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Cholera gives city Superfood scientists say Chinese, French firms top foreign
a wakeup call can make you live longer oil and gas suppliers’ database

Issue No. 555 Jan. 18 - 24 2019 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8

Uganda’s growing
public debt
Separating facts from fiction and
politicking
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Bank
1%

Bilateral
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Creditors 29%
70%

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Jan. 18 - 24 2019 1
INBOX

Issue No. 555 Jan. 18 - 24 2019

News analysis Business Health Arts Motoring

Cover story
Uganda’s growing public debt
Separating facts from fiction and politicking

4 The Week
30 Comments
NRM youths protest as UK parliament
debates Uganda’s democracy Cheat sheet for Vice chancellors:
Constant protests on some
campuses shouldn’t distract
9 The Last Word
vice-chancellors from the core
The value of loyalty: What the business of a university
story of a simple attendant at a
fuel station can help us learn about
32 Health
building successful organisations
The superfood scientists say can
make you live longer: Experts say
14 Analysis a diet high in fibre - found in high-
carb foods - could cut the risk of
Cholera’s wakeup call: Why the heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
unexpected outbreak happened

35 Arts & Culture

27 Business Beautiful art waits in Kla’s
non- traditional spaces:
Chinese, French firms top foreign oil and gas
More energy, creativity, and
suppliers’ database: What Chinese, French
innovation without traditional
domination of Uganda’s oil and gas supplier hindrances of space or materials
database means for Ugandan entrepreneurs

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

PUBLISHER: Independent Publications Limited, Plot 82/84, Kanjokya Street, P. O. Box 3304, Kampala, Uganda
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2 Jan. 18 - 24 2019
 Offline

Los Angeles, US:

Jennifer Hudson
performs a medley
during the recording
of Aretha! A Grammy
Celebration for The
Queen Of Soul at the
Shrine Auditorium
“What we are trying to do is align
the Penal Code so none of us here is
saying remove the death penalty.
That is not what the Bill is seeking
to do.”Medard Sseggona, Busiro East
MP on Death Penalty Bill

Melbourne,
Australia:
Andy Murray
reacts after
being defeated
by Roberto
Bautista Agut
during the
first day of
the Australian “If I and President Museveni were
Open tennis
tournament obstructed, would I be a priest, and
would he be a President? There
is succession at every stage and
ignoring this comes with severe
consequences,” Fr Gaetano Batanyenda
on succession
Stoke-on-Trent, England:
Theresa May talks to
Valerie Muni during a
visit to the Portmeirion
factory

“Majority of KCCA directors are holding

officers in acting capacity. Both
the executive director and deputy
executive director are on temporary
terms. Why can’t the appointing
authority have substantive employees
in these positions?” Kampala Lord Mayor
Erias Lukwago

People who perished Hectares of forest cover Money students

16 in an accident in
Pakwach last week
4000 restored by UWA in
Kibale conservation area
Shs12bn owe public
universities

Jan. 18 - 24 2019 3
 week

Enanga back as spokesperson

Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga and
his deputy Polly Namaye are once again
occupying the office they shared back
in 2016 before being sent for refresher
courses. They got their positions back in a
reshuffle of over 140 officials by the Inspec-
tor General of Police Martin Okoth Ochola
over the weekend.
Emilian Kayima who has been speak-
ing for the force was transferred to the
office of the Political Commissar whereas
his deputy Patrick Onyango is now the
spokesperson of Kampala Metropolitan
Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah flags off the charity walk
Police, a position that was being held by
Luke Owoyesigyire. Owoyesigyire is now
Onyango’s deputy.
Shs42million raised for albinos in annual parliament week
The reshuffle also affected officials in the The annual parliament week ends today to start as albinos need urgent interventions
Forensics and Flying Squad directorates. (Jan.18) with the Public Parliament debate as they face a lot of stigma in places where
on the theme “championing accountability they seek services.
to improve service delivery”. This will be Doreen Mawejje Mayanja one of the albi-
the climax of a week-long of activities that nos present said many women have been
started with a fundraising walk aimed at abandoned by their partners for giving birth
finding funds for construction of a rehabili- to albinos and yet some people treat them
tation center for the albino community. inhumanely. “When we ask for lotion, we
In a charity walk attended by people liv- are seen as a burden to the nation, but when
ing with albinism, NGOs, politicians and we get skin lotions, we will be protected
government officials, Shs42.8million shil- from any cancer and we will not be a bur-
lings was raised this year which will be used den anymore. You know treating cancer is
to build a hostel, rehab and a medical facil- very expensive. Once we are protected, we
ity for people living with albinism. can be valuable citizens”.
“The project budget requires sh5b. Par- Other activities held include an
liament raised sh72m last year,” Deputy exhibition to showcase what parliament
Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Oulanyah does, meet an MP Sessions and a public
urged more people to contribute for works tour of parliament.

NRM youths protest as UK parliament debates Uganda’s democracy

Kyaddondo East legislator and musician
Robert Kyagulanyi was invited to UK’s par-
liament as the house debated on the state
of democracy in Uganda. He didn’t attend
but law makers at the House of Commons
deliberated on the issue on Jan.08 where
some proposed cancellation of funding of
army programmes over alleged torture of
members of the opposition.
Led by Dr. Paul Williams a British Labour
Party politician, the MPs highlighted the
arrest and torture of Members of the Ugan-
dan Parliament, Robert Kyagulanyi known
as Bobi Wine, Paul Mwiru, Francis Zaake,
Gerald Karuhanga, and Kasiano Wadri’
as acts that have no place in a democratic
country.
However, these discussions didn’t go
well with sections in the country like youth
belonging to the National Resistance Move-
ment who protested outside the British high
commission warning the UK to stay away
from Uganda’s domestic issues. Also Minis-
ter for Information Frank Tumwebaze said,
“Uganda’s democracy is not discussed and
debated in London. That can’t be democ-
racy but rather an abuse of real democracy.
We got enough of their imported democ-
racy before 1962 and it was up to no good”,
when this was put to him.

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Medical equipment to be assessed for standards
A team from General Elec-
tric, an American multinational
that deals in among others
healthcare equipment arrived
Police celebrates life of MDD department head
She joined the police
a minor and is the only
woman who has led the
Police’s department of
music dance and drama
since Independence,
Commissioner of Police
Josephine Kakooza
succumbed to a stroke on
Jan.09 at the age of 64.
Kakooza who joined the
police at the age of 14, first
serving in the police band
because she was too young
to join the force has been
working with the force since
1969.
Kakooza who was laid to
rest on Jan.12 at Namumira
village in Mukono
Municipality was in charge
of the general administration
in the country on Jan.14 to
conduct an assessment of the
status of medical equipment
in Regional Referral Hospitals,
of the department of music
and would direct music and
lead band members. In his
message at a requiem mass,
Inspector General of Police
Martins Okoth – Ochola
eulogized the deceased as a
selfless person who served
the force with passion.
“If you asked in the
Uganda Police Force,
which officer had served all
General Hospitals and Health
centres. This assessment will
facilitate the preparation for fea-
sible solutions in terms of fund-
ing and equipping the health
facilities with some of the key
equipment that are missing at
these facilities.
Seven Regional Referral
Hospitals – Fort Portal, Soroti,
Entebbe, Mbale, Lira, Jinja and
Gulu, 47 General Hospitals,
2 Health Center IIIs and 5
Health Center IVs have been
earmarked for assessment that
will mainly cover Imaging and
Intensive Care departments.
They come in amidst increas-
ing claims of misdiagnosis
which at times medical workers
blame on faulty equipment.
Ugandan Inspector Generals
of Police to date, it is only
Josephine who would put
up her hand. That is why
she wore three medals, one
for distinguished service,
the independence and long
service medal that is given
to people who have served
for more than 30 years”, he
said she is the only one who
has served under all the IGPs
after independence.
Kakooza attended Ntinda
Nursery School and St Agnes
Naggalama, Nabagereka
Primary School for her
primary education and
Trinity College Nabbingo for
two years before dropping
out to join the force.
Week
Police arrests
woman who claims
her husband killed
Muslim clerics
A video in which a woman
claiming a plan to kill Muslim
cleric and army official Muham-
mad Kiggundu was hatched at
her house had been circulating
on social media platforms before
she was arrested on Jan.12.
Outgoing police spokersper-
son Emilian Kayima said Jean
Nyinarukundo is in custody
awaiting mental health tests.
She is said to have visited
Mama Fiina popular traditional
healer and wife to the deceased
major’s house in Wakiso to
testify this claiming that her life
was in danger because of her
knowledge of this plot. She said
her husband John Zimula is part
of the clique that has been gun-
ning down
“I would rather die when I
have told the truth than dying
with guilt. I have tried to inform
the police and also reported
the case to Nabweru Police Sta-
tion but I was not helped and I
thought the only way to let the
country know the truth was to
tell Mama Fina because late Maj.
Kiggundu was her husband”
she is reported to have said nam-
ing other members of the group
as Meddy Musitwa who is
under trial and another Baker to
have been involved in the brutal
murder of Shiekhs Hassan Kirya
and Abdul Khadir Muwaya.
The resident of Nabweru pos-
sesses text messages allegedly
from Zimula threatening her
with death.

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Jan. 18 - 24 2019 5
Week
Controversy as MPs discuss death penalty bill Egypt prepares to host African Cup games
On Jan.10, members of
parliament discussed whether
or not the death Penalty law
should be scrapped.
A news report by Uganda
Radio Network shows
although several legislators
stood in support of the Death
penalty, a section of others
argue that convicts deserve
an opportunity to reform.
The discussion came up as
parliament debated the law
revision (penalties in criminal
matters) miscellaneous
amendment bill 2015. The
bill seeks to amend the Penal
Code Act, the Anti-Terrorism
Act, the Uganda Peoples
Defense Forces (UPDF) Act,
and the Trial on Indictment
Act, by scrapping all
references to the mandatory
death penalty and restrict its
application to most serious
crimes. The bill proposes to
replace the death sentence
with a life sentence and
mandatory death sentence
6 Jan. 18 - 24 2019
with the discretionary
sentence and to remove the
restriction on mitigation in
the case of convictions that
carry a death penalty.
The Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs
committee of Parliament had
earlier suggested that the
proposal on the abolition
of the death penalty be
subjected to a referendum.
President Museveni has in
the past spoken in favor of
the death penalty, saying it is After being granted rights South Africa who were put to
necessary to deal with those to host the 2019 African Cup of polls in which Egypt won with
involved in serious crimes Nations by the Confederation 16 votes against South Africa’s
and that scrapping it would of African Football last week, one.
be a source of instability. preparations are in high gear in They won the slot, thanks
Some of the crimes that Egypt’s capital of Cairo. They to a promotional video posted
can lead one to death row have six months to prepare on the internet and presented
include among others as the games are scheduled to before the selection committee
murder, aggravated robbery, start on June 15 and end on highlighting the country’s abil-
treason and kidnap with July13. ity as well as its various stadi-
intent to murder, terrorism, After Cameroon was ums such as the Port Saidi, the
and treachery among others. stripped of the right to host in Ismailia, Al Salam, Alexandria,
There are at least 480 death December due to delay in the Suez and Cairo stadiums.
row inmates in the country preparations, the remaining Egypt last hosted the games
currently. spot was given to Egypt and in 2006.
*terms and conditions apply
AfricellUG @AfricellUG
Humour Did you know?

The Earth’s magnetic field

is behaving strangely and
no-one knows why
The magnetic field which surrounds Earth
At least 800 traffic police officers have been arrested for taking bribes and are to face disciplinary action. is acting weirdly and its behaviour has left
scientists baffled. Our planet is surrounded
by an invisible aura produced by the molten
iron which sloshes around deep beneath
humanity’s feet. But the magnetic north pole
at the top of our planet is now moving so
quickly that geomagnetic experts have been
forced to take urgent steps to make sure its
‘skittering’ doesn’t cause global chaos. Later
this month, the World Magnetic Model will
be updated. This is the system which allows
ships and planes to navigate themselves
around the world. It was last updated in
2015 and was supposed to stay the same
until 2020, but the magnetic field changes
have been so profound that it will now be
updated on January 30 after being post-
poned by a fortnight due to the U.S. govern-
ment shutdown. ‘The error is increasing all
the time,’ Arnaud Chulliat, a geomagnetist
at the University of Colorado told Nature.
CCTV footage pins Bank of Uganda’s former executive director of ‘What’s happening?’ he asked. Apocalypse
supervision Justine Bagyenda on intrusion into Bank of Uganda offices. prophets are obsessed with the idea that the
magnetic poles will one day flip, wiping out
modern civilisation and sending humanity
back to the Stone Age. Luckily, the wander-
ing poles do not show this is going to hap-
pen. It’s thought there are two ‘patches’
where the magnetic field is strong over Sibe-
ria and Canada. These are involved in a ‘tug
of war’ right now, with the Russian patch
currently winning so that the pole is being
dragged from Canada into Siberia to such
an extent it recently crossed the International
Date Line. The movement of the pole has
also picked up speed of late. In the 1990s, it
sped up from 15 kilometres a year to 55 km
a year. ‘The location of the north magnetic
pole appears to be governed by two large-
scale patches of magnetic field, one beneath
Canada and one beneath Siberia,’ said Phil
Livermore, a geomagnetist at the University
The MP Kyaddondo East Robert Kyagulanyi also known as singer Bobi Wine of Leeds. ‘The Siberian patch is winning the
has been criticized by sections of pastors over his new song Tuliyambala Engule. competition.’

Jan. 18 - 24 2019 7
Tokyo, Japan: Twenty-year-old Japanese women take a ride on a roller-coaster after
a Coming-of-Age Day celebration ceremony at Toshimaen amusement park

The value of loyalty
By Andrew M. Mwenda
What the story of a simple attendant at a fuel station can
help us learn about building successful organisations
O
n Tuesday January 8, 2019 I
passed a Total service station in
Luzira to load Mobile Money.
Because there was no V-Power
Petrol on all Shell stations in Kampala and I
had a few minutes to spare, I decided to ask
a fuel attendant at this Total station, a one
Vincent Komakech, whether their fuel is fit
for my car.
Komakech then proceeded to give me an
elaborate explanation on how their petrol,
Excellium, is better than V-Power. He said
it cleans the engine more effectively than
V-Power and yet is cheaper and more fuel-
efficient i.e. gives user more kilometres per
litre.
How do you know this, I asked him. He
did not give any scientific explanation.
Instead he answered that many of his cus-
tomers who were previously using Shell’s
V-Power and tried Total’s Excellium often
tell him the Total product is superior and
never use V-Power again.
I was not convinced. The little scientific
explanations I had previously read online
about the quality of different fuels made me
doubt Komakech’s explanation. In spite of
his confident delivery, he based only on the
behaviour of his customers. But Komakech
insisted I try Excellium; promising I will
never look back.
I yielded and filled my tank – not because
he convinced me but because of the energy
and conviction in his effort of trying to per-
suade me to change from Shell and become
a client of Total. I felt his effort should be
rewarded. I paid for the fuel and gave him a
commission for his good services.
I called Total headquarters and gave
them his name and fuel station and sug-
gested they recognise his good work; a
request they accepted. I will follow up to
see whether they actually met that promise.
I took a picture with him and visited him
the next day. I did all this because I was
inspired by Komakech attitude and work
ethic.
Komakech reminded me of a book I read
titled “Identity Economics: How Our Iden-
tities Shape Our Work, Wages And Well-
being” written by George Akerlof, a Nobel
laureate in economics, together with Rachel
Kranton. They argue that what defines a
successful person, organisation, country
or company is not incentive pay or profes-
sional skills. It is identity.
The Last Word
Akerlof argues that when a person makes
a leap in identity and identifies themselves
as a great plumber, teacher, journalist,
lawyer, surgeon or engineer, they will seek
to see great plumbing, teaching, journalism,
lawyering, surgery or engineering respec-
tively in his/her work. Such a person will
want to see their great selves reflected in the
results of their work.
Successful countries and organisations
make their citizens and employees identify
with the values and vision of the country
and/or organisation.
A person may be highly paid but have
little commitment to the goals of the organ-
isation. Such a person will not do a great
job.
Equally, a person may be highly skilled
as a lawyer or doctor but does not share the
vision of the organisation. Such a person
will not apply his skills to the best of their
ability to meet the goals and vision of the
organisation.
This lesson is best illustrated by Rwanda.
By all measures, Kenya especially, but also
Uganda have much better human capital
than Rwanda. By human capital here I am
referring specifically to professional skills
and experience – in both the private and
public sector. Yet in terms of performance,
less competent public officials in Rwanda
out perform their colleagues in Kenya and
Uganda. Why? Identity!
President Paul Kagame personally and his
political party, the Rwanda Patriotic Front,
generally, have articulated a vision of the
Rwanda they want and have mobilised
the population politically around a shared
vision of national reconstruction backed by
dignity (agaciro) in being a Munyarwanda.
Hence everywhere you go in that country
public officials carry themselves with pride
and purpose, and dedicate themselves to
their work to realise the goals and objectives
of the state. They identify themselves as “I
am a Munyarwanda, I have dignity and I
am rebuilding my country”.
They may earn less money and possess
less skill yet work more with greater dedica-
tion. It is their identifying with the vision
of the country that works and is producing
better economic growth and welfare ben-
efits.
The book by Akerlof and Kranton became
an important turning point especially for
its insight for a person like me who used to
Opinion
believe in professional competence as the
foundation of success. I was always keen to
criticise leaders who emphasise loyalty over
competence. In an ideal world it is best to
have people who are both loyal and compe-
tent. But if you had to choose between com-
petence and loyalty, the latter wins.
Indeed reading Akerlof and Kranton
reminded me of what Norman Schwar-
zkopf, a former American military com-
mander of Operation Desert Storm, said in
his autobiography: `It doesn’t take a hero’
that leadership requires competence and
character. But if you are to have only one of
these, it’s better to have character, not com-
petence. Equally, in his book, `Winning’, the
former CEO of General Electric, Jack Welch,
said that leadership requires strategy and
values. He added that if one is to have only
one of these two, it is better to have values
than strategy.
Komakech teaches us that you do not
have to be the CEO or the manager or even
supervisor to promote the interests of your
organisation even when it is not your duty.
The success of the company you work for,
or the country you live in, is equally your
success. You cannot prosper in a failing
country or company. Having the right atti-
tude individually and collectively is good
for you and your organisation.
Across the world, nations try to inculcate
nationalism and patriotism in their citizens
in order to make themselves successful.
After the failure of communism, China
turned to nationalism to rally its people
around a shared goal or national economic
transformation. If Africa is failing, it is
partly, if not largely, because we have less
nationalism and patriotism i.e. we have little
loyalty to our nations and their aspirations.
Indeed, it is because we elites lack a shared
or common agreement on basic national
goals.
It is my hope that Total will reward
Komakech in a public way to serve as an
example for many other attendants at their
numerous fuel stations. But most critically,
it should be a lesson to our national and
corporate leaders – that when you have citi-
zens, partisans and employees who exhibit
such loyalty, they need to be rewarded and
used as an example to others.
amwenda@independent.co.ug
Jan. 18 - 24 2019 9
cover story

Uganda’s growing
public debt
Separating facts from fiction and
politicking
By Andrew M. Mwenda

10 Jan. 18 - 24 2019
O
cover story
n January 10, I watched
with increasing depression Debt to GDP ratio for Sub Sahara Africa
a debate about Uganda’s
national debt on the NBS 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 proj. 2019 proj.
Frontline show. Although Angola 40.7 64.6 79.8 65.3 73.0 71.6
the Minister of State for
Finance, David Bahati, made many good Benin 30.5 42.4 49.7 54.6 55.1 52.6
arguments in defence of government, his Botswana 17.3 16.3 15.5 15.6 14.9 12.8
delivery was not effective. Burkina Faso 30.4 35.8 38.3 38.3 41.0 41.3
The moderator, Charles Odongotho,
appeared uninformed about the subject Burundi 35.8 45.3 47.2 56.7 65.1 69.4
and failed to generate the right questions or Cabo Verde 115.9 126.0 129.5 126.0 124.7 126.7
direct the discussion well.
Cameroon 21.5 30.9 33.3 38.2 39.3 38.9
I expected Fred Muhumuza, with a PhD
in economics and who once served as an Central African 69.2 64.0 56.0 53.4 48.6 44.4
advisor in the Ministry of Finance, to lift the Republic
debate to some higher intellectual plane. Chad 41.5 43.8 52.4 52.5 48.1 45.4
Instead he plunged into narrowly focused
Comoros 22.6 25.9 31.7 28.4 28.4 28.5
theoretical arguments spiced with the usual
Ugandan populist talk that attracts praise on Congo, DR 17.5 16.1 16.8 15.7 14.5 13.3
social media but has little substance. Congo, Brazaville 47.6 97.1 114.6 119.1 110.4 105.0
Opposition politicians Salamu Musumba
and Nandala Mafabi could not get them- Côte d’Ivoire 44.8 47.3 47.0 46.8 48.7 47.3
selves out of cheap politicking. Instead of Equatorial Guinea 12.7 36.4 47.9 42.7 45.6 48.4
raising the many vital criticisms of govern- Eritrea 128.7 132.5 132.8 131.2 129.4 127.3
ment borrowing, they kept heckling and
speaking a lot of inconsequential things. Ethiopia 46.8 54.0 55.0 56.2 57.9 56.4
Ofwono Opondo was, as usual, logical Gabon 34.1 44.7 64.2 61.1 59.3 59.3
but uninformed. Norbert Mao looked com-
Gambia, The 104.9 105.3 118.5 123.2 111.4 105.2
pletely lost.
In my view, any discussion on Uganda’s Ghana 70.2 72.2 73.4 71.8 69.1 65.9
national debt must first lay down the follow- Guinea 35.1 42.1 42.9 39.7 43.7 44.7
ing facts: It is hard to nail down out actual
debt since it is a moving figure. But as of end Guinea-Bissau 54.9 50.3 48.8 42.0 40.1 37.6
of March 2018, Uganda’s total public debt Kenya 48.6 51.4 53.2 58.0 60.3 59.6
stock (excluding undisbursed debts) was
Lesotho 36.8 41.2 35.4 34.7 39.5 41.7
$10.5 billion (Shs38.8 trillion). Out of this
foreign debt was $7.2 billion (Shs26.5 trillion) Liberia 21.6 25.8 28.3 34.4 38.7 39.1
or 68.2% of the total while domestic debt Madagascar 34.7 35.5 38.4 37.3 37.2 38.0
was $3.4 billion (Shs 12.4 trillion) or 31.5%.
The debt to GDP ratio was 39.9% below the Malawi 55.2 61.1 60.3 59.3 57.8 57.6
recommended ceiling of 50%. I will explain Mali 27.3 30.7 35.9 35.6 35.9 36.6
the implications of these figures later in this Mauritius 57.5 60.2 60.1 60.2 59.9 59.1
article.
Be that as it may, such a debate needed to Mozambique 62.4 88.1 118.8 102.2 110.1 116.6
be premised on the fact that Uganda is not Namibia 25.2 40.3 44.8 46.1 52.4 58.5
an island on Mars cut off from what is hap-
Niger 32.0 41.0 45.1 46.5 46.2 47.5
pening in the region (East Africa), continent
(Sub Sahara Africa) and the globe. Therefore, Nigeria 13.1 16.0 19.6 21.8 26.6 26.8
any serious discussion of our growing debt Rwanda 29.1 33.4 37.3 40.6 41.3 43.1
must provide not just the historical context
of Uganda but also the broader regional and São Tomé and Príncipe 69.6 86.0 94.0 83.3 76.9 72.2
global context. Senegal 42.4 44.5 47.8 48.3 49.4 47.7
For example, the Standard Gauge Rail-
Seychelles 72.7 68.0 69.0 63.3 58.5 53.7
way, which will add $2 billion to our debt, is
a regional project. Second, across Africa, all Sierra Leone 35.0 45.3 54.9 58.4 63.7 64.0
nations are borrowing heavily to invest in South Africa 47.0 49.3 51.6 53.0 55.0 56.0
transport and energy infrastructure.
Table 1 shows the debt to GDP ratio of all South Sudan 38.3 69.3 86.5 66.3 51.0 48.6
the 45 nations of Sub-Sahara Africa. Only 13 Swaziland 14.3 18.4 24.8 29.2 36.2 41.0
of them have a debt to GDP ratio lower than Tanzania 33.8 37.2 38.0 36.9 37.0 38.1
Uganda’s.
Togo 60.4 72.2 81.6 78.6 75.6 70.6
Why is debt growing? Uganda 30.8 33.5 37.4 39.9 42.9 45.0
Placing Uganda in the regional and global
Zambia 36.1 62.3 60.7 62.8 71.1 74.2
context helps illuminate the broader factors
driving borrowing. It helps us avoid the Zimbabwe 49.6 51.9 69.8 78.4 75.2 72.6
pathology of claiming that borrowing is a
Museveni/Uganda problem – if it is a prob- Table 1, Source: IMF

Jan. 18 - 24 2019 11
cover story
growth performance of 6.92% between
The Next Convergence 1986 and 2013, in these circumstances, is a
miracle. Indeed no lesser a person than for-
Economy Period of high growth Per capita income at the beginning and in 2005 mer Singaporean Prime Minister, Lee Kuan
Botswana 1960-2005 210 3,800 Yew, said in an April 14th 1988 speech, that
Brazil 1950-1980 960 4,000 Uganda’s world had “collapsed” and could
China 1961-2005 105 1,400 not be rebuilt even in 100 years. Yet it took
Hong Kong* 1960-1997 3,100 29,900 only 14 years (1986 to 2000) for our country
Indonesia 1966-1997 200 900 to rebound and reach her 1970 peak in GDP
Japan* 1950-1983 3,500 39,600 per capita. This recovery, in face of such
Korea,Rep.of* 1960-2001 1,100 13,200 doomsday predictions, shows how remark-
Malaysia 1967-1997 790 4,400 able Uganda’s economic reconstruction and
Malta 1963-1994 1,100 9,600 state reconfiguration have been.
Oman 1960-1999 950 9,000 More critically for Muhumuza, histori-
Singapore* 1967-2002 2,200 25,400 cally few countries have ever sustained an
Taiwan* 1965-2002 1,500 16,400 average annual GDP growth rate of 6.92%
Thailand 1960-1997 330 2,400 for 30 years. In his book, `The Next Con-
vergence’, Nobel Laureate in economics,
Table 2, Source : The Next Convergence, Michael Spence. Michael Spence, looked at all economies
Source: World Bank. World Development Indicators. of the world from 1950 to 2005. He found
*Economies that have reached industrialized countries' per capita income levels. only 13 countries have ever sustained an
Period in which GDP growth was 7 percent per year or more. annual average rate of GDP growth at 7%
In constant U.S dollars of 2000. and above over a 30 years period, see Table
2. So what gives Muhumuza confidence to
Real GDP Growth (% annual change) declare that an annual average rate of 6.92%
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017* 2018* Average Growth Rate for Uganda over a period of 28 years is
( 2012-2016) below the country’s potential?
Ethiopia 8.6 10.6 10.3 10.4 7.6 6.5 7.3 9.5 I agree that from 2012 to 2018, Uganda’s
Rwanda 8.8 4.7 7.6 8.9 5.9 6.2 6.8 7.2 rate of GDP growth has decelerated to 4.1%.
D.R Congo 7.1 8.5 9.5 6.9 2.5 3.0 3.0 6.9 Table 3 shows the GDP growth rates of 12
Tanzania 5.1 7.3 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 6.8 6.7 of Uganda’s closest neighbours over this
Djibouti 4.8 5.0 6.0 6.5 6.7 6.8 6.8 5.8 period. So we can agree with Muhumuza
Kenya 4.5 5.9 5.4 5.7 5.8 5.2 5.9 5.5 that over the last seven years Uganda has
Seychelles 3.7 5.0 6.2 4.3 5.9 4.1 3.4 5.0 performed below her potential. Why? This
Eritrea 7.0 3.1 5.0 4.8 3.5 3.2 3.4 4.7 was a critical question that Odongotho
Uganda 3.2 4.7 4.6 5.7 2.3 5.2 5.7 4.1 could have brought forth. Part of the answer
Madagascar 3.0 2.3 3.3 3.1 4.2 4.3 4.5 3.2 is embedded in the ballooning of domestic
Comoros 3.0 3.5 2.1 1.0 2.2 3.0 3.4 2.4 debt, which we must worry about in large
Burundi 4.4 4.9 4.5 -3.9 -0.5 0.0 0.0 1.9 part because of its high interest costs.
There are many factors. One of them
Table 3, Source: IMF is that in 2012, Uganda passed the Anti-
homosexuality Act. For the first time under
Museveni, this decision enjoyed broad-
lem at all. Uganda the 17th fastest growing economy
based support across the political and social
It is understandable though not excus- in the world, 6th in Africa. If we remove
spectrum. Western donors responded by
able, for politicians such as Mao, Musumba oil and gas producing countries from the
cutting aid, yet government was not will-
and Mafabi to score political points by mak- sample (because they were enjoying God’s
ing to cut down her spending in the face
ing arguments stripped of context, but not or nature’s bounty), Uganda was 9th fastest
of this shock. Instead it went on the credit
for Muhumuza, a scholar. growing economy in the world; in Africa it
market to borrow to fill the gap. This was
There are four critical questions on pub- was second to Ethiopia.
the first time government of Uganda was
lic borrowing, which I felt the moderator Muhumuza argued that Uganda’s
borrowing to fund the budget; previously
would try to focus the panellists on. One economy has been growing below her
it only sold treasury bonds for monetary
is the purpose of debt: is it financing con- potential. What is it in “Uganda’s potential”
policy objectives. As a consequence, interest
sumption or investment? Second is the cost that would generate growth rates higher
on treasury bills reach 21%. Banks smelling
of this debt. Is it prohibitive? Third, given than those experienced? Uganda is land-
profit shifted a lot of their lending from the
Uganda’s current and projected domestic locked, was engulfed in civil war from 1986
private sector to government, or increased
revenue and foreign exchange earnings, is to 2005 i.e. 20 out of 28 years of this growth
their lending rates. This was a double edged
the debt sustainable? Fourth, and related to marathon. It is neighbouring Rwanda to the
sword: on the one hand government bor-
the third point: do the investments financed south, which was engulfed in a civil war
rowing crowded the private sector out of
by debt have a good return? from 1990 to 2001. To the West is Congo
the credit markets while on the other it
All Uganda’s foreign debt is nominally which has been in civil war since 1996. To
made the little credit available to the pri-
going to develop infrastructure – roads, rail- the north is Sudan, which has been at war
vate sector extremely expensive – in some
ways, dams, transmission lines, airports etc. for all this period except between 2005 and
cases hitting 30%. Companies that had bor-
Some money is lost to corruption but it is a 2013. And beyond we have Burundi, Soma-
rowed at lower rates all of a sudden had to
very small fraction. The rest goes to the right lia and Central Africa republic all of which
pay more than they had projected. Many
things: transport and energy infrastructure are at war. This is not to mention that from
began to default, others would not borrow
has potential to give the economy future 1986 to 2000 most of Sub Sahara Africa was
and invest, banks became vulnerable and
productivity gains. Uganda’s economy stagnating.
growth decelerated.
grew rapidly at an annual average rate of Even a third rate economist would tell
This shock was compounded by another
6.92% between 1986 and 2013. That made you that Uganda’s average annual GDP
factor: Uganda, like most other nations of
12 Jan. 18 - 24 2019

Sub Sahara Africa, had run a growth mara-
thon of 25 years with little investment in
transport and energy infrastructure. Thus as
businesses expanded, demand for transport
and energy infrastructure outstripped sup-
ply. Businesses increasingly faced unreliable
power, constant outages, and expensive
alternatives like diesel generators not to
mention bad roads to transport goods
across the country. This began chocking
national economic growth.
This challenge was not unique to Ugan-
da. All our neighbours to wit Rwanda,
Tanzania and Kenya faced it. All of them
have since been borrowing heavily to invest
in transport and energy infrastructure to
fill the gap between demand and supply of
these critical public goods and services.
Uganda is beginning to overcome these
infrastructure bottlenecks, part of the reason
growth has picked apace. In 2018, Uganda’s
economic growth reached 6.1%. A 2017
Harvard study projects that between now
and 2025, Uganda will be the second fastest
growing economy in the world – growing
at 7.2%.
This may not come to pass, but it is
wrong to argue that borrowing to invest
in energy and transport infrastructure is
wrong policy.
Is debt unsustainable?
This leads us to the second and third
questions: is the cost of borrowing prohibi-
tive and is the debt therefore unsustainable?
First, 99% of Uganda’s total foreign debt is
from multilateral and bilateral bodies. It is
given on highly concessionary terms: it has
a high grant component (20-40%), with a
long grace period (six to ten years), and an
even longer maturity period (30-40 years)
at very low interest rates (0.75% to 1.5%).
This is what makes our foreign debt sustain-
able. Sustainability of foreign debt is mea-
sured by the ratio of debt service to export
receipts. In 2018 Uganda earned over $6.4
billion from export of goods and services.
However, debt service is only $209 million
– 3.27%.
Now to the final question: do our invest-
ments in transport and energy infrastruc-
ture have a good rate of return? It depends
on what you are looking at. In terms of
economic return, some do, some do not.
But I do not think the only reason a coun-
try develops infrastructure is about dollar
returns. For example, Uganda built a road
from Sorori to Moroto and from Moroto to
Nakapiripirit, which I suspect has no viable
return in a strict economic sense. But it has
an important social return of taking services
to Karamoja and integrating that region into
this nation. The opposition can argue, quite
convincingly, that we can invest in produc-
tive regions first, and the gains therefrom
can finance investments in Karamoja. But
the opposition does not argue that.
Equally, Uganda has invested heavily
in rural electrification. It does not strike
me as an investment with a positive return
on the dollar. But taking electricity to the
rural poor has political value: politicians
win votes, a factor we cannot avoid in a
democracy. Secondly, it may have a positive
impact on education (kids in villages do
not have to read on tadooba (wick candles)
and ruin their eyes, health (rural people do
not have to suffer chest infections inhaling
kerosene smoke), and environment (it may
reduce the burning of trees). One would
have to look at all these factors before con-
cluding that a particular investment does
not have a good return.
Now there is one problem with Uganda’s
borrowing for infrastructure, which Mafabi
raised – low levels of local content. I wished
Mafabi could have focused on Museveni’s
32 years of promoting policies that have
either displaced or stifled the growth of
local firms; especially in construction. Con-
sequently, Uganda is now borrowing and
spending over $20 billion for infrastructure
and there is hardly any local firm taking any
of these mega construction projects. Chi-
nese firms have also been known to import
cement and steel for these projects, although
the government has since intervened and
stopped this.
Secondly, Uganda has peak electricity
demand of 600MW yet by end of this year
when Karuma comes on board we shall
have installed capacity of 2000MW. Even
if we connected every hamlet and home to
the grid, domestic users cannot consume all
this power. Besides the cost of investment
in transmission and distribution cannot be
recovered from the tariff without making
electricity unaffordable to the poor or caus-
ing government to pay heavy subsidies, a
point Muhumuza raised.
Let us remember that electricity demand
is growing at an annual average rate of
10% i.e. by 70MW. So where can Uganda
sell her surplus? Rwanda, Tanzania and
Kenya have installed capacity above their
needs. Our petty quarrels with Kigali also
undermined Rwanda as a destination for
our power exports. The only export options
are South Sudan and DRC – countries lack-
ing basic transmission and distribution
infrastructure (both hard and soft) to evacu-
ate power from the border, sell it, collect
money and pay us back. So export markets
are closed.
Therefore, only by attracting large manu-
facturing firms can Uganda hope to increase
demand for electricity to meet supply that
we shall have. Otherwise we have installed
capacity way above our current demand yet
we have foreign loans to pay back. This is
a strategic risk for the country, which Mao,
Mafabi and Musumba could have raised.
They didn’t even try.
Government has been investing in hard-
ware (infrastructure) but has done little
investment in software (policies that can
make investment in manufacturing attrac-
tive). For example, there is limited access
cover story
to long-term affordable credit. Three years
ago government decided to recapitalise
Uganda development Bank (UDB) with
Shs500 billion but only Shs200 billion has
been released so far, a drop in the ocean.
Government can do more on Ease of Doing
Business, on tax and other policy incen-
tives that make investments decisions by
firms difficult to resist. On the contrary, the
Uganda government seems forever commit-
ted to IMF and World Bank policies that are
out-dated, ideological, and inappropriate
for our context.
What is even absurd is that govern-
ment has not synchronised her investment
decisions. For example, last year a private
investor completed a 43MW dam in Aswa.
Six months later there is no transmission
line to take this power anywhere it can be
consumed. Consequently, under the Power
Purchase Agreement, the government is
paying $43,000 per day to this investor for
no electricity being produced because it can-
not be evacuated. Delays in procurement
to build a transmission line are evidence of
disorganisation and incompetence. Even
Karuma will be completed before a trans-
mission line has been built. Uganda’s oppo-
sition lack even such basic facts as ammuni-
tion in their struggle. Why? Because they
only care about political power, not policy!
There are many more issues about our
national debt and the existing plans or lack
of them to make its use more productive.
Yet only Bahati made informed arguments.
The rest were totally clueless. I am aware
that it is fashionable and cool to be seen to
oppose Museveni these days, regardless of
one’s values, cause or facts. For the mass of
frustrated angry Ugandans on social media,
a panellist only makes sense if they just
denounce Museveni. This has led to devel-
opment of a culture that does not care about
the quality of the alternative. This attitude
can cause change but not for the better.
Remember righteous anger is rarely a basis
for sound public policy or liberal politics.
All too often it has led to anti-democratic
outcomes and destructive policies.
It is understandable that many Ugandans
are tired of Museveni’s long and corrupt
rule. Yet those who denounce his misrule
are often beaten and teargased by the police,
their rallies blocked violently. This has cre-
ated a lot of sympathy for the opposition
but equally blinded many well-meaning
intellectual elites in Uganda from the glar-
ing disaster in the opposition; especially
their lack of basic interest in and knowledge
of public policy.
Many Ugandans hope, quite naively, that
any change would be better. I do not agree.
Opposition politicians must be taken to task
to explain their policy alternatives; we must
demand that they do serious research about
public issues. The opposition politicians I
watched on television that January 8th night
are ill equipped to even manage the econo-
my of a sub-county.
Jan. 18 - 24 2019 13
news analysis

Nalukolongo channel in Kampala.

Cholera’s wakeup call

Why the unexpected outbreak happened
By Flavia Nassaka
Emma Tagobya; the Local Council Chairman of Sembule B Zone of
Kabowa Parish, Rubaga Division has been quite busy lately – battling a
cholera outbreak in his area.

S
embule B Zone is right on the edge
of Kampala city along Entebbe
Road in the Ndeeba area but it
looks quite rural with its unpaved
roads that billow clouds of dust in dry
weather and become rivers of flood water
when it rains.
Located in a low-lying water-clogged
marshland a few minutes south of the
city, the only reminders of urban life
in Sembabule B are the mounds of
uncollected garbage around the many
small, low cost bungalows, piled next
to each other without plan, and looking
unkempt. Cholera is common.
When we spoke to Tagobya on Jan.11,
two people had already died in the area
and one was a confirmed cholera case.
Another 16 people suspected to be infected
with cholera were being monitored in
hospital. A couple and their four children
had just been reported to have developed
symptoms of cholera.
We spoke on phone and when Tagobya
put our call on hold, we could hear him
telling someone to go pick the patients.
Then he turned to a team of volunteers
who needed him to authorise them to use
the ambulance.
Tagobya blames the cholera outbreaks
on the lack of toilets. His area, the second
most populated parish after Nateete
in Rubaga Division of Kampala, has
20,000 people but only two public toilets
which too have long been closed. Most
households do not have private toilets.

14 Jan. 18 - 24 2019

Poor solid waste disposal is a major
contributor to the spread of cholera,
which is transmitted through drinking
or eating foodstuffs contaminated with
a bacterium called Vibrio cholera which
thrives in faeces. An infected person
will die in a matter of hours if they don’t
receive immediate medical attention.
They develop high fevers, severe diarrhea,
dehydration and seizures may occur in
severe cases.
For a week, Tagobya’s office had been
operating as a call center for reporting
anyone who develops symptoms after the
highly infectious bacterial disease hit his
area.
That morning, he said, he had brokered
a deal with one of his residents to provide
the community with a private toilet that
they could use at least until they nip the
scourge in the bud. The Shs200,000 deal
also involved emptying the facility which
was already filling and putting in place
a supervisor to ensure that it’s clean at all
times.
Health managers panic
But the disease has not just put the
people of Kabowa in panic mode but
healthcare managers, politicians and
Kampala city managers too.
In just three days, the Minister of
State for Health In-charge of Primary
Health Care, Dr. Joyce Moriku Kaducu,
had visited the place twice. She told
The Independent that her first visit was
meant to do a spot check on the area, see
the triggers and come up with specific
solutions that can work for the area.
When she returned, she distributed
recovery kits to people who had been
affected by the disease and had since been
discharged from hospital.
Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago
visited the area, gave some of the residents
who are among the most desperate urban
poor some cash, bars of soap, and put in
place an ambulance to transport patients.
The Minister of State Minister for
Kampala, Benna Namugwanya, had
also been there and participated in a
gang cleanup of the area together with
the locals. She said ‘Bulungi bwa nsi’, as
the activity is locally known, can help
to ensure that the area is kept clean and
keep such diseases as cholera at bay. She
proposed to residents to make it a norm to
set aside a day every month to do this kind
of general cleaning.
She also banned the sale of unpackaged
cold drinks and fresh eats in the area
saying the ban will also extend to other
parts of the city as a bigger plan to regulate
the sale of fruits is still being discussed.
As regards garbage collection, she said
Kampala City Council Authority had
asked the concessionaire – Home Klean to
increase the number of the times they pick
rubbish from Kabowa and similar areas
that risk getting affected by cholera.
It appears the main components of the
Ministry of Health’s Cholera Elimination
Strategy were kicking in early. These
focus mainly on behavioral change and
enforcement
But, while all the visitors to the area
agreed that it is time to act on the national
clean up days and sensitising people more
on the need to stay in a clean environment,
people knowledgeable about the area say
the managers are tackling a wrong issue,
the real issue is the toilet.
Tagobya told The Independent that the
real challenge that baffles them is how and
where to dispose of fecal matter.
“You know our toilets here are
polythene bags, buckets and the
Nalukolongo channel. We have no public
toilets and landlords don’t provide private
toilets for their tenants. We can’t stop
cholera in such a situation,” he said when
he came online again.
Failing government projects
The Nalukolongo Channel is a small
stream that flows through the area right
from the Kabaka’s Lake in Ndeeba in the
city where it starts before finally joining the
news analysis
Lubigi Channel which ends in the major
Lubigi wetland along Masaka Road.
The Nalukolongo Channel is critical
to the health of residents in the city
suburbs of Rubaga, Natete, Ndeeba, and
Nalukolongo. But as Tagobya explained, it
is clogged with silt, sewage, and debris and
requires major de-silting and expansion.
“That Nalukolongo channel is supposed
to be four feet wide but it’s now less than
a foot wide. All those polythene bags there
are full of faeces,” he said, “I mobilized
residents to desilt it (but) we couldn’t
handle the filth.”
Widening the Nalukolongo channel was
first mooted in 2009 when the World Bank
gave Kampala City Council (KCC) US$10
million for the job. However, KCC diverted
the money to other uses.
In 2014, Kampala Capital City Authority
(KCCA) again got money from the World
Bank under the US$183.7 million Kampala
Institutional Infrastructure Development
Project –I (KIIDP-I). The money was
to expand and line the 5.5 km primary
Nalukolongo channel, and 0.7 km of
secondary channels.
Five year later, no work had been done.
Informed sources say local leaders are
resisting an alleged move by consultants
hired by KCCA to inflate the cost of
compensation of project affected persons
(PAPs). The consultants say that requires
Shs8 billion but the local politicians say
Shs5 billion is needed. It is not clear how
the figure was reached by local leaders but
compensation of PAPs on public works
projects is a known area for corruption. As
the wrangle over money rages, the locals
continue to suffer.
Tagobya says floods in the already
swampy slum make it difficult to construct
the cheapest form of toilets; the squat pits.
Tagobya is no expert but Engineer Obed
Lutaakome who is an expert on waste
management also appeared to agree when
he spoke to The Independent.
Lutaakome said the traditional pit
latrine which is cheap and mostly used
by people in slum areas has been found
to pollute the environment. In Kampala,
for example, only about 70 percent of the
city residents have access to clean water.
The rest use water that is sometimes
contaminated by pit latrines.
Lutaakome said, however, the modern
flush or waterborne toilets are also not a
good idea for low income earners because
of the cost of maintenance that comes with
them.
Instead, he recommended lined up
toilets built with a septic tank that can be
emptied whenever it fills. The beauty with
this type, he says, is that innovations such
as employing chemicals to dry the fecal
matter can be used which saves users from
the cost of emptying.
A study by the African Development
Jan. 18 - 24 2019 15
news analysis
Bank has found some 92.7% of Kampala’s
population used on-site sanitation systems
including septic tanks and pit latrines.
However, emptier services, which are
offered mainly by private sector on a cash-
on-demand basis, were inadequate.
With such a situation, KCCA might
need to consider Lutaakome’s proposal
in their new plan to construct toilet
facilities around Kampala. Already they
have secured a $4million grant from the
US based NGO Bill and Melinda Gates
foundation for the construction.
Minister Namugwanya told The
Independent that the plan is to construct
300 public facilities. She did not have
details of the type and how these are to
be maintained. But she confirmed that
Kabowa will definitely be among the
beneficiaries.
Wrong KCCA plan
But Lutaakome says KCCA’s plan
might not work. He says it is not a good
idea for central authorities like KCCA to
provide free sanitary services because of
the challenge of maintenance. He says
the authority’s role should only involve
enforcement and regulation.
Even with the grants, he says, KCCA
should just end at providing the structures
and leave management to the local
authorities. Managing at the center he
predicts will fail like the previous projects
have. KCCA was building public toilets
in slums like Kabowa until they realised it
was not sustainable, he says.
“We resolved that people have their own
infrastructure privately because it’s not just
about the structure but its maintenance.
There is no way KCCA would ensure that
all toilets are clean for instance. It wasn’t
making sense.” Without any toilets in place
yet, Tagobya says local authorities have
resolved to strengthen enforcement based
on a by- law they passed last year to either
lock the houses or ask tenants not to pay to
their landlords until they avail them with
toilet facilities. The by-law which reechoes
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the mother Public Health Act that requires
every landlord to provide toilet facilities to
their tenants hadn’t started biting.
“This cholera outbreak was a wakeup
call. We have to enforce our by law now
when everybody is still scared.”
New challenges
Another challenge is that this time,
cholera appears to have come early and
Tagobya and other leaders in the area are
baffled and appear stuck.
“You see this is a dry season (and) one
wouldn’t expect a cholera outbreak now
because there are no floods,” he says.
Tagobya says he wrote to the town clerk
and the mayor of the division in September
last year, warning them about what was
happening in Kabowa and what they
needed to do to save the situation. He had
realised there was a public health crisis in
waiting. It appears nothing was done and
Tagobya’s warning became reality.
Since cholera outbreaks have historically
been linked to the rain season and
flooding as Tagobya says, it is likely that
the Ministry of Health and other public
health managers in the area had targeted
the months of August, September, October,
and November as the main event months.
This is when central Uganda experiences
the longest rains. March, April, and May
have heavier rains but for a shorter period.
Last year, the main cholera outbreaks
occurred in October. That is when
cases were reported across the country;
in Kampala, Mbale, Tororo,Hoima,
Bulambuli, Amudat, Kyegegwa, Kagadi,
and Kween. This was during the rainy
season; what the health ministry refers to
as the “epidemic season”.
But another cholera epidemic had
occurred earlier in the year, in February, in
Kyangwali Refugee Settlement and on the
shores of Lake Albert. This killed 27 people
and infected 700 people; mainly new
arrivals from the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC). One person died of cholera
in Mbale around the same time.
Cholera also struck Kampala last year
in June, which is one of the driest months.
One person died and 16 were admitted to
the Isolation Centre at Mulago National
Referral Hospital in Kampala.
Then in July, another dry month,
cholera swept across the country killing
nine people and infecting 263. Kampala
recorded the most cases; 92 and one died.
Kween district had 83 cases and four
death, Mbale 46 cases and three deaths,
and Bulambuli 42 cases and one death. It
appears cholera outbreaks are occurring
outside of the rainy and flooding season.
This appears to be mainly due to rising
urbanisation without matching growth in
water and sanitation facilities. In the case of
Kabowa parish, although the government
recognises that it has a population density
which qualifies for water and sewerage
services, the earliest plans target 2033 as
the year of intervention.
According to the Uganda Bureau of
Statistics (UBOS), Uganda is urbanizing at
a rate of 5.4% per year, which is far higher
than the 3.7% for Sub-Saharan Africa and
4% of Africa.
Areas such as Sembule B in Kabowa,
which are slums offering cheap albeit
hazardous accommodation, are the first
staging points for the rural poor migrating
into town. Unfortunately, slums rarely
have any social amenities like running
water and sanitation, and hygiene and
health services. They become hotspots of
epidemics.
According to a recent Budget
Monitoring and Accountability Unit
(BMAU) briefing paper, although 89%
of Kampala households have access to
some form of sanitation facility; 90%
use latrine. According to the Water and
Environment Sector Performance Report of
2017, only 2% use flush toilets. Up to 6% of
households do not have toilet facilities and
open defecation and solid waste disposal
generally are major public health concerns.
They require urgent attention to avert
epidemics such as cholera.
Urgent
Stamps &
Seals within
30 min

By Independent Team
G
emalto, in
cooperation with
local partner SCINTL,
has been awarded
the contract for the supply of
a Border Management System
(BMS); including airport self-
service eKiosks at Entebbe
International Airport.
The appetite for automated,
self-service travel experiences
is already evident in the
success of electronic travel
document checking systems,
online check-in and electronic
border gates.
Self-service solutions offer
more personalised options
for travelers, giving them
greater control. Moreover, time
saved through automation
benefits airports, airlines, and
travelers.
Self-service options can be
introduced at every step of
the passenger journey, from
check-in to boarding, and they
greatly enhance the overall
airport experience.
Gemalto’s e-Immigration
solution uses fingerprint and
facial recognition technology,
combined with a passport scan
to ensure swift and accurate
identification of passengers
leaving the country.
It is built on the Gemalto
Visa Management System
(VMS) that was first deployed
in 2014 by the Directorate of
Citizenship and Immigration
Control (DCIC), under the
Ministry of Internal Affairs.
“The new ABC – Automated
Border Control Solution marks
the latest step forward in the
modernisation, enhancement
of security of border control
management in Uganda,
delivering important benefits
for visitors and citizens alike,”
said General Jeje A. Odongo,
the Minister of Internal Affairs.
Entebbe International
Airport, which is undergoing
major expansion, renovation,
and modernization,
handled over 1.5 million
travelers in 2017, but this
number is expected to grow
rapidly as business picks
up in the tourism, oil, and
manufacturing sectors.
The new eKiosks are
expected to boost the airports
capacity to handle the growing
Entebbe Airport to get
self-check-in service
Gemalto awarded contract for Uganda’s
new e-Immigration solution
number of business and leisure
visitors heading to Uganda.
“Rapid growth in
international air travel is
going hand in hand with
profound cross-border threats
such as terrorism, illegal
immigration and organized
crime,” said Thierry Mesnard,
VP Sales Africa for Gemalto.
“With the introduction of
advanced automated kiosks
at Entebbe Airport, the
Ugandan authorities are once
again demonstrating their
commitment to addressing all
these challenges.”
Once implementation of
the e-Immigration solution is
complete in 2019, passengers
will enjoy the option of a
rapid, self-guided pathway
through border control, whilst
authorities are provided with
comprehensive, real-time data
on departures.
Gemalto is an established
technology partner for the
DCIC. The existing VMS
combines applications,
processing and issuance for
all pre-paid visas and permits,
and incorporates a secure and
convenient online portal, and
biometric enrolment facilities
in foreign missions and on
arrival in the country. In
December 2017, the VMS won
the Uganda Government’s
JLOS ICT Innovation Award.
SCINTL will provide vital
local support and know-how
for a solution that encompasses
supply, installation and
maintenance.
“Overseas visitors are
playing a key role in Uganda’s
economic development, and
many will now enjoy the
option of a safe, fast-track
border crossing experience,”
said Cephas T. Bushuyu,
Managing Director for
SCINTL.
Across the world, airports
and airlines are making it a
priority to provide passengers
with a unique, enjoyable and
memorable travel experience.
According to its website,
Jan. 18 - 24 2019
news analysis
Gemalto has emerged as a
world leader in digital security.
It teams up with IER, a leading
supplier of mobile devices and
self-service machines for major
transport networks, that is part
of the Bolloré Group, a French
transportation company.
Together they designed IER
Fly to Gate, an end-to-end self-
service experience for travelers
that improves the flow of
goods and people.
The offer includes solutions
to reduce waiting times,
especially at security check,
border control, and baggage
drop. These cause the most
negative emotions, frustration,
and even fear among
passengers.
An increasing number of
airports across the world are
already investing in automated
border control, check-in,
and bag-drop solutions that
increase speed and efficiency,
while maintaining high levels
of security.
According to Gemalto,
airlines forecast that self-
service and automatic check-
in will be used by 72% of
travelers and will be a key
differentiator in their overall
passenger value proposition. It
cites the Société Internationale
de Télécommunications
Aéronautiques (SITA), a
member-based organisation
working at airports around
the world to transform the air
transport community through
technology, emphasizing
cost-effectiveness, operational
efficiency and cost reductions,
as well as the sharing of new
technology and innovation for
the community’s benefit.
17
news analysis
A torn portrait of DR Congo’s former president Joseph Kabila in the Nimite neighbourhood of the capital Kinshasa on Jan. 14. Martin Fayulu, who came second in DR
Congo’s presidential election, has appealed to the Constitutional Court to annul the provisional result which awarded victory to his opposition rival Felix Tshisekedi.
DR Congo election
Kabila out but loser goes to court over rigging
By Agencies
D
R Congo’s Constitutional Court
said it would start hearing an ap-
peal Jan.15 against presidential
election results that gave victory
to opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi.
Martin Fayulu, also from the opposition,
was declared runner-up in the December
30 poll to choose a successor to President
Joseph Kabila, who had been in power for
the last 18 years.
Fayulu says the results released on Jan.10
were an “electoral coup” that, he alleges,
was forged in backroom dealings between
Tshisekedi, leader of the Congolese main
opposition party, the Union for Democracy
and Social Progress (UDPS), and Kabila.
“What we are expecting from the Consti-
tutional Court is for the truth of the ballot
box to be restored,” said Albert Fabrice
Puela, one of Fayulu’s lawyers.
“The result announced by CENI is an
18 Jan. 18 - 24 2019
abuse,” he told AFP, referring to the Inde-
pendent National Election Commission,
which supervised the election.
Tshisekedi was credited with 38.57 per-
cent of the vote, against 34.8 percent for
Fayulu, according to the provisional results.
Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, the candi-
date backed by Kabila, came a distant third
with 23.8 percent.
In the few opinion polls conducted before
the vote, Fayulu had been tipped as clear
favourite. He claims he garnered 61 percent
of the ballot.
Spotlight on court
Fayulu filed his appeal on Friday. The
nine-member court has a week to study the
request before giving its ruling, with the
new president scheduled to be sworn in on
January 22, according to Corneille Nangaa,
head of CENI.
In the meantime, voices suggesting a
recount have risen from abroad.
The Southern African Development
Community (SADC), a bloc that includes
Angola and South Africa, on Jan.13 called
for a unity government.
The SADC also urged a recount to “pro-
vide the necessary reassurance to both win-
ners and losers.”
It sounded a somewhat softer tone on
Jan.14, stressing that any such consideration
“should be left to the sovereign internal pro-
cedures” of the DRC.
Also on Jan.14, Foreign Minister Didier
Reynders of Belgium -- the Democratic
Republic of Congo’s former colonial power
-- said a recount was a good idea.
“Obviously, having transparency is
always the first step, and then you have to
ask yourself if, on the basis of what has been
published, one should start a recount pro-
cess,” he told the public broadcaster RTBF.
Tshisekedi’s spokesman, Vidiye Tshiman-
ga, said his party, the UDPS, “will accept
a recount if it is a decision by the Constitu-

tional Court.”
“However, we are against a recount if it
is imposed by foreign countries,” he told a
press conference.
Constitutional law expert Sylvain-Patrick
Lumu Mbaya said that a recount was cer-
tainly one of the options available to the
court.
“The court may have doubts (about the
result), and if so, it can take exceptional
measures, including a recount,” he said.
However, suspicions about the court’s
impartiality run deep in a country where
Kabila’s influence is widespread.
Last April, two judges who were consid-
ered to be the most independent quit. As
one of the successors, Kabila named a for-
mer legal advisor, Norbert Nkulu Kilombo.
Troubled past
The DRC’s political crisis erupted two
years ago when Kabila refused to step
down at the end of his constitutional term
in office, sparking protests which were bru-
tally repressed.
The vast, unstable country has never
had a peaceful transition of power since
gaining independence from Belgium in
1960.
It became a battlefield for two region-
al wars in 1996-97 and 1998-2003, and
the last two presidential elections, in
2006 and 2011, were marked by bloody
clashes.
The influential Roman Catholic
Church, which says it deployed 40,000
observers to monitor the poll, has also
dismissed the official outcome as not
reflecting the true result.
But it has held back from saying who,
in its opinion, was the victor.
What it means for democracy
There hasn’t been a peaceful transition
of power in this country since the end of
Belgian rule in 1960. But this election could
cement a new era of representative govern-
ment in Africa.
The deferral of representative govern-
ment in the DRC has a long history. After
the Berlin Conference (1884-85), Belgium
acquired the Congo as a colonial territory
and, from Léopold II to King Baudoin I,
Belgian administrators oversaw one of the
most brutal regimes on the continent. In
1960, Patrice Lumumba became the first
prime minister, sharing power with Joseph
Kasa-Vubu as president. A confluence of
internal and external factors unleashed a
crisis that led to Lumumba’s assassination
in 1961 and Mobutu Sese Seko’s rise to
power in 1965. With the support of Western
nations, Mobutu presided over the looting
of his country’s natural wealth as one of the
most tenacious gatekeeping dictators of the
20th century. He clung to power for more
than 30 years.
In 1997, Laurent-Désiré Kabila took over
as president in the midst of conflict that
spilled over from the Rwandan genocide
in 1994. Assassinated by his bodyguard
in 2001, Kabila was succeeded by his son
Joseph who has been in office ever since.
Violent protests followed rigged elections in
2006 and 2011.
The quiet work of pro-democracy
activism has been ongoing in the Congo
since 2012 and the process of cultivating
a demanding citizenry is visibly yielding
results. A recent example was when 21 civic
organisations mobilised, vowing to use non-
violent protest to defend the outcome of the
election.
There can be little doubt that a paradigm
shift of historic importance is underway.
Widespread irregularities have been
documented in the recent election despite
the presence of 40,000 observers. Nonethe-
less, preliminary reports by the powerful
Catholic church with direct knowledge of
the process, claim that one presidential can-
didate has clearly won. Diplomatic sources
identify the winner as Martin Fayulu.
Felix Tshisekedi.
Once results started to come in on
December 31, confirming Fayulu’s over-
whelming victory, the government shut
down the Internet, Radio France Interna-
tionale’s FM broadcasting signal, and cell
phone service across the country. Many
believe Kabila’s attempt to fix the election
in favour of his handpicked successor,
Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, didn’t work.
They interpret the information blackout as
stalling and censorship, rather than a means
of avoiding false news as alleged.
As the world waits for the outcome of
the constitutional court process and SADC
intervention, it’s already possible to see that
significant change has come to the Congo.
Massive voter turnout under very dif-
ficult circumstances is compelling evidence
of the people’s commitment to a democratic
transition, even though the process was far
from perfect.
Wave of progressive political change
Recent civic engagement in the DRC
has emerged as part of a pan-African
trend. In 2012, students in Goma founded
La LUCHA, shorthand for “struggle for
news analysis
change.” La LUCHA is a non-partisan citi-
zen movement with as many as 3,000 activ-
ists who engage in non-violent campaigns
to raise awareness of human rights and
cultivate a demanding citizenry.
Another citizen’s movement is Filimbi,
which means “blow of the whistle” in Swa-
hili.
In 2011, rappers and journalists in Sene-
gal founded Y’en a marre (“We are fed up”).
They protested against unreliable electricity
and corruption, registered young voters and
ousted Abdoulaye Wade. In 2013, hip-hop
artist, Smockey Bambara, and reggae artist,
Sams’K le Jah, joined forces in Burkina Faso
to create Balai Citoyen (“Citizen’s Broom”).
They led an uprising that evicted Blaise
Compaoré after 27 years and then swept the
streets as a symbolic gesture of civic engage-
ment inspired by Thomas Sankara.
In 2015 and 2016, massive mobilisation
in the DRC, supported by activists from
Senegal and Burkina Faso, put pressure on
Kabila, who ultimately decided not to cling
to power. A coalition in the DRC formed the
“2016 Citizen’s Front,” including Filim-
bi, la LUCHA, Katumbi, Fayulu calling
for Kabila to respect the Constitution.
In 2016, la LUCHA shared Amnesty
International’s Ambassadors of Con-
science Award with Angelique Kidjio,
Y’en a marre and Balai Citoyen.
Breaking a cycle of violence
Fayulu is an anti-corruption reform
candidate. He ran on a platform prom-
ising to restore dignity, to invest in edu-
cation and to enforce the rule of law.
Educated in France and the US, he was
an executive at Exxon Mobile before
being elected to Parliament in 2006.
Fayulu was backed by an opposition
coalition and supported by two powerful
figures: Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former war-
lord, and Moïse Katumbi, a wealthy busi-
nessman from Katanga.
There’s no disputing that Kabila’s regime
did use violence to intimidate citizens
during the election process. But it doesn’t
appear to have completely undermined the
process.
To be sure, some observers will dismiss
the election as late, flawed and a chaotic
mess. Doubtless more remains to be done to
guarantee the integrity of future elections.
And whoever wins will have much to do to
recover from decades of corrosive violence
and autocratic rule.
Yet it’s also possible to look at this elec-
tion as evidence of the people’s commit-
ment to democracy, even when the process
is messy. The fact is that this election – and
its promise for the future – adds to a wave
of progressive political change across Africa
led by students, musicians, journalists and
activist citizens.
Jan. 18 - 24 2019 19
news analysis
Behind
Bitcoin’s
collapse
The real cost of the digital
cryptocurrency’s fall from grace
An Israeli holds a visual representation of the digital cryptocurrency Bitcoin, at the “Bitcoin Change” shop in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on January 17,
2018. At the end of 2017 Israel Securities Authority said it was moving to ban trading in cryptocurrency-based companies on the Tel Aviv market until
transactions involving digital coins are legally regulated.   / AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/  AFP/Getty Images)
By Carmen Aguilar Garcia, Rowland
Manthorpe, and Alexander J Martin
B
itcoin hit its highest valuation
a year ago, reaching above
£15,000 on some exchanges.
Since then, a unit of the
cryptocurrency has dropped 80%
and is valued at less than £3,000.
According to Sky News of Britain,
hundreds of businesses are being
dragged down with Bitcoin’s value,
and with them mortgages and even
marriages.
The dreams of getting rich for some
of those who spoke to Sky News were
not especially virtuous or grounded in
notions of productivity.
Many of the Bitcoin investors
20 Jan. 18 - 24 2019
recognised their own opportunism and
expected the bubble would burst, and
the price would eventually plummet,
but they expected to sell before this
happened.
Others confessed to being blinded
by the fear of missing out. Even if they
enjoyed the casual chat about how the
future of global exchange naturally
lay with a decentralised currency, they
just expected to get rich quick.
In general, this did not happen.
Analysing data from Companies
House and OpenCorporates, Sky
News has found that at least 340
companies related to cryptocurrencies
or blockchain were dissolved or
liquidated in 2018, compared to 139 in
the previous year.
More than 200 of those companies
were incorporated with Companies
House during 2017, when the value of
Bitcoin surged 1,500% through to its
peak in December.
Hugh Halford-Thompson, an early
cryptocurrency enthusiast and founder
of several blockchain companies - who
even sold Bitcoin to George Osborne
when he was chancellor - told Sky
News that the influx of inexperienced
investors during this period had
concerned him.
“We had a Bitcoin ATM that we set
up in Shoreditch in a place called the
Vape Lab, an e-cigarette cafe in the
cool part of town.
“That was back in 2013, when the

price first spiked to about £250 early
in that year, and later that year spiked
to £1,200.”
When the December spike came
round, he went abroad and didn’t
have access to his funds to sell them
at the peak, which he describes as “a
shame” - but even then there were
other people looking to enter the
market.
“There was a lot of people getting
in, and I think for the first time I felt
there were a large number of people
who really didn’t understand what
they were getting into as well.
“So every Uber driver I had either
had invested or was thinking about it.
“I had people asking me genuinely
which coin to put their children’s
university funds into. That’s not good.
“I didn’t follow up with them, but I
hope they didn’t,” Halford-Thompson
added.
“For the first time a lot of normal
We had a
Bitcoin ATM
that we set up
in Shoreditch
in a place
called the
Vape Lab, an
e-cigarette
cafe in the
cool part of
town
people who didn’t understand
investments (were getting involved,
and they) made or lost money in fairly
big ways.
“It’s a lot worse when it’s the
general public.”
It seemed like a gold rush - until the
price began to sink.
“There was a lot of people trying
to work out how they can get in four
days before the big crash,” Halford-
Thompson said.
“I saw a lot of companies get
involved when the hype was building.
There are a lot of issues in that whole
sector.
“What you’ve had since the crash
is a clean-out of the companies that
don’t really have much and probably
shouldn’t have been there in the first
place.”
Bitcoin shed half of its peak value by
March 2018 and has continued to fall,
a fall matched by an increase in the
number of companies being dissolved.
By June, Bitcoin was less than a
third of its peak value, and an average
of one company was being dissolved
every day.
Since then Bitcoin’s value has
continued to sink to less than a fifth
of its peak value, and 60% of the
340 companies dissolved in 2018
ceased operations between June and
November.
For the first time, the number
of newly-registered companies is
growing more slowly than the number
of dissolved businesses.
Speaking to small business owners
news analysis
and investors, one particular tragedy
stood out as typical.
Married men accessed equity
through their family homes, and
often - whether because they felt
they needed to act quickly to make
the most money, or because they
feared that their investment would
be criticised by their spouses - did
so without informing their families,
only to see the value of their assets
evaporate, followed by their homes.
One man told Sky News he lost his
marriage and remortgaged his home
after he defaulted on loans he had
used to invest in cryptocurrencies. He
said he wished he had never heard of
Bitcoin.
He and many other investors and
businesses declined to be identified in
this article, explaining that they feared
mockery from friends and relatives.
Over the course of 2017, enthusiasts
began ploughing as much cash as
they could into Bitcoin and other
cryptocurrencies because customers
were becoming increasingly interested
in them.
When the prices dropped and
customers grew sparse, many
businesses cut their losses and
dissolved. Maybe they didn’t exit at
the peak, but some came away from
the wild ride with a bit of extra cash.
One small business owner told
Sky News he wasn’t quite ready to
dissolve his business. Despite his
losses, he hoped his experience would
be of benefit to potential customers
- although he wasn’t prepared to
identify himself or his business.
Last December, the interest in
Bitcoin seemed divorced from any
knowledge about the technology
underpinning it - other than the name.
Shares in an unprofitable company
called Long Island Iced Tea soared up
to 289% when it renamed itself Long
Blockchain - although that company
was subsequently de-listed from the
Nasdaq stock, and has now been
issued with a subpoena by the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission.
Of the businesses which haven’t
been dissolved, Sky News has
found more than 50 which have
changed their names to no-longer
reference Bitcoin, blockchain, or
cryptocurrencies.
The chief executive of one business
said this was because opening a bank
account with one of those words in the
company name proved a nightmare
- although Sky News identified
hundreds of other businesses with
similar titles.
Jan. 18 - 24 2019 21
news analysis
Understanding Blockchain
Bitcoin is often confused with blockchain which is
the technology on which the cryptocurrency is based
By Morris Borris Atugonza
A
blockchain is a database that is
shared across a network of com-
puters. Once a record has been
added to the chain it is very dif-
ficult to change it. Records are bundled
together into blocks and added to the chain
one after another. The basic parts of block-
chain comprise `the record’; that is any
information - for example a deal, `the block’,
which is a bundle of records, and `the chain’
which is the blocks linked together.
Here’s how a deal gets included in a
blockchain:
STEP ONE
A trade is recorded. For example, X is
selling two of his coins to Y for Shs10,000.
The record lists the details, including a digi-
tal signature from each party.
STEP TWO
The record is checked by the network.
The computers in the network, called
‘nodes’, check the details of the trade to
make sure it is valid. The nodes on the net-
work work together to verify transactions
and are rewarded with the blockchain’s
currency; a process known as `mining’. The
miners are rewarded for their work. It cov-
ers their running costs (electricity and main-
tenance etc.) and a profit.
STEP THREE
The records that the network accepted
22 Jan. 18 - 24 2019
are added to a block. Each block contains a
unique code called a `hash’. It also contains
the hash of the previous block in the chain.
Any change in the block or information
generates an entirely new hash.
STEP FOUR
The block is added to the blockchain. The
hash codes connect the blocks together in a
specific order.
Difference between block chain and
traditional ledgers
The way that traditional (non-blockchain)
ledgers work is very similar to the way you
would share a Microsoft Word document.
While you are editing the document, every-
body else is locked out and cannot make
changes. Once you have finished making
your changes, you send it out. Then it can
be changed further. When another party
works on the document, you too are locked
out and cannot make changes until they are
finished and send it back to you. In a block-
chain system, however, all users can view
the changes while they are being made.
Characteristics and advantages of
blockchain
 Decentralisation:
Blockchain requires no central server to
store the data, which means it is not central-
ised. This is what makes the blockchain so
powerful. Instead of the server being stored
in one place, it is stored on the blockchain
and is powered by many different comput-
ers/nodes. This means there is no third
party to trust and pay a fee to.
 Unbreakable and security:
Blockchain technology is secured with
cryptographic techniques making it near
impossible for hacking or illicit changing of
data. The only illicit way to make changes
would be to hack more than half of the
nodes in the blockchain since the database
cannot be changed without more than half
of the network agreeing, which again, is
why it is more secure to have more nodes/
computers running the blockchain.
 Trust and transparency
Trust occurs due to the shared database
where everyone can view the full details
of the transactions within it; including the
original source, date, time and the destina-
tion of the transaction.
 Cost-effective
Blockchain is a trusted peer-to-peer
network so it removes the need for a cen-
tral third party hence eliminates the costs
rewuired for a third party.
This was further attested to by Patrick
Mweheire , Chairman of Uganda Banker’s
Association and Stanbic Bank managing
director. He said banks could adopt block-
chain technology to lower operational costs
and risks. In an interview, Mweheire told
Daily Monitor that besides the risks associ-
ated with blockchain technology, there are
certain aspects which are ideal for the bank-
ing sector. Aspects such as data processing,
settlements and payments and anything
that reduces costs and risks.
A number of operational costs feed into
bank accounts, which Mweheire said could

be eliminated by blockchain technology.  value-added step. This way the brand does
“Banks face high operational cost of up to
70 per cent. Therefore, if there is a way we
can eliminate them, why not?” he said, indi-
cating that the banking sector was ready to
adopt some areas of blockchain technology.  With blockchain, medical history could
According to the 2017 financial results
Stanbic spent close to Shs400 billion on
operational costs; among them employee
costs, premises costs, franchise fees, and IT
expenses.  Blockchain records could create tamper-
Mweheire said Stanbic uses Shs40 billion on
ICT, which could reduce through the use of
blockchain technology.
 Availability
Blockchain peer-to-peer network elimi-
nates the central point of failure; hence even
if a computer breaks down or leaves the
network, there are other computers that
will keep the network running. This is most
applicable in hospital and taxation servers
where data needs to be accessed at all times
and shared across the entire network.
Applications of blockchain
Cryptocurrencies
The first and foremost known use of
blockchain technology is cryptocurrencies
such as bitcoin, onecoin to mention but a
few of the 1,600 crypto currencies avail-
able to-date. Bitcoin is often confused with
blockchain. Bitcoin is a digital currency and
blockchain is the technology on which the
currency is based.
How does bitcoin work?
Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to
use blockchain technology. It acts as a store
of value. It allows for peer-to-peer transac-
tions that do not need a third party, such as
paypal or a bank. The bitcoin blockchain is a
database (known as a “ledger”) that consists
only of bitcoin transaction records. There is
no central location that holds the database,
instead it is shared across a huge network
of computers. So, for new transactions to
be added to the database, the nodes must
agree that the transaction is real and valid.
Banking
Financial institutions have been invest-
ing in blockchains to simplify their record-
keeping for payments.
Supply chain
Recording trades on a blockchain offers
a way to check the history of a product.
For example, jewelry companies hope it
can assure customers that diamonds are
not from places where they could finance
war. Considering that most products on the
market are not made by one single entity
rather by a chain of suppliers who sell their
components. Using blockchain technol-
ogy would “proactively provide digitally
permanent, audit-able records that show
stakeholders the state of the product at each
not take the backlash. Companies that have
tried this include provenance and skuchain.  With the connectivity of various com-
Healthcare
be securely stored and controlled by
patients.
Voting
proof election returns. There is also unin-
terrupted voting in business and transac-
tions. As such the latest, fastest, consensus
model is Delegated Proof of Stake (dpos).
“dpos leverages the power of stakeholder
approval voting to resolve consensus issues
in a fair and democratic way. All network
parameters, from fee schedules to block
intervals and transaction sizes, can be
tuned via elected delegates. Deterministic
selection of block producers allows transac-
tions to be confirmed in an average of just
1 second. Perhaps most importantly, the
consensus protocol is designed to protect all
participants against unwanted regulatory
interference.”
Property records
Storing land records on a blockchain
could cut down on costly title research and
insurance. In politically unstable places,
it could help prove ownership. This has
evolved into the new form of real estate
record keeping. Block chain could come in
handy in the process of land registration.
This provides publically accessible legers.
Many countries are picking up this idea for
example Netherlands, Sweden, and Geor-
gia.
Smart Contracts
 Smart contracts are “self-automated
computer programs that can carry out the
terms of any contract. This means this is
financial security (mainly cryptocurrency)
that is held in escrow by a network
and is to be routed to recipients based
on future events, and computer code.
Smart contracts enable businesses to
bypass regulations and lower the costs
for common financial transactions.
These contracts come with the security
of blockchains i.e. they are unbreakable
and without third party interference.
Best example of smart contract would be
the release of the Ethereum project. The
Ethereum project could be defined as “a
decentralised platform that runs smart
contracts: applications that run exactly
as programmed without any possibility
of downtime, censorship, fraud or third
party interference. One company called
Slock uses an Ethereum-enabled platform
to allow customers to rent bicycles where
they can unlock a smart lock after both
parties agreed on the terms of the contract.
news analysis
Cloud Storage
puter systems, block chains avails unlimited
Cloud storage. One company, Storj is offer-
ing secure cloud storage using this applica-
tion. Average users get to store data while
on the other hand significantly reducing the
cost of data storage data for companies and
any other personal users.
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is the practice of fund-
ing a project or venture by raising small
amounts of money from a large number of
people typically via the internet. Innova-
tions such as kickstater and Gofundme
suggest that people want to have a direct
say in product development. Blockcahin
takes this to the next level by potentially
creating crowd-sourced venture capital
funds. A good example of these would be
participants purchasing tokens allowing
them to vote on a smart contract venture
capital investment. Voting power is appro-
priated according to the tokens held. This
system was used in the 2016 Decentralised
Autonomous Organisation that was Ethe-
reum based.
Intellectual Property.
Digital information can be easily repro-
duced and likely distributed. However with
blockchain smart contracts we can have
protection of copyright and automate the
sale of creative work on the internet. One
such system is Mycelia that uses block-
chain to create a peer to peer distribution of
music. Mycelia enables musicians sell songs
directly to the listener as well as provide
license samples to producers all automated
by smart contracts and crypotcurrency.
Anti-Money Laundering and Know
your Customer
Every financial institution must perform
due diligence for your Know You Custom-
er process as demanded by the Financial
Institutions Act section 7 as amended in
2016. Furthermore all financial institu-
tions are to avail account information on
demand and when it exceeds a specific
amount in a bid to fight money launder-
ing to the Financial Intelligence Authority
(Section 18 Anti money Laundering Act).
This process is labour intensive and can
be reduced through cross institution client
verification. A start up known as Tradle is
developing an application known as Trust
in Motion (TiM) that allows customers to
take snapshots of key document such as
passports, utility bills. Once verified by the
bank, this document is cryptographically
stored on the blockchain.
Morris Borris Atugonza is a law student at
Makerere University
Jan. 18 - 24 2019 23
interview

Buganda wants autonomy

and self-determination
The voluminous 520-page book, `Protection, Patronage or Plunder? British Machinations and (B)
uganda’s Struggle for Independence’, by Apollo Nelson Makubuya; the 3rd Deputy Prime Minister
(Katikkiro) and Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs of the kingdom of Buganda, has
attracted a lot of attention. He spoke to The Independent’s Agnes E Nantaba about it and more.

A lot has been written about how colonial has continued to play a significant role not and believes in the system which makes it
rule impacted on Uganda’s politics and only because of the size of its population, a legitimate system compared to systems in
economics. What new strands does the but also because of its centrality, geography, which people don’t have much confidence.

T
book present? business, and politics. Many things have Our country has been unstable since
his book is unique. The author is an rotated around Buganda. Buganda has been 1966 and even after 1986; there hasn’t been
indigenous Ugandan and Muganda, at the heart of Uganda, contributing to the absolute peace and harmony. As
so it offers a perspective of a native stability, peace, and prosperity. Buganda, we continue to
who appreciates the perspective agitate for some form of
from within as opposed to researchers How has politics impacted on Bu- autonomy and self-
outside. It also relies on material that hasn’t ganda’s contribution to Uganda’s determination which
been in the public domain; I spent a long growth economically? our colleagues in
time in the national archives of UK which If it weren’t for the problems the central govern-
many people don’t have access to. There are that we suffered between 1964 ment and other
new angles on personalities, secret missions and 1966 and all the war period; parts of the coun-
that the British had, the role of both British Buganda’s growth and that of try either don’t
and Uganda personalities behind the scenes Uganda would have been appreciate or just
in collaboration with the British or other Af- phenomenal. Because of the don’t want. This
ricans in advancing certain interests - most gap of leadership between form of under-
times personal interests which is not much 1966 and 1993 when the lying tension
different from what we see today. kingdom was restored, we inhibits unity
lost time and opportunities. In
The book dwells on the ‘Buganda Ques- Buganda, a large part of the
tion’ as an issue that cannot disappear population supports
from the records of Uganda’s history. How the Kabaka
best can the question be addressed?
I think it should be the `Uganda ques-
tion’ because when you characterise it as a
`Buganda question’, it makes other people
think that we take ourselves to be special.
We are not just another part of Uganda but
we have a history that predates Uganda. It
is, therefore, a Uganda problem because of
how Uganda was created and divided at
birth. There are problems in other parts of
the country, so we can’t isolate the question
to Buganda. It’s a bundle of questions; like
national integration, leadership, founda-
tions of colonial legacy which per-
petuate the divisions and continued
dependency on Britain. We have a
paradox of being a democratic and
independent country in name
but not in reality.

What is Buganda’s role

in the greater social and
economic status of the
Uganda?
The kingdom of Buganda
is a constituent part of
Uganda and has a long his-
tory that predates Uganda. It

24 Jan. 18 - 24 2019

and harmonious development at national
level. That is why in this book, I discuss the
question and challenges of national inte-
gration. When the British created Uganda,
they had their own mission, interests and
agenda which thrived on divided Uganda.
Many decades later, there is a way in which
even in post-colonial Uganda we continue
to live with divide and rule. Buganda has
sometimes been misunderstood to be selfish
and not care about the rest of the country
but when you look at the facts, Baganda is
not just a tribe but a nation that incorpo-
rates people from all ethnic backgrounds.
We have welcomed people who now own
land and this cannot be seen in many other
parts of the country. If we had continued in
the spirit of inclusiveness and building our
traditional institutions, our country would
have advanced much faster. There is need
to revisit the role of traditional and cultural
institutions in the new era. We have tried
decentralisation and national republic unity
which hasn’t served us well as a country.
That is why 56 years after independence
people still talk about national dialogue.
We need to come together and agree on
how best to live together. This history and
how it is problematic is covered in the book.
When Uganda was being created by the
British colonialists, the foundations were
undemocratic, militaristic and unaccount-
able to the people. They supported impu-
nity by deporting the Kabaka. Post- colonial
regimes have built on those foundations.
That is why we have so much military at the
centre of politics. If we are to embark on the
new future, we need to address those issues.
The book gives an insight into how British
Protectorate administrators deliberately
“plundered” and disempowered Buganda
Kingdom. How was this done?
The first people who visited Uganda
were explorers; then missionaries. Within
the missionaries, there were divisions that
were planted in the country; others were
advancing agenda for Protestantism,
Catholicism or Islam. These were fol-
lowed by proper colonial masters;
starting with Captain Lugard of
the IBEACO. The idea was to
extract, exploit and subjugate
the people so that they can
serve British interests.
There was forced labour
and paying taxes with-
out accountability to
serve the protectorate
regime. The surplus
would go to Europe.
During the first and
second world war,
our fore fathers
were asked to pay
to support the wars
of imperialism and
through dubious
Buganda
has been
at the heart
of Uganda,
contributing
to the stability,
peace, and
prosperity
agreements, they would take away resourc-
es; including land. In the case of Buganda
1900 agreement, Britain took over control
of over 50 percent of all the land includ-
ing crown land. That is plunder. Beyond
plunder, they used patronage and influence
to compromise leaders of the time both in
Buganda and in other parts. The military
coups in Uganda didn’t start in 1971 (Idi
Amin) but right from when King Mwanga
was ousted from his seat (1888), also in
1953 was another military coup led by Sir
Andrew Cohen who forcefully removed
Muteesa and deported him to UK. The
history of forceful, undemocratic and mili-
taristic takeover of traditional governments
laid a foundation for what happened later
on in 1966.
What impact has patronage, plunder and
protectionism had on Buganda’s political
and economic standing to date?
I make the case that when the British
first came to Buganda, they were amazed
at the level of organisation as a society with
some form of government, a leader with the
Lukiiko or council was quite impressive at
the time. Buganda had people in different
fields and the society was on a move. How-
ever, by the time the British left, Baganda
were on their knees because, all over sud-
den, we were incorporated in the new thing
called Uganda where everybody looked
at us as a threat and vice versa. Before we
knew it, the Buganda kingdom was abol-
ished in 1967. The kingdom that was on
the rise was down. That is why we are still
struggling to re-energise and rebuild as a
kingdom.
Buganda wants back its expropriated as-
sets and progress was made with the 2013
Ebyaffe agreement. What opportunities
does the agreement present to the king-
interview
dom in this struggle?
If it were implemented as it was initially
intended, it would have been very effective
in getting us back as a kingdom. The agree-
ment was made more than five years ago
and if you look at the assets returned, it has
been implemented in an erratic, piecemeal
and incomplete way and that is why from
time to time, we have gone back to the Pres-
ident to demand outstanding arrears and
implementation of the agreement.
Land is one of the prevailing problems in
Buganda and Uganda. How does the book
address the land problem?
The book addresses the origins of land
distribution starting with the 1900 agree-
ment and the designs of the British division
and allocation of land. Eventually some
people were dispossessed of their land
and the land went to be owned by some
powerful landed gentry or protectorate
government at the expense of the peasantry
and that scheme has continued to date. In
Buganda we have a problem of Bibanja
holders who don’t have access to land titles
and those who have acquired land eventu-
ally using force to evict occupants. I address
that history in the book with some of the
proposed solutions to deal with the prob-
lem. For instance, we can’t have multiple
layers of ownership on the same land so
there is bound to be conflict. That crisis will
continue unless something is done about it.
What is your take on the move by the
British parliament to debate the issue of
democracy in Uganda?
We live in a global world where issues of
lack of democracy concern people in a glo-
balised environment and like Martin Luther
said, injustice to anyone is injustice to all
and so to that extent, I don’t have a problem
with the discussions. However, by having
the British parliament discuss democracy
in Uganda shows continued interest. Why
would they be discussing democracy in
Uganda yet we can’t discuss the same?
These are other new forms of influence
which are being maintained. So it is impor-
tant that we understand those forces and
find a way of working around them so that
we don’t continue to limit development.
Some palace officials say that you are
tipped to replace Charles Peter Mayiga as
Kingdom Premier. What is your take on
this?
Our focus should not be on who leads.
We should support the leader and work
with the central government and the rest
of the country to advance unity so that we
stop being the back waters of Africa and
revive the glorious history. We are all under
the King and it’s his prerogative to choose
whom he wants.
Jan. 18 - 24 2019 25
Weatherford is among the 1700 companies that have been vetted by the Petroleum Authority of Uganda to render services in the Industry.  COURTESY PHOTO
Chinese, French firms top foreign
oil and gas suppliers’ database
What Chinese, French domination of Uganda’s oil and gas
supplier database means for Ugandan entrepreneurs
A
By Ronald Musoke
s pressure to develop key
upstream infrastructure
picks up with billions of dol-
lars expected to pour into the
Ugandan economy starting
this year, focus is now turn-
ing onto who is likely to take home the big-
gest chunk of the oil dollars.
The government has over the last three
years been asking Ugandan entrepreneurs
to register on the national oil and gas sup-
plier database if they intend to take a share
of the US$20 bn that is expected to be sunk
into a wide range of infrastructure projects,
including; an export pipeline, an oil refin-
ery, a products pipeline, an international
airport and a myriad other oil field projects
in western Uganda.
“We have been telling the Ugandan pri-
vate sector, don’t let this money pass us by,”
Irene Muloni, the Minister of Energy and
26 Jan. 18 - 24 2019
Mineral Development said recently, “Let us
be part of the process.”
Senior government officials say if exploit-
ed well, Uganda’s oil and gas industry has
the potential to boost the competitiveness of
home grown businesses while stimulating
nationwide development.
For a country whose current GDP is
US$27bn, government officials say it is
critical to retain a significant portion of this
investment in the country.
Peninah Aheebwa, the technical support
service director at the Petroleum Authority
of Uganda (PAU), said during the launch
of the database in 2017, that there are up to
26 services ring-fenced for Ugandan entre-
preneurs including; transportation, work
safety products, road construction, security
and hospitality. These are the sectors that
are less technical and where local capacity
exists. The suppliers’ database is to help the
government know the experience and capa-
bilities of qualified Ugandan and foreign
companies in the sector in order to enhance
transparency in the procurement process.
PAU also intends to uphold the legal
requirements on local content, unless the
joint oil venture partners demonstrate that
there are no Ugandan entities that meet the
standards before going for foreign compa-
nies.
This means that Ugandan suppliers inter-
ested in providing goods and services to the
fledgling oil and gas sector are also required
to build partnerships with their internation-
al counterparts if they are to fully partici-
pate in the multi-billion dollar opportunities
expected in the next couple of years.
The Uganda Chamber of Mines and
Petroleum has in the recent past consistently
advised local suppliers to partner with
national players to enhance their capabilities
as the oil and gas sector is a capital intensive
business. But can this aspiration be realized

considering recent develop-
ments on the National Oil Sup-
pliers’ Data Base?
French, Chinese firms join
the dance
An investigation by The Inde-
pendent has found that of the
more than 1700 firms that the
Petroleum Authority approved
in June, last year, to do business
in Uganda’s oil and gas indus-
try; close to 300 are French, Brit-
ish and Chinese in origin.
A section of observers say
this could be a big handicap for
Ugandan entrepreneurs con-
sidering that the joint venture
partners currently overseeing
the development of the infra-
structure have either worked
with them in similar projects
elsewhere or come from their
home countries.
For instance, the China Off-
shore Oil Engineering Com-
pany Ltd (COOEC), is a sub-
sidiary of CNOOC that won
and implemented last year
the contract to do a front end
engineering design study for
the Kingfisher oil field on the
southern tip of Lake Albert—a
project that is under CNOOC.
Fred Muhumuza, an econo-
mist at Makerere University
says the strong showing of
French, Chinese and British
firms on the national oil and
gas database speaks to the fact
that the JV partners are here
for business.
“Uganda’s local content is
mainly at the level of politi-
cal rhetoric because we have
very weak enterprises in the
country which might struggle
competing with foreign-based
companies,” he said.
But does the domination
of Chinese, French and even
British companies worry the
Authority executives?
“Not really,” says Ernest
Rubondo, the executive director
of the Petroleum Authority of
Uganda, “The PAU is supposed
to ensure that the best compa-
nies are selected to offer goods
and services, and not where
they come from.”
“The national suppliers’ data
base is an open system and the
Petroleum Authority of Ugan-
da’s role is to announce that in
order to do business in Ugan-
da’s oil and gas industry, an
entity must be registered on the
national suppliers’ database,”
Rubondo told The Independent
recently.
“The announcements are
made both in country and inter-
nationally; so all companies
across the world are welcome.”
Rubondo said joint venture
partners have to undertake a
procurement process which the
authority sees.
“They have to demonstrate
that they have advertised
publicly (nationally and inter-
nationally) and so even if there
might be more French and Chi-
nese companies on the national
supplier database, the process
of identifying the company to
Countries with the biggest number of companies
on Uganda’s oil & gas supplier database
Uganda
China
United Kingdom
France
Tanzania
South Africa
Kenya
Italy
United Arab Emirates
The Netherlands
Russia
United States of America
Mauritius
Germany
0 300
Source: 2017 National Supplier Database (Petroleum Authority of Uganda website)
do the work is still open.”
Foreign firms dominating
database isn’t a surprise
Similarly, Aheebwa, told The
Independent that it is not surpris-
ing that the response of compa-
nies intending to do business
in Uganda’s oil sector has come
from the home countries of the
JV partners.
She said this is due to the
fact that besides the authority
spreading the news to poten-
tial suppliers both locally and
internationally, the JV partners
have also been encouraged to
do this promotion in their own
countries.
She, however, said PAU will
ensure that every company is
given a fair chance of getting
the deals.
“The pre-qualifications for
procurement are normally the
same whether the potential
supplier is from China, France
or wherever,” she said.
Sector observers, however,
say oil companies prefer to use
the service providers that they
have worked with for the last
4—50 years.
Don Bwesigye Binyina,
the executive director of the
African Centre for Energy and
Mineral Policy (ACEMP), a
Kampala-based non-profit told
600 900 1200
No. of Suppliers
The Independent on Jan.11 that it
is clear that the oil companies
are always likely to transact
with home-country affiliated
companies.
“Quite often, you will notice
that CNOOC is may be doing
business with the Chinese
company registered on the
national supplier database and
the French companies will be
dealing with Total while the
UK companies are more likely
to work with Tullow.”
However, Binyina told The
Independent that the prolifera-
tion of companies on the data-
base with some being affiliated
to the JV partners is most likely
to bring in an element of “trans-
Jan. 18 - 24 2019
business
fer pricing.”
Transfer pricing refers to
the terms and conditions sur-
rounding transactions in a
multi-national firm. It concerns
the prices charged between
associated enterprises estab-
lished in different countries for
their inter-company transac-
tions which at times can prove
difficult to reconcile for host
government technocrats.
“We need to be mindful
about how strong our trans-
fer pricing regulations are to
ensure that the dealings of these
home-based companies and the
JV partners are at arm’s length,”
Binyina says, “As long as you
have weak transfer pricing
laws, quite often you will
have a lot of money being
spent without being account-
ed for and yet it is money that
has to be cost.”
Possible solutions
Going forward, observ-
ers say there is need to do a
follow-up and see how and
with whom the joint venture
partners are doing their busi-
nesses.
But Aheebwa told The
Independent that the author-
ity has already anticipated
the challenge and it has put
in place mechanisms to deal
with issues relating to transfer
pricing in case a joint venture
partner prefers to use its sub-
sidiary.
“We already have several
mechanisms which include
1500
an elaborate system whereby
before any JV partner spends
they must first agree with
PAU on the relevance of the
activities,” she says adding
“Once we have agreed on the
relevance, we have to agree on
the budgeting.”
She said in instances where
the joint venture partners
intend to use an affiliate, the
Authority will require them to
produce a certificate from an
auditor saying that the rate they
will give their affiliate is at “no
gain, no loss.”
“We also require them to
prove that if they were going
to use a third party the rate
would be the same or relatively
the same. At the end of it all,
we will work with the Auditor
General to ascertain that what-
ever has been done, there has
been value for money.”
27
business

Xsabo Group to boost

Uganda’s electricity sector
The firm plans to invest US$200million in solar project

By Julius Businge

X
sabo Group plans to invest
US$200million in the generation
of solar power to supply to the
national grid, according to its
Managing Director and Chief Executive
Officer, David Alobo.
Alobo, who on Jan. 10, together with
President Yoweri Museveni and Vice
President, Edward Ssekandi, unveiled the
first 20MW solar plant in Kabulasoke in
Gomba District worth US$24.5million, said
the firm in partnership with the Dutch-
based Great Lakes Energy Company N.V,
plans to generate 150MW to the national
grid in the next few years.
He said the company plans to
implement similar projects in Soroti
(50MW), Mubende (50MW), Kasese
(20MW), and Lira (10MW). The
development work in Mubende is
expected to commence in April this year
followed up with Soroti and others.
“This is just the beginning; we have the
money ready,” he said. “We are doing
this out of patriotism and love for our dear
country and our dear people.”
The Kabulasoke power project sits on
a 120 acre piece of land with a 20-year
generation concession issued by the
industry regulator, Electricity Regulatory
Authority.
Alobo said households that surround
the projects would benefit through
land compensation and free electricity
connectivity to the nearby schools and
health centres.
“The general idea behind these projects
is to generally support investments, power
industries which are instrumental in
supporting growth of the economy,” he
said.
He, however, said there is a lot of
bureaucracy in the process of acquiring
generation licenses and investment permits
and a lot of resistance fronted by area
residents with backing from politicians.
The company would sell its electricity to
Uganda Electricity Distribution Company
Limited at U$11cents.This cost, however, is
the same as that of electricity generated at
Bujagali Hydropower dam in Jinja, which
some sector experts have described as too
expensive to stimulate industrial growth.
This development comes as the ERA
revealed plans to commission a 10MW
solar plant in Mayuge District, eastern
Uganda.
In 2016, two companies – Access
Power and PV Power Company Limited
launched 10MW solar plants each in Soroti
and Tororo respectively. The two plants,
however, were developed under the Global
Energy Transfer Feed in Tariff (“GET FiT”),
a support scheme for renewable energy
projects managed by Germany’s KfW
Development Bank in partnership with the
Electricity Regulatory Agency (ERA).
The Kabulasoke solar project comes
at the time the government plans to
commission the 183MW Isimba and
the 600MW Karuma hydropower dams
sometime this year. The government plans
to set the cost of electricity from these
dams at US$4-5 cents per kWh.
Sector analysts say the completion of
150MW solar power project will make
a tangible contribution to increasing
the country’s installed electricity
generation capacity that stood at 955MW
(hydropower, thermo) as at the end of
last year amidst growing demand from
domestic and commercial consumers.
Analysts are backing continued
investments in the electricity sector as
more investors enter Uganda’s market.
This is expected to cause an increase in
Uganda’s peak demand for electricity that
was recorded at around 600MW as at the
end of last year.
Simon D’Ujanga, the state minister for
energy and mineral development said the
country will have 120MW of solar energy
connected to the national grid as at the end
of this year.
“We want to use solar to enhance
electricity access in rural areas,” he said,
“These investors are complementing
government efforts of supporting
industrialisation and socio-economic
development.”
The President’s view
President Museveni said at the launch
that as the country increases electricity
generation, user tariffs currently ranging
between Shs350-700kWh for the various
categories of consumers would gradually
reduce.
He also said households should get
ready and tap into the new opportunities
in the frontline sectors of information and
communication technologies, commercial
agriculture, and industry and services
given that the problem of electricity is
being tackled.
The government would also continue
to support households to improve their
income through operation wealth creation
programme, Museveni said.

28 Jan. 18 - 24 2019

COMESA trade barriers
Experts call for harmonisation of standards within the trading bloc
By Julius Businge
T
he Common Market for
Eastern and Southern
Africa bloc presents
huge opportunities for
businesses but a number of
challenges remain.
Delegates from Kenya,
Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia and
Malawi said at a recent meet-
ing in Kampala that despite the
availability of the US$682billion
market and a population of
slightly over half a billion
people, a cocktail of challenges
including low awareness on
sanitary and phytosanitary
(SPS) obligations and responsi-
bilities, weaknesses in the legal
and policy frameworks are hin-
dering trade within the bloc.
SPS measures are mandatory
requirements instituted by gov-
ernments in the COMESA bloc
to protect human, animal and
plant health; they take the form
of legislation, inspection, test-
ing requirements and border
controls which are all linked to
trade.
Other challenges discussed
include; inadequate capacity to
negotiate equivalence, mutual
recognition agreements for
market access and weak coor-
dination amongst government
institutions.
Also, agriculture trade flows
– one of the largest trading sec-
tor – is characterised by high
levels of informality estimated
at over 70% as well as a rigid
policy and centralised regulato-
ry framework that discourages
smooth flow of products.
These challenges were pre-
sented by several discussants
including Martha Byanyima
from the COMESA secretariat,
Doris Kiconco, Paul Omanyi
and Gilbert Sebutare – all from
the Uganda’s Ministry of Agri-
culture Animal Husbandry and
Fisheries.
Amelia Kyambadde, the
minister of trade, who was the
chief guest, said sanitary and
phytosanitary standards are
a crucial dimension of trade
policy.
She said it is on the basis of
trade policy that the govern-
ment has made tremendous
strides in the formulation of
plans, policies, laws and regula-
tions that provide for protection
of human, animal and plant life
and health – all geared towards
improving the competitive-
ness of Uganda’s products in
COMESA.
Kyambadde (L) together with Ambassador Kipyego Cheluget attending
the COMESA meeting at the Kampala Serena Hotel.
She listed them as; the
National Agriculture Policy
2013, the National Trade Policy
2008, The Foods and Drugs Act,
1964, The Public Health Act
1969, The Plant Protection and
Health Act, 2015, The Animal
Diseases Act 2006, The National
Food Safety Strategic plan
2006-2016, The Agricultural
Chemical control Act, 2006, The
Public Health Act 2000, and The
National Drug Act, 2000.
However, Kyambadde said
discussing the challenges and
having the legal framework
without real solutions to the
problems would not help.
She suggested that there
is need for member states to
formulate and amend relevant
policies related to post-harvest
handling, production, market-
ing and transportation; building
institutional capacity in the
local governments, private sec-
tor, producer groups; investing
in laboratories, sensitisation of
farmers and boosting extension
services for good agricultural
and manufacturing practices.
Uganda’s National Develop-
ment Plan (NDPII) 2015/16-
2019/20 recognises agriculture
and trade sectors as some of the
key drivers for private sector
led economic growth.
Currently, the sector employs
around 70% of the population
and contributes around 26% to
national GDP.
Kyambadde said non-
compliance with SPS mea-
sures recently cost COMESA
countries tremendous export
opportunities, both at the intra-
regional and the international
level.
“Recently fruits and veg-
etables worth US$60million
from 53 firms holding export
license were intercepted and
rejected by the European Union
due to lack of compliance with
sanitary and phytosanitary
standards,” she said.
The Assistant Secretary Gen-
eral in charge of Programmes at
COMESA secretariat, Ambas-
sador Kipyego Cheluget said all
the 21 member states are heav-
ily dependent on fisheries and
agriculture and thus should
address the constraints.
He said there is low compli-
ance to standards by small and
medium enterprises which
undermines industry competi-
tiveness, trade facilitation and
market access for food and agri-
Jan. 18 - 24 2019
business
cultural products.
According to available sta-
tistics, trade volumes in the
COMESA region grew by 5% in
2016 with total exports amount-
ing to US$471bn.
But intra COMESA trade
remains low relative to other
regions stagnating at around
11% of total COMESA exports
(2016) and with the majority of
traded products being with low
value addition.
Over 90% of the member
states trade with other parts of
the world.
Although intra Comesa
trade is low, Cheluget said,
there is potential trade worth
US$82bn.
“So we must work out
how to realise that enormous
potential,” he said.
Richard Kamajugo from
Trademark East Africa said
that government and devel-
opment partners should
take lead in ensuring quality
standards of goods by imple-
menting the policy and legal
frameworks that are in place.
“We will work closely with
COMESA to enhance trade,”
he said, “we will get in this area
with the same zeal and energy
that we have invested in other
areas.”
Daniel Njiwa, a consultant
for COMESA said that dealing
with trade barriers in the bloc
would require governments to
involve the people in the for-
mulation process of the policies
and laws regarding standards.
He also said government
agencies need to strengthen
coordination in addition to
harmonising of standards for
agricultural inputs as well as a
supportive tax regime.
Daniel Birungi, the executive
director of Uganda Manufactur-
ers Association said that there
is need for strengthening col-
laboration between government
and the private sector, investing
heavily in storage facilities in
addition to quick implementa-
tion of trade related decisions
made by the governments.
29
Business
fuel aviation

Board approves Kenol Kobil sale to French firm Emirates targets travelers

until February 18 to accept or decline the of-
fer, according to reports from Kenya’s local
dailies. “After deliberations and on the basis
of independent financial advice, the direc-
tors (of KenolKobil) are recommending to
the shareholders of the company that they
should accept the takeover offer by Rubis
Energie,” Kenol Kobil chairman, James
Mathenge said in a statement. The French
firm already owns a 25% stake in Kenol
Kobil that it bought from Wells Petroleum
in October 2018. Rubis has proposed to pay
D
ubai based Emirates is targeting
to win hearts of more travelers
with special 2019 fares in Uganda
for those planning to travel to
destinations in Europe, Far East, South
Asia and Americas. The offer applies to
bookings made from January 7-21 for those
travelling between Jan.13 – 30. Economy
Class passengers will pay a minimum of
$745 to Europe, $749 to the Far East, $1,019
to the Americas and $549 to South Asia.
Business Class passengers would enjoy

T
he board of the regional oil mar-
keter, Kenol Kobil, has approved the
proposed takeover of the firm by
the French based company, Rubis
Energie. The shareholders, however, have
Ksh23 a share for the remaining 75% stake,
valuing the company at Kshs Sh35.7 billion
Rubis already operates in 12 African coun-
tries in the mid and downstream oil market,
but has no presence in the Eastern and Cen-
tral Africa region.
fares starting $2,670 to Europe, $2,580 to the
Far East, $3,405 to the Americas and $1,980
to South Asia. The Airline said in a notice
that its special fares will help travelers have
a flying start to 2019.

telecom paint

Telcos to list 30% AkzoNobel unveils paint challenge

C
stake on stock market alling all startups, scale- the Future offers winners passionate about what we do

U
ganda will
expect major
telecommunication
companies
operating in the country
to list 30% of their stock
on the local bourse under
a new policy intended to
align operations in the
sector with market realities.
256businessnews.com says
the target is the two major
mobile telephone players
ups, entrepreneurs
and innovators! The
first edition of Paint
the Future - the AkzoNobel
startup challenge is now open
and ready to discover new
and revolutionary solutions
that will accelerate innovation
in the world of paints and
coatings. Spearheaded by the
company’s Chief Technology
Officer, Klaas Kruithof, Paint
pr
the opportunity to accelerate
commercialization of their
solution. The Netherland-based
firm is the owner of Sadolin
Paint brand in the world. “We
can’t wait to see what exciting
developments this collaborative
experience brings to the paints
and coatings industry,” says
AkzoNobel CEO, Thierry
Vanlancker. “We are driven to
create value for our customers,
and always looking ahead.
Now, we are looking to go
even further, painting the
future together with the
world’s coolest innovators.”
The challenge is unveiled in
partnership with KPMG and
focuses on five key areas:
Smart application, enhanced
functionality, circular solutions,
life science infusion and
predictable performance.
csr

PR firm brainchild Burson-Marsteller rebrands NSSF blood campaign

– MTN and Airtel that

A
control 92% of the Ugandan
s part of its corporate

telecom market. Under the
policy that was adopted by
cabinet last September and
will guide the sector for
the next five years, the ICT
ministry sees listing as an
opportunity to boost local
ownership of the sector and
to dampen capital occasion
by repatriation of profits and
dividends. Listing on the
local bourse, will become
a licensing condition for
incumbent and prospective
telecommunications
operators in the sector that
boasted 23.6 million mobile
telephone subscribers by
June 2017. This similar
action has been taken in
Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania
and Zambia.
U
ganda’s public rela-
tions firm, brainchild
Burson-Marsteller, has
rebranded to brain-
child BCW (Burson Cohn &
Wolfe), embracing the
identity of BCW, one
of the world’s largest
full-service com-
munications agency
and Africa’s largest
PR network. The
development comes
on the back of the
2018 global merger of
Burson-Marsteller and
Cohn & Wolfe. Walter Wafula,
the head of business unit at
brainchild BCW in Uganda said
as partners in the BCW Africa,
the new brand identity will
enable them to better deliver
captivating brand campaigns
and inventive experiences to the
Ugandan companies looking
for full service integrated com-
munication capabilities. Last
year, BCW Africa was
named the African
Network of the Year
for the third succes-
sive year at South Af-
rica’s PRISM Awards
while Cohn & Wolfe
was awarded the
Global Agency of the
Year by the Holmes
Report at the Global
SABRE Awards. Similarly,
brainchild BCW was awarded
the Best Specialist Digital Com-
munications firm in Uganda by
Acquisition International Global
Excellence Awards.
social responsibility
function, the National
Social Security Fund
(NSSF) kicked off its annual
countrywide blood donation
drive at Mulago hospital on
Jan.14.The Fund’s MD, Richard
Byarugaba said over 6,000 units
of blood would be collected this
year to support those in need of
it. “We are one of the organisa-
tions that have a footprint across
the country or whose business
affects a wider population. We
are passionate about the com-
munities we serve and believe a
healthy community is critical for
the fulfilment of our mandate.
That is why we are committing
resources and our office spaces
this week as donation collection
points,” Byarugaba said amidst
other government officials.

30 Jan. 18 - 24 2019
 Business

Power tariffs drop

By Patricia Akankwatsa in economic indicators.

U
ganda’s Electricity
Regulatory Authority
has slightly reduced
the electricity tariffs
for the first quarter of 2019
compared with preceding
quarter but not enough to
stimulate industrial growth.
The latest consumer tariff
schedule shows that domes-
tic consumers will now pay
Shs718.9, down from Shs 771.1
per kWh, small scale indus-
tries Shs 648.3, down from Shs
NSSF Managing Director, Richard Byarugaba (L) takes notes alongside 687 per kWh whereas medium
other officials during the launch of the Fund’s annual countrywide blood industrial consumers will pay
donation drive at Mulago National Referral Hospital on January 14. The Shs 592.5, down from Shs
campaign is expected to add over 6,000 units of blood to the National 615.3 per kWh.
Blood Bank, according to Byarugaba.  Independent/Julius Businge Large scale industrial con-
sumers, who seem to be the
big beneficiaries in this new
tariff, will now pay Shs375.5,
down from Shs 383.8 per kWh
while tariffs for street lighting
dropped by nearly Shs51 to
Shs 701.9 per kWh.
The regulator, which
reviews electricity tariffs at
the beginning of each quarter
taking into account changes
in the exchange rate, inflation
and fuel prices, said the slight
drop in the electricity tariffs is
attributed to the improvement
Despite the slight drop in
electricity tariffs, available
statistics indicates that it has
consistently gone up.
For instance, an earlier
analysis by The Independent
shows that the government
increased electricity tariffs by
over 22% over the past three
years to 2016, with domestic
consumers whose usage is
more than 15 units per month
paying an average of Shs635.2
as at the end of 2016, up from
Shs518.6 per KWh in 2014.
Commercial consumers
such as welders and water
pumps saw their electricity
tariff increased by 20.7% to Shs
570.6 per KWh while medium
and large industrial consumers
saw their tariffs increased from
an average of Shs450.1 and
Shs308.5 per KWh in 2014 to
Shs526.7 and Shs355.8 in 2016,
respectively during the same
period.
This development comes
as consumers eagerly wait for
the commissioning of Isimba
and Karuma Hydropower
dams this year, a move that
is expected to drive electricity
tariffs downwards.

The Director Financial Sector Deepening Rashmi Pillai, the IRA Acting
Director Market Research and Development Sande Protazio and Paul
Kavuma, Chief Executive Officer Uganda Insurers Association in discussion
after the launch of the Micro Insurance Challenge Fund at Protea Hotel,
Kampala. Three to five successful companies will secure a development
support of £100,000 each.   Courtesy Photo. Weekly share price movement (Jan. 14)
Security Jan. 14 Jan. 04 Movement
BATU 30,000 30000 00
BOBU 135 138 2.2
CENT 1,049 1,071 2.0
QCL 174 190 8.4
DFCU 822 822 00
EABL 5,941 6,313 5.8
EBL 1,346 1,242 7.7
JHL 15,135 15,259 0.8
KA 290 319 9.0
KCB 1,345 1,350 0.4
NIC 14 14 00
NMG 2,296 2,386 3.7
NVL 338 338 00
SBU 30 30 00
Andela Uganda Director, Jackie Ochola (middle) addressing over 50 information UCHM 31 29 6.8
technology experts at their headquarters on Bukoto Street, Kamwokya on Jan.14. UCL 19 19 00
Ochola said that 2019 will be a year for Andela to partner with ICT players and UMEME 300 320 6.2
government to boost the sector’s growth prospects.   Independent/Julius Businge ALSI -- -- --

Jan. 18 - 24 2019 31
Most people do not eat the amount of fibre needed to prevent key life-threatening illness, scientists say.
The superfood scientists say
can make you live longer
Experts say a diet high in fibre could cut heart disease, stroke
A
By Agencies
diet rich in fibre found in
bread, pasta, wholegrain ce-
reals and potatoes could cut
the risk of early death by up
to a third, a study suggests.
The review commissioned
by the World Health Organisation showed
there was clear evidence people should
increase their intake of fibre - which is
found in high-carb foods - to reduce the risk
of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other
chronic diseases.
It has reignited debate – and confusion -
on carbohydrates, which in the weight loss
world are considered “bad”.
According to the study’s authors, it is the
type, quality and quantity of carbohydrates
in people’s diets that is important.
32 Jan. 18 - 24 2019
“Our research indicates we should have
at least 25g to 29g of fibre from foods daily,
although most of us currently consume less
than 20g of fibre daily,” said Dr Andrew
Reynolds, lead author of the study.
“Our findings provide convincing evi-
dence for nutrition guidelines to focus on
increasing dietary fibre and on replacing
refined grains with whole grains. This
reduces incidence risk and mortality from
a broad range of important diseases,”
said Professor Jim Mann, who co-led the
research.
The team from the University of Otago
in New Zealand looked at 185 clinical trials
and 58 studies carried out during the last
four decades involving more than a million
people.
Their analysis found up to a 30% reduc-
tion in deaths from all causes among those
who consumed the most fibre.
A high-fibre diet also showed up to a 24%
fall in rates of colorectal cancer, type 2 dia-
betes, coronary heart disease and stroke.
For every 1,000 participants in the 243
studies and trials, the impact of consuming
higher fibre intakes translates into 13 fewer
deaths and six fewer cases of coronary heart
disease when compared to those consuming
lower fibre diets.
UK nutrition guidelines since 2015
recommend a daily fibre intake of 30g, but
only 9% of adults manage to reach this
target.
Professor Mann said the health benefits
of dietary fibre - contained in foods such
as whole grains, pulses, vegetables and
fruit - come from its chemistry, physical
properties, physiology and its effects on
metabolism.

Why does malaria recur?
How pieces of the puzzle are slowly being filled in
By Miles B. Markus
S
ome people suffer from repeated
attacks of malaria. These can occur
weeks to months or longer after
contracting the disease. The phe-
nomenon is only too familiar to those who
were bitten by mosquitoes carrying the type
of malaria-causing organism known as Plas-
modium vivax. Whereas the malaria agent
in Africa is primarily Plasmodium falci-
parum, P. vivax is the most widespread of
the more than half a dozen malaria parasite
species that infect humans globally.
An unresolved issue is why people
experience recurrences of P. vivax malaria
despite having received treatment for the
disease. There’s also still not absolute clarity
about where – in which organs and tissues –
the parasites that are responsible for persist-
ing infections hide. Because we don’t know
this, we can’t determine how to kill them.
Without filling in these blanks, we won’t
be able to achieve the goal of eradicating
malaria parasites everywhere in the world.
For the past four decades, I have intermit-
tently been giving consideration to what
makes malaria recur long after people have
become infected by P. vivax, and have made
some significant conceptual breakthroughs.
These, combined with subsequent research
by other scientists, have greatly enhanced
our understanding of why malaria recurs.
The most recent advance has been the
ultimate acceptance of the theory I first pro-
pounded seven years ago. Namely, that the
parasite multiplies – undetected – in more
organs and tissues in the body than only
the liver and bloodstream (which is conven-
tional dogma).
One of the outcomes of this new conclu-
sion is the increasing realisation that drugs
might not eliminate malaria parasites with
equal efficacy in all of the parts of the body
that they inhabit. This is a possible explana-
tion (there are others too) for why malaria
can recur despite treatment.
We still don’t have all the answers. But
significant new insights are emerging which
have important implications for the treat-
ment of malaria, and eventually its eradica-
tion.
The journey of discovery
For some time now, it has been assumed
that there’s only one source of malarial
relapse, namely, a dormant liver stage of the
P. vivax parasite called the “hypnozoite”.
This term, which I coined 41 years ago,
is derived from the Greek words hypnos
(sleep) and zoon (animal). Thus, a “sleeping
animal”.
When a hypnozoite wakes up, it mul-
tiplies in the liver cell in which it’s living,
resulting in the formation of a large num-
ber of progeny, called merozoites. After
emerging from the liver cell, they invade
red blood cells and reproduce inside them.
When these cells burst, they release merozo-
ites which then enter other red blood cells,
in which the cycle is repeated.
It’s the ongoing proliferation of merozoite
stage parasites in the bloodstream that leads
to a recurrent bout of symptomatic illness.
Until now, liver cells – and especially
blood vessels – have generally been con-
sidered to be the only habitats in humans
where malaria parasites live and multiply.
But biomedical knowledge has changed.
It’s now becoming clearer that recurrences
are caused by not only merozoites inside
blood vessels, but in fact by merozoites out-
side blood vessels too.
Seven years ago, I pointed out for the first
time (on the basis of some complicated ini-
tial evidence) that P. vivax recurrences can
also be explained if there is a reservoir of
merozoites outside the bloodstream.
The concept is simply that the non-blood-
stream origin of P. vivax malarial recurrenc-
es can be both merozoites that occur outside
blood vessels and hypnozoites in the liver
(not hypnozoites only).
More recently, I figured out at the Univer-
sity of the Witwatersrand that bone marrow
probably serves as a merozoite reservoir for
the P. vivax parasite. Other researchers had
already suggested the possibility.
Additionally, I have repeatedly ration-
alised that the same thing might apply to
the spleen, and perhaps other sites too.
This was concluded by joining the dots (in
other words, theoretically), partly through
health
analysis of published literature, some of it
relatively obscure.
A paradigm shift
This improved understanding is an
important development and has implica-
tions for both the treatment of malaria and
elimination of malaria parasites in human
populations. This is because there are indi-
cations that a drug that kills merozoites in
one site in the body will not necessarily kill
all merozoites that occur elsewhere.
So not only might the patient not be
cured, but parasites may periodically enter
the circulating bloodstream and be sucked
up by mosquitoes when they feed. This can
result in further transmission of malaria
when the infected mosquitoes bite other
people.
But scientific dogma is often firmly
entrenched. It took until last year for the
idea that there is a dual origin of non-blood-
stream parasites in P. vivax recurrences
(both merozoites outside the bloodstream
and hypnozoites) to gain acceptance.
Disbelief – as well as some demonisation
in knee-jerk reactions to my unconventional
views – is progressively metamorphosing
into agreement. This is happening mainly
because of new research at Harvard Univer-
sity, the University of Glasgow, and else-
where. Studies have yielded results which
can be adduced as additional support for
my seven-year-old concept.
Consequently, a dramatic – and welcome
– shift in attitude is taking place. Malariolo-
gists are beginning to reiterate my concept
and repeat supporting evidence for it that
I had unearthed and included in bits and
pieces in my publications in recent years,
as well as presented at international confer-
ences.
What’s next
More research is being carried out to
gain an even deeper understanding of the
process of malarial recurrence. It involves
studying parasites in cell culture, labora-
tory mice, and non-human primates, using
sophisticated imaging and other cutting
edge techniques. In association with this
work, drug-related investigations are being
undertaken in order to find out how best to
treat patients who have P. vivax malaria.
Miles B. Markus is Honorary Professorial
Research Fellow, University of the
Witwatersrand
Source:theconversation
Jan. 18 - 24 2019 33
comment
By Jonathan Jansen
Cheat sheet for Vice chancellors
Constant protests on some campuses shouldn’t distract
vice-chancellors from the core business of a university
A
t least once a month, a head-
hunting firm calls me seeking
advice on a search for a university
vice-chancellor. They want to
pick my brains because of what I’ve learnt,
sometimes the hard way, over seven years
as a vice-chancellor, 12 years as an aca-
demic dean and two years as an adminis-
trator of struggling universities.
By the time the headhunter makes the
call, the university would have advertised
the position more than once but simply
couldn’t find the right person for the job.
I often advise on three starting criteria. In
addition, my long tenure in higher educa-
tion has also taught me that there’s addi-
tional knowledge that’s useful for a uni-
versity leader to have, particularly in these
turbulent times facing higher education.
Let me start with the criteria that head
hunters should be looking for.
First, candidates need to be major
scholars in their field of expertise. Your
credibility as an academic is critical in a
serious university. If your Senate cannot
respect you, you will sound foolish trying
to make the case for enhancing the stan-
dards of the professoriate or demanding
quality scholarship in learned journals.
Second, a competent manager with broad
knowledge across the range of university
functions – from information technolo-
gies to residence management to internal
auditing. No vice-chancellor is an expert in
more than one of these managerial disci-
plines. But candidates must know enough
to ask their directors or heads of depart-
ment the right questions.
And third, an inspiring leader who has
the ability to connect with – and command
the respect – of diverse people across the
institution from workers to junior lecturers
to senior professors.
Some pointers for candidates
Potential candidates should consider
what they need to offer inspiring leader-
ship and effective management to universi-
ties. Based on my experience, this is what
you need to know, and how you need to
be.
A good dose of humility. The four
opening words in the best-selling book,
`The Purpose Driven-Life’ by evangelical
pastor and author Rick Warren is all you
need to read: It’s not about you.
People will sing your praises but they
34 Jan. 18 - 24 2019
will demand things from you. They will
look up to you but they will also blame
you. In good times and bad, remember, it’s
not about you. You are privileged to lead
your institution but on behalf of others.
The adulation could go to your head. Keep
telling yourself it is about the students,
the academics, the staff and the workers.
You exist to serve them. It definitely is not
about you.
A sense of your own limitations. A vice-
chancellor stands or falls by the quality
and cohesiveness of the senior team. It’s
crucially important that the absolute best
people are hired as deputy-vice chancel-
lors for the key portfolios such as finance,
research, teaching and information tech-
nologies. These are persons who should
complement the competency set of the
vice-chancellor and who are resolutely
committed to the academic mission of the
university. The vice-chancellors role is to
keep them together (not always easy) and
listen to their counsel.
A singular ambition. Sitting in the main
office, you tend to overreach by wanting
to do everything on a long list of goals.
Do one or two big things well and you are
more likely to make an impact. That ambi-
tion may be to dramatically raise the aca-
demic standard of a mediocre university
or to stabilise the finances of an institution
The constant
protests and
instability on
some campuses
constantly
threaten to
distract vice-
chancellors
from the core
business of a
university
after a near terminal crisis. Choose a few
things that resonate with the university
community and put all your energy into
making those commitments real.
A short line to your boss. Your nominal
boss is the Chair of Council. It is the single
most important relationship you should
develop. Most universities that fall into
crisis do because of a breakdown between
governance (Council) and management
(Executive). Meet at least once a fortnight
to build the interpersonal relationship,
share your agenda and remind each other
of the line that must not be crossed—man-
agers do not govern and governors don’t
manage.
Invest in your own development. Make
sure you build into your contract nego-
tiations with Council the necessary time
off to continue your own research and
writing especially when your goal is to
re-enter academic life at a later stage. A
vice-chancellor who is academically active
sets a powerful example to both staff as
well as students. Furthermore, taking off
regular time to rebuild your energies in a
demanding job is the best way in which to
continue doing your job well.
It is a university. The constant protests
and instability on some campuses con-
stantly threaten to distract vice-chancellors
from the core business of a university. Find
ways of delegating demanding functions
like constant negotiations with students or
workers to offset protests. Be there, but not
all the time. You are running an academic
institution and that focus could be easily
lost in a context or climate where crisis
management redefines the role of the head
of a university.
Use the platform. A vice-chancellor has a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to address
burning issues in the broader society from
an institutional platform. Do not draw
inwards and disappear from public view.
Draw on your specialist training and speak
to critical concerns. Whether you like it or
not, a vice-chancellor is a public persona
who is likely to be listened to by govern-
ment, the media and the broader commu-
nity by virtue of the position.
Jonathan Jansen is Distinguished Professor,
Stellenbosch University
Source: the conversation
 ART | BOOKS | SOCIETY | TRAVEL | CULTURE
Beautiful art waits in Kla’s
non- traditional spaces
More energy, creativity, and innovation without
traditional hindrances of space or materials
K
By Dominic Muwanguzi
ampala is witnessing a mush-
rooming of non-traditional art
spaces on the local art scene.
Different from traditional
museums and galleries, none
traditional art spaces in Kam-
pala include Design Hub Kampala, 32⁰ East,
Afriart on Seventh, The Big Kafunda and
public avenues like the Royal mile- Kabaka
Ajangala Road- in Mengo.
These are interesting because they are
more open to the public and enable diverse
audiences to access or interact with art
regardless of social class or age. They also
allow innovation and experimentation
because they usually are large spaces, inte-
grate their atmosphere with the artworks,
and enable displays of site specific instal-
lations. They are perfect for experimental
artworks; including permanent or imper-
manent sculptures, public installations, and
performance art.
In the third edition of Kampala Contem-
porary Art Festival dubbed KLA ART 018,
the organisers included sites along Kiyembe
Lane- a busy street in the Kampala Central
Business District, and Ham Mukasa House.
These were selected to enable the public-
everyday people- to interact with the art
and to inspire artists to create art outside
the customary art spaces. The objective was
breaking the stereotype that art is for the
elite community or that it does not address
the day to day issues faced by the average
citizen on the streets.
Similarly, the organisers of the Kampala
Art Biennale 2018 aka KAB 18 selected a
derelict warehouse in the middle of a busy
industrial park on Fifth Street to bring art
and its producers; the artists, outside the
comfort zone of the gallery with white
washed walls and a serene environment.
In the derelict warehouse, the floor was
dump and unkempt and so were the walls
that had peeling paint and cracks. Here, the
artists were challenged to create art with
the political- social content of everyday life
situated within the local and international
context.
The warehouse also gave an opportu-
nity to the public to interact with art in an
unusual way and inspire new narratives as
the unconventional display of art left the
audience intrigued about art’s impact on
life, how the artists produce it, and how it is
consumed.
Sandra Ssubi’s installation titled `In
Transit at Ggaba beach, an Island on Lake
Victoria’, for example, was constructed
from familiar media like fish skin, wooden
boats, fish scales, old tyres, and plastic
bags and bottles collected from the fishing
community. With this approach, the artist
successfully showed that art is not exclusive
to particular people and has narratives for
whole communities. The artist showed that
the physicality of the landing site, fish mar-
ket, and noisy space can inspire art.
Such impact is often absent in the tradi-
tional gallery space where art showcased is
two dimensional and sometimes abstract.
Where censorship of art is common, the
dialogue on the political, socio-economic
content of art in non-traditional settings has
been appreciated more by audiences. The
artists are also energised to be more creative
and innovative without traditional hin-
drances of space or materials.
But non-traditional art spaces often face
a challenge in terms of art supervision as
few curators and critics are involved. This
affects the quality of artworks exhibited.
With a few exceptions, most emerging
non-traditional art spaces suffer mediocre
art production and display. They tend to
interpret art as a commodity rather than a
medium designed to inspire a particular
conversation among the public.
Image courtesy of 32⁰ East Kampala
Jan. 18 - 24 2019 35
Chinese schools track students with GPS-enabled `smart uniforms’
Eleven schools in the Chinese prov- which allow both the school and the chil- during classes. It also allows students’ par-
ince of Guizhou have introduced micro- dren’s parents to monitor their activity ents to monitor their purchases at school
chipped uniforms that track and monitor at all times. A GPS system informs both and set spending limits via a mobile app.
the students even beyond school grounds. teachers and parents whenever a student The smart uniforms are part of China’s
The smart uniforms feature two micro- leaves the classroom or school grounds broader “smart campus” initiative which
chips embedded into the shoulder pads without permission, or if he falls asleep aims to digitalise education.

Fake chicken Samsung Galaxy

eggs are a
problem in China
They first appeared in
the mid-90s and production
spread all over China. The fake
eggs are made from a mixture
of resin, coagulant and starch,
complete with pigment for
colour, as well as a counterfeit
shell. One person can make
approximately 1500 per day.
Could Louis Pastor uses whisky to get men closer to God
Vuitton braids be mayA German
have found an effective
the next big thing? way to approach the men in
his community and it involves
You don’t have to be particu-
larly fashion-forward to recog-
nise the Louis Vuitton logo. One
aspiring designer and rapper,
Magnus Juliano, has taken the
signature design of the brand
and turned it into something
out of the ordinary; braid acces-
sories. The 27-year-old graphic
designer from Columbus, Ohio
has used 3D printing to create
the colourful look. And it’s not
just about trendy hair accesso-
ries, he says, it’s about honour-
ing African American roots.
pastor thinks he
to use the same catalyst to get
through to men in matters of
religion. He recently announced
that he was organising a “whis-
one of his greatest passions,
whisky. Thomas Eschenbacher,
a 53-year-old Franconian pastor
from Hammelburg, in Bavaria,
has long been looking for ways
to approach men and talk to
them about God and the Chris-
tian faith. A big fan of the Scot-
tish spirit, the pastor noticed
how easy it was to start a con-
versation about whisky during
a leisurely whiskey tasting eve-
ning with friends, and decided
Social media addicts similar to drug users
There is a link between
excessive social media use
and behaviour seen in drug
addicts, researchers have
found. Scientists carrying out
a gambling experiment found
the worst performers tended
to be those who regularly used
platforms such as Facebook.
The same trend was also
observed among people who
are reliant on drugs such as
cocaine and heroin. The US
S10 release date
revealed
The next flagship phone
in Samsung’s long-running
Galaxy series, the S10, is slated
to break cover on Feb.20. The
South Korean tech powerhouse
has sent out a notice that it’ll be
holding one of its ‘Unpacked’
events at the Bill Graham Civic
Auditorium in San Francisco.
Coincidentally, this year marks
the 10th anniversary of the Gal-
axy series – and the company
doesn’t leave much room for
doubt on its official invitation.
Last year’s Samsung Galaxy
S9 didn’t meet sales expecta-
tions, despite being an excellent
phone. So we’re expecting big
ky retreat” for men and all the
things for 2019 if the company
30 available spots were sold out
wants to reverse the trend.
almost instantly.
“Bible reading events don’t
really work, but with whisky
can I reach the men, it’s a topic
that interests them,” Thomas
Eschenbacher told the German
Press Agency.
Eschenbacher has been
praised by the Church for his
ingenious idea to get people
closer to God.
study, published in the Journal researcher Dr Dar Meshi, from
of Behaviour Addictions, Michigan State University.
shows a connection between “Our findings will hopefully
risky decision-making - a motivate the field to take social
common feature of drug media overuse seriously.”
addiction - and excessive social
media use.
“Around one-third of
humans on the planet are using
social media, and some of
these people are displaying
maladaptive, excessive use
of these sites,” said lead

36 Jan. 18 - 24 2019
Ford unveils the
new 2020 Explorer
It’s popular SUV’s first redesign in 8 years
By Agencies
F
ord unveiled the newly redesigned
2020 Explorer, which has special fea-
tures, new technology and creature
comforts SUV owners have come
to expect. That includes Ford Co-Pilot360,
which provides driver assistance to avoid
collisions.
Ford increased the towing capacity by 66
percent while making the Explorer lighter
and more fuel efficient.
Unveiled on Jan.09 in New York, the new
model should position Ford to continue
doing well in the midsize SUV segment.
0783 614 601 / 0753 614 601
That’s critical since Ford will be relying on
its trucks and SUVs to generate profits while
it restructures its business, investing billions
in future technology like autonomous drive
vehicles.
“We are on our toes again,” said Farley.
“We will grow more revenue, better profit-
ability, you know, this is when the car busi-
ness is great.”
“The company thrives when we have
fresh product, it is just as simple as that,”
Ford’s president of global markets, Jim Far-
ley, told journalists after unveiling the new
Explorer. “With this new line-up of utilities
from top to bottom, it is just really going to
The Largest 7 seater 4x4 In Uganda
Only available at spear Motors Limited
Mercedes Benz GLS
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allow us to grow.”
“The new Explorer is very important for
Ford,” said Jeff Schuster, analyst at auto-
motive consulting firm LMC Automotive.
“Even though the Explorer is the top-selling
midsize SUV, there’s a lot more competition
and new models coming in the next couple
of years.”
While there were 21 midsize SUV’s avail-
able in the U.S. last year, LMC Automotive
expects that number to climb to 26 next year
and to 30 models by 2022.
That competition will be looking to
cut into the Explorer’s No. 1 position
in the midsize SUV market. Last year,
Ford sold more than 261,000 Explorers.
An impressive number considering the
model has not had a major makeover
in years.
“The Explorer is really in the sweet
spot of the market,” said Schuster.
“Last year, midsize SUVs made up
almost 14 percent of the market and we
think the segment will keep growing.”
Whether or not the Explorer remains
the leader of the SUV market remains
to be seen.
Driving you into the Future
www.spearmotors.co.ug
Jan. 18 - 24 2019 37
Allan Ssewanyana on
his love for Lukwago
By Agnes E Nantaba spected by cabinet and President Yoweri born in the family of ten. He started school

A
Museveni and the high level of commer- at Biwologoma Nursery School before
llan Aloysius Ssewanyana is the cialisation of politics in the country. joining Nakivubo Blue Primary School
Member of Parliament represent- He says, “Commercialisation of politics where he sat his Primary Leaving Exami-
ing Makindye West Constituency. means going against the will of the people nations (PLE). He proceeded to St Mathias
He is among the opposition MP’s and using the money to manipulate them Kalemba SS for ordinary level and Mengo
who made news headlines for brawling in which eventually creates a generation of Senior School. He joined Makerere Uni-
the House during debate of the controver- dictators”. versity graduating with a
sial lifting of the presidential age limit in Ssewanyana is also a passionate Bachelor’s in Human
September 2017. sports journalist, commonly Resource Man-
The legislators pulled and tagged each known as ‘Omusajja Wa agement in
other after MP Ssewanyana alleged that Bwiino’ that is loosely 2008. He has
guns had been smuggled into the chamber. translated as ‘A man two chil-
But that was not the first time Ssewanyana of facts”. He is a co- dren and
was involved in a public protest brawl; dur- sports analyst on looks
ing his tenure as Councilor LCV for Kam- NBS TV for the forward
pala Capital City Authority (KCCA) rep- daily lunchtime to get-
resenting constituents of Makindye West, sports edition. ting
Ssewanyana leaped over desks and heads In 2006, he mar-
in the KCCA Council chambers to attempt joined the cam- ried
to stop impeachment proceedings against paign team for very
Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago. former Kampala soon.
While some political analysts consider city Mayor Alhajji
Ssewanyana’s behavior to be unbecom- Nasser Sebaggala
ing of a legislator, he lists the incidents as as the secretariat
some of the highest moments in his political secretary. And
career. when Sebaggala
“One of the achievements that I am so emerged victori-
proud of is the way we dealt with the issue ous, Ssewanyana
of Article 102 (b) of the constitution using continued with
mechanisms that to some looked bogus but his work as a
made a mark,” he says. sports journal-
“It wasn’t an easy task for the President ist working at Top
as he spent billions, other people were radio. It is about the
killed and others nursed wounds in the same time that he got in
struggle.” touch with Erias Lukwago,
He says that a similar scenario had hap- then MP for Kampala Cen-
pened some years ago leading to the aboli- tral who turned out to be his
tion of term limits but few Ugandans got to political mentor. During the sev-
know about it. Ssewanyana maintains that eral visits to KCC turned KCCA,
the public was so detached from the hap- Ssewanyana developed interest in
penings in the country but with the amend- becoming a councilor LCV.
ment of Article 102 (b), the entire country When opportunity arose, Ssewan-
got to know how the president struggled to yana offered to replace MP Hussein
amend and disorganise the constitution. Kyanjo who had said he would not
He says his politics is inspired by Lord stand again. He joined parliament
Mayor Erias Lukwago whom he talks of a in 2016 on Democratic Party (DP)
strong pillar in his political career. He also ticket.
strives to inspire the young generation to Born 32 years ago to
join the struggle through elective politics Aloysius and Sarah
and maintain the vocal voice of those who Ssendawula in
went before him. Kibuye, Ssewan-
“I have maintained the strong voice in yana is the
parliament for my constituency by being a fourth
star performer following in the footsteps of
Hon. Ssebaana Kizito, Hon. Nsambu and
Hussein Kyanjo,” he says.
Ssewanyana remains critical of the way,
he says, the law making house is disre-

38 Jan. 18 - 24 2019
 Q&A

Allan Ssewanyana’s Liteside

Any three things that we world. He is also rich What do you most What do you regard

I
don’t know about you? not through stealing but dislike about your as the lowest depth of
am a hard to bend earning from his sweat. appearance? misery?
person; it takes I would love to follow Nothing although I With politics, the day
someone too much his path because it is my don’t want to grow fat. you live is what you
time to get me on greatest aspiration. count. There is no lower
their side and once I get Which living person do moment than living a
there it is hard to change What is your greatest you most despise? life where tomorrow is
me. It’s because I take extravagance? I don’t despise so uncertain.
so much time analyzing I can be extravagant in I don’t expect to be
someone or an issue. sports; I can sponsor a despised. What is your favorite
That makes me an honest team or individual who occupation?
person. I hate it when wants to grow a talent in What is the quality you Being a journalist.
someone despises me sports. most like in a woman?
which is why I don’t Loyalty and honesty. What do you most value
despise others. I am What is the greatest in your friends?
passionate about sports; thing you have ever What is the quality you Loyalty and being able
it’s my first in life. done? most like in a man? to accept me the way I
Becoming Vice Consistency. am.
What is your idea of chairman of KCCA FC
perfect happiness? and won two trophies What or who is the Who are your favorite
I am very happy when at the national level. I greatest love of your writers?
I see things moving the was still very young but life? Nelson Mandela
right way. In sports, I managed to lead a team My parents, children, and Chinua Achebe;
am happy when I see a at such a top level which and Lord Mayor Erias their writings have
team that I support win; was a dream come true. Lukwago. been a great source of
for instance Juventus and It has gone down to inspiration.
Katwe United. history that I am an MP When and where were
for Makindye West; an you happiest? Who is your hero of
What is the trait opportunity that not so When I graduated in fiction?
you most deplore in many shall have. 2008; it created a very I m not a fan of fiction.
yourself? good sense in me. I was
My facial expression What do you consider also happy being elected Which historical figure
puts away many people the most overrated a councilor in 2011 and do you most identify
from getting to me yet virtue? being sworn in as MP with?
they would be useful Attention to social for Makindye West at an Nelson Mandela would
to me and vice versa. life; the media and other early stage in life. It gives be a great option for me.
I would like to look a platforms all concentrate me the courage to do He fought for power and
simple person but at on the social life. It has more things. eventually after getting
times I look to be an taken too much of our it, served for a short time
arrogant and proud man time and space yet we Which talent would you and left others to take the
which I am not. cannot achieve a lot from most like to have? mantle.
it. I would love to become
What is the trait you an investor not through What is your greatest
most deplore in others? What does being stealing but in a straight regret?
I don’t like people who powerful mean to you? and decent way. I once regretted failing
are easily compromised Being powerful is to become a lawyer
by anything or anyone. I being able to influence If you could change one but not anymore. I am
like strong and consistent decisions. It gets better thing about yourself, now grateful to God for
characters around me. when someone has such what would it be? guiding my paths.
influence not because of None
Which living person do the money but a diligent How would you like to
you most admire? character. Where would you most die?
Silvio Berlusconi; he like to live? Through sickness
was a journalist who On what occasion do you I don’t plan to leave because it allows you
joined politics and used lie? my country even if the time to reconcile and
it to change football in If someone intends to current circumstances speak to those round me.
Italy when he owned AC kill me and only lies can push many to leave.
Milan and made it one save me. What is your motto?
of the best clubs in the I win you win.

Jan. 18 - 24 2019 39
Global comment
By Bruno Dobrusin
Rewriting the future of work
Current trends underscore why it is important to
democratise how technology is built into business processes
M
uch has been written about
the “future of work,”
and much of it makes for
gloomy reading. Study
after study predicts that automation
will upend entire industries and leave
millions unemployed. A 2013 paper by
two Oxford professors even suggested
that machines could replace 47% of
jobs in the United States within “a
decade or two.”
Conclusions like these sustain
the narrative that the future will
inevitably be jobless. And yet this
view is favored primarily by the
corporate sector and supported
by negative trends in the so-called
gig economy; workers and trade
unions have played little role in the
conversation. If that were to change,
the future of work could look very
different.
Three common assumptions skew
forecasts of automation’s impact on
employment. Addressing each is
essential to protect workers’ rights
and change the fatalistic storyline of
the prevailing narrative.
The first assumption is that fully
automated jobs will displace workers
in the near future. This view is little
more than conjecture, and even
those using the same data can draw
different conclusions. For example,
a 2017 McKinsey study, drawing on
similar datasets as the 2013 Oxford
research, found that only 5% of jobs in
the US could be fully automated, but
that about 60% of American jobs could
be partly automated. In other words,
automation does not mean that human
work must disappear, only that it
could become more productive.
If anything, current trends
underscore why it is important to
democratise how technology is built
into business processes. When major
corporations introduce innovations to
speed up production – like handsets
to time warehouse workers in
Amazon’s facilities – the unintended
consequence can be a decline in
productivity. For many workers, the
way that technology is adopted may
be more relevant than the technology
itself.
40 Jan. 18 - 24 2019
The second assumption is that
automation will not benefit most
workers. But people and politics
– not machines – will determine
how workers fare. If we accept the
view that technology will increase
overall productivity (a point that
remains disputed given the low levels
of productivity growth in OECD
countries during the last decade), then
workers and political leaders could
focus on advocating for a better work-
life balance. The fight for an eight-
hour workday was waged more than
a century ago, and the spaces created
by the current discussion allow for
negotiating a shorter working week.
Some unions are already doing this;
more should follow.
Finally, despite the hype,
automation is not the most pressing
issue for labour. Technology can be
disruptive, but the biggest concerns
for workers today are the ones they
feel most directly: underemployment,
precarious employment, and stagnant
wages. According to the International
Labour Organisation’s 2018 “World
Employment Social Outlook,” 1.4
billion people worldwide are in
“vulnerable forms of employment” in
Employees
are lobbying
for better
pay in
some of
the world’s
largest
corporations
the informal sector, compared to 192
million who are unemployed.
To be sure, today’s new technologies
are affecting workers in adverse
ways. That has always been true, and
people will continue to be displaced
from one economic sector to another.
But while technological innovation
creates new opportunities, today’s gig
economy, in particular, reflects how
it can also weaken employees’ rights
and increase economic insecurity.
Workers’ fears are real, which is
why the labour movement has
been fighting to defend workers in
vulnerable situations. Expanding the
concept of Just Transition, currently
used in climate-related dislocations, to
technology-related disruptions would
be a valuable innovation for ensuring
that automation leaves no one behind.
But we should not accept the
anxious narrative of a workless
world. Technology and economic
development are contested fields, and
unions should focus on improving
workplace conditions, organizing
workers in new industries, and
challenging the authoritarian business
models that give employees little say
over how their companies function.
Positive signs are emerging. Labor
organising is growing in the services
sector. Employees are lobbying for
better pay in some of the world’s
largest corporations. And workers in
the U.S. are demanding – and often
receiving – a living wage. The next
step is to ensure that the effects of
automation feature more prominently
in union organising. The future of
work is not predetermined; the story is
still being written. The most important
question, as always, is who gets to
wield the pen.
Bruno Dobrusin is coordinator of the One
Million Climate Jobs campaign at the
Green Economy Network.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.
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