News analysis Health Business

Maize everywhere, After the Mengo Sugar price to lebrating

but no store anywhere Hospital death drop further Ce

Issue No. 508 Feb 16 - 22, 2018 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8
Years

Shs700bn loan saga

The politics behind calls to censure
Kasaija, fire Muhakanizi

US$200
million PTA Bank loan

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INBOX

Issue No. 508 Feb 16 - 22, 2018

Shs700bn loan saga

The politics behind calls to US$200
censor Kasaija, fire Muhakanizi million loan saga
timeline

The Week The Last Word Analysis Business Arts &

Culture
4|Three Ndejje The challenge 14|Maize everywhere, 24|Sugar price to
students perish but no store anywhere: drop further:
in road accident of state Bumper maize harvest Manufacturers
35|Portrait of a
self-taught artist
legitimacy: exposes weakest link cite increased
Government in food supply chain imports and
declining
4|Fort Portal Bishop can only demand from
challenges Museveni govern foreign markets 37|When stuck
to retiret in traffic jam:
if people 16|After the Mengo
Does turning
comply with Hospital deaths:
25|Local oil and off engine really
New guidelines
4|Sudhir defends its demands, gas suppliers save fuel or
self before land to regulate merely damage
probe over Kololo
but why mushrooming free told to build
engine?
partnerships
land do people medical camps
comply

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

PUBLISHER: Independent Publications Limited, Plot 82/84, Kanjokya Street, P. O. Box 3304, Kampala, Uganda
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2 Feb 16 - 22, 2018

 Offline

UNEB chairperson Prof.

Mary Okwakol (L),
hands over the 2017
UCE results to John
Chrysostom Muyingo,
(R) Minister of State
for Higher Education.
on Feb.7   INDEPENDENT/
JIMMY SIYA
“All the registered refugees will be
revalidated and the new ones registered.
We shall be taking fingerprints from all
the ten fingers of the refugees so that the
current confusion does not occur again.”
Hillary Onek, Minister for Disaster Preparedness

Head teachers of
secondary schools and
principals of colleges
during the UCE
selection at UMA on
Feb. 13   INDEPENDENT/
JIMMY SIYA

“I keep hearing religious people; they

provoke us and me in particular, because
I am somebody who knows what I am
doing.” President Museveni responding to a
bishop’s criticism

Hajji Abdullah Kitata, (R)

the leader of Boda Boda
2010 being led by military
police to the court martial in
Makindye to answer charges
of having illegal possession
of firearms.   INDEPENDENT/
JIMMY SIYA

“Pulling out of Inter Party Organisation

for Dialogue [IPOD] is not a solution. It
is another hurdle to having dialogue
which is the only assurance to a
peaceful transfer of power” Jimmy
Akena, UPC President on FDC, DP pull out of
IPOD

Acres of land lying idle Tonnes of Money Makerere

415 upcountry because of
investor’s fears 1500 expired drugs
Ministry of Shs600m University has been
ordered to pay for
Health will burn defying court orders

Feb 16 - 22, 2018 3

week

Three Ndejje students perish in road accident

Four students of Ndejje Secondary school
who were travelling in a Toyota Brevis car to
their school first filmed themselves and posted
on social media to alert colleagues that they
were going to pick results of Uganda certificate
of Education exams that had been released ear-
ly that week. They were singing in excitement
but soon three of them met their death when
they rammed in another car, a lorry that had
parked along a sharp corner on the Kampala –
Gulu highway.
Three students Vicent Male, Cedric Ndugwa
and Isaac Ssewajje died on the spot whereas the
only survivor – Timothy Njogera was rushed in
critical condition to Nakasero hospital in Kam-
pala where he breathed his last on Feb.13.

Museveni names
new judges
In a Feb.07 notice by the
clerk of parliament to members
of the parliamentary appoint-
ments committee, it was
revealed that the president had
appointed 14 judges – 4 to the
court of appeal and 10 to the
high court.
Those appointed to the
Court of Appeal include; Jus-
tice Christopher Madrama,
Justice Stephen Musota, Justice
Percy Tuhaise and Justice Eze-
kiel Muhanguzi who recently
retired as a High Court judge
upon clocking 65 years of age.
Those appointed to the high
court include former Public
Procurement and Disposal of
Public Assets Authority (PPDA)
boss Cornelia Sabiti, Jane
Adobo, Paul Gadenya, Richard
Wabwire, Joyce Kavuma, Olive
Kazaarwe Mukwaya, Musa
Sekaana, Alex Ajiji, Tadeo Asi-
imwe and Emmanuel Baguma.
Museveni fills the vacuum
after the Chief Justice Bart
Katureebe recently asked the
president to appoint more
judges if case backlog in courts
is to be solved.
Senior police officer Agasiirwe denied bail
The General Court Mar-
tial on Feb.12 denied Nixon
Agasiirwe, the former Com-
mander of the Police Special
Operations Unit bail saying
he might interfere with inves-
tigations.
Agasiirwe who with eight
others is accused of kidnap-
ping and repatriating former
Rwanda President’s Paul
Kagame’s body guard Lt. Joel
Mutabazi back to the country
in 2013 without his consent
was arrested in October
last year but has since been
denied bail.
Chairman of the Makindye
based court martial Lt. Gen
Andrew Guti said by Agasi-
irwe convincing his former
boss Fortunate Habyara for-
merly at the Professional stan-
dards unit of the Police it was
a clear indicator that he could
interfere with witnesses.
Meanwhile, Agasiirwe has
petitioned the High court
protesting his trial in the army
court but Guti says since the
case involves a pistol and
grenade which are only used
by the army then they have
the jurisdiction to handle the
case as provided for in the
UPDF Act.
Sudan’s Bashir replaces
intelligence chief
Sudan’s official news agency
(SUNA) announced on Feb.11
that President Omar el-Bashir had
replaced his National intelligence
and Security Service (NISS) chief
Mohammed Atta with Salah
Abdallah Mohammed Salih who
has headed the entity before.
Salih had been in the position
up to August 2009 when he was
replaced by Atta. Atta’s removal
comes at a time when NISS is
leading a crackdown on sporadic
opposition protests that have
erupted from early January
against rising food prices.
According to AFP, the
Protesters have taken to the streets
in recent weeks after bread prices
jumped following a government
decision to leave wheat imports to
the private sector that triggered a
sharp rise in the cost of flour.
NISS agents and anti-riot police
have swiftly broken up these
rallies held in Khartoum and
some other parts of the country.
NISS agents have also
arrested several senior leaders of
opposition groups since January
in a bid to prevent the protests
from spreading.

*terms and conditions apply

Dial *134 * 7#
4 Feb 16 - 22, 2018

Results for 4525 candidates withheld as UNEB releases UCE exams
The 2017 Uganda Certifi-
cate of Education exams were
released on Feb.07 at the Prime
Minister’s office in Kampala.
Speaking at the release, UNEB
Executive Secretary Daniel
Odongo said results of 4525
candidates were withheld
because of suspected mal-
practice. He said 81 people
suspected of involving in vari-
ous examination malpractices
were arrested whereby 49 have
appeared in court and are cur-
rently on court bail with their
cases at various stages of hear-
ing. 21 suspects he said have
jumped police bond and crimi-
nal summons have been issued
against them while 11 are due
Fort Portal Bishop challenges Museveni to retire
Bishop Reuben Kisembo of
the Rwenzori diocese has asked
President Yoweri Museveni to
retire and grant the country
the honor of a peaceful transi-
tion of power. The cleric who
was speaking on Feb.10 at the
commissioning ceremony of
a chapel at Kyebambe girls
secondary school in Fort Portal
where the president was chief
guest said even if parliament
passed constitutional amend-
ments removing presidential
age limits, it was good for the
country that he hands over in a
peaceful way.
However this seems to have
offended the president who in
response asked religious lead-
Health Ministry set to burn expired drugs
1500 tonnes of drugs are set
to be burnt by the Ministry of
Health after they expired in
stores. Without giving specifics
what particular drugs are to
be burnt, Permanent Secretary
in court as their files are still
with the Director Public Pros-
ecution for sanctioning.
“We were alerted by whistle
blowers, scouts and invigilators
and the single overwhelming
form of malpractice experi-
enced was assistance given by
third parties”, he said.
Majority of malpractices were
reported in science subjects
with biology being most affect-
ed with 39.7% of the cases, fol-
lowed by physics at 21%, chem-
istry 10.3% and mathematics
at 6.7%. Scouts reported some
instances in science practical
papers where candidates did
not carry out the experiments
required in the examination but
Diana Atwiine told journalists
on Feb.12 that the drugs were
collected from over 6500 health
centers across the country.
Noting that having expired
drugs can cause a health disas-
ter, Atwiine said they are choos-
ing to get rid of the chemicals
which can be dispensed by
unscrupulous people if they
keep in the facilities longer. She
added that they also need space
in the hospitals for restocking
new medicine that can be used.
This however comes at the
time when people across the
country are complaining about
recorded in their scripts results
provided from external sources.
Meanwhile 320119 candi-
dates of the 326212 registered
sat for the exams whereby
females performed marginally
better than males in English
language whereas males per-
formed better in all the other
large entry subjects. In terms
of divisional passes 11.4% of
males passed with division 1
and 18.6% in division 2 whereas
8.4% of females attained divi-
sion 1 and 15.4% division 2.
This trend in the disparity
between the performance of
male and female candidates has
been observed over the years.
ers to have a disciplined way
of interacting and that he can’t
allow being guided on issues
that he knows better.
“I keep hearing religious
people, they provoke us and
me in particular”, he said before
asking the bishop to refer to
read Ecclesiastes 3:1-3 which
reads,” There is time for every-
thing, and a season for every
activity under the heavens….”
Museveni would later lead a
ground-breaking ceremony for
the construction of a Shs6 bil-
lion stadium at Buhinga on the
outskirts of Fort Portal Town.
The stadium is planned to have
a tennis court, hotel facility and
other hospitality facilities.
the continuous lack of the drugs
at government health facilities
whereby whenever they go
to these centers doctors only
examine them and giving them
notes to buy drugs from private
pharmacies and drug shops.
For now, the Ministry has
directed National Medical
Stores to continue collecting
expired drugs from the various
facilities after which a company
to do the incineration will be
contracted. The country has
one approved incinerator in
Nakasongola.
Feb 16 - 22, 2018
Week
Sudhir defends self
before land probe
over Kololo land
City mogul Sudhir
Ruparelia appeared
before the lady
Justice Catherine
Bamugemereire led land
commission of inquiry on
Feb.08 to defend himself
over an allegation that
he has grabbed land
belonging to Kololo
senior secondary
school. Sudhir told the
commission that the
said land was allocated
to him by Uganda land
commission at the time
when it was chaired by
the late Joash Mayanja
Nkangi.
He said on this land
which was used by the
school as a playground,
he intends to establish
a state of the art sports
facility that can be used
both by Kololo and his
Kampala Parents school.
He also dispelled an
allegation that the land
had been divided into
plots and allocated to
various people to develop
businesses. But, Kololo
school management
had revealed to the
commission that they
had been barred from
using the land something
that has caused them
to decline in terms of
co-curricular sports
activities.
However, Sudhir got
lease of the land for
ninety nine years.
5
Week
National Water’s Mugisha Winter Olympics bring hope for Korea talks
re-appointed Africa Water rare move from North Korea which sent a
Association’s VP delegation to its southern neighbor. After
a glitzy opening ceremony, the attention
shifted to the North Korean delegation
African continent which had a high profile figure in Kim Jong
with an aim of
un’s sister- Kim Yo jong. It is the first time a
facilitating capacity
member of the ruling family in North Korea
development of
is setting foot in South Korea. The North
utilities, research
Korean delegation held talks with Presi-
and projects
focused on President Moon Jae-in and Kim Yo-jong dent Moon Jae of South Korea although it
solutions for water remains unclear what was discussed. How-
and sanitation The Winter Olympics ongoing in ever, US Vice President Mike Pence, who
management Pyeongchang, South Korea have offered briefly attended the games stayed away
and influencing a ray of hope for talks between the host from the two delegations and told media
The National sector policy by nation and its belligerent neighbor, North that the US government would insist on
Water and providing sound Korea. The games have calmed tensions sanctions to deter the North Korean regime
Sewerage professional between the two hostile nations thanks to a from its nuclear programme.
Corporation viewpoints on
(NWSC) Managing
Director Dr. Eng.
emerging issues
on the African
Two foreigners Lord Mayor drags Minister Kamya to
Silver Mugisha has
been re-appointed
continent.
Speaking to
die in top court for interfering in his work
Vice President of
the African Water
delegates, Mugisha Kampala hotels On Feb.12, Kampala city
said affiliations
Association. This Police Spokesperson Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago
such as being
was during the Emilian Kayima revealed dragged Kampala Minister
member to the
Association’s on Feb.13 that bodies of Beti Namisango Kamya to
association is
19th Congress two foreigners – Tersvouri court over what he called
not only helping
that kicked off on interference in his work
in creating Toomajuha Petteri from
Feb.11 in Bamako by illegally passing off as
opportunities to Finland and Alex Sebastian
Mali. the political head of the
learn global best from Sweden, are ready for
At the event, the city, which position legally
practices but also evacuation after both the
NWSC Director belongs to the mayor. Kamya’s decision regarding
provides Uganda postmortem and toxicity
of Business and Lukwago for instance said the legality of Council
an opportunity tests have been done.
Scientific Services Kamya recently usurped his meetings and a decision
to benchmark on Without revealing the
Dr. Rose Kaggwa powers as the mayor when that subjects all his travels
modern service exact cause of the duo’s
was confirmed as she suspended council as the Lord Mayor to a
delivery models death, Kayima said they
the 2nd President meetings which he chairs. ministerial permit supposed
for better service are now awaiting a toxic-
of the Association According to Court to be issued by Kamya.
delivery. ity report that will show
Scientific and documents, Kamya stalled Lukwago says unless
Last year, whether they had had any
Technical council. the Council meetings on court intervenes the
Mugisha was form of drugs.
The African grounds that they are illegal sovereignty of the people
elected the first Petteri died at Pearl of
Water Association and no longer relevant to of Kampala who voted
African Vice Africa hotel on Feb.05
brings together the city a decision that Luk- for him as the city’s
president of whereas Sebastian died in
water and wago describes as irrational. political head will be put
International Water his room at the Sheraton
sanitation sector In the petition, Lukwago in jeopardy.
Association. Kampala hotel on Feb.06.
players on the seeks orders to quash

6 Feb 16 - 22, 2018

Humour Did you know?
The world’s most
corrupt police force

The Haiti National Police

is the world’s most corrupt
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has formally
police force, according to a list
asked President Jacob Zuma to resign, according to senior party official. of 10 compiled by independent
researches and published online.
It is involved in various human
rights violations and broking of
numerous laws, such as kidnap-
ping, drug trafficking, and police
brutality. It does not prevent or
responding to gang-related vio-
lence.
The national police forces of
Mexico, Kenya, Burma, Iraq,
Somalia, Afghanistan, Sudan,
Russia, and Pakistan are listed in
that from the worst to the least
Finance Minister, Matia Kasaija and Secretary to Treasury, Keith Muhakanizi were on Feb. 6 left on the brink bad. According to a recent survey
of losing their jobs with Members of Parliament divided over their fate as the House commenced debate on a report of Transparency Interna-
hard-hitting report demanding that the duo be fired for bungling up a disputed $200m (about Shs700b) loan
tional, 92% civilians of Kenya
ranked their police as the most
corrupt and many of them have
paid a bribe to their police during
the last 12 months. In Somalia,
many police officers are involved
in stealing, extortion, bribery
and harassing individuals to get
money. In Mexico, the police take
bribes from criminals and give
tourists “plata o plomo,” which
means they either bribe or be
killed. They work with drug car-
tels, ignore reported crimes, and
often imprisoning innocent citi-
The Inspector General of Police, Gen Kale Kayihura, has said the police
force is rotten from bottom but functioning at the top management zens to cover up their dirty work.

Feb 16 - 22, 2018 7


Inbox
Letters are
welcome !
The Editor welcomes short and
concise letters from our esteemed
readers on topical issues. Please
send them to:
The Editor, The Independent
Publications Ltd,
P.O Box 3304,
Plot 82/84 Kanjokya St,
Kamwokya.
Kampala,Uganda.
Email: editor@independent.co.ug
Embrace e-governance
in road sector
Uganda spends over Shs3.3 trillion
(Approx. US$1 billion) annually on
public infrastructure and it will receive a
lion’s share of the 2018/19 budget. These
efforts have improved the country’s road
network, which facilitates commerce and
economic growth.
We have no problem with government
allocating huge monies to the sector but
it should be insulated against question-
able quality of roads, inflated contract
prices through bribes and connivance.
A commission of inquiry revealed an
astronomical Shs4 trillion misappropri-
ated over seven years. The sector has
also been obscured in secrecy and lack of
public access to project data and techni-
calities to cover up poor performance.
Access to Information is a right under
our Constitution and corruption thrives
where information is not availed to the
public. Governments that are liberal in
sharing information with citizens are
more likely to develop faster than those
that withhold or give piecemeal informa-
tion. Openness in infrastructure projects
is not only important in empowering
citizens to monitor and hold the relevant
agencies accountable. Online systems
such as the Uganda System for Electron-
ic Open Date Records (USER) initiated
by Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda in
partnership with Kampala City Council
Authority can go a long way towards
improving public confidence and trust
in a sector.
Cissy Kagaba
Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda.
8 Feb 16 - 22, 2018
Follow us on Twitter @
http://twitter.com/#!/ugandatalks
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African summits and African media
The recent African Union
30th Ordinary Session,
according to Ethiopian gov-
ernment figures, as attend-
ed by more than 10,000
delegates from all over
Africa and observer/partner
countries, 49 heads of state,
the UN Secretary-General,
and Arab League officials.
Someone should start tell-
ing Africans how much the
summit actually costs and
why 10,000 people have to
be flown in for the 2-day
event. One other untold
aspect is that there were
close to 680 journalists from
all over the world. While
all journalists are welcome,
African journalists prob-
ably make a tiny minority
of the 680 journalists. Some
Police fails on attacks on independent organisations
Ugandan rights organiza-
tion Human Rights Aware-
ness and Promotion Forum
(HRAPF), which was the
target of a violent break-in
on the night of February
8, 2018, works to protect
the rights of marginalised
groups including lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender
and intersex (LGBTI) people,
and sex workers. The night
assailants disabled parts
of the security system and
slashed two guards with
Mowzey Radio sermon
I was inspired by the
sermon that the curate of
Lubaga Catholic Cathedral,
Rev. Fr Deogratius Kiibi
Katerega gave during the
last farewell to our great
icon and artist Moses Seki-
bogo ( Mowzey Radio).
My attention was on his
emphasis on the mistakes
that we normally commit
as the youth and he also
gave several alternatives,
money and riches that we
African countries might
not have even sent a single
reporter. So, although very
interesting resolutions were
made, it appears African
media barely covered them.
Besides the summit theme
on fighting corruption, a
significant protocol on the
free movement of people
was signed and a special
summit for March 2018 on
the Continental Free Trade
Area which the AU is close
to adopting. More interest-
ing was the Single African
Air Transport Market, a
flagship project of Agenda
2063, which could change
air travel within African
countries. Migration was
on the agenda too. Why
aren’t Africans being made
machetes.
The break-in continues
a string of burglaries and
attacks on offices of NGOs
in Uganda, including a
previous attack on HRAPF
in May 2016, in which a
security guard was killed
and documents stolen. The
Uganda police neither iden-
tified nor arrested suspects
in that attack. According
to DefendDefenders, a
Kampala-based regional
human rights organisation,
sometimes get while in our
youthful days makes us
change into wild people, we
see ourselves as the great-
est Ninjas, kick boxers and
great fighters forgetting that
respect and calmness are
the greatest acts of life.
Because the youth think
at 18 years or joining cam-
pus they are grown-ups,
they prefer living alone
and this has turned many
of them into disrespect-
News analysis Health Business
Sembuya’s chocolate New cancer machine State-owned enterprises lebratin
dreams restores patients hope saddled with losses Ce g
Issue No. 507 Feb 09 - 15, 2018
Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8
Years
'Saleh proposal on
ministries will fail'
Museveni is the
problem, insiders say
www.independent.co.ug
to get more involved in
what takes place at the AU?
Why isn’t the African media
holding the AU more
accountable for its actions
and costs yet the Organi-
zation recently adopted
a new reform blue print
that is intended to increase
administrative and political
efficiencies as well as make
the AU more self-reliant?
The simple advice to the
African Union is to seri-
ously consider creating an
independent, free to air
African news network of
global proportions compa-
rable to the BBC, RT, or Al-
Jazeera English.
Hussein Lumumba Amin
Kampala, Uganda
over 30 organizations in
Uganda have experienced
similar break-ins since 2012.
No one has ever been pros-
ecuted for any of the attacks.
We are deeply concerned
that the pattern of attacks
and consistent lack of police
investigations is a tactic to
intimidate Uganda’s outspo-
ken human rights activists.
Maria Burnett
East Africa director at
Human Rights Watch
ful human beings in that
they can do whatever they
feel like without anyone’s
intervention, many opt for
drugs, alcohol and also use
of many other dangerous
substances which are not
only harmful but disastrous
to them and their brains.
Rest in peace radio.
Michael Woira
michaelwoira@gmail.com

The challenge of state legitimacy
By Andrew M. Mwenda
Government can only govern if people comply
with its demands, but why do people comply?
T
he German sociologist, Max Weber,
argued that if the state is to exist, the
dominated must obey the authority
claimed by the powers that be. Then
he posed an important question: when and
why do men obey? He identified three main
types of legitimate authority: the first that
is derived from the personal charisma of
a ruler, the second derived from tradition,
and the third derived from a set of widely
accepted laws and rules that determine who
should govern and how.
For Weber these three types were idealised
abstractions not found in reality. The reality
is that governments hold power through
a dynamic mix of means and strategies.
This mix is also fluid and differs from time
to time and from place to place based on
resources available, culture, and history.
Yet in most writings today, these idealised
abstractions by Weber are taken almost liter-
ally.
The Inspector General of Police, Gen. Kale
Kayihura, always quotes the remark of
former Makerere University don, Prof. Dan
Mudoola, during the days when the Consti-
tutional Commission was collecting views
about a new constitution i.e. that the central
challenge of government is to govern. This
is even more pronounced in Africa because
of the artificiality of the state combined with
its limited resources to perform even the
most basic functions.
Government can only govern if people
comply with its demands or, at the very
least, do not challenge its ability to govern.
But why would people choose to comply
with government demands? There are
many reasons we can speculate about.
One of the sources of such legitimacy is
the ability of the state to provide a wide
range of public goods and services to all
citizens. But as I have argued consistently
in this column over the last three weeks,
this strategy is unaffordable for most of the
nations of Africa in large part because they
do not have sufficient financial, leave alone
human, resources to govern that way as
happens in rich nations.
Therefore, if you are a president of an
African country, you must use other strate-
gies of legitimation that are affordable.
One of them is patronage, which may
or may not take the form of corruption.
The Last Word
For example, a president may appoint an
individual who commands the respect
of a given community into cabinet. This
individual may be a traditional leader, an
articulate youth, a respected professional, a
successful businessperson, a religious cleric
or a well-regarded intellectual. This person
will act as the bridge between the president
(or ruling party) and his or her group.
However, there are many other strategies
of legitimation. For example, people may
support a government because the leader
is charismatic or because he is seen as an
effective champion of the values and causes
they hold dear. People may follow a leader
because the rules that they respect confer
authority upon him – whether these rules
come from tradition (as in monarchies) or
religion (as in theocracies) or from political
bargains (as in constitutional republics).
People might also follow a leader through
naked self-interest because they are getting
or expect to get specific personal benefits.
They may also follow a leader because they
fear punishment if they don’t or because
they seek protection against real or imag-
ined external or internal threats or because it
gives them a sense of belonging and group
identity. Let us call this “tribalism” and I
will return to this later in the article to show
why it is important.
Likewise leaders seek legitimacy through
a number of ways. They may claim descent
from the gods (the Kim family in North
Korea best illustrates this). Indeed, histori-
cally leaders have in many societies have
done this. Leaders may claim to be freedom
fighters (as President Yoweri Museveni
does), or cultivate a reputation as coura-
geous (like Idi Amin) or project themselves
as pious and honest (Julius Nyerere of
Tanzania and Ho Chi Mihn of Vietnam
were very good at this) or of being generous
(Mobutu Sese Seko of former Zaire and
Umar Bongo of Gabon). And they may
appeal to national or ethnic identity, or rely
on religious creed (as in Iran) or on a polit-
ical ideology (communism for example).
Leaders may allocate special benefits to
some and deny them to others. Or they
may work to create patriotism and sense
of national identity through a common
struggle (post genocide Rwanda best illus-
trates this strategy). Leaders may create fear
Opinion
of a common enemy (like demonising Mus-
lims and immigrants by right-wing groups
in the West today). In doing this, leaders
rely on a specific social context
A combination of these tools is available
in differing degrees to leaders in Africa, and
they employ them. For instance when we
see Museveni pushing bicycles in villages
or Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza
opening beehives, we the elite may laugh at
their pre-modern ways. But they are trying
to connect with their citizens who are poor.
I have a suspicion that these other strate-
gies of legitimation would tend to be priori-
tised in Africa because legitimation based
on delivery of public goods and services is
not affordable. This brings me to the preva-
lent accusation of tribalism against leaders
in Africa. Practically every president on
our continent, with perhaps the exception
of Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia
and Kamuzu Banda of Malawi, has been
accused of favoring their ethnic kin. This
accusation is often exaggerated but it has
some basis.
In his insightful book, ‘Moral Tribes:
Emotions, Reason and the Gap Between Us
and Them’, Harvard University professor,
Joshua Greene, argues that our brains are
wired for tribalism. We intuitively divide
the world into “us” and “them” and that
this begins in infancy. If leaders have to
command loyalty, they may seek to rely
on cues that have historically been reliable
markers of group identity and member-
ship. One of them is language; the other is
religion. In multi ethnic, multi linguistic and
multi religious countries like ours in Africa,
these cues get politicised.
I must hasten to add that Greene does
not conclude from this that we are fated
to be tribalists forever. Indeed, the aim of
the book is to show that our brains can be
rewired through experience and active
learning. Post independence leaders in
Africa have struggled to rewire us and
create new tribal identities like Ugandans or
Kenyans or Congolese out of our multitudes
of ethnic identity. The mistake we make is
to judge them too quickly thinking that such
a project takes a few years to achieve.
amwenda@independent.co.ug
Feb 16 - 22, 2018 9
cover story
Shs700bn loan saga
The politics behind calls to censure
Kasaija, fire Muhakanizi
R
By Haggai Matsiko
ecently, according to State
House sources, President
Yoweri Museveni was on
phone with Secretary to the
Treasury, Keith Muhakanizi.
He sounded to be in no mood
for pleasantries.
“I am tired of this,” the president
reportedly said seething with anger.
On the end, those near Museveni could
hear a panicky Muhakanizi stammering
severally. Finally he was heard saying: “Mr.
President I am also tired of these lies. Those
behind them should be investigated.”
The call lasted a few minutes and the
president slammed the phone seemingly
unconvinced by the response from his chief
lieutenant at the Ministry of Finance.
President Museveni was calling following
allegations that Muhakanizi and Finance
Minister Matia Kasaija mishandled a $200
million (Approx. Shs700billion) loan from
the Eastern and Southern African Trade
Bank (commonly known as the PTA Bank).
Over the same matter, the Public
Accounts Committee (PAC) of parliament
on Feb.7 tabled a report calling for the
censuring of the two.
The joint team of 34 MPs from the
ruling NRM party and opposition parties
recommended that: “For misleading the
House to believe that the most critical
funding objective was medical supplies,
lying to parliament in writing that NMS
(National Medical Stores) had never
provided the needed supply contracts to
enable disbursement of funds and further
duping parliament by repackaging the
same loan thus obtaining money by false
pretense, the Minister of Finance, Planning
and Economic Development, Hon. Matia
Kasaija should be censured”.
“For lying to parliament and for
superimposing his authority on the loan
acquisition against strong advice in writing
by the Governor Bank of Uganda, the
Accountant General and the Director
of Economic Affairs MoFPED and
superintending the gross diversion of public
funds, Mr. Keith Muhakanizi, the PS/ST
10 Feb 16 - 22, 2018
should be relieved of his office,” the PAC
team added.
However, although the PAC report tabled
in parliament on Feb.7 gave a deadline of 60
days for these and other recommendations,
President Museveni has not acted on any
of them. The case, which first surfaced in
2016, keeps flaring up. And Kasaija and
President Yoweri Museveni
Muhakanizi are living dangerously because
Museveni has shown reluctance to protect
them.
At a previous cabinet meeting, the
President had been even more brutal with
Muhakanizi. “You go messing up here and
there and I have to clean up,” the president
had said before startled cabinet officials,
slammed the door and stormed out of
the cabinet meeting room at State House,
Entebbe.
To officials who attended the meeting,
it appeared that Muhakanizi’s days were
numbered. Around the time, a fight was
raging between Muhakanizi and Stephen
Isabalijja, who had just been appointed
the Energy Ministry Permanent Secretary.
Isabalija had led to the firing of Kabagambe
Kalisa, the then Energy PS and talk was rife
Muhakanizi was next. Isabalija had told
those close to him that Muhakanizi was
another problem—negotiating bad deals
for government, some of which he alleged
even to the president that the PSST was
personally benefiting from.
“Some of these people are taking
advantage of the challenges I have heard
with State House,” Muhakanizi was
overheard telling friends in reference to
Isabalija, “they are telling all sorts of lies to
push the president to fire Muhakanizi.”
In the PTA loan case, Kasaija and
Muhakanizi deny any wrongdoing, spew
a battery of technical data and evidence
to back their defense. Rather than follow
facts, they say, the PAC MPs appear to be
determined to rely on allegations to have
them lose their jobs.
“It has been a scheme to hit us with all
these allegations such that the President gets
tired and fires Muhakanizi,” the secretary
to the treasury told The Independent at his
offices on Feb.8. “They (detractors) have
been waiting. Part of what you are seeing in
parliament is being driven by that.”
So far Kasaija and Muhakanizi appear
to be getting some cushioning from
government departments that could easily
cut them down.
On Feb.07, for example, the Speaker
Rebecca Kadaga sent the case to the Auditor
General to audit the loan. She said a special
audit will guide the House in debating the
PAC report and gave a Feb. 20 deadline for
the Auditor General to submit the special
audit report to her office. The time frame,
however, appears too tight and likely to be
extended.
In another instance, although the PAC
report recommended that the government
ombudsman, the Inspector General
of Government (IGG), investigates
Muhakanizi for possible “conflict of interest,
collusion and connivance” in acquiring the
PTA loan and reports within 60 days, not
much action has been taken.
Muhakanizi and Kasaija’s problem
appears to stem from the determined

Muhakanizi
2015, Finance
officials start
processing the loan
Jan.7. 2016, parliament
refused to authorise
acquisition of the loan
Feb. 02. 2016, BoU Governor
writes to Finance warning
against taking the loan
On March 03, 2016
Finance re-tabled the
loan to parliament
March.7 2016, Kasaija
writes back to Mutebile
saying the loan was meant
to finance foreign currency
expenditures in the
2016/17 budget
cover story
Kamabare
Kasaija
US$200 NMS wanted Shs68
billion from the PTA
million loan saga Bank loan, which PAC
timeline says it didn’t get
Feb.7.2018, PAC on tabled
a report calling for the
On April 26, censoring of Kasaija and
2016, parliament Muhakanizi
approves the loan.
PAC says domestic
Of the US$200 borrowing would
million loan; have been cheaper
US$43 million than the 4.6% interest
was to go to NMS on the PTA loan
Money from PTA Bank Finance says the loan had
started coming in from a shilling interest rate of
October 20, 2016 and 7.6% per annum, On the
by July 24, 2017, all the other hand, the interest
US$200 million had of one-year Treasury Bills
been received issued on 10th June 2016,
was 17.1%
Feb 16 - 22, 2018 11
cover story
manner in which they peddled the loan
from office to office. As early as January
7, 2016, the parliament had refused
to authorise acquisition of the loan as
unnecessary, in dollars, and costly at 4.6%
interest which was considered a commercial
rate.
But Muhakanizi and Kasaija, according
to the PAC report, “changed the objective
and title of the loan prioritizing provision
of medical supplies” and returned it to
parliament.
When the Governor of Bank of Uganda;
Tumusiime Mutebile was informed, he on
February 02, 2016, wrote to the Ministry of
Finance warning against taking the loan to
allegedly “stabilize the exchange rate”.
“I would strongly recommend that
you do not proceed with this proposed
borrowing,” Mutebile wrote.
“The BOU has more than sufficient
foreign exchange resources to support
these interventions; our reserves currently
amount to $2.8 billion and we do not
require additional resources mobilized
from the PTA Bank loan for this purpose,”
Mutebile added.
Within the walls of Finance, the then
Director for Economic Affairs, Lawrence
Kiiza, also opposed the loan. Those close
to him say he felt the terms of the loan
were akin to government borrowing from
a money lender. The Accountant General,
Lawrence Semakula, also objected to the
loan.
In spite of all the objections, Kasaija and
Muhakanzi pushed ahead and on March 03,
2016 re-tabled the loan approval request to
parliament. They had done their homework
and, in spite of mild protests, on April 26,
2016, got the required approval. But it is
turning out to be a likely pyric victory,
considering the storm around them.
But, so far, Muhakazi and Kasaija appear
sheltered. Although four government
departments that were named as
beneficiaries of the PTA loan money did not
get it, it is only the National Medical Stores
(NMS) that appears to be seeking redress
from parliament.
Some insiders say the real cause of the
current crisis was an internal audit of NMS
ordered by Muhakanizi. Officials at NMS
reportedly felt Muhakanizi was targeting
them. So they raised the issue of the
US$200 million PTA loan to parliament in
retaliation.
According to a request that Muhakanizi
submitted to PTA Bank for the US$200
million loan; US$43 million was to go to
NMS.
The other major government
departments Muhakanizi told PTA would
get the money were the Rural Electrification
Agency (REA), US$3 million, Ministry of
Works and Transport, US$26 million, and
Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA)
12 Feb 16 - 22, 2018
US$26 million.
According to documents seen by The
Independent, although the MoFEP started
processing the loan in 2015, money from
PTA Bank started coming in from October
20,2016 and by July 24, 2017, all the US$200
million had been received by the Ministry
of Finance.
However, the PAC report notes that
REA did not get any money as it did not
have any project funded by PTA Bank,
the Ministry of Works and Transport got
only US$9 million out of the US$26 million
promised. The report makes no mention of
UNRA.
Meanwhile, NMS which has brewed all
the trouble for Muhakanizi and Kasaija
also did not get any money (it expected
Shs68 billion) from the PTA Bank loan,
according to the PAC report. Instead, it got
Tumusiime Mutebile Shs7 billion as a supplementary budget
and Shs20 billion as arrears. Regarding
the balance of Shs41 billion, Kasaija in
April 2017 advised NMS to get medicines
on credit to be paid in the next financial
“I would strongly year 2017/2018. When NMS informed
the Minister that it could not get further
recommend that credit, the Ministry of Finance gave it
Shs127 billion as a frontloaded part of its
you do not proceed appropriation for 2017/18.
Given this background, the PAC report
with this proposed noted that it is not clear how the US$200
million borrowed from PTA Bank was
borrowing,” Mutebile spent.
“Despite several demands, the
wrote. "The BOU has Committee was never availed with the
specifics on how the disbursed amount was
more than sufficient spent by the end of FY2016/17,” the PAC
report noted.
foreign exchange Asked by The Independent to give his side
of the story, NMS boss, Moses Kamabare,
resources to support first declined saying; “we gave details
to PAC let us wait for the AG (Auditor
these interventions; General). I feel constrained to talk about the
issue now.”
our reserves Pressed further about whether finance
had made the releases they claim they
currently amount have, Kamabare added; “They have made
those claims before. The issue is not the
to $2.8 billion and percentage of appropriation. It is whether
we needed Shs. 68 billion over and above
we do not require the appropriation and whether that
amount was given and when it was given.
additional resources Everything else is beside the point.”
mobilized from the Muhakanizi’s defense
In their defense, Kasaija and Muhakanizi,
PTA Bank loan for this insist that the PAC report misrepresented
the objectives of the PTA Loan, which was,
purpose," Mutebile among others, “general budget support
to be utilized for fiscal purposes”. The
added Hansard dated Thursday 7 April 2016
and another Hansard dated 26 April 2016,
when the loan was debated and approved,
also show the purpose of the loan as fiscal
purposes. The PAC report states different
objectives of the loan.

Regarding claims that initial transfers
from the PTA Bank Uganda had tags of
vote names on them indicating that the
funds were meant for entities such as NMS,
REA, UNRA, and Ministry of Works,
Kasaija told Parliament that the tagging was
a mere accountability tactic to satisfy PTA
Bank requirements. PTA Bank is very strict
on ensuring that its loans are not used to
finance items that are prohibited by PTA
Bank policy.
For the PTA Bank to confirm to the
shareholders of the Bank that the funds
were used for the purposes intended, they
requested for documentation to prove that
indeed expenditure has been incurred in
the eligible areas, as prescribed in the loan
agreement.
Upon satisfactory evidence that
expenditure has been incurred by
government in the areas agreed, the PTA
Bank reimbursed or disbursed the funds
to the Uganda Government Consolidated
Fund and not to the account of the sector or
institution that incurred the expenditure.
Regarding how the PTA Bank money
was spent, Kasaija and Muhakanizi
maintain that all the money ended up in
the Consolidated Fund of government and
was used for government fiscal activities.
They argue that the money could not have
gone to the tagged entities because, in any
case, the Finance Ministry would have
already made expenditure releases to those
entities, and the PTA loan money was
reimbursement.
This is not the first time that Muhakanizi
appears to be in a tight corner over money.
It appears to come with the territory for
someone whose job is to mobilise and
allocate very scarce resources to fund
government projects. Sometimes, his
actions spark fights in the Finance Ministry
and with technocrats and politicians
outside.
Some politicians have openly threatened
to fix Muhakanizi and some of his top
lieutenants for refusing to allocate resources
to their sectors. Others have openly accused
Muhakanizi of refusing to allocate resources
to their sectors because they “haven’t given
him cuts”.
So scandals, such as this keep popping
up. Last year alone, officials at Finance
had been caught up in a string of scandals
including an allegation that US$ 30 million
had “disappeared” from the Consolidated
Fund. Then there was a claim that every
time payments were made for Bujagali
Power Dam, Muhakanizi got a cut, and
finally one made by the Internal Security
Organisation (ISO) that Muhakanizi had
used hackers to steal US$ 20 million from
Bank of Uganda. None of them were
proved.
Museveni lays trap
But that did not stop President Museveni
from plotting to catch Muhakanizi red-
Rebecca Kadaga
Angelina Osege
handed.
On March 27, 2017 following a tip from
ISO, President Museveni had asked some
State House agents to lay a trap for officials
at the Finance Ministry. Among their other
targets was Muhakanizi. They failed to nail
the PSST and instead netted Charles Ogol,
the principal finance officer, and Geoffrey
Turyamuhika, a senior economist—whom
they reportedly caught with a bribe of
$60,000.
The money was allegedly part of the
$500,000 that the two officials together
with Muhakanizi and Finance Minister,
Matia Kasaija had solicited from some
investors. President Museveni had received
intelligence that Muhakanizi and Kasaija
were supposed to take $ 150,000 each and
the two officials $ 100,000. The idea was to
net at least Muhakanizi.
Although Muhakanizi wasn’t netted,
Museveni still believing his intelligence,
cover story
suspected that someone had tipped off the
PS/ST. And he made it a point to emphasise
publicly that the Finance Ministry was “full
of thieves”.
Then on April 5, 2017 at 03:45, President
Museveni held another critical meeting at
State House Entebbe. In attendance was
Bank of Uganda Governor, Tumusiime
Mutebile, Inspector General of Government
Irene Mulyagonja and ISO’s Bagyenda
Kaka.
According to the minutes of the meeting
a copy of which The Independent has seen,
Museveni informed the officials that some
$38m had been stolen from government’s
GAVI Fund account in the Works in
Progress suspense account.
Apparently, the transfers were channeled
through the Cayman Islands to an account
held by Pine-Herst Holdings in CIMB Bank
in Malaysia, where it was believed that the
money was still being held.
After making this presentation, the
President told the meeting that the details of
the transfers would be got from a report by
the ISO Director General.
He asked the Governor to investigate the
transfers and report back on Friday, 7 April
2017 or two days later.
The governor and his team were given
documents showing the alleged trail
including the executive Summary of a
report titled “Role of Rogue Elements in
Security and Ministry of Finance in Cyber
and Economic Fraud”.
The report’s author noted that in the
last few months, he had been involved in;
transfer of money from my employer to a
foreign bank in China, a total of $38M from
finance IFMS through instruction of Keith
Muhakanizi.
However, on the $ 38M transfer, he said
he had cleared all traces of this transaction
from the system but believed that with right
resources the log could be retrieved.
“This money as per the 14-03-2017 is
still at CIMB Bank Malaysia,” he noted,
“Attached is the statement I retrieved from
a hack on Keith Muhakanizi’s laptop on the
16-03-2017.”
But when Governor Mutebile’s findings
arrived on April 7 as the president had
asked - there was no truth in the claims.
There was no information that the central
bank had transacted any business with any
counterpart by the names of CIMB Bank
in Malaysia or anywhere in the world
or that such significant transactions
took place between BoU and the local
commercial banks, Mutebile told the
President.
Finance officials say the allegations
against Muhakanizi and Kasaija should,
therefore, be treated as unfounded,
unless proven true.
Feb 16 - 22, 2018 13
rwanda

By Independent Team

T
he New Year 2018 has kicked off in
high gear for RwandAir, the nation-
al carrier of Rwanda with launches
of new routes.
The latest news is the now scheduled
May 16 launch of its new Kigali-Harare-
Cape Town route.
RwandAir is one of the fastest growing
airlines on the continent reaching out to
more than twenty cities in Western, Central,
Eastern and Southern Africa, the Middle
East, Asia and Europe.
It has already been operating the Kigali-
Harare with four times a week; on Mon-
days, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Satur-
days. The latest development, however,
enables the Harare-Cape Town extension to
be added to the route.
The launch of this route, which will com- Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority Director General, Silas Udahemuka and his Singaporean counterpart Kevin
plete RwandAir’s coverage of Sub Saharan Shum sign. Looking on is the Rwandan envoy to Singapore, Guillaume Kavaruganda looks on.  Courtesy

Busy skies over Kigali

Africa destinations, was made possible by
an offer of air flight 5th Freedom Rights by
the government of Zimbabwe on Feb. 12.
The 5th Freedom Right is the right to
carry passengers from one’s own country to
a second country and from that country to a
third country and so on.
“Yes, we have received 5th Freedom
Rights to fly between Harare and Cape
Town,” RwandAir Communication Direc-
tor, Yvonne Manzi Makolo, confirmed the
developed which was also heavily publi-
cised in the Harare press.
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Transport and
Infrastructure Development, Joram Gumbo,
is quoted to have said that the new Rwan-
dAir route will bring relief to travellers from
Harare to Cape Town.
The new route will complete RwandAir’s
coverage of Sub Saharan Africa. In August
last year, the Rwanda’s National Carrier
launched its regional hub in Benin to effec-
tively serve Western and Central Africa.
In another development, on Feb. 02,
RwandAir revealed it is seeking to enter
Israel’s aviation market and plans to recruit
General Sales Agents to represent it in that
country. It launched a bidding process for
consultancy activities on Feb.02 to study
and enter the Israeli market. The bidding
closes on March 03.
RwandAir is also set to expand its wings
to Abuja in Nigeria. The Abuja route will
be tagged to the existing Accra destination,
where the flight will stop in Abuja before
heading to Accra in Ghana and is expected
to be operated four times a week.
“This is yet another big milestone for
RwandAir as we continue to expand our
network. Our aim is to provide our custom-
ers with seamless and better connections on
the continent and beyond,” RwandAir’s act-
ing chief executive, Col. Chance Ndagano,
told a Times reporter.
According to Ndagano, destinations to
RwandAir spreads its wings across Africa
Abuja and Cape Town will help boost the
economies of the three countries in terms
of tourism and trade on one hand, and
enhance bilateral partnership between
Rwanda, Nigeria and South Africa.
RwandAir also already has 5th Freedom
Right from the Nigerian authorities to fly
without any limitations along Abuja-Yaoun-
dé route in West Africa.
Rwanda also recently signed a bilateral
air service agreement with Cape Verde,
opening more potential market opportuni-
ties for the national carrier and the country’s
private sector.
Rwandair has plans to spread to Conakry
in Guinea, Bamako in Mali, Dakar in Sen-
egal, Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Lilongwe in
Malawi, and Durban in South Africa.
News reports have also quoted Ndagano
saying in an interview with African Aero-
space, that the carrier has immediate plans
to enter the Asian and US markets follow-
ing the launch of flights to Brussels National
and London Gatwick in Europe last year.
The next step is the launch of flights to
Guangzhou followed by New York JFK, in
the United States, he said. “We are in the
process of applying for [China] permits
and as soon as that process is done, we will
be able to serve that route. We are looking
for one (A330) to lease and be used on the
China route,” he said.
It acquired its first A330 series (A330-200
and A330-300 Airbus aircraft) in 2016. It also
operates a narrowbody fleet of two B737-
700s, four B737-800s, two CRJ-900s, and two
Dash 8-400s used on regional African opera-
tions spanning West, Central, East, and
Southern Africa.
Ndagano also revealed that RwandAir is
also considering longterm growth options,
including the acquisition of A330 and
B737/737 MAX respectively from Airbus
and Boeing.
He said the number of planes to be
ordered have been fixed as yet, and any
order is still two to three years off.
“If the aircraft get filled up, maybe we
need another,” he said. “RwandAir is not
seeking growth for growth’s sake.”
In a related development, the Civil Avia-
tion Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has
agreed to train officials of the Rwanda Civil
Aviation Authority (RCAA).
The agreement signed in Singapore this
February indicates that Rwanda’s officials
will be trained by officials from the Singa-
pore Aviation Academy (SAA).
“Partnering with the Civil Aviation
Authority of Singapore will impart aviation
knowledge and skills in our nascent human
resource, which is a much needed building
block for Rwanda to steadily achieve the
required standards for a safe and secure
aviation industry,” said Silas Udahemuka,
the Director General of RCAA .
“In this regard, the signing of the new
training Agreement is an affirmation of
CAAS’ commitment to the development of
aviation human capital for the advancement
of international civil aviation,” said Kevin
Shum, Director General of CAAS.

14 Feb 16 - 22, 2018


Rwanda becomes first poor
country to provide eye care for all
In a country where a third of people have sight
problems, specialist nurses have visited all
15,000 villages as part of a life-changing project
By Verity Bowman
R
wanda has become
the first low-income
country to provide
universal eye care
for its population of 12
million people.
The government has
partnered with the
organisation Vision for a
Nation (VFAN) to train
more than 3,000 eye care
nurses based in 502 local
health centres, prescribing
glasses and referring those
with serious eye problems to
national clinics. Nurses have
visited each of Rwanda’s
15,000 villages.
Dr Jennifer Yip, from the
London School of Hygiene
and Tropical Medicine,
explained the vital
importance of looking after
people’s sight. “Without the
resources to access eye care
you are significantly more
likely to become blind.
“We’ve found that 34% of
the population in Rwanda
could benefit from some
form of eye care. This ranges
from very minor symptoms
[to] those requiring life-
changing surgery.”
Short sightedness is
the most common eye-
related ailment in Rwanda,
and more than 80% of
eye conditions there are
considered preventable.
The country ranks 159th on
the Human Development
Index, and only 19.8% of the
population have access to
electricity.
Dr Graeme Mackenzie,
a consultant to Vision for
a Nation, described how
untreated sight conditions,
particularly in women,
trap families in a cycle of
An eye care clinic in Rwanda: Over the past five years, Vision for a Nation
has supported Rwanda’s Ministry of Health to establish a nationwide eye
care service that is accessible to all Rwandans.   Photograph: Sarah Day
Smith/VFAN
A woman has her eyes tested as part of the Ministry of Health’s drive
to establish a nationwide eye care service accessible to all Rwandans.  barriers, Hulton is
Photograph: Sarah Day Smith/VFAN
poverty.
“Coffee bean sorting
is quite a business in
Rwanda,” said Mackenzie.
“It is usually females
employed in this industry,
and their livelihood depends
on their ability to sort beans.
Around the age of 45 they
lose their ability to see well.
Their quality of work suffers
and therefore their income
suffers.
“Now, the breadwinner is
Feb 16 - 22, 2018
rwanda
no longer earning enough.
The young girls in the
family are pulled out of
school so they can work in
agriculture to help. They do
not finish their education
and the whole cycle of
poverty is just reinforced.”
Poor vision is a significant
health and development
challenge. Globally, 253
million people live with
vision impairment.
Tony Hulton, VFAN’s
chief executive, said eye care
is essential to achieving the
sustainable development
goals. “We’re not going
to fully allow countries to
reach their full potential
[and move] out of poverty
without eye care. Vision
and poor sight is a largely
unaddressed issue and it
doesn’t have the crowds
supporting it.”
Rwanda’s minister of
health, Diane Gashumba,
said: “Rwanda is leading the
way in Africa by providing
all its people with affordable
eye care. This has been
made possible by the great
collaboration between the
government of Rwanda and
Vision for a Nation. The
impact of this initiative has
been enormous.”
Up next for VFAN
is Ghana. Though the
country’s larger population
and geographical makeup
represent additional
convinced of the value of
the company’s mission.
“We do want to focus on the
most vulnerable because
they are the people who
have the least access to
both public and private
solutions,” he said.
15
news analysis
The physics of failing
O’ level science subjects
Why 14 years after government made sciences
compulsory, failure rate remains high
By Flavia Nassaka
P
hysics was the worst done subject
in the recently released O’ Level
examinations. Only 2,280 of the
326,212 students that sat the exams
scored over 70%. Another 40,000 scored
over 55%. The rest, a whopping 280,000 or
85% of all students scored below 50%.
The bad physics exam scores are repeated
in the other science subjects; biology,
chemistry, and mathematics. And they
keep recurring in spite of the government’s
introduction of programmes such as
the Secondary Science and Mathematics
Teachers’ Training (SESMAT), that are
designed to improve grades.
The government introduced SESMAT
with assistance from the government
of Japan through Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2005, a
16 Feb 16 - 22, 2018
year after it made the study of science
compulsory for O’ Level students.
The logic behind SESMAT was possibly
simple; copy from the best. Japan is
consistently ranked among the top science
education nations by the Pisa studies of
the Paris-based Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD).
So copying some of the tactics that the
Japanese use to teach and score high grades
in science exams could improve Uganda’s
schools. Unfortunately, it has not worked.
Instead, as Daniel Nockrach Odongo, the
Executive Secretary of the Uganda National
Examinations Board, said at the release
of 2017 Uganda Certificate of Education
(UCE) examinations results on Feb.07, the
performance in science and mathematics
continues to be poor for the majority of
candidates.
He said in 2017, the distinction and
Students conduct a chemistry
practical exam. some students that
sat for UCE exams last year didnt
conduct practicals until final exams
credit levels in physics and chemistry were
below 21% and 40% of the candidates were
unable to exhibit the minimum required
competency to be graded.
All the 326,212 candidates that sat
O’ level exams in 2017 sat for biology,
chemistry, physics and mathematics, under
a government policy passed in 2004.
While general performance for all
subjects improved by 4% compared to
2016, performance in science subjects
remained bad, Odongo says candidates
experienced problems in the handling of
apparatus during practical science tests.
They also could not easily make and record
observations or draw conclusions from
those observations.
He said examiners reported that the
cause of these failures are teachers who do
not integrate practical training during the
teaching of sciences and only concentrate on

theory. In very many schools, according
to him, practical lessons are not done by
candidates until towards the final exams
and students go into practical examinations
with very limited preparation.
“Many lack basic principles needed in
the understanding of science,” he said.
Overwhelmed teachers
To retired teacher and Educationist
Herbert Asiimwe Mutamba, the poor
performance of sciences is not surprising.
He told The Independent that the results
have painted this same picture since
government resolved to make sciences
compulsory for all students. Last year,
for instance, over 55% of the candidates
failed mathematics, physics and chemistry
whereas in 2016 figures showed 45% of the
candidates scored the barest minimum in
these subjects.
The results show in Biology only 0.3%
managed to score a distinction. 25.8%
scored a credit whereas 55.5% got a pass
grade. In physics which is also the worst
done subject of the year only 0.7% scored a
distinction and 12.5% a credit. When it came
to chemistry 2.2% scored a distinction and
18.8% a credit.
Samuel Olong, the head of Biology
Department at the government aided
Kololo Secondary School in Kampala thinks
he knows why the picture is grim.
“It’s because the government forced
students to do what they don’t like,” he
told The Independent on Feb.11. Then he
quickly adds that to make a bad situation
worse, the government did not put in place
an efficient plan to ensure that students pass
science subjects, which they had previous
always shunned. Even basic requirements;
such as science teachers, are lacking, he said.
Olong who has been teaching the subject
for the last 20 years says for a population
of 3500 students, his school only has three
permanent science teachers currently and
that those that were transferred were never
replaced.
“We are overwhelmed. You can’t blame
the poor results on teachers. We are very
few,” he said.
Olong says when the government
declared sciences compulsory, he thought
it would increase the number of science
teachers, equip laboratories and buy more
text books to match the numbers. But, 14
years down the road, they still grapple with
the same challenges.
When it comes teachers, there are
currently about 6500 science teachers across
the country.
Mutamba adds that the few teachers
moonlight in more than one school and
even the very few who teach in one school
find themselves teaching all classes which
may have more than one stream each.
When the lack of teachers was put to the
Minister of State for Higher Education, John
Janet Museveni Chrysostom Muyingo
All the 326,212 candidates
that sat O’ level exams in 2017
sat for biology, chemistry,
physics and mathematics,
under a government policy
passed in 2004
Chrysostom Muyingo; who represented
Education minister Janet Museveni at the
release of the results, he did not dismiss
it. He added instead that even the few
teachers, especially in upcountry districts,
are still ill- trained.
He said government has a plan of
intensifying in-service training and
retooling teachers so that they can meet the
current needs for science teaching to ensure
that learners leave school with the generic
skills needed in the world of work.
The idea of compelling everyone to
do sciences was premised on the fact it’s
such subjects that will provide the skill
the country needs to achieve its target of
becoming middle income by 2020 and even
other long term targets like the vision 2040.
Muyingo listed an array of interventions
that the government is considering to
ensure the goal is attained, including
constructing laboratories and equipping
existing ones.
But, for Mutamba all that will not matter
if particular focus is not put on the teacher.
“Up to 70% of a student’s performance
is determined by the kind of teacher they
have,” he says, “If teachers aren’t well
prepared or if they aren’t knowledgeable
the outcomes will always reflect the same”.
He says the bad results speak of how
ill prepared the country was for the
compulsory sciences policy. Giving
the example of Secondary Science and
Mathematics Teachers’ training (SESMAT),
he says although the programme was
initiated to give teachers on job training ,
many teachers do not consider it relevant.
Many others are too stuck in their teaching
methods to change.
“Even after the SESMAT trainings, they
always go back to their old habits; the old
way of teaching,” Mutamba says.
news analysis
Teacher’s welfare needs
The intention of SESMAT was to
train teachers to have a positive attitude,
strengthen hands -on and minds-on
activities and motivate them to realize
their own maximum potential in order to
enhance quality teaching and learning. But
now, the programme that operates on a
two-tier system with district trainers being
trained annually at the National center at
Kololo Secondary School who in turn train
teachers in their areas at the district centers
has been reduced to a mere routine, at least
according to Olong. He said they have
since lost track.
“Refresher courses are good but what
SESMAT does is to repeat the same things
year in year out. Now teachers attend
these trainings because they have to,” he
says speaking the same of cyber schools
training programme meant to train
teachers in ICT that he says died before it
started.
Mutamba, who says the policy was
embraced on an assumption that people
have the same abilities, says for the
programme or in-service training to be
effective and greatly impact on teachers,
a lot of other issues such as the welfare
needs of teachers need to be taken care
of. He says teachers who attend should be
given allowances.
Olong adds that before grappling with
“big challenges”, the government needs
to put in some quick fixes; including
restocking of libraries with text books and
equipping laboratories with basics such as
chemicals and test tubes.
Olong says schools under the
government’s free Universal Secondary
Education policy are particularly suffering
because few books available cannot cater
for the thousands of students who are
supposed to read them. He says most
schools just keep a few copies for the
library.
He also calls for investing more in career
guidance so that a learner goes to school
with a clear idea about what exactly he/she
wants to become.
However as teachers punch holes in
the policy and interventions meant to
strengthen it, proponents such as Dr.
Maxwell Otim Onapa, the deputy director
at the Uganda National Council for Science
and Technology (UNCST), say the idea
was to equip learners with skills of critical
thinking and innovativeness which are
key for modern day human resource. He
says Uganda is suffering in the area of
innovation because of the attitude people
have had about sciences over the years.
For him, for the poor results to be
averted, it only requires teachers to change
the means of delivery and know that they
are teaching a science and it is not just
about passing exams for the learner but
acquiring knowledge.
Feb 16 - 22, 2018 17
news analysis

How corrupt local officials kill

decent education in Africa
By Maty Konte
There’s no disputing that many African countries’ education systems are in
trouble. Despite significant investment and some improvements linked to the
push to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, children in large parts
of Africa are simply not being well taught or learning what is needed as they
progress through the school system.

A
lot of the discussion around this
problem centres on resources:
people argue that teachers must
be trained better. More money
must be spent. This is, of course, correct.
And governance is sometimes
discussed, though mostly only as it
relates to central governments and
their responsibilities. But the quality
of local governance matters, too. Local
governments – those at a regional,
provincial level, district or village level
– are closer to communities. They are
more likely to understand particular
populations’ needs. At a practical level,
they are often in charge of providing
or distributing goods and services. In
education this would mean textbooks,
furniture and repairs to classrooms.
This suggests that local governance can
have a real effect – positive or negative –
on the quality of learning resources in a
community and, by association, on how
children perform?
I set out to explore this effect by
using a series of surveys conducted by
Afrobarometer in 33 African countries.
This is an independent and non-partisan
research network which conducts
nationally representative surveys in
Africa measuring public attitudes on
economic, political and social matters.
More than 50,000 citizens have been

18 Feb 16 - 22, 2018

 news analysis

interviewed in the selected surveys I

used for this study.
My study showed a strong link
between the quality of local governance
and the quality of the educational
resources in Africa’s public schools.
In fact, I found that corrupt behaviour
by local government councilors
increased the likelihood that schools
would lack textbooks, have poor
facilities and overcrowded classrooms,
have poor quality of teaching, and
would record high levels of teacher
absenteeism. This finding stands no
matter how much money a particular
country’s central government had
invested in education.
If Africa is serious about improving
its schooling systems (and meeting the
Sustainable Development Goal related
to education), it must tackle corruption
among local councilors.

What the data shows

My research was based on survey
data Afrobarometer collected between
2005 and 2013. Some of the questions governance can ensure that textbooks
related to education; others to people’s and learning materials are available and

Corruption,
perceptions of their local government that they reach the students at public
councilors’ performance and ability. schools. The behaviours and attitudes of

like low-
Among the questions about education, local government councilor’s may affect
interviewees were asked whether the way public sector employees, like
they had encountered the following teachers, are hired and treated.
challenges in their local public schools:
expensive school fees; lack of textbooks
quality The performance of teachers in public
schools depends on many factors, and
or other learning supplies; poor teaching;
teacher absenteeism; overcrowded
education, their degree of accountability depends
also on the degree of accountability and
classrooms; and facilities that were in
poor condition.
is a real responsiveness of those in charge of the
management of the schools that include

Afrobarometer Round 5 (2011 - 2013) problem local government councilors.

For almost each of the items listed,

more than 50% of the respondents
had encountered the challenge in the
question.
Most interviewees complained
particularly about a lack of textbooks
and teaching materials; poor teaching
quality and teacher absenteeism.
These are all key determinants of what
students can achieve by the end of an
academic year.
A crisis of corruption
Corruption, like low-quality
education, is a real problem across
Africa. In its 2017 Ibrahim Index of
African Governance, the Mo Ibrahim
Foundation warned that the level of
corruption on the continent had risen
between 2007 and 2016.
This is borne out by what interviewees
told Afrobarometer in the surveys
I studied. More than 80% of those
surveyed on the subject said that at
least some of their local government
councilors were involved in corrupt
across
Africa
activities. Less than 10% of those
surveyed believed that their local
councilors listened to their communities.
Afrobarometer Round 5 (2011 - 2013)
The study shows that a 1% increase
in the measure of local government
corruption is associated with an increase
of about 0.4% to 0.9% in the percentage
of people who face poor human or
physical school resources in local public
schools. This statistical evidence suggests
tackling issues in local governance can
help education systems in Africa.
And it matters because good local
Taking action
Improving the quality of education
systems will have huge benefits for
Africa’s present and future generations.
Part of this improvement must involve
tackling people’s negative perceptions
about their local councilors, whether
those relate to corruption, effectiveness
or responsiveness.
Central governance remains important.
It should be coupled with careful plans
and actions to fix local governance, make
councilors more accountable and ensure
they’re providing the services schools
need to thrive.
Maty Konte is a Research Economist,
United Nations University Office in the
Netherlands.
Source: theconversation

Feb 16 - 22, 2018 19

news analysis

Workers packing maize grain inside a WFP warehouse. Ugandan smallholder farmers
across the country lack proper storage facilities for their harvest.  WFP PHOTO

Maize everywhere,
but no store anywhere
Bumper maize harvest exposes
weakest link in food supply chain
By Ronald Musoke Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries, Ssempijja also attributed the good harvest

T
here is good news on Uganda’s
food security front. The agriculture
ministry estimates that Uganda has
harvested about 5.5 million metric
tonnes from the last planting season; which
is a 38% increase from the usual harvest of
about 4 million metric tonnes.
But the bad news follows. Charles Ogang,
the president of the Uganda National Farm-
ers Federation says the bumper harvest of
maize – and beans – has exposed another
problem smallholder farmers face; a lack of
storage facilities.
“It’s the biggest headache Ugandan farm-
ers are still grappling with,” Ogang told The
Independent recently.
Ogang was speaking after the Minister of
Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja, released
the bumper harvest figures. Ssempijja said
they are based on findings from supervi-
sion and monitoring conducted in all the
districts.
“Last season, we had good rains across
the country and we had a good crop,” Sem-
pijja told The Independent at the Media Cen-
tre in Kampala where he briefed journalists.
He had called the briefing to urge the media
to encourage farmers to prepare early for
the next rainy season that begins in March
and ends in May.
“We learnt big lessons from last year’s
devastating drought. After the lessons from
the previous season we need to fight back
so that we don’t encounter the same prob-
lems,” he said.
to the government’s efforts to control the
Fall Army Worm coupled with the National
Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS)’s
efforts to supply quality seed and the efforts
put in by individual farmers.
He advised farmers to properly dry the
maize, beans, and groundnuts, which have
already been harvested, on tarpaulins or
raised platforms to maintain the quality.
He said the dry harvest should be stored in
hermetic bags to prevent attacks by weevils
and cautioned that if the grain is stored
when it is still wet, it becomes discoloured
and of reduced quality.
“Wet grain is also attacked by mold
which produces aflatoxins which make the
grain unsafe for consumption by humans
and livestock,” he said.

20 Feb 16 - 22, 2018


Pius Kasajja, the Agriculture Ministry’s
Permanent Secretary, Dr. Samuel Mugasi,
the executive director of the National Agri-
cultural Advisory Services (NAADS), and
Beatrice Byarugaba, the director agricultural
extension services at the agriculture ministry,
were also on hand to brief journalists.
Other experts, like Dr. Alex Barekye, the
director of Research at the Kabale-based
Kachwekano Zonal Agricultural Research
and Development Institute in southern
Uganda, said the 2016 season grain scarcity
that had seen maize prices go to as high as
Shs 1500 a kilo, also became a major stimulus
for many farmers to grow maize this time
round. Many farmers have also adapted to
the current environmental challenges and
quite a good number of them have embraced
irrigation, Ogang added.
The positive mood all round is in sharp
contrast to the situation the country faced
exactly 12 months ago, in February 2017.
Back then, when Ministry of Agriculture
officials showed up at the Uganda Media
Centre, it was mainly to brief the country
about the worsening food insecurity, with
close to 11 million Ugandans staring hunger
and possible starvation in the face.
The gloom had started earlier, in 2016,
when the September to December rains
failed amidst a severe drought. Things got
worse when the next crop from the March
to May 2017 planting season was ravaged
by a never before seen pest in Uganda; the
Fall Army Worm.
Caught unprepared and under-
resourced, the government response led by
Ssempijja was more of lip-service than actu-
al interventions. The government pledged
billions of shillings to procure temporary
relief food but little was delivered; mainly
because President Yoweri Museveni argued
against habituating starving Ugandans to
government food relief. So the Office of
the Prime Minister delivered a few bags of
maize flour and beans to the most severely
affected populations in Karamoja, Teso,
Bukedi and the Cattle Corridor, including
the southern district of Isingiro. The Chi-
nese government also donated 119,660 bags
which were distributed across the country.
Fortunately as the year progressed, the
weather improved in the second planting
season in September to December and farm-
ers worked their gardens with determina-
tion. The results are being enjoyed today.
Grain storage facilities
But the bumper maize harvest has
exposed what could be the weakest point
in ensuring food security in Uganda; the
lack of proper post-harvest storage facilities.
Ogang told The Independent that the maize
crop is not the only one that did well. He
said Uganda also now has a good amount of
beans. But he said smallholder farmers are
now grappling with poor storage facilities.
“This is the reason why most Ugandan
farmers cannot manage to store their pro-
duce for more than 100 days,” he added, “
because they have poor storage, they sell it
at giveaway prices.”
Emmanuel Kabaale, the team leader at
Ten Mangoes Agribusiness Initiative in
Kamuli District told The Independent on
Feb.02 that the favoured storage facility;
the hermetic kits that are promoted as the
most effective are, at Shs450,000, currently
too costly for most smallholder farmers.
He advised farmers to form cooperatives to
jointly access credit from the government to
buy them.
Post-harvest losses are a major constraint
to development of the grain sector, not only
in Uganda, but in the East African region
and it continues to worsen food secu-
rity concerns. It is partly why agricultural
experts are recommending post-harvest
technologies like hermetic kits.
These are insulated airtight storage kits
(bags and bins) that cut off oxygen from any
pests in the harvested crop. They eliminate
insect infestation without use of pesticides
Vincent Ssempijja Charles Ogang
making it safer, envi-
ronmentally friendly,
and cost effective in reducing post-harvest
losses.
Ogang also told The Independent that his
farmers’ federation encourages its members
to get into groups, build modern storage
facilities to ensure they keep their produce
longer for better prices.
Marketing tips
On the marketing front, the Ministry of
Agriculture appears caught with a double
message; one capturing what is desirable
and the other addressing the reality.
On one hand, the Ministry is advising
smallholder farmers not to sell all the maize
and beans they harvest, and instead pre-
serve some for their own consumption.
But the government also appears to be
pursuing an aggressive marketing cam-
paign. Ssempijja, for example, had earlier
noted that the government is now negotiat-
ing with members of the Grain Council of
Uganda to invest in buying the maize from
the farmers.
news analysis
“We now have a lot of maize and we are
negotiating with people who can store the
maize in clean and safe silos but also with
those who can buy it from us; especially the
World Food Programme and our neigh-
bours.”
“We don’t support everybody to go inside
the villages to buy this maize because they
just buy anything, including poor quality
maize,” he said, “When you buy from the
Grain Council, you buy what is dry, clean
and, already weighed maize.”
“Big buyers cannot buy our maize
because they say Uganda’s maize is of poor
quality and infested with aflatoxins because
we have not standardized our systems,” he
said, “Unless we standardize we are not
going to attract these bigger markets, we
will continue getting the smaller buyers.”
Chris Kaijuka, the Chairperson of the
Grain Council of Uganda told The Indepen-
dent on Feb.02 that, for the last four years,
the council’s members have invested in the
development of silos, warehouses, cleaners,
driers, and graders.
“At least the country has a sizeable capac-
ity of about 750,000 metric tonnes available
with close to 250,000 metric tonnes having
been developed in the last four years,” he
said.
Hard lessons learnt
It appears the government learnt some
important lessons from the 2017 hunger and
is already taking precautionary measures
as the farmers get back into their gardens to
prepare for this year’s first season which has
short rains. Uganda’s first rain season starts
in March and ends in May.
In his pre-season message to farmers,
minister Ssempijja urged farmers to plant
quick maturing or drought tolerant seed
varieties. In the districts which were dev-
astated by the Fall Army Worm, farmers
should practice crop rotation for maize with
other crops to break the pest / disease cycles.
“Repeated planting of similar crops in
the same fields leads to pest and disease
population build up and outbreaks due to
constant availability of food for pests and
diseases. So rotation of crops is a good agri-
cultural practice that should be carried out
by all farmers,” he said.
The minister also asked extension work-
ers to guide households on growing nutri-
tious foods such as leafy vegetables, pump-
kins, yams and orange flesh sweet potatoes,
and fruits (oranges and other citrus).
He said communities in drought prone
areas should de-silt dams and harvest
enough rain water while those in flood-
prone areas should open canals before rains
begin to avoid flooding.
“I am happy that people have really
responded to this practice,” he said, “When
you go to the countryside, you will see peo-
ple producing tomatoes and cabbages using
water they are holding in tarpaulins.”
Feb 16 - 22, 2018 21
news analysis
A lack of job opportunities for young people in Kwame Danso, Ghana has led many to attempt the risky migration to Libya.  Credit: Kwaku Botwe/IPS
One migrant’s brutal Odyssey
Migrants are held captive, fed just enough to keep them alive, and
subjected to various forms of inhuman treatment in a bid to extort money
By Kwaku Botwe
T
hirty-year-old Nazir Mohammed
sits on one of the two sofas in his
single room in Kwame Danso, a
small town about 290 kilometres
north of Ghana’s capital Accra, reflecting on
life back in Libya.
“Libya offers great economic opportu-
nities to West African migrants, but the
human rights abuse, especially of dark-
skinned Africans, is real. I will not advise
even my enemy to go to Libya,” Moham-
med says.
He is among some 19,000 Ghanaians
who were repatriated from Libya about
seven years ago. Mohammed left home at
23 after completing high school. Having lost
his father a few months before, he felt the
responsibility of taking care of his mother
and four other siblings naturally fell on him
as an older male child.
“I just heard that if I get about 500 cedis
(about 100 dollars) I would be able to get to
Libya. And that meant a lot of hard work.
So I did some construction work to gather
that money,” he said. “My mom and family
22 Feb 16 - 22, 2018
only got to know of my intentions when I
called and told her. I was already halfway
on my journey. She cried but later prayed
for me since there was nothing she could
do.”
Most young people set off on the trip
without telling family members, anticipat-
ing they wouldn’t be supportive because of
the risks.
Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, Niger and Cote
d’Ivoire all have a large number of their
citizens among the almost one million
migrants trapped in Libya. Mohammed’s
home region, Brong Ahafo – which is in
the middle belt of Ghana – has the highest
number of people migrating to Libya. Most,
like Mohammed, hope to use Libya as a
transit point to Europe.
The Back Story
The history of Ghana–Libya migration
dates back to the 1980s when the Ghanaian
government signed a bilateral agreement
with its Libyan counterpart to send some
200 Ghanaian teachers to teach English in
Libya, according to researchers at the Centre
for Migration Studies at the University of
Ghana, Leander Kandilige and Geraldine
Adiku.
This arrangement was also necessitated
by the mass expulsion of illegal immigrants,
mostly from West African countries, includ-
ing about two million Ghanaians, from
Nigeria in 1983. In the initial stages, the
Libyan authorities offered employment to
only highly skilled Ghanaian immigrants.
But the availability of job opportunities
for other low-skilled migrants attracted
many more Ghanaians who entered Libya
through informal routes such as the Sahara
Desert. As a result, the Libyan authorities
clamped down on illegal migration amidst
forced repatriations.
Before the 2011 Libyan political crisis, the
Libyan authorities were already dealing
with illegal immigrants and concomitant
attacks, especially on black migrants. In
2006, the International Organisation for
Migration (IOM) set up a voluntary return
program to arrange for the return of strand-
ed undocumented migrants from Libya to
their countries of origin.
Statistics at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Regional Integration indicate

that on Oct. 8, 2000, the first group of 238
Ghanaians fleeing attacks arrived in Ghana,
with harrowing tales of gross human rights
abuses. The influx has continued. Last year,
565 people returned with similar stories.
But the biggest evacuation of migrants
happened in 2011 in the heat of the Libyan
crisis, when IOM figures show that about
19,000 Ghanaians were evacuated back
to Ghana. Many migrants attributed this
exodus to increased hostility against black
Africans. The political instability and chal-
lenge to the authority of Muammar Gadhafi
offered a prime opportunity for some Lib-
yan nationals – who saw the Libyan leader
as a shield for black Africans and accused
Gadhafi of using them as mercenaries – to
attack dark-skinned people.
“It was very dangerous to be spotted
as a black African,” said Mohammed. He
said a lot of migrants left properties behind
and several months of salary arrears from
companies they worked for. Nazil says it
is common practice for companies to pay
migrant workers about two months’ salary
after they have worked for six months. This
means migrant workers always have their
unpaid monies with the companies.
“I was lucky because I got help from a
soldier friend whom I used to teach English
to. He drove me and my friend all the way
from Benghazi to neighboring Egypt where
evacuation planes were. When I got to Gha-
na I had only 500 cedis left on me, but I had
left about 7,000 cedis worth of money with
my company, and that was very painful,”
added Nazir Mohammed with bitterness.
The Journey
Most migrants from West Africa use the
desert as an illegal route to enter Libya, and
this leaves them vulnerable to human traf-
fickers. Mohammed says thugs meet them
at the border and take them to places which
have now been dubbed slave camps. Once
at the camps, migrants are held captive, fed
just enough to keep them alive, and subject-
ed to various forms of inhuman treatment
in a bid to extort money.
Mohammed, who had hardly any mon-
ey, was ordered to call his family and pres-
sure them for a ransom.
“My mom was crying because she
thought they were going to kill me. But I
assured her that everything would be okay
if the money comes.”
Mohammed says his stepfather coughed
up 300 cedis and he was released. But he
added that some captives had to pay more,
sometimes thousands.
Once out of the slave camp, the next dif-
ficulty is gathering enough money to pay to
be smuggled to the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
Making it to Tripoli is crucial for those who
have hopes of reaching Europe because of
the proximity the capital offers to Italy.
“I was engaged in very dangerous jobs
such as lifting overly heavy concrete. I
sneaked back to the ghetto (slave camp) and
tipped some of the inmates for a place to
sleep,” he recalled.
Mohammed says the journey to Tripoli
was a nightmare as migrants were packed
“like sardines in the back of a pick-up” cov-
ered with a tarpaulin tied down with a rope
and driven on a hot, bumpy desert road for
many kilometers.
“When we got to Tripoli I couldn’t stand,
I couldn’t feel my legs and I thought I had
sunstroke,” he said.
When he couldn’t find a decent job in
Tripoli, Mohammed left for Benghazi,
where he shuffled between jobs with hopes
of gathering enough money to pay for the
perilous trip on a packed-to-the-brim boat
across the Mediterranean Sea. But his hopes
of making it to Europe were dashed when
the civil war broke out.
The story of migrants being sold at slave
camps, first exposed by CNN, has been
Nazir (left) and Usman both returned to Ghana from
Libya in 2011, among some 19,000 Ghanaians who
fled back home.  Credit: Kwaku Botwe/IPS
denied by Libyan authorities who accuse
the media of wrongly portraying Libya as
a racist country. Asked whether he believes
in the slave trade story, Mohammed said he
wouldn’t doubt it.
A year after their repatriation in 2011,
IOM offered training and other forms of
support, including equipment, for some
returnees in three districts in the Brong
Ahafo region, the region with the highest
number of returnees, to help them integrate
into their communities.
Anita Jawadurovna Wadud, Project
Manager for the Returns, Protection and
Direct Assistance to Vulnerable Migrants
Unit of IOM, said the UN agency carries out
various activities in Brong Ahafo, including
awareness raising and sensitisation of the
risks of irregular migration in communities
including in schools, a Migration Informa-
tion Centre in Sunyani, livelihood projects
for returnees and potential migrants, as
news analysis
well as reintegration activities for Ghanaian
returnees who return to the region through
IOM’s assisted voluntary return and reinte-
gration (AVRR) programmes. IOM has been
assisting Ghanaian returnees since 2002.
“Reintegration provides returnees with
an opportunity to support their socio-
economic reintegration, through counseling,
psychosocial and medical support if need-
ed, vocational/skills training and micro-
business support,” she explained.
Mac Simpson, a Ghanaian teacher in
Libya and expert on migration and human
trafficking based in Tripoli, says out of the
about 2,000 Ghanaian migrants who have
died at sea in the past four years trying to
make it to Europe, 1,600 are from the Brong
Ahafo region.
Some advocates have used social media
to share videos of maltreatment of migrants
in Libya with the hope of discourag-
ing hopefuls. But Simpson, who himself
embarked on the deadly voyage more than
two decades ago and has written three
books about the migrant situation in Libya,
says such videos have very little impact.
He says youth will continue to take the
risk as long as they cannot find sustainable
jobs in Ghana and Libya offers some hope.
“To convince someone from the Brong
Ahafo Region not to go to Libya, you need
to work some magic. My NGO went to
the region to talk to some youth who had
returned and when we asked what would
make them stay, one said give me a taxi. So
we got him one and as we talk he’s still in
the country working as a taxi driver.”
Mac, who is currently in Ghana to engage
in advocacy work, says he’s liaising with
the Ministry of Education to adopt one of
his books, ‘The Cemetery Without Graves’,
among schoolchildren as he believes getting
the message to people at a younger age can
have some impact.
Finding something to do seems to be the
factor that has kept Mohammed in Ghana.
Even though his district wasn’t among
those selected for intervention by IOM,
he and other friends who returned to the
Kwame Dano area have found their own
ways back into society.
“I had good grades after Senior High
School so I enrolled in a teacher training
college. I’m now employed as a teacher in a
junior high school… The pay isn’t too good
but we are surviving,” he said, adding that
since they came back, “some of us haven’t
had any form of support from the govern-
ment or anybody”.
Mohammed hopes to enter into politics
where he believes he could influence policy
and perhaps help to address this age-old
Ghana-Libya migration canker. Until then,
he believes a lot of uninformed youth will
be making that treacherous journey in
search of a better life.
Source:IPS
Feb 16 - 22, 2018 23
Sugar price to drop further
Manufacturers cite increased imports and
declining demand from foreign markets
T
By Julius Businge
here is good news for Uganda’s
sugar consumers in the coming
months owed to the projected
sugar in production volumes
amidst increase in imports.
Statistics from the Uganda
Sugar Manufacturers Association (USMA),
which consist of Kakira, Kinyara and
SCOUL, show that the industry projects to
produce 388,000 tonnes of sugar this year,
up from 326, 968 tonnes in 2017.
These figures exclude production from
more than ten other small factories that are
not members of USMA. Similarly, there is a
surge in informal sugar imports, especially
from Kenya into the Ugandan market,
according to USMA Secretariat Manager,
Wilberforce Mubiru. He, however, could
not ascertain the volume of imports.
“The demand for sugar from the region
has also reduced because countries are
importing cheap sugar from other markets
like Brazil,” he told The Independent in an
interview. He said some African countries
including Mauritius, Swaziland, Mozam-
bique, Algeria and Zambia are stuck with
tonnes of sugar after the European market
removed the quota on sugar it was import-
ing from them. For that, the price of sugar
has dropped by about 31% to an average
of Shs 3, 500 per kilogramme at the begin-
ning of 2018 compared with Shs4, 600 in
April last year.Though the actual amount
of sugar on the market remains sketchy,
the country’s sugar demand in the previ-
ous year stood at Shs 369,000, according to
the Ministry of Trade. Uganda witnessed a
record surge in sugar price in 2013 when a
24 Feb 16 - 22, 2018
kilogramme went for as high as Shs 7,000.
“We expect a further decline (in sugar)
price this year,” Mubiru said, adding “May-
be in 2019 is when we will have an increase
(in price).”
He said factories are now selling a 50kg
bag of sugar at Shs134, 000, down from
Shs190, 000 last year.
At the end of last year, government
through the Ministry of Trade recommend-
ed that the price per kilo be sold at not more
than Shs 4,000 due to public outcry.
However, Mubiru said the target for sug-
ar production in Uganda should increase
to match the anticipated growth in number
of industries and population –the potential
buyers of the product.
White sugar demand
Due to lack of capacity in terms of output
and technology, local producers within
Uganda and East Africa continue to lose
millions of dollars to outside markets as
industries import the raw material from
Europe and other markets.
According to the East African Gazette
produced early last month by the East Afri-
can Council of Ministers, Uganda’s indus-
trialists were allowed to import the largest
amount of refined sugar at subsidized duty
totaling to over 324, 555 tons followed by
Kenya with 19, 700 tons, Burundi 1, 701
tons and Rwanda 23.4 tons. In total, the
four countries would record 345, 979.4 tons
as white sugar imports from outside East
Africa.
“The Council of Ministers has approved
the following manufacturers to import the
specified quantities of raw materials at the
specified duty rate under the Duty Remis-
sion Scheme,” Al Hajj Kirunda Kivejinja,
the chairman of the Council of Ministers
wrote.
Some of the 15 Ugandan companies
under this arrangement include Century
Bottling Company Ltd, Britannia Allied
Industries, Nile Breweries and Uganda
Breweries. In Kenya, eight companies are
benefiting from this move. Some of the
companies include Excel Chemicals Limit-
ed, Patco Industries Limited and Highlands
Mineral Water Limited among others. In
Rwanda only one company, Nyanza Milk
Industries Limited was granted permission
while Burundi also had one company –
Burundi Brewery given the incentive.
Patrick Oyuru, the director sales and
marketing at Coca-Cola, told The Inde-
pendent that the imports they record for
the white sugar support their industrial
activity and that EAC producers have no
capacity to supply the quantities needed
to them. “We note that this importation is
well regulated,” Oyuru, whose company
is importing 22, 165 tons said, adding they
continue to engage the local producers on
the possibility of having a refinery for white
sugar in Uganda.
Jim Mwine Kabeho from USMA said
that local producers in Uganda would
need to increase production by one million
tonnes to be able to meet the demand from
the likes of Coca-Cola in addition to build-
ing a high-tech refinery which no other
EAC country has at the moment apart from
Kenya that is eying one in the near future.
The average white sugar price index for
2017 quoted in London was US$432.10 per
tonne; the highest was US$ 556.25 and the
lowest was US$359.05.
 business

Local oil and gas suppliers

told to build partnerships
By Ronald Musoke
Ugandan suppliers looking at
providing goods and services to
the fledgling oil and gas sector
need to build partnerships with their
international counterparts if they are
to fully participate in the multi-million
dollar opportunities expected to flow
in the coming months.

E
lly Karuhanga, the Chairman of the
local oil, gas and minerals lobby—
the Uganda Chamber of Mines
and Petroleum (UCMP) — said the
suppliers need to partner with international
players to enhance their capabilities as
the oil and gas sector is a capital intensive
business.
“Build partnerships with Kenyan and
Tanzanian companies and make use of
technical (legal and financial) advice to
help you put up winning bids,” Karuhanga Weatherford is among the 293 companies that have been vetted by the Petroleum
told guests during the national suppliers Authority of Uganda to render services in the Industry.   Courtesy photo
workshop in Kampala organized by Fluor
and Ponticelli on Feb 06. sector because projects in the sector are more
Based in the United States, Fluor, and
the French-based Ponticelli are two of the Uganda is viable than any other in the country.
And in a rejoinder, Patrick Mweheire,

looking at
three firms jointly doing the Front End the Chief Executive Officer of Stanbic Bank,
Engineering Design (FEED) for one of said one of the ways of lowering the cost

developing a
Uganda’s oil fields commonly known as of borrowing from banks would be by
Tilenga. bringing big oil and gas players such as

Dave de Villiers, Fluor’s supply chain
manager told the suppliers that there are
huge opportunities with Fluor and its
partner Ponticelli to participate in the supply
of goods and or/services in the engineering,
$3.55 bn
Total, Fluor or CNOOC on the table to act
as credit enhancers when the local SMEs are
negotiating for credit with the banks.
crude oil export “If you are an SME with a contract with
Total or CNOOC, we could sit around the

pipeline and a
procurement, supply, construction, table, get into a tripartite agreement that
commissioning of the execution phase of the says that the SME will supply a number of

Tilenga project.
These opportunities are in the areas of
gas supply for welding, crane hire, security
services, soils and concrete testing services,
land surveying, food and beverage supply,
hotel accommodation and catering, locally
available construction materials and waste
management.
“Engage with the banks by showing them
what you are going to do differently so we
make sure that financing does not hinder
the progress of the project,” said Xavier
Feron, the project manager for Ponticelli.
Robert Kasande, the acting Permanent
Secretary at the Ministry of Energy and
Mineral Development told suppliers that
the government is also encouraging joint
venturing as a way to enhance capacity of
$ 4 bn
oil refinery
local services providers.
But the suppliers raised a number of
issues including high interest rates for local
entrepreneurs.
Jennifer Mwijukye, the Chief Executive
Officer of Unifreight, a local logistics
firm, accused the local banks of using old
experiences to lock out the Ugandan SMEs
from accessing credit.
She said the local banks need to create
products geared towards the oil and gas
goods to Total but Total gets to pay the Bank
first before they pay the SME contractor.”
This new development comes at
the time the FEED for Tilenga project
is nearing completion to pave way
for the engineering, procurement
and construction phase and the final
investment decision (FID).
“We expect that the operators will
specify their national content plans and
the contractors have to show how much
value they are bringing into the country,”
Kasande said.
Uganda is looking at developing a
$3.55 billion crude oil export pipeline
and a $ 4 billion oil refinery in the next
few months ahead of oil production
scheduled for end of 2020.

Feb 16 - 22, 2018 25

 Executive Style
Expect further rise in fuel
prices - Hashi Energy MD
Peter Onasis Ochieng’ is the managing director of Hashi
Energy. He spoke to The Independent’s Isaac Khisa about the
current surge in fuel prices and the industry’s future outlook.
What explains the current trend of
increase in fuel prices in Uganda
F
and the region?
uel prices are made up of
very many components.
The biggest contributors to
pricing include; the price of
crude and refined product in the
international market, insurance and
freight costs, taxes levied by various
governments, transport costs from
various ports to various destinations
in the region and the impact of
exchange rate.
Though the cost of inputs have
remained almost constant, there are
three components on pricing that
have changed in the last three years.
The price of refined product (fuel)
in the international market, which
tend to fluctuate depending on
demand and supply factor and the
geopolitical issues amongst other
issues, have been rising since the last
quarter of 2017.
It is also worth noting that the
region is no longer an importer of
crude oil as there’s no functional
refinery in Kenya, Uganda,
Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
The refinery in Mombasa,
Kenya, was closed a few years ago,
leaving the region to rely 100% on
importation of refined products.
Regrettably, the prices of crude
and refined products follow the
similar trend in that when the price
of crude oil go up, the price of
finished products also goes to up.
For instance, following the rise of
crude oil prices last year, the price
of premium petrol has increased
from an average of US$486.5 per
metric tonne in June 2017 to US$644
per metric tonne on average as
at the end of January 2018 on the
26 Feb 16 - 22, 2018
international market.
Similarly, the price of diesel
has increased from US$424.81 per
metric tonnes to US$ 596 per metric
tonne during the same period under
review.
And given that we buy this
commodities from the international
market and the prices have generally
gone up, it is the reason prices have
also gone up across the region.
The second reason why fuel prices
have gone up is the exchange rate.
Nearly 70-80% of our expenditure/
inputs to bring fuel into the
country is in dollars. We pay
for the products themselves in
dollars including insurance and
transportation. This means that
whenever there is depreciation of
the local currency, there’s always
an increase in fuel prices instantly
because we buy fuel on a daily basis
using dollars.
But a section of dealers have always
said that the fuel consumed in
the country at any given time is
purchased three months earlier,
meaning that prices shouldn’t spike
immediately upon a slight rise in
prices in the international market?
Three months is too long. The
fuel being sold in Kampala at
the moment is for the December
2017-January 2018 imports.
However, this also depends on the
company. Generally, it makes sense
as a businessman that when I sell
a litre of fuel, I should be able to
replace it the next day and if the
dollar goes up, it is recommended to
look at the replacement cost.
Uganda’s fuel market is very
competitive and I can say that most
of the fuel companies are losing
money and the reason is that the
prices are low compared with other
markets in the region.
How can you claim that these fuel
companies aren’t making money yet
they are in operation year in year
out?
Ten years ago, we used to have
several multinational fuel firms
in the region. Do you see them
nowadays? Where are they? They
are all gone. Would they have
folded if they were making money?
No. It is just that the return on
investment doesn’t make sense. The
oil companies control less than 2% of
the pricing at gross level.
If there’s need to address fuel
pricing issues, then, the focus should
shift on how to lower the balance
of the 98% on the pricing, which oil
companies do not have control over.
For instance, in Uganda, the pump
price at the moment is averagely
Shs3, 800 per litre for petrol yet
Ushs1, 100 is excise duty.
For your information Excise duty
has to be paid in advance prior to
loading the fuel from the point of
origin. And I have seen that the
government is again proposing more
excise duty on fuel, a move that
will simply lead to a further rise in
prices.
What is the outlook of fuel prices in
the upcoming months?
Given that fuel prices in February
are still going up, I expect a further
surge in prices in the next two
months to April. The exchange
rate to the dollar is still high and
therefore expect that the fuel prices
in the coming months will be higher.
This is because the products that
motorists will be consuming in the
next two months have already been
imported into the country based on
the average global fuel prices for
January 2018. This implies that the
fuel being imported into the country
now is going to be more expensive
unless something else happens.
Beyond April, we shall have to look
at the trend based on the global fuel
prices and the exchange rate.
What is your assessment of fuel
demand in the region?
The demand for fuel is going up.
For instance, in Kenya, the demand
for fuel grew by 7% between 2016
and 2017. I am yet to look into the
numbers for Uganda but generally
the consumption is increasing
because the economy is expanding
and people are buying more cars.
Boda bodas are some of the biggest
consumers of petrol and are the ones
who have pushed the demand for
petrol high.
What strategies are you undertaking
as Hashi Energy to grow your
business?
Effective last year, we have
changed our strategy completely.
With the exception of Rwanda, we
have pulled out of retail business in
Uganda and Kenya upon realising
that it was not our strength. We are
now focused on other segments:
Consumer Sales, Export business and
LPG business.
growth of this industry?
One of the main issues that need
to be addressed is supply. At the
moment, for instance, I am not able
to import huge volumes of fuel, say
10milion litres per month if wanted.
This is because all products are
procured under the open tender
system (OTS) that is managed by
ministries of energy
in Kenya and
Uganda.
As Hashi Energy, for instance, the
allocation we get is not sufficient
to handle our demand and this is
because of insufficient facility in the
region.
The other solution is that we just
have to find a way of managing the
foreign exchange. Similarly, I don’t
see the reason for the government
increasing excise duties on fuel every
other year.
We also need to work on
general business environment
so that businesses can
boom, leading to the
growth of the industry.
Lastly, there’s need
for the government to
continuously level
the playing ground
in the industry and
allow innovation
and marketing
strength of the
companies to be
the differentiation
component between
success and failure.
If we reach this
level, then, we will
see a lot of growth
in the industry and
the same will be
reflected in fair
pricing.

How is the fuel market outlook like

in the region?
Generally, there has been growth
in the economies but the oil industry
in the region is changing very fast.
This perception that there’s
money in the industry is not
true. There are a lot of
enforcement issues that
have made it difficult
for the industry
to maintain
profitability.
Soon, I see
international
fuel firms
exiting the
region through
buyout by
local or
regional firms.

What can
be done to
facilitate

Feb 16 - 22, 2018 27

business
pension Insurance

NSSF contributions to hit Shs 9 trillion soon Sanlam opens doors for

U
ganda’s National pay NSSF contribu- Uganda’s financial journalists.

Social Security
Fund contribu-
tions will soon
hit Shs9 trillion due to
increased compliance and
introduction of voluntary
contributions, according to
the Fund’s Managing Di-
rector, Richard Byarugaba.
Byarugaba, who spoke
during the launch of
Fund’s Corporate Centre
at Workers House in Kam-
pala, said the company’s
compliance towards its
employee’s contribution
has increased from 49%
six years ago to 80% at the
moment.
“The Fund’s contribu-
tion is almost Shs9 tril-
lion largely as a result of
increased compliance,
introduction of digital
Byarugaba and Kasi at the launch
of the Corporate Centre.
services and the introduc-
tion of voluntary contri-
butions,” he said. “At the
moment, we have been
able to raise sh250million
on our mobile platform
and we have increased the
voluntary contributions.”
Last year, the Fund
launched the NSSF Elec-
tronic Collections portal
that enables employers
tions straight to
the Fund’s bank
account along with
payment sched-
ules, which in turn
enabled the Fund to
automatically post
individual contribu-
tions to member’s
statements.
The NSSF’s Corporate
Centre is expected to
enable contributing
employers access
customised services on
contributions-related
issues at the time it is
looking at growing is asset
base from the current Shs
8.4trillion to Shs 20 trillion
by 2025. Currently, the
Fund has about 1.7 million
members countrywide.
I
ntroduced in 1974, Sanlam Awards for
Excellence in financial journalism are now
open to Ugandan journalists.
The awards are the premier financial
journalism awards in South Africa and have
become a prestigious event and fiercely con-
tested accolade.
The company’s Chief Executive Officer for
Uganda, Gary Corbit, told journalists on Feb
12 that there are eight sub-categories where
journalists will stand a chance to submit their
work for consideration and win.
These are; business/companies, economy,
financial markets, consumer financial educa-
tion, African growth story, business new com-
er, life time achievement and journalist of the
year. Interested participants have been urged
to contact Sanlam Uganda offices for guidance
on how to submit their articles that must have
been published or broadcast between Jan.01-
Dec.31, 2017.
Entries for submission close on Friday 02
March, 2018. The awards will be presented
later in 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

banking Aviation Banking

Stanbic set to open KQ to unveil flights DFCU becomes the 8th bank
a business incubator to Mauritius cleared to sell insurance

K D
in Kampala enya’s national car- FCU bank has become them to their clients would

U
ganda’s largest com-
mercial bank, Stan-
bic, is set to open a
business incubator to
stir growth of small and me-
dium enterprises countrywide.
“The incubator will provide
an enabling environment for
SMEs to enhance their capac-
ity, enabling their businesses
to survive, operate success-
fully and grow,” Stanbic Bank
CEO, Patrick Mweheire, said
recently during Skilling and
Local Content Forum in Kam-
pala.
Latest figures show there
are about 160,000 micro, small
and medium enterprises
(MSMEs) in Uganda.
However Mweheire said
although Uganda ranks as a
top entrepreneurial country in
the world, few of these enter-
prises survive for very long.
Some 80% do not make it to
their third birthday yet 2.5 mil-
lion people are employed in
this segment of the economy.
rier, Kenya Airways,
has announced plans
to fly four times a
week to Mauritius starting
June, giving customers more
options to travel to the Indian
Ocean archipelago.
The carrier said the new
flight will also set it up to take
advantage of traffic between
the United States and Mau-
ritius, a popular destination
for Western tourists, once it
launches direct flights to New
York in October.
“The Nairobi-Mauritius
route will have a great impact
on Kenya Airways upcoming
direct non-stop flights to
New York by reinforcing its
attractiveness to American
premium leisure travellers,”
the airline said in a statement
on Feb 06.
The carrier already
has a pre-existing code
sharing agreement with
Air Mauritius, which flies
between Port Louis and
Nairobi thrice a week.
the 8th bank to receive
a certificate from the
insurance regulator,
Insurance Regulatory Authority
(IRA-U) to start selling insur-
ance products at its 67 branches
countrywide. This is backed
by the Financial Institutions
Amendment Act 2016.
During the handover
ceremony at IRA offices in
Kampala, the regulator’s CEO,
Ibrahim Lubega Kaddunabbi,
said the demand for simple
insurance products in
Uganda is on the rise and that
partnering with banks to offer
Ssekabembe (L) and Kaddunabi show off the certificate.  independent j/businge
boost the industry’s penetration
which has been stuck at about
1% for many years, lower than
slightly over 2% average rate for
the East African region.
DFCU’s Executive Director,
William Sekabembe, said the
new development comes at a
time when the financial sector
in Uganda is growing and that
this would give it another boost.
He said the bank’s
shareholders would benefit
from the new product through
commission earned from
selling policies.

28 Feb 16 - 22, 2018

 business

BoU moves to trigger

reduction in lending rates
By Julius Businge since 2011 when Inflation

O
n Feb.13, Bank of
Uganda announced
a cut in the Central
Bank Rate by 0.5
percentage points to 9% in
the next three months as a
measure for boosting private
sector credit uptake and eco-
nomic activities.
 The Governor, Emmanuel
Tumusiime Mutebile, said
the decline in headline infla-
Rakesh Jha MD Barclays Bank, (L) with the MD Vivo Energy Uganda tion and core inflation from
Gilbert Assi during the launch of a new Visa prepaid EasyGo card, which 3.3% and 3% last December to
will be used by Shell customers to perches fuel, and shop at Shell select 3% and 2.6% in January 2018
shops on Feb 9 at Shell Kira Road.  INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA respectively triggered the
lowering of the policy rate.
 The CBR is used as part of
monetary policy instruments
to give direction to commer-
cial bank lending rates for a
particular period of time.
 “Given the objective of
keeping inflation close to the
target and the estimated spare
capacity in the economy, a
cautious easing of monetary
policy is warranted to further
boost private sector credit
growth and to strengthen the
economic growth momen-
tum,” Mutebile said.
 The 9% rate is the lowest
Christopher Kibanzanga, Minister of State for Agriculture speaking at
the opening ceremony of the 16th Africana Fine Coffee sustainability
Day,Conference on Feb. 13 at Serena. Uganda hosted the conference from
14th -16th. Feb. 2018   INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA
Targeting Lite (ITL) was intro-
duced to tame inflation that
had jumped to 30%, the high-
est since 1993. The highest
point, the CBR has been was
23% at the end of 2011.
 Meanwhile, Mutebile said
there are indications of a
revival in private investment
activity reflected in the recov-
ery of foreign direct invest-
ment, which grew by 18.5 %
in 2017 compared to a decline
of 30.5% in 2016; improve-
ment in shilling credit exten-
sion recorded at 10.8% in
December 2017 compared
to 7.9% in December 2016;
and increased imports of raw
materials and capital goods,
which grew by 17.4% com-
pared to a decline of 21.1% in
the period under review.
 He said economic growth
for FY2017/18 is projected to
be in the range of 5.0-5.5%,
signalling a positive payoff
for the current stimulatory
monetary policy. Many banks
have recently announced
reductions in interest rates
with the average lending rate
now quoted as 20%.

Weekly share price movement (Feb 02)

Security Feb 02 Jan 24 Movement
BATU 30000 30000 00
BOBU 115 115 00
CENT 1,627 1,631 0.2
DFCU 681 680 1.0
EABL 8,928 8,758 1.9
EBL 1,538 1,524 0.9
JHL 17,962 17,730 1.3
KA 558 592 5.7
KCB 1,618 1,577 2.6
NIC 13 12 8.3
NMG 3,663. 3,758 2.5
A display of the traditional lamps along side solar lamps by Uganda Energy NVL 510 515 1.0
Credit Capitalization Company (UECCC) during the launch of the working capital SBU 29 29 00
facility for solar companies funded by World Bank on Feb.13 at Africana. UECCC UCHM 122 134 8.9
has put in place a working capital facility of $8.5 million to provide lines of UCL 29 29 00
credit to participating financial institutions for lending as working capital loans
UMEME 400 400 00
to solar companies.   INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA
ALSI -- -- --

Feb 16 - 22, 2018 29

comment
By Ruth Hall, Dzodzi Tsikata, Ian Scoones
Commercial farming models in Africa
Different kinds of commercial farming will
have different effects on the economy
C
olonialism brought large-scale
farming to Africa, promising mod-
ernisation and jobs – but often
dispossessing people and exploit-
ing workers. Now, after several decades of
independence, and with investor interest
growing, African governments are once
again promoting large plantations and
estates. But the new corporate interest in
African agriculture has been criticised as a
“land grab”.
Small-scale farmers, on family land,
are still the mainstay of African farming,
producing 90% of its food. Their future is
increasingly uncertain as the large-scale
colonial model returns.
To make way for big farms, local people
have lost their land. Promises of jobs and
other benefits have been slow to materialise,
if at all.
The search is on for alternatives to big
plantations and estates that can bring in
private investment without dispossessing
local people – and preferably also support
people’s livelihoods by creating jobs and
strengthening local economies.
Two possible models stand out.
Contract farming is often touted as an
“inclusive business model” that links small-
holders into commercial value chains. In
these arrangements, smallholder farmers
produce cash crops on their own land, as
‘outgrowers’, on contract to agroprocessing
companies.
Then there is growth in a new class of
“middle farmers”. These are often educated
business people and civil servants who are
investing money earned elsewhere into
medium-scale commercial farms which
they own and operate themselves.
So what are the real choices and trade-
offs between large plantations or estates;
contract farming by outgrowers; or individ-
ual medium-scale commercial farmers?
These different models formed the focus
of our three-year study in Ghana, Kenya
and Zambia. Evidence suggests that each
model has different strengths. For policy
makers, deciding which kind of farming
to promote depends on what they want to
achieve.
Plantations are ‘enclaves’
Our cases confirm the characterisation of
large plantations as being “enclaves” with
30 Feb 16 - 22, 2018
few linkages into local economies. They buy
farming inputs from far afield, usually from
overseas, and in turn send their produce
into global markets, bypassing local inter-
mediaries.
Plantations are large, self-contained agri-
businesses that rely on hired labour and are
vertically-integrated into processing chains
(often with on-farm processing). They’re
usually associated with one major crop. In
Africa, these started with colonial conces-
sions, especially in major cash crops such
as coffee, tea, rubber, cotton and sugarcane.
Some of these later became state farms after
independence while others were disman-
tled and land returned to local farmers.
Many plantations do create jobs, espe-
cially if they have on-site processing. Planta-
tions may also support local farmers if they
process crops that local smallholders are
already growing. For example, we found an
oil palm plantation in Ghana that buys from
local smallholders, giving them access to
processing facilities and international value
chains they would otherwise not reach.
But, typically, plantations have limited
connections into the local economy beyond
the wages they pay. Where production is
mechanised, they create few jobs, as we
found in Zambia: the Zambeef grain estate
employs few people, and most of these are
migrants whose wages don’t go into the
local economy. And the jobs that are created
are invariably of poor quality.
The main story is that plantations take
up land and yet often don’t give back to the
local economy. In the cases we researched,
all the plantations led to local people losing
their land. For instance, the establishment
and later expansion of the 10,000-hectare
Zambeef estate led to forced removals of
people from their cropping fields and graz-
ing lands.
There are some benefits from plantations
and estates. But, given more than a century
of bad experience, it may be time to con-
cede they seldom – if ever – live up to their
promises.
Contract farming brings benefits for
some
Contract farming has a long history in
Africa, dating back to colonial times. As
with plantations, these arrangements were
largely for the major cash crops, including
cocoa, cotton, tobacco and sugarcane.
Contract farmers are smallholders who
enter into contracts with companies that
buy and process their crops. Sometimes
members of outgrowers’ households might
also get jobs on larger “nucleus” estates run
by the companies. Whether or not they ben-
efit, or get mired in debt and dependence,
depends entirely on the terms of these con-
tracts. Our study looked at contract farming
in Ghana’s tropical fruit export sector, in
French bean production in Kenya and in
sugarcane farming in Zambia.
Contract farming has been hailed by
some as the “win-win” solution, enabling
commercial investment for global markets
without dispossessing local farmers. Farm-
ers farm on their own land, using their own
family labour, while also accessing com-
mercial value chains – rather than being
displaced by large farms. But we found that
this is not necessarily the case. Crucially,
there are different kinds of arrangements
that determine who benefits.
In Kenya, contract farmers are poorer
than most farmers around them. For them,
farming on contract provides a crucial liveli-
hood, especially for poor women, who culti-
vate French beans for the European market
and combine this with seasonal jobs on big
farms.
In one Zambian block scheme all out-
growers gave up their land to Illovo, a
South African company that grows sugar-
cane. The company pays them dividends.
Here, the landowners, typically the old
patriarchs, benefit from cash incomes.
Young people lose out: they neither inherit
the land nor control the cash incomes.

Contract farming clearly provides one
effective avenue for smallholders to com-
mercialise. It means, though, that smallhold-
ers take on both the risks and the benefits of
connecting to commercial value chains.
Medium-scale farming: a promising
option
Between the large plantations and the
small contract farmers is another model:
medium-scale commercial farms owned by
individuals or small companies. We stud-
ied areas where medium-scale farms were
dominating: mango farmers in Ghana, cof-
fee farmers in Kenya and grains farmers in
Zambia. While this kind of medium-scale
farming also has colonial origins, the past
two decades have seen massive growth in
new “middle farmers”. Many of them are
male, wealthy, middle-aged or retired, often
from professional positions.
The medium -scale commercial farm-
ing model has a lot to offer. We found that
they create more jobs and stimulate rural
economies more than either big plantations
or smallholder contract farmers. Yet cumula-
tively, such farms may threaten to dispossess
smallholders, just as the big colonial and
more recent plantations and estates have
done.
The push behind the explosion of the
“middle farmers” in the countries we stud-
ied has been investment by the educated and
(relatively) wealthy. In Ghana in particular,
we found, their expansion has displaced
smallholders. Cumulatively, even modest-
sized farms have led to substantial dispos-
session and reduced access to land.
Their informal employment patterns
mean poor working conditions and few
permanent jobs. But, unlike the plantations,
these farms are well connected with the local
economy. Building on social networks, these
“middle farmers” often buy inputs and ser-
vices from local businesses. At least some of
their produce is sold into local markets.
Winners and losers
While policy choices are of course politi-
cal, they can and should be informed by
research about the implications of these
different pathways of agricultural commer-
cialisation. What is clear from our research is
that different kinds of commercial farming
will have different effects on the economy.
It’s not just about efficiency. Ultimately, it’s
about who wins and who loses.
Ruth Hall is professor at the Institute
for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies,
University of the Western Cape, Dzodzi
Tsikata is Associate Professor, University
of Ghana, and Ian Scoones is Professorial
Fellow, Institute of Development Studies,
University of Sussex.
Source: theconversation
By Jan Mischke
Yes to affordable housing
The two key challenges that must be tackled
to enable easy home building in urban areas
F
rom London to Lagos, “affordable
housing” has become an oxymoron.
In most cities, rents and home prices
have increased faster than incomes,
and in urban areas with robust job markets,
housing stocks have failed to keep pace with
demand. Some 330 million urban house-
holds either live in substandard housing, or
pay more for their housing than they can
afford. If current trends are not reversed, that
number could grow to 440 million by 2025.
Without affordable housing, people suf-
fer and economies stagnate. California’s
housing shortage illustrates the problem.
From 2009 to 2014, the state grew by 544,000
households but added only 467,000 homes.
Today, amid a total housing shortfall of two
million units, half of the state’s residents
cannot afford to buy homes in their local
market.
City governments are aware of the prob-
lem, and many are attempting to intervene.
Unfortunately, many policies focus on
demand and financing, rather than sup-
ply. Subsidies, low-interest loans, and rent
control may bring relief to households strug-
gling with affordability, but these measures
will not solve the housing shortage. The
only way to do that is to address two key
challenges that have conspired to halt home
building in many urban areas.
The first challenge is location; finding
affordable land is one of the biggest con-
straints on housing development virtually
everywhere. In cities like Rio de Janeiro, land
costs can account for more than 40% of a
home’s price; in extremely expensive mar-
kets, like San Francisco, it can be double that.
Mapping software and inventory reviews
can help planning officials find cheaper solu-
tions. In some cases, land can be provided
more cost-effectively through smart zon-
ing. Seoul, for example, allows residential
buildings near transit stops to have a larger
“floor area ratio,” a regulatory mechanism
that encourages density. Similar approaches
could be used elsewhere.
City planners should also promote better
use of existing density rules. A 2016 analy-
sis of Los Angeles’s housing stock by the
McKinsey Global Institute found that 28%
of parcels zoned for multifamily develop-
ment were underutilised. Maximising this
development potential could add more than
300,000 units to the city’s housing inventory.
Additionally, authorities can do more to
encourage the use of vacant plots. Around
the world, a surprising amount of urban
land, including city-owned property, is
undeveloped, and taxing idle or underused
comment
land could stimulate construction. Cities
might also consider changing residential
zoning laws to encourage owners of single-
family homes to add accessory units, such as
garage apartments and backyard cottages.
Once a city has identified suitable areas
for construction, the second challenge is
containing the political fallout that often
accompanies new development. Proposals to
increase housing density are frequently met
by opposition from current residents, whose
fears range from adverse impact on services
to downward pressure on existing home val-
ues (or upward pressure and gentrification).
To address these concerns, many cities
hold public hearings or put projects to a vote.
Often, however, the voices of those who
want to preserve the status quo are louder
than those who fear being priced out. As a
result, very little affordable housing is built.
The urban planning process needs to take
into account the concerns of all stakehold-
ers – including newcomers, young adults,
low-income service workers, renters, and
homeowners. Digital surveys and analytical
tools can make the process more inclusive
by reducing the influence of narrow but
entrenched interest groups. And, because
housing availability affects companies’ abil-
ity to attract talent, employers near proposed
housing sites must also be engaged.
While critics’ concerns should be taken
seriously, governments must insulate their
approval processes from manipulation. In
some cities, repeated lawsuits and requests
for further study delay projects for years
and add millions of dollars to development
costs. One way to address this issue would
be to adhere to “use by right” regulations,
whereby projects that follow city zoning and
land-use codes receive minimal review.
Moreover, implementation of blanket
environmental reviews could ease approvals
for future developers. Governments could
also create appeals boards with the power to
accelerate rulings on rejected projects.
City governments can win support for
new housing by convincing constituents that
population growth fuels economic growth.
The alternative – allowing serious housing
shortages to go unaddressed – will make
it impossible for future generations to put
down roots. By managing density carefully,
authorities can overcome opposition and get
their cities building again.
Jan Mischke is a partner at the McKinsey Global
Institute.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2018.
Feb 16 - 22, 2018 31
COMMENT
By Dani Rodrik
Double threat to democracy
When illiberal democracy – or populism, combines with
undemocratic liberalism to undermine liberal democracy
T
he crisis of liberal democracy is
roundly decried today. Donald
Trump’s presidency, the Brexit vote
in the United Kingdom, and the
electoral rise of other populists in Europe
have underscored the threat posed by “il-
liberal democracy” – a kind of authoritarian
politics featuring popular elections but little
respect for the rule of law or the rights of
minorities.
But fewer analysts have noted that illiber-
al democracy – or populism – is not the only
political threat. Liberal democracy is also
being undermined by a tendency to empha-
sise “liberal” at the expense of “democracy.”
In this kind of politics, rulers are insulated
from democratic accountability by a pano-
ply of restraints that limit the range of poli-
cies they can deliver. Bureaucratic bodies,
autonomous regulators, and independent
courts set policies, or they are imposed from
outside by the rules of the global economy.
In his new and important book `The
People vs. Democracy’, the political theorist
Yascha Mounk calls this type of regime– in
apt symmetry with illiberal democracy –
“undemocratic liberalism”. He notes that
our political regimes have long stopped
functioning like liberal democracies and
increasingly look like undemocratic liberal-
ism.
The European Union perhaps represents
the apogee of this tendency. The establish-
ment of a single market and monetary unifi-
cation in the absence of political integration
has required delegation of policy to techno-
cratic bodies such as the European Commis-
sion, the European Central Bank, and the
European Court of Justice. Decision-making
increasingly takes place at considerable dis-
tance from the public. Even though Britain
is not a member of the eurozone, the Brexi-
teers’ call to “take back control” captured
the frustration many European voters feel.
The United States has experienced noth-
ing quite like this, but similar trends have
made many people feel disenfranchised. As
Mounk notes, policymaking is the province
of an alphabet soup of regulatory bodies –
from the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) to the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA). Independent courts’ use of their
prerogative of judicial review to promote
civil rights, expand reproductive freedom,
and introduce many other social reforms
have encountered hostility among consider-
32 Feb 16 - 22, 2018
able segments of the population. And the
rules of the global economy, administered
through international arrangements such
as the World Trade Organization (WTO) or
the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA), are widely perceived as being
rigged against ordinary workers.
The value of Mounk’s book is to highlight
the importance of both of liberal democ-
racy’s constitutive terms. We need restraints
on the exercise of political power to prevent
majorities (or those in power) from riding
roughshod over the rights of minorities (or
those not in power). But we also need pub-
lic policy to be responsive and accountable
to the preferences of the electorate.
Liberal democracy is inherently fragile
because reconciling its terms does not pro-
duce a natural political equilibrium. When
elites have sufficient power, they have little
interest in reflecting the preferences of the
public at large. When the masses mobilise
and demand power, the resulting compro-
mise with the elites rarely produces sustain-
able safeguards to protect the rights of those
not represented at the bargaining table.
Thus, liberal democracy has a tendency to
deteriorate into one or the other of its per-
versions – illiberal democracy or undemo-
cratic liberalism.
In our paper “The Political Economy of
Liberal
democracy
is inherently
fragile because
reconciling
its terms does
not produce a
natural political
equilibrium
Liberal Democracy,” Sharun Mukand and I
discuss the underpinnings of liberal democ-
racy in terms similar to those Mounk uses.
We emphasise that societies are divided by
two potential cleavages: an identity split
that separates a minority from the ethnic,
religious, or ideological majority, and a
wealth gap that pits the rich against the rest
of society.
The depth and alignment of these divi-
sions determine the likelihood of various
political regimes. The possibility of liberal
democracy is always undercut by illiberal
democracy at one end and what we call
“liberal autocracy” at the other, depending
on whether the majority or the elite retain
the upper hand.
Our framework helps to highlight the for-
tuitous circumstances under which liberal
democracy emerges. In the West, liberalism
preceded democracy: separation of powers,
freedom of expression, and the rule of law
were already in place before elites agreed
to expand the franchise and submit to
popular rule. The “tyranny of the majority”
remained a major concern for elites, and
was countered in the U.S., for example, with
an elaborate system of checks and balances,
effectively paralysing the executive for a
long time.
Elsewhere, in the developing world, pop-
ular mobilisation occurred in the absence of
a liberal tradition or liberal practices. Liberal
democracy was rarely a sustainable out-
come. The only exceptions seem to be rela-
tively egalitarian and highly homogeneous
nation-states such as South Korea, where
there are no obvious social, ideological,
ethnic, or linguistic divisions for autocrats of
either kind – illiberal or undemocratic – to
exploit.
Today’s developments in Europe and
the U.S. suggest the vexing possibility that
liberal democracy may have been a pass-
ing phase there as well. As we rue liberal’s
democracy’s crisis, let us not forget that
illiberalism is not the only threat that con-
fronts it. We must find a way around the
pitfalls of insufficient democracy as well.
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, 2018
Medical workers from Nwoya hospital gives out free medicines to patients at a free medical camp in northern Uganda.  INDEPENDENT JIMMY/SIYA

After the Mengo

Hospital deaths
New guidelines to regulate
mushrooming free medical camps

A
By Flavia Nassaka and set up tables but people were releasing results of an audit into the
already queuing. I sensed it could get death of five patients, including a
s early as 9am on Feb.09, crowded. prominent politician, in another free
people had started As Grace Kiwanuka; the Executive medical camp.
gathering at Centenary Director of the Uganda Healthcare Led by Prof. Joel Okullo; the
Park. It was yet another Federation, later explained, “Free President UMDPC, a team of five
‘free medical camp’. medical camps being attended in high experts had spent two months from
Organized by the Mulago numbers speaks of the fact that so many December 2017 investigating the cause
hospital based College of Health people are in desperate need of basic of death of the patients who were
Sciences, people would at this camp get care”. Unfortunately, some of them do operated during a free neurosurgical
free checkups for cervical cancer, breast not end very well. camp held at Mengo Hospital in
cancer, hypertension and dental care Two days before, for example, Kampala in October 2017.
among others. Organisers of the camp the Uganda Medical and Dental The deaths sparked a public uproar
were just starting to hang the banners Practitioners Council (UMDPC) was which appears to have caught both the

Feb 16 - 22, 2018 33

health
hospital and the Ministry of Health
unprepared. The deaths proved to be a
public relations disaster for the hospital
and Ministry of Health.
When the Minister of State for Health
(General Duties), Sarah Opendi, was
asked to explain the deaths to members
of parliament, she initially denied
knowledge of such a camp happening
in the country. She said they would
establish whether the procedures had
been carried out legally and hold those
responsible accountable.
Later the Ministry issued a statement
clarifying that the Council had in fact
authorized the camp to take place.
Despite the clarification, allegations
that the doctors who conducted the
complicated procedures were rookies
persisted. There were even claims
that the American doctors were using
Ugandans as guinea pigs to test new
medicine and that Mengo Hospital did
not have the necessary equipment and
was just testing its potential to conduct
such surgeries.
But the Joel Okullo audit revealed
a totally different picture. The audit
reveals that the Mengo Hospital camp
was in fact quite successful. The five
patients that died were part of 31
patients treated and the 26 operations
were successful. The Okullo team
reported that the 31 were chosen from
145 patients and that they had the most
complicated conditions that would have
otherwise been referred abroad. They
also found the team of neurosurgeons
from the Duke Global Health Institute
in America had conducted 11 similar
camps in the country before; 10 at the
Neurosurgery department of Mulago
National Referral Hospital in Kampala
and one at Mbarara University Teaching
Hospital in western Uganda.
Prof. Michael Haglund who led the
visiting team is said to have picked
interest in helping Ugandans with
complex brain conditions such as
meningioma, pituitary tumors, and
spinal cord tumors when he visited the
country as a tourist in 2006. Then, he
realized that many poor Ugandans were
dying unnecessarily from conditions
that could be treated. He in 2009
conducted his first brain surgeries on
27 patients at Mulago hospital. Later,
they realised they needed to help
more hospitals start conducting such
surgeries.
During this latest camp according
to Mengo hospital’s Deputy Medical
Director Christopher Luzinda the
intention was partly for the American
experts to pass on skills to the country’s
neurosurgeons and they did not work
with only Mengo Hospital staff but had
surgeons from other hospitals. He said
34 Feb 16 - 22, 2018
Duke University had helped Mengo
Hospital expand its Intensive Care
Unit (ICU) from three to now five beds
and that whatever was necessary for
surgeries to be successful was in place;
a reason as to why no adverse events
happened on the operation table.
Reading the report, Minister Opendi
said it was found that all the patients
operated were taken through the ICU
unit whereas others went to the High
Dependency Unit. Four; including
the late opposition Democratic Party
stalwart, Issa Kikungwe, died of
infections and embolism while in ICU
whereas the other patient died after
he had been discharged. Though no
postmortem was done, it is said he
developed severe difficulty in breathing;
suspected to be a result of blood clots in
the lungs.
“The procedures being complex, such
deaths were expected and normal but
were only exaggerated by the media,”
Sarah Opendi Joel Okullo
Opendi said. She said some patients
were in very bad condition as they had
been referred for surgery a long time
ago but they could not afford it abroad.
She said under normal hospital settings
some operations cost not less than Shs20
million in the country but could have
cost up to Shs100 million out of the
country according to the nature of a
particular procedure.
As the report was being released, on
Feb.07, the Uganda Medical and Dental
Practitioners Council also released
guidelines tightening the nut for one to
organize such activities.
Under the new guidelines, anyone
planning to hold such a medical
camp has to:
 Notify the relevant authorities in
writing of the intention
 Obtain authorization to hold the
camp from UMDPC and other
statutory bodies
 Ensure that the healthcare
professionals to participate in the
camp are registered and licensed
to practice in this country by the
relevant regulatory authorities.
 If the camp is being organized by an
NGO or any other organization, a
company profile of that organisation
must be provided whereas if
medical students are to hold a camp
they should be under supervision
by a qualified medical or dental
practitioner.
Prof. Okullo talked tough about
the new guidelines. He said as many
companies increasingly opt to offer
free medical care in camps as their
Corporate Social Responsibility, some
skip important precautions and put the
population at risk.
He said his council will crackdown
on any medical camp that does not meet
the criteria set out in the new guidelines
that call for vetting of participating
medical practitioners through
verification of their qualifications,
registration status, and peer review
interviews or attachment to professional
associations.
Minister Opendi said the process of
coming up with guidelines was started
early last year. “Certain medicines are
brought in the country during camps
when they are not registered by the
authority. We now urge them to come in
and register in time at least two months
before for checks to be made.”
She says when it comes to research,
the Uganda National Council for
Science and Technology has laid down
the procedure to determine what can be
used as research or not.
Kiwanuka says, however, the
guidelines should be just a start that
should be followed with educating
the consumer. He says patients need
to be educated on what a safe health
camp should be like, what they should
and should not expect, and if they are
referred abroad who they can consult
to make a decision on if it makes sense
for them to make that investment.
She said some patients travel abroad
for treatment without a clear picture
of the financial implications and full
understanding of what outcomes
they might get. She says some free
medical camps; especially for testing,
are designed to lure individuals into
testing so that the organisers ; in order
to recoup the costs of having the camps,
can refer them for follow up checkups
abroad.
Minister Opendi agrees.
“Health camps are important but we
must have order,” she says.
 ART | BOOKS | SOCIETY | TRAVEL | CULTURE
Portrait of a self-taught artist
Beyond the label, is there any truth
to the compartmentalisation?
W
By Dominic Muwanguzi
hen Jak
Katari-
kawe
started to
make art in
the 1960s,
everyone was stunned. Ka-
tarikawe, an illiterate, was a
driver for David Cook, a Mak-
erere University Professor of
Literature (1962-1977).
Katarikawe’s break through
as an artist; drawing stylish
images of bulls with long
horns and bright –wide stares;
illustrated his amateurish style
of not paying attention to ele-
ments like picture construction
and pure colour schemes on
canvas that are familiar with
formal art education. As such,
he soon was labeled a self-
taught artist.
But Katarikawe had previ-
ously, in his youth, been an
apprentice for his mother who
decorated the Ankole huts in
the rural areas of Kigezi, South
Western Uganda, where the
artist hails from. More so, his
prolonged stay at Makerere
and relations with artists Sam
Ntiro, Theresa Musoke, and
Eli Kyeyune from the school of
Fine Arts must have inspired
his artistic practice. In fact,
it was his boss, David Cook
who introduced him to Ntiro
to teach him the art discipline.
Although he later dropped out
because he could not keep pace
with theoretical aspects of art
studies, he had been exposed
to the discipline.
In the same manner, the
highly proficient, Mathias Tusi-
ime, has been described as a
self- taught artist by both local
and international art patrons.
Tusiime’s style of “scribbling”
caricature like images on can-
vas with no formal attribute
connotes his independence
from the formal art school cur-
riculum. However, the artist’s
duty at the School of Fine Art
includes cleaning the art studio
where students paint from and
collecting waste paint and can-
vas. With his overt ambition to
be a successful artist, Tusiime
collects these materials and
quietly experiments with them.
As a result of his experimenta-
tion processes, not to mention
his continuous interaction
with the faculty professors,
he is able to create art that
many find both intuitive and
intriguing. His non- derivative
style has elicited a number of
patrons for his art and prompt-
ed his invitation to the Univer-
sity of Virginia, USA.
In both scenarios of Katari-
kawe and Tusiime, it is evident
that the label of self-taught
artist does not hold. This is
because, the two had exposure
to art although informally.
In the case of Katarikawe,
he learnt to draw from his
mother as a young man and
later his relations with prof.
David Cook contributed to
his advanced knowledge of
the profession. For Tusiime,
it is his continuous stay at the
School of Fine Art-since 1999
to date- that has defined his
artistic expertise. Nonetheless,
learning is not a passive or
Feb 16 - 22, 2018
individual process, but a social
procedure. In this regard, the
more an individual interacts
with artists or an institution
either formally or informally,
the more they acquire knowl-
edge and skills in art.
This philosophy applies to
Anwar Sadat Nakibinge and
Enoch Mukiibi who did not
study art at the any university.
Nakibinge did Health Science
and Mukiibi graduated with a
Bachelor of Arts in Social Lin-
guistics and Literature. Muki-
ibi’s father is an accomplished
professional artist and, as such,
his work must have influenced
his son through immedi-
ate exposure. Alternatively,
Nakibinge’s elder brother,
Jjuuko Hoods, is a successful
artist working on the Kampala
contemporary art. There’s little
doubt that the young brother
inherited inspiration to create
art from observing the elder
brother working in the studio.
The notion of “self-taught
artist” is used to describe art-
ists who learn to create art
without any formal training.
But could this be erroneous in
some cases? To what extent do
their inquisitive minds provide
the inspiration to learn through
unconventional avenues? Isn’t
observing a master of the craft
creating art, apprenticeship in
studios, or merely experimen-
tation with immediate media, a
form of learning?
When viewed in light of
such arguments, learning
ceases to be static. It becomes
progressive. It is this progres-
sion that contributes to the
uniqueness of the so-called
self-taught artist because their
art is devoid of plagiarised
western concepts.
35
Guy disguised as woman reaches national beauty contest final
Arina Aliyeva, one prove an important the general false-
of the finalists of the point. It all started ness in the beauty
2018 Miss Virtual with an argument industry, even a
Kazakhstan beauty Eli Diaghilev, a man could pass as
contest, recently young Kazakh male a beautiful woman.
shocked the nation model, had with his Diaghilev’s friends
after announcing friends about female apparently didn’t
that “she” was beauty. He argued agree, so he decided
actually a 22-year- that thanks to all the to prove his point by
old man who had available cosmetics, signing up for the
signed up for the digital editing tools Miss Virtual Kazakh-
national contest to like Photoshop and stan beauty contest.

Sandals for your Indian man allegedly steals wife’s kidney as unpaid dowry
sneakers! 28-year-old Rita Sarkar’s
husband frequently
dowry. She was wrong.
When an opportunity to steal
home claiming she had an
inflamed appendix that
You probably didn’t even know complained about her family’s one of his wife’s kidneys required surgery. When Rita’s
your shoes needed sandals, did failure to pay her dowry after presented itself, Biswajit pain persisted, an ultrasound
you? Well, that’s because you’re not their wedding, but she never Sarkar did not hesitate. When revealed that her right kidney
as avant-garde as Sankuanz, a Chi- imagined he would go as far she complained of acute was missing. Her husband
nese fashion label that knows just as stealing one of her kidneys stomach ache, her husband confessed to selling it.
what you need to keep your brand to make up for the unpaid took her to a private nursing
new sneakers looking flawless for
longer – sandals, of course. Sneaker-
heads now have “shoes for shoes” World’s most A bride you can eat – literally
- bulky plastic and Velcro that can
fit your already “sneakered” feet dangerous Arabic bride wearing
a stylish dress made
and protect them from, well, wear
and tear, I guess, because I don’t see
ice-cream of fondant. The cake
these sandals doing anything if it consisted of dozens
Describing an ice- of layers of sponge,
starts to rain. cream as hot might seem 25 kilograms of choc-
strange, but when talk- olate, and around
ing about the Respiro del 50 kilograms of
Diavolo (Devil’s Breath), fondant. It weighed
it’s actually an under- about 120 kilograms
statement. Made using and had to be car-
an assortment of hot ried by no less than
chillies, the bizarre treat six people. Even
scores over 1.5 million though Wingham
units on the Scoville scale described her cre-
of hotness, making it the ation as fully edible,
School adopts Shs2.5m world’s most dangerous
ice-cream. The recipe has
that most certainly
does not include the
Armani uniforms been a closely-guarded
secret among Italian
five large diamonds
dotting the dress
Ginza is known as the most fash- gelato makers for centu- and headgear of the
ionable district of Japan’s capital, ries and has been used as She is called a $16 million shoe, bride. Each priced
Tokyo, and one public elementary a test of bravery at yearly Lulwa, also known a $4.8 million black at $200,000, it was
school located there recently decid- gatherings among mas- as the ‘Million Dol- diamond dress, and these diamonds that
ed that it would be very fitting for ters of the trade lar Bride’, a 120 the world’s most inspired the cake’s
children to dress accordingly. Thus kilogram-wedding expensive wedding “Million Dollar
Taimei Elementary School students cake shaped like cake which was val- Bride” name. Lulwa
will be donning designer uniforms a life-size Arabian ued at a staggering was unveiled on the
created by Italian fashion label bride created by $67 million. With an opening day of the
Armani that costUS$700 (Approx. Debbie Wingham, estimated value of recently concluded
Shs2.5 million). The school’s deci- creator of some of “only” $1 million, 2018 Dubai Bride
sion has sparked outrage all over the most expensive Lulwa – Arabic for Show, and later cut
Japan, and was even discussed in objects of desire in ‘pearls’ – was mod- and served to guest
Japan’s Parliament. history, including elled on a traditional of the event.

36 Feb 16 - 22, 2018

 When stuck in traffic jam
Does turning off engine really save
fuel or merely damage engine?
By Motoring Guru
A
fter the cost of petrol inched closer
to the Shs4000 a litre recently,
many motorists are concentrating
on fuel saving ways. Many are
wondering whether it doesn’t make sense
to turn off the engine when stuck in the ever
thickening traffic jams.
Of course this is a silly question to people
who drive newer cars and a no-brainer for
those that drive the very ancient jalopies
– those with carburetors. The newer cars
have automatic systems that rapidly turn
engines off when the car is stopped –even
for a few seconds – and turn it on when
the slightest pressure is applied to the
accelerator. The carburetor oldies wouldn’t
even consider killing the engine because it
guzzles fuel when it restarts – according to
some folklore, a restart consumes as much
fuel as 30 minutes of idling!
Modern car engines are so efficient that
restarting barely licks a drop of fuel. But
does switching the engine off make sense
even in the newer cars. Well, it depends
on what you are aiming for. Some experts
claim that if you’re going to be stopped
for more than 10 seconds, it’s best to shut
off your engine. It’s however, mainly for
environmental reasons. But idling can waste
fuel. Restarting tour 2.0 litre engine car uses
as much fuel as idling for six seconds. So
if you are idling in traffic at Clock Tower
for 10 minutes, the nine minutes fifty four
seconds is wasted fuel. But then again, how
much is that in real money terms?
Well, your 2.0 litre car has been estimated
to consume between 0.6 and one litre of
fuel if it idles for one hour. That means each
minute of idling costs you between Shs30
and 50. So 10 minutes idling in traffic is pos-
sibly costing you Shs300.
On the other hand, frequent restarting
puts extra stress on your battery and igni-
tion mechanisms. That could also cost you
in maintenance fees – after say 10 years.
The point is this; in money terms,
whether you idle or switch of your engine
is not going to save you enough to pay
your kid’s school fees. So consider other
reasons for whatever you choose.According
to many experts, idling is bad for you car’s
ventilation system and negatively affects
the engine internals due to incomplete
combustion (glazing of the combustion
chamber, fouling of the spark plugs) which
further decreases fuel efficiency for all other
operations. What’s more, excessive idling
affects other components (burning up of
the catalytic converter, increased corrosion
of exhaust system, increased engine wear
due to higher vibration etc.), whose prema-
ture wear and replacement impact on your
pocket.
There are some preventative measures
to take so you lessen the chance of
running into these issues:
 Get you oil changes more often than if
you were driving normal, long, smooth
trips
 Add a fuel injector cleaner to your gas
tank every 3000 miles or so. This helps
remove valve deposits and clogging,
reducing the knocks and rattling noises.
 Switch to a higher octane fuel to reduce
noise caused by the deposits clanging
around.
Aside from your engine becoming
damaged and aged prematurely, your
brakes will also wear out prematurely.
Check them often and have the brake
fluid checked too.
Feb 16 - 22, 2018 37
 Profile
Esther Nakajjigo: Young fighter
for women and girls
By Agnes E Nantaba
S
he has been recog-
nised by the Kabaka
of Buganda, has her
own TV show, owns a
mid-level health centre and a
Youth Centre, and is winner of
the Geneva World Women’s
Award as the best project for
urban and rural women. She is
also Uganda’s Ambassador of
hope for Women and Girls, a
title given to her by the World
Health Organization (WHO)
and civil society. And she is
just 21 years old.
Esther Nakajjigo’s brain
appears to be pumping out
award-winning idea after idea.
And she started out when
she was just 14 years old after
noticing fellow youth who
grow up in slums were being
consumed by prostitution,
abortion, and drug abuse. She
volunteered as a peer educator
at Kiruddu Health Centre even
if her mother did not initially
like her idea as it involved talk-
ing about sex and distributing
condoms.
By the time Kiruddu Cen-
tre closed for renovation, her
mother was so convinced that
she gave Nakajjigo land on
which she built a health centre
and youth centre. Her health
centre is called the Princess
Diana Health Centre in Kam-
pala’s suburb of Munyonyo.
It’s at the level of Health Centre
III or one tier lower than a
county facility. However, she
says, she soon discovered that
the incidences of teenage preg-
nancies across the country “are
scary”.
“So my role grew from just
Kampala to the entire coun-
try,” she says. She says her role
in reducing teenage pregnan-
cies in the country earned her
the WHO award.
But her latest project, the
‘Saving Innocence chal-
lenge’, is just as exciting. It is
a girl-to-girl project targeting
38 Feb 16 - 22, 2018
young girls in school willing activities. suing a Bachelor’s Degree in
to sacrifice and support their Nakajjigo says, “It is healthy Social Work and Social Admin-
colleagues who dropped out competition for schools as girls istration.
along the way. They must face real life challenges and Nakajjigo is the first born of
convince their school admin- offer others a second chance in the five children of Mr and Mrs.
istrators to allow them visit life by either returning to school Kateregga. She sees her work
the community in search of a or starting up businesses.” as supplementary to the efforts
child mother to offer help in all Nakajjigo’s World Savers of the government and others.
ways to; especially those who awards 2015 and 2016 also Her goal, she says, is to build
have lost hope in life. The girls came with a scholarship offer a legacy of a young girl who
also help the young mother from the King of Buganda for made a contribution towards
face their biggest fears and this her to study at Muteesa I Royal transforming her country even
applies mostly to those girls University where she is pur- when she had little or nothing.
who have been kicked out of
school. The challenge has cov-
ered Gomba district and is in
Kalangala, both districts with
high rates of HIV and teen-
age pregnancies. The project
also has top schools in other
districts; including Trinity
College Nabbingo, Nabisunsa
Girls School, Princess Diana
High School, Buddo Secondary
School, and over 20 others.
The Saving Innocence chal-
lenge has seen over 25 girls
return to school in Gomba dis-
trict and over 220 startup small
businesses for survival. These
work to advocate for girls to
stay in school in their areas.
‘While I may not be able to
reach every girl and place in
the country, I believe that the
girls can access information
through the Saving Inno-
cence reality TV show
that airs on one of the
local TV stations,’ she
says.
Saving Innocence
also won the Gene-
va Award because
of its sustainability
feature; since it
doesn’t require
outside funding
as the stake-
holders who
are the girls
fill the gaps.
The girls also
fundraise and
collect money
to help in
running the
initiative

Esther Nakajjigo’s Liteside
Any three things we don’t
I
know about you?
am a very happy person
and I love people as
everyone becomes my
friend in the shortest
time possible.
What is your idea of perfect
happiness?
Chatting with people and
listening to people’s stories
makes me happy and I long
to help them.
What is your greatest fear?
Failing to hit my targets;
for instance when I started
the challenge, I didn’t
anticipate success because it
started from just a sketchy
thing so I feared to face it.
It has however turned out
to be great and impactful.
I therefore fear to fail the
people who have great hopes
in me.
What is the trait you most
deplore in yourself?
Sometimes, I am too
friendly which to others
looks unprofessional but
I can’t do away with my
nature.
What is the trait you most
deplore in others?
Being quick to judge and
less considerate to others.
Which living person do you
most admire?
I am yet to discover that
individual.
What is your greatest
extravagance?
I love to take care of
myself even when I don’t
have too much money.
What is the greatest thing
you have ever done?
It is still work in progress.
We don’t have a research
hospital in Uganda to handle
critical women issues and
my goal is to put up one. It
will be the greatest thing I
have done.
What is your current state of
mind?
I am very happy and not
complaining.
What do you consider the
most overrated virtue?
Silent depression of
focusing on things that
we cannot change or have
little authority over such as
transfer of soccer players
in European teams. There
are several other issues that
require our attention and
can actually yield results for
many people.
What does being powerful
mean to you?
Being powerful comes
with the ability to give a
second chance in life to those
who have given up and
thereafter creating a smile
on them. This gives hope
after what one would call the
greatest challenge.
On what occasion do you
lie?
Sometimes the truth may
be so bitter so a lie may save
a situation.
What do you most dislike
about your appearance?
I love everything about
me.
Which living person do you
most despise?
Everyone has reasons for
doing whatever they do and
there is always room for
change so I don’t despise
anyone.
What is the quality you
most like in a man?
Being more than a parent.
What is the quality you
most like in a woman?
Every woman is a parent
who should be selfless.
What or who is the greatest
love of your life
My family; especially my
mother Christine Kateregga
When and where were you
happiest
Opening up Princess
Diana Health Centre at the
beginning of 2014. I was
also happy receiving my
first award in 2014. Being
recognized internationally as
the only project from Africa
that scooped an award was
also a happy moment for me
and colleagues.
Which talent would you
most like to have?
I love to sing but I am not
very talented at it.
If you could change one
thing about yourself, what
would it be?
Absolutely nothing.
What do you consider your
greatest achievement?
I can’t underestimate
the worth in being an
ambassador of hope for
women and girls.
If you were to die and come
back as a person or a thing,
what would it be?
I am okay coming back
in the same shell with all
my inside and outside. I am
proud of who I am.
Where would you most like
to live?
Uganda is a very beautiful
country and I want to be
part of the solutions to its
problems.
What is your most treasured
possession?
My awards portray my
work and motivate me to
Feb 16 - 22, 2018
Q&A
work harder.
What do you regard as the
lowest depth of misery?
There is nothing
comparable to being written
off in life and regarded as
nothing.
What is your favorite
occupation?
I have been so buried up
in helping young people;
especially cutting down
teenage pregnancies.
What do you most value in
your friends?
Their patience,
commitment to help, and
belief in me. I treasure
moments of learning from
each other.
Who are your favorite
writers?
I love reading inspirational
stories and biographies of
people so I am not glued on
any writer.
Which historical figure do
you most identify with?
The Princess of Wales;
Princess Diana. She had it all
and didn’t know how it feels
to sleep hungry but stepped
out of her comfort zone to
mingle with and help those
of lower calibre.
Who are your real life
heroes?
Princess Diana is the one
person I read about always.
What is your greatest regret?
Everything in life is a
lesson.
How would you like to die?
I hate to think about death.
What is your motto?
If you want to create an
impact in people’s lives, live,
love and work with them.
39
Global comment
By Stephen Matlin, Vivian Wing-Wah Yam, Henning Hopf, Alain Krief, and Goverdhan Mehta
Tackling science’s gender-parity
At the youngest age in elementary school, girls should
be encouraged to study math and science
T
wo years ago, the United Nations
designated February 11 the Interna-
tional Day of Women and Girls in
Science. As the 2018 commemora-
tion approached, it was worth reflecting on
female scholars’ countless contributions to
science and technology.
But even more important is to consider
why the UN acted in the first place.
Simply put, women have long suffered
in their pursuit of science careers, and
the global scientific community must
recommit to making them full partners in
the quest for human knowledge.
Achieving gender parity would yield
an enormous payoff for scientific dis-
covery. Last year marked the 150th anni-
versary of the birth of Poland’s Marie
Curie, one of the greatest scientists of all
time. Curie was the first woman to win
a Nobel Prize, the only woman to win
two, and the only person to do so in two
different sciences: physics in 1903 and
chemistry in 1911.
Curie faced immense gender barriers
during her career. In 1891, having been
blocked from studying or working at
universities in Poland, she joined the
Sorbonne in Paris. Working with her
husband, Pierre Curie, she conducted
groundbreaking research on radiation.
But when their work was nominated for
the 1903 physics prize, her name was
omitted. After her husband complained,
the Nobel committee made an excep-
tional concession, and she was added to
the award (she and her husband shared
it with the French physicist Henri Bec-
querel).
Much has changed since then, and
gender equality in the sciences has
greatly improved. For example, the
L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Sci-
ence awards program, which honors
female researchers working in the life
and physical sciences, is now in its 20th
year. Past winners have included experts
in everything from quantum electronics
to molecular biology (one of us, Vivian
Wing-Wah Yam, won the prize in 2011).
Nonetheless, gender parity in the sci-
ences remains a distant goal. Evidence
suggests that bias is endemic in nearly
every scientific field, and that institu-
tional discrimination is still crippling
40 Feb 16 - 22, 2018
careers and impeding scientific innova-
tion.
The gender gap in science begins at
a young age. As early as elementary
school, girls are discouraged from pur-
suing careers in math and science, and
this bias continues into university, where
fewer women study for PhDs, hold
research positions, or join the faculty.
Globally, less than 30% of the world’s
researchers are female.
Even for women who do get on the
academic ladder, the climb is slowed
by inadequate opportunities for grants,
promotions, and leadership. One mea-
sure of this is seen in publication rates.
Producing scholarly papers is critical for
career advancement, but studies show
that women publish fewer articles than
their male colleagues, are less likely to
be primary authors, and rarely serve as
reviewers.
Worse, sexual harassment is prevalent
in science-related academia and industry.
Like many other professions, the science
community needs to do more to address
the issue in a meaningful way.
The cumulative effect of this discrimi-
nation is to rob the world of talented
female scientists. Even among those with
science-related degrees, fewer women
than men remain in their field of study or
are ever recognized for their work. Of the
599 Nobel Prizes awarded in the sciences
since 1901, only 18 have gone to women,
just 3% of the total.
Major changes – from grade schools to
technology companies – are needed to
build gender parity into science-related
fields. Easy fixes can target individual
industries. For example, bringing more
female editors into the field of science
publishing could raise the percentage
of women appearing in peer-reviewed
publications.
Other adjustments would have broader
reach. A recent study of grant programs
in Canada found that when referees are
trained to recognise gender discrimina-
tion, funding outcomes naturally rebal-
ance. Launching similar training efforts
in other countries could have a pro-
found impact on how science grants are
awarded – and how many are awarded
to women.
And yet, while individual tweaks can
be beneficial, the world’s scientific com-
munity must move beyond piecemeal
solutions to tackle gender bias in a more
holistic way. Academic institutions,
research centers, and science-related
employers must commit to diversifying
their bases of recruitment, and improve
efforts to recognize and respond to
discrimination. Moreover, through
improving cultural competencies (the
ability to recognize and respond to
biases), organizations can create environ-
ments that are equitable and physically,
spiritually, socially, and emotionally safe
for both women and men.
Achieving gender equity, diversity,
and inclusion in the sciences will require
cooperation across many sectors. It will
also take time. But, 150 years after Marie
Curie’s birth, it is clear that action is long
overdue.
That is why this February 11, as the
world observed the third International
Day of Women and Girls in Science,
scientists from across the disciplines
needed to take a moment to reflect on
how far their female colleagues have
come, and to remember how far we
still have to go.
Stephen Matlin is an adjunct professor at
the Institute of Global Health Innovation,
Imperial College London. Vivian Wing-Wah
Yam is Professor of Chemistry and Energy
at the University of Hong Kong. Henning
Hopf is a professor in the Institute of
Organic Chemistry, Technische Universität
Braunschweig. Alain Krief is Executive
Director of the International Organization
for Chemical Sciences in Development,
Emeritus Professor in the Chemistry
Department at Belgium’s Namur University,
and an adjunct professor in the HEJ Research
Institute of Chemistry, University of
Karachi. Goverdhan Mehta is University
Distinguished Professor and Chair in the
School of Chemistry at the University of
Hyderabad.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2018.
We are live everywhere, Always