News analysis Health Business

How undemocratic Scientists find Karuma, Isimba and

practices breed corruption HIV hiding in cells electricity tariffs

Issue No. 561 March. 01 - 07 2019 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8

Why Katuntu COSASE

wrote `weak’ report
Can Kasekende, Mutebile,
Ssekabira, Bagyenda escape?

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March. 01 - 07 2019
INBOX

Issue No. 561 March 01 - 07 2019

News analysis Business Health Arts Motoring

Cover story
Why Katuntu COSASE wrote `weak’ report
Can Kasekende, Mutebile, Ssekabira, Bagyenda escape?

4 The Week
30 Comments
NRM CEC endorses Museveni
as flag bearer come 2021 Understanding economic
stagnation: A comparative
look at Museveni’s economic
9 The Last Word
performance against other long-
Fortune favours the bold: Why serving leaders in the region
government of Uganda should
heavily invest in Kiira Motors even
32 Health
in the face of many impediments
HIV hiding in cells: It can
14 Analysis now be measured. But are
we closer to a cure?
How undemocratic practices breed corruption:
Transparency International’s CPI 2018 tracks link
between corruption and lack of citizen engagement
35 Arts & Culture
27 Business
Circle Art Auction opens:
Karuma, Isimba and electricity Market place for exceptional art
tariffs: New investors could from the region to the world
trigger a drop in electricity costs

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

PUBLISHER: Independent Publications Limited, Plot 82/84, Kanjokya Street, P. O. Box 3304, Kampala, Uganda
Tel: +256-312-637-391/ 2/ 3/ 4 | Fax: +256-312-637-396 E-mail: editor@independent.co.ug | advertising@independent.co.ug
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2 March. 01 - 07 2019
 Offline

“Look my position is very clear. As long

as I am respected, I will be respectful
but if I am not respected, I will not
respect anybody.” Mwesigwa Rukutana,
Deputy Attorney General to Justice Catherine
Bamugemereire during commission inquiry

Nigeria Votes:
76-year-old
Nigerian President
Muhammadu Buhari
votes on Feb.25 as
he bid for re-election
after dozens died in “If you are called upon to mediate in
weekend violence
and monitors a land conflict and the parties fail to
voiced concern agree, yours is not to say who is right
about polling-day
problems. or wrong because this is how you have
been getting involved in stealing
people’s property” Esther Mbayo, Minister
for the Presidency cautioning RDCs
Rwandan Minister
of Environment,
Dr Vincent Biruta,
launches NBI’s latest
publication, A Long
River Journey, during
the 20th anniversary
celebrations in Kigali,
Rwanda.

Sudan on fire: Sudanese

President Omar al-Bashir
on Feb.22 declared a
nationwide state of
emergency as he bids
to stay in power despite
months of protests aimed
at ending his three-decade
long iron-fisted rule.
“During the probe those guys (MPs) gave
us a lot of expectations that the report
would land with a bang. Instead it has
landed with a whimper. The sanctions
are every mild and general.” Norbert Mao
on COSASE report on BOU

Children who died People still missing 15 Money Uganda needs to

4 in a house fire in
Kampala last week
206 years after the LRA
attack in Barlonyo, Lira
Shs10bn realise full potential of
Irish potato production

March. 01 - 07 2019 3
week

Workers push for expeditious NRM CEC endorses Museveni as flag bearer come 2021
set up of minimum wages Members of the ruling Museveni as the sole kick NRM out of power.
board as bill is passed National Resistance
Movement (NRM) Central
candidate saying the
move undemocratic. For
Museveni will be 76 years
old come 2021 and he will
Executive Committee met instance Lwemiyaga contesting for a sixth term
A private members bill moved in 2015 at Chobe Safari Lodge County MP Theodore in office since he has been
by workers’ MP Arinaitwe Rwakajara was in Nwoya district for a Sekikubo said that the at the helm of the country
finally passed by parliament on Feb.20. It five day retreat in which decision by CEC is selfish since 1986 when he come
seeks to have establishment of minimum they endorsed President and falls short of the to power after a guerilla
wage boards by the minister, mechanisms Museveni to once again principles of democracy war.
for determining minimum wages for each compete for presidency in that the NRM party Though he is
sector, duties, powers and functions of the the 2021 general election. subscribes to. increasingly being
board and the procedures for determining In the Feb.19 meeting that Commenting on this painted in bad light by
the minimum wage. After it was passed, was closed to the media, on Feb.25, government observers and members
workers’ unions took to the media to call it’s said government chief spokesperson Ofwono of the opposition for
for its swift implementation. whip Ruth Nankabirwa Opondo said the deteriorating democracy
“People cannot dictate what they wish made the proposal which opposition should be and torture of opponents,
to be paid and therefore live at the mercy was supported by other happy about having he won with 60.75% of the
of their employers; something we set out members. Museveni again on the votes in previous election
to correct with this bill,” he said Rwakajara However, NRM ‘rebel’ ballot since they have against 35% of his closest
who says the new law will address the gaps MPs held a press briefing branded him a tired rival Kizza Besigye who
in the current Minimum Wage Advisory on Feb.22 challenging the leader. He said this should until now alleges that he
Board Act by providing for an employee- resolution that endorsed make it easy for them to was the rightful winner.
employer led minimum wages determina-
tion, sectoral based minimum wage deter-
mination and application.
When the Bill came for second and third
reading, many legislators warmly received
it as they said it provide a solution for the
challenge that has long been faced of exploi-
tation of vulnerable workers. It now awaits
accent by the president.
The International Labour Organisation
defines a minimum wage as the minimum
sum of money payable to a worker for work
performed or services rendered within a
given period to cover the minimum needs
of the worker, his or her family, in light of
national economic and social conditions.

Rukutana, Bamugemereire clash over 24b land compensation Nigeria goes to polls
The commission of
inquiry into land matters
led by lady justice
Catherine Bamugemereire
on Feb.20 summoned
Deputy Attorney General
Mwesigwa Rukutana to
explain how he endorsed
payment of Shs24b by
government to a one Dr.
Mohammed Kasasa for 12
acres of land on Mutungo
Hill, which the External
Security Organisation
occupied and the
shs8billion that went into
payment of interest.
But, once the questioning
started Rukutana who
had earlier on Feb.05
asked for more time to
prepare himself responded
arrogantly something that
angered the lady justice and
kicked him out.
“You know they want to
show off; they want cheap
popularity. They are used
to forcing witnesses into
submission, they abuse
them. They are there to
make names for themselves.
I rejected that; I refused
to be subjected to what
they subject others
to. Commissions of
inquiry are guided by
the Commissions of
Inquiry Act and terms
of reference”, he told
journalists after the
Incident, “I will not
allow you to bark at
me to show people
that I know nothing. I treat
you the way you treat me.
Respect me, I respect you.
However, he had earlier
asked for a minimum of
30 days only for his plea
to be rejected – to Feb20
on the grounds that it was
not commensurate with
the Land Probe’s terms of
reference, which is time
bound.
On Feb.23, Nigeria went to polls that
saw 73 million eligible voters chose from
a pool of more than 70 presidential candi-
dates, although two – incumbent Muham-
mad Buhari and former vice president
Atiku Abubakar attracted majority sup-
porters.
The ailing president Buhari last year
publicly denied social media claims that
he died and was replaced by a Sudanese
clone, and also courted international con-
troversy in the past by suggesting his wife
belongs to the kitchen
By press time, although both Buhari and
Atiku’s camps were claiming resounding
victories, partial results announced by the
Electoral body were showing incumbent
President Buhari to be in early lead. While,
Buhari was campaigning on dealing with
corruption and revamping the economy,
his counterpart was mainly tackling issues
of unemployment.

4 March. 01 - 07 2019

Concern as Kyaligonza’s Police blocks DP Jinja reunion
guards assault police officer Democratic Party (DP) President
Women activists petitioned speak-
er of parliament Rebecca Kadaga on
Feb.25 over among others the way
UPDF officials guarding Rtd Maj.
Gen Matayo Kyaligonza manhan-
dled a police officer in Seeta Mukono.
On Sunday, the media was awash
with condemnations after photos
and a video of the major looking on
as a female Traffic officer was being
assaulted was released. It is alleged
that a scuffle ensued after the female
traffic officer allegedly tried to stop
the vehicle in which Kyaligonza was
travelling for allegedly breaking traf-
fic rules when they made a U-turn in
the middle of the road.
By press time, the two army offi-
cers had been arrested and according
to spokesperson Brig. Richard Kare-
mire an investigation into the matter
launched.
Dial *133*2#
for more bundles
General Norbert Mao and others were
briefly arrested on Feb.20 as police tried
to stop a party reunion in the Eastern
Uganda town of Jinja. According to
the police, the party hadn’t gotten
permission to hold a gathering per
the requirements of the Public Order
Management law, although party
stalwart Samuel Lubega said the secured
all the necessary clearance since they
have a roadmap for the reunions.
The party has since May last year
been organizing reunions focusing
especially on members of the youth
wing – Uganda Young Democrats that
have defied or left the party as part of
the plan for them to be relevant in the
2021 polls. Championed by the likes
of former Makindye legislator Mike
Mabikke who too had left the party
and only returned recently is to attract
those that had left to return and solve
the party’s internal wrangles. The first
reunion has held successfully at the
Makerere University Rugby Grounds
CCEDU’s election observation ban lifted
Until Feb.21, Civil Society
Organisation – Citizens Coalition
for Electoral Democracy in Uganda
(CCEDU) which is the only local
entity licensed to observe elections
in the country couldn’t do its work
following a suspension by the Electoral
Commission (EC) in July. At that time
– when by elections were being held
in different areas including Rukungiri,
Arua and Jinja East, the electoral
body said the entity was carrying out
its work in a partisan manner and
that they had turned themselves into
Week
in Kampala in May last year. Later, in
September, another reunion was held in
the party stronghold region of Masaka.
Opposition politicians from other parties
attended but it ended in chaos.
Mabikke told the Independent that
they had planned a number of caravans
across the country but were briefly
put on hold following the violence in
Masaka.
Electoral commission by releasing
information mandated to only be
released by the electoral body.
Now according to CCEDU’s
National Coordinator Crispin Kaheru,
they have agreed that among others
EC develops guidelines on use of
new media in elections for election
observers and CCEDU comes up
with a robust leadership structure for
election observers that include a Head
of Mission, who will communicate the
observations in a timely manner to the
relevant stakeholders.
AfricellUG @AfricellUG
*terms and conditions apply |
Regulated by Uganda Communications Commission
March. 01 - 07 2019 5
Week

State House anti-

corruption unit goes to
Mbarara, CAO arrested
The state house anti-corruption unit
headed by Col. Edith Nakalema made
an impromptu visit to Mbarara on Feb.23
after a whistleblower tipped them off
regarding irregular sale of government
land. Following interrogations, the
Mbarara chief administrative officer,
Cuthbert Esoku was arrested alongside
a surveyor Godliver Nayebare and the
district physical planner Julius Luck on
grounds of abuse of office and conniving Rapid diagnostic tests for Hepatitis B introduced
to misuse public resources.
A new rapid diagnostic test for Hepatitis aids early suppression of the virus which
The two are accused of aiding sale
B that gives results in just 15 minutes was helps in keeping at bay complications like
of a house that used to host the district
launched on Feb.21, making it possible for liver cancer.
veterinary offices by former Mbarara people who test positive to be linked to care However, Patients using the Determine
speaker Grace Muhiirwe which is said immediately or make other treatment deci- HBsAg device which can now be accessed
to have been sold to Rwampara County sions promptly. Dubbed Determine HBsAg commercially in Africa, Europe and
Member of Parliament Charles Ngabirano 2 according to its manufacturers detects Latin America would still be required to go
at Shs 25 million. Another piece of land the virus in whole blood, serum or plasma through additional confirmatory testing.
near Mbarara State Lodge, was fenced off and provides rapid and accurate results In Uganda, according to the 2016 Uganda
by a group of yet-to-be known people. quickly by identifying a hepatitis B surface Population-based HIV Impact Assessment
But according to Nakalema, the person antigen, a surface particle from the hepatitis (UPHIA) Survey results, prevalence of
who encroached on State Lodge land B virus that is found circulating in blood of Hepatitis B infection among adults stands
must be known by authorities in the an infected person. Medical experts recom- at 4.3% - 5.6% among men and 3.1% among
district who have refused to speak out. mend early diagnosis of hepatitis B for it women.

6 March. 01 - 07 2019
Humour Did you know?
New Samsung can store
300,000 selfies

DJ Koh, President and CEO of IT and

Mobile Communications, holds up the new
Samsung Galaxy Fold smartphone during
an event on Feb. 20 in San Francisco.
Mukono Municipality MP Betty Nambooze and the Democratic Party
President Nobert Mao blow up over new Besigye cabinet. Samsung has announced a smartphone
with the storage capacity to hold more
than 300,000 selfies, the company’s first
with 1 Terabyte (TB) of storage.
The 6.4-inch Galaxy S10+ supports up
to 1TB of storage, double the previous
highest 512GB storage capacity of a
Samsung phone. The 1TB of storage is
equivalent to 1,000GB: enough to store
more than 300,000 selfies taken on a
front-facing camera. It was one of three
new smartphones confirmed during an
event in New York, alongside the Galaxy
S10 and Galaxy S10e.
The new flagship Galaxy S10 features
a triple rear-facing camera set-up,
consisting of a zoom lens, a wide-
angle and ultra wide-angle lenses. The
6.1-inch device and the larger Galaxy
S10+ feature an in-screen embedded
fingerprint scanner, activated by
pressing a finger against the lower-third
NRM supreme organ has endorsed Mr Yoweri Mseveni as party sole candidate for the 2021 elections. of the handset’s screen.
Samsung’s memory division
announced last month it had begun
mass-producing 1TB flash storage chips
for phones, which it claimed would
offer a comparable user experience to a
notebook computer.
All three handsets feature Wireless
Powershare - the ability to charge other
devices, including wearables and non-
Samsung smartphones, by touching
them to the handset’s back.
Samsung also revealed further
information about the Galaxy Fold, its
foldable smartphone, which is due to go
on sale in Europe on in May.
Samsung remains the world’s largest
smartphone maker, holding around 18
per cent of the mobile vendor market
share worldwide at the end of 2018,
shipping more than 292m handsets
throughout the year, according to
COSASE bank probe report was over ruled by the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga. analyst Statista.

March. 01 - 07 2019 7
 News analysis Health Business
When elephants Is mzungu 'savior' killing Kampala’s rental rates
attack people babies in Mayuge? remain stable

Issue No. 560 Feb. 22 - 28 2019

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

Black days
at MTN
Story behind dumping of 5 bosses

Inbox
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http://twitter.com/#!/ugandatalks

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www.facebook.com/TheIndependentMagazineUganda
www.independent.co.ug

Letters are
welcome ! Handling Crane Bank issues
The Editor welcomes short and
Refer to: “Crane Bank Crane Bank. Let’s first look killed the cow than how the
concise letters from our esteemed sale was fraudulent” (The at how and why it failed. carcass was managed.
readers on topical issues. Please Independent Feb.07). Well, Because I think it’s more
send them to: before we go to the sale of important to know what Stannley Kaahwa
The Editor, The Independent
Publications Ltd,
P.O Box 3304,
Plot 82/84 Kanjokya St,
Kamwokya. Too much at stake for Museveni, Kagame
Kampala,Uganda.
Refer to “Museveni’s AU tured the entire security the larger strategic goals of
Email: editor@independent.co.ug speech” (The Independent apparatus and got diehards a healthy neighborly rela-
Feb. 22). The solution is out (former Defence Minis- tionship and accept some
simple – President Yoweri ter, Gen. James Kabarebe). ego related collateral dam-
Museveni must get Brig. Kagame reconfigured age for taking this choice as
Minimum wage, Abel Kandiho (Chieftaincy Immigration /CMI/DMI/ minimal. There is too much
good for Uganda of Military Intelligence
boss) and other like-minded
Minister of Defence. Only
when Museveni does the
at stake.

individuals out – in the same will both leaders be George

The plan by the Ministry of Gender,
Labour and Social Development to set a
minimum wage every year is is going to
help many workers who fall in this cat-
egory because some of them have been
cheated by their bosses. Some bosses claim
they accommodate the workers, so salary
their needs to be low. This is going to help
them start getting some average kind of
salary so that they can also do something
meaningful in their lives and plan for their
futures. Most of these workers averagely
earn Shs50,000 a month; mostly the house
maids. Sincerely this kind of money can’t
do anything solid for this person apart from
minor things like buying clothes, makeup
and other petty stuff. These people should
have broader expectations; like acquiring
own land one day, renting better accommo-
dation, or taking children to a better school.
This is going to bring fairness and
improve a lot on their standards of living.
This law is going to be one of the key things
to take Uganda to the middle income status
because if the people’s standards of living
get better then that means that the economy
is growing.
The Ministry needs to use a lot of media
platforms so that even a worker far away
from urban or town centers gets to know
about it. It might require the Ministry to
sensitise workers in their local languages
for better understanding.
Kevin seguya
kelvinsegz@gmail.com
same way President Paul fed with accurate strategic
Kagame of Rwanda restruc- advice to get them to realise
On Uganda’s health services
Refer to: “Wrong thinking on health
services” (The Independent Feb.08). From
the standpoint of Western ‘indoctrinational’
economics, this Mwenda article gets an ‘A’.
For even his usual critics now seem to be in
line. Unfortunately friends, I am not near
100% alignment. I quite agree on the obvi-
ous issue of ‘Preventive’ health care. For is
that not what in my world, we have always
emphasised after creating assets?
But there also lies one of my points of
departure: The assets MUST HAVE BEEN
CREATED before they are ‘preventatively’
maintained. Preventive maintenance works
best if there is a clearer understanding of,
and ABILITY to effect or modify the creative
processes that made the assets.
Back to preventive health care now:
Good nutrition of a youthful, unemployed,
under-educated population of 40 million
still growing at 1.2+ million a year in a
country as small as Uganda, requires mas-
sive production of nutritious food, which
in turn, needs ABILITY on part of the better
educated to do so.
Vector control today could in theory be
easier than in the pre-1986 days: for we have
irreversibly damaged the ecology of the
country. However, it also needs knowledge
and ABILITY to act. So does good hygiene,
sanitation, good water supply and treat-
ment.
Now my second point of departure:
What is this ABILITY? Don’t quickly jump
to ‘money’. Even Mwenda expresses this in
monetary terms in this article. But mine is a
big NO, NO, NO. It is the taking of initiative
to act. That courage to clear mental laziness
first, and follow it by physical action as
guided by the mental plans.
Money is often looked at as a medium of
exchange. But more realistically, it is a way
of saying ‘my creative effort is worth so
much of yours’. Thus, countries and societ-
ies with less imaginative and creative talent
are doomed at this alter of money. Imagi-
nation and creativity are nature’s endow-
ments for every human being to explore
and exploit to sustain her/himself in this
universe. Those who do it better than others
will always dominate, in a competitive envi-
ronment for resources.
Dr. Eng. Kant Ateenyi

8 March. 01 - 07 2019

Fortune favours the bold
By Andrew M. Mwenda
Why government of Uganda should heavily invest in
Kiira Motors even in the face of many impediments
U
ganda wants to manufacture cars.
It doesn’t have any comparative
advantage in this field. It does not
produce iron ore from which to
make steel, an important input into the car
manufacturing industry. It is landlocked. It
has no prior experience in manufacturing
anything significant. And it is trying to do it
using a state owned enterprise, Kiira Motors
Corporation (KMC), in a government
riddled with corruption and incompetence.
For many observers, this is a toxic
combination that produces economic
disasters, right? Yet I think Uganda
should try. The heading of this article is
drawn from the title of a 2003 book by an
economics professor at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT), Lester
Thurow. It is MIT that initiated the project
that produced the innovation that Kiira is
trying to turn into a product and a business.
Kiira’s journey seems improbable but that
is how transformative projects that have
altered the course of history initially seem.
Take the example of Japan, the country
from where I am writing this article. When
it sought to enter the automotive industry in
the 1930s, it seemed improbable. Japan did
not have iron ore. It lacked technology. It
had to first pass a law that only companies
majority owned and controlled by its
nationals could sell cars in the country. Yet
it did not have a comparative advantage
in manufacturing cars. American and
European automobile firms were so
advanced they could supply Japan with
high quality cars at lower prices.
Yet Japan took the bold step. In
1932 it banned American Automobile
companies, Ford and General Motors,
from establishing assembly plants in the
country. Look at Toyota, the world’s second
largest automobile company. According
to David Magee’s book, How Toyota
Became Number One, its first vehicles had
numerous quality issues, the manufacturing
process was rudimentary and the company
was not competitive in global markets.
Its first products were a little more than
modified versions of Chrysler, Ford and
General Motors vehicles.
For the first 20 years Toyota could not
break-even. So it depended on subsidies
from the Japanese government. In its first
seven years, it produced only 1,500 cars.
Its first entry into the USA market was a
The Last Word
disaster and after three years and severe
losses it withdrew the model it had taken
there. Three times in its life in the 1950s it
came close to bankruptcy, three times the
government of Japan rescued it. Toyota
grew to become number one (now number
two) because the Japanese people and
government believed in it.
The story of Japan’s rapid economic
development is a story of many improbable
journeys. When it entered the computer
industry in the 1960s, Japan seemed to be
undertaking a mad man’s dream. American
computer companies like IBM were the
world champions. Japan’s companies
like Toshiba were mere mosquitoes, to
use the words of Peter Evans in his book,
Embedded Autonomy: States and Industrial
Transformation. But again, Japan took
the bold step and by the 1990s it was
dominating this industry.
The story of Japan’s industrial
transformation is the story of all late
developers. Comparative advantage is not
just based on initial endowments. It can be
actively constructed. When South Korea
sought to enter the automobile industry in
the 1960s, it established the Pohang Iron
and Steel Corporation (POSCO), a state
enterprise. Its American benefactors said
the country lacked iron ore and technology
and was using the state to produce steel, a
recipe for disaster. South Korea insisted and
forged ahead. By 2000 when I visited the
country, POSCO was the most successful
steel company in the world, knocking the
living daylights out of privately owned
American steel firms in global market.
Today we look with awe at Sam Sung,
Hyundai and LG, forgetting that when it
started her journey, it seemed a pipe dream.
Fortune favours the bold. There are one
million reasons why Kiira may fail. There
are three reasons why it should succeed.
Kiira should be given a chance for only
those three reasons. Uganda needs to be
bold and throw everything at it and at other
projects.
There will be mistakes and blunders
along the way. There will be corruption,
incompetence and fraud. It is not these
scandals that will kill Kiira but how
we respond to them as a country. We
can choose to use such problems as
opportunities to grandstand and score
political points and prove our initial claims
Opinion
that this KMC was a pipe dream, a pet
project by President Yoweri Museveni
to steal or misuse public funds. Or we
can choose to see such problems as
opportunities to learn and improve how we
do business.
The difference between successful and
failed countries is their attitude to the
challenges they face in the initial stages of
developing an industry. For instance, it is
politically appealing and psychologically
gratifying to take a populist stand on such
issues and condemn public officials for
misusing public funds and call for an end
to public financing of a government project.
But this is rarely the right thing to do. On
the other hand it requires quiet tenacity and
patience to build an industry from scratch;
especially when the journey is riddled with
fraud and incompetence.
Yet the history of all successful projects,
even political ones, always seems
improbable. Take Museveni’s political
journey as an example. Imagine him and his
motely crew of 42 youths with 27 guns and
hardly any experience in war heading to the
bush to begin a revolution against a trained
army backed by a foreign power, Tanzania.
Their first attack on Kabamba was a failure.
Their initial years were characterised by
little progress. By 1983, they came close to
annihilation and even discussed leaving
Luwero for the Rwenzori Mountains. But
they persisted and finally won.
Museveni has proved daring in his pursuit
of power but been excessively cautious
in his pursuit of economic development.
Where he believed in the capacity of
Ugandans to liberate the country politically,
he believes in foreign investors – Indians,
Europeans, Americans, Chinese and
Arabs – to liberate Uganda economically.
Instead of using the state to support private
business initiatives by Ugandans, he has
been giving tax holidays, prime land and
other state benefits to foreign investors. In
venture capital, only one in ten projects they
finance succeed. If the failure rate by private
venture capital is 90%, why should the state
in Uganda not take a risk on Kiira and other
innovations by our youths?
amwenda@independent.co.ug
March. 01 - 07 2019 9
cover story

Why Katuntu COSASE

wrote `weak’ report
Can Kasekende, Mutebile,
Ssekabira, Bagyenda escape?
By Haggai Matsiko

Former BoU EDS Justine Bagyenda, her former deputy Benedict Sekabira and other officials while appearing before COSASE
F
By Haggai Matsiko
ire. Prosecute. Jail. These
appear to be some of the
recommendations many
expected to be in the report that
Abdul Katuntu, the Bugweri
County legislator and chairman
of the Parliamentary Committee on
Commissions, Statutory Authorities, and
State Enterprises (COSASE) tabled before
the House on Feb.18.
Instead, the key recommendations
include; all Bank of Uganda (BoU) officials
who failed to properly execute their duties
in accordance with the law should be
held responsible; BoU should address
the probable financial loss occasioned.
BoU should make good of the losses
occasioned by the negligence of its officers.
The appointing authority should consider
reviewing the BoU Board.
As a result, “boring”, “toothless”, “a
complete waste of resources” are some of
the words and phrases many critics are
heaping on Katuntu and his team’s report.
The anticipation of what the report
would look like has been so intense that
some insiders fear this is a redacted
report—for the eyes of the public. “The
president has been given the more detailed
report,” claimed one insider, “it is more
biting.” The Independent could not
confirm the claim.
But true or not true, this claim shows
that many see Katuntu’s report as
underwhelming; especially having
watched how he together with his team
of legislators summoned and aggressively
quizzed officials at BoU.
At some point, the committee threw
out of the meeting Governor Tumusiime
Mutebile and his deputy Louis
Sudhir Ruparelia
Juma Kisaame
Kasekende for failing to turn up with the
requisite documents. At another point,
Katuntu threatened to have the former
Executive Banking Supervision, Justice
Bagyenda, arrested if she did not turn up
for the meetings. She was being grilled for
allegedly spiriting critical documents out
of the central bank in the wee hours of the
night.
Even without being exposed by
cover story
COSASE, BoU was already under
intense public scrutiny following the
2017 purchase of 350 ballpoint pens
at a whopping Shs357,000 each and
the February 07, 2018 staff changes by
Mutebile that sparked an internal fight.
The bank staff formed camps pitting
Mutebile and those loyal to him against
his deputy, Loius Kasekende and those
loyal to him. The bank board of directors
got sucked into the wrangles and
whistleblowers petitioned the Inspectorate
of Government and parliament.
Amidst all this, on November 05, 2018
some anti-corruption activists attacked
BoU’s premises and let-loose piglets
draped in placards with the pictures of
Mutebile and Juma Kisaame, the managing
director of DFCU bank, which BoU hand-
picked to acquire assets of the defunct
Crane Bank.
In the past, piglets painted in yellow —
the colour of the ruling party NRM—and
tagged with names of certain legislators,
had been dumped at parliament to protest
the “greed” of legislators belonging to the
ruling party.
This explains why the dumping of pigs
at BoU was seen as the lowest moment in
the history of the central bank and a major
protest against its leadership over their
mishandling of the financial sector.
BoU blamed
In summary, the report pins BoU
officials for the entire mess surrounding
the take over and liquidation of seven
defunct commercial banks and appears to
either absolve shareholders of these banks
or downplay their perceived misconduct.
BoU took over and liquidated the seven
commercial banks between 1993 and
March. 01 - 07 2019 11
cover story
Benedict Sekabira hands a document to COSASE deputy chairperson Anita Among as Governor
Mutebile and EDS Tumubwiine Twinemanzi look on during one of interfaces with the committee.
2016. The defunct banks include: Teffe,
Greenland Bank; formerly owned by the
late Sulaiman Kigundu, National Bank
of Commerce (NBC), formerly owned
by tycoon Amos Nzeyi, former Prime
Minister, Amama Mbabazi, among others,
International Bank, formerly owned by
the Emma Kato family, Cooperative Bank,
Global Trust Bank, and Crane Bank.
Shareholders of these banks appear to have
won the sympathy of whoever heard their
revelations.
“Highhanded, reckless and ill-
motivated” said Elias Edu, the former
company secretary for GTB as he explained
to COSASE how following a demand on
the July.4, 2014 to recapitalise the bank,
the central bank did not give them time to
comply—it shut down the Bank on July 25.
“You see the crisis you have caused the
nation,” an infuriated Katuntu charged
at one point while staring at Bagyenda
who was not providing the answers the
committee was demanding, “You caused
a crisis because you did not do things the
way they are supposed to be done.”
Earlier on Nov.20 COSASE had kicked
BoU managers out of the hearing amidst
allegations that they were deliberately
withholding vital information on the
movement of assets, including cash, of
some of the sold banks. Special mention
was made of Bagyenda.
These sorts of scenes appear to have
created an impression the COSASE
investigation would make heads roll. And
it appears these expectations have not been
met.
The Katuntu committee report is the
second to indict BoU for its handling of the
sale of the seven failing commercial banks.
The first was the September 2018 report by
Auditor General John Muwanga.
“I observed that there were no
guidelines/regulation or policies in place to
guide the identification of the purchasers
of defunct banks,” the AG noted in his
12 March. 01 - 07 2019
special report on the seven defunct banks,
“In the absence of guidelines of the sale
of banks, there is a risk that bank assets
may be sold at a loss arising from conflict
of interest between BOU staff and the
potential buyers.”
COSASE based its probe on the Special
Audit it asked the AG to undertake
following the controversy surrounding
the takeover of Crane Bank on October 20,
2016 and eventual sale of Crane Bank to
DFCU on January 27, 2017.
Katuntu’s defence
Critics say they expected Katuntu’s
committee to name names, causes arrests
and resignations.
Governor Tumusiime Mutebile, his
deputy Louis Kasekende, former Executive
Director Banking Supervision and her
deputy, Benedicto Ssekabira are some of
the names many expected Katuntu to list
and hold accountable.
“The first person who should be put
on firing squad is Mutebile,” said former
COSASE chairman Semujju Nganda,
“How did all this happen under his nose?”
Katuntu, after tabling the report to
parliament, appeared keenly aware of the
growing criticism against his committee
report. He went on an explanatory tour of
radio and TV talk shows.
We were guided by the terms of
reference, Katuntu has pleaded.
A committee of parliament such as
COSASE, he said, must do four things:
propose requisite policy changes,
recommend legal reforms, suggest
measures to improve the governance, and
ensure accountability.
He said his team had done all four for
Bank of Uganda. Then he listed what he
said were the main achievements of the
COSASE probe.
In his view, the next step involves
the COSASE report being debated in
parliament and other arms of government
taking an interest in the finding.
It is not the mandate of parliament
to conduct a criminal investigation and
anyone demanding that is ignorant of
the doctrine of separation of power in a
democracy, Katuntu has argued.
“We risked being misunderstood if we
had gone outside our terms of reference,”
he says.
But it appeared he was reading more
into his report than most of its readers
saw.
“We have indicted the entire board,”
Katuntu said at one point while explaining
how his committee had held officials
accountable.
He was referring to the committee’s
observation that the board did not
adequately supervise management in
the process of liquidating the financial
institutions.
As a result, his committee recommended
that; “the appointing authority may in
the event of any failure on the part of
the Board in effective supervision of
the management of the Bank consider
reviewing their appointment”.
Usually, an indictment is a criminal
accusation against an individual or group,
in this case, the crime is clearly unclear.
Governor Mutebile is the BoU board
chairman and Louis Kasekende is the
deputy.
Katuntu’s team also recommended that
other BoU officials be held accountable
for their commissions and omissions in
liquidation banks.
The committee concluded that in
liquidating the seven banks, BoU officials
did not follow or severally breached the
provisions of the Financial Institutions Act
(FIA).
According to the FIA, BOU is obliged to
take certain steps before selling off assets of
a financial institution.
The FIA, for instance, demands that
the sale of assets of a bank taken over by
BoU should be done in a way that results
in marshaling the greatest amount of the
financial institution’s assets and protects
the interests of depositors; including
their interest in the unprotected deposit
amounts.
It should also minimise costs to the
Deposit Protection Fund and losses to
other creditors, and ensure stability of the
financial sector.
In determining the amount of assets
likely to be realised from the financial
institution’s assets, the FIA states that the
receiver shall, (a) evaluate the alternatives
on a present value basis, using a realistic
discount rate, and (b) document the
evaluation and the assumptions on which
the evaluation is based, including any
assumptions with regard to interest rates,
asset recovery rates, inflation, asset holding
and other costs.

Bagyenda, Ssekabira cut deal
COSASE found that BoU rarely followed
this and as a result in some of the cases
marshaled the least amount of the financial
institution’s assets.
For instance, COSASE found that
assets of three banks--ICB, Greenland and
Co-operative Bank—worth Shs145b were
discounted by 93 percent and sold to an
unregistered entity.
The report notes that BoU hired a
company called M/s JN Kirkland and
Associates to sell the assets of the three
banks.
Kirkland then found another entity
called Octavian Advisiors Plc, which
incorporated a company in Mauritius as
a special purpose vehicle for purposes of
entering into contract with BoU over the
assets in question.
JN, which was a consultant
for BoU, then ended up as
the local agent for Nile River
with rights to run an account
in Citi Bank in which all
recoveries of the sold loan
portfolio are deposited.
It emerged that Nile River
was not registered as a local
or foreign company, a clear
violation of the Companies
Act. Octavian was also not
registered in Uganda.
Interestingly, Ssekabira
who was the Director
Commercial Banking and
was as a result the agent of
BoU, the seller, was also the
agent of Nile River, the buyer.
In 2007, Ssekabira and
Kakembo; lawyers of the buyer, travelled
to the U.S. to meet the management of
Octavian Advisors Plc. But when the
committee asked him why he had travelled
to the U.S., he said he did not know the
purpose.
After Ssekabira’s USA trip, however,
Octavian which had offered to pay $ 10
million for the loan book of the three banks
ended up paying only $5.2 million.
The BoU ensured this by granting
Octavian exclusivity in the dealings.
Katuntu’s committee learnt that
Bagyenda, who was Ssekabira’s boss,
single-handedly handled this transaction.
She only notified Governor Mutebile
after the transaction had been concluded.
Octavian had already been awarded
exclusivity rights on the deal at pre-
bidding stage. The committee concluded
that this action blocked any competition,
which would return the highest possible
bidder.
Then somehow Nile River got out
of the picture and a new entity called
SIL Investments Ltd started managing
the assets of the three banks. SIL, the
committee found, has been charging an
interest of between 21-25 percent on these
loans. Nile River, which was incorporated
on Sept. 26 2007 in Mauritius was now
defunct.
When COSASE pressed BoU and SIL
to provide evidence of Nile River’s legal
existence, they could not.
Both companies, the committee
discovered, were not VAT registered and
had never remitted any taxes out of its
income earnings.
“The committee concludes that the
transaction between BoU and M/s
Octavian Advisors Plc. and her agents
lacked transparency and the officers
involved should beheld responsible
for commissions and omissions which
resulted in marshaling the greatest amount
from the assets of the distressed financial
institutions,” the report recommends.
Former shareholders of National Bank of Commerce Amos Nzeyi
and Amama Mbabazi while appearing before COSASE
Katuntu’s team also called upon the
Inspector General of Police to immediately
seize land titles and other securities from
Mr Kakembo Katende of JN Kirkland and
Associates and SIL Investments arising
from the management of the loan portfolio
previously managed under Nile River.
COSASE also called on the Uganda
Revenue Authority to pursue the named
firms and recover unremitted taxes.
In the case of Crane Bank, COSASE also
found that BoU officials flouted the FIA.
The committee had heard that when
Bagyenda, made a decision to sell Crane
Bank, she just picked her phone and called
the then Managing Director of dfcu, Juma
Kisaame and invited him to her office at
BoU.
Kisaame told the committee that
dfcu was then granted access to Crane
Bank assets between November 30 and
December 20 2017.
On December 9, BoU then invited dfcu
to bid for the assets and liabilities of Crane
Bank. Dfcu then submitted its bid on
December 20.
It was not until January 13 that a report
prepared by PriceWaterHouseCoopers on
cover story
behalf of BoU came out.
According to the law, this is the
document BoU should have prepared
before engaging any buyers of Crane Bank
assets. BoU should then have based on this
document to resolve Crane Bank.
Instead, having granted access to dfcu
bank for it to do its own valuations and
due diligence, BoU then relied on the
valuations of dfcu to move to it assets of
Crane Bank.
COSASE observed that by allowing
this, BoU flouted the FIA. The committee
wondered why BoU transferred the bad
book to dfcu in the case of Crane Bank yet
in the case of NBC and GTB, the bad book
was never transferred to the purchaser.
Given that the Shs200 billion differed
cash consideration was to be paid from the
recoveries from the bad book estimated by
DFCU in its bid (Dec. 20 2016)
to be in the region of Shs 500
billion was fully provisioned
by CBL, the committee added,
the only prudential decision
would have been to treat the
bad book like in the case of
GTB and NBC.
Secondly, the committee
further observed, where as
the outstanding liability owed
to BoU by CBL was Shs478
billion, dfcu only assumed
liability to the extent of Shs200
billion whose value was to be
recovered from the bad book.
This is in the committee’s
considered opinion resulted
in a financial disadvantage to
both BoU and CBL.
The committee notes that a BoU
Board sitting on December 15, 2016
had resolved that the Buyer of CBL
would take all the assets and liabilities.
However, BoU management concluded
an agreement with dfcu that excluded
some assets and liabilities from the deal.
COSASE concluded that these exclusions
disadvantaged BoU and CBL.
“BoU having failed to value the assets
and liabilities of GTB, NBC and CBL
and considering the lapse of time and
impossibility in revaluation of assets
should address the probable financial loss
occasioned,” the committee recommended,
“All BoU officials who failed to execute
their duties in accordance with the law
should be held responsible for their
commissions and omissions.”
Overall, the report has attracted mixed
feelings. For some, the recommendations
in the report could completely change the
central bank for the better.
But for many others, the report is
“toothless” and it has made the entire
investigation appear “a complete waste of
time” and “resources”.
March. 01 - 07 2019 13
news analysis

How undemocratic practices

breed corruption
Transparency International’s CPI 2018 tracks link
between corruption and lack of citizen engagement

Lt. Col. Edith Nakalema, the head of the State House Anti-Corruption Unit chats with officials of Mbarara District Local Government on Feb.22. Her team arrested
several district officials following a tip-off from a whistleblower regarding several pieces of land that have allegedly been grabbed by senior district officials

By Ronald Musoke Intelligence Unit. scoring 10, 13, and 13, respectively. North

W
hen Transparency International
released its 2018 global cor-
ruption perceptions index on
Jan.29, it found one damning
indictment: corruption is flourishing more
in countries where democratic foundations
are weak.
While releasing the results in Kampala on
Jan.29, Peter Wandera, the executive direc-
tor of Transparency International Uganda
said the annual Corruption Perceptions
Index (CPI) ranks countries based on how
corrupt a country’s public sector is per-
ceived to be by experts and business execu-
tives. But the 2018 report included a cross
analysis of the CPI with different global
democracy indices.
The CPI is based on perceptions because
corruption generally comprises illegal
activities, which are deliberately hidden and
only come to light through scandals, investi-
gations or prosecutions.
Using a scale where zero is highly cor-
rupt and 100 is very clean; the CPI is based
on surveys and assessments of corruption
by bodies such as the World Bank, the Afri-
can Development Bank, and the Economist
Whereas full democracies scored an aver-
age of 75 on the index; flawed democracies
scored an average of 49; hybrid regimes—
which show elements of autocratic ten-
dencies—scored 35; autocratic regimes
performed worst, with an average score of
30 on the CPI.
More than two-thirds of countries sur-
veyed scored below 50, meaning that cor-
ruption is a more than average problem
across the globe.
Western Europe scored best among
regions, with an average score of 66 while
Sub-Saharan Africa performed the worst
with an average score of 32. Only eight of
49 countries here scored more than 43. The
global average score was 43; the same as in
2017.
Interestingly African leaders declared
2018 as the “African Year of Anti-Corrup-
tion.”
Denmark was named the least corrupt
country worldwide with a score of 88, fol-
lowed by New Zealand (87), while Finland,
Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland tied at
third place with a score of 85. On the other
hand, Somalia, Syria, and South Sudan
remained at the bottom of the rankings,
Korea and Yemen were next, each with a
score of 14.
Countries to watch
According to Transparency International,
Angola, Nigeria, Botswana, South Africa
and Kenya will be “important countries”
to watch, this year, given some promising
political developments. The agency says the
real test will be whether these new admin-
istrations will follow through on their anti-
corruption commitments moving forward.
In both Kenya and South Africa, citizen
engagement in the fight against corruption
is crucial. For example, social media has
played a big role in driving public conversa-
tion around corruption. The rise of mobile
technology means ordinary citizens in
many countries now have instant access to
information, and an ability to voice their
opinions in a way that previous generations
did not.
Government officials in Kenya and South
Africa are also reaching to social media to
engage with the public.
The Corruption Watch chapter in South
Africa has seen a rise in the number of
people reporting corruption on Facebook

14 March. 01 - 07 2019

and WhatsApp. However, it remains to be
seen whether social media and other new
technologies will spur those in power into
action.
Patricia Moreira, the Managing Direc-
tor of Transparency International said that
with many democracies under threat, often
by leaders with authoritarian or populist
tendencies, the world needs to do more to
strengthen checks and balances and protect
citizens’ rights.
“Corruption chips away at democracy to
produce a vicious cycle where corruption
undermines democratic institutions, and in
turn, weak institutions are less able to con-
trol corruption.”
Corruption paralyzing democracy
Transparency International says Sub-
Saharan Africa remains a region of stark
political and socio-economic contrasts and
many longstanding challenges, with civil
strife, weak institutions and unresponsive
political systems continuing to undermine
anti-corruption efforts.
The global anti-graft non-profit says
while several countries have adopted demo-
cratic principles of governance, the
same countries are still governed by
“authoritarian and semi-authoritari-
an” leaders.
It is not surprising that countries
like Seychelles and Botswana, which
score higher on the CPI than other
countries in the region, have rela-
tively well-functioning democratic
and governance systems.
Transparency International also
named Ivory Coast and Senegal for
the second year in a row, among the
significant “improvers” on the CPI.
These are countries that are said to
be pushing back against corrup-
tion— with notable progress.
In the last six years, Ivory Coast has
moved from 27 points in 2013 to 35 points
in 2018, while Senegal has moved from 36
points in 2012 to 45 points in 2018.
Besides a raft of legal, policy and institu-
tional reforms adopted in the two countries,
political will is cited as being important in
the fight against corruption demonstrated
by their respective leaders.
In East Africa, Rwanda is the top per-
former with a score of 56. Rwanda is fol-
lowed by Tanzania (36), Kenya (27), Uganda
(26) and Burundi (17). But what is more
interesting is that Rwanda’s score is twice
that of Uganda. Many ask what Rwanda
could be doing right that Uganda has failed.
John Mary Odoy, the Chairperson of
the board of Transparency International
Uganda who also doubles as the Executive
Director of Citizen’s Platform for Democ-
racy and Accountability says when one
follows up countries that score highly in the
CPI, it is clear they practice democracy and
good governance.
“The same needs to happen here. We
need to respect systems that have been put
in place,” Odoy said shortly after the release
of the 2018 corruption index in Kampala,
“The participation of citizens is also impor-
tant in the fight against corruption; every-
body must participate in the fight against
corruption.”
“We also realise that change of leader-
ship seems to be helping in the fight against
corruption,” he adds and points at the CPIs
of Namibia, The Gambia, and South Africa
which are improving.
Peter Kiwumulo Kabala, the Vice Chair-
person, Transparency International Uganda
Board says democracy goes beyond merely
having elections; which is what Uganda is
very good at. He says, instead, democracy is
about empowering people.
According to him, Uganda is witness-
ing a rolling back of democracy through
the recentralization of local governments.
The decentralization process, he says, was
aimed at empowering people at the grass-
roots to take decisions that are pertinent to
the realities in their communities.
“When I was a local council councilor
about 10 years ago, we used to enjoy a lot
of power to take decisions,” he says, “This
is changing and we are seeing many of the
critical decisions have come back to the cen-
tral government; this cannot be democracy.”
Kiwumulo says if there is political will
to fight corruption, Uganda can become as
clean as Denmark which scores 88 while
Uganda has 26 on the CPI.
“What’s missing out?” he asks rhetori-
cally, “They are human like us; we have the
policies and other things that can enable us
do a good job in this area.”
“We just need to change our attitudes,
that of the common citizen, leaders and offi-
cers working in these institutions. It is only
through these that we shall be able to score
highly.”
Odoy adds that in Rwanda, for example,
citizens are sensitized on issues of corrup-
tion and as a result, they understand the
effects of corruption.
“So it is not only important to put the
legal and policy frameworks in place but
news analysis
also put in the mechanisms that are going to
ensure that the laws and policies are going
to be enforced.”
Odoy appears to be referring to the inef-
fectiveness of the many anti-corruption leg-
islations, policies, and institutions; including
the Inspectorate of Government, the Audi-
tor General and the anti-corruption court,
that the government has come up with since
President Yoweri Museveni assumed power
33 years ago.
Just last December, Museveni unveiled
Lt. Col. Edith Nakalema to the Ugandan
public as the newest anti-corruption captain
in State House.
Museveni appointed Nakalema at the
time Uganda was commemorating the Anti-
Corruption Day, celebrated on Dec. 09 and
said she was “additional fuel” in the fight
against corruption in the country.
But Cissy Kagaba, the executive director
of the Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda
(ACCU) told The Independent that Uganda
might have the institutions in place but the
question Ugandans should be asking is why
these institutions are not working.
She says if the systems were working, we
would not have scandals like the
one in Bank of Uganda or the refu-
gee numbers scandal in the Office
of the Prime Minister. Kagaba
noted that the Auditor General
continuously releases reports with
recommendations on how to han-
dle issues related to corruption but
these are never followed up.
“President Museveni has asked
the public to be proactive when
it comes to corruption but how
empowered are the citizens?” she
added.
Kagaba said in Rwanda, the
President has regular engagement
with citizens where he, govern-
ment officials and citizens face–off, with
citizens expressing their grievances openly
as the President directs officials in charge of
their dockets to respond.
In Uganda, the government has attempt-
ed to replicate the initiative by coming up
with the “Barazas” but these are yet to come
up with tangible results.
Going forward, Transparency Interna-
tional says political leaders in Sub-Saharan
Africa; especially in Burundi, Mozambique
and Congo need to ramp up their efforts by
demonstrating visible commitments in the
fight against corruption.
Political leaders must also show commit-
ment in protecting human rights defenders,
political analysts, anti-corruption crusaders
and investigative journalists so they con-
tinue speaking out on corruption.
“They should further improve the
health of democratic institutions. This
includes supporting participation, trans-
parency and trust, along with the neces-
sary checks and balances.”
March. 01 - 07 2019 15
feature
Lions in Queen Elizabeth National Park have the knack for climbing and resting in tree branches.  INDEPENDENT/RONALD MUSOKE
Tracking lions in
Queen Elizabeth Park
It is easier to encounter the tree-climbing lions
but efforts to protect them remain controversial
By Ronald Musoke
L
ions are a must-see in Queen
Elizabeth National Park in western
Uganda and yet their reclusive na-
ture sometimes makes it a frustrating
experience for visitors.
On a recent conservation study tour to
the park, almost everyone in my group
admitted to never having seen a lion in the
wild.
As we embarked on our game drive in
the late afternoon of Feb.6, after a chat with
Edward Asalu, the Chief Warden of the
park, we reiterated our collective frustra-
tion.
Asalu did not promise anything to the
group but made a phone call from his office
at Katunguru in the north of the park. With-
in minutes, a youthful ranger joined us.
Armed with a rifle, Innocent Turyamuha
got into our emerald green safari van and
just ahead of us was, Jimmy Kisembo,
another park ranger on motorbike. With a
rifle slung across his chest, Kisembo would
guide us on the late-afternoon game drive.
Driving on a flat narrow murram road,
16 March. 01 - 07 2019
Kisembo led us to the northern plains of the
park; only allowing us short stops to view
buffaloes swirling in a pool of mud; kobs
rummaging on patches of dry grass and
waterbucks cooling off under tree shades.
About 45 minutes later, Kisembo beck-
oned us to stop and without uttering a
word, he pointed us to a thicket under
which a juvenile lion lay beside a severed
head of a buffalo, its shredded hide and
other entrails.
We gasped and sighed with both awe
and excitement.We clicked away our
cameras and yet the young lion seemed
unbothered by our curiosity. Just metres
away, Kisembo found the bigger group of
five perched onto the knotty branches of a
candelabra euphorbia tree.
The day had been a hot one even for us
humans but, we were told it is normal for
lions to take a siesta after feasting on prey.
Hours earlier, the lions had just finished
devouring a big mature buffalo that prob-
ably weighed over 200kg. But we were also
surprised by their heavy panting.
“Lions feed at the top-most level of the
food chain and that requires a lot of energy
to digest the steak,” Turyamuha said, “But
also, their high panting rate is due to lack
of sweat glands; their sweat glands are
only localized around the mouth and their
paws.”
It is not clear why lions in this park climb
trees but Turyamuha suggests it is probably
due to global warming.
“These animals are quite sensitive to
the environment,” he says, “It is possible
a warming world has made the ground a
little hotter and therefore uncomfortable for
the lions which spend a lot of time resting.”
“Climbing up and resting in the branches
helps them cool off,” he adds.
As our safari guide, Ismael Katamba,
moved the car around for us to observe the
cats at close quarters, we noticed one with
a collar similar to one you would see round
the neck of a well-fed pet dog.
That’s when Turyamuha began telling us
why it is not unusual these days to see some
lions in the Queen Elizabeth Park with what
he calls“radio collars.”
“The collars have batteries and are elec-
tronically configured to certain frequencies
with which the park rangers use the GPS

system to track the lions,” he said.
“Every morning we ensure that we get to
find out where they are. We cannot be sure
we will find them in the same place tomor-
row because lions range a lot.”
Turyamuha explains that in an area of
low prey density, lions can range within 40
sq km and where the animals of prey are
even fewer; the lions can expand their ter-
ritorial range as big as 400 sq km.
“In an area that has got patches of human
settlements, that would be dangerous for
both people and lions because the animals
are not able to tell where the park boundar-
ies stop,” he said.
“By using the radio tracking devices, we
follow them every day; like today, yester-
day and tomorrow, we will be able to know
where every other group is located with
respect to the distance from the community
land where they can face challenges.”
The lion massacre
Almost a year ago, Kisembo and Tury-
amuha were reduced to tears when they
discovered the remains of 11 dead lions
near Hamukungu fishing village on the
northern frontier of Queen Elizabeth
National Park. The death of the lions
alarmed many conservationists, both local
and international.
From the small signpost marked with
big black letters reading, “Community No
Access,” Turyamuha says we are about 1km
from last year’s harrowing incident.
We are surprised we found these lions
within range of the death spot but the
youthful ranger tells us that the lions cannot
tell where the park boundary stops. Tury-
amuha has never come to terms with the
loss of the pride of 11 lions.
“We never imagined this situation
because we used to involve the com-
munities in the protection of these lions,”
Turyamuha says, “We have community
scouts who are trained to handle problem
animals once they stray in the communities,
we get reports and we take the necessary
responses; but that day, nothing of this sort
happened.”
The park has since improved its surveil-
lance to protect the lions which the Inter-
national Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN) describes as vulnerable.
A study published in the journal, “Pro-
ceedings of the National Academy of Sci-
ences,” in 2015 noted how Africa’s lion
population is fast declining with present
statistics putting the number across Africa
at 20,000.
The Oxford University scientists said
there is a 67% likelihood that the number
of lions in Central and West Africa would
drop by half within two decades. In East
Africa, for lions in Serengeti National Park,
the probability is 37%. In Queen Elizabeth
National Park, the park managers say the
number hovers around 120.
At 1978 sq km, Queen Elizabeth National
Park is one of the biggest parks in Uganda.
It has three main water bodies; Lake
George, Lake Edward and the Kazinga
Channel which links the two lakes.
These water bodies have six landing sites
between them, including; Hamukungu,
Kahendero, Katunguru and Kasenyi, on
Lake George and Katwe-Kabatoro and
Kayanja are on the Ugandan side of Lake
Edward which straddles the DR Congo.
Close to 20,000 people are said to depend
on the fishing activity from Lake George
and the Kazinga Channel and another esti-
mated 15,000 depend on the Ugandan side
of Lake Edward.
Edward Asalu, Queen Elizabeth National
Park’s Chief Warden told The Independent
that the conservation area under his watch
is gazetted by UNESCO as a man and
biosphere reserve, meaning that human
activity is permitted to go on alongside con-
servation.
But this special status has also led to
one of the most disturbing relationships
between the beasts and man. And in recent
years, it is the cats that have come off worse.
Asalu says that in the beginning, the
fishing villages were gazetted for purposes
of fishing. But back then, as in many other
parts of Uganda, the human population
was quite small. Not anymore. People have
increased in number and they have over-
fished the water bodies.
“After depleting the lakes, the communi-
ties had to look for alternative sources of
livelihood and so they started rearing goats
and cattle and this is the source of the con-
flict,” Asalu told The Independent.
“The lions have since learnt that it is
much easier to get a cow or goat than the
wild animals like Kobs which are adapted
to the jungle.”
Saving them is critical and that is why
the park’s management has since come up
with several initiatives that are all geared at
lessening the interaction between the com-
munities and the lions.
Collared lions
The park’s veterinary department which
monitors animal health has been working
with the rangers and the Uganda Carnivore
Programme officials led by Dr. Ludwig Sief-
ert to select individuals for collaring.
Although the radio collar programme
in the park has been an ongoing initiative
since the late 1990s, the Wildlife Conserva-
tion Society, the Uganda Wildlife Authority
and the Uganda Carnivore Programme has
recently embarked on collaring more lions
to improve their monitoring.
“We normally pick the dominant female
because wherever the dominant female
is, it is followed by many other females,”
Turyamuha says, “Having the dominant
female collared gives us a chance of finding
out where others are and it is easier to fol-
feature
low their health status, movement patterns
in our quest to preserve their status in the
park.”
Alongside this initiative is a team of rang-
ers stationed within the communities which
is always ready to respond to whatever
happens when they notice lion movements.
“These lions have satellite callers which
are monitored through the satellite system,”
he adds.
“A map has to be downloaded every
day to help us find how closer to the com-
munity, the lions are. When we realise that
they are closer, especially, pastoral villages,
we alert the rangers and scouts who also
alert the communities to move their animals
away from the lions’ range or park bound-
aries.”
“That means that the cows that would
have died that particular day get saved and
when the people see us monitoring across
the park boundaries, between their land
and protected area land, they know we are
in control.”
This appears to be a marked improve-
ment from a year ago when the Hamu-
kungu community told Prof. Ephraim
Kamuntu, the Minister of Tourism, Wild-
life and Antiquities in a hastily arranged
meeting that they lived in constant fear of
the lions yet the UWA rangers are hardly
present in the communities. Whether the
presence of rangers in the communities will
boost confidence remains to be seen.
As our guide on motorbike gave our
driver the signal for us to leave the park
because we are not allowed beyond 7pm, I
stole a final look at the collared lion that was
now awake but still in a sleeping position.
I wonder if collaring lions does not take
away the “wilderness experience” when a
first time visitor like me encounters one.
Turyamuha agrees. But, he says, those
are some of the choices that conservationists
have to weigh on a daily basis.
“What is better between an animal get-
ting killed and it getting inconvenienced
with a collar to ensure it at least survives for
the next 15 years?”
He adds: “We don’t just collar any
individual. We don’t collar pregnant or
lactating individuals or even those that are
younger than two-and-half-years.”
He says, in any case, collaring the lions
in the park is an expensive venture. Just
one radio collar goes for perhaps US$ 3,000,
not to mention the expenses in constant
monitoring. Turyamuha says there are
currently 13 lions collared in the northern
part of the park. He says it is worth the
effort.
“There are other natural forces
threatening the survival of these lions; like
climate change but, if these rare animals are
to survive, we must be active and closely
monitor them.”
March. 01 - 07 2019 17
interview
I disagree with Prof
Mahmood Mamdani
Deus Kamunyu Muhwezi (PhD) is the chairperson of
Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA).
He spoke to The independent’s Agnes E Nantaba about the
troubles at Makerere University that led to his suspension.
What does the suspension mean to you sues and processes that serve the common
T
and MUASA? good. There were already formations who
his is my greatest challenge as chair- were aligned to take up future council
person MUASA because I was sus- positions and yet the Rwendeire Report
pended as a lecturer for performing demanded for the reconstitution of council
my duties as MUASA chairperson. members; something that we have always
What gave birth to this conflict was the sus- pushed for but didn’t go well with some
pension of leaders of staff associations and leaders. We, however, appreciate that at
that caused stampede which resulted into a least the government responded and gave
one month strike. But in the circumstance, us representatives under the leadership of
staff felt that it’s not good to hold students Lorna Magara whom we believe will ef-
and parents at ransom now that issues fect improvements in the system. With the
have been forwarded to council in place, there will be stability, some
council. It’s reforms and systems will begin to work and
challenging government shall be served with the right
but as a reports going forward.
leader, I
expect- Does that mean that the issues of Maker-
ed an ere University are leadership oriented?
uphill Makerere problems arise from leadership.
task For instance, the manipulation of the human
arising resource manual is leadership oriented.
from That is why I disagree with Prof Mahmood
talking Mamdani who is going around painting
about is- MUASA as a bad group. He is a part of
the problem because the human resource
manual was partly amended to accom-
modate him. I would rather he thinks
about how that could undermine the
way we feel about our employment
system not as individuals but as a
team. MUASA is expected to ask
questions that would enable
us to be fairly treated in an
employment system. If rules
are changed for the benefit
of one person, it complete-
ly undermines the trans-
parent functionality of
the system.
Apart from
the manipu-
lation of
the hu-
man
re-
18 March. 01 - 07 2019
source manual, what are the other key
challenges cited by MUASA?
The hostility of management to opinion
and the performance of the former council
are some of the other challenges. Our argu-
ment is that this hostility should end and
allow for more engagements that mean
well and build our society together. We
don’t want to be part of management but
we are stakeholders and we must therefore
be understood from that angle. The issues
also stem from bad governance that had
taken root in the institution; including
poor management of resources. All these
undermine the way we work as associations
- squeezing us on the wall. Once that has
been attended to and we begin to tolerate
and appreciate opinions, there will no more
issues. For instance, the law school just gave
a mere opinion but it caused someone to
threaten closure. That proves intolerance
and hostility. We have also heard some peo-
ple declare that it is time for propaganda
and that is partly what we see everywhere
including the media. This is just a simple
industrial dispute about rights and wellbe-
ing of workers. From my side, it has noth-
ing to do with regime change as invented
by some people and we can’t be part of the
propaganda theory to this level.
MUASA has focused on the unlawful
suspension of its chairman and leaders of
other staff associations. What are the un-
derlying issues in the suspension process?
On the advice of lawyers, we have been
told that the vice chancellor has no powers
or direct responsibility to suspend an asso-
ciation leader or academic staff. The head
of department should have been involved
in the whole process. However, what we
see are our activities being misconstrued to
mean our personal engagements with the
Vice chancellor as workers; forgetting that
the Unions Act and other Acts provide for
our positions and that sometimes we have
to ask the hard questions as part of our
mandate. That is where the Vice chancellor
misinterprets our activities as association
leaders to be personal engagements;
forgetting that we are merito-
riously in office and that as
leaders, sometimes we have to

ask the hard questions for the good of the
university.
How best should the suspension have been
handled?
I don’t think the law provides for my
suspension as MUASA chairperson. There
are established procedures for removing a
leader of an association including petitions,
call for general assembly and disposal of
errant leaders all of which never happened.
That was a mandate of fellow members and
if they wanted, that would have been the
path. To suspend me as a representative of
the staff is going off the board. If I erred as
a lecturer, my head of department should
have been the originator of the suspension
being my direct supervisor. There is a fusion
of things that keeps us wondering how we
got here and yet the university has a whole
directorate of legal affairs.
Where does the suspension of staff leaders
and the strike leave the glory of Makerere
University?
It sets a precedent which staff were trying
to fight against. It shows that if manage-
ment can hack MUASA and other staff
associations leaders because of an academic
exchange and a difference in opinion, then
they can do it to anyone else. We can’t allow
connecting politics to it and stampeding
people. Makerere cannot be stampeded by
one decision maker because it’s a university
with a legacy that will continue to shine.
Now that the staff grievances have been
escalated to be handled by the University
Council, what does it mean to the entire
review process?
The council committee would have been
the rightful organ to handle the cases if I was
lawfully suspended. I have always respected
the rules and if that is where we go next; let’s
go there and see what comes out. But also,
let’s attend to other matters arising from
court because there is a case that requires
court to look into the circumstances under
which I was suspended.
What is your next step?
Suspension expired after one month and
within that time; I should have been given
a report by a competent committee which
never happened. We are waiting for the
appointments board to consider us in the
circumstance and see how we will go for-
ward. Staff gave one month for these issues
to be addressed and we hope that they will
be resolved competently by Council. We
rejected the committee formed by the vice
chancellor; especially him being the com-
plainant, prosecutor and judge because it
wasn’t appropriate. Now that it’s been taken
to appointments board, we have confidence
that the merits of the case will be handled
appropriately.
By Sarah Stitzlein
Teach students to dissent
In a democracy, dissent offers the opportunity
to determine if a law and system is just
I
n scenes unprecedented in previous
school shootings in the USA, March 2018
was marked by students taking to the
streets, to the media, to corporations and
elected officials in protest over gun practices
and policies.
Responses to these teens have been
mixed. Some have celebrated their pas-
sion. Some concluded that the students
are immature and don’t yet fully grasp
longstanding issues over gun practices
and policies. Some questioned the voices
and perspectives of the teens. Still others
see the protests as an inappropriate use
of time that might be better spent.
Some schools even threatened to take
disciplinary action against students for
engaging in protests during school hours.
This prompted universities like my own
to promise students that disciplinary
actions that stem from peaceful protest
will not be held against them when they
seek college admission.
What schools should do
Immediately after the Parkland shoot-
ings, some scholars urged society to
consider “the nature of education and
schooling in American society.” Indeed,
we need an educational response to the
shootings. This response should account
for the purposes of schools within a
democracy and offer students opportuni-
ties to learn, even in the face of tragedy.
As the author of a new book on how
schools can get students to become more
civically engaged, and a 2012 book on
how schools can cultivate the skills nec-
essary for political dissent, I contend that
the student protesters that have emerged
in the wake of the Parkland shooting
offer insight into a worthwhile response.
While seldom acknowledged, students
have a right to engage in political dissent
and, more significantly, the entitlement
to an education that nurtures their ability
to do so. In the 1969 landmark Tinker
case, the Supreme Court ruled that stu-
dents do not “shed their constitutional
rights to freedom of speech or expression
at the schoolhouse gate.” But, the court
held, it is reasonable to limit protest
activities that interfere with the oppor-
tunity for others to learn. The right to
dissent is not explicitly stated in the Con-
stitution, but rather is a civil right that
arises out of how we understand good
citizenship and thriving democracy. Dis-
sent allows for a proliferation of views on
the good life. It sparks conversation and
interview
ignites change to better align practices
and policies with the wishes and needs of
the people. It keeps democracy vibrant.
Dissent is a democratic tradition
Often, we think of student protest as a
type of public self-expression that should
not be hindered as long as it meets cer-
tain criteria, like not preventing other
children from learning. Democracy
requires the consent of the governed.
The American Declaration of Indepen-
dence even says that when we are not in
agreement or when our well-being is in
jeopardy, we have a duty to speak up. It’s
the American way and has been from the
time the nation began.
It is only with the opportunity and
capacity to dissent that we can deter-
mine if our laws and systems guiding
us are good or just. Further, in order to
invoke our right to dissent, citizens have
to know how to dissent, which calls into
play the role of schooling.
As a scholar in the philosophy of educa-
tion, I would argue that our children, as
burgeoning citizens, are entitled to such
an education in our schools.
There, they should learn the skills of
dissent, including consciousness-raising,
coalition building, persuasion, public
demonstration and pursuit of traditional
government avenues for change. This
type of instruction is happening in some
schools, but not systematically enough
across all schools, as courses in civics
and social studies have been cut in order
to focus on testing and such. Students
receive even less of this kind of instruc-
tion in poorer schools.
And, our students must learn about
the responsibilities of citizenship that
correlate with their right to dissent. This
includes learning how to evaluate the
justice of laws, how to distinguish effec-
tive dissent from simple rabble-rousing,
and how to protest in ways that do not
unduly infringe on others.
Teaching children how to dissent
in response to a violent situation that
they feel threatens their well-being is
aligned with the purposes of democratic
schooling. Indeed, a flourishing democ-
racy depends on such an informed and
active citizenry who will speak out when
they find laws to be unjust.
Sarah Stitzlein is Professor of Education and
Affiliate Faculty in Philosophy, University of
Cincinnati
Source: theconversation
March. 01 - 07 2019 19
 advertorial

Umeme is an exemplary
company in East Africa

N
ational Social Security Fund (NSSF)
is the single largest shareholder of
power distributor, Umeme. It has
earned Ush32.1 billion in dividends





$



the power utility.
should lead to higher earnings for the
company.
In addition, according to NSSF, the
demand for electricity is growing at over
10%, a faster pace than supply, and with
more energy projects coming to fruition


$
 





in the next few years, the company
in 2012 and four years later, increased the is well positioned to take advantage

23%
stake to 23%, making it the single biggest of that opportunity. And Umeme has
shareholder in the power distributor. STAKE IN demonstrated competency to do this.
“Umeme is one of the Fund’s best UMEME The Fund primarily would like to
performing equity investments, and one MAKES NSSF THE SINGLE invest more in Uganda, so investment in
of the best performing listed companies in Umeme Limited provided us with a great
East Africa,” says NSSF’s Managing Director, BIGGEST SHAREHOLDER opportunity to invest at home, notes
Richard Byarugaba. Byarugaba.
The Fund’s investment into Umeme was also driven by Most importantly, Byarugaba explains, “the investment was
the desire to increase access to electricity, which has a direct in line with our statutory mandate to judiciously invest NSSF
impact on the country’s socio-economic development. members’ savings, and our Investments Strategy, to enable us
pay a competitive return to our members.”
“We see the role Umeme Limited plays in enabling
access to electricity as very critical in Uganda’s development Byarugaba adds that the investment into Umeme also
journey,” Byarugaba adds. “Uganda still has one of the lowest $



"
!

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electricity consumption per capita levels in the world, with portfolio, a key component of their Corporate Strategy to
only an estimated 23/26% of the population having access to grow the Fund to Ush20 trillion by 2025.
electricity.” #

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Owing to this, NSSF sees Umeme’s future as a successful areas like the energy sector,” Byarugaba adds.
business because the ever-increasing demand for electricity

12 UMEME POWER: Transforming Uganda

UMEME 20
Power Book.indd 12 March. 01 - 07 2019 12/8/18 10:1
 advertorial













 

UMEME
March. 01 POWER: Transforming Uganda 2113
- 07 2019
 Isimba Dam
U
By Isaac Khisa
ganda’s planned commis-
sioning of the multi-million
dollar Isimba and Karuma
Hydropower projects on the
downstream of River Nile is
expected to put government
on the spot as sector players expect electric-
ity tariffs to reduce.
The two dams with a combined capacity
of 783MW will see the country nearly dou-
ble its electricity generation to 1,633MW,
a development that the government has
consistently said will ease electricity tariffs
for consumers.
However, a section of consumers say
chances of reduction in electricity tariffs are
minimal owing to the lop-sided terms and
conditions in the power generation agree-
ments that favour investors.
“Many concession agreements between
Uganda and generation companies have
constant costs like generation, transmission,
debt service and staff costs that still have
to be paid whether power is consumed or
not…it is these costs that inform the final
price determination paid by the end users,”
said Denis Dan Agaba in reference to the
250MW Bujagali Hydro Power project.
The current electricity tariffs are structured
in such a way that even if electricity is not pur-
chased, the money for the Bujagali power dam
must be paid.
The US$900million Bujagali Dam was com-
missioned in 2013 and the investors includ-
ing the Aga Khan Development Network
have up to 15 years to recoup their capital.
Available data shows that Uganda’s
installed generation capacity is currently
about 850MW – including 100MW from
the heavy fuel generators – but effective
demand is about 600MW.
This implies that the government pays for
22 March. 01 - 07 2019
Karuma, Isimba and
electricity tariffs
New investors could trigger a
drop in electricity costs
the more than 200MW of electricity that is
unutilised.
Agaba said consumers were promised
lower tariffs for electricity when Bujagali
was commissioned but nothing of the sort
has so far happened.
“The prices of electricity might even
increase given that the conditions for the
earlier debt for Bujagali remains and now
add on the Chinese debts that will also
be required to be paid at the same time,”
another source said.
This is happening at the time the govern-
ment plans to launch the US$570million
Isimba Hydropower Dam in March and the
US$1.7billion Karuma Hydropower Dam
later this year. The two dams were funded
with a loan from the China Export Import
Bank (China Exim Bank).
It also coincides with the latest consumer
tariff schedule of Electricity Regulatory
Authority (ERA) for the first quarter of
this year that saw domestic consumers
pay Shs718.9, down from Shs771.1 kWh,
small scale industries at Shs648.3, down
from Shs687 kWh and medium industrial
consumers paying Shs592.5, down from
Shs615.3 kWh.
Electricity tariffs for large scale industrial
consumers fell from Shs383.8 to Shs375.5
kWh while tariffs for street lighting
dropped by Shs51 to Shs701.9 kWh.
But the current electricity tariffs are still
higher compared with five years ago. In
2014, domestic consumers whose usage is
more than 15 units per month were paying
Shs518.6 kWh. Similarly, commercial con-
sumers were paying Shs452.5 kWh while
medium and large industrial consumers
were paying an average of Shs450.1 and
Shs308.5 KWh respectively.
Private sector remains optimistic
The private sector that includes big
consumers like manufacturers, however,
say the electricity tariffs are likely to ease
but only if government continues to attract
more investors into the country to consume
the excess power generated.
“It is true that the additional electricity
from the two dams could drive electricity
tariffs downwards. However, this will also
depend on how government sources for
more investors so that more electricity is
consumed,” said Moses Ogwal, the policy
and advocacy officer at the Private Sector
Foundation Uganda.
Martin Kyeyune, the finance and economic
advisor at the Uganda’s Roofings Group, the
producer of steel products supplied across

East Africa, said the mushrooming industries coun-
trywide gives them hope that tariffs will drop once
the two dams come on board.
“We are seeing many companies coming up. This
is in Kapeeka, Tororo, Namanve, Mbale, among
others and we hope this will see electricity tariffs
ease,” he said.
Musa Mayanja Lwanga, the Head of Research
and Market Development at Uganda Bankers’ Asso-
ciation says evacuation of the additional electricity
to the national grid coupled with creating an envi-
ronment that will attract investments could drive
the electricity tariffs downwards.
He said there is a possibility of the low-priced
electricity supply in the new dams to subsidise the
already highly priced electricity generated from
other dams and therefore a reduction in tariffs.
The electricity from Isimba and Karuma hydro-
power dams is expected to be sold at US$4 cents
kWh compared with the US$8 cents from Bujagali
hydropower dam.
“The additional electricity could also be exported
to the neighbouring countries leading to increase in
consumption and a drop in tariffs,” he added.
ERA’s view on electricity tariffs
Julius Wandera, the Communication Manager
at the ERA, a government agency responsible for
setting tariffs, told The Independent that the electric-
ity generation coming on board from Isimba and
Karuma could drive the tariffs downwards as the
debt repayment for their construction is not embed-
ded to the tariffs.
“Money for repayment of the loan will come from
the treasury and not through the electricity tariffs,”
he said. Even if it is to be embedded on the electrici-
ty tariffs, Wandera said the government is putting in
all efforts to attract more investors into the country
so as to increase electricity consumption and drive
the tariffs south.
He said the electricity distributor, Umeme, has
also intensified efforts to improve the quality and
reliability of electricity to the industries so as to
increase on the electricity consumption.
UEGCL implements
CDAP a head of
Isimba Dam launch
By Isaac Khisa
T
he multi-billion dollar Commu-
nity Development Action Plan
at Isimba Hydropower Project
has started, clearing the way for
construction and upgrading of schools,
health Centres, latrines and clean water
supply in Kayunga and Kamuli Dis-
tricts.
The two districts shares the dam on
the downstream of River Nile, and it is
slated for commissioning next month.
Uganda Electricity Distribution Com-
pany, a government agency responsible
for development and operation of
Isimba Hydropower Dam, broke the
ground for classroom works, health
centres and boreholes, estimated to cost
Shs 5.5billion.
CDAP is a government programme
whose aim is to mitigate the social chal-
lenges that arose from the construction
of the 183MW Isimba Hydropower
Dam.
The scope of the Plan includes provi-
sion of improved health care, educa-
tion, clean water, latrines and electricity.
UEGCL Chief Executive Officer, Har-
rison Mutikanga, said the community
developments are aimed at ensuring
that the lives of the people living near
the dam is not affected.
“Prior to implementation of this
project, a section of people near the
dam depended on fetching water in R.
Nile. Now they cannot do that because
after embankment, it looks less like a
lake and people can’t fetch water from
there,” he said. “So, the best alternative
was for us to drill for them boreholes.”
He said the company also decided to
extend other social services including
schools and health services as a way
of giving back to the communities that
were affected by the dam project.
Rebecca Kadaga, the Woman Mem-
ber of Parliament for Kamuli District
and Speaker of the Uganda Parliament
as well as Amos Lugolobi, the legisla-
ture for Ntejeru South Constituency in
Kayunga District applauded UEGCL
for the new community development
in their areas.
Daisy Kisakye, a resident of Nampa-
nyi Village, Busaana Town Council in
Kayunga District told The Independent
March. 01 - 07 2019
business
that the extension of water services in
their areas has eased their lives.
“We have indeed been suffering
over the past period struggling to look
for since the dam construction started
because they could not allow us near
the river,” she said.
Another resident found at Buluya
Health Centre II in Kamuli District
revealed that it has been tough for them
to access various health services espe-
cially those that required specialized
treatment.
Isimba Hydropower Dam is current-
ly undergoing test trials ahead of com-
missioning next month and subsequent
handover of the facility to UEGCL for
operation and maintenance in April this
year.
The commissioning of the Dam is
expected to boost the country’s electric-
ity to the national grid to 1033 to meet
the growing demand that is said to
be growing at 10% per annum. The
dams is also expected to provide reli-
able electricity and energy output for
Uganda and the neighboring countries.
This new development comes at
the time electricity consumption in the
country at the current 215kWh per per-
son per year remains lowest in Africa.
On average, the poorest people in sub-
Saharan Africa consume 552kWh per
person per year.
However, it remains unclear on how
much consumers will pay for the elec-
tricity generated even as UEGCL plans
to sell electricity to the national grid at
US4 cents per unit lower than the cur-
rent US$8 cents being offered by the
Bujagali Hydropower Dams.
Some CDAP beneficiaries in the
two districts
 Nakandulo Primary School
 St. Peter’s Kibuzi Sec School
 Busaana Sec School
 Busaana Health Centre II
 Nakakandwa Primary School
 Namusara Health Centre II
 Lwanyama Teachnical Institute
 Kayunga Health Centre II
 Mbalamuti Health Centre II
 St. Andrews Primary School
 Bukamba Health Centre II
 VIP latrines and toilets in both
districts
23
business
Mobile Money tax regressive-
Tanzania’s Benno Ndulu
Good innovations but utilization needs to be boosted
By Ian Katusiime
W
hen one talks about financial
inclusion in Uganda, it is al-
ways mobile money that comes
into their minds first. The mo-
bile money system is now entrenched and is
even a substitute for banks.
Mobile money has successfully brought
on board ordinary people involved in the
informal sector in the money transfer busi-
ness.
So when Prof. Benno Ndulu, the former
Governor of the Central Bank of Tanzania
took to the podium as the Guest Speaker
at the 26th edition of the Joseph Mubiru
Memorial Lecture on Feb.20, he knew the
magnitude of the mobile money sector to
most of the members of his audience at
Kampala Serena Hotel.
Ndulu has been a regular visitor to Kam-
pala and was therefore familiar with most
of the topical issues in the financial and eco-
nomic sector of Uganda.
Ndulu’s speech had a great deal of an
East African context and it was not sur-
prising when he labelled the region as the
“cradle of mobile money”. M-pesa that is
founded in Kenya is a trailblazer across the
continent when it comes to mobile money
services.
Speaking under the theme “The role of
financial innovation and inclusion in scal-
ing up growth in Uganda,” Ndulu gave a
preamble of thoughts before he delved into
the achievements of financial innovations in
Uganda.
First, he urged a move from financial
inclusion to universality to bring on board
the 22% that are financially excluded.
Secondly, he called for more utilization,
stressing that even those who have mobile
money, only a small fraction are active.
Thirdly was taxation, a statement that
elicited a wild applause. “When there is a
momentum of leapfrogging success, there
is a temptation to tax it like hell,” Ndulu
remarked. “By overtaxing, you are discour-
aging this set of services and you under-
mine the tax base,” he added.
His third sentiment resonated well due
to the controversial tax that was levied
on mobile money at the beginning of the
current financial year. He also bemoaned
the fact that mobile money taxes are
24 March. 01 - 07 2019
Prof. Benno Ndulu
“regressive”. He noted, “They do not
discriminate across ability to pay”.
Impressive statistics & innovations
With the aid of a PowerPoint
presentation, Ndulu spoke glowingly
about the strides Uganda has made in
financial inclusion and innovation. He was
impressed that Uganda had made a leap
from 52% in 2013 of people using formal
financial services to 58% in 2018 according
to Finscope, a financial data aggregator.
In 2009, the percentage stood at 28%. The
former governor was happy to point out
that six out of ten Ugandans are able to use
a digital payment today.
Ndulu said there was a lot to celebrate
about innovation in terms of growth such as
the rise of agent-based services in contrast
to the brick and mortar businesses.
“Previously a bank needed a certain level
of investment to set up a branch now thanks
to this innovation, which is not the case
anymore,” he said.
Related to the agent based services, he
hailed the reduction of face to face cost
thanks to digitization.
He also cited the use of big data in
banking and block chain technology, the
latter being the latest controversy to roil the
world of financial technology in the last
year.
Ndulu applauded the innovations in
the financial market such as mobile money
gateways like Payway, micro insurance,
digital micro credit and loan disbursements
like MoKash, and mobile money cross
border payments such as the collaboration
between MTN and M-Pesa.
However in spite of all these wonderful
innovations, he says, there is still a usage
problem that follows all of them. “Of all
the 690million mobile money accounts in
the world, less than a quarter are ‘active’”
Ndulu regretted.
This measure of being active is for those
who use the accounts over a ninety day
period.
Low utilisation
In spite of the all the wonderful financial
innovations, there is a problem of utilisation
with almost every product. “Despite the
cellular expansion, there is less than 12% of
population in low income countries who
use the internet, notwithstanding the high
ownership of smartphones.” Ndulu said.
He cited the cost of the smartphone
that has dropped by 50% across the region
compared to about five years ago yet those
who own smartphones, only a measly 15%
use them for financial services.
This was also related to his earlier
concern of inactive mobile money accounts.
The utilisation shortfall was elaborated by
Rashmi Pillai, the Acting executive director
of Financial Sector Deepening Uganda
(FSDU) who was the discussant of the
speech.
She wondered why most of the financial
transactions were person to person and
why there was not more sophisticated use
of financial technology and other services.
“There is a huge access and usage gap,”
Pillai commented.
She added that agents tend to coalesce
around areas of economic activity in the
urban areas denoting another aspect of the
access-usage gap. She paused questions
on whether this gap can be reduced. “Are
people incentivised to have mobile money
savings? Are we building financial markets
for big volume digital payments?”
Pillai described Ndulu as a “forward
thinking central banker” and lauded him
for the various innovations he introduced
when he was at the helm of the central bank
in Tanzania.

Kenya’s pension firm
enters Uganda market
By Julius Businge
A
new pension administrator, En-
wealth Financial Services, has
entered Uganda’s pension market
upon securing an operation license
from the regulator, Uganda Retirement Ben-
efits Regulatory Authority (URBRA).
The firm that joins nine other pension
administrators in the country plans to offer
pension retirement services, training and
consultancy services.
Founded in 2011 in Kenya, it currently
manages pension assets worth over Shs2tril-
lion for 120 clients in 12 countries within
Africa.
Nelson Kuria, the company’s chairman
Board of Directors said at the unveiling
event held at Sheraton Hotel in Kampala on
Feb.21 that they are bringing to the market
innovative social security financial ser-
vices powered by new information tech-
nology functions. They are also offering
financial literacy education programmes
to the small and medium enterprises.
“We are passionate about value propo-
sition,” Kuria said adding, “We have done
visibility studies to inform sustainability
of our business. Our products and services
are driven by research.”
For now, Kuria said they are not look-
ing for profits.
“Our driving force is a long term per-
spective; we have confidence in Uganda’s
economy which has potential to grow,” URBRA’s Acting CEO, Martin Nsubuga (2-L) leads other officials at informal sector, to whom retirement
he said. the unveiling ceremony of Enwelath’s services in Uganda.
The company is targeting 60% clients in
the corporate arena; 30% in the small and
medium enterprises space and 10% operat-
ing within the informal sector space.
The products
The firm’s executives said they are intro-
ducing sustainable retirement investment
options that provide a regular cash-flow
during retirement such as income draw
downs, diaspora and expatriates fund as
well as post-retirement healthcare fund to
guarantee security in retirement.
Currently, Uganda’s pension sector
covers only about two million of the popu-
lation, representing less than 10% of the
country’s 34.5 million people. The sector
contributes slightly more than 9% to the
country’s Gross Domestic Product.
This new development comes as the lat-
est data from URBRA shows that the sec-
tor’s asset portfolio stood at Shs10trillion as
at the end of 2017, with the National Social
Security Fund controlling 90% of the portfo-
lio and the rest controlled by small schemes.
With more players joining the market,
Martin A. Nsubuga, the acting chief execu-
tive officer for URBRA said, more products
would be put to the market and regulation
will be enhanced.
“We are also adapting to modern super-
visory tools to ensure that people’s sav-
ings are secure,” Nsubuga said, adding
that this development is also expected to
increase people’s appetite for saving that
has remained low. The 2016 World Bank
figures shows that Ugandans save around
5% of their monthly earnings compared to
23% for Kenya, 13% for Tanzania and 18%
for Rwanda.
Nsubuga said that they did due diligence
on the company and its top managers
before granting them a license.
He said the new pension administrator
would bring in high level of professionalism
that will boost the sector’s growth. “This is
value addition to the sector,” he said. “They
are ranked highly in other markets.”

He said that based on their research,
Enwealth is bringing in the market exper-
tise, innovation, and a culture of integrity
and compliance to the regulatory provi-

sions.
Beyond Enwealth, he said URBRA is
currently encouraging players to enhance
corporate governance function in order to
strengthen the sector’s growth by protecting

assets of owners.
In addition, he said that they are confi-
dent Enwealth will provide well researched
information on issues affecting financial ser-
vices, social security and employee benefits

in Uganda through their regular research
based report and debate dubbed ‘Enwealth
Conversations’.
Speaking at the same event, the NSSF
business
Managing Director Richard Byarugaba said
the pension sector currently faces challenges
relating to low investment and savings
culture, informality of the economy, lack of
liquidity, poor infrastructure, limited under-
standing of insurance and pension sector
opportunities.
He said partnerships amongst key play-
ers, and support from the regulator could
help reverse the trend.
He, however, said more entrepreneurship
innovations and the move from mandatory
schemes to voluntary schemes are slowly
defining the current and future status of the
pension sector. Currently, only about 2.4
million (14%) of Uganda’s workforce is cov-
ered by National Social Security Fund, Pub-
lic Service Pension Scheme, Parliamentary
Pension Scheme, Supplementary Voluntary
Occupational Schemes and Supplementary
Voluntary Individual Schemes.
The low coverage is attributed
to the current retirement benefits
system that was designed to cover
workers in formal employment.
Yet, the country’s informal sector
accounts for more than 86% of the
country’s total workforce, according
to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics
of 2017.
It is estimated that by 2050, the
ageing work force in Uganda will
comprise of, for the most part, the
self-employed and laborers in the
benefits and old age security provisions
are unavailable.
Enwealth products at a glance
 Post-retirement healthcare fund: This
enables retirees to access good quality
healthcare during retirement
Enwealth personal pension scheme: it
is a long term investment product that
allows individuals to contribute to build
up their retirement fund
Enwealth umbrella fund: it is a fund
whereby many employers decide to
participate in retirement investments
together as a pool for cost cutting/shar-
ing
Income draw down fund: it gives pen-
sioners an alternative to the annuities,
where the retiree is able to draw down
on their pension while the residual is
still being invested
Enwealth diaspora and expatriates fund:
it provides a saving and investment solu-
tion for the diaspora community both
within and out of the country
March. 01 - 07 2019 25
 Executive Style
Commercial bank status is
top on our agenda – EFC MD
What is your description of
O
EFC as a business as we speak?
ur business model
focuses on small and
medium enterprises.
We acquired our MDI
license from Bank of Uganda
in 2014, before then we were
licensed as a money lending in-
stitution under the magistrates’
courts. Our focus is entrepre-
neurs with verifiable businesses
who wish to grow them. We
therefore do not do consumer
lending. Our customers range
from those requiring microfi-
nance solutions say small loans
all the way to lower tier of
banking. We think ourselves to
be a quasi-microfinance player
because we do not exactly do
the very small loans or what
you would call bottom of the
pyramid lending. We do not do
loans below Shs5 million. We
lend up to Shs100 million which
was made possible by a capital
injection of Euros 2 Million
which was made by our share-
holders in March, 2018. We are
currently largely playing in
the Kampala and the greater
Kampala metropolitan area. We
have plans to expand to other
places.
What have you achieved so
far?
In 2014 we received an MDI
license from Bank of Uganda
which we recorded as a big
achievement because it allowed
us to mobilise deposits from the
public and it continues to give
us an opportunity to grow the
organisation. In March 2018, we
raised additional capital in the
amount of Shs9billion which
made us one of the most capi-
talized supervised institution in
the land.
What is your general assess-
ment on the uptake and per-
formance of the microfinance
sub-sector in Uganda?
This market grew at about
8% in the second last quarter
of 2019. Our own business
26 March. 01 - 07 2019
grew in excess of 120% in 2019
largely because of the way we
approach the market and serve
our customers. We are growing
by leaps and bounds because
of our fast service. The number
of players has increased but so
have the number of custom-
ers. One of the reasons that the
government proposed was the
introduction of a regulator for
microfinance players not super-
vised by BOU.
What is your position on the
proposed regulator?
It is a step towards the right
direction. Persons who inter-
mediate other people’s money
ought to be regulated because
in Uganda we have experiences
of SACCOs and other small
financial institutions disap-
pearing with people’s money.
We hope that whoever ends up
regulating this sector is com-
petent enough to deliver the
service.
Why should one consider ac-
cessing your services in this
competitive market?
We have the fastest turn-
EFC Uganda
Limited also
known as EFC
Uganda is a
microfinance
deposit-taking
institution in
Uganda and has
been operating
since 2012.
The company’s
Managing
Director Shem
Kakembo
spoke to The
Independent’s
Julius Businge
about their
business
around times in the industry.
We appraise a business in a few
hours to make a decision to
lend to you. The kind of risk we
take on our customers, many
of the banks in Uganda do not.
We are big on digitization. This
year, our customers will be able
to apply for loans via an app.
We understand that our cus-
tomers are busy and they have
limited time to move physically
to our service points.
Profitability of the financial
sector in the past five years
has been negatively affected
by the upward trend of non-
performing loans. How have
you fared?
The country has been going
through interesting cycles.
In 2011, interest rates went
through the roof because of
political and other factors. But
in 2016 this situation was better
managed. We saw interest rates
starting to come down which
means the central bank had
learnt their lessons and did a
very good job. Industry NPLs
are now in the region of 3-5%
of total loans which is not bad
given where we have come
from. The market should
know that interest rates are
driven by the cost of doing
business which is relatively
high in Uganda. With agent
banking however, we
should begin to see the cost
of doing business come
down. We are pushing the
central bank to open agent
banking space to all players
in different tiers. With infla-
tion targeting, we think the
central bank has done a very
good job in containing infla-
tion below 5%. The economy
is projected to grow by
about 6.3% this year and
these are very healthy
growth figures.
What are the top three sec-
tor challenges that you face
as a business and how best
should those with authority
intervene?
The cost of doing business is
still high because of expensive
inputs e.g. power the supply of
which is also sometimes unreli-
able. The other is the high cost
of internet and because, a lot
of services that we do require
internet we feel the pinch.
How is EFC embracing the
popular talk of digital revolu-
tion?
With the digital revolution
and how we are planning
to deliver our products and
interact with our customers,
the requirement of a physical
branch is shrinking. But given
our business model, a presence
in an area is still important. We
want to go paperless in 2020.
What should the market expect
from EFC in 2019?
In late 2019, we will be apply-
ing for a commercial banking
license to be able to add new
products and services to our
current offering. The new prod-
ucts would include forex and
other trade related services.
 Business
CONFERENCE

Top executives to attend 11th ICT4D conference in Kampala

P
rivate sector players will be part
of the over 200 speakers from
the Government of Uganda,
International and Ugandan NGOs
who will be attending the annual ICT4D
conference, scheduled for April 30- May 3,
2019 at Speke Resort Munyonyo. Founded
by Catholic Relief Services and now in its
11th session, the conference provides a
forum for the global digital development
community comprising of hundreds of
participants to gather and share, learn and
innovate on issues regarding the sector. It is
organised in partnership with international
and regional partners, including NetHope,
Norwegian Refugee Council, Chemonics,
DAI Global, ICRISAT, International Rescue
Committee, Mercy Corps, NUDIPU, Plan
International, SOS Children’s Villages,
UNCDF, and World Vision among other
sponsors. It will feature over 300 sessions
tackling issues about agriculture, digital
financial inclusion, humanitarian response
and resilience, education and more.

CSR INSURANCE

Fresh Dairy 2019 Insurance broker MINET trains

I
School Games on nsurance broker under their various

T
Minet Uganda umbrella bodies to
he 2019 Fresh Dairy Sec- Limited in understand the oil
ondary School Games partnership industry as well as
have officially been with AON from the train their personnel
launched and flagged United Kingdom, to appreciate the
off. They started on Feb.13 and conducted an oil and risks that might
will go up to May 11. The Gen-
gas training aimed at manifest in this new
eral Secretary for Uganda Sec-
equipping insurers market,” Maurice
ondary Schools Sports Associa-
with knowledge Amogola, Minet’s
tion Christopher Mugisha said
about oil and gas CEO said. He added
at the launch event on Feb.21
risks. Around 40 that the training
in Kampala that the games,
also commonly known as ‘Ball insurance industry when Uganda is Oil in two years would help local
Games 1’ will attract over 2,500 executives attended commencing the time. “Just like other Ugandan insurers
secondary school students the workshop held stage of development potential support and reinsurers
across the country who will in Kampala, the and construction sectors, insurance prepare themselves
compete in various disciplines.’ company said on of oil production companies in Uganda to ably cover the risks
The disciplines to be competed Feb. 22. The training facilities as the are doing all they can, associated with the
in include basketball, rugby, comes at a time country eyes First both privately and oil and gas sector.
football, hokey, table tennis and
banking
Bad Minton. The Marketing
Manager at Fresh Dairy Vin-
Dfcu’s new loan facility

D
cent Omoth said, they signed a
five year contract with Uganda fcu bank customers
Secondary Schools Sports Asso- will, for a limited
ciation worth Shs3.8billion for time access personal
this exercise. unsecured loans
of up to Shs150 million at a
competitive interest rate of
17.5% per annum, it said on
Feb.19. According to dfcu
bank’s Head for Personal
Banking, Miranda Bageine
Musoke, customers will be able
to apply in minutes and have
money on their account within
a day. “The uncertainties of
life will require that customers
seek credit facilities in a timely
manner and at a competitive
cost,” Musoke said. He added
that by offering personal
unsecured loans of up to
Shs150million at 17.5% interest
rate within a day “we are
meeting the needs of today’s
customers who want a safe, fast
and affordable way to borrow
money.” This campaign will be
running until the end of March
2019. The same campaign has
additional benefits including
a maximum of Shs800 000
salary protection cover for up
to three months (for salaried
customers); hospital cash of
Shs50, 000 per day for 10 days,
funeral expenses of Shs2million
and more.

FINANCE

ICPA-U president urges on audit fees

T
he President of the Institute
of Certified Public Accoun-
tants of Uganda (ICPA-U)
Derick Nkajja (Pictured)
(CPA) has urged Chief Finance
Officers to be clear while negotiat-
ing audit fees with their clients in
order not to kill the profession. He
was speaking at the Chief Finance
Officers (CFOs) forum organised
by the Institute at Imperial Royale
Hotel in Kampala on Feb.21. Nkajja
said that some CFOs and their top
managers were poor at negotiating
fees, which he said, might com-
promise the quality of audits and
negatively affect the profession in
general. He added that good audits
support growth of businesses and
the economy in particular. “A thriv-
ing business must have a thriving
finance team,” he told the audience
of around 200 participants. He also
said that the institute supports all
efforts geared towards growing the
number of accountants and improv-
ing their skills to better serve busi-
nesses. Uganda currently has a total
of about 3,516 qualified accountants
and slightly above 2000 are active.

March. 01 - 07 2019 27
Business

Coffee exports earnings falls

Uganda Electricity million bags.
Generation Company By Patricia Akankwatsa Last year, Uganda’s coffee

U
Limited CEO Eng.
Harrison Mutikanga and ganda’s coffee
Speaker of Parliament exports dropped
Rebecca Kadaga flags for the three
off construction of months to
classroom blocks at December 2018 citing low
Nakandulo Primary commodity prices on the
School, Kamuli District international market on
on Feb. 21. The the account of high crop
classroom construction production in Brazil.
is under the community Latest data from
development action plan the Uganda Coffee
(CDAP) a head of Isimba Development Authority
Dam launch on the shows the country’s coffee
downstream of River exports from October to
Nile.   Courtesy Photo. December 2018 totaled to
1.06million bags worth
$109.59million compared
to 1.21million 60-kg worth
$135.81million recorded
in the previous year. This
represents an 11.19% and
19.30% drop in quantity and
value, respectively.
Overall coffee production
in Brazil was up 16% year
on year in 2018/19, with the
total global ending stocks
set to increase 12% pushing
prices southwards.
Global coffee production
is expected to be 167.47
million 2018/19 exceeding
world consumption at 165.15
Trade Minister Amelia Kyambadde addressing members of the
8th National Standards Council (NSC) in Kampala recently. She
appointed 10 members of the 8th NSC for three years. NSC is
a supreme governing body of the Uganda National Bureau of
Standards responsible for providing oversight and policy guidance to
management to ensure effective service delivery.   Courtesy Photo.
export volumes grew 7%
to 4.5million 60-kilo bags
worth US$492million for
the 2017/18 season (Oct-
Sep) compared with the
previous year – due to
increased yield from the
newly planted crops as well
as good flowering and beans
development.
This is the second
consecutive year that the
country recorded the highest
coffee export volumes since
1996 when it recorded
4.15million bags. In 17/18
season, the country exported
4.2 million bags worth
US$490million.
Uganda exports most
of its coffees Germany,
Switzerland, India, and USA.
UCDA has since 2012
distributed more than
317,000 coffee seedlings
to farmers across the 98
districts that grow the crop,
though low productivity,
unpredictable weather
conditions, inadequate
agricultural extension
officers, and limited use
of fertilizers remains a big
hindrance to productivity.

Weekly share price movement (Feb. 15)

Security Feb. 15 Feb.08 Movement
BATU 30,000 30000 00
BOBU 134 134 00
CENT 1,242 1,298 4.3
QCL 200 200 00
DFCU 690 690 00
EABL 8,154 7,838 4.0
EBL 1,568 1,575 0.4
JHL 16,090 15,622 2.9
KA 328 327 0.3
KCB 1,607 1,589 1.1
NIC 14 14 00
NMG 2,526 2,280 10.7
NVL 336 337 0.3
Allen Ayebare (2nd R), Chief Manager Corporate Affairs and SBU 28 29 3.4
Communication at Centenary Bank with a bank official handing over UCHM 27 29 3.4
a dummy cheque worth Shs 1 million to some of the clients who took UCL 18 18 00
part in the Valentines with Cente Visa campaign. The event was held at UMEME 300 300 00
the bank’s head office on Feb. 14.   Courtesy Photo. ALSI -- -- --

28 March. 01 - 07 2019
The inactive form of HIV that rests hidden in people’s cells can now be accurately measured.
HIV hiding in cells
It can now be measured. But are we closer to a cure?
T
By Agencies
he road to a cure for HIV
is long, winding, and with
no definite end in sight.
That said, a new study
published in January in
the journal Nature is shed-
ding light on a way to measure what
is considered an inactive form of the
virus that rests hidden in people’s
cells.
This so-called “latent reservoir” of
HIV has stood as a roadblock to eradi-
cating the virus, stubbornly staying
put despite being attacked by increas-
ingly sophisticated antiretroviral
drugs used to treat the virus.
For researchers in the HIV cure
field, this new technique is a signifi-
cant development because it offers a
clearer look at how to pinpoint this
viral reserve.
Why is this important?
Past tools are said to have greatly
overestimated how much of this
under-the-radar cache of virus existed
in any given cell.
Now, measuring the reservoir to see
how it responds to experimental thera-
pies may be less of a shot in the dark.
This new work comes out of the
Maryland lab of Howard Hughes
Medical Institute investigator Dr. Rob-
ert F. Siliciano, PhD, a leader in the
HIV cure world. He said that while
current drugs out there are doing a
good job of attacking and suppressing
the virus, none of them are able to get
rid of this persistent latent form.
Over the years, Siliciano and his col-
leagues have attempted various meth-
ods to try to get around this problem,
essentially “waking up” the latent
virus and killing the bad actor cells.
He said, while there are a lot of
clinical trials underway to do this, you
won’t know whether or not they’re
working unless you can clearly mea-
sure this drug-resistant reservoir.
“Measuring the latent form is going
to tell us whether we are closer to a
cure or not,” Siliciano, professor of
medicine at the Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity School of Medicine, told Health-
line. “You can’t know whether you are
making progress unless you can mea-
sure before and after an intervention
and say ‘Aha, this went down.’ “
Siliciano said that in clinical tri-
als of new antiretroviral treatments,
researchers would see just how much
the presence of the virus dropped, and
whether or not the drugs themselves
produced this decrease.
“It really accelerates the develop-
ment of antiretroviral therapy if you
have a simple assay (a lab test used to
analyze the effectiveness of a drug, for
instance) that measures the key quan-
tity that indicates how much virus is
there,” he added. “It should be very
helpful.”
How HIV attacks cells
For those unfamiliar with how HIV
attacks a body’s cells, the idea of a
hidden stash of the virus evading the
attacks of drugs can sound hard to
grasp.
Basically, HIV treatments consist
of a combination of drugs that hit the
virus at a specific stage of its lifecycle.
If drugs cut the virus off at two or
more of these stages, the virus can’t
make copies of itself. It then cannot be
detected in a person’s bloodstream.
In 2017, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC)
announced that people with HIV who
strictly stick to their antiretroviral
therapies, can reach this “undetect-
March. 01 - 07 2019 29
health
able” viral count.
This means they’re unable to trans-
mit the virus to their sexual partners.
While current treatments mean people
with HIV can lead healthy, long lives,
this isn’t a cure.
The latent reservoir remains stowed
away in the genes of CD4 cells, which
are what HIV infects.
People who hit “undetectable” sta-
tus must remain on their antiretroviral
drugs because, even when infected
CD4 cells go dormant, they hold on
to their genetic record of the virus.
You might say they’re in hibernation.
If a person goes off their treatment,
the infected cells wake up and the
stored HIV information generates new
viruses.
Attempts to measure the
reservoir
In 1995, it was Siliciano’s lab that
first officially showed the existence of
the reservoir itself. That research was
published in Nature, too.
Since then, efforts to effectively
measure the reservoir have most-
ly been trial and error. Dr. Una
O’Doherty, PhD, associate professor of
pathology and laboratory medicine at
the Hospital of the University of Penn-
sylvania at the Perelman School of
Medicine, told Healthline that before
the advent of antiretroviral therapy, it
was fairly easy to measure a person’s
HIV viral load and CD4 count.
Now, with therapies leaving many
with such low amounts of the virus
that it’s undetectable, it’s hard to come
up with an accurate measure.
She explained that the majority of
HIV in the human genome — or pro-
viruses — becomes damaged, most
likely due to the virus’s inaccurate
replication cycle.
Given that so much of this damaged
HIV DNA is in the bloodstream of
infected people, it’s difficult to some-
times parse the defective HIV from the
latent reservoir of HIV genomes that
have the potential to make new, active
viruses.
Research out of Siliciano’s lab by Dr.
Ya–Chi Ho, PhD, assistant professor of
microbial pathogenesis and medicine
at Yale School of Medicine, revealed 93
percent of all proviruses are damaged
and defective, which offers up a con-
fusing smokescreen of sorts for scien-
tists in trying to find this reservoir.
“It feels very much like looking into
the darkness,” O’Doherty said. “When
you are testing clinical trials, did these
measures of HIV DNA increase or
decrease? Some people would take
patients off therapy to try to measure
30 March. 01 - 07 2019
how fast the virus didn’t come back.
Over those two decades, we fought
with each other what is the best way
to measure this. Everything fell short,
in my opinion.”
O’Doherty said sequencing the mass
of proviruses in an infected person is
heavily labour intensive. She said the
field has to “get much better at pro-
cessing big data” if it can effectively
do this.
Satish K. Pillai, PhD, associate
professor of laboratory medicine at
University of California, San Francisco
(UCSF), told Healthline that better
understanding and quantifying the
latent reservoir is the “heart and soul
of where the HIV cure field is going.”
He said his own lab right now is
working on quantifying the size of the
reservoir and trying to “biologically
characterise the latent cells” and how
Now, with
therapies leaving
many with such
low amounts of
the virus that it’s
undetectable, it’s
hard to come up
with an accurate
measure
they look different from unaffected
cells and “productively infected cells.”
“This is another challenge in the
field, knowing more about how latent-
ly infected cells look. If you know how
they look, you have a better chance
to actually destroy them,” Pillai said.
“We have a limited understanding
of how latently infected cells behave
in vivo (in an actual person). We
don’t have much information on how
they are different from productively
infected cells in actual infected human
beings. The reason being is that the
cells hang out for so long with the
virus sitting in them, so that they are
immunologically invisible.”
He said that increasingly more
research suggests that “signature char-
acteristics” of cells with HIV should
allow researchers to eventually be able
to identify them mixed in with a popu-
lation of the defective cells.
“Right now, our lab is using a lot
of approaches to drill deep down to
see how these latently infected cells
look different from their neighbors,
to identify biomarkers and molecular
mechanisms in cells allow the virus to
be in this latent pharmacological state
in infected cells,” Pillai explained.
The need for a cure
Siliciano said we can’t really say
that we can see a “light at the end of
the tunnel” when it comes to an actual
HIV cure. But, this research gives
scientists a step in the right direction
in better measuring HIV levels in the
human body.
The need for a cure is certainly
there. Since the start of the HIV/AIDS
epidemic, more than 70 million people
have been infected with HIV and
about 35 million have died from it.
Right now, countries in sub-Saharan
Africa are most impacted. The World
Health Organization reports that, in
the region, one out of every 25 adults
live with HIV.
In the U.S., about 1,122,900 adults
and adolescents were reported to have
the virus by the end of 2015, according
to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
“The new study and this method is
an incredibly elegant and intuitively
interesting and promising approach,”
Pillai said of Siliciano’s research.
“At end of day, we need to see if this
approach can actually tell us anything
— can this approach predict some-
thing in the clinic that we care about?”
He further explained, “What we
care about is what happens when the
antiretroviral treatment stops. Can we
use this approach to characterise the
genetics of HIV in a clinical sample,
and make reasonably accurate predic-
tions about how long it’s going to take
for the virus to come back?”
O’Doherty said it will be interesting
to see what happens once Siliciano’s
method starts being applied widely in
HIV research labs.
“I want to reinforce something — I
don’t think the study makes ‘a cure’
more possible,” she stressed. “I think
it makes it more possible to reevaluate
trials. But I think that’s huge. We were
caught being in the darkness and now
we will have a better understanding.”
Source: healthline

By Dani Rodrik
The good jobs challenge
Every economy today has patterns of inequality, exclusion,
and polarisation due to labour force segmentation
A
round the world today, the central
challenge for achieving inclusive
economic prosperity is the creation
of sufficient numbers of “good
jobs.” Without productive and depend-
able employment for the vast majority of
a country’s workforce, economic growth
either remains elusive or its benefits end up
concentrated among a tiny minority. The
scarcity of good jobs also undermines trust
in political elites, adding fuel to the au-
thoritarian, nativist backlash affecting many
countries today.
The definition of a good job obviously
depends on a country’s level of economic
development. It is typically a stable formal-
sector position that comes with core labour
protections such as safe working conditions,
collective bargaining rights, and regulations
against arbitrary dismissal. It enables at
least a middle-class lifestyle, by that coun-
try’s standards, with enough income for
housing, food, transportation, education,
and other family expenses, as well as some
saving.
There is much that individual enterprises
all over the world can do to improve
employment conditions. Large firms that
treat their employees better – by providing
them with higher pay, more autonomy, and
greater responsibility – often reap benefits
in the form of lower turnover, better worker
morale, and higher productivity. As MIT’s
Zeynep Ton has long argued, “good jobs”
strategies can be as profitable to firms as
they are to workers.
But the deeper problem is a structural one
that goes beyond what firms can do on their
own. Developed and developing countries
alike are suffering today from a growing
mismatch between the structure of produc-
tion and the structure of the labor force.
Production is becoming increasingly skill-
intensive while the bulk of the labour force
remains low-skilled. This generates a gap
between the types of jobs that are created
and the types of workers the country has.
Technology and globalisation have con-
spired to widen that gap, with manufac-
turing and services becoming increasingly
automated and digitised. While new tech-
nologies could have benefited low-skilled
workers in principle, in practice techno-
logical progress has been largely labour-
replacing. In addition, global trade and
investment flows, and global value chains
in particular, have homogenised production
techniques around the world, making it
very difficult for poorer countries to com-
pete in world markets without adopting
skill- and capital-intensive techniques sim-
ilar to those of the advanced economies.
The result is the intensification of
economic dualism. Every economy in
the world today is divided between an
advanced segment, typically globally inte-
grated, employing a minority of the labour
force, and a low-productivity segment that
absorbs the bulk of the workforce, often
at low wages and under poor conditions.
The shares of the two segments may differ:
developed countries obviously have a
greater preponderance of highly produc-
tive firms. But, qualitatively, the picture
looks quite similar in rich and poor coun-
tries – and produces the same patterns of
inequality, exclusion, and political polariza-
tion.
Logically, there are only three ways to
reduce the mismatch between the struc-
ture of productive sectors and that of the
workforce. The first strategy, and the one
that receives the bulk of policy attention,
is investment in skills and training. If most
workers acquire the skills and capabili-
ties required by advanced technologies,
dualism would eventually dissipate as high-
productivity sectors expand at the expense
of the rest.
Such human capital policies are of course
important, but even when they are suc-
cessful, their effects will be felt in the future.
They do little to address labor-market reali-
ties at present. It is simply not possible to
transform the labor force overnight. Besides,
there is always the real risk that technology
will advance faster than society’s ability to
educate its labor-force entrants.
A second strategy is to convince successful
firms to employ more unskilled workers. In
countries where the skill gaps are not enor-
mous, governments can (and should) nudge
their successful firms to increase employ-
ment – either directly or through their
local suppliers. Governments in developed
countries also have a role to play in affecting
the nature of technological innovation.
Too often, they subsidize labor-replacing,
capital-intensive technologies, rather than
pushing innovation in socially more ben-
eficial directions, to augment rather than
replace less skilled workers.
Such policies are unlikely to make much
difference to developing countries. For
them, the main obstacle will remain that
existing technologies allow insufficient
comment
room for factor substitution: using less-
skilled labor instead of skilled professionals
or physical capital. The demanding quality
standards needed to supply global value
chains cannot be easily met by replacing
machines with manual labor. This is why
globally integrated production in even the
most labor-abundant countries, such as
India or Ethiopia, relies on relatively capital-
intensive methods.
This leaves a broad range of developing
economies – from middle-income coun-
tries such as Mexico and South Africa to
low-income countries such as Ethiopia – in
a conundrum. The standard remedy of
improving educational institutions does not
yield near-term benefits, while the econ-
omy’s most advanced sectors are unable
to absorb the excess supply of low-skilled
workers.
Solving this problem may require a third
strategy, which is perhaps the one that gets
the least attention: boosting an interme-
diate range of labor-intensive, low-skilled
economic activities. Tourism and non-tra-
ditional agriculture are the prime examples
of such labor-absorbing sectors. Public
employment (in construction and service
delivery), long scorned by development
experts, is another area that may require
attention. But government efforts can go
much further.
Such intermediate activities, chiefly non-
tradable services carried out by small and
medium-size enterprises, will not be among
the most productive, which is why they are
rarely the focus of industrial or innovation
policies. But they may still provide signifi-
cantly better jobs than the alternatives in the
informal sector.
Government policy in developed and
developing countries alike is too often pre-
occupied with boosting the most advanced
technologies and promoting the most pro-
ductive firms. But failure to generate good,
middle-class jobs has very high social and
political costs. Reducing those costs requires
a different focus, geared specifically toward
the kind of jobs that are aligned with an
economy’s prevailing skill composition.
Dani Rodrik, Professor of International
Political Economy at Harvard University’s
John F. Kennedy School of Government, is
the author of Straight Talk on Trade: Ideas
for a Sane World Economy.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.
March. 01 - 07 2019 31
comment
By Alan M. Collins
Understanding economic stagnation
A comparative look at Museveni’s economic performance
against other long-serving leaders in the region

T
he word “stagnation” often the developing nations implement applied here.
follows the word “economic”, reforms that see modest growth, the Only three African presidents have
followed by period, decline, developed nations continue their been in power longer than Museveni.
and unemployment according exponential climb and continue They are Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial
the British National Corpus. The word to widen the socio-economic gap Guinea (1979-present), Cameroon’s
stagnant is often used in reference between rich and poor. Paul Biya (1982-present) and Congo’s
to the Ugandan economy. However, Now it is time to look at the next (Brazzaville) President Denis Sassou
it isn’t a completely fair term, to be factor for economic stagnation, which Nguesso (1979-1992, 1997-present).
honest. Since Uganda negotiated is GDP growth. This is where things What is interesting about Africa’s
a policy framework with the IMF start to become either a little murkier longest serving president, Obiang, is
and the World Bank in 1987, it has or a little clearer, depending on which that he has fulfilled his social contract
experienced steady, if slow, economic side you happen to be looking at it by taking a GDP that was lower than
growth. In fact, there are only a from. Uganda’s in 1979, and growing it 50
handful of African countries that Uganda’s GDP per capita when times larger over the course of his
have managed to exceed Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni’s NRM presidency. This is largely due to
slow climb over the period: Angola, took over in 1986 was US$258, exploitation of the world’s continued
Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, which at the time was higher than reliance on fossil fuels. Jose Eduardo
Mozambique, and nearby Sudan. So neighbouring Tanzania, as well dos Santos did the same to a lesser
why the need for the term stagnation, as Equatorial Guinea and Eritrea, extent in Angola to legitimize his
when the economy seems to be doing among others, with these being the 38-year reign that only recently ended
so well? most relevant for comparison. That is a little over a year ago.
A deeper look reveals that economic because But the next three presidents in the
stagnation is defined as, “a prolonged Museveni has been in power for list, rounded out by Museveni, have
period of slow economic growth 33 years. And, if someone maintains not so unquestioningly fulfilled their
(traditionally measured in terms of the power for a long period of time, it social contracts. Cameroon, Congo,
GDP growth), usually accompanied
by high unemployment” (emphasis Country Name Code Year Presidency Initial GDP per Current GDP Growth
added). assumed length capita (USD) per capita multiplier
Before we look at the figures, it must power (USD)
be mentioned that economic growth is Equatorial GNQ 1979 39 years 198 9850 49.7
a relative term; especially considering Guinea
the unique impact colonialism and Gabon GAB 1967 41 years 520 7603 14.6
imperialism have had on Uganda and Angola AGO 1979 38 years 664 4170 6.3
other parts of the world.
This world is economically Swaziland SWZ 1986 32 years 611 3224 5.3
unbalanced and the term economic Sudan SDN 1989 29 years 605 2898 4.8
growth is relative too. So, Uganda’s
Eritrea ERI 1993 25 years 151 582 3.9
meager 5% growth rate over
each 5-year period of Museveni’s Congo, Rep. COG 1979 34 years 670 1658 2.5
presidency could be seen as
Chad TCD 1990 29 years 291 669 2.3
admirable, until it is realised that at
that rate of growth, it would take an Uganda UGA 1986 33 years 258 604 2.3
eternity to get on equal terms and Cameroon CMR 1982 37 years 799 1446 1.8
compete with the imperial powers. It’s
a mathematical impossibility.
A 5% economic growth rate is simply could actually be assumed by Western and Chad all have long-serving
insufficient to close the widening gap philosophy like Hobbes, Locke and presidents in charge of nations that
between the so-called developing Rosseau that he is fulfilling his social have seen marginal growth.These
and developed nations. There are contract, or would otherwise be presidents have only managed to
indications that the economic reforms deposed. But that is not the case for double their countries’ GDPs over the
dictated by the IMF and World Bank Museveni. And this is an objective course of roughly 25-35 years.
that have aided Uganda’s growth over look at Uganda and the occasional Again, resisting the temptation to
the past three decades have largely western argument on the impact compare with western nations, it is
failed to see any developing nation of democracy versus dictatorship worth mentioning the first example
transition into a developed one. While on economic growth should not be of Africa’s longest-serving president

32 March. 01 - 07 2019

having grown his country’s GDP 50
times larger, not merely doubled.
The difference between the three
aforementioned nations and Uganda is
that the former all began their journey
from where Uganda is currently at,
albeit 30 or so years prior. This places
Museveni almost at the very end of
all long-serving African presidents,
save for Eritrea. In the case of Eritrea,
although, it lags behind Uganda in
GDP per capita terms, it will soon pass
it as well. That is because along with
Sudan and eSwatini, where Museveni’s
seen his GDP double, the former
nations have seen it multiplied by five,
with Eritrea’s having quadrupled in the
same time period.
Finally, in the name of fairness,
Museveni deserves regional
comparison. This is because widely
varying socio-economic factors
contribute to GDP growth in the vast
landscape that is Africa. And since
Sudan’s growth 25 years ago from
where Uganda is now was already
mentioned and GDP data for South
Sudan is not available for the length
of Museveni’s presidency, we will
avoid this particular comparison. We
will only remind ourselves that the
Sudanese GDP has grown 5 times over
the last 25 years.
With much more similar GDP starting
points in 1986 and similar growth in
Rwanda and DR Congo, Museveni
seems less at odds with East African
expectations for economic growth
in terms of GDP. However, when
compared with Kenya and Tanzania’s
quadrupled GDPs, we can see that
Museveni’s NRM government has
only outperformed DR Congo with
its never-ending wars that do not
plague Uganda in the same way.
Second-to-last in the region ahead of
DR Congo and second-to-last ahead of
Cameroon in the list of longest-serving
presidencies, Museveni is objectively
and undoubtedly keeping Uganda
in economic stagnation, in complete
agreement with the definition given at
the beginning.
Country Code 1986 GDP 2018 GDP
Name per capita per capita
(USD) (USD)
Sudan SDN 605 2898
Tanzania TZA 219 936
Kenya KEN 355 1507
Rwanda RWA 303 748
Uganda UGA 258 604
Congo, ZAR 263 457
Dem.
Rep.
By Derrick Majanga
Museveni not to blame
for all your problems
Although it is tempting to blame him
A
s it stands, there is a section of
people who are praying that
government changes. Their claim
is that if government changes,
everything will get back to a wholesome
state. I am quite certain that one day, soon
or later, President Yoweri Museveni will
not be President of Uganda.
Whether that happens now, tomorrow
or 20 years from today, it remains a
constant and it will surely happen. That
means his departure is not a question of if,
but when. However, it is my prayer that
when that time you yearn for surfaces,
you are the best doctor, engineer or what-
ever and that if the system starts working
as you wish it to, you will be the person
that society will offer the job or contract.
While some of you may fully attribute
all your problems to President Museveni’s
regime, you have to also do some self-
inspection and find out if we are fit to soar
high in the event that the opportunities we
believe will exist are made available.
Let us assume government changed
tomorrow; are you sure you would be
the best candidate at an interview? How
prepared are you? Do you have the best
papers and skills? Are you learning from
other people? What is the one thing you
do or can do that no one else can do as
best as you do? Do you have any skill for
which people look for you because it’s
you who does it best? I propose that as a
young person you should start sharpening
your skills, attitude and knowledge to be
the best there is in your field. Use this time
to learn, accumulate knowledge, read, and
research, volunteer, make good contacts,
and learn humility.
As you ask government to be cautious
with resources, have you thought about
how you are saving at a personal level?
Do you have any savings? This does not
require you to have a big income. You can
even save 10% of all you get and still have
Growth
pocket change to keep you going.
multiplier Also as you ask government to be
honest, are you honest with yourself?
4.8 Can you return money if someone gave
4.3
you extra change? Can you do the right
thing if you had an opportunity to do a
4.2
wrong thing without anyone knowing or
2.5 catching you? It is possible that you may
2.3 sink to where the current leaders are.
1.7
Do you have a business plan? Assuming
some business mogul asked you to table
your business idea with accurate fig-
ures, would you relay a good and well
comment
researched idea? Do you have a plan
written down on how you want to get to
where you want to get?
As you blame the police officers for
being violent, are you willing to join the
army and police and make a better and
more disciplined force? Do you ever thank
the few good officers you meet standing
under the brutal sun to manage traffic?
This would encourage and make them
feel loved and motivated.
Assuming this government never
changes, what is your plan B? It is very
tempting to always find an external cause
of our problems but harder to look within
and see what our own weakness could be.
Some of you ask government to care
about you; which it does anyway, but do
you care about your own family? When
was the last time you called your sister or
brother to check on them, except when
communicating important/official or
unavoidable information? When was the
last time you volunteered?
In developed countries, young people
are doers because they read, research, and
are thirsty for knowledge. When was the
last time you bought a newspaper of as
low as Shs2000 and read it? When was the
last time you read a book out of search
for knowledge and not because you were
meant to sit an exam? If you are not inter-
ested in reading then one of the qualities
that make for success in life elude you.
Our counterparts in developed countries
have to part with rent in order to stay with
their parents. They are forced to work
because nothing comes free while for us
we want to carry iPhones when we hardly
have a job and dress like we are million-
aires. We want to have a 200 million wed-
ding yet we have no plot of land where we
can build a small house for the children
that we shall have.
I hope and pray that you reflect on the
fact that the day you are praying for will
come but unless you prepare for it, it will
make you even more frustrated as others
move up while you remain where you are.
Food for thought for me and you is that
there are two people in this country; those
who are buying and those selling. Do you
have anything to sell? As you reflect on
these very many bitter rhetorical ques-
tions, take care, keep safe and upgrade
yourself because the unedited truth is that
you must work hard and smart if you
wish to make it to the finish line whether
under this regime or any other.
March. 01 - 07 2019 33
comment
By Prue Clarke
Foreign aid fuels media’s pay problem
Development agencies fork out vast sums to sway
African journalists to ensure coverage will be positive
A
t a recent press conference, a small
group of Liberian journalists made
a courageous admission: they
confessed they were all “on the
take.” To supplement salaries as low as $40
a month, the journalists said they often rely
on payments from the very people they
write about.
The revelation confirmed a dirty secret
of African journalism: reporters earn most
of their income from payments by their
sources. And the dirtiest secret of all is that
the international aid community is among
the most prolific payers.
Development agencies fork out vast sums
to sway African journalists. While outright
bribery is rare, insidious payment is ram-
pant. Many schemes – from “transport”
refunds that far exceed reporters’ travel
costs to exorbitant per diems – come with
a tacit understanding that coverage will be
positive. Aid groups insist that payments
are not inducements; in reality, poorly
remunerated journalists cannot easily tell
the difference.
For media bosses, bribery rationalises
costs: as long as they publish, sources
will foot the bill. Although it is difficult to
know for certain what percentage of media
budgets derive from unethical payments,
in Liberia, where I do most of my work,
anecdotal evidence suggests it is a majority
of reporters’ pay. For example, two leading
media companies told me that they have
not paid their staff for at least a year, yet
they continue to publish with no noticeable
change in output.
The implications of this journalistic busi-
ness model are profound. For starters,
stories are typically poorly written, based
on a single source, and inspired by a press
conference or press release, rather than a
thorough and objective assessment of issues
affecting readers. Journalism as a career is
also debased, and most top university grad-
uates avoid the profession entirely.
Ironically, aid agencies’ efforts to improve
African media have only exacerbated the
problem. That’s because today, a typical
journalist in Africa is a professional work-
shop attendee. NGOs from every sector
“train” journalists in their subject matter,
often with content conceived in Western
capitals by people with no experience in
journalism or in the target countries. Jour-
34 March. 01 - 07 2019
nalists go from workshop to workshop,
turning up long enough to collect their per
diems and write a puff piece.
This approach is as costly as it is regret-
table. In one African country, a media-
development organisation with which I
have worked spent more than $1 million
of taxpayer money to produce a one-hour
program on governance, which was then
aired on community radio, its content so
sanitised to appease local officials that few
people tuned in. But even more problematic
was the distortion to the domestic media
market. To produce the program, the NGO
recruited ten top journalists from estab-
lished outlets and paid them as much as ten
times their normal salary. Once the project
was over, most of the journalists quit their
old jobs in search of better pay in the aid
and government sectors.
From my experience, most African jour-
nalists know how to report a well-sourced
story. What they lack are the resources to
put this knowledge to use. The deficiencies
of African media are best addressed as a
business challenge, not a training problem.
Some media organisations already
recognise this. In Ghana, Joy FM owner
Kwasi Twum told me that he pays his staff
“enough for a car and a mortgage,” and
Donors have
already shown
that they
can pursue
development
priorities
while also
making smart
investments in
media
the station has been widely credited with
helping lift the standard of journalism in
the country. In the past, Nigerian journalist
Dele Olojede lured top graduates in busi-
ness, medicine, and law to the profession
with higher wages and an inspiring mis-
sion. In 2011, journalists whom he men-
tored founded Premium Times, which has
earned a reputation as an impartial political
watchdog. Liberia’s Front Page Africa has
played a similar role, as has the Daily Mav-
erick in South Africa.
To make further progress, African news
outlets should emulate their counterparts in
advanced economies by developing sustain-
able revenue streams though e-commerce,
subscriptions, sponsored content, supple-
ments, and multimedia. This is where
donors can be helpful: rather than host use-
less trainings, they should enable innova-
tion by pairing African media outlets with
experts in business, technology, and adver-
tising. In particular, tech companies should
help media organisations take advantage of
platform innovations and find opportunities
to monetise diaspora audiences.
Donors have already shown that they
can pursue development priorities while
also making smart investments in media.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for
example, funds health-related reporting
at South Africa’s Mail & Guardian and at
Premium Times. Aid has also been key to
sustaining the organisation I lead, New
Narratives, which uses funding from gov-
ernments and foundations to support inde-
pendent local media. Reporting we sup-
ported helped bring about a ban on female
genital mutilation and uncovered numerous
cases of corruption and mismanagement.
As these and other efforts demonstrate,
supporting independent media is among
the most important investments donors can
make in Africa’s future. But support should
never come with strings attached. To build
strong communities, Africans need news
they can trust. To deliver it, journalists need
to come by their funding honestly.
Prue Clarke is Executive Director and Co-
Founder of New Narratives, a non-profit
organization supporting independent journalism
in Africa.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.
 ART | BOOKS | SOCIETY | TRAVEL | CULTURE
Circle Art Auction opens
Market place for exceptional art from the region to the world
T
By Dominic Muwanguzi
he much
anticipated
auction for the
East Africa art
scene dubbed
`Circle Art
Auction’ is here. This year
is the 6th edition and it has
more bidding lots; 59, and
new entrants from seven
countries. The expansion
indicates growing interest in
Modern and Contemporary
East African art from
both the continent and
international.
The Auction seeks
to propel the industry
by fostering positive
competition among artists
and exposing them to
the international market.
For Ugandan artists like
Geoffrey Xenson who have
consistently participated
and sold their art at the
auction, it is a scene of
endless opportunity. Art
buyers looking for art that
is fresh and affordable are
expected from all over the
world.
It is opportunity
for young or “not too
experienced artists” to
find new markets. Artists
like Wasswa Donald aka
Waswad (UG) and Wilson
Mwangi (KE) share the same
space with masters like
Jak Katarikawe, Geoffrey
Mukasa and George Lilanga
of the Tingatinga fame.
It is a rare that the little
known artists will sell but
their participation signals
their potential. They will
be accomplished artists
tomorrow.
Some are already
showcasing impressive
Self Portrait, Ian Mwesiga 2017,courtesy of Circle Art Auction Archive 2018
artworks. Ian Mwesiga
participated as a young
artist in 2018 and his art
has since emerged at the
frontline of major auctions
like the PIASA Auction in
Paris.
In the past, artists like
Geoffrey Mukasa, Xenson,
Peterson Kamwathi and the
Tingatinga masters have
dominated the auction.
Last year, they sold almost
US$2 million. This time,
Jak Katarikawe- recently
deceased and featuring a
single entry titled “Untitled”
is in the mix. He is at
Lot 38 against seasoned
coveted artist –also
deceased- Geoffrey Mukasa
whose two entries into the
competition are at Lot 6 and
7 respectively. There are
March. 01 - 07 2019
also rare and exceptional
works from artists like
Fabian Mpagi and Samuel
Wanjau. Waswad this time
has hardwood sculptures
of elephants that evoke the
narrative of environment
sustainability through
conservation.
Jak Katarikawe’s
“Untitled” (undated)
painting is a cheeky
composition of a rural scene
where nubile women are
entertaining an audience
of male figures who are
sipping on a local brew.
The party mood in the
countryside and the men
gawking or whispering
mischievously at the sight
of sharp-piercing breasts
bouncing off the chests of
the dancers is conveyed
with subtle imagery.
In contrast, Mukasa’s
painting of `The artist’s
Home’ (1993) is a study of
the lush vegetation with
wild trees and thick canopy
almost shielding the small
house sitting idly in the
background. The painting
is dreamy, with romantic
allusions. `Under Palm
Leaf’ (2003-5) is a still life
execution of regular and
irregular objects done in
amateurish fashion, possibly
the artist way of suggesting
simplicity is the ultimate
sophistication.
The annual Circle Art
Auction also known as the
Modern and Contemporary art
auction is organised by Circle
Art Agency. This year the
auction takes place on March
5 at the Radisson Blu Hotel in
Upper Hill, Nairobi.
35
China unveils world’s first AI news anchor
China’s state-run news
agency, Xinhua, has unveiled
its newest news anchor,
Xin Xiaomeng. Why is this
newsworthy? Well, because
Xin isn’t a real person, but
an ultra-realistic computer
Has Cristiano Ronaldo
had plastic surgery?
Stories have popped up
throughout CR7’s career sur-
rounding his self-admiration
time and time again. One such
story was shared by ex-England
striker Peter Crouch after Rio
Ferdinand told him about
Ronaldo’s vanity whilst at Man-
chester United. “Rio Ferdinand
would tell us stories about how
Cristiano Ronaldo would stand
in front of the mirror naked, run-
ning his hand through his hair,
and say, ‘Wow. I’m so beauti-
ful!’”
“The other United players
would try to wind him up, (say-
ing) ‘Whatever. Leo Messi is a
better player than you’. And he
would shrug his shoulders and
smile again. ‘Ah yes. But Messi
does not look like this...’”
So, would football’s biggest
superstar splash cash on plastic
surgery to make himself feel
even better when he looks at
his reflection? Experts certainly
think so. Cosmetic surgeon Alex
Karidis says he possibly has had
Botox around the eyes and fore-
head, and his skin is now almost
immaculate. He could have had
his nose done. Ronaldo was
once pictured with signs of a
receding hairline, a normal thing
for many men as they age, but it
had seemingly vanished upon
his next public appearance.
36 March. 01 - 07 2019
generated model powered by as news anchor in March. In
advanced AI technology. her introduction video, the
The perfectly coiffed Xin perfectly coiffed AI news
Xiaomeng introduced herself anchor spoke only in Chinese,
to Xinhua’s viewers in a short and it’s unclear if she’ll be
clip, announcing that she will able to tackle English news
make her professional debut reports as well
Iconic WW2 photo kisser dies aged 95
The US sailor who of the war, in 2014 Time
was photographed kiss- Magazine said many today
ing a woman in Times view it as “little more than
Square while celebrat- the documentation of a
ing the end of World very public sexual assault”.
War Two has died. The In a 2005 interview with
black and white image the Veteran History Project
of George Mendonsa confirmed that it wasn’t
and Greta Friedman, her choice to be kissed.
best known as “The She told the Library of
Kiss”, is one of the most Congress: “The guy just
famous photographs came over and kissed or
of the 20th century. grabbed. I felt that he was
The photograph of him very strong. He was just
kissing Ms Friedman holding me tight.” She
was captured on VJ added: “It was just some-
Day on 14 August 1945 body really celebrating.
by Alfred Eisenstaedt But it wasn’t a romantic
and was first pub- the United States. Mendonsa event.” The photo of the
lished in Life magazine. People gripped and kissed Friedman kiss is often seen on posters and
had spilled onto the streets of despite having never met her is popularly recreated by tour-
New York City to celebrate before. Although revered as a ists in New York. Ms Friedman
after Japan surrendered to representation of joy at the end died in 2016 at the age of 92.
Fake plane challenge Kaluuya to star as Black Panther
takes off Party’s Fred Hampton
Over in China, the hashtag ‘pretend- Ryan Coogler is to pro- blockbuster hit Marvel’s
ing to be on a plane’ has received more duce a movie based on Black Panther – not based
than 20 million views on social media the life and death of the on the now-dissolved
site Weibo and videos appearing all over Black Panther Party’s Fed political party – which
TikTok. The challenge is simple: Use Hampton. Get Out co- also starred Kaluuya. Fred
whatever household possessions you can stars Daniel Kaluuya and Hampton, a revolutionary,
grab to pretend you’re on a plane. The Lakeith Stanfield are in died aged 21 on 4 Decem-
trick is to get crafty and fake the classic talks to join the film, with ber 1969 at the tail end of
plane window photo or video. You know Kaluuya set to play Hamp- the civil rights movement
the one: a shot of the clouds or the city ton and Stanfield slated in the USA, when he was
below through the curve of a plane win- to play William O’Neal, shot in the head during
dow, to show everyone that you’re a cool the undercover FBI infor- a raid con-
travelling type. The brilliant part of this mant who infiltrated the ducted by
challenge is the big reveal, where people BPP and who is said to be Chicago
pan out to show how they’ve faked their instrumental in assisting Police and
journey. Some of the excellent attempts with Hampton’s assassina- the FBI.
we’ve seen use mug handles (the curve is tion. The film titled `Jesus
perfect to replicate a plane window), toilet Was My Homeboy’, will
seats, and detergent bottles held in front of look at the rise and death
iPhone screens. The key is to get creative. of the African-American
activist. Coogler directed

Tyres of the future
They will be smart and communicate
A
By agencies
recent article in Au-
tocar noted how tyre
manufacturers some-
times come up with
wacky-sounding concepts. But,
it said, one idea consistently
touted has been the value of
smart tyres that can communi-
cate their condition and wear
status. It described a Smart
Tire; with treads made from
Liquid Farnesene Rubber (LFR)
which helps the tyre to remain
0783 614 601 / 0753 614 601
efficient for longer, with bet-
ter wet grip performance, and
Active Tread technology that
senses road conditions and
detects moisture and cold tem-
peratures, allowing the tread to
adapt to the conditions.
Goodyear’s intelligent tyre
prototype, shown in 2017,
offered more with applications,
including interaction with an
autonomous car system in real
time. The 3D-printed Eagle 360
Urban, whose skin is outfit-
The Largest 7 seater 4x4 In Uganda
Mercedes Benz GLS
sales@spearmotors.co.ug
ted with a sensor network that
allows it to check on its own
status and cull information on
the environment, including the
road surface. The tire could also
activate built-in actuators in real
time to change the shape of its
surface and tread depending
on the current state of the road
beneath it. Continental is also
experimenting with smart tyres
and embedded sensors.
The importance of tyres is
sometimes underestimated by
Only available at spear Motors Limited
Driving you into the Future
www.spearmotors.co.ug
March. 01 - 07 2019
drivers and new technologies
should improve grip, reduce
wear and improve safety, the
Autocar article concluded.
Elsewhere, it has been noted
that vehicle tyres are getting
attention in part because they
have to play catch-up to the
new gadgetry found under the
hood or on the dashboard of
vehicles. Sensors embedded in
them can provide users with
more data than what today’s
tire pressure monitoring system
(TPMS) offers. These sensors
can signal when it’s time to
change a tire or report details
about uneven and dangerous
tire conditions. The tyre is able
to provide real-time informa-
tion on road conditions, tread
wear and depth, pressure and
temperature, load detection,
and other factors.
In March, 2017, Italian tyre
manufacturer Pirelli unveiled
its Cyber Car system, which
features tire sensors that can
track the status of the tire and
transmit data to an electronic
control unit inside the car.
Information about pressure,
internal temperature, and tread
depth is integrated into the
Cyber Car system, which is
then able to work with the car’s
onboard computers to adjust
the anti-lock braking system
and stability control to suit the
tyre conditions.
These are the kind of data
vital to increasingly sophis-
ticated vehicle management
systems. Remember, one of
the most common causes of
car crashes is insufficiently
cared-for tyres.
37
Deus Kamunyu Muhwezi:
I cannot kneel before man
`My biggest fear is if the unlawful suspension sets a precedent
that is allowed to undermine the association and rights of workers’
By Agnes E Nantaba
D
eus Kamunyu Muhwezi (PhD)
is the chairperson of Makerere
University Academic Staff As-
sociation (MUASA). He is also
the Publicity Secretary for the University
Convocation (Alumni Association) and
a lecturer for Hospitality and Tourism
management at the University. Kamunyu
made headline news following his suspen-
sion which led some university staff to go
on a strike that lasted close to a month and
stalled work at Uganda’s premier univer-
sity.
Kamunyu was suspended by University
Vice Chancellor Prof Barnabas Nawangwe
for allegedly persistently engaging in acts
of misconduct and incitement with the
intent to cause disobedience and strikes
among other cases.
Kamunyu denies the charges, arguing
that the disputes at Makerere University
would not have happened if leaders up-
held the rule of law and embraced decision
ethics at all times.
“When a leader of Africa’s premier
university chooses draconian rule other
than systems under the pretext of caus-
ing discipline, then, we must worry,” says
Kamunyu.
“If all Public Leaders worked hard
to build corruption proof institutions,
processes and served common interests,
we would have less wasteful agitation and
save the best for our children”.
Business resumed at the university after
the University Council offered to resolve
the dispute between MUASA and the VC.
Kamunyu says he is committed to duty and
seeks to achieve transparency and account-
ability at all levels.
He says, “If it’s a sin to believe in that,
then I would rather dwell in the sin as a
person because it facilitates my wellbeing
and it makes me the person I am”.
The same values he stands for caused
him to be expelled from Makerere Univer-
sity Business School (MUBS) in 2005 after
a battle in Kangaroo courts fighting for the
rights of fellow staff members. Kamunyu
had just returned from pursuing a Master
of Science in Hospitality Management from
the Technological University of Dublin. He
resumed lecturing at MUBS on the Bach-
38 March. 01 - 07 2019
elor of Hotel Management programme and accountability and talks with sincerity and
was shortly elected chairman welfare com- honesty.
mittee for Makerere University Business His values resonate with her mother’s
Academic Staff Association (MUBASA). motto: “I cannot kneel before God in the
When he started agitating for staff rights, evening and wake up in the morning to
he was axed. That left him with a part-time kneel before men for a living. I will work
teaching position at Makerere University hard with my hands”.
until he became full time staff in May 2006 Kamunyu is the seventh in the family of
as an assistant lecturer in the department 13 born in Nyabwiina village on the border
of geography which was later transferred of Buhweju in Sheema district just below
to the school of forestry in the college of the mountains. His recalls his father being
agriculture. Kamunyu was later confirmed committed to education and supporting
into university service. He later embarked the establishment of community projects;
on his PhD in destination marketing at including schools and churches.
Makerere University graduating in 2015. He started school at Nyabwiina Model
In 2014, when the Public Relations office Primary School, joined Masheruka Second-
position for MUASA fell vacant, he applied ary School and St Joseph’s Secondary
and got it. School for advanced level. He went to do a
“That is when I started articulating Bachelor of Science in Nutri-
positions of MUASA,” he says, “I tion and Dietetics in
believe in transformative practices Morogoro Tanzania
committed to good ethical deci- graduating in
sions”. 2000. He is mar-
In 2017, Kamunyu ried with three
competed for MUASA children.
chairperson in a heated
election, won and started
on a contract that expires in
November 2019.
Kamunyu says he does
not regret fighting for the
transformation of Maker-
ere University. He says his
actions are guided by the
recommendations made in
the 2017 Rwendeire Report
which, among others, include
reforming the University Coun-
cil. Kamunyu notes that the
struggle has caused him trouble
because it threatens the status-
quo. He says he fights
for transparency,

Deus Kamunyu’s Liteside
Any three things that we don’t
I
know about you?
am a positive thinker so I
don’t like regression. I am
zero tolerant to corrupt de-
cisions and those that un-
dermine others but that doesn’t
mean that I can’t be party to a
process that takes people from
one place to another as long as
it is justified.
What is your idea of perfect
happiness?
Happy people.
What is your greatest fear?
At the moment, my biggest
fear is if the unlawful suspen-
sion sets a precedent that is
allowed to undermine the as-
sociation and rights of workers
at Makerere University.
What is the trait you most de-
plore in yourself?
Sometimes I have too much
internal energy; especially
when I know that what I am
trying to do is lawfully right
and helps me and others. It
worries me sometimes.
What is the trait you most de-
plore in others?
Having a corrupt mind and
aiming to create every good
thing out of a situation for
personal interest.
Which living person do you
most admire?
At 80 years, my mother,
Maria Kamunyu, only opens
her mouth to speak sense. I see
a very big contribution of my
mother in my life. Often times,
she has advised me and
I don’t regret the deci-
sions taken. I admire
her the most.
What is your great-
est extravagance?
I am focused
on innovation,
creativity and
people’s ability
to be part of a
changing world.
What is the greatest thing you
have ever done?
One thing that makes me
very proud of myself is when
I offered to teach mathematics
to young people in my village
during my S.4 vacation for free.
Many of my friends wanted
me to charge them a fee but I
refused. My Father applauded
me and allowed me to take off
time every day between 2 - 5
pm. I’m also proud of my role
in the Perimeter Wall Project at
Makerere University spear-
headed by Makerere University
Convocation (2015 - 2019).
What do you consider the most
overrated virtue?
The wave of prosperity even
when many people are doing
nothing about it is overrated.
Everyone claims to prosper
at some point and some have
gone as far as murdering values
to become prosperous.
What does being powerful
mean to you?
Your ability to function.
One’s ability to use their God
given talents to add value to
anything or others. Power
should be used for transforma-
tion, preservation or sustenance
and not destruction.
On what occasion do you lie?
I may be caught up in a nar-
rative that I didn’t create and
find myself in some falsehood. I
however try to avoid telling lies.
What do you most dislike
about your appearance?
My physical being doesn’t
really matter.
Which living person do you
most despise?
I despise the corrupt. How
I wish they knew that their ac-
tions destroy innocent lives and
undermine development.
What is the quality you most
like in a woman?
Virtuous and loving, recog-
nizing that her role is not in
competition with others
What is the quality you most
like in a man?
Responsibility.
Which words or phrases do
you most overuse?
I am used to talking about
‘values’, knowledge’, ‘love’,
‘humility’ and ‘foundations’.
What or who is the greatest
love of your life?
My thoughts are always
with my mother, wife and our
children even when I don’t see
them or talk to them every day.
When and where were you
happiest?
The fall of Obote 11 govern-
ment in 1985 because that is
when as a young boy, I saw my
family; especially mum and
dad happy after many years of
anguish. My Bachelor’s degree
graduation in Tanzania was
momentous because I had time
with my father staying together
for a week and he was happy
all through. The day I married
my long-time friend Miriam.
Which talent would you most
like to have?
I would be happier if I
became more innovative to
mentor more young people.
If you could change one thing
about yourself, what would
it be?
We were never belittled as
children to feel insecure. I am,
therefore, proud with where I
am because it comes from my
upbringing.
Where would you most like
to live?
I feel more relevant in Ugan-
da at this point in its revolution.
What is your most treasured
possession?
As a family, we started a
small enterprise which we
strive to get somewhere and
once it is there, it will be my
greatest possession.
March. 01 - 07 2019
Q&A
What do you regard as the
lowest depth of misery?
As a little boy, I fell sick and
became depressed because I
had wanted to go to my dream
school but was unable to adapt.
Depression can be the lowest
for anyone.
What is your favorite occupa-
tion?
I love teaching.
What do you most value in
your friends?
Honesty and commitment.
Who are your real life heroes?
I always look up to the values
that my Parents espoused.
Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere
is my Leadership Hero and I
enjoy reflecting on his virtuous
life.
Who are your favorite writers?
I read Prof. Phares Mutib-
wa’s book. It reveals our history
and the circumstances in which
we became who we are today. I
loved reading about my history
from that perspective and the
fact that what finally gets us
here is revealed.
Which historical figure do you
most identify with?
Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.
Having studied in Tanzania, he
remains my inspiration. I really
admired his selflessness and
meekness and yet with power
full of guidance.
What is your greatest regret?
It has been a very good life in
a way that God has used me to
transform minds. The journey
has been momentous and I
don’t regret the calling.
How would you like to die?
Peacefully in my sleep.
What is your motto?
I cannot kneel before God in
the evening to worship Him
and then kneel before men in
the morning for a living, I will
work hard.
39
Global comment
By Kaushik Basu
Ending America’s World Bank monopoly
While is has always had an American president,
there is no official reason why this must be the case
T
he nomination earlier this month
of David Malpass, a senior U.S.
Treasury Department official, for the
post of World Bank president came
as something of a relief. Malpass is, after all,
the choice of US President Donald Trump,
who is known for backing extreme and
unqualified job candidates. But that does
not mean that Malpass is the ideal choice for
the job.
In fact, while it could have been worse,
Malpass’ nomination was a distinct disap-
pointment. For one thing, his skepticism
toward multilateral institutions runs deep.
For another, he is a Trump loyalist who has
often stressed the paramount importance of
economic growth – especially U.S. growth.
More fundamentally, Malpass is conserva-
tive, and the World Bank is not.
To be sure, the World Bank was once the
standard-bearer of economic orthodoxy,
reflected in the post-Cold War policy cock-
tail of privatisation and deregulation known
as the Washington Consensus. The institu-
tion codified a set of archconservative rules
on trade, capital flows, and fiscal and mon-
etary policies, with which it then compelled
developing economies around the world to
comply.
But, over the years, the Washington Con-
sensus has come under fire, with some
of the most cogent attacks coming from a
former World Bank chief economist, the
Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz. Among
other things, Stiglitz pointed out that the
Washington Consensus was not a con-
sensus at all. Instead, it was “a set of policies
formulated between 15th and 19th streets”
in Washington, DC, by the US Treasury,
the International Monetary Fund, and the
World Bank.
By now, the World Bank, the IMF, and
economists have moved away from the
Washington Consensus. It is now widely
recognised that devising effective economic
policies demands sensitivity to the local
culture and mindset, and that beyond
reducing poverty, efforts must be made
to curb inequality. After all, by stifling the
voices of the poor – and giving the wealthy
undue political influence – high inequality
undermines democracy.
This is particularly important for the
World Bank. Unlike the IMF, which is
responsible for headline-grabbing responses
40 March. 01 - 07 2019
to financial or economic crises, the Bank
focuses on long-term solutions to long-
standing problems, such as chronic poverty,
malnourishment, and the retreat of water
tables. That explains why four former
World Bank chief economists were among
the 13 economists from around the world
who issued the 2016 Stockholm Statement,
which summed up many of the views
reflected in the shift away from the Wash-
ington Consensus.
Under Malpass, however, this progress
could be undone, with the World Bank once
again guided by the mantra of economic
growth above all else. There is no reason
to think that Malpass would uphold the
World Bank’s commitment to fighting cli-
mate change, or that he would encourage
consideration of local realities, inclusive-
ness, or equitable distributive outcomes
in creating policies. It is far from clear that
he would treat the world’s poor and poor
countries with the appropriate respect or
empathy.
What the World Bank needs is someone
loyal not to the US president, but to certain
ideals and ideas. And, while the World
Bank has always had an American presi-
dent, from Eugene Meyer to Jim Yong Kim,
there is no official reason why this must be
At the World Bank,
the United States
has the largest
share of the vote –
15.98% – followed
by Japan (6.89%),
China (4.45%),
Germany (4.03%),
and the United
Kingdom and
France (3.78% each)
the case.
At the World Bank, the United States has
the largest share of the vote – 15.98% – fol-
lowed by Japan (6.89%), China (4.45%),
Germany (4.03%), and the United Kingdom
and France (3.78% each). Given this, the
US need persuade only another nine or ten
countries to support its nominee.
This would be easy enough. But, histori-
cally, Western European countries have
always supported the U.S. candidate, while
the U.S. has always backed a European to
head the IMF. These countries owe it to the
world to rethink this arrangement, in order
to ensure that the head of such an important
global institution is chosen on the basis of
merit alone.
To U.S. President Barack Obama’s credit,
he appointed Kim, who beyond being a
less-than-typical American (his father hailed
from North Korea), had a track record of
global engagement and a passion for devel-
opment in some of the poorest regions of
the world. Unfortunately, Kim left his post
prematurely.
In this context, Europe, China, and India
should be putting forward candidates as
well, without regard for nationality. From
Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to India’s
Raghuram Rajan, there is no shortage of
options.
If Malpass does end up getting the job,
we can only hope that he will surprise us
– and Trump – by standing up for global
values and interests instead of American
exceptionalism, and by prioritizing equity,
poverty reduction, and sustainability
over short-term growth. After all, Robert
McNamara came from the killing fields of
Vietnam to become one of the most progres-
sive heads of the World Bank.
But that does not mean that Malpass
should simply be handed the World Bank
presidency. It is too important a position to
be filled by default.
Kaushik Basu, former Chief Economist of
the World Bank and former Chief Economic
Adviser to the Government of India, is Professor
of Economics at Cornell University and
Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings
Institution.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.
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