Security Orgainsation had in
July 2018 broken into MTN’s main Data
Centre in Kampala.
Although this was a major breach, MTN
opted not to overly fuss over it.
But the February deportation caused
regional and international concern as it
involved nationals from Belgium, Rwanda,
Italy, France, and of course South Africa.
Rwanda took exceptional concern over the
deportation of its citizen, Tabura, and cited
it as part of a wider targeting of Rwandan in
Uganda. The matter was roped into bigger
squabbles between Rwanda and Uganda
that crested with Rwanda closing its border
to Ugandan goods.
When MTN fired its then-General Man-
ager for Corporate Affair, Anthony Kat-
amba immediately after the deportations, it
cited them in his dismissal letter.
“I would like to inform you that your
employment with MTN Uganda Limited is
hereby terminated with effect from 12 Feb-
ruary 2019 (Termination Date) on account of
the Board of Directors’ (Board) loss of trust
and confidence in your ability to execute
your current role as General Manager
Corporate Services,” reads the termination
letter in part.
It adds: “As you are aware, MTN Uganda
has over the past several months and up
till now experienced a number of legal and
regulatory challenges in this market. Being
the company’s principal legal and regula-
tory adviser responsible for resolving or
minimising the negative impacts arising
from any regulatory and legal matters in the
market, the Board has unfortunately lost its
confidence in your ability to carry out this
critical function going forward in light of
the prevailing and emerging challenges that
the company is facing.”
Katamba had been part of MTN’s local
team led by Uganda Chairman Charles
Mbire, and including former CEO Wim
Vanhelleputte , that was at the centre of

chasing the renewal. They negotiated
mainly with the telecom sector regulator,
the Uganda Communications Commission
(UCC).
But when disagreements between them
failed to be resolved, the government side
escalated them to Museveni and the MTN
side brought its Group leadership from
South Africa.
That is how MTN CEO Rob Shuter first
met with President Museveni in January in
Davos Switzerland on the sidelines of the
World Economic Forum. That Shuter was
with MTN Group Chairman, Phutuma
Nhleko, at the Kampala meeting, speaks
volumes. A former CEO MTN Group,
Nhleko is known in MTN circles as a super
negotiator after he got Nigerian authori-
ties to reduce a fine of $5.2 billion they had
slapped on MTN to $1 billion.
Kampala is yet to renew MTN’s licence.
A few days after the Davos meeting,
Museveni deported the MTN Uganda boss.
MTN has since then intensified efforts to
resolve the issues and the May 13 meeting
was the latest.
Big money, business stakes
The stakes are high for both MTN and the
government.
The company controls 55% of the Ugan-
dan telecom market. It made Shs1.38 trillion
for the year ending December 2018 and
grew its subscriber base from 10.7 million in
2017 to 11.3 million over the period.
For government, MTN is a major cash
cow. Initially the government wanted MTN
to pay $118 million (Approx.443 billion)
as licence fees for a ten-year licence. The
government appears to be in a tight corner
because it has already spent money hoping
to recover it from MTN.
The Minister of State for Planning, David
Bahati revealed as much when he asked
parliament to approve a Shs.280 billion
($75 million) supplementary budget to pay
for the two Bombardier CRJ 900 aircrafts
from Canada as part of the restoration of
the national air lines. He said the money to
repay would come from proceeds from the
MTN licence, among others. The two planes
arrived in Uganda in April.
But the money MTN will eventually
pay for the licence is not clear. The Finance
Ministry initially proposed the US$118 mil-
lion. UCC had also previously demanded
US$100 million and then whittled it down
to US$58 million. MTN offered to pay only
US$20 million.
Negotiating MTN’s licence fees is difficult
because, UCC says; Ministry of Works and
Telecommunications did not provide a fixed
figure when the first licence was agreed in
1997. This left room for negotiation after
expiry of the agreement.
To arrive at the current figure, UCC offi-
cials say they looked at what MTN Uganda
paid in 1997 and considered all the changes
that have since happened in the economy
and the customer base and reached an ini-
tial proposal of $100 million.
A source privy to the details of the meet-
ings says the MTN team is focusing its argu-
ment on the methodology the team at the
Finance Ministry uses to come up with the
figures. It appears there is no formula and
the figure is arbitrary.
MTN says, for example, it is concerned
that it is being asked to pay US$118 million
when a competitor, Airtel Uganda, only
paid $100,000 (Approx.Shs375 million).
Apart from this MTN insiders note that
already, they pay about $11 million to
government in spectrum and other fees per
year. In ten years, that comes $110 million.
As a result, they said that they should only
give government $8 million more to make
the $ 118 million. But that was a figure pro-
posed by the Finance Ministry.
As already noted, UCC had asked for
US$100 million. When MTN protested
again, UCC in a November 16, 2018 letter
indicated that the figure had been cut to
US$58 million.
The UCC Executive Director, Godfrey
Mutabazi wrote to MTN informing them
that that was the conclusion of negotiations
over the terms for renewal of the licence.
Mutabazi communicated the same posi-
tion to then-CEO Wim the following day,
November 17.
Two days later, Wim wrote saying MTN
was encouraged by the outcome of the
meeting but appeared to through a spanner
into the deal.
“As discussed and agreed in that meeting,
in order to conclude the ongoing (Second
National Operator) SNO-licence renewal
discussions, MTN will pay a SNO-licence
renewal fee of USD 20,000,000 upon the
granting of the renewal of our current SNO-
licence, as is, for 10 years, including the con-
tinuous right of use of the currently used
spectrum,” Wim’s letter reads in part.
Wim noted that MTN was planning to
make further investments into the network
to meet the objectives of the new broad-
band policy and deliver in the longterm
the required 4Mbps internet speed coun-
trywide. He noted that they estimated to
spend some USD200,000,000 in the next few
years to achieve this.
Mutabazi was not happy. Six days later
he replied MTN saying UCC was aston-
ished that MTN was still raising issues that
were already formally answered in the
earlier letter.
Regarding the licence renewal fee to be
paid, Mutabazi wrote, the Commission reit-
erated its position that was communicated
in the letter of November 16, 2018, that after
reviewing the key parameters, the Commis-
sion had agreed to revise the renewal fee
from the initial USD 100 million to USD 58
million.
“The revised figure was communicated
news analysis
as the final amount that MTN was expected
to pay as licence renewal fee, unless other-
wise modified by the ongoing consultative
process within government,” Mutabazi
noted.
He added that the position presented
by MTN in its letter of November 19, 2018
is not a true reflection of what parties had
agreed upon; especially in so far as MTN
claimed that the Commission had agreed to
MTN’s proposal to pay USD 20,000,000 and
obtain an extension of the 1998 SNO licence.
“We wish to emphasise that the renewal
period shall be covered by the new terms
and conditions,” Mutabazi’s letter reads,
“which the commission has duly shared
with MTN.”
Mutabazi also noted that the renewal
process had been halted until the terms and
conditions for the renewal have been har-
monised with other government authorities.
Museveni intervenes
The Independent has learnt that Muta-
bazi’s decision to halt the negotiations with
MTN appears to have been influenced by
intervention in the matter by Museveni.
Museveni argues that the US$58 that
UCC has asked MTN to pay is too little.
“You ought to be aware that over the 20
years span during which MTN has been
operating in Uganda, it has reaped vast
profits most of which have obviously been
repatriated. This is common knowledge
derived from the company’s own declara-
tions and from our own sources,” President
Museveni wrote to UCC and ministry of
ICT on October 28, 2018.
“Accordingly, the company’s obligation
to sow where it intends to reap for the next
10 years; as well as its ability to do so, is and
cannot be in doubt.
“I am, therefore, astonished by UCC’s
proposal of a renewal fee of $58m, far less
than the $100m it has originally set. I am
even more intrigued by UCC’s decision
to abandon original market expansion
multiplier formula of 2.64 for 1.69, which
obviously leads to a different result. What
is the reason for this change of heart?” I am
hereby directing both of you to protect the
interest of both the country and investor
by ensuring that you scrutinise the process
and involve Finance and the tax matters. I
expect a quick resolution and an update in
14 days.”
Apart from the licence fees, The Indepen-
dent understands that authorities are also
keen to get MTN to list on the local stock
exchange in order for locals to own a part of
the company.
The National Broadband Policy 2018,
which guides development of the sector,
notes that listing of all telecom operators, on
the local stock market, as a licencing condi-
tion will help on mitigation of capital flight
among other benefits of local content devel-
opment opportunities that come along.
May. 24 - 30 2019 17
news analysis

Dr. Godfrey Asea, the Director of the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCCRI) at Namulonge in Wakiso District
shows the difference between GM pest-resistant maize (Left) and non-GM maize.   PHOTO/UGANDA SCIENCE JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION

Museveni’s GMO law dilemma

He’s damned if he signs law,
and damned if he doesn’t
By Ronald Musoke equal measure. on patent rights on indigenous

S
ix months since Parliament
passed a revised Genetic
Engineering Bill, 2018, that
included demands by President
Yoweri Museveni, he has not signed it
into law. But he has also not written to
Parliament to explain why.
This is the latest saga over a Bill
that started out seven years ago as the
National Biotechnology and Biosafety
Bill, 2012.
Since then, although almost
everyone wants a biotechnology law,
there has been tension between those
for and against specific provisions in
the Bill.
So when Parliament passed the
Genetic Engineering Regulatory
Bill, 2018, in November last year, it
attracted celebration and frustration in
Civil society, farmers’ groups,
women and trade policy
organisations, consumer groups,
and environmentalists issued a joint
communiqué last December thanking
Parliament for “addressing their long
standing concerns in the Bill.” But the
science community of researchers did
not want it.
It was a dramatic reversal from
when the first Biosafety Bill was
passed on Oct. 04, 2017. That was
celebrated by the science community
of researchers but civil society activists
did not want it. They were happy
when the President declined to assent
to it and returned it to parliament.
In a letter addressed to the Speaker
of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, in
December, 2017, Museveni insisted on
a change in the Bill’s title, provisions
farming products, and sanctions
for scientists who mix GMOs with
indigenous crops and animals.
Most of these were demands of civil
society activists and they celebrated
the passing of a revised version in
November last year. But the scientists
were unhappy. And now the President
has neither signed it into law nor
rejected it.
Arthur Makara, the Commissioner
in charge of Science Advancement and
Outreach at the Ministry of Science,
Technology and Innovation confirmed
to The Independent that the ministry is
yet to get any guidance or directive
in regards to the law that seeks to
regulate biotechnology in the country.
“We are waiting for the President’s
signature for us to implement the
law,” he said.

18 May. 24 - 30 2019

Politics at play
The President’s silence has caused
confusion, anxiety, and speculation
among government officials,
scientists, and farmers for and against
biotechnology.
“My thinking is that perhaps the
president is buying time. He fears
appending a signature on a bill that
is not political but is somewhat
controversial,” Arthur Tugume, an
associate professor of plant pathology
and genetics at the Department of
Plant Sciences, Microbiology and
Biotechnology in Makerere University
told The Independent.
He added: “This is not a political bill
but politics seems to be at play”.
Lee Denis Oguzu, the MP for
Maracha County in northwestern
Uganda and Shadow Minister
of Science, Innovation and
Communication Technology told
The Independent on May 15 that it is
unclear why President Museveni has
not acted. He said, however, the law
gives the President in excess of 45
days within which to assent or revert
to Parliament.
Uganda’s Constitution demands
that when the president fails to sign
or return a bill to Parliament within
30 days, “the President shall be taken
to have assented to the Bill and at the
expiration of that period, the Speaker
shall cause a copy of the Bill to be laid
before Parliament and the Bill shall
become law without the assent of the
President.”
When asked about it, the Minister of
Science, Technology and Innovation,
Dr. Elioda Tumwesigye, referred The
Independent to either the Speaker of
Parliament or the Clerk to Parliament.
“The Clerk to Parliament or the
Speaker must know what is going
on,” he said. But when The Independent
contacted the office of the Speaker,
they refused to comment.
Esther Mbayo, the Minister in
charge of the Office of the President
told The Independent that the Bill is on
the President’s table.
“What do you want me to do? You
want me to ask him to sign it?” Mbayo
said.
Don Wanyama, the Senior Press
Secretary to President Museveni
told The Independent on May 17 that
he needed to physically crosscheck
with the president’s Principal Private
Secretary to see if the Bill was signed
or not.
When The Independent talked to the
activists, they said President Museveni
must sign the version now on his desk.
They said it is better than the one he
rejected in December 2017. But some
were equally unsure if Museveni
would sign the new version into law.
“We know that a lot of politics
happens in between Parliament up to
the point when the law is gazetted,”
said Agnes Kirabo, the executive
director of Food Rights Alliance, a
Kampala-based non-profit.
“We have experiences where things
are agreed on the floor of Parliament
and by the time the actual Act is
gazetted, some of the clauses have
been thrown out of the window.”
“At the moment, we believe it is a
very good step forward because this
law has a strict liability and redress
mechanism.”
The activists were particularly
happy with the liability and redress
mechanism clauses which stipulate
that the advancement of modern
technology requires a precautionary
approach in addressing safety issues.
Those who are
interested in
biotechnology
explain it with a
disregard for its
shortcomings
while those
who are against
it present it as if
there is nothing
good that
comes out of it
The strict liability provision places
legal liability on whoever introduces a
GMO product for any damage caused
as a result of the product or process of
developing it.
“Globally there is consensus that
this is not a safe technology and
Uganda being a poor country with
incompetent institutions that are not
strong enough to really safeguard us,
we must have a law that safeguards
us,” Kirabo told The Independent on
May 16.
The revised version also covered
“benefit sharing” which protects the
rights of the communities because,
news analysis
civil society says, Africa is facing an
onslaught of GMO developers who
take indigenous seed and patent them
without recognizing the rights of
farmers.
The law calls for a comprehensive
labelling and liability traceability
system whereby the promoter of GMO
products must label the products
sufficiently, including the product’s
relevant traits and characteristics to
enable traceability.
All genetically engineered material
will also have to be labelled, with
the phrase: “Contains genetically
engineered material,” to help
consumers exercise their right to
choose products free from GMOs.
A provision on co-existence of
farming practices was also included
in the Bill, noting that a person who
cultivates any GMO shall prevent
contamination or co-mingling of GMO
crop with indigenous crops. Any
person who keeps or owns genetically
modified livestock shall prevent cross-
breeding between genetically modified
and non-genetically modified
livestock.
Critics of biotechnology say it is
a “selfish” technology which goes
against the social norms of African
farmers who for generations have
depended and shared seed yet this
technology is capable of wiping out
indigenous seed.
Scientists bitter and puzzled
But just like the 2017 version of the
law unsettled civil society, this one too
has left scientists bitter and puzzled.
For over two decades, Ugandan
scientists have been engaging in crop
and animal improvement research
but have always felt handicapped by
a lack of an enabling law to test their
scientific innovations.
For years, they have been
conducting confined field trials on
bananas, maize, cotton, potatoes and
rice in several agricultural research
institutions across the country with
the hope that an enabling law would
help Uganda be among the few
progressive African countries that
have embraced genetic engineering.
Many scientists The Independent
talked to days after MPs passed
the Bill last November said the Bill
constrains scientists. Commissioner
Arthur Makara told The Independent
that the scientists do not want the
strict liability clause.
“This clause might end up acting
as a deterrent to innovation in the
country because, ‘a researcher is
already declared guilty even before
any investigation is done,’” Makara
May. 24 - 30 2019 19
news analysis
said.
He told The Independent that he
hoped President Museveni would
again seek legal advice on these
clauses that are likely to curtail
innovation in Uganda.
Have Kirabo’s suspicions been
confirmed?
But as the suspense continues
whether Uganda will or will not get a
law that regulates genetic engineering,
Clet Wandui Masiga, a conservation
biologist and geneticist says the
situation makes Ugandan scientists
confused.
Masiga foresees one big challenge if
the current impasse continues.
“People do not realise how much
Uganda stands to lose 10-15 years
from now; this is a science that can
benefit Uganda but we don’t have the
foresight.”
Masiga and Tugume told The
Independent that it is misleading to
reduce genetic engineering research to
agricultural innovations.
“We see Ugandans continue going
to India seeking sophisticated medical
attention like heart transplants but
where biotechnology is going, these
are procedures which should be done
here,” Masiga said.
Masiga says he foresees a situation
where Ugandan scientists might have
to leave the country in droves should
the situation on genetic engineering
remain unresolved.
“There is no way scientists can
work in an environment that is
unpredictable,” he told The Independent
on May 15.
“Like any venture, biotechnology
research is quite expensive but if you
are not sure whether you are going
to operate or not, it makes everything
difficult.”
Arthur Tugume, the professor of
plant pathology says without a proper
law, he sees Uganda becoming a
dumpsite of biotechnology in future.
“This law seeks, among others,
to regulate genetically modified
products entering into the country,”
he says, “The longer Uganda takes
to pass a law on biotechnology, the
more Uganda will continue being a
dumpsite for all sorts of products.”
He said although there are no
genetically modified products
currently being made in Uganda,
many products that Ugandans
encounter in supermarkets and
pharmacies; including some syrup
come from outside Uganda and are
genetically modified.
Kirabo says, procedurally,
Parliament has done its legislative
role and it is now the responsibility of
20 May. 24 - 30 2019
President Museveni to tell Ugandans
what is going on.
“My suspicion is that this is not just
any other law and this has been our
argument,” she said, “Of course it is
not a law for the people of Uganda,
because we all know that there is a
number of foreign interests in this
law.”
“Bear in mind that this law is
not coming in isolation; it quickly
follows the Plant Variety Protection
Act, 2014, which gives a framework
for protecting the innovations of
researchers to apply exclusive
rights on their innovations.” In the
agricultural field, that includes
innovations around seed varieties, she
said.
Elioda Tumwesigye
Rebecca Kadaga
The Plant Variety protection Act,
2014 was passed in December, 2013
and assented to by President Museveni
in June, 2014. But in August, 2015, a
group of civil society organisations
including Food Rights Alliance, Action
Aid and the Centre for Health, Human
Rights and Development (CEHURD)
petitioned the Constitutional Court to
declare the law null and void.
Civil society activists said in their
petition that the law gives all the
produce cultivated by farmers to
the owners of the seeds, plants and
propagating material which the
farmers have used to cultivate that
produce.
Kirabo insists these laws should
be looked at in the broadest terms
possible considering that most of
the funding for agricultural research
in Uganda comes from foreign
benefactors.
“Remember these are expensive
technologies and all these projects
going on are not funded by the
government but private foreign
entities that already have a provision
in the Plant Varieties Act.”
Moses Mulumba, the executive
director CEHURD has followed the
biotechnology debate over the last six
years. He told The Independent that
the problem with the debate around
biotechnology in the country has
always been “the lack of a meeting
of minds” regarding a proper
biotechnology law.
“Those who are interested in the
biotechnology law explain it with a
disregard for its shortcomings while
those who are against it present
their case as if there is nothing good
that comes from biotechnology
innovations.”
“That is why whoever meets the
president last will always be the
winner and that has tended to cause
confusion.”
“There is need to appreciate the
fact that biotechnology has many
advantages when you consider the
solutions it provides to today’s
challenges but also stakeholders who
appreciate the role of science should
know that we have existed before
without biotechnology.”
Mulumba told The Independent that
the purpose of enacting intellectual
property laws is to reward innovators
but also to ensure that these
innovations benefit the wider society.
Kirabo insists there are high stakes
surrounding the law on genetic
engineering in Uganda.
“The dynamics and interests are
still there; people want to control
our farming systems and in order
to control our farming systems, you
do not need to control gardens, you
control what goes into the gardens: the
seed.”
“We are dealing with a political
economic issue using science but we
know science does not rule the world.”
“We remain suspicious until
proven otherwise,” Kirabo told The
Independent, “It’s like we are in a
theatre; a patient was taken in and
up to now, we are wondering what
happened to our patient.”
Sugarcane harvesting at Kakira Sugar Limited
Behind the sugar
zoning politics
Why the proposed Sugar Bill is bad
for the country’s sugar industry
U
By Isaac Khisa
gandan sugar millers, cane
farmers and the government
have for sometime been at
loggerheads over a proposal
to introduce zoning in the
sugar cane growing areas.
The proposed Sugar Bill, 2016, seeks to
limit establishment of new sugar processing
firms in the already existing ones within a
radius of 25 kilometres.
It also seeks to force sugar cane farmers
or out growers to supply their cane to the
sugar processing firm within their zone.
This move is in response to complaints
from large sugar producers – Kakira, Sugar
Corporation of Uganda Limited (SCOUL)
and Kinyara – companies which claim
that small sugar producers are involved in
buying cane from farmers that they have
financed and developed.
The situation has become so tense that on
April.30, the ruling National Resistance
Movement Caucus chaired by President
Yoweri Museveni decided to shelve the con-
troversial Bill as negotiations continue.
Parliament had in November, last year,
passed the proposed law but President
Museveni refused to assent to it. He,
instead, returned it to Parliament arguing
that certain clauses, specifically on sugar-
cane zoning had been omitted in the pro-
posed law.
“The way you (Parliamentarians) are
behaving, you are antagonizing our old
sugar people and I don’t know the relation-
ship you have with small sugar people.
Some of you have got a suspicious relation-
ship with the small sugar people and now
you are sabotaging my plan,” President
Museveni is quoted as saying during the
National Resistance Movement retreat at
the National Leadership Institute in Kyank-
wanzi in March this year.
Museveni said he had plans to encourage
big sugar producers to venture into pro-
duction of refined sugar to be used in the
manufacturing of medicines.
But research by The Independent in sugar
producing countries in Africa, Asia and
South America shows that sugar cane zon-
ing has either failed, been met with strong
resistance from farmers or threatened the
existence of the entire sugar industry, in
spite of its importance to a number of
industries such as medicine, foods and con-
fectioneries, among others.
Faced with such a situation, experts
familiar with the industry said the govern-
ment should not rush to protect the interests
of large sugar producers at the expense of
sugar cane farmers and the smaller millers.
“To introduce such an arrangement in
the sugar industry, all stakeholders have to
be involved,” Stephen Biraahwa Mukitale,
MP for Buliisa and a former procurement
administrator at Kinyara Sugar Works, told
The Independent in an interview.
“Farmers need to be allowed to own
shares in the mills so that their interests are
also catered for. Sugar cane farmers also
need to have a sense of ownership of the
sugar producers for them to succeed.”
Fred Muhumuza, an economist based
at Makerere University said the govern-
ment should come up with a regulator that
May. 24 - 30 2019 21
business
will deal with farmers’ contracts they have
signed with sugar processing firms instead
of coming up with the sugarcane zoning
initiative. Muhumuza said this move could
end up enslaving and rendering sugar cane
farmers poor.
But supporters of the new move led by large
sugar processing firms under their umbrella,
the Uganda Sugar Manufactures Associa-
tion (USMA), claim that the regulation and
zoning will allow the growth of a fruitful
partnership and collaboration between mill-
ers and farmers.
Jimmy Kabeho, the chairperson of USMA
wrote in the Daily Monitor on May. 16 saying
sugar production in Kenya has dropped over
the years due to lack of regulation and that a
similar situation shouldn’t happen in Uganda.
“Why should we reduce the production
of one factory by licensing a new factory in
the same area? Since 2015, Uganda sugar
production has gone down despite having
more factories on board. It is, therefore, not
the number of factories, but how these fac-
tories operate and are managed,” Kabeho
said.
“We have also seen cane yields go down
(20 tonnes per hectare) in the fields while
sugar recoveries have dropped from 10 per
cent to 6 per cent. This is a lot of sugar lost
in production and loss in corresponding
revenues, including government tax.”
Kabeho said cane prices and sugar prices
depend mainly on regional and world sug-
ar markets and that in Uganda prices have
been high for consecutive seasons.
Uganda’s sugar industry that started way
back in the 1920’s, now boasts of nearly 20
licensed companies majority of which are
located in the south-eastern Busoga region.
However, though the annual sugar pro-
duction had increased from 140,000 in the
1960s to 240,000 tonnes in 2008 and 400.5
tonnes in 2014, it dropped to 365 metric
tonnes in 2017, according to data from the
Ministry of Trade, Industry and Coopera-
tives.
The local consumption of raw sugar
stands at around 350,000 tonnes per annum,
according to USMA, with the rest exported
to neighbouring states.
But critics say sugar producers need to
invest in early maturing high yielding canes
as well as technologies to increase cane and
sugar production rather than blame their
woes on the absence of sugar zoning for
their woes.
Sugar cane zoning has failed
Evidence from around the world shows
that sugar zoning is a bad move and may
not achieve the desired results. From Africa
to Asia to South America, sugarcane zoning
has on many occasions failed, forcing gov-
ernments to retreat.
For instance, in Kenya, Sugar Campaign
for Change (SUCAM), a sugar advocacy
group said it does not support the sugar
22 May. 24 - 30 2019
zoning proposal in the country’s draft Sugar
Regulations, 2018, calling the move “illegal
and anti-competitive” that would require an
express waiver by the Competition Author-
ity.
The draft regulations, now under review
by the Agriculture Ministry’s Sugar Indus-
try Taskforce, propose that sugar cane
farmers be obliged to sell their produce to
specific sugar mills, with a single buyer for
each area dictated by regulation.
The policy was re-introduced in the coun-
try in the 1990s but many farmers delayed
and failed to harvest cane due to delayed
payments, currently totaling to Kshs 2.6bn,
causing losses and hit the development of
ratoon crops.
For that, many farmers, who sold their
produce to major sugar producing compa-
nies like Mumias, SONY, Chemelil, Muhu-
roni and Nzoia, abandoned cane farming
which greatly affected the livelihood of the
sugar-dependent communities.   since farmers supply more than 70 percent
SUCAM also said the zoning law is a
breach of COMESA rules that prohibit the
introduction of a contract; agreement or
understanding that is anti-competitive or
substantially lessens competition within the
common market.
The lobby group also highlighted that the
regulation also breaches the World Trade
Organization Agreement on Agriculture,
which encourages the use of domestic sup-
port policies to maintain the rural economy
and increase market access and which do
not distort trade or pricing.
However, this is not the first time that
Kenya is trying to introduce the sugar-
cane zoning policy despite having failed
to achieve the desired results in the first
attempt. East Africa’s largest economy
implemented sugarcane zoning in the
Nyanza Sugar Belt in 1973.
However, the move saw Miwani and
Muhoroni Sugar Factories operate below
installed capacity while Chemelil Sugar Fac-
tory had excess out-growers. This eventu-
ally dwarfed production capacity of Miwani
and Muhoroni sugar factories to 60% and
70% which represents 30,000 tonnes and
45,000 tonner per annum, respectively.
On the other hand, Chemelil Sugar Fac-
tory produced sugar at 100% or 60,000 per
annum. However, the initiative was later
abandoned over the years as it proved
unsustainable.
In Thailand, the two groups in the indus-
try – growers and millers – have never had
a good working relationship, influenced
by several structural and policy factors,
according to Nararuk Boonyanam’s study
on Agricultural Zoning and Policy Conflict:
Thailand’s Experience, published last year.
While the processing capacity has
increased rapidly, the production of cane
has not kept pace with it, explains Boonya-
nam. Boonyanam says growers have fre-
quently complained of faulty weight bridg-
es used to under-weigh the cane and thus
regularly demanded that weighing be done
only on government-approved weighing
bridges and not on privately-owned ones.
Also as a result of disagreements over
prices, out growers have always decided to
withhold their cane or divert it to molasses
production (a natural product of sugarcane
that is in more unrefined form than sugar).
Sugar cane zoning initiatives have also
failed in Mauritius, Australia and India –
some of the world’s leading sugar produc-
ers.
Out-growers views
Going forward, Michael Mugabira, the
coordinator of Uganda Sugar Cane Grow-
ers’ Association said any attempt to legalize
zoning, Parliament should ensure that farm-
ers’ land in the zone is treated as an
investment meaning that at least 60 percent
shares of the factory be owned by farmers,
raw material. He said farmers should also
be represented on the factory governing
board to serve the interest of the farmers.
“Government should also undertake to
fully compensate farmers in case of burnt
cane above 10 months since the factory has
no capacity to crush cane in the zone, i.e.
a 25 km radius has production potential
of 10,000 tonnes cane per day, and yet in
Uganda no sugar factory has this crushing
capacity.”
“This implies that the raw material (cane)
is twice – thrice crushing capacities of our
big mills which average 4,000 tonnes per
day, save Kakira which crushes 6,000 tonnes
per day.
Mugabira said this situation prompts the
miller to pay farmers ‘peanuts’ and remain
enslaved.
He said a penalty of 3 percent interest
per month for delayed harvesting of cane
beyond the stipulated time frame of 18
months should be incorporated in the law.
Mugabira said independent cane growers
also need to be free to add value on their
cane through establishment of licensed jag-
geries in the periphery of the 10 square km
radius of the zone and the core investor be
restricted to 15 km radius arguing that this
form of investment enables transfer of skills,
knowledge and capabilities to Ugandans
translating into equitable development.
Receiving petition from the Busoga King-
dom Cabinet on April 30 led by Prime Min-
ister Joseph Muvawala, Rebecca Kadaga,
urged Parliament to maintain the Bill and
send it to President for signing into law.
“It is my considered view that we should
not rush this matter of zoning,” she said.
“When you look at other areas that produce
coffee, milk, bananas; all these areas are not
zoned,” Kadaga said.

Sikander Lalani and
his love for steel
Roofings Group to mark 25 years in September
S
By Julius Businge
ikander Lanani, the man behind
the Roofings Group is expected
to make a historic speech in
Kampala in September this year
as the company he founded and
owns celebrates the 25th anni-
versary.
Born in Kampala in 1944 and trained as
a histopathologist in London in 1960s, Lal-
ani’s love for steel seem to have made him
leave medicine to deal in steel products.
Indeed, in 1970s, he opened his first retail
electronic shop, followed up with a roofings
material plant in Kigali Rwanda.
However, he abandoned the Rwandan
business when genocide erupted in 1994
and headed for Tanzania. However, due to
long bureaucracy to set up a similar invest-
ment in Tanzania, he switched his plans to
Uganda. Since then, with the help of World
Bank and syndicated loans, the entrepre-
neur has rapidly built a steel-manufacturing
conglomerate in Uganda, generating
US$US$60-70 million per year in exports,
and with more than 1,500 employees.
These include; Roofings Limited (1994),
Roofings Rolling Mills (2009), and Roofings
Polypipes (2010) – producing wide range of
steel products in East and Central African
region.
The Group is vertically integrated in that
it produces materials that are used within
its establishment and other companies in
the region for the production of finished
products. With total investments worth
more than US$275million, the group pro-
duces a wide range of value added steel
products to the tune of 200,000 MT per
annum.
During a guided tour at the company’s
plant in Namamve Industrial Park on May
14, Lalani, who also doubles as the chair-
person of the group, said they have never
looked back since they started and will only
focus their investment strategies in areas
that grow the company, create opportuni-
ties and improve livelihoods of the people.
He said they would continue to explore
investments in good technology, imparting
skills in workers and embracing partner-
ships with financial sector players, clients,
telecoms and customers in Uganda and
beyond.
He said the big investments have been
made on importing the state of the art tech-
nology and raw materials. The company’s
current installed capacity stands at 160,000
metric tonnes per annum, according to
its website. In the near future, Lalani said,
access to skilled manpower will be a very
big necessity.
“We would like to see more Ugandans
acquiring skills to serve in this industry,”
he said.
Good news to the group as power costs
drop
He said they are happy that the cost of
power has been going down and that has
driven their cost of operations down by
some margin.
He said they have also formed an associa-
tion of steel makers to enable them engage
business
government and other players on the
emerging challenges related to among oth-
ers; labour, transport and standards.
The company has over the years
increased the number and type of products
produced to include; galvanized and pre
painted roofing sheets, Eco tiles, Hollow
sections, mild steel plates and open profiles
all widely used for building for domestic,
commercial, public and industrial purposes.
According to data seen by The Independent
from the National Planning Authority, steel
and iron value chain features highly on
Uganda’s development agenda, with Vision
2040, National Development Plan I and
National Development Plan II.
However, failure to enforce standards
and the absence of unleveled playing fields
made the company uncompetitive.
“There are some players in the country
who continue to look for easy ways to
make money,” said Oliver Lalani, the Chief
Executive Officer.
“And that to me is a very big risk to the
whole sector…our margins are not really
that big.”
That said, he added that Uganda and the
region has a lot of opportunity owed to the
growing infrastructural developments.
The company, for instance, exports
between US$60-70 million per year worth
of goods within the region – South Sudan
and the Democratic Republic of Congo –
earnings that not only boost the company’s
revenue but also support the stability of the
local currency.
Further, the company pays Shs70-80bn as
taxes to government per annum.
May. 24 - 30 2019 23
business
Foreign direct
investments rebound
As players in oil and gas sector registers more activity
By Patricia Akankwatsa
F
oreign direct investment into
Uganda rebounded in 2018 owed to
positive growth in the economy and
the prospective investments in the
oil and gas sector.
Latest data from the Bank of Uganda
shows that the country recorded a nearly
66.5% growth in FDIs to US$1.336bn last
year, up from US$802.4 million in 2017 and
US$ 625.6 million in 2016. This is the high-
est FDIs that the country has ever recorded.
Adam Mugume, the director for research
at the BoU told The Independent by email
that the country’s FDIs are projected to rise
further in 2019 to about US$1.5 billion.
“This is partly a reflection of global eco-
nomic recovery but also activities in the oil
sector that have increased,” he said.
The global economy is projected to grow
at 3.5% in 2019 and 3.6 % in 2020, 0.2 and
0.1 percentage point below last October’s
projections, according to the Interna-
tional Monetary Fund. But, in Uganda, the
economy is projected to grow at 6.3% this
year compared with 6.1% in June based on
assumptions of a stable global economy,
maintained private sector credit confidence
and the planned investments in oil and gas
sector, a head of production in 2023.
Emily Kugonza, the chairperson board of
directors at the Uganda Investment Author-
ity told The Independent that the growth
trend in FDI is also supported by the grow-
24 May. 24 - 30 2019
FDIs trend over
the years (US$)
2014 1051.6
2015 995.6
2016 625.6
2017 802.4
2018 1336.8
2019 1500
Source: BoU
ing confidence in the Ugandan market by
foreign investors because of the policies that
are being pursued.
“Our country globally is getting more
known but I think there is more we can do
in terms of marketing the country,” he said.
“If you look at the investment promotion,
it is very meager and if we could access a
little more resources in terms of facilitating
our teams to market the country in conjunc-
tion with our foreign missions, I think we
can be high there.” Uganda’s attraction
for FDIs grew from US$644.3million in
2005 to US$812.7 million in 2008 due to the
prospects in the development of oil and gas
sector.
However, in 2009, the country registered
a 37.7 % decrease in FDI due to the effects
of the global financial crisis that led to the
cancellation of investments destined into
the country and other parts of the world to
meet the rising cost of living.
In 2010, the country witnessed
initial recovery of FDIs peaking at
US$1,159.1million in the subsequent year, in
anticipation of the oil developments, whose
vibrancy was cut short by the decline in the
global oil prices and the delays in issuing
of production licences. Since the discovery
of oil in 2006, the government has awarded
eight production licences to UK-listed
Tullow Oil [Uganda] and France’s Total
E&P (Uganda) B.V and CNOOC.
Eliminate bureaucracy, corruption to
stir growth
Fred Muhumuza, a senior economist says
the new FDI projection is achievable subject
to reduction in bureaucracy in government
as well as corruption.
“There is need to have stimulus budgets
to increase domestic demand as well as fine
tune incentives that will attract investors,”
he said.
Emily says commercial diplomacy needs
to be supported including improved fund-
ing for foreign missions.
“When you look at our missions, there
is much that wants to be done but they
are under resourced. As an investment
promotion agency, we need to have a
high level of international marketing
materials,” he said.
 business
AVIATION TRADE

Ethiopian Airlines to help launch Ghana national carrier Second Intra-African trade
will hold 49% shareholding in the carrier. fair to attract $40bn in deals

Reports indicate that the aircraft too will
be sourced from Ethiopian Airlines while
aircraft maintenance and training of person-
nel will also be vested in Ethiopian’s existing
facilities in Addis Ababa. No time frame for
the launch of flights has been given at this
stage.
The new airline will face immediate
T
he second Intra-African Trade Fair
(IATF2020) scheduled to take place
in Kigali from 1 to 7 September 2020
will target the execution of intra-
African trade deals worth more than $40
billion, Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of
the African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim-

A
frica’s largest airline, Ethiopian Air-
lines, is spreading its wings after
entering into a partnership with
Ghana’s government to launch a
new Accra based airline. Ethiopian Airlines
TOURISM
We need feedback to our strategies-UTB
competition from Ghana’s private sector
airline AWA, short for Africa World Airlines.
Ethiopian is already involved in Togo-based
ASKY Airlines, Air Malawi, Zambia Airlines
and is a shareholder in the Guinea Airlines
project.
bank), said.
Prof. Oramah was speaking in Kigali at
the signing of the hosting agreement for
IATF2020 by the Government of Rwanda,
Afreximbank and the African Union on
May 14. Rwanda’s trade minister, Soraya
Hakuziyaremye, signed for the Rwandan
Government while Prof. Oramah signed for
Afreximbank and Amb. Albert Muchanga,
Commissioner for Trade and Industry of
the African Union, signed for the organisa-

T
he private sector players in the tour-
ism industry need to give feedback
to the government about the new
strategies, according to Uganda
Tourism Board CEO, Lilly Ajarova.
Ajarova, who was speaking to various
stakeholders and players in the tourism
sector as on May 13 as she sought for their
input into the draft East African Marketing
Strategy, said there’s need for the private
sector players to advise government on the
areas they think need to be improved to
grow the tourism.
“At the East African Community council
meeting level, it is government that makes
the representation, but we need feedback
from the private sector because you are the
biggest and immediate consumers of this
strategy, where we will be working well we
need to know that we are in the right direc-
tion, we need feedback and where things
are not working, we require that you inform
us,” she said.
The East African Tourism Marketing
Strategy intends to provide an implementa-
tion, monitoring and evaluation framework
that will help in tracking tourism perfor-
mance in the region.
tion during the ceremony held at the Trans-
form Africa Summit taking place in Kigali.
 Prof. Oramah said that for IATF2020,
which is being organized by Afreximbank
in collaboration with the African Union and
hosted by Rwanda, the partners had set
themselves the ambitious target of attract-
ing more than 1,000 exhibitors and hosting
over 10,000 buyers and conference partici-
pants from over 50 countries.
IATF2018 attracted more than 1,000
exhibitors from 45 countries and across 20
sectors, generating in excess of $32 billion
in deals, some of which Afreximbank has
already financed.

INSURANCE INSURANCE

Uganda Re profit Moody’s affirms ATI Stable Rating

reaches Shs5bn

G
lobal credit rating its member countries.

U
ganda Re, has registered a 37.8% agency, Moody’s, Started in 2001 with
growth in profit to Shs 5.1bn in has affirmed A3/ Uganda being one of the
2018 owed to increase in gross Stable Rating 14 shareholder members,
unwritten premiums. for Africa’s multilateral provide Political Risk,
The company’s gross underwritten pre- insurer, African Trade Surety Bonds, Trade Credit
miums increased from in 2017 Shs29.6bn to Insurance Agency (ATI), Insurance and Political
Shs 33.5bn 2018. Similarly, net underwrit- citing strong capitalisation Violence and Terrorism &
ten premiums increased from Shs 22.4bn and liquidity. Sabotage cover.
to Shs 21.8bn while total income increased The new rating stands The company has
from Shs28.2bn to Shs 31.5bn during the alongside Standard ATI CEO George Otieno supported cumulatively
same period under review. However, gross &Poor’s ‘A/Stable’ rating, US$45.5 billion in
claims incurred remained flat at Shs13bn. which ATI has maintained trade and investments
Uganda Re commenced trading opera- for over a decade. ATI provide better support to across Africa in sectors
tions in June, 2013 having been licensed said in a statement on its member countries. such as agribusiness,
by the Insurance Regulatory Authority on May.13 that securing a ATI’s investment energy, exports,
May, 6th 2013. second rating is part of grade rating can, through housing, infrastructure
The company currently benefits from a its medium-term strategy the application of its manufacturing, mining
15% mandatory cession of all facultative to further strengthen its insurance products, act as a and telecommunications as
and treaty reinsurances in Uganda as pro- governance and oversight substitute for the often sub- at the end of last year.
vided for by the mentioned Act and Regu- mechanisms, enabling it investment grade ratings of
lations of the IRA.

May. 24 - 30 2019 25
business

UTB to carryout fresh

hotel classification
By Isaac Khisa choice in East and Central Afri-

T
ourism promotion
agency, Uganda Tour-
ism Board, plans to
carryout fresh classifica-
tion for hotels before the end of
the year. Suzan Muhwezi, the
chairperson for Uganda Hotel
Owners Association and board
member for the Uganda Tour-
ism Board (UTB) said during
the hotel owners and managers
sensitisation workshop that the
move follows complaints raised
by a section of players that
ICT Minister, Frank Tumwebaze, flags off 10 Huawei Seeds for the Future claim they are not sensitised on
fellows for a two-week intense technological training from various what was needed at the time.
Chinese universities at Makerere University on May.14.   COURTESY PHOTO Held at Imperial Royale
Hotel in Kampala on May 15,
the workshop tackled issues
regarding registration, inspec-
tion and licensing for accom-
modation facilities.
Muhwezi said the new pro-
cess of registering, licensing
and classifying accommoda-
tion facilities in the country
would boost the local hospital-
ity industry for it to compete
favorably with other hotels in
the East African region and
beyond.
“…we are also positioning
ourselves as the MICE (Meet-
ings, Incentives, Conferences,
(L-R) Film maker, Dan Moss, UCC ED Godfrey Mutabazi, Content and Exhibitions) destination of
Manager Ruth Kibuuka and Sabilla Mongea, UTB Board Member and
Head of Legal and Corporate Affairs Uganda Wildlife Authority at
the African Pavilion of the Cannes Film Festival in France. Uganda’s
participation in the festival is to position Uganda as a multifaceted
filming destination and hub.   COURTESY PHOTO.
ca. We have therefore partnered
with UTB to embark on a coun-
trywide sensitisation campaign
so as to empower our members
to meet the expected standards
by both the domestic and inter-
national market,” she said.
Uganda first carried out
hotel grading and classifica-
tion in 2015, in which out of 78
hotels that were assessed, 26
passed the test for classification
and received stars starting from
two up to five-stars.
Kampala Serena Hotel, Kam-
pala Sheraton Hotel and Mun-
yonyo Commonwealth Resort
were officially handed five-star
status. Bradford Ochieng, the
deputy CEO at UTB said, clas-
sifying all tourist facilities in the
country would enable Uganda
not only enforce standards in
the hospitality industry but also
improve the country’s competi-
tiveness and ability to attract
visitors. This development
comes as the EAC is planning
to sell its tourism destinations
as a single market to the world.
This means that facilities within
the economic bloc will be
graded on a single scale. So far,
Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda
have their facilities classified.

Weekly share price movement (May. 13)

Security May 13 April 29 Movement
BATU 30,000 30000 00
BOBU 129 129 00
CENT 1,184 1,178 0.5
QCL 170 173 -1.7
DFCU 700 670 00
EABL 7,944 8,118 00
EBL 1553 1,531 00
JHL 15,29 15,313 00
KA 143 183 00
KCB 1544 1,660 00
NIC 14 14 00
NMG 2,154 2,140 0.6
NVL 334 334 00
Uganda Breweries Ltd and Kabaka Foundation breaks ground for the SBU 30 29 3.4
construction of sanitation facility at Nalukulabye market on May 16. The project UCHM 12 14 14
that will cost Shs 300milion help construction of the facilities at Nankulabye, UCL 16 16 00
Katwe, Mengo and Mulago Markets.   COURTESY PHOTO. UMEME 300 300 00
ALSI -- -- --

26 May. 24 - 30 2019

By Hassan Shire
Disappearance and extrajudicial killing
It’s time for Kenya, South Sudan to account for the
enforced disappearance of Samuel Dong and Aggrey Idri
A
s news of the death of Samuel
Dong Luak and Aggrey Ezboni
Idri circulated recently, I felt ex-
tremely saddened and concerned
about the region we live in. The enforced
disappearance and extrajudicial killing of
two outspoken critics of the South Sudanese
government, by South Sudanese security
services allegedly with the acquiescence of
Kenyan authorities, and both states’ con-
tinuous denial of responsibilities, signals a
worrying trend of disrespect for human life
and insecurity for those who dare to speak
up and challenge power.
Samuel Dong Luak was a prominent
human rights lawyer, Secretary General
of the South Sudan Law Society for over
ten years, as well as a member of the South
Sudan Constitutional Review Commis-
sion. Aggrey Ezboni Idri was an opposition
leader, and member of the Sudan People’s
Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-
IO). In 2013, after receiving death threats for
providing legal assistance to the former Sec-
retary General of South Sudan’s governing
party, Pagan Amum, who had been accused
of “treason” by President Salva Kiir, Dong
fled South Sudan and sought refuge in
Kenya, where he was granted refugee
status. The same year, Aggrey also relocated
to Kenya after South Sudan descended into
conflict. The deceased lived with their fami-
lies in the capital, Nairobi, until they were
disappeared on 23 and 24 January 2017,
respectively. Amnesty International, the UN
Working Group on Enforced or Involun-
tary Disappearances, and other human
rights groups called on the governments of
Kenya and South Sudan to reveal the fate
or whereabouts of the two men, suspected
to be held by Kenyan authorities before
deportation. The families of the disappeared
also mobilised; petitioning Kenya’s High
Court to produce the two men in court, but
the petition was dismissed as Kenya denied
having them in its custody. The family later
asked the police to conduct a thorough
investigation, but a final judgment in Jan-
uary 2019 confirmed the dismissal of their
petition and ended judicial oversight into
police action with regard to the case. Yet, the
Court had noted that the police investiga-
tion fell short of seeking information from
South Sudanese authorities and potential
key witnesses.
The fate of Dong and Aggrey remained
unknown until April 30,2019, when the UN
Panel of Experts on South Sudan circulated
a report pointing to the likelihood of their
death. The report states that “the Panel has
corroborated evidence strongly suggesting”
that Dong and Aggrey were kidnapped in
Kenya by an arm of South Sudan’s National
Security Service (NSS), transferred to Juba,
and executed in a NSS detention and
training facility in Luri, on January 30, 2017.
In a report published in April 2018,
DefendDefenders reported on the role of
the NSS in limiting free expression and
committing violations against human
rights defenders (HRDs) in South Sudan.
This case further highlights the unchecked
power and impunity enjoyed by South
Sudanese security services, which jeop-
ardises possibilities for peace in the context
of the revitalised peace agreement signed
in September 2018. South Sudan’s conduct
blatantly violates human rights standards,
including the Declaration on the Protection
of All persons from Enforced Disappear-
ances. Moreover, South Sudan continues to
retain laws that are inimical to their regional
and international human rights obligation.
This results in shrinking civic space and
democratic practice and killing or exiling of
journalists and HRDs.
The alleged acquiescence or cooperation
of the government of Kenya violates article
3 of the UN Convention Against Torture,
which prohibits returning people to places
where they risk being tortured or ill-treated.
Kenya ratified it. Dong’s confirmed status
as a refugee also commits Kenya to the
principle of non-refoulement enshrined in
the 1951 Refugee Convention. Worryingly,
this does not seem to be an isolated case.
In 2016, Kenya deported James Gatgdet
Dak, spokesperson for South Sudan’s
political opposition, who was sentenced
to death by hanging in South Sudan, and
later pardoned. Kenyans have also been
victim of enforced disappearances and
extrajudicial killings. A well-known case is
that of Willie Kimani, an investigator with
the International Justice Mission, who was
allegedly abducted and executed by police
in 2016 together with his client and their
taxi driver. More recent cases include the
suspicious death of woman HRD Caro-
line Mwatha, who was working on public
accountability and extrajudicial killings
in the country, and Billian Okoth Ojiwa,
a politician and community mobiliser
known for his initiative to provide school
comment
uniforms for needy children. Other gov-
ernments across the continent also seem
to be increasingly ready to collaborate for
the wrong reasons – to silence criticism. In
2018 a Sudanese activist in exile in Egypt,
Mohamed Boshi, disappeared from Cairo
and was later charged in Sudan. The same
year, a Zimbabwean opposition leader,
Tendai Biti, was returned to Zimbabwe by
Zambian authorities after seeking asylum.
These trends send an alarming signal of dis-
respect of the rule of law, shrinking space
for dissent, and increasing risks for HRDs,
including those who were already forced
into exile to escape threats and reprisals.  
Against these worrying trends, I add my
voice to that of other human rights organ-
isations in calling on South Sudanese and
Kenyan authorities to establish swift, impar-
tial, independent, transparent and thorough
investigations into Dong and Aggrey’s
case. Both Kenya and South Sudan are State
parties to the African Charter on Human
and Peoples’ Rights, and must take all
necessary measures to uphold their obliga-
tions under the African Charter and other
international instruments. South Sudanese
authorities must allow the UN Panel of
Experts on South Sudan and other monitors
to access the site where the killing allegedly
took place and all relevant witnesses and
information. It is necessary to investigate
these events fully, including the chain of
command that led from Dong and Aggrey’s
disappearance in Nairobi to their alleged
execution. Those responsible, irrespective
of their rank or standing, need to be held
accountable, and the families of the victims
must have access to adequate remedies for
the losses they suffered.
The African Commission on Human and
Peoples’ Rights and other regional and
international organs should collectively and
strongly ensure that justice and account-
ability is served in this case. They must
demand that Kenya and South Sudan end
all enforced disappearances and extrajudi-
cial killings.
Denials, impunity, and attempts at dif-
fusing responsibility cannot stand in front
of such serious allegations. More than two
years after their disappearance, justice and
accountability are due to the families and
the communities Dong and Aggrey were
forced to leave behind.
 Hassan Shire is Chairperson AfricanDefenders
May. 24 - 30 2019 27
comment
By Dr. Misheck Mutize
Credit rating in Africa
Why countries need to manage the rising power of credit
rating agencies whose misconduct remains unchecked
T
he rising gap between develop-
mental needs and available financial
resources – including poor revenue
collection – has pushed sub-Saharan
African governments to consider different
options to support their budgets.
One route to raise capital has been the
issuing of sovereign bonds on interna-
tional financial markets. But to do this
successfully, governments need a sov-
ereign credit rating from at least one of
the three dominant international credit
rating agencies. These are Standard &
Poor’s (S&P), Moody’s and Fitch. The
number of African countries seeking a
sovereign credit rating has increased
from one in 1994 to 31 in 2018.
There’s been growing dissatisfaction
with the three agencies. A number of
rated countries on the continent, such as
Nigeria, are unhappy, joining a chorus
of dissatisfied voices around the world.
Their unhappiness stems from the fact
that, outside the U.S. and the European
Union (EU), the agencies don’t subscribe
to any international regime or gover-
nance body. This means that their mis-
conduct remains largely unchecked.
The international rating agencies have
operated unregulated even though
the need for them to be regulated has
become apparent.
The EU and U.S. provide examples of
how it can be done. After the 2008 crisis
the EU introduced regulations and sev-
eral directives to manage the agencies
more tightly. In the U.S., the Dodd-Frank
& Consumer Protection Act of 2010
expanded the regulatory power of the
Securities and Exchanges Commission to
enforce full disclosure about the rating
agencies’ methodologies.
The only country in Africa that has
comparable laws is South Africa –
although there is still very weak to no
civil liability of rating agencies. These
laws were passed partly to make it easier
for European countries and the U.S. to
litigate against rating agencies in cases
of misinformation, as well as controlling
their influence.
There are no laws elsewhere in Africa
to hold the rating agencies’ operations
on the continent to account. And there’s
no central coordination of their activities
within individual African countries. This
28 May. 24 - 30 2019
is because no single institution is respon-
sible for administering their regulations
or managing them. Either the ministry of
finance, or sometimes the central bank,
works hand in hand with rating agencies
and liaises on issues relating to a sover-
eign’s rating profile.
So what can African countries do?
The problem is that, as the influence of
international rating agencies continues
to expand; individual African countries
have limited power to act against them.
One possibility is that the continent
establishes collective and well defined
ways to ensure they present a common
front to the rating agencies.
Countries that have complaints
In 2015, the Zambian government
urged investors to ignore unsolicited
credit downgrade from the rating agen-
cies. It challenged the correctness of
its rating, which it said hadn’t been
discussed with the country’s representa-
tives.
In 2017, Namibia rejected Moody’s
decision to downgrade the country’s
credit rating to junk status. It said the
downgrade was contrary to its generally
stable economic outlook.
The government of Nigeria also
strongly disagreed with its down-
grading. It questioned both the general
rating premises as well as the agency’s
conclusions. The government believed
the economy had successfully emerged
from a recession and recorded important
improvements across a broad range of
sectors.
In 2018, Tanzania criticised Moody’s
decision to assign a low credit rating
with a negative outlook on the country’s
first international credit rating. Tanzania
rejected the rating. It argued that it
hadn’t been thoroughly consulted.
There are more general complaints too.
Judging from the way in which African
countries are rated, an argument could
be made that rating agencies view the
African continent as a homogeneous
entity. They appear to consider all
African economies as unstable. Only
three – Mauritius, Morocco and South
Africa – out of 31 rated countries have a
rating just above “junk status”. Only one
– Botswana – has an A-class rating. Com-
pared to other regions, 87% of African
countries are rated “junk status”. That’s
compared to approximately 19% in
Western Europe, 27% in the Middle East,
38% in Central and Eastern Europe, 54%
in Asia Pacific and 55% in Latin America
and The Caribbean.
The effect of this is that African coun-
tries have to issue sovereign bonds at
high discounts, and are subject to higher
interest rates.
Another area of contention is that credit
rating methodologies consistently over-
emphasise political risk in the rating
criteria. Political components constitute
approximately 50% of the composite
rating. Other components such as finan-
cial and economic components each
contribute to the remaining 50%. While
the qualitative factors are judged purely
based on the ideology of the credit
analysts, their perception towards the
political institutions in Africa is generally
negative.
The data shows that the rating agencies
have downgraded more countries than
they have upgraded over the past 24
years. There have been 47 downgrades,
compared to only 22 upgrades and 113
negative changes in outlooks; only nine
positive changes have been recorded.
Solutions and action plan
African countries should design a col-
lective response mechanism to save the
continent from rating abuse. This mecha-
nism can also be used to bring the opera-
tions of agencies under control. The aim
should be to avoid unfair and exploit-
ative business practices.
One option would be for the African
Union to establish a continental regu-
latory authority. It could govern the
cross-border activities of international
rating agencies, administer a prudential
standard framework and evaluate the
accuracy and fairness of ratings assigned
to particular countries.
Dr. Misheck Mutize is Lecturer of Finance,
Graduate School of Business (GSB), University
of Cape Town
Source:theconversation

By Mark Suzman
How Mandela bent history
Before anything, he was a politician; skilled at building
coalitions and charming political opponents
T
wenty-five years ago, South Africa
held its first free elections after
the end of apartheid. The African
National Congress won overwhelm-
ingly, and its leader, Nelson Mandela,
began to knit the country back together as
its new president. As post-apartheid South
Africa completes its sixth democratic elec-
tion, it is worth recalling Mandela’s formi-
dable legacy.
In 1994, I was a young journalist at the
Financial Times, tasked with watching
Clarence Makwetu, the leader of the far-
left Pan Africanist Congress party, cast
his vote. Makwetu had no interest in rec-
onciliation. During apartheid, the PAC’s
military wing had adopted the slogan
“one settler, one bullet,” and its members
had called for pushing “all whites into
the sea.”
With no reliable polling of black voters
having ever taken place in South Africa,
some predicted that Makwetu and his
party could secure up to one-quarter
of the vote. Such an outcome, many
worried, could trigger an eruption of
violence, and at first it seemed like that
would be the case.
On the morning Makwetu cast his
ballot, a disaffected white extremist
detonated a bomb at the Johannesburg
airport. With the war in ex-Yugoslavia
still raging and the Rwandan geno-
cide in its first weeks, the international
media rushed in to cover what they
expected would be another brutal story:
an impending South African civil war
between white extremists on the right
and black extremists on the left.
Of course, that is not what happened.
Just four years after being released from
prison – having served 27 years for con-
spiring to overthrow the state – Mandela
was swept into power with more than
60% of the vote, while Makwetu and the
PAC won barely 1%. But that does not
mean that the outcome – of the vote, or
of Mandela’s presidency – was inevi-
table.
History always seems like destiny
once the ink is dry. Today, it is hard to
imagine a world where Mandela didn’t
lift South Africa from the ruins of apart-
heid and lay the foundations for a united
country. But South Africa in 1994 was a
hotbed of tensions and divisions, many
of which seemed insurmountable.
In fact, in the weeks before the vote,
former U.S. Secretary of State Henry
Kissinger led a team of global dignitaries
to try to mediate a dispute between
many of the country’s political par-
ties and the Zulu-dominated Inkatha
Freedom Party, which was committed
to boycotting the election. Kissinger had
barely left his Johannesburg hotel room
when he called it quits. “Mediation never
started,” he said, “so mediation hasn’t
failed.”
In that moment, it felt like failure was
indeed inevitable, and it probably would
have been were it not for Mandela. Days
before the voting started, he helped to
persuade Inkatha to abandon its boycott.
This proved vital to his victory, and – as
a result – to the tremendous progress
South Africa has made since.
Twenty-five years after his election, and
nearly 101 years after his birth, Mandela
is remembered as a statesman, a lib-
erator, an icon, and a secular saint. But
before he was any of those things, Man-
dela was a politician, skilled at building
coalitions and charming political oppo-
nents.
Years later, I sat watched Steven Spiel-
berg’s 2012 biopic Lincoln, which depicts
the 16th U.S. president as a political
animal. Lincoln has a big, noble mission
– outlawing slavery in the United States
Constitution – but he’s also willing to
be cunning, even slippery, to achieve it.
When the final credits rolled, I thought,
“That was Mandela, too.”
Like Lincoln, Mandela believed that
history didn’t always bend people; some-
times, people could bend history. And
then he went out and proved it.
This Mandela – more so than Mandela
the saint – is the one that I prefer to
remember. After all, if it takes a saint to
solve a seemingly intractable problem
like apartheid, then what chance do any
of us mere mortals have? But if a striver,
a hustler, a charming and determined
optimist can make a difference, then
anyone has a shot at helping to create a
better world.
This sentiment has been a driving force
in my own career. Not long after Man-
comment
dela stepped down from the presidency
in 1999, I – by then a Washington, DC-
based journalist – wrote an FT article
highlighting perceptions of the United
Nations as a sclerotic organisation. It
caught the eye of the new head of the UN
Development Programme, who agreed
that the organisation needed changing
and wanted me to help.
When I accepted the UN position, I
did not expect to stay long; I took just
a one-year leave of absence from my
journalism job. But, 18 years later, I’m
still working in global development,
now at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foun-
dation. In retrospect, it’s clear that the
career change was driven, to a significant
extent, by what Mandela might urge me
to do: “Like slavery and apartheid,” he
said, “poverty is not natural. It can be
overcome and eradicated by the actions
of human beings.”
Over the last 20 years, we have seen
this happen; the global poverty rate has
fallen by three-quarters, thanks largely
to Asia’s rapid economic development.
In Africa, though progress has been
uneven, poverty rates in some countries
– such as Ethiopia, Tanzania, Ghana, and
Rwanda – have dropped by two-thirds
or more. Reductions in infant and child
mortality and improvements in educa-
tion have been even more widespread.
As for South Africa, it is still wres-
tling with the legacy of apartheid; the
rise of a black middle class has not
been sufficient to offset continuing
racial disparities in income, education,
and health. Nonetheless, by almost
every measure, the country is doing
better than 25 years ago. The latest
evidence of this progress is the just-
completed election: no one anticipated
significant unrest, regardless of the
outcome.
Mandela was right: suffering can
be overcome by the actions of human
beings. Even a single person can bend
history.
Mark Suzman is Chief Strategy Officer and
President of Global Policy and Advocacy at
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019
May. 24 - 30 2019 29
comment
Indicting Uganda and the ICC
How the international court gamed
Museveni into a deal of partial justice
By Gaaki Kigambo
S
ince its inception in 2002 to date,
the International Criminal Court
(ICC) has studiously defended
itself against accusations it is an
imperial project; especially in Africa, by
pointing to the number of cases mem-
ber states have freely referred to it. But
an 11-year study into the ICC’s opera-
tions on the continent, where majority
of its referrals have originated, reveals
quite the reverse.
 The study was published in a book
launched on May 14, 2019 at the Inter-
national Crimes Division (ICD) of
Uganda’s High Court in Kampala.  It
reveals that in order to land its cases; at
least the first ones from Uganda and DR
Congo, the ICC initiated negotiations
and actively lobbied the governments
of both countries in exchange for silence
over atrocities allegedly committed by
state actors. This is in spite of the ICC
making it publicly clear its investiga-
tions would concern all crimes under
the Rome Statute, which established the
Court in 1998, committed regardless of
the identity or ranking of the alleged
perpetrators.
“Rather than these states referring
their situations voluntarily to the ICC, as
Court officials consistently claim, the OTP
(Office of the Prosecutor) initiated negotia-
tions with the Ugandan and Congolese gov-
ernments before the referrals took place,”
notes the book titled `Distant Justice: The
Impact of the International Criminal Court on
African Politics’.
 “Having chased these state referrals, the
ICC was forced to negotiate the terms of
its investigations with those governments.
This is the key reason that to date the ICC
has not charged any Ugandan or Congolese
government officials, despite well docu-
mented complicity of state actors in atroci-
ties,” adds the 379-page book by Dr Phil
Clark, a Reader in Comparative and Inter-
national Politics, with reference to Africa, at
the School of Oriental and African Studies
(SOA) in London.
 Published by Cambridge University
Press in 2018, the book presents by far a
thorough and incisive inquiry into the ICC’s
interventions in Africa from which The
Hague based Court emerges far off from
its reason for existing: to provide justice for
genocide, war crimes and crimes against
30 May. 24 - 30 2019
humanity in case any nation fails to do so.
 Uganda has always been known to have
entered some deal with the ICC to transfer
cases concerning the top leadership of the
rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to The
Hague. But details of the deal have hitherto
only focused on the involvement of senior
officials within the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs who were a go-between the ICC’s
first prosecutor Louis Moreno Ocampo and
longtime Uganda President Yoweri Musev-
eni.
 The negotiations, described as substan-
tial in the book, lasted about eight months
exploring the nature and likely conse-
quences of Kampala referring to The Hague
cases against Joseph Kony, the LRA’s over-
all leader, and four of his top command-
ers: Vincent Otti, Raska Lukwiya, Okot
Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen. All but
Kony and Ongwen have reportedly died.
Ongwen’s trial is on-going and Kony has
still eluded capture.
 The book details how, in May 2003, one
of the highest-ranking officials at Uganda’s
Permanent Mission to the UN introduced
his friend Ocampo, newly appointed to
his plum position, to Museveni in London
where Ocampo reportedly first
asked Museveni to refer Kony and
his colleagues to the ICC.
 Museveni was in the UK to nego-
tiate a truce with Rwanda over their
fallout and consequent clashes in the
eastern DR Congo city of Kisangani
in 2000. The fighting, which hap-
pened three times, wrought untold
violence and suffering in the region.
Because of it, Kampala lost to the
DRC a case of aggression at the
International Court of Justice (ICJ).
 While there have been endless
calls to the ICC to hold the two
countries responsible for the vio-
lence and other atrocities in Kisan-
gani and eastern DR Congo gener-
ally that they have been accused of
underwriting mostly through their
many past and present proxies, the
Court remains mute about such
demands.
As the book argues, this is
because of its heavy reliance on
these states for the bulk of its
work from obtaining access to the
country, protection, being aided
with investigations, making arrests
and processing witnesses. Such
cooperation has not been borne of
these states’ unreserved compliance to its
international obligations. Rather, it has been
highly conditional to the Court’s protection
of these states’ interests. Thus, for all its
pomp and bluster the ICC has wilfully been
turned into one more weapon in the states’
armoury against its enemies.
 Although Museveni was reportedly
reluctant at the start about dealing with
the ICC, he turned with time as Ocampo’s
request, pitched as being mutually benefi-
cial to Uganda and the ICC, moved between
Museveni’s Office, the Ministry of Justice
and the Ministry of Defence.
 Justice officials reinforced Museveni’s
reluctance by tempering caution because
the Court was still new and its ways and
means still unknown. But Defence, which
surprisingly took the lead on the negotia-
tions, welcomed Ocampo’s pitch as a new
and unexpected approach against Kony
where all else – peace talks, military opera-
tions, amnesties – had failed and urged
Museveni on it. “Ultimately, the Presi-
dent agreed with us,” the book quotes an
unnamed Defence official.  
 In December 2003, Museveni referred
 comment
Kony and his commanders to the ICC, mak- By Hamza M Ssali
ing it the first case the Court would handle.
A month later, on January 29, 2004, Musev-
eni appeared with Ocampo in London again
“to establish the basis for future cooperation”
Redefining EAC 'citizen'
between Uganda and the ICC and to flag off
investigations into Kony and his colleagues Can partner states replicate tax law
for the mayhem they had wrought on north-
ern Uganda; the theatre of conflict out of changes that Uganda is proposing?
which they had been indicted.
 Interestingly, whereas the allegations
against Kony and his men were deemed Uganda’s tax amendment Bills for the a regional economic integration
graver than those against the government, in Financial Year 2019/2020 as tabled before perspective, what needs to be seen is
particular the army, to justify why the ICC Parliament on March 28 propose to whether the other East African Partner
had to start with the rebels, the Court “did harmonise the definition of “Citizen” to States will replicate the same definition
not have a clear working definition of grav- accommodate individuals and corporate in their respective tax laws. A more
ity beyond a quantitative assessment of the entities from the other Partner States. rational approach would have been
number of atrocity victims.” The four separate Tax Amendment Bills, the region-wide adoption of a similar
 Yet even against that yardstick, many ana- including the Income Tax (Amendment) definition of “a citizen” that should
lysts have argued the government’s actions, Bill, 2019, the Value Added Tax be used in all the local tax laws of
such as mass displacement of nearly two (Amendment) Bill 2019, the Excise Duty all the partner states to avoid any
million people into squalid camps, would (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the Stamp inconsistencies in application.
easily pass the prosecution grade. What is Duty (Amendment) Bill 2019, propose This proposal may, however, be
more, even when a clear framework about to define the term “Citizen” of Uganda viewed as a protectionist mechanism by
how gravity should be determined was for tax purposes to include a natural those who are not citizens of Uganda
eventually developed in 2007, the Court has person who is a citizen of any East as it attempts to ring-fence certain tax
remained adamant to apply it to the actions African Community exemptions to
of the Ugandan army, which would not member state. The EAC Partner
stand up to scrutiny.  After all, the material definition is also States. This in a
by rights groups the ICC heavily relied on to extended to include a Harmonisation way may limit
build its case against Kony and his men also company or a body of capital inflows
contains plenty of serious allegations against persons incorporated of the from potential
the army. That the Court has limited its pros-
ecution to only one of two central players in
under the laws of any
of the East African
definition of “a investors
originating
the conflict in northern Uganda has opened Community member Citizen” across from outside
it to sustained criticism it is one-sided and
heavily politicised.
states, in which at
least 51 percent of the
the East African the EAC region,
hence hindering
 “The extent of the negotiations between shares are held by Community economic growth.
the ICC and the Ugandan government
before Uganda’s referral raises questions
a citizen or citizens
of any East African Partner States Currently, the
EAC region is
about the promises the Court may have Community state. This within their grappling with
made to Museveni to ensure his cooperation, proposal is likely to intermittent
particularly guarantees against investiga- promote cross-border respective imposition of non-
tions into UPDF crimes. Even if there were
no such explicit deal, the extent of the ICC’s
trade and business
across the East
domestic tax tariff barriers by
partner states, a
reliance on state cooperation has severely African community laws could be case in point being
undermined the Court’s ability to investigate
and prosecute government crimes.”
by ensuring that any
tax benefits hitherto hard to achieve the most recent
unilateral closure
 Museveni’s relationship with the ICC available to Ugandan of the Uganda-
took a nosedive in 2014 when he first lashed citizens will be Rwanda border at
out at it for its 2011 indictment of Kenyan available to all East Katuna and other
President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy African Community border posts.
William Ruto with whom he had forged individuals and companies. The harmonisation of the definition
close alliances. He has sustained harsh criti- The existing tax benefits, including of “a Citizen” across the East African
cism against it, describing it as “a bunch of income tax, Value Added Tax, Excise Community Partner States within their
useless people” in 2016 during his inaugura- Duty and Stamp Duty exemptions are respective domestic tax laws could
tion speech following his declaration as win- available to citizens who are operators, be hard to achieve because of many
ner of the disputed general elections. Among developers or investors within industrial factors, including egoistic tendencies,
his guests was the now deposed Sudanese parks, free zones or even outside those prioritisation of other pressing issues
leader Omar al-Bashir whom the ICC indict- gazetted areas provided they deploy the in some partner states, as well as
ed in 2009 and 2010 and Museveni offered stipulated levels of capital investment. protectionist tendencies in industry and
asylum in April 2019 when nationwide pro- The good news is that Branch set-ups the labour markets.
tests against him eventually forced him out of foreign-controlled Companies from
of power. Strangely, none of this antagonism within the EAC Partner States, which Hamza M Ssali
is likely to change how the Court deals with would hitherto not qualify as a citizen Senior Tax Manager at Ernst & Young,
Museveni’s Uganda. in this context, may eventually pass that Kampala
test if the bills are passed into law.
While this is a good gesture from

May. 24 - 30 2019 31
Sexual harassment at work
The culture of silence that allows it to continue
A
By Dulini Fernando
ssistant Professor of Organ-
isation and HRM, Warwick
Business School, University
of Warwick
The #MeToo movement
has led to women the world
over coming forward with stories of harass-
ment. This issue is not confined to a single
company or industry. It is an endemic prob-
lem which spreads far beyond the cases of
sexual abuse that hit the headlines sporadi-
cally.
In my research, I have spoken to women
in many industries who have suffered
some form of sex-based harassment in the
workplace – from sectors that are much
more male-dominated like engineering to
more supposedly “enlightened” environ-
ments such as academia. Sex-based harass-
ment includes sexual harassment, but also
encompasses other forms of behaviour that
demean or humiliate someone on the basis
of their sex, such as sexist remarks, harass-
ment during pregnancy and post birth and
gender-based bullying.
When studying the careers of British
women engineers with Laurie Cohen from
the University of Nottingham and Joanne
Duberley from the University of Birming-
ham, we found that women in this industry
regularly encountered harassment on the
basis of their sex.
For example, Jen, a junior engineer,
described her frustration that some of her
male colleagues saw her first and foremost
as a potential date:
“I had a lot of men casually asking me
out. They would say: ‘Could you help me
with this? And by the way, shall we go for
a drink?’ I got annoyed that they assumed
that because I was a girl I was up for grabs,
even though I was at work.”
One of her colleagues, Hillary, said she
walked a fine line when talking to male co-
workers:
“If you’re too friendly they might see that
as flirting. If you’re not friendly then you’re
a bitch. It’s very difficult; when I thought I
was just being friendly I heard I was being
accused of being flirty.”
The #MeToo and Time’s Up movements
have not only thrust the issue of this kind
of harassment into public consciousness,
32 May. 24 - 30 2019
they have also highlighted how victims are
all too often silenced about their experi-
ences. Many people are coming forward
with incidents that happened years ago. My
research, talking with academics who have
experienced harassment gives some insight
into why this is the case. It highlights how
cultures of silence exist – it’s rarely the result
of one individual’s actions.
Surprising results
I worked with Ajnesh Prasad at Royal
Roads University, to understand how
silencing occurs. The focus was on aca-
demia – an industry which witnessed a
surge of reported cases of sex-based harass-
ment especially between the years 2014-16.
In 2015-16 I interviewed 31 academ-
ics employed in business schools at nine
universities in the UK. Contrary to what
I expected, all interviewees said that they
shared their experiences with line manag-
ers, HR personnel and professional col-
leagues to make sense of and to seek redress
for what happened. Then they described
how they were persuaded to drop the issue
and move on.
Paula recalled the dismissive attitude of
a female HR representative when she com-
plained about a senior colleague’s unwant-
ed advances:
“I told them how he insisted that we dis-
cussed papers after hours all the time and
about everything he said. She told me she
does not see that as sexual harassment.”
In their view, insisting on discussing a
paper over wine is hardly a crime – I sup-
pose they need evidence of something like
rape or assault.
“After everything she said to me, `I just
didn’t want to talk about it anymore.’ It is
deeply humiliating.”
Women said they were often told their
experiences didn’t amount to harassment,
that such behaviour was common and
insignificant, and that they needed to prove
otherwise if they wanted to file a formal
complaint. When women did complain,
they reported being urged to be patient
and allow the issue to be resolved quietly.
While the organisation tried to make sure it
didn’t happen again, this was played down
in front of the victim to avoid any blame
towards the organisation or its procedures.
At the same time, victims were warned
they could be branded a “troublemaker” if
they continued to raise their concerns. Mar-
sha described how she was advised by well-
meaning colleagues to not complain about
unwanted sexual attention:
“Their view was that, if this gets out, I
would be the girl who accuses men of com-
ing onto her.”
Thus sex-based harassment is not just the
result of one individual’s actions. In each of
the cases we encountered, managers, HR
personnel, and ordinary colleagues were
complicit in silencing victims.
This not only created a safe haven for
perpetrators, who were able to avoid
punishment. But victims were left feeling
confused and unsupported, often leading to
disengagement from work and withdrawal
from the social fabric of the organisation.
Breaking the silence
To end these damaging effects of silenc-
ing, it is not only important to have chan-
nels for people to report harassment, it is
also crucial to ensure that victims feel heard,
their concerns validated, and their com-
plaints taken seriously.
They should be assured that action will
be taken to hold culprits accountable and to
prevent such cases from happening again.
If people believe that injustice is covered
up by the organisation, this can negatively
affect their commitment and motivation.
People should also reflect on how
they respond to colleagues’ concerns
and know that their actions have
repercussions. By encouraging
colleagues to remain silent, they help to
create a culture of harassment that means
for every damning headline, there are
many more cases that go unreported.
*All names have been changed to protect the
identity of the interviewees mentioned.

By Agencies
I
t’s 8 a.m. on your sisters 35th birthday
and your mother has already called her
three times. She wants to sleep longer,
but she persists. So you call her back;
she answers after the first ring.
“Sweetie,” she says, out of breath. “I was
just in the kitchen making breakfast and —
you won’t believe this — I cracked open an
egg with two yolks inside. Do you know
what that means?”
Of course you know what it means.
According to modern fertility folklore,
pregnancy might be on the way. But why
doesn’t your mother ever call you with
these brilliant fertility revelations? After all,
you are 40 years old?
Older male fertility: should we be
worried?
Most couples trying to conceive (and
enthusiastic mothers-in-law) know that
decades of research point to a woman’s age
of 35 as the point in which women may
begin to experience age-related preg-
nancy complications.
The scientific interest in women is
intuitive — they play the most obvious
role in the pregnancy.
Little attention, however, has been
placed upon male fertility. This informa-
tion gap can be rather simply illustrated
by Google search data: Issues surround-
ing female age and fertility are Googled
almost 4 times more often than male age
and fertility.
According to a recent Rutgers study
published in Maturitas, a medical journal
covering midlife and post-reproductive
health, this lack of attention is a mistake.
How a man’s clock ticks
Like women, men experience changes
to their bodies and reproductive systems
as they age, and this impacts their fertil-
ity and the health of their offspring.
While sperm production is unending
in men, their production and transportation
structures weaken over time, said Dr Mat-
thew Lau, Consultant at the KKIVF Centre,
KKH. “For instance, the sperm production
slows down and the reproductive tubes nar-
row. Beyond this, the prostate and urinary
functions also change,” said Dr Lau.
The male sex function declines too. Over
time, men’s testosterone levels dip, they
experience a lower sex drive and are more
susceptible to sexual problems like erectile
dysfunction, said Dr Lau.
“Erectile dysfunction is closely linked to
blood supply problems. When people get
older, and if they have diabetes or high cho-
lesterol levels, they are likely to have blood
vessel problems. If such problems affect the
penis, it leads to erectile dysfunction,” he
added.
Your sperm also has
an expiration date
It’s not just the mother’s age that matters. According to new research,
men’s biological clocks are ticking, too. Older fathers may put their infants
— and partners — at risk for pregnancy complications.
In older men, sperm quality also becomes
poorer. As sperm is produced at a slower
rate, the risk of exposure to toxins through
factors such as infection and smoking is
higher. This can damage the DNA of the
sperm, said Dr Lau. If the sperm’s DNA is
more than 40 per cent damaged, there is a
higher chance of miscarriage, he said.
Studies have also shown that older
fathers increase the risk of genetic problems
such as autism and dwarfism in their
children.
The study, which reviewed 40 years of
research on the effects of parental age on
fertility, found other links between older
fathers and a variety of infant health risks.
Infants born to fathers older than 45 have
a higher risk of premature birth, low Apgar
scores ( based on the well-being test con-
ducted immediately after the baby’s birth
that ranks the infant based on appearance,
pulse, grimace, activity and respiration) and
low birth weight. They also have a higher
risk of newborn seizures and late stillbirth,
according to the study.
Findings presented in the study also
pointed to a correlation in the presence of
schizophrenia and autism in people with
fathers older than 50, something that a
recent study in the journal Biological Psy-
chiatry pointed to as well, along with birth
health
defects such as congenital heart disease and
cleft palate.
Many of these issues occurred regardless
of the age of female partners, who were also
more likely to experience increased preg-
nancy complications such as gestational
diabetes, preeclampsia and preterm birth
after conceiving a child with an older man.
“Although it is well documented that
children of older fathers are more likely to
be diagnosed with schizophrenia — one
in 141 infants with fathers under 25 versus
one in 47 with fathers over 50 — the
reason is not well understood,” said
the study’s author Gloria Bachmann,
director of the Women’s Health
Institute at Rutgers Robert Wood
Johnson Medical School in New
Jersey.
What does all of this mean?
Bachmann said these findings
have to do with male sperm. As
people lose muscle strength and
endurance with age, sperm also lose
fitness over the life cycle, she said,
which affects both the likelihood of
conception and the prevalence of
complications if conception does
occur.
The definitive age in which men
are more likely to negatively influ-
ence pregnancy is still unclear.
According to the report, it could be
anywhere from 35 to 45. But the cor-
relation is there, and researchers are urging
others to take a closer look.
“The disparity between the social inter-
pretation of men’s and women’s fertility
and role in reproduction speaks volumes
regarding our assumptions about gender
roles, reproduction and family planning,”
the study said.
It also notes that the issues it addresses
are not widely known throughout the medi-
cal and social communities and urges health
care providers to alert men to the risks asso-
ciated with higher paternal ages.
The scientists’ advice goes out not just
to men who are considering having a baby
with their wife or girlfriend: Sperm banks,
the researchers pointed out, should adjust
their age limits for donations, too.
May. 24 - 30 2019 33
feature
Falling in love with
Uganda’s fading glory
How an EU project is creating interest
in nation’s history and heritage
By Ronald Musoke
I
magine working in an office which
has a very rich history; one where
important national agreements were
possibly discussed, drafted or signed,
in a well preserved building that is over
100 years old. How would that feel?
That is how it felt recently, when I read
that workers at the National Agricultural
Research Organisation (NARO)
headquarters in Entebbe sit in offices built
by the British Protectorate’s Secretariat
in Entebbe around 1910. These premises
housed the colonial governor’s offices and
later the first parliament of Uganda or the
Legco as it was popularly known from
1921 to 1955.
But do the NARO workers know how
lucky they are? Possibly not. In fact, some
of them could be unhappy to be working
in such old buildings.
It is attitudes such as these that a year–
long documentation project funded by the
European Union Delegation in Uganda
hopes to change through a project on
Uganda’s built heritage and historical
sites.
The project which started in May last
34 May. 24 - 30 2019
year found that many of the sites are
under threat of destruction across the
country.
Lack of information and awareness
about the significance of this heritage and
the drive towards “modernity” are the
main reasons for the ongoing destruction,
according to results of the documentation
project released on May 06 at the EU
Delegation offices in Kampala.The event
was designed to coincide with the African
World Heritage Day.
“Nations all over the world preserve
heritage in the form of historical buildings
and sites for the sake of their own
people, and showcase them with pride to
foreigners,”said the EU Ambassador to
Uganda, Attilio Pacifici.
To him, it is unfortunate that heritage
and historical sites are not better
preserved yet “it would also help
Ugandans to understand better their past,
appreciate more their present and forge
their future.”
The project is a collaboration of the
EU, the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife
and Antiquities and the Cross Cultural
Foundation of Uganda. It covered
historical buildings in the cities of
Watoto Church built in the early 1950s by Goan entrepreneur, Norman Godinho,
has always been a popular social hangout in Kampala. Before it was transformed
into a church in 1984, it used to serve as a movie theatre (Norman Theatre).
Kampala, Entebbe, and Jinja as part of
the European Union Year of Culture
celebrations.
Pacifici said the project was intended to
save historical buildings from demolition
and raise interest of potential donors and
private investors for future rehabilitation
or restoration works of many of them.
“There are many beautiful places that
are already protected but many more that
need protection,” Pacifici said, “If Uganda
identified and preserved key historical
buildings and sites, it would help attract
more visitors and create many jobs,
especially for young people.”
Ham Mukasa’s 1902 home and more
The NARO headquarters are one
example in Entebbe.There is also the
Bugonga Church in Entebbe which was
built in 1902. This is perhaps the earliest
permanent Catholic Church in Uganda as
it features a spot where the first Catholic
missionaries camped and prepared for
their meeting with Kabaka Muteesa I in
1899.
Some of the listed historical buildings in
Kampala include the Treasury Building,
Parliament, the Museum, the Post Offices,

Bugonga Church in Entebbe was originally built in 1902 and is one of the very first permanent Catholic churches in Uganda.
and many others that are privately owned.
Others are the home of Ham Mukasa,
a leading politician, intellectual and
ethnographer which was built in 1902.
Ham Mukasa’s house showcases the
architectural style of the colonial period
with its colonnades, entrance steps, and
red corrugated sheets.
Dr. Albert Cook’s House built around
the 1920s is another historic house that still
stands today. Dr. Cook, respected as the
pioneer of modern medicine in Uganda,
arrived in the country in 1896 and started
medical work soon after. It is on these
premises that Kabaka Muteesa II was born
in 1924.
There is St. Paul’s Cathedral atop
Namirembe Hill built around 1919, the
Bank of Uganda, the National Theatre, the
Watoto Church building and Bulange—
the seat of Parliament and administrative
offices for the Buganda Kingdom whose
design is inspired by the Stormont
Parliament in Northern Ireland.
The stories behind each heritage are told
in a photographic book, titled “Beyond
the Reeds and Bricks: Historical Sites
and Buildings in Kampala, Jinja and
Entebbe.” It showcases in glossy format
with exclusive pictures the legacy of pre-
colonial kingdoms, the introduction of
western education, medicine and religions,
the growth of commerce and industry,
right through to Uganda’s struggles for a
new independent identity.
Set over eight chapters, the book features
at least 60 buildings in the three towns,
representing Uganda’s architectural
history, covering the pre-colonial era and
post-independence Uganda. Annotated
maps detail the historical buildings and
sites for each of the three cities. A mobile
app, “Uganda’s Built Heritage” has been
added digitalizing the content for easy
smart devise use.
“These are places where something
happened, or places where important
people have lived or places with
architectural merit or unique qualities,”
says Emily Drani, the executive director of
the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda.
She says recognising what past society has
done is a practice that exists world over.
“When you go to France or Italy, you
will see buildings that are really old
but have been preserved and are very
much respected by the people in those
countries,” she says.
Drani says in Uganda’s case, many more
insignificant but important buildings are
not even known by the leaders in those
cities.
Drani says in the cities where the
project took place, some of the leaders
feature
were not aware of some of the wealth and
assets that are within their mandate.
However, she says, whenever the
researchers explained why it is important
to protect these sites, “there was a marked
change in attitude.”
“It is a matter of education and
publicity and making sure that Ugandans
not only realise that this is a resource for
tourism but it is also part of our identity.”
Drani says the loss of historic sites
means a lost connection with a shared
past, and a risk of losing those unique
features which distinguish Ugandan
cities.
She says although Uganda is gifted
with diverse cultural, natural and
built heritage, urbanisation, rapid
population growth and the pressing
drive for modernity have created
a constant demand for new, high-
density development. Most of the new
development is on plots which are
already occupied by historical buildings
and sites.
A global problem
Uganda is not alone in this. Across
the globe many fast expanding urban
cities risk losing their historical and
cultural identity if heritage infrastructure
and associated cultural values are not
May. 24 - 30 2019 35
feature
The Jinja Pier is a shadow of its former glory. Built in 1912, it once served as the main export  gate for Uganda.  ALL PHOTOS/ CCFU
preserved and promoted. That is why
strengthening efforts to protect and
safeguard the world’s cultural and natural
heritage is the fourth target of Sustainable
Development Goal 11of the UN.
Doreen Katusiime, the Permanent
Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism,
Wildlife and Antiquities says the
government recognises the importance of
Uganda’s built heritage.
“These buildings tell a story; they tell
a story about us, about the people who
built them and the people who lived in
them,’ she said, “When we preserve them,
we are able to tell the current and future
generations about our history.”
In the east, Jinja town played a central
role in linking the British Protectorate’s
economy. Here, the first railway
infrastructure linking the cotton fields
of Busoga in south eastern Uganda to
the Jinja Pier from where bales of cotton,
Uganda’s main export at the time, were
carried onwards by a steamship to the
Kisumu Port in Kenya and onwards by
railway to Mombasa. The pier was built in
1912.
Today, it lies derelict but it once was the
terminus of the first railway in the country
and it served as the main export gate for
Uganda until the Uganda Railway reached
Jinja directly from Kenya in 1928 and
Kampala in 1931.
Still, in Jinja, the Indian community
with its trade and business acumen was
an indispensable force in Uganda’s fast
36 May. 24 - 30 2019
growing economy and many streets
feature Indian architecture built around
the 1920s to the 1950s. Sadly, most
of these buildings are in decay as are
several remnants of Jinja’s industrial
infrastructure.
On a positive note, the project highlights
cases where families, public bodies
and companies have made it a point to
safeguard their properties and site for
future generations.
In Jinja, for instance, the work of the
Madhvani family in conserving and
restoring their 1919 office building on Main
Street is an example. The premises have
been put to good use and have become
the headquarters of the Madhvani Group.
The Madhvani family received a National
Heritage Award for protecting this
building in 2016.
Still, in Jinja, on Main Street, the Source
Café owners have recognized the historical
value of their building, as well as its
attractiveness for the growing tourism
industry.
In Kampala, the Emin Pasha Hotel,
formerly a private residence also shows
a possible future for Uganda’s remaining
historical properties while Mengo Hospital
has also tried to preserve its heritage
by carefully maintaining the Luke and
Catherine wards complete with Dr. Albert
Cook’s memorabilia. In Entebbe, the
Botanical Gardens have become a major
tourist attraction, as well as a scientific
research centre.
Going forward, the Cross Cultural
Foundation of Uganda intends to
document other historic buildings in Mbale
in eastern Uganda and in the western
town of Fort Portal. But Drani says the
government should take responsibility for
historic buildings around the country.
“We hope that the government of
Uganda will see this as a pilot; that is
doable and that it is something that they
can build on and we also hope that this
will be part of the policy so resources
can be availed for the protection and
preservation of these buildings.”
Drani also wants the government to
update the laws that protect Uganda’s
historic buildings. We are particularly
interested in listing, which means that we
are able to identify specific buildings that
are important that should be preserved.
“We would also like to nurture
technical competence when it comes to
people who have expertise to restore
historical properties. The tourism ministry
should make popular these historic
buildings.”
Maris Wanyera, the deputy National
authorising officer in the Ministry of
Finance who is in charge of coordinating
and mobilising external funding as well
as building external partnerships told The
Independent recently that Uganda stands
to gain even more from tourism once
heritage sites and historical buildings are
conserved and promoted.
 ART | BOOKS | SOCIETY | TRAVEL | CULTURE
Ugandan art at PIASA
French auction art house falls for `unique, fresh’
C
By Dominic Muwanguzi
ontempo-
rary Af-
rican art
is now
common
on the
world stage. Several art
festivals; including the
much coveted PIASA
art auction in Paris,
France capitalise onsale
of contemporary art
from the continent,
notably from West Af-
rica. There’s growing
interest and market in
the art that is largely
described within in-
ternational art circles
as “still unique and
fresh”.
The 9th edition of
PIASA May 15 has
art from Uganda with
artists Henry Mzili
Mujunga, Ronex, Xen-
son, Sanaa Gateja,
Ocom Adonias and the
young Arim Andrew.
Some of these artists
were in the November
2018 sale. Budding
artist Arim’s reflects
the potential of young
Ugandan artists to
interrogate universal
themes in their work.
“It is a very big
opportunity for me
and many other young art-
ists from the continent. This
removes the notion that only
older artists can command high
prices of art,” Arim says of his
debut.
Arim’s solo exhibit `A Por-
trait of Power, Authority and
Control, 2018’ interrogated the
subject of Power and Control
with metaphorical illustrations
on how the powerful indi-
viduals- those with money and
power- behave in society. How
their flamboyance spreads pov-
erty and political anarchy.
Working with a mix of artists
who have international profile
and the budding is a strong fea-
ture of PIASA. Its regular artists
come from Senegal, Cote-d’
Voire (Ivory Coast), Mali, Gha-
na, Nigeria, South Africa and
Benin. These continue to pro-
vide awesome pieces of art that
are not only unique but imbue
a rich cultural heritage that is
timeless. On the other hand, art
from East Africa seems to be
revered for its studio dexterity
and the ability to resonate with
global theme.
The 9th edition of the Paris
sale has 150 modern and con-
temporary works including,
paintings, drawings, photo-
graphs and sculptures. A seg-
ment dedicated to Textile &
May. 24 - 30 2019
Design will be presented
in an exclusive online sale.
Artist, Cheri Samba (born
1956, Democratic Republic
of Congo/ Kinshasa) with
his L’attachement aux
racines, 2010, Aboudia
(born 1983, Ivory Coast)
with his Untitled, 2014 and
Bambo Sibiya ( born 1986,
South Africa) with Untitled,
2017 will lead the way in
the auction. On this list is
also Sanaa Gateja (born
1950, Uganda) with the
much feted paper-pearl
frescos.
Even in the absence of
strong art infrastructures
like Museums, art collec-
tors’ galleries and indepen-
dent art galleries that can
offer varied opportunities
to already established and
burgeoning artists on the
continent to showcase their
work, international art
platforms like the PIASA
Art Auction, AKAA Fair,
1:54 London and the Venice
Biennale offer opportunity
for African contemporary
art. Seven pavilions show-
case art from Africa at the
Venice 58th edition opening
this May under the concept,
`May you Live in Interest-
ing Times’.
It is a long way from the
colonial and immediate
post-colonial time when
art from Africa was seen as
“primitive” to the present day
when it is praised for its diver-
sity, uniqueness, and ability
to respond to global themes.
The change in fortunes favours
buyers and collectors, and the
artists themselves.
Caption: Artist Arim Andrew,
2018
37
Kenya man who single-handedly dug 1km road for residents is rewarded
Muchemi Kamau who wowed and household items as a token of Other Kenyans contributed money
Kenyans by carving a road through a appreciation for his selfless act. Other used in buying a second cow for him
hill to save villagers the agony of using companies such as roofing sheet maker and piped water has been connected to
a long route was overjoyed when he Rhino Mabati Company also delivered his home by a well-wisher.
received a grade cow from ABC Bank several materials for the cow shed.

Cockroach bugs Man jailed for giving

president at rally
Philippine President
Rodrigo Duterte recently
had a finger-sized cock-
roach scramble onto his
shoulder and down his
shirt as he spoke at a cam-
paign rally. The 74-year
old seemed unfazed when
it happened on May15 as
he campaigned for senate
candidates. A female aide
hurried forward to flick the
bug off, but it ran down
the front of the president’s
shirt. Alerted by his anx-
ious aide, Duterte swatted
the roach away then joked
that the insect may have
been planted by the main
opposition Liberal party.
Trouble over Tanzania cable
car for Kilimanjaro
Tanzania wants to boost tour-
ist numbers by putting a cable
car on Mount Kilimanjaro,
Africa’s tallest mountain, and is
in talks about the project with a
Chinese and a Western compa-
ny. Around 50,000 tourists climb
Kilimanjaro annually. Porter
and guide groups who take tour-
ists up the mountain oppose the
project because they fear cable
cars will reduce the number of
climbers.Visitors normally spend
a week climbing the mountain
and one visitor can have 13 are
porters, a cook and a guide.
dogs `wrong’ names
A young dog breeder in eastern
China was recently arrested and
sentenced to ten days in a detention
center after giving two of his canines
controversial names that refer to
Chinese government and civil ser-
vice workers. The 30-year-old man,
surnamed Ban, was summoned
by police after posting on Chinese
social network WeChat that he had
named two of his dogs Cheng-
guan and Xieguan. The first refers
to officials tasked with tackling
low-level crime, while the second
is a name used to describe informal
community workers, such as traffic
assistants. Ban said that he thought
using the two words as names for
his dogs was a joke, but police failed
to see the humor.

Oldest man in the world dies aged 123
A man claimed to be the
oldest in the world has died
allegedly aged 123. Appaz
Iliev, a father of eight, had been
working since he was seven,
when he was sent into the hills
alone. If his age was correct –
and his birth records do not
survive – he would have been
older than the officially veri-
fied longest-living man – Jiro-
emon Kimura of Japan – who
died at 116 years, 54 days.
He attributed his longevity
to squeaky clean living and
sleeping 11 hours a day. He
shunned television and never
smoked nor drank alcohol,
and kept away from doctors
and medication as much as
possible although at the age of
121 he underwent eye surgery
because of a cataract. He ate
only eat only fresh vegetables
from his own garden, and local
meat in his remote village of
Guli in the Russian Caucasus
Mountains. He drank dairy
milk and fresh spring water.
He had 35 grandchildren, 34
great-grandchildren and sev-
eral great-great-grandchildren.
He is said to have advised his
large family: “Value what you
have and share it with others”.
Typo on a bank note!
Millions of Australian dollars
50 banknotes have an embarrass-
ing typographical error. The word
“responsibility” is misspelt as
“responsibilty” three times. The
goof first became known on May
16 when a listener on radio outlet
Triple M sent the station a magni-
fied photo of the Reserve Bank of
Australia’s (RBA) new A$50 note
highlighting the error. The note
came into circulation on October
18, 2018 with new security features
designed to deter counterfeiting
and with tactile elements for the
visually impaired.

Saudi family ties maid to a tree

A young Filipino woman working as a
maid for a wealthy family in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia, was reportedly tied to a tree by
her employers as punishment for leaving
a valuable piece of furniture in the sun.
26-year-old Lovely Acosta Baruelo was
made to “feel the effects of staying in the
scorching sun for too long”. Photos of the
woman tightly bound to the tree with a
rope, as other servants carry on with their
work around her unable to help, were
allegedly taken by another Filipino worker
who later shared them online, begging
authorities to help the victim of the abuse.

38 May. 24 - 30 2019
 When speeding,
mind tyre rating
Many motorists know about tyre size but
not tyre speed rating
By Motoring Guru they also paste them in the driver’s side ally listed as “A” followed by a number– for

D
id you know your car has a spe-
cially recommended tyre based on
its recommended speed? No, we
are not talking about how hard
you accelerate or the maximum speed indi-
cated on the speedometer. We are instead
talking about the tyre speed recommended
by the manufacturer.
Manufacturers give recommended
speeds in conjunction with specific maxi-
mum loads for your vehicle i.e. a `tyre
speed rating’ and ‘tyre load rating’. These
two go together, meaning that for you to get
the best ride out of your vehicle, it must be
driven with recommended tyre rating and
load rating. Failure to use right tyre causes
problems like poor alignment, bad braking,
bursts, vehicle instability in corners, and
more.
Unfortunately, many motorists know
about tyre size but not tyre speed rating.
In fact, it is not unusual to find tyres with
different speed ratings on same car. When
an accidents happens the tyre “quality” is
blamed when the culprit is wrong speed
rating.
Manufacturers usually indicate the tyre
speed rating and the tyre load rating in in
the vehicle manual. But for ease of access,
door jamb, the gas tank hatch, or inside the
glove box door.
You will see something like: 205/55/
R16/91V. That is the tyre you should put
on the car. Each letter and figure in the
code carries a special message: tyre width,
its profile, rim size, and load and speed
rating. As already explained, these two go
together. In the example above the 91 is the
load rating and the `V’ is the speed rating.
So what do these two mean?
To answer that you must refer to a
“speed rating chart” and “Tyre Load
Index”. You can find these on the Internet.
It will list the load rating index (load index)
and match it with the recommended load
for that rating in kilograms. Usually, the
Load index starts at “62” per tyre with
matching load of “265” for all tyres as the
least and rise to load index “126” with a
matching load of “1700”.
Meanwhile, the speed rating system uses
letters A through Z. The higher the letter in
the alphabet, the higher the rating is; same
with the load. For example, a tire rated “A”
is good for a lower maximum sustained
speed than one rated “B” and the load 70 is
lower than 120.
There are a few exceptions. For example,
tyres with the lowest speed ratings are usu-
example, “A1,” “A2, “A3,” and so on. The
speeding rating “H” is out of place. Instead
of appearing after “G,” it falls between “U”
and “V” as does the speed to which it cor-
responds. Also, there is no speed rating “I,”
“O,” and “X”. The rating “P” also is not on
some charts. When the speed rating system
was first developed, the highest speed rat-
ing was the unlimited “V” rating. This was
for tyres whose maximum sustained speed
was 240 kph or more. But as more manufac-
turers came out with tyres that could han-
dle speeds in excess of 240 kph, “V” became
limited and “W” and “Y” speed ratings
were added to the chart. Manufacturers
may also insert “Z” into the size description
for these kinds of tires for up to 300 kph.
The most common speed ratings are T,
with a maximum speed of 189 kph for small
saloons and minivans. Next is speed rat-
ing H, for maximum speed of 210 kph. It is
mainly on sports saloons and coupes. Then
there is the “V” rating. This means 240 kph
but no higher and “W”, which means 270
kph. Remember that your tires actual speed
capability may be affected by inflation,
wear, vehicle condition (including align-
ment), driving conditions and the duration
at which speed is maintained.

May. 24 - 30 2019 39
Global comment
By Stephany Griffith-Jones and José Antonio Ocampo
World needs national development banks
They’re efficient instruments of national development
strategies helping overcome market failures
S
upport for national and multilateral
development banks has grown
worldwide in the decade since
the global financial crisis. And the
continued success of national development
banks (NDBs), in particular, will be vital to
achieve more sustainable economic growth
in the future.
Development banks help to counteract the
pro-cyclical nature of the private financial
system, which lends too much in booms
and rations credit during crises. The private
sector also often fails to provide enough
financing for small and innovative compa-
nies and infrastructure projects. Nor does
it support enough of the investments in
innovative activities, credit to small pro-
ducers, and environmental projects that are
urgently needed to make economies more
dynamic, inclusive, and sustainable.
Although governments provide their
paid-in capital, development banks raise
funds on national and international capital
markets. Moreover, these banks’ loans are
typically co-financed by the private sector,
which is especially helpful for governments
facing budget constraints during and after
economic crises.
The World Bank and regional multilat-
eral development banks (MDBs) sharply
increased their lending during and after
the 2007-2009 financial crisis. The European
Investment Bank, the largest MDB, doubled
its paid-in capital and is playing a central
role in implementing the European Com-
mission’s so-called Juncker Plan, which
aims to generate €500 billion ($561 billion)
of additional investment across the Euro-
pean Union by the end of 2020. In addition,
the recent establishment of two other large
MDBs – the Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank and the New Development Bank
established by the BRICS countries (Brazil,
Russia, India, China, and South Africa) –
will contribute further to a more balanced
public-private mix in development finance.
The financial crisis also prompted some
European, African, and Asian governments
to establish new NDBs, and other countries
to expand theirs. As a result, the total assets
of NDBs reached approximately $5 trillion
in 2015. Today, they are an important fea-
ture of most developed and middle-income
countries’ financial sectors, notably in
China, Germany, India, and South Korea.
And large NDBs can have a big impact,
especially in emerging economies.
40 May. 24 - 30 2019
Unsurprisingly, academic researchers
are finally starting to pay more attention to
NDBs after a long period of neglect. They
are looking to understand how these banks
operate, which instruments, incentives, and
governance structures work best, and how
such institutions interact with the private
sector and government policies.
In a recent book, we analysed NDBs in
seven countries – China, Germany, Brazil,
Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and Peru – and
concluded that these banks tend to be suc-
cessful overall. They have been broadly effi-
cient instruments of national development
strategies in their respective countries, and
they have helped to overcome major market
failures in a flexible way.
Our research identifies five crucial func-
tions of NDBs in the development process:
providing counter-cyclical finance; encour-
aging innovation and structural transfor-
mation; enhancing financial inclusion;
supporting infrastructure financing; and
promoting environmental sustainability, in
particular by combating climate change.
NDBs were strongly counter-cyclical
in the wake of the global financial crisis.
According to World Bank data, NDBs
increased their lending from $1.16 trillion
in 2007 to $1.58 trillion in 2009. This 36%
increase was far greater than the growth in
private bank credit in the same countries
The World Bank
and regional
multilateral
development
banks (MDBs)
sharply
increased their
lending during
and after the
2007-2009
financial crisis
over that period.
NDBs have been innovative, notably in
supporting new activities. China’s CDB,
Germany’s KfW, and Brazil’s BNDES
have financed technological advances, for
example, while others, including Chile’s
CORFO, have supported entrepreneurship.
Such banks have also introduced guaran-
tees and established new equity (including
venture capital) and debt funds. Further-
more, they have developed new programs
to increase financial inclusion, such as “cor-
respondent” stores and post offices that
provide financial services from one or more
banks.
In addition, NDBs have been prominent
supporters of important new sectors, such
as renewables and energy efficiency. For
example, KfW was initially the sole lender
to private companies investing in solar
energy in Germany; private banks got
on board later. In China, CDB helped to
design policies to encourage investment in
renewable energy – particularly solar – and
provided significant initial funding. As a
result, Germany and especially China have
been major global promoters of solar power,
helping to make it increasingly competitive
relative to fossil-fuel energy.
To be clear, we favor “good” develop-
ment banks: well-governed institutions with
highly professional staff and clear mandates
that fulfill their functions well. Such banks
should maximize their development impact
rather than profits, while ensuring some
minimal level of return.
Countries that already have NDBs should
aim to expand their role, while others
should consider establishing them. Doing
so would help to create a financial system
that better serves countries’ economic and
social needs.
Stephany Griffith-Jones is Financial Markets
Director at the Initiative for Policy Dialogue at
Columbia University. José Antonio Ocampo is
a board member of Colombia’s central bank, a
professor at Columbia University, Chair of the
UN Economic and Social Council’s Committee
for Development Policy, and Chair of the
Independent Commission for the Reform of
International Corporate Taxation. They are co-
editors of The Future of National Development
Banks.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.
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