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Issue No. 585 August. 16 - 22 2019 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8

Zigy Wyne death

Bobi Wine, police
and Kiwani 2021

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inbox

Issue No. 585 August. 16 - 22 2019

News analysis Business Health Arts Motoring

Cover story
Zigy Wyne death
Bobi Wine, police and Kiwani 2021

5 The Week
30 Comments
KCCA to stop leasing markets, seeks
recovery of Owino and Nakasero Secret Lubowa Hospital
dealings: The construction
of the costly facility shouldn’t
9 The Last Word
be shrouded because it took
Bobby Wine’s Ziggy Wyne: How taxpayer money
an unknown young man’s death
turned him into a political football
32 Health
for opportunistic politicians
Ebola is now curable: Here’s
14 Analysis how the new treatments work
MPs salaries: Unlocking
the facts, myth, secrets after
Supreme Court ruling
35 Arts & Culture
27 Business
Exciting student art:
Private sector lending up: It’s multi-disciplinary,
But who is benefiting? full of potential

STRATEGY & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Andrew M. Mwenda WRITERS:Ronald Musoke, Ian Katusiime,
MANAGING EDITOR: Joseph Were Patricia Akankwatsa, Julius Businge.
INVESTIGATIONS EDITOR: Haggai Matsiko DESIGN/LAYOUT: Sarah Ngororano
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2 August. 16 - 22 2019
 inbox

“My observation is that Gen.

Tumwine is a bully.”Minister of
state for Health Sarah Opendi on fellow
minister Elly Tumwine who is accused of
intimidating MP Cecilia Ogwal

The Minister of Health, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng (far right) delivers a speech during the Annual
Reproductive Maternal, Newborn Child and Adolescent Heath Symposium in Kampala on
Aug.09. The conference called on government to invest more in adolescents for their health
growth.  INDEPENDENT/ ALFRED OCHWO

Police Deputy Director

in charge of traffic, Bazil
Mugisha (L) explains to
taxi operators how the
new express penalty for
traffic offenders work
during a workshop
that was organized “How did you spend Shs10b on an
by KCCA, Ministry of item that you planned to cost Shs2b?
Works and Transport
and taxi operators. The No piece of evidence shows who
event was held at Old authorised to carry out the mischarge
Kampala Mosque on Aug.
O8.   INDEPENDENT/ ALFRED and which activity in your budget was
OCHWO affected.”PAC chairman Nandala Mafabi to
PS of Local Government Ben Kumumanya

A section of Muslims
greets the head of Muslim
Community in Uganda
Prince Kassim Nakibinge
(L) during Eid al-Adhuha
celebrations at his home in
Kibuli on Aug.11. Nakibinge
urged police to protect the
citizens and their properties
during this period of high “I will implement the President’s
insecurity.   INDEPENDENT/ directives through the law.”Keith
ALFRED OCHWO
Muhakanizi, Permanent Secretary at the
Ministry of Finance on clash with minister Anite
over audit of UTL

Underage mothers in
13 400 Shs14bn
New priests Kampala Iganga who will receive Money Ireland has donated
Archdiocese will name income generating skills to Uganda for food relief

August. 16 - 22 2019 3
week

Uganda National Oil

Company gets new boss
Proscovia Nabbanja (Pictured) has been
named as the acting CEO of Uganda Nation-
al Oil Company (UNOC). She replaces
Josephine Wapakabulo who quit after three
years on the job. Nabbanja, has been the
Chief Operating Officer (COO) upstream at
UNOC and is a geologist with 19 years of
experience in the oil and gas industry. For-
merly she served as a principal geologist in
the Petroleum Exploration and Production
Department under the ministry of Energy
and Mineral Development. Nabbanja holds
a Bachelor of Science (chemistry, geology)
from Makerere University and a Master
of Science in petroleum geoscience from
Imperial College of Science Technology and
Medicine, London where she also studied
for an MBA. UNOC’s role is to handle the
Uganda government’s commercial interests Newly sworn-in Peace Corps with Ambassador Malac
in the petroleum sector and to ensure that
the resource is exploited in a sustainable
manner. UNOC also aims at increasing US boosts rural health centres, focus on HIV, malaria
participation of Ugandans in the oil and
gas sector through employment and pro- U.S. Ambassador to Uganda Deborah promoters. They will promote access to
vision of goods and services. In her new Malac presided over the swearing-in cer- healthcare services with a focus on HIV,
role, Nabbanja has promised to guide emony of 46 United States Peace Corps malaria, hygiene, and nutrition. Community
UNOC to play “across the petroleum Volunteers (PCVs) at the U.S. Ambassador’s agribusiness volunteers will contribute to
value-chain and plans to grow into an oil residence in Kampala. the U.S. government’s Feed the Future Initia-
and gas entity with both local and inter- This newest group of 21 health and 25 tive and will focus on farm-to-market value
national presence.”  agribusiness volunteers brings the total chain development, financial literacy, entre-
number of Peace Corps Volunteers current- preneurship, and improved child nutrition.
ly serving in Uganda to 146. In the health In her Ambassador Malac said that the event
sector, volunteers will be placed at rural “marked another milestone in the growing
health centers and will train and empower partnership between the people of the Unit-
village health teams and community health ed States and Uganda.”

UNRA unveils land management unit

A new unit at Uganda
National Roads Authority
(UNRA) is expected to fast
track land transactions in
Uganda, increase on effi-
ciency regarding storage,
access, and retrieval of land
information on all land par-
cels affected by UNRA road
Projects. The unit is a Min-
isterial Zonal Office (MZO)
attached to the ministry og
Lands, Housing and Urban
Development. Its other
roles will be; to check and
re-compute survey files
submitted by UNRA sur-
veyors, manage the process
of issuance of instructions
to survey which involves
passing Mutation forms.
The MZO will fastrack
the Physical planning
clearance, plot and check
survey files for cartographic
compliance and assign plot
numbers and issuance of
area schedules. Th ceremo-
ny held at UNRA head-
quarters was attended by
UNRA executive director
Allen Kagina, Permanent
Secretary in ministry of
lands, Dorcus Okalany and
Chief Government Value
Gilbert Keremundu.

KCCA to stop leasing markets, seeks recovery of Owino and Nakasero

Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago
tabled a motion seeking to end the leasing of
markets by Kampala Capital City Authority
(KCCA). KCCA councilors adopted the
motion after numerous reports of wrangles
surrounding city markets. KCCA is also
going to resume management of two top
markets that were leased out; Nakasero and
Owino both located in the city centre. There
is also a plan to pass a law by KCCA that
bars markets under construction from being
leased. The company that took over Owino
market has not paid Shs4bn in premium
and Shs200m in ground rent. Groups whom
KCCA leased Nakasero market have arrears
of Shs1.5bn in premium rates and Shs100m
in ground rent. KCCA officials have said
that they will recover markets that they
can from those they leased while those not
recoverable, their leases will not be renewed.

4 August. 16 - 22 2019
 week

Judicial Service Commission PS Nassali Lukwago faces corruption charges

Once seen as untouchable,
Nassali Lukwago (Pictured),
a former Permanent Secretary
at the ministry of Education
and currently in the same
role at the Judicial Service
Commission is now facing
charges of abuse of office
and causing financial loss of
Shs33 million in the 2014/2015
financial year for her time at
the Education ministry. She
fended off many battles at the
ministry including one with
her former boss FX Lubanga
whom she succeeded as
PS. Lukwago was arrested
by detective from the
Inspectorate of Government
for allegedly facilitating
an overpayment of Shs33.8
million to AH Consulting Ltd
well. Lukwago was arrested
alongside Dr Opio Okiror,
the former commissioner
Health Services at the
ministry of education.

Bobi Wine case stalls Multichoice Uganda names new MD

over lack of witness
Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi
alias Bobi Wine and four others were left
frustrated on Aug. 12 after the state asked
for more time to summon witnesses in a trial
where they are facing charges for disobedi-
ence of statutory duty. The other suspects
are David Lule, Julius Katongole, Fred
Nyanzi Ssentamu and Edward Sebufu. State
Prosecutor, Barbra Kyomugisha made the
request when the suspects appeared before
the Buganda Road Grade One Magistrate,
Joan Ketty Acaa. Kyomugisha explained
that they hadn’t been able to summon the
witnesses since some of the suspects didn’t
show up in the previous court session held
in July. “Back to court for protesting against
the social media tax last year! Days ago, I
was charged with a fresh criminal case of
annoying the President!” Bobi Wine posted
on his social media pages.
MultiChoice Uganda, a 2008, Saleh was at Coca-Co-
subsidiary of MultiChoice la SABCO as the Region
Africa Holdings B.V., has Demand Creation Manager
announced the appointment North and East Africa
of Hassan Saleh (Pictured) based in Nairobi in 2007.
as the new Managing Direc- He served in key roles with
tor in Uganda. Saleh, who is Coca-Cola’s East and Cen-
enthusiastic about business tral Africa in Uganda and
transformation joins the Kenya between 1999 and
team with vast experience 2006. Along with his vast
in marketing, sales and FMCG industries sees him experience in FMCGs, Saleh
distribution - having most returning to Uganda after also brings an equally rich
recently worked as the Gen- nine years, following a pre- experience in the telecom
eral Manager Sales and Dis- vious in-country assignment industry having worked at
tribution for MTN Sudan. as the Country Sales and Bharti Airtel Kenya Limited
His career footprint across Marketing Manager for Cen- and Vodacom South Africa.
Africa in both telecoms and tury Bottling Limited. Before
Police net fake tour operator accused of stealing Shs80m
Tourism police arrested a rogue tour identified by covert teams at check-in.
operator accused of fleecing tourists of He is currently being held at Kabale
$21,500(Shs79m). Richard Tusasibwe, Police station and charged with obtaining
director of Gatatu Safaris Limited in money by false pretense. Tusasibwe
Kigezi was taken into custody after is alleged to have been contracted
he was arrested by police at Arcadia by 5 American tourists to organize
Cottages in Kabale; near Lake Bunyonyi; chimpanzee and gorilla tracking
where he had taken other tourists for expedition in Uganda. After an airport
a trip. According to Tourism Police pickup and arrival in Kisoro, Tusasibwe
Commander, CP Frank Mwesigwa, abandoned the tourists at a lodge and has
Tusasibwe was arrested after being been on the run for the past two weeks.

AfricellUG @AfricellUG

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for more bundles

August. 16 - 22 2019 5
week
Hong Kong protests leave China on edge
Protestors in Hong Kong, a semi-auton-
omous region in China is having spillover
effects in motherland China. The protests
in Hong Kong have been going on for close
to three months over an extradition bill res-
idents describe as draconian. The Chinese
government has reacted with brute force in
dealing with the protests. There are fears that
Beijing may send in the army to quell the
protests once the police gets overwhelmed.
Now the Chinese national carrier, Cathay
Pacific has threatened to fire its staff if they
6 August. 16 - 22 2019
show support for the “illegal protests”.
The warning was emailed to staff by chief
executive Rupert Hogg. China ordered the
airline to suspend workers who support for
the protests in the territory. Cathay fired two
employees and suspended one pilot recently
in response to the order. On Aug.12, Hong
Kong International Airport cancelled more
than 100 departing flights, as anti-govern-
ment protests in its main terminal continued
for a fourth day.
Umeme starts safety
campaign for households
Power distribution company Umeme is
offering insulated clothes (washing) lines
to some households in Kampala, starting
with Nateete Police Barracks. This is meant
to raise the households’ awareness about
safety when dealing with electricity and
ensure there are no accidents resulting from
contact with power. “The purpose of this
project is to ensure zero fatalities resulting
from our operations by December 2019,”
Aloysious Kitumba, Umeme’s Nateete office
Metering Services Engineer said. Umeme
will spend Shs20 million on 17, 280 metres
of insulated cables, which it will distribute
to households in Kyengera and Kaboowa
as well. Muhammed Rashid Byansi, the
Officer-in-charge Nateete Police Station, was
touched by the gesture. “Since we are now
in partnership with Umeme, accidents that
would have occurred due to poor wiring will
not happen,” Byansi, an Assistant Inspector
of Police, said. Petua Kyalisiima, Umeme’s
Nateete office Operations Manager, said the
areas they have started with were zeroed
on after a needs assessment was done and
it indicated members of the households in
the high-risk would be safer with insulated
clothes lines.
Humour Did you know?
Eating chicken ‘can
reduce cancer risk’

Swapping your beef for chicken

Police have clarified that local musician Micheal Kalinda aka Zigy Wyne died in a road accident could keep you clear of breast cancer,
say scientists.
Researchers from the National
Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences in the U.S. found eating more
red meat was associated with a greater
risk of developing invasive breast
cancer.
Conversely, eating more poultry
such as chicken, turkey and duck was
linked to a decreased risk of it.
“Our study adds further evidence
that red meat consumption may be
associated with increased risk of breast
cancer whereas poultry was associated
with decreased risk,” said Dr Dale P.
Sandler, who led the study published
in the International Journal of Cancer.
“While the mechanism through
which poultry consumption decreases
breast cancer risk is not clear, our
study does provide evidence that
Treasury Secretary Keith Muhakanizi has clashed with Minister Evelyn Anite over audit on Uganda Telecom ltd
substituting poultry for red meat
may be a simple change that can help
reduce the incidence of breast cancer”,
said Dr Sandler.
In a follow-up, 1,536 cases of
invasive breast cancer were diagnosed.
Women who consumed the highest
amount of red meat were found to
have a 23 per cent higher risk of the
cancer than those who consumed the
lowest amount.
This is not the first time an
association has been made between
red meat and breast cancer or the
protective effects of eating poultry.
A Harvard School of Public Health-
led study published in the British
Medical Journal in 2014 found a link
between a higher red meat intake during
early adulthood and an increased risk of
developing breast cancer.
The Judiciary is considering tough restrictions for the public and media during court sessions

August. 16 - 22 2019

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
Pragmatic/
realistic NRM
There are times I feel angry
with Mwenda but most times
I admire his way of presenting
facts. He is a godsend when it
comes to presenting facts (and
at times lies or misinformation)
that you cannot help but jump
out of your seat and seek what
to applaud. Idealism and reali-
ty are so different that it would
require non-human actors to
arrive at a desired outcome.
While he presents NRM as
having taken the pragmatic/
realistic approach when the
ideal had miscarried, he either
forgets or neglects to mention
compromise. I cannot tell who
offered the carrot-and-stick so
NRM would have to accept
concessions; sacrificing some of
his citizens’ rights. It is appar-
ent there is some power that
held the whip. And since all
plea-bargains are held confi-
dentially and in darkness, the
concessionaire must be one
(thereby siring dictatorship).
Uganda being the Pearl it is
attracts many predators and
spoilers. Who, what, and why
Indians returned after having
been (I fear to use appropriate
word) is an enigma that will
remain baffling for eternity
Rwasubutare
8 August. 16 - 22 2019
Follow us on Twitter @
http://twitter.com/#!/ugandatalks
Follow us on Facebook @
www.facebook.com/TheIndependentMagazineUganda
Long live the great Jopadhola
Refer: “President Museveni
hails Kwar Adhola’s leader-
ship” (The Independent Online
Aug.10). Thanks to the Great
people of Padhola, may all of us
learn from this Luo group and
cause unity for development.
The Itesots where trying to
distablise these people but they
Inside the NRM
struggle
Refer to: “Inside the NRM
struggle” (The Independent
Aug.09). “The lesson from the
book is that a free press is great-
ly helped if leaders in the media
are connected to key state actors
with liberal convictions. This
makes their intentions less sus-
pect but also arms them with
internal surrogates to defend
them within the system when
controversies emerge”.
Mwenda is finally and
publicly acknowledging and
embracing the allegations of
the state having compromised
him. He is now attempting to
dress up this lack of journalis-
tic independence with sweet
words like “liberal convictions”.
Congratulations sir, on your
now officially confirmed role as
a government propagandist.
Paulo
Money creates a ‘dilute’ parliament
Refer to: “Get rich for doing
nothing in Uganda: How money
creates a ‘dilute’ parliament”
(The Independent Aug.09). Par-
liament is completely useless
and continues to fail Ugandans
badly. Over-regulating bogus
things in an attempt to appear
relevant yet they can allow alco-
hol advertising (TV, billboards,
painted shops, name it) while
they pretend with government
demonstrated unity and a little
bit of the strength.
Thanks to the wise leadership
of specifically President Yoweri
Museveni who handled the
Tororo/ Padhola cultural land
boundaries/ districts issue with
a lot of wisdom. This stopped
the worst that would have hap-
Commonwealth Parliament opportunities
We are blessed to host the
64th Commonwealth Parlia-
mentary Conference from 22nd
to 29th of September. Each year
Uganda attracts dignitaries from
around the world which is very
good for the government of
Uganda and also for tourism.
We have hosted Queen Eliz-
abeth and several Popes have
been here several times. We have
hosted international common-
wealth events like the Common-
wealth Youth Conference.
The 64th Commonwealth
Parliamentary Conference will
bring here over 500 Parliamen-
tarians, parliamentary staff and
decision makers from across the
Commonwealth countries for
this unique networking oppor-
tunity. The Commonwealth Par-
liamentary Association’s global
membership of Parliamentarians
and Parliamentary staff will
converge to address the critical
issues facing today’s parliaments
to be concerned about today’s
burning issues of poverty
(wealth creation), youth unem-
ployment, the ever increasing
cases of cancer, crime, domestic
violence, and road safety. They
will even be the ones to cite
studies funded by the alcohol
industry shown how advertis-
ing has no impact on alcohol
consumption/abuse. They have
repeatedly demonstrated a lack
News analysis Health Business
Risks, opportunities Facing ‘chronic Looming battle for
to Uganda economy workplace stress’ the East African skies
Issue No. 584 August. 09 - 15 2019
Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8
Get rich,
For doing
nothing
How money creates
a ‘dilute’ parliament
www.independent.co.ug
pened. Bloodshed was stopped.
Long live the Great Jopadhola
people all over the world, long
live the Luo people. God of
heaven and earth is great. WERE
is his name in their Language.
Orapa Austin Astro
around the world and specifi-
cally in the member states of the
Commonwealth.
For 108 years, it has helped to
develop, promote and support
Parliamentarians and their staff
to identify benchmarks of good
governance and to implement
the enduring values of the Com-
monwealth.
Climate change, innovations
in parliaments, facilitation for
Persons with a disability, youth
round table, CPA Lecture,
urbanisation, sexual harass-
ment, separation of powers,
post-legislative scrutiny, and
CPA Benchmarks for democratic
legislatures will be discussed.
Ugandans will benefit a lot
through accommodating these
guests in the various hotels, tak-
ing them to tourist sites and all
engagements.
Michael Woira
of common sense. The day is
coming when parliament will
have to be dissolved because
of too many years of being a
bottomless pit for taxpayers’
money, full of useless so-called
honourables dosing shamelessly
and making anti-people laws.
It’s coming.
Saddened Ugandan

Bobby Wine’s Ziggy Wyne
By Andrew M. Mwenda
How an unknown young man’s death turned him into
a political football for opportunistic politicians
L
ast week, it became apparent that
the initial news that a one Michael
[K]alinda aka Zigy Wyne had been
kidnapped, eye yanked out, fingers
chopped off and face burnt using a flat iron
were exactly that – a hoax. Zigy had a nasty
motorbike accident at 7.30pm on July 21.
People around the accident scene picked
him up and took him to the nearby Hope
Clinic. The nurse at the clinic referred him to
Mulago for urgent medical attention.
The indefatigable Canary Mugume of
NBS, then Tom Malaba of Daily Monitor,
and other reporters went to the scene of
the accident and interviewed eyewitness
who told the story of what actually
happened. Later I visited Mulago and
talked to the doctors. Zigy was brought
to Mulago by a “good Samaritan” who
said the victim had been involved in a
traffic accident and was admitted at about
9.30pm as an unknown person and given
the code name “Zulu.”
Zigy was treated, fed, bathed and given
fresh clothes; the ones he was wearing at
the time of the accident were taken and
washed. On July 24th, his family came.
He recovered and was discharged on
July 28. He was given medicines to stop
convulsions. He was later readmitted on
July 31; doctors suspect he was not taking
his medicines. However, the convulsions
he suffered as a result of not taking his
medication are the most likely cause of
his death.
Yet in spite of this mountain of evidence,
the leader of People Power, Hon. Robert
Kyagulanyi aka Bobby Wine, continued to
claim that Zigy was kidnapped, tortured
and murdered. He feels no responsibility
whatsoever to provide any evidence to
back up his claims. The death of Zigy
only serves him an opportunity to score
political points, in complete disregard to
all forms of decency. This crass political
opportunism excites the passions of the
hoards that see him as a messiah but
shows how bankrupt he is.
Throughout last week, the journalists
who told this truth became victims of
cyber bullying by supporters of People
Power. Rather than respond to the facts,
the supporters of People Power hurled
insults, abuses and false accusations at
those who told the facts they did not
want to hear. One wonders what sort of
government Bobby Wine would preside
The Last Word
over given the quality of people he has
mobilised to his cause. People Power is
not supported by only lumpens. Some
very smart Ugandans support it. It has a
clear strategy behind its madness.
Here is their strategy: it is to deny
all facts and insist that everything is
subjective and relative; to dismiss all
evidence as forged if it does not promote
their political agenda; and to argue that
every argument that seems to favour
President Yoweri Museveni and his
NRM is not based on conviction but
has been paid for. It is interesting that
People Power resembles the Donald
Trump movement in the USA although
Americans who support it are anti-
Trump.
Over the last decade, there has been
a huge shift in government budgeting
from consumption to investment –
roads, dams, power lines, water pipes,
hospitals and schools. Defiance and its
bastard child, People Power, hate to hear
this. They know that the good things
happening in our country are contrary
to their political interests. Therefore
they insist that there is nothing good
being done. All there is are the bad
things they complain about – which also
happen – and which are driving people’s
momentary anger.
Hence, they exaggerate the level of
decay and disregard and deny all the
improvements in the country. They insist
that everyone in Uganda should accept
this gross distortion of reality. They do
not seek to convince or persuade anyone
to their point of view. They believe in
using cyber bullying and psychological
terror against all who disagree with them.
This way they seek, like the European
fascists of old, to rally everyone behind
their cause by sheer use of psychological
terror.
The aim of this strategy is obvious:
bully everyone to believe change is
urgently needed to rescue Uganda from
catastrophe. They don’t want people
to question the change they propose or
ask for their alternative policies or even
question their intolerant behavior. To
question their lack of policy alternatives
and the crudeness of their methods
is evidence of having been bribed by
Museveni.
For them politics in Uganda is a clash
August. 16 - 22 2019
opinion
between good (People Power) and evil
(Museveni); that these are the only
alternatives available to us; that to say
there is a third or fourth alternative is
disguised support for Museveni; that
evidence that someone wants change is
fanatical, unthinking and unquestioning
support for Defiance and People Power.
Many young people have been pushed
into this because to do otherwise is to get
ostracised from your circle of friends.
We are told that if Defiance and People
Power supporters exhibit intolerance, we
should not blame them, as this is only an
inevitable result of Museveni’s politics;
that when People Power uses violence,
intimidation, cyber bullying, blackmail,
character assassination and insults
against its opponents, this does not reflect
on the nature of government they will
run; that Uganda needs change and it
does not matter which methods are used
or the behavior of the groups who bring
it about. That lies, slander, cyber bullying
are “weapons of the weak” fighting to
end tyranny.
People Power is not a stupid cult. It has
a clear strategy. Lacking a serious policy
alternative and being composed of the
worst elements of our society, it needs
to sell change as an emergency needed
to save the country from catastrophe. To
avoid questions about its competence and
values, it needs to suppress all dissent
using physical and psychological terror.
And to compensate for lack of alternative
policies or better values, it positions itself
as a religious-like cult.
Yet Defiance and People Power have
failed to subdue the spirit of our nation.
Increasingly many journalists are finding
the courage to stand up for the truths and
defend it against this demented cult. The
story of Zigy Wyne is one such example.
Everyday, multitudes of elite Ugandans
are coming out to say that politics must
be about values. That the role of our
leaders should be to articulate these
values and impart them on their fol-
lowers, leading by example; that leaders
should not pander to the worst instincts
in their followers but try to appeal to the
better angels in them. Everyday my faith
and pride in Uganda grows.
amwenda@independent.co.ug
9
cover story

K
By Ronald Musoke

Zigy Wyne
iwani” in Kampala street-
speak means “something
fake.” Musician Bobi Wine
coined the word in 2007 as
the title of his song that won

death
that year’s award for best
Afro beat single.
Twelve years later, Bobi Wine (real
name Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi) is
the MP for Kyadondo East and kiwani
(fake news or fake claims) has become
a major talking point. It could become
even bigger if he challenges President
Yoweri Museveni in the 2021 presidential
elections.

Bobi Wine, police According to some observers, that is the

significance of the debate about who is
lying, telling the truth, or making political

and Kiwani 2021

points from the recent death of a young
man called “Wyne” that has thrown Bobi
Wine, the police, and the dead man’s
family in a swirl of “Kiwani” – fake
claims.
Kyagulanyi is the leader of “People
Power,” a political wave that emerged in
2018 and is threatening President Yoweri
Museveni‘s grip on power and the dead
man, Zigy Wyne, has been linked to both
Bobi Wine’s People Power group and his
music group, the Firebase Crew.
The 30-year old Zigy Wyne, real name
Michael Alinda, died on Aug.04, seven
days after he was discovered in Mulago
National referral Hospital, badly bruised
with burns on the body, two fingers
missing and left eye in a patch.
The story made international
headlines. “Ugandan activist Bobi Wine
condemns killing of his follower,”
was headline on Aug.06 on Voice of
America and The Washington Post. “Zigy
Wyne latest victim of Gen. Museveni’s
Uganda,” screamed the Black Star News.
His family had reported him missing
on July 21 and when days went by; they
said he had been kidnapped. Fourteen
days later, he was dead.
“I think his involvement in political
activism with People Power could be
behind his brutal torture,” his sisters
Immaculate Chocho Nalwadda told
journalists as she collected the body
from the Mulago Hospital mortuary on
Aug.05.
“Zigy Wyne was abducted and
subjected to horrendous forms of torture.
His left eye was plucked out, two of
his fingers cut off and parts of his body
were burnt with a flat iron. He was
beaten to near death, and dumped at
Mulago hospital,” Kyagulanyi said in
a statement on Aug.05. He said People
Power supporters were being targeted
for kidnap, torture, and murder and he
listed several cases.

10 August. 16 - 22 2019

The police backed up the story – at
least initially.
Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga on
Aug.05 told journalists that homicide
detectives were tracing what he called
“thugs” who kidnapped Alinda and
maimed him leading to his death. He
said they would look at the CCTV
footage to see who dumped him at the
hospital.
But on Aug. 06, Enanga issued a fresh
statement which sharply contrasted
with the first statement and has thrown
a mist of mystery over the death. Most
people listening to the police and other
government officials, and Bobi Wine and
the dead man’s family are not sure what
is real and what is fake.
Fake or true
Facts are being made up or twisted
to misinform or deceive, traditional
and new media – print, electronic,
and online – is being exploited or
manipulated, and authenticity of
images on TV and photographs is being
doubted.
The police say Zigy Wyne was on the
evening of July 21 racing at fast pace on
his big Honda sports touring motorbike
when he got involved in an accident on
a section of road under repair. Accounts
differ but a police statement said he was
blinded by the full-beam of oncoming
traffic, hit some road furniture and
struck the temple area of his head
before ending up in the road drainage
gutter with the big bike on top of him.
A woman who police identified as Loy
Atworo; a 24-year old teacher, was also
injured in the accident.
But the story took a dramatic twist
when police paraded Atworo to the
press to explain how the said accident
happened. In an unprecedented cyber-
challenge, Atworo was soon after
“exposed” as a policewoman not a
teacher. Social media became awash
with photos of a woman who looked like
her in police uniform and involved in
various public relations activities. Public
debate got heated.
Many posts were made on the Uganda
Police Force social media platforms,
especially its Facebook page. Some
people demanded more answers from
the Police while others accused the
police of “presenting one of their own”
to pose as the accident victim.
Apparently, the accident victim,
Atworo, resembles ASP Helen Butoto,
a police spokesperson for the Sezibwa
region. They said they are sisters.
On Aug.08, the Uganda Police Force
published a video, in which ASP Helen
Butoto appears, to clear the perception
that she is the one who was allegedly
knocked down by Zigy Wyne in the
accident. In it, Butoto tells the public
to disregard the fake reports on social
media. But Ugandans were relentless, still
unconvinced.
On the Uganda Police Force Facebook
page, Sharon Loudy wrote below Butoto’s
video: “Thanks for styling the victim’s
hair,” after noticing that the accident
victim had since plaited her hair which
only made her resemble ASP Butoto.
Jawingo Peter wrote: “This still poses
the same questions, present a video with
them together please.”
Sadat Wassanyi pressed Police to do
more: “If you can’t parade them together.
The fact remains Zigy Wyne was tortured
and murdered. #Period.”
Michael Alinda loved motorbikes.  COURTESY PHOTO
Hilda Iga wrote: “I don’t know why
that has failed them. Yesterday, the
media houses went to the school where
the knocked teacher teaches and she was
nowhere.”
Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi, the
Shadow Minister for Internal Affairs,
which oversees the police for opposition
parties, said the police needed to show
footage from the CCTV cameras in the
area.
“This part of the city’s road network
is one of the most invested in when it
comes to CCTV cameras,” the Butambala
County MP said.
Mwebaze Edward added: “What I see
is simple and full of sense; that is for
you to parade both the teacher and this
police lady together holding hands (no
Photoshop) and then leave the rest to us
intellectuals to judge.”
On Aug. 09, the police responded, this
August. 16 - 22 2019
cover story
time driving ASP Butoto with the media
to the nursery school where they found
the teacher at school.
At Happy Hammy Nursery School,
the Deputy Police Spokesperson Polly
Namaye asked the two women to pose
next to each other and address the media.
The teacher recounted how the said
accident happened. But many remained
unconvinced. She was asked to show
scars from the accident and she did; on
her elbow, and foot.
But that was not enough. She was
asked to enter a class to prove if the
nursery children know her.
“How do you do class,” she greeted
the toddlers.
“Hoow doo yoou doo, teeeacher Loy,”
they replied in unison.
But even after presenting the two
young women to the media on Aug.09,
Miriam Kyomugasho wrote on the
Police Facebook wall saying: “Police
bring real accident records, your books,
pictures, camera footage etc. Leave
drama to Bakayimbira Dramactors and
comedians.”
Lost credibility
It appears that despite the police
effort to provide as much information
as possible, many people remained
doubtful. Many focused on the police
delay to release the accident version
of what caused Wyne’s death. Mulago
National Referral Hospital’s admission
policy on accidents requires a police
statement. There is an onsite police post.
Why did police not have it immediately?
Vivien Gordon wrote: “The police in
Uganda is so corrupt, thieves, name it.
Don’t forget you have done this before.”
He cited another case involving Bobi
Wine in August 2018 when the police
raided a hotel the MP was in during the
Arua Municipality MP by-election, killed
his driver, arrested him and planted guns
in his room before attempting to charge
him and other opposition supporters with
treason. The case collapsed and police’s
dirty tricks were exposed.
“If you could lie about guns that were
taken in a hotel and think people are
stupid up to now, you have never come
out to say it was a lie; and we were trying
to frame the guy. I don’t believe anything
Uganda Police says. They are the most
dishonest people I have ever seen,” wrote
Vivien Gordon, perhaps not real name.
William Marshall wrote that
“credibility is like virginity. You lose it
once. Some of your officers made the
force lose credibility and that is why most
people here are negative about this.”
The public’s lack of trust in the
police reflects a growing distrust of
government institutions and politicians.
In an April 2019 public opinion poll by
11
cover story
Research World International, a local
polling agency, only 38% of respondents
supported President Yoweri Museveni to
stand for re-election but up to 50% said
they do not favour any of the current
leaders of his party either.
Up to 47% said they would not vote
back their area MP, mainly they said,
because the MPs are pursuing their own
interests and those of their constituency.
Another Research World International
poll released in February 2016 showed
that up to 47% of Ugandans do not trust
the Uganda Police. There have been
many incidences where government
communication agencies have clashed,
exposing a state in disarray.
In June, when a plane carrying new
currency notes ordered by Bank of
Uganda landed at Entebbe International
Airport in the so-called “BoU currency
Saga,” the Government Spokesperson,
Ofwono Opondo, publicly lambasted
the Police Spokesperson, Fred Enanga,
over the handling of information on the
investigation.
Ofwono Opondo told journalists: “It
is wrong for Enanga to tell the public
that extra money was smuggled in.”
And Enanga told journalists:
“As police, we stand by our first
investigations, which involved the
raid on the homes of the [BoU] officials
where we recovered the exhibits…”
In another incident in early July,
Attorney General William Byaruhanga,
his deputy, Mwesigwa Rukutana,
publicly squabbled with the Minister
of state for Privatization, Evelyn Anite,
over the fate of the Administrator
of the failing Uganda Telecom Ltd,
BemanyaTwebaze, until President
Museveni had to intervene.
In the latest tug-of-war, the Minister
of Health, Ruth Aceng, her Permanent
Secretary Diana Atwiine, and MPs
on Parliament’s Committee on the
Economy were left stranded at the
construction site of the controversial
Lubowa Specialised Hospital after the
entrance was blocked with a grader to
stop them from accessing the site. The
PS/Secretary to the Treasury, Keith
Muhakanizi, had earlier on Aug. 02
advised them not to attempt to enter the
site.
What emerges is a pattern of
squabbles between government officials
and institutions that leaves the public
unsure of what is going on and what is
true or fake.

Police, ISO torture cases

Solomon Asiimwe, a senior lecturer
of governance at the School of Arts
and Social Sciences at Uganda Martyrs
University told The Independent that ASP Helen Butoto, the Spokesperson for the Sezibwa region poses for a photo with the nursery
it is not a good sign when the public teacher.  COURTESY PHOTO

12 August. 16 - 22 2019

loses confidence in the police
specifically.
“Police is supposed to keep
law and order in society and,
therefore, it’s the closest security
institution the people run to.
When people lose confidence,
we might also get many people
dying and end up not bothering to
report.”
Asiimwe says the interference of
other security agencies in police
work explains the loss of public
confidence in the police. The
Uganda Police is currently run
by cadres brought in from the
Uganda People’s Defence Forces.
Most of its intelligence work is
done by the Internal Security
Organisation (ISO) which has
built a reputation for operating
outside the law with impunity.
Its officers, in civilian attire and
no identification can pounce
on anyone, anywhere and beat
them up before bundling them
in waiting cars with fake number
plates. The Uganda Law Society
has said it will sue ISO over
several incidents of alleged
torturing of civilians in detention
dungeons; the so-called ‘safe
houses.’
“Alinda’s death has ended up
taking on political undertones
because of his connection to Bobi
Wine,” Asiimwe said.
MP Muhammad Muwanga
Kivumbi agreed with Asiimwe.
He said there are many security
agencies in the country which
seem to be doing similar work
and there seems to be an attempt
at a cover-up of the cause of Zigy
Wyne’s death. He said police
appears cornered.
“This is a classic case of a
cover-up that even the smartest
of security agencies in the world
would find difficult to do,” he
said.
But Don Wanyama, the
president’s senior press secretary
says the media has given a free-
ride to Bobi Wine’s People Power
group.
“Uganda has a client media,”
he told The Independent on
Aug.12, “That is why even
after police did a good job
in assembling the pieces of
evidence that leads to one
possible result; an accident,
the media has not reverted to
Bobi Wine’s camp to own up or
apologise to the nation.
Wanyama said police’s loss of
public trust is nothing new.
“Even President Museveni has
spoken about it,” he said.
When asked to comment,
Livingstone Sewanyana,
the executive director of the
Foundation for Human Rights
Initiative (FHRI) told The
Independent on Aug.12 that the
Zigy Wyne affair speaks volumes
about the level of mistrust within
the Ugandan public.
Sewanayana attributes the
current fiasco to the inability of the
police to deliver on its promises of
investigating similar cases.
“Zigy’s death is one of many
that have happened even when
police promised the country that it
is investigating and it appears we
will never know the truth about
Zigy Wyne’s death,” Sewanyana
says.
Sewanyana lists some of these
cases including the late Ronald
Ssebulime who was shot dead
by police for allegedly trailing
State Minister of ICT and
National Guidance, Ida Nantaba,
Yasin Kawuma ( former MP
Kyagulanyi’s driver) who was
shot dead a year ago days before
the Arua Municipality by-election.
Sewanyana also recalls how
the state blackmailed former FDC
president, Kizza Besigye, accusing
him of raping Joanita Kyakuwa
ahead of the 2006 presidential
election.
Sewanyana told The Independent
that this is all happening because
Uganda’s law enforcement
agencies have become too
partisan; yet in such instances, the
truth is supposed to come from
the government. He says this
problem needs to be addressed
especially as Uganda heads
towards the 2021 general election.
The responsibility of the state is to
protect citizens and their property,
Sewanyana says.
“Until the state regains that
responsibility, it will be difficult
for the public to regain people’s
trust in institutions like the
police,” Sewanyana says, “As we
count down to 2021, this problem
needs to be addressed; otherwise
Uganda is heading towards
danger.”
Facts are likely to be made up or
twisted to misinform or deceive,
traditional and new media – print,
electronic, and online – is likely
to be exploited or manipulated,
and authenticity of images on TV
and photographs is likely to be
doubted.
August. 16 - 22 2019
cover story
Allegations of torture
in Bobi Wine statement
on Zigy Wyne death
August 2018: Bobi Wine
arrested and tortured alongside
more than 36 other Ugandan
political leaders and activists.
They are charged with treason.
May 14, 2019: Raphael
Walugembe, a People Power
coordinator and student of
Nkozi University shot dead
in Nateete under suspicious
circumstances.
May 20, 2019: Joshua William
Mukisa, one of the People Power
candidates in the Makerere
University guild election is
kidnapped, only to reappear
with severe torture marks.
Likewise, Ashburg Katto who
also works with People Power
media team was kidnapped and
later dumped at the roadside.
May 22, 2019: People Power
supporter and coordinator
Okot P’ Bitek Junior sustained
grave injuries after being shot
in Amolatar District by a UPDF
solider.
May 23, 2019, Rashid
Ssebulime, a local leader in
Kawempe Division in Kampala
was attacked and his house set
ablaze. He sustained severe
injuries.
June 03, 2019: People Power
mobilizer from Busiro North
constituency, John Bosco
Kibalama was abducted and as
of Aug.05, his whereabouts were
unknown.
June 04, 2019: People Power
coordinator and popular artiste
Lucky Bosmic Otim was severely
brutalised by the police in Gulu
District.
June 07, 2019: People Power
mobiliser and LC 5 Councilor
for Buvuma District, Lukoma
Stephen Ssalongo was shot dead.
“These are only few of the
many supporters and comrades
who have been victims of
targeted attacks. We have
received reports of people being
arrested and detained for putting
on either the red beret or t-shirts
branded with our symbols
or slogans.” – MP Ssentamu
Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine
13
news analysis
Parliament in session during debate on electoral reforms
Electoral Reforms finally
The good and the bad from
government’s tabled amendments
By Ian Katusiime
T
he demand for electoral reforms in
Uganda has been a persistent cry
from the opposition and civil society
for over ten years with each election
cycle prompting a new call for the govern-
ment to introduce them. Ministers responsi-
ble are usually dodgy even when Speaker of
Parliament Rebecca Kadaga routinely puts
them on the spot – demanding that reform
bills are tabled in time.
Attorney General William Byaruhanga
was acting under such pressure when he
tabled six reform bills to parliament on July
25. The proposals immediately sparked
debate and a fumble as they appeared
unpalatable to the opposition.
Amidst the acrimony, the attorney general
on July 30 returned to parliament and tabled
the “proper” bills. He said what had been
debated days earlier was a distortion of what
was happening.
The bills are Presidential Elections
Amendment Bill 2019; the Parliamentary
Elections Amendment Bill, 2019; the Elector-
al Commission Amendment Bill, 2019; the
Local Governments Amendment Bill, 2019,
14 August. 16 - 22 2019
and The Political Parties and Organisations
Amendment Bill, 2019. The latter bill pre-
scribes a code of conduct for political parties.
One of the key issues in the bills is regula-
tion of independent candidates. The amend-
ments propose that a person must cease to
be a member of a political party or organ-
isation twelve months before nomination
day to be eligible to stand as an independent
candidate.
If this amendment is passed, it is argued,
it would reduce on the internal party bicker-
ing caused by a rising number of Indepen-
dent MPs with a known party affiliation.
Candidates who are defeated in the party
primaries usually contest as independents.
To the annoyance of parties, many have won
the seat and swollen the numbers of Inde-
pendents in parliament. The parties want to
block that.
Another key amendment is the propos-
al to hold all elections for newly created
administrative units only during general
elections. This proposal, it is argued, would
help the Electoral Commission plan its poll
finances better because it was unable to hold
many elections this year for newly created
units due to inadequate funds.
Interviews with lawyers, MPs, civil soci-
ety leaders and academics show a lot of
disagreement on how to go about electoral
reforms.
Fixation with electoral reforms
“This country has always had a fixation
with electoral reforms. The magic bullet will
not come from reforming laws, we have to
find other ways,” says Elison Karuhanga, a
government-leaning lawyer.
He says Uganda is “permanently” looking
for a magic bullet for its electoral problems
yet history shows that we have dealt with
electoral issues in one way or another.
He says most elections in Ugandans have
been different. Karuhanga argues that since
the December 1980 election which was the
first multiparty election based on a parlia-
mentary system, the trend of having some
reform at each subsequent election has per-
sisted.
The 1996 elections, he points out, were
the first elections where Ugandans directly
voted for President and the 2001 was the
first regular election held after five years as
required in the constitution.
Karuhanga bases on the fact that elections

did not happen as scheduled in 1967, 1971,
and 1985. The 1966 Buganda Crisis impeded
the elections of 1967, while Idi Amin can-
celled due elections in 1971 after he toppled
then President Milton Obote in a military
coup. In 1985, the Obote II government was
in collapse and was incapable of holding
elections.
For the 2006 elections, Uganda had voted
for a multiparty political system in 2005 and
it was the first time in an election where a
president was voted directly in a multiparty
system.
“There’s nothing we are proposing now
that we have not dealt with in our electoral
history, Karuhanga says adding “we need
more than just reform agitation. We need
broader conversations not just rooted in
elections.”
But some optimistic minds say reforms
are overdue and in the right direction.
Frank Rusa, Executive Secretary of the
Inter Party Organisation for Dialogue
(IPOD) says the Code of Conduct which has
been introduced as an amendment to the
Political Parties and Organisations Act has
been pending for years. He says the code of
conduct is a good thing because it sets rules
of engagement.
“The National Consultative Forum
(NCF), which is a meeting point for all polit-
ical parties, has been working on this code of
conduct for many years, they have just never
agreed upon it.”
Rusa says political parties are going to
analyse the proposed amendments.
“What is contentious maybe is the sugges-
tion that parties should only use money that
is allocated to them which is not enough, so
this curtails their spending,” says Rusa.
According to Rusa, there has been lack of
a clear mechanism for engagement but says
this is a chance for parties to discuss and
debate proposals put forward.
For those saying the reforms are not
comprehensive enough, he argues it is now
an opportunity for them to make their addi-
tions and subtractions.
Code of Conduct
The proposed amendment to the Political
Parties and Organisations Act in Section 19
prescribes a Code of Conduct aimed at “pro-
moting tolerance, peaceful co-existence and
democratic principles between and among
different political parties, organisations and
their members and supporters.” It also calls
for free and fair political campaigns and
open debates.
In addition, the code of conduct also calls
upon parties to assist the Uganda Police
Force in apprehending their members who
attempt to violate the law.
Some politicians like Nandala Mafabi,
secretary general of Forum for Democratic
Change (FDC) have lambasted the code of
conduct as a waste of time. “There is no
way we can accept a code of conduct that
will benefit one political party,” Mafabi was
quoted as saying in reference to the ruling
National Resistance Movement (NRM).
Rusa who is behind the IPOD summits
says the proposed reform on elections in
new districts is another welcome move
because it will take Uganda out of a “con-
stant electioneering mood”.
Rusa is hopeful that the reforms will even-
tually sort out the mess created by indepen-
dent candidates.
“This will enable candidates look for a
candidate’s replacement in time if they want
to run as independents,” he adds, “I think as
far as election integrity is concerned, there is
some ground covered and we should look
towards building on these incremental gains
instead of just rubbishing the whole thing.”
Crispin Kaheru, the Coordinator of Cit-
izens Coalition for Electoral Democracy
(CCEDU) in an interview with The Indepen-
dent says that some of the amendments look
“progressive in nature.”  and value-system reforms.”
o
Y u can have
the best
election laws
and still end
up with a bad
election if
polling officials
do not conduct
themselves with
professionalism
“Ugandans have for long clamoured for
laws to streamline political campaigning,
reduce the influence of ill-gotten money in
elections as well as laws to facilitate trans-
parent (electronic) transmission of election
results.”
He adds that Ugandans have always
looked forward to a code of conduct that
facilitates rather than impedes the growth of
political parties and organisations.
Kaheru argues that given the circum-
stances, the proposed Electoral Reform
Committee that is charged with studying
and recommending concrete proposals for
electoral reforms could (if properly activat-
ed) respond to the usual concerns of delayed
or lack of electoral reforms.  (ACCU) say fighting the power of the
He says the Electoral Reform Committee
could help in creating more awareness on
needed reforms.  “In countries like Ghana
and India, such a structure has contributed
August. 16 - 22 2019
news analysis
tremendously to on-going progressive elec-
toral reform processes, he says.
Kaheru adds that there are lingering ques-
tions. “Where are the broader contextual
(constitutional/political) reforms upon which
the tabled amendments will be anchored?
“Shouldn’t the conversation around the
amendments be happening within a context
of a Constitutional review or better still a
national dialogue?” he says.
Broader reforms
Kaheru says whereas the amendments
respond to some of the key issues that the
Supreme Court raised in its 2016 recommen-
dations in the presidential election petition
of Amama Mbabazi vs Yoweri Museveni,
they miss the broader reforms that the public
has continuously clamoured for.
“But we also have to recognise that mak-
ing our elections continuously better means
an investment in legislative, administrative,
He says the focus should be on making
better legislation, improving administration
and instilling values in the Ugandan society.
“For instance, you can have the best elec-
tion laws and still end up with a bad election
if polling officials do not conduct themselves
with professionalism or if election stakehold-
ers do not conduct themselves with respect
and integrity.”
According to Kaheru, there must be a
higher purpose in all these deliberations.
“So, as we amend or pass new laws to san-
itise our elections, we must be aware that
most of the problems that afflict our elec-
tions are moral in perspective.”
He says Uganda should invest more in
socialising values such as integrity, honesty,
moral uprightness, togetherness, discipline
etc.
Daniel Ruhweza, a lecturer of law at
Makerere University, says that whereas the
amendments captured some of the issues
raised by the Supreme Court in its 2016 rec-
ommendations, they fail to address the issue
of incumbency.
“There should be a specific law which
puts an end to the term of office so that the
incumbent President hands over office at the
start of campaigning.”
Ruhweza says it would be important if a
law states that the president hands over to
say the Speaker of Parliament or the Chief
Justice.
“For as long as that provision is not there,
the incumbent president will always have an
advantage over others; meaning he can use
state resources unfairly while dealing with
his opponents.”
Other observers like Cissy Kagaba of
the Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda
incumbency is “a battle that cannot be
won”. She says, “The President will con-
tinue to dish out money and it is some-
thing that we should not focus on.”
15
news analysis

MPs salaries
Unlocking the facts, myth, secrets after
Supreme Court ruling
By Julian Sabiiti supervise the running of the company, and Environment (ACODE) titled `Ugandan

I
f for once Uganda were considered a
corporation where performance is mea-
sured on the basis of return on invest-
ment, the next meeting of shareholders
would be the stormiest in this corporation’s
history.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – Pres-
ident Yoweri Museveni – who is credited
with saving the corporation from potential
liquidation 33 years ago would be facing
new questions about his ability to bring sus-
tained dividends to the shareholders.
The current board of directors, the Mem-
bers of Parliament, who are supposed to
would be facing tough questions about their
performance.
At every board meeting, the board of
directors have been allowed to increase
their remuneration, with the consent of the
CEO, because of their “hard work” and
“sacrifice” in running the company. With
this balance sheet, the shareholders would
be outraged and a resolution demanding
action against both the CEO and the
board of directors, would be circulated in
advance of the meeting.
That is a slightly edited version of an
excerpt from a 2009 report of study by the
NGO Advocates Coalition for Development
Taxpayers’ Burden: The Financial and Gov-
ernance Costs of a Bloated Legislature’.
The report recommended that “specific
safeguards should be introduced to disin-
centive MPs from arbitrarily determining
their remuneration.
“Based on the study, the proposal that an
independent commission or body be consti-
tuted to handle remuneration issues for MPs
is considered untenable,” the report said.
Then it added: “It is proposed that the
constitution and appropriate legislation
should be amended to prohibit MPs from
benefiting from any legislation or decision
that confers pecuniary benefits to the sitting

16 August. 16 - 22 2019

Members of Parliament.”
Ten years after ACODE made the rec-
ommendation, the courts appear to have
acted on it although questions remain about
whether their ruling will stop the CEO, Pres-
ident Museveni and the MPs from continu-
ing to increase their remuneration.
Museveni rewards MPs
On July 25 the Supreme Court ruled that
MPs should not continue to base on Section
5 of the Parliamentary Act to unilaterally
increase their pay and allowances. They can
do so only with consent of the executive.
The case was raised in 2011 by Wil-
son Mwesigye, a concerned citizen from
Mubende, who petitioned the Constitutional
Court to challenge decisions of the Parlia-
mentary Commission to increase MPs pay
based solely on Section 5 of the Parliamenta-
ry Act and Article 85 of the Constitution.
In their ruling, the judges said MPs can no
longer increase their remuneration without
the involvement of the Executive (Govern-
ment) as per Article 93 of the constitution.
Seven judges led by Chief Justice Bart
Katureebe agreed and voted unanimously
that Section 5 of the Parliamentary Act be
declared unconstitutional and that Article
85 of the constitution must be read along-
side Article 93 which restricts financial mat-
ters to the executive.
Although the three arms of government
are supposed to do their work independent-
ly as different bodies, the constitution states
that the Executive is the arm of government
in charge of the country’s overall finances,
including both revenues and expenditures.
“It is evident that if Section 5 of the Act is
left on our statute books, it is bound to be
used by Parliament to violate the Constitu-
tion,” the judges ruled.
Following the court ruling, many people
opposed to MPs routinely raising their pay
expressed relief. But some MPs and other
commentators scoffed at the significance
of the ruling. It changes nothing, they said,
because MPs have never increased their pay
without the knowledge and acquiescence of
President Yoweri Museveni.
They say Museveni does not support the
MPs’ raising their remuneration on paper
only. In practice, it is the President who rou-
tinely “rewards” the MPs with money.
In the latest case, weeks before the
Supreme Court ruling, Museveni had been
speaking against the latest attempt by MPs
to raise their pay.
“MPs should stop asking for salary incre-
ment. Let us work on our national priorities
first,” he said on May 06 at a book launch
event in Kasangati Town in Wakiso District.
Members of Parliament had just
increased their allowances by 39% and
those of parliamentary staff by 15%. The
new allowances will cost taxpayers an
additional Ush63.46 billion ($16,967) in the
2019/20 budget.
Despite public outcry, the MPs also
demanded a salary increment of over 100%
so that their individual pay would on
average jump from Shs11 million to Shs24
million.
In Financial Year 2018/19, Shs459
billion was allocated to the Parliamentary
Commission and Shs86.9 billion of that
was allocated to salaries of MPs and other
parliament staff.
Earlier, in Financial Year 2014/15, Shs19
billion had initially been allocated to
parliamentary salaries but the Clerk to
Parliament demanded more. The MPs then
proceeded to ask for an additional Shs43
billion so as to be able to increase individual
salaries by Shs11 million.
The Parliamentary Commission proposed
a 40% increment in the MPs’ mileage
allowance from Shs2,500 to Shs3,500 per
kilometer for the financial year 2015/16. This
would mean that the MPs monthly cheque
would rise averagely from between Shs15
million and Shs20 million to between about
Shs16 million and Shs21 million.
These salary increments at times
August. 16 - 22 2019
news analysis
happen alongside other income enhancing
privileges, such as exemption from paying
taxes. The latest is the Social Media Tax /
Over the Top (OTT) tax which is levied on
all Ugandans at Shs200 per day. Instead of
paying the tax like all liable citizens, the MPs
cut adeal with a telephony services company
to provide each MP with 5GB of data valued
at Shs30,000 every month and pay their
OTT tax at Shs6,000 per month and bill it on
parliament.
As government criticism grew, the
President’s comments had little effect
because he has been making the same noises
for almost a decade.
In July 2011, he described the MPs as
“indisciplined” in an angry sounding
address to teachers at the launch of the
Uganda Teachers Cooperative savings and
Credit Union (UTCSCU) at Main Street
primary school in Jinja. The teachers, who
are among the least paid government
workers in Uganda, earn about 4% of what
the MPs earn and were threatening to strike
unless their salary was doubled.
The President who was out to woo the
teachers told them he was “ready to discuss
and debate” their demand but “the issue
must be handled cautiously”. End of story
for the teachers.
But the MPs who had just been sworn-
in two months earlier got their pay raise
despite sharp protests, including from some
of the MPs. Whereas the previous MPs were
each earning between Shs10 and 12 million
per month, the new MPs managed to get an
increase of between 50 to 80% which pushed
the monthly pay salary of each MP to
between Shs15 million and Shs20 million.
Secrecy around MPs pay
At this point, analytical observers often
ask why the salary of an MP cannot be stated
specifically. The explanation is in four forms;
firstly, MPs are not officially the most highly
paid people in Uganda but are the flashiest.
So, it is assumed, they must be getting a lot
of money unofficially. There is also a lot of
secrecy surrounding the cost of parliament
generally, no MP is willing to share personal
information, and most of MPs’ pay is dished
out as allowances.
What happened at parliament on April
04 illustrates the secrecy around the MPs
salaries. On that day, the Deputy Clerk of
Parliament, Henry Waswa, presented the
2019/2020 budget of parliament to the Legal
and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of
Parliament for approval.
Usually, those in attending such meetings
are allowed to walk out with documents.
But after the event, all documents were with-
drawn from the MPs present and they were
cautioned not to discuss them outside the
room. Some MPs not familiar with how par-
liament’s budget is handled were surprised.
But the older MPs are used to the secrecy.
ACODE made a note of it in their report:
17
news analysis
““Accurate data on the remuneration of
legislators is held as top secret by the par-
liamentary administration and, therefore,
attempts to access the relevant information
during this study were denied,” it wrote in
2009. The secrecy persists 10 years later.
All information on MPs salaries and
allowances discussed in the media is based
on anecdotal data compiled from different
sources. The result is a lack of facts and
spread of misinformation.
Adeke Anna Ebaju, the Youth Member
of Parliament, says “the salaries of MPs
are moderate”. But she says many of MPs
struggle to make ends meet only because
constituents are often under the impression
that MPs should meet some of their financial
needs.
Today, it is generally believed that each
MP takes home averagely Shs25 million
monthly, is given Shs103 million to buy a
car of choice at start of 5-year term, and an
I-pad. They also bag sitting allowances for
committees and plenary and per diem for
inland and abroad travel and get medical
allowances and insurance.
But when agitating for higher pay, the
MPs often claim they averagely get only
Shs6 million per month; that is the Shs11
million basic salary of an MP minus taxes
and other deduction. They never mention
the Shs15 million to Shs30 million they get
monthly in fuel/mileage allowance depend-
ing on how far their constituency is from the
parliamentary building.
An article by Mark Babatunde of Face-
2Face Africa in 2018 placed Uganda in
fourth position on the list of highest paid
legislators in Africa, with only South Africa,
Nigeria, and Kenya ahead of it in that order
from highest paid.
South Africa and Nigeria are the biggest
economies by GDP in Africa while Ken-
ya is in 8th position. Uganda meanwhile
is among the smaller economies in GDP
terms and is in 17th position. MPs in bigger
economies like Egypt, Algeria, Angola and
even Ethiopia and Tanzania earn far less
that Uganda MPs. Uganda also has one of
the lowest income per capita figures on the
continent.
A Kenyan legislator’s monthly salary
was in 2018 recorded at $13,740, putting the
annual wage bill for parliament at $60 mil-
lion. The average monthly salary for Ugan-
dan MPs was recorded at $8,715, slightly
more than half that of Kenya. Ugandans was
said to spend $45 million annually to pay
the salaries of their MPs. Tanzania came in
as number five, paying their legislators a
monthly salary of $7,266, meaning that the
economy dishes out $31 million per year to
pay their MPs, half of what Kenya spends.
Eyes on Parliamentary Commission
Ugandan MPs are able to earn high pay
and allowances because they decide how
much they earn. Article 85 of the Constitu-
18 August. 16 - 22 2019
Remuneration of MPs
Payment Type
Salary (per month)
Gratuity (% of annual salary)
Gratuity (MPs who are Ministers)( % of
annual salary)
Mileage ( Murram) (Per Km)
Mileage (Tarmac) (Per km)
Mileage (Water) (per nautical mile)
Subsistence (per day sitting)
Per diem for official duty in-county
Per diem for official duty abroad
Consolidated Subsistence Allowance
(Monthly)
Medical Facilitation (Annual?)
Constituency Mobilizations Allowance (per
month)
Const.Mobilization allowance
(Special Interest Group MP) (per month)
Committee Sitting Allowance (Committee
Chair) (per sitting)
Sitting Allowance (Committee Vice Chair)
(per sitting)
Sitting Allowance (Member) (per sitting)
Members’ Transport Facilitation (lump sum)
Consolidated Subsistence Allowance for
Ministers (per month)
Per diem for official duty abroad/night
(Minister)100
Parliament Expenditures
by Category
Expenditure Category
General staff salaries
Allowances
Committee, Council & Board
Expenses
Travel inland
Travel Abroad
Transfer to Treasury (NTR)
Contribution to Autonomous
Institutions
Budget for the FY
Transfer from the treasury- Recurrent
Transfer from the treasury- Capital
Total Transfers from Treasury
tion states that, “A Member of Parliament
shall be paid such emoluments, such gratu-
ity and pension, and shall be provided with
such facilities, as may be determined by
Parliament.”
According to the court ruling; that priv-
ilege remains but must be checked by the
executive. Will the executive check parlia-
ment?
Currently, Under Article 85, parliament
is a self-accounting body whose budget is
charged directly on the Consolidated Fund.
Under the Administration of Parliament Act,
parliament has a Parliamentary Commission
that determines the budget for parliament.
The Parliamentary Commission is made
up of the Speaker of Parliament, Lead-
er of Government Business, the minister
responsible for finance and three MPs
elected by parliament, none of whom shall
be a minister. The same body recommends
to parliament the allowances payable and
privileges available to MPs, the Speaker, and
Deputy Speaker.
It is not clear how the Supreme Court
ruling will affect the powers of the Parlia-
mentary Commission. Will it not continue
raising MPs allowances even as the salary
remain untouched? The MPs have said
before that the allowances they get are not a
form of payment but are costs they incur at
work. And that they have never raised their
salaries and allowances because the Leader
of Government Business (Prime minister),
and Minister of Finance are involved in the
decision and the President endorses it. Will
the Supreme Court decision affect that argu-
ment?
The Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda
(ACCU) has consistently spoken strongly
against MPs’ raising they pay. The ACCU
argues that the public purse cannot sustain
the high salaries and allowances. The ACCU
has also proposed that salaries for MPs be
determined by an independent Salaries and
Remunerations Board.
But when asked whether Parliament
would respect the Supreme Court decision
and end raising their salaries and allow-
ances, the ACCU Executive Director Cissy
Kagaba was doubtful.
“They are greedy and self-centred,” she
told The Monitor newspaper, “They would
come up with other loopholes to justify their
illegality.”
Teachers, police pay
Currently, a graduate level teacher of
Science subjects earns Shs1.1m while one of
Art subjects earns Shs790, 000 per month.
A diploma level teacher on the other hand
earns Shs700, 000 for teaching science sub-
jects and Shs550, 000 for teaching Arts sub-
jects. A Probation Police Constable (PPC)
takes home a monthly salary of Shs390, 000
and a Cadet Assistant Superintendent of
Police (C/ASP) takes home Shs1.1 million.
Most of public servants earn in a year what
Members of Parliament earn in a month.

Attorney General William Byaruhanga
Museveni’s electoral reforms
Why opposition shouldn’t expect
President to drop winning strategy
By Agather Atuhaire
S
ince Attorney General William
Byaruhanga tabled before parliament
the government proposed electoral
reforms on July 26, attention has been
on how opposition parties will react to them.
Presentation of the proposed reforms is,
on paper, a win for the opposition because
President Yoweri Museveni’s government
appeared reluctant. It only acted under
pressure after two prominent law scholars;
Prof Frederick Ssempebwa and Prof Freder-
ick Jjuuko went back to the Supreme Court
accusing government of refusing to enforce
the orders given by the Court in 2016.
The two professors and one other petition-
er argued that the government was in con-
tempt of court for failing or refusing to enact
reforms that the Court had guided should
be in place two years after the passing of the
Judgment.
At the hearing, the Attorney General’s
office, represented by Deputy Attorney Gen-
eral Mwesigwa Rukutana, responded that
the government had been consulting and
was ready to move when the application
came up.
Rukutana said his office followed up the
Supreme Court’s recommendation num-
ber 1 and 3 which relate to the filing and
determination of election petitions and the
holding of fresh elections where a presiden-
tial election is annulled, by participating
in the Constitutional Amendment Bill that
was introduced by Igara West MP Raphael
Magyezi in 2017. It is the same amendment
that abolished Presidential age limit from the
constitution.
The Court agreed with the given explana-
tions and did not find the Attorney General
in contempt of Court saying that the Attor-
ney General had made efforts to follow up
on the recommendations.
“His explanations on the delay were not
farfetched in light of the explanation given.
Indeed the explanation shows steps that
were taken to effect the court orders, albeit
slowly,” the court said in its ruling.
The Court ordered him to report progress
in three months if the objective of the court is
to be achieved.
“The objective of the court’s orders was to
foster fair play, democracy, law and order
in the politics of this country. The court set
a timeline because the said laws should be
August. 16 - 22 2019
news analysis
passed and effected in time for all stakehold-
ers to implement and comply in the subse-
quent elections.”
Reforms or maneuvers?
The government has since tabled before
parliament proposed reforms on the laws
on political parties and organisations, the
Electoral Commission, presidential and par-
liamentary elections and local governments.
The proposals now before parliament’s
Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee
should return to the House for debate within
45 days.
The introduced reforms have been met
with the usual criticism. Those opposing
them say they ignore required reforms and
instead aim to disadvantage the opposition
further by proposing amendments that
many say are targeting certain individuals in
the opposition.
Leading opposition lawyer and ideologue
WanderaOgalo says what the government
tabled are not reforms but continued maneu-
vers to keep Museveni in power.
“What reforms? There are no reforms. A
reform means an overhaul. Reforms normal-
ly depart significantly from the status quo.
19
news analysis
Deputy Attorney General Mwesigwa Rukutana
What you call reforms are just continued
maneuvers to achieve the only thing that
matters to Museveni-retaining power,” he
told The Independent.
He says that the proposal on the indepen-
dents contravenes freedom of association
and that the proposal on funding targets
Museveni’s latest challenger, Robert Kya-
gulanyi commonly known as Bobi Wine of
People Power.
“What they are doing is an opportunistic
strategy to retain power. I don’t see any
reforms. The proposal on funding is redun-
dant because the political parties are already
obliged by the law to file their audited
accounts every year. The provision is entire-
ly about Bobi Wine. They fear that he will get
funds from foreign sources. They will conve-
niently say that the funds are from terrorist
organisations. Because Museveni accesses
the treasury and raids it at will, he wants to
make it even harder for other contenders to
access any financial support.”
The Citizens Coalition for Electoral
Democracy (CCEDU) coordinator Crisoin
Kaheru agrees. He says the NRM govern-
ment worries that in the event that substan-
tive reforms are adopted, they could lose
their grip on power.
On the same day that the government
tabled its proposals, Ndorwa East Inde-
pendent MP Wilfred Niwagaba, who is the
Shadow Attorney General, followed Speaker
Rebecca Kadaga’s advice that a private
member should introduce the reforms that
the government is shying away from, and
20 August. 16 - 22 2019
moved a motion seeking leave of parlia-
ment to introduce a private members Bill to
amend the constitution and provide what he
describes as “meaningful electoral reforms”.
The most contentious government pro-
posals are on the position of people who
want to stand as independents. Under the
Attorney General’s proposals, these were
initially required to first be discharged by
their political parties. But this proposal was
opposed by the MPs on the Legal and Par-
liamentary Affairs Committee and it was
removed.
The others are the stringent proposals on
campaign funding which include a require-
ment for a candidate to declare the source
of their election funds and bars candidates
from obtaining any financial or other assis-
tance from any foreign Government, insti-
tution, body or person which or who has
“demonstrated an intention to overthrow the
lawfully established Government of Ugan-
da, or to endanger the security of Uganda; or
obtain any financial or other assistance from
an organisation which has been declared a
terrorist organisation under the Anti-Terror-
ism Act, 2002.”
Departing from previous tussles over
electoral reforms, the government this time
appears to have courted some opposition
parties and the powerful donor community
to back its position.
Some of the reforms the government
is presenting reflect the position of the
Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue
(IPOD) with the Democratic Party (DP) and
the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) back-
ing them. The government’s move appears
to have isolated the Forum for Democratic
Change (FDC).
Same opposition proposals, same fate
The opposition, represented by its ally
Niwagaba, is pushing its own reform pro-
posals.
On Aug.01, Niwagaba was allowed to
move his motion before parliament, mean-
ing it now stands a chance of being allowed
to be debated.
Niwagaba’s reform proposals include a
demand for an independent Electoral com-
mission recruited by the Judicial Service
Commission, reinstatement of presidential
term limits, abolition of army involvement in
elections, limitation of expenses and the use
of state resources by the incumbent.
Most of these are suggestions that have
come up so many times that even the
Supreme Court in the 2016 Presidential
election petition; the third petition in which
the election of President YoweriMuseveni
was being challenged out of the five elec-
tions conducted since 1996, commented and
ordered government to implement them.
“We must also note that in the past two
Presidential Petitions,” the Court said, “this
Court made some important observations
and recommendations with regard to the
need for legal reform in the area of elections
generally and Presidential elections in par-
ticular. Many of these calls have remained
unanswered by the Executive and the Leg-

islature. We have looked at some of the elec-
tion Observer Reports. Although the Reports
point to several instances where the Observ-
ers found irregularities and malpractices,
the main thrust of these Reports must be
seen to be directed at the need for structural
and legal reforms that would create a more
conducive atmosphere that would produce
genuinely free and fair elections.”
The issues that the Court noted that
keep coming up are: the incumbent’s use
of his position to the disadvantage of other
candidates, use of state resources, unequal
use of state owned media, late enactment
of relevant legislation, and limited time for
filing and determination of a presidential
election petition, among others.
These were the most prominent proposals
in a Bill drafted by opposition politicians
under their umbrella coalition, the Inter-
Party Cooperation (IPC), in the run up to the
2011 elections.
The same proposals featured prominently
in the `Citizens Compact’ that came out of
nation-wide consultations of opposition
political parties, civil society organisations
and religious leaders in 2014.
They now feature strongly in the latest
2019 constitutional amendment Bill by
Niwagaba. The other reforms are that if
a presidential candidate garners 10% in
general elections, they should be ex-official
Members of Parliament, creation of a
Speaker’s Panel to advise the office of the
Speaker and preside over parliament in
case the Speaker and Deputy Speaker
are indisposed, and creation of a lean
government of only 21 Cabinet Ministers
and 21 State Ministers.
Previously, the government has blocked
reform proposals by private entities every
election cycle.
The IPC proposals drafted in 2009
were denied a slot on Parliament’s order
paper when former leader of opposition
OgengaLatigo attempted to introduce them.
The Citizens Compact was pushed aside
by the government. Instead it introduced the
Constitutional Amendment Bill of 2015 that
did not in any way address the issues.
Most observers say Niwagaba’s proposed
reforms are likely to suffer the same fate as
those before them.
Deputy Attorney General Rukutana, for
instance, has already raised an objection
that the Bill has no Certificate of Financial
Implication. The certificate is a requirement
under Article 93 of the Constitution and
the Public Finance Management Act. That
certificate is awarded by the Ministry of
Finance and the ministry has previously
been used as a tactic to block any Bill
that government deems unfavourable.
WanderaOgalo says Niwagaba’s proposed
reforms are “real reforms” but says they will
not get anywhere just like any other reforms
that threaten President Museveni’s grip on
power.
Wilfred Niwagaba
Mugisha Muntu
Robert Kyagulanyi
Niwagaba is cognisant of these limitations
but he says he will do the job the people
entrusted to him and leave the rest to those
obliged by the law.
“For us we are doing the job that
Ugandans entrusted us with,” Niwagaba
said. “It is now up to the Speaker to rule on
whether the motion should be debated or
not. The AG was claiming that I don’t have
the Certificate of Financial implication but I
don’t think it is required at this stage. I only
moved a motion, seeking leave to introduce
the bill. If we encounter any difficulty we
will invoke the provisions of the Public
Financial Management Act.”
Targeting more parliament seats
Opposition stalwart, MugishaMuntu, who
is the coordinator of the newest party; the
Alliance for National Transformation (ANT)
August. 16 - 22 2019
news analysis
says anyone expecting any meaningful
reforms to be advanced by Museveni’s
government is naive. He says instead
Ugandans should keep organising to
overwhelm the regime.
“If we (the opposition) had at least 45%
of the members of Parliament, Museveni
wouldn’t have done whatever he wanted
with the constitution.”
MugishaMuntu appears to be pursuing
the position advanced by some experts on
political reforms and what political parties
need to do to win them.
Kristof Jacobs, a political scientist at
Radboud University, for example, says
major electoral reforms result from two
main considerations by the political elite;
the maximisation of seats in parliament and
legitimising the electoral system.
According to Jacobs, victory in a contested
election must result from a process widely
regarded as free and fair for the successful
assertion of democratic legitimacy of the
regime. The legitimacy of the elections in
Uganda is at its lowest considering that
Presidential elections have been challenged
thrice out of the five times they have been
held under Museveni’s tenure.
As a result, voter turnout has been declin-
ing. In 2011 only 59% of the voters turned up
to vote and in 2016 the figure increased only
by 3%.
Muntu says the opposition has to push on
two fronts by working hard to increase their
presence in parliament and changing tactics
to defeat the regime even on an unleveled
ground.
The FDC strategy is less clear, possibly
because of the many strands within the
party. While Niwagaba proposed reforms
in parliament appear to be the official FDC
party position, the party has a dominant
fringe of its former president and three time
presidential candidate, KizzaBesigye, who
has dismissed any hopes of getting a free
and fair election under Museveni.
Besigye appears to be of the same view
presented by Jacobs in his paper titled `Pat-
terns of electoral reform’. Jacobs argues that
politicians by nature are never willing to
change the rules of the game they are win-
ning.
“Political elites rank democratic reforms
according to the levels of threat or oppor-
tunity that they present to them,” Jacobs
argues, “Political elites will implement the
reform that benefits them the most.”
As a result of the need by the political
elite to secure their interests, Jacobs says,
fundamental changes to electoral systems
rarely occur and arise only in “extraordinary
historical situations”. In this sense, the Ugan-
da situation and the position taken by the
NRM government appear to be usual. What
is unusual is the opposition expectation of
something different.
21
news analysis
Role of private
security companies
Peeling back the layers on the role of
private security companies in Africa
By Jonathan Powell, Christopher Michael Faulkner
& Joshua Lambert
P
rivate military and security
companies have been regular
fixtures in conflicts across
the globe. For Africa, these
corporations became increasingly visible
with their role in civil wars in Angola and
Sierra Leone.
More recently, reports in 2015 indicated
the Nigerian government contracted
a number of companies to aid in
counterinsurgency efforts targeting Boko
Haram.
And a Russian contractor, the Wagner
Group, has been actively involved
in Sudan and the Central African
22 August. 16 - 22 2019
Republic. Its involvement has included
signing contracts that grant it access to
potential diamond and gold deposits.
Such agreements have been typical of
private military and security companies,
particularly in Africa. This was the case
with Executive Outcomes’ deal with
Sierra Leone’s government in the early
1990s.
But understanding when and why
these corporations are able to deliver
effective services to clients has remained
an elusive task.
What are they?
Private military and security companies
are defined as legal entities that provide
clients with a wide array of military and
security services. This includes combat-
oriented tasks, military or security
training, logistical support and armed
security and guarding. It can also include
weapons procurement and installation.
As a multibillion dollar industry, the
list of companies is continually growing,
as is demand for their services. In late
2018, the U.S. Department of Defense
reported nearly 50,000 contractors
working under the auspices of such
companies. Over 28,000 were in Iraq,
Afghanistan, and Syria.
Beyond the obvious role of combat
support, these companies have also been
increasingly used in services as diverse
as anti-poaching efforts and combating
maritime piracy.

Civil war role
For many governments, private
military and security companies can
become an attractive resource. This is
particularly true in cases where the
capacity of national armed forces is low
and the government faces strong threats.
But, how well do they perform?
One recent investigation argued that
contracting private military and security
companies during wartime can actually
increase military effectiveness – and
with it, the intensity of conflict. Other
scholars have explored their impact on
the duration of conflicts. This research
has suggested that conflicts in which
higher numbers of these companies are
contracted by a government are likely to
be shorter than those with few or none.
The rationale here is that a more
competitive market incentivises the
companies to perform better so they can
win more contracts.
Our recent assessment of private
military activity, along with work from
academics Deborah Avant and Kara
Kingma Neu, questions this logic.
We set out to try and understand how
these companies interact. We also wanted
to know the effect of these interactions.
Competition or complementary?
Private military and security companies
frequently do compete over contracts.
But we also found that once they were
contracted they often collaborated. This
was especially likely when a task was
very big or when specialised services
were needed.
Observing and evaluating the delivery
of specific services is difficult. Some
research has compounded this difficulty
by assessing effectiveness with generic
measures such as conflict duration rather
than whether the terms of the contract
were met.
It’s difficult accessing the terms of
specific contracts because all the entities
involved are private companies. This
means that identifying how well they’re
meeting the requirements of a specified
contract is often unknown. This is a
huge challenge for researchers who rely
primarily on quantitative assessments to
explore these dynamics.
We also drew attention to how
quantitative analyses, in the absence
of in-depth investigation, could lead
scholars to miss important dynamics in
how these companies influence conflicts.
Exploring the evidence
We looked at Sierra Leone’s civil
war, which began in 1991 when the
Revolutionary United Front invaded the
country from neighbouring Liberia.
Our analysis shows that at no time
during the conflict were rival private
military and security companies
operating simultaneously in the country.
For example, the Gurkha Security Guards
was contracted in early 1994. But it
quickly exited when rebels ambushed
and killed their leader. After the company
had left, Executive Outcomes was
contracted to thwart the Revolutionary
United Front threat. In the data, presence
in the same year is inaccurately treated as
competition.
We also found that when multiple
groups were contracted simultaneously,
their repertoire of services didn’t
overlap. In other words, they weren’t
competing with one another because their
services were complementary. From our
perspective this increased their ability to
execute their mission effectively.
For instance, Executive Outcomes
owned and operated a number of
subsidiaries, including groups like
LifeGuard Management and Ibis Air. It
This is
particularly true
in cases where
the capacity of
national armed
forces is low and
the government
faces strong
threats
used these groups to carry out specialised
services such as mine security and
air transport. These were pivotal in
providing Executive Outcomes the best
opportunity to regain territory from
the Revolutionary United Front while
training the Sierra Leone military.
But the simultaneous presence of each
of the companies is not indicative of
competition.
We also found that although hiring the
companies shifted the balance of power
in the government’s favour by 1996, the
conflict wouldn’t end completely until
2002.
Our qualitative assessment highlighted
that, instead of the companies helping to
bring the conflict to an end, the same data
could actually indicate that they simply
managed its intensity.
August. 16 - 22 2019
news analysis
This analysis underscores the need
to really come to grips with the concept
of effectiveness of private military and
security companies. It also suggests
that more work needs to be done on
uncovering insights on contract terms and
conditions, however aspirational a task.
Conclusions
We are not suggesting that private
military and security companies should
be avoided. They have proven to be
useful alternatives for organisations
such as the UN and the World Food
Programme. Rather, our analysis points
to the need to fully understand the
intricacies of their interactions – not only
with the entities that contract them, but
with one another.
This is particularly important in Africa.
Foreign investment by both Russia and
China is likely to see an increase in
private military and security companies
hired to protect their investments.
This might increase security in the
region. But depending on the terms
of the contracts and the clients these
organisations are accountable to, it may
not be in the best interests of the states
where they operate.
In addition, a more complete
understanding of the roles undertaken by
private military and security companies
during conflict is necessary to fully
understand their effects on conflict
dynamics, including duration.
Recent work has moved in this
direction with event datasets like the
Private Security Event Database. This
provides information on where these
companies operate, their clients and the
services they provide. Though real time
information on contracts and events
is likely to prove difficult to get, using
historical datasets like this can increase
our understanding of their influence.
For governments, the expanding list
of services in an increasingly globalised
market allows for greater opportunity to
fill real or perceived gaps in security. In
certain cases, private military and security
companies may be used to insulate a
regime from collapse.
Regardless of the reasons, the
interactions between the companies and
the influence they have on conflict and
stability will continue to be important.
Jonathan Powell is Associate professor,
University of Central Florida, Christopher
Michael Faulkner is visiting Assistant
Professor in International Studies; 2018-2019
Minerva-USIP Peace and Security Scholar,
Centre College, and Joshua Lambert is Ph.D
Candidate in Security Studies, University of
Central Florida.
Source: The Conversation
23
Manufacturing and trade sectors received the highest amount of laons from lenders according to Bank of Uganda.

Private sector lending up

But who is benefiting?
By Julius Businge
Latest statistics from Bank of Uganda shows that private sector lending
has gone up. But, a section of the private sector mainly traders,
manufacturers, economic experts are saying that they are yet to benefit.

I
ssa Sekitto, for instance, an
importer of electronics and home
appliances, who also doubles as
the spokesperson of the Kampala
City Traders Association – one of
the biggest groups that borrow
from banks, says the BoU data does not
reflect a true picture on the ground.
“With the cries that I see, there is
little money in circulation,” he told The
Independent on August.08. “What is in
the books of Bank of Uganda does not
reflect in the field.”
Sekitto says the private sector
could be borrowing to simply service
overdue loans and thus money is just
going back to the very banks.
Daniel Birungi, the Executive
Director for Uganda Manufacturers
Association (UMA) said the BoU
figures presented as a lump sum do
not necessarily mean all players in his
sector are borrowing.
He, however, says the recent
expansions by players in the
manufacturing sector and those
investing in new factories could have
managed to borrow some more money
from banks to fund their investments.
Birungi, however, decried the high
cost of borrowing. As at the end of
April this year, the average bank
lending rates stood at 20.2%. This,
according to BoU statistics, was
however lower than the 20.7% recorded
in the quarter to January this year.
The BoU Monetary Policy report
for June 2019 shows that the average
annual growth in PSC for the quarter
ended April 2019 was 13.9% compared
with 7.2% during the same period in
2018, supported partly by a rebound

24 August. 16 - 22 2019

in economic activity, improvement
in asset quality evidenced by lower
non-performing loans (NPLs) and a
relatively lower cost of borrowing.
The annual shilling-denominated
loans grew on average by 19.4% for
the quarter to April 2019 compared
with 12.5% in the quarter to April 2018.
Foreign currency denominated lending
registered an average growth of 4.6%
during the period as importers sought
for foreign currencies.
Winning, losing sectors
In terms of sectors, the report notes
that credit growth remains robust and
positive across all sectors supported by
a pick-up in economic activities.
The sectors of trade and
manufacturing registered the strongest
growth averaging 16.1% and 22.4%
in the quarter to April 2019 up from
10.7% and 13.6% in the previous
quarter, respectively.
This development also comes exactly
a month since the cabinet gave a
directive stopping investors to use
government land (or those benefiting
from land leases from government) as
security to acquire loans from financial
institutions.
However, year-on-year average
credit growth to building, mortgage,
construction and real estate sectors
remained below average constrained
by increased risk aversion by banks
towards the sector.
Default rates down
Asset quality – which looks at how
borrowers are paying back loans –
reported as NPLs as a percentage of
total loans declined to 3.8% in the
quarter to March 2019 compared to
5.3% recorded in the quarter to March
2018.
This, however, according to the
report is a slight increase from 3.4% in
the quarter to December 2018. These
declines are far lower than the 2016
percentage level of 10.4%.
Though NPLs of trade, personal
and household and transport and
communication sectors have been on
a steady decline from March 2018, the
sectors of mining and quarrying and
agriculture sectors were the most risky
sectors as at March 2019.
This is because mining and
quarrying and agriculture sectors
registered a sectoral NPL ratio above
the industry average of 15.7% and
8.7%, respectively.
In terms of loan requests, loans
worth Shs 5.6trillion were applied
for during the quarter to April 2019
compared with Shs 5.3 trillion in the
quarter to January this year.
However, loan approvals stood
at Shs3.2trillion compared with the
Shs3.1trillion during the same period
under review as banks remained
cautious on who to lend based on their
capability to pay back.
During this year’s Annual Bankers
Conference held on July.16, BoU
Governor Emmanuel Tumusiime-
Mutebile hinted that the high cost of
lending and the limited access to credit
was the biggest constraint on Uganda’s
economy.
He said that if only banks and other
financial institutions could lower their
lending rates and expand the volume
of their lending, substantial numbers
of businesses in the economy would be
able to borrow money for investment
in order to boost their output while
servicing their debt and increasing
their incomes.
However, Mutebile, said access
to credit is not the ultimate binding
constraint on economic growth. He
said there’s need to carry out a serious
analysis on various factors that affects
the economy rather than focusing on
only one direction – interest rates.
He nevertheless stated that
things could soon improve with the
automation of the banking systems,
which could drive their costs of
August. 16 - 22 2019
business
operation downwards.
“Through automation and adoption
of new technologies for delivering
financial services, it is possible for
banks to reduce their operating costs,
and pass on the savings to borrowers
through reduced lending rates,”
Mutebile said.
He said BoU remains optimistic
that banks will exploit the potential
of bancassurance to exploit synergies
with insurance to design products for
the risky borrowers.
Expert view
Corti Paul Lakuma, a research fellow
in the Macroeconomics Department at
Makerere University’s Economic Policy
Research Centre (EPRC) says although
he does not doubt the central bank
figures, growth in private sector needs
to be looked at critically.
“One big borrower can affect the
entire figure,” he told The Independent
adding, “That is the reason we need
to do micro/individual borrower
analysis.”
However, Lakuma, just like BoU,
says PSC stir economic activities in
the economy leading to more job
creation and increased revenue to the
government.
However, he said that reducing
interest rates require tangible policy
interventions. He said the starting
point should be reducing the cost of
doing business for the private sector.
He lists interventions such as
improving the road network to
facilitate easy movement of goods to
the market, closing gaps in governance
of key government development
projects, fighting corruption, providing
reliable electricity and aiding farmers
with irrigation, fertilizers and other
inputs like seedlings.
On their side, Birungi said
manufacturers are continuing to push
the government to sink more money
in the Uganda Development Bank to
make it cheaper for manufacturers to
access finance on concessionary rates.
He said manufacturers are also
waiting to benefit from the $205million
that the Indian Prime Minister,
Narendra Modi, promised to extend
to Uganda in form of loans, when he
visited the country in July last year.
On the other hand, BoU says that
banks are expected to further ease
overall credit standards as the asset
quality continues to improve.
“This will in turn boost private sector
credit and enhance economic growth,”
it said in the MPR report.
25
business

Stanbic Bank, GIZ to upscale

SME skilling in Uganda
Small businesses face numerous challenges including limited
financial support and inadequate entrepreneurial skills
By The Independent

S
tanbic Bank in partnership with the
GIZ Employment and Skills for East-
ern Africa Programme (E4D/SOGA)
will support Small and Medium
Enterprises trainings ahead of oil and gas
production, according to the bank’s Chief
Executive Officer, Patrick Mweheire.
Mweheire, who was speaking during the
graduation ceremony of 548 entrepreneurs
and 122 SMEs on Aug. 09, said the Bank is
committed to supporting SMEs growth and
transformation of lives of various stakehold-
ers in the sector at absolutely no cost.
“The business incubator is pleased to have
GIZ’s programme on board as partners in
running the SME development programme
that is purposed to support and nurture
SMEs in order to develop and grow by
bridging the identified gaps,” he said, add-
ing that GIZ has extended Shs400million
towards the training expansion.
GIZ’s E4D/SOGA programme is joint-
ly funded by the British, Norwegian and
German governments to facilitate regional
expansion of SME business trainings across
the country. The expansion will involve
opening business incubation centres in Gulu
to serve the northern region, Mbale to serve
the eastern region, Hoima to serve the oil-
rich region and Mbarara to serve the western
region. This is expected to ease the cost of
travel and accommodation for the entrepre-
neurs and SMEs to attend trainings.
Mweheire said Stanbic alone has already
spent approximately Shs4bn in running the
business incubation programme.
Donald Agaba, the deputy team leader
for a training programme in GIZ said the
incubator has brought in the much needed
business development services to Ugandan
enterprises and is filling the large gap in the
enterprise development landscape.
“The programme aligns with the E4D/
SOGA objective of promoting local employ-
ment through capacity development of both
Ugandan enterprises and people, particular-
ly to maximise local benefits brought about
by investments in the nascent oil and gas
industry,” he said.
This development comes as local SMEs
are plagued with numerous challenges that
limit their potential including limited finan-
Stanbic Chief Executive Patrick Mweheire hands over a certificate to one of the entrepreneurs.
cial support, inadequate entrepreneurial
skills, management, marketing, poor finan-
cial planning, low corporate governance and
poor banking and borrowing history.
Meanwhile, Stanbic Bank awarded 548
entrepreneurs from 122 Small and Medium
Enterprises with certificates having com-
pleted business training and courses at its
business incubator. This was the third cohort
of businesses that the incubator has churned
out since its inception in February 2018.
The graduates went through different
training sessions ranging from contract-
ing, risk and insurance, bid management,
procurement and negotiation, quality man-
agement, procurement and negotiation and
branding and image building.
“Statistics from the past graduates demon-
strate real productivity and revenue gains
made by businesses that have completed
the incubator training…62% of companies
showed positive growth through expansion
into new markets and have taken on new
employees. This demonstrates the contin-
ued growth for SMEs across the country,”
Mweheire said. He said that SMEs are the
key engine of growth for Uganda’s econo-
my with employment capacity of over 2.5
million people, significantly higher than the
corporate private sector at approximately
800,000. “You simply cannot grow Uganda
without growing the SMEs which is why
we established a business incubator that
provides capacity development programmes
for entrepreneurs in SMEs. It trains and
provides them with soft and hard skills nec-
essary to improve their business operations
and compete more effectively in the market
place. It also deliberately prepares them
to leverage the upcoming opportunities in
Uganda’s emerging oil and gas sector,” he
said.
Mweheire said over the last 18 months,
the incubator has run three successful
cohorts and a total of 1,062 entrepreneurs
from 300 SMEs have been successfully
trained and graduated from the incubator.
The Petroleum Authority of Uganda
Executive Director, Ernest Rubondo, said
he is impressed that the trainings have been
carried out prior to making the Financial
Investment Decision for the oil sector.
He said the delay in finalizing FID is
in away a blessing to local SMEs as it has
helped the local companies to prepare them-
selves better to take up opportunities in the
lucrative sector.
The government and the oil companies
hope to pump approximately US$20bn in
various infrastructure services including
roads, pipeline and oil refinery ahead of oil
production slated for around 2023. Uganda
is estimated to have approximately 6.5bn
barrels of oil.

26 August. 16 - 22 2019
 Executive Style
Africa’s free trade: the journey begins
Now that AfCFTA is in
force, do you think coun-
tries will fully implement
the agreement and within
I
the set timelines?
t’s a good thing that
some countries are
moving a step ahead. It
shows how trade is im-
portant to African countries
and that countries are ready
to open their borders. So yes,
we are hopeful countries will
fully implement the agree-
ment. Countries are realizing
they need to trade more with
others because of an ex-
pected increase in revenues
and jobs creation, especially
for the youth. Intra-African
trade is expected to rise to
53.3 %, meaning that reve-
nues will increase.
How can member states
ensure that the agreement is
fully implemented?
Ministers of finance of
member states signing on to
AfCFTA have an important
role to play to help countries
implement the agreement. Tax
and customs, for example, which
are key components of AfCFTA,
are matters under the ministry
of finance. It’s up to the finance
ministers to evaluate if, how and
when revenues will increase for
their countries and how these
revenues will be expended.
Once countries ratify the docu-
ment, they have 10 years, some
have 13 years, to put key policies
in place to fully take advantage
of AfCFTA.
We expect countries to carry
out a review of their macro-
economic policies, focusing
on fiscal policies that are fit for
purpose, and to help us not only
to adapt to, and make the most
of, AfCFTA, but more broadly
to achieve Agenda 2063 and the
2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development. The urgent action
is to create the enabling fiscal
space to foster both public and
private investment while ensur-
ing economic diversification.
Some negotiations are yet to be
concluded. Are there conten-
tious issues that countries have
yet to agree on?
The remaining issues for dis-
cussion are matters regarding
competition, provisions relating
to investment, intellectual prop-
erty, e-commerce and so on.
Countries agreed to take more
time to negotiate those issues.
The issues are being discussed
and will be finalized in the sec-
ond phase of the negotiations.
This is the same process even for
other global trade agreements.
Negotiations are never conclud-
ed at once; discussions on trade
issues are broad and take time to
be concluded. We want to avoid
a situation where AfCFTA opens
countries to unfair competition.
Africa is leapfrogging in tech-
nology, which is why we are
already discussing e-commerce.
This is very important for coun-
tries that are well developed in
technology. For those that are
not so developed in technolo-
gy, we must ensure they better
understand matters around
The African
Union launched
the operational
phase of the
African Continental
Free Trade Area
(AfCFTA) at a
summit in Niger
last month. Vera
Songwe is the
Executive Secretary
of the UN Economic
Commission for
Africa that has
been providing
support for the AU
during negotiations
and ratifications.
She spoke to the
Africa Renewal’s
Christabel Ligami
about AfCFTA
implementation and
empowering African
women.
e-commerce.
The AU and African ministers
of trade, having finalized the
necessary instruments, formal-
ly launched the operational
phase of the AfCFTA during an
extraordinary summit of heads
of state and government on
July.07, 2019.
Digital trade in Africa is grow-
ing at an estimated annual rate
of 40%. What advice would you
give to countries digitalizing
their economies?
If fully embraced, digital
applications will help fill credit
gaps, empowering women to
be entrepreneurs, providing
real-time market data for rural
and remote farmers as well as
data analytics for climate-related
information. The advantage of
digitalization is that it trans-
forms the economy by reducing
barriers to entry and expanding
market reach for businesses,
creating jobs and boosting both
domestic and foreign trade in
goods and services. There is also
an opportunity for African coun-
August. 16 - 22 2019
tries to capitalize on these
developments to positively
impact public service deliv-
ery, including the efficiency
and reach of social safety
nets, education and health
outcomes.
Already some countries
are gradually embracing
digital solutions for tax and
expenditure policy, public
financial management and
public service delivery.
Digital transactions could
potentially reduce leakages
in public spending and
tax collection amounting
to billions of dollars. That
is money that can help fill
a sizable gap in Africa’s
annual financing require-
ments.
What is your plan for
women?
Despite various studies
finding that women are
central to the economic
growth of any country or
region, African women are
still underrepresented in most
sectors, including technology.
Starting in-house, I plan to
match the number of men staff-
ers with equally qualified wom-
en. I intend to seek women’s
ideas in crafting policy recom-
mendations. Our studies have
established that too few women
are involved in policy discus-
sions and decision making. We
are now working on the African
Women Leadership Fund that
will empower African women
economically.
How will you mobilize resourc-
es for ECA?
We are looking to mobilize
resources from traditional
partners and build new part-
nerships with the private sec-
tor. Also, we will deepen our
involvement with nongovern-
mental organizations. We hope
to build bridges to the univer-
sities and other institutions for
their valuable input, research
and other matters.
27
business
CSR LOGISTICS

Total E&P Uganda boosts Ebola response preparedness Second logistics expo

T
otal E&P Uganda Christopher Ocowun. set for Aug.21

has donated medical
supplies to Buliisa
District in a bid to
support its Ebola response
preparedness. The donation
follows an outbreak of
the virus in neighbouring
Democratic Republic of
Congo with which the District
encounters a number of cross
border interactions.
“Buliisa district is of
strategic importance to Total
as the host community of
the company’s oil and gas
development activities.
Therefore as part of the
Company’s Health and Safety
community initiatives, we are
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
DTB to support entrepreneurship skills in Aga Khan Schools
making a donation comprising
an assortment of medical
supplies in order to reinforce
the efforts of the District Local
Government to combat the
potential outbreak of this
epidemic in the district”,
said Total E&P Uganda
Public Relations Coordinator,
T
The donation which
was received by the he Uganda Freight Forward-
Resident District ers Association in partnership
Commissioner with the National Logistics
(RDC) of Buliisa, Platform and the Ministry
Amos Asiimwe, of Works and Transport will host
LC5 chairman; the second Regional Logistics Expo
Simon Kinene 2019 on August 21 - 22, 2019 at the
Agaba and the Chief Sheraton Kampala Hotel. It will run
Administrative under the theme “Innovative and
Officer; Chrizestom Sustainable Solutions for Freight Lo-
Kayise among other leaders gistics.” It is estimated that 500 local
comprised medical items and international participants will
such as; Thermometers, Jik / attend.
Chlorine, Gum boots, Aprons, They will discuss issues sur-
Protective goggles, Tents, rounding human resource skilling,
Hospital beds, Mattresses, professionalism in the sector and
1000 litre water tank, Sprayer self-regulation as well as embracing
pumps and Stretchers. innovations like block chain technol-
ogy, artificial intelligence, the internet
of things and big data, the organizers
have say.
In addition, the numerous policy

D
iamond Trust
Bank has
embarked on
a program to
support entrepreneurship
skills at Aga Khan School
for both primary and
secondary students.
The aim of the program
is to assess the level of
creativity among the youth
and determine the level
of enterprise in line with
business creation, control
and management to make
them become job creators.
In line with this
program, DTB will
provide support to the
Entrepreneurship Grand
Open House Competition
2019 program which
supports and encourages
students to learn to exploit
opportunities and become
job creators as opposed job
seekers.
This year’s program was
aimed at teaching students
how to develop business
proposals; business
plans that most budding
entrepreneur’s lack.
and regulatory challenges that hinder
competitiveness in freight logistics
including inconsistent vehicle axle
load control limits, dimensions and
numbers of axle limits, operational
costs and tariffs, amongst others, will
also be addressed.
Hussein Kiddedde, the UFFA
chairman says that they intend to
align their views on whatever is hap-
pening in the East African Communi-
ty and beyond.

AVIATION MOTORING

Air Tanzania eyes London CMC Uganda debuts New Ford EcoSport

A C
ir Tanzania, in preparations for the launch
of flights to the United Kingdom later this
year, has reportedly been granted landing
slots at London’s Gatwick Airport.
Next to resolve for the airline, according to the
media reports, will be the prerequisite landing
rights and other related licences and it is under-
stood that this process is already underway.
From information received it would appear
that from late this year is Air Tanzania planning
to operate three flights a week, using their Boeing
B787 Dreamliner, to fly from Dar es Salaam via
Kilimanjaro to Gatwick, every Wednesday, Friday
and Sunday, returning via Kilimanjaro to Dar es
Salaam on Thursday, Saturday and Monday.
At present will Air Tanzania have to meet
European Union safety standards though, should
BREXIT happen on 31st of October, it would be the
British authorities to process the application.
Tanzania has not had nonstop flight connec-
tions to the UK for several years now since British
Airways, inexplicably, withdrew from the route
between London Heathrow and Dar es Salaam
despite high load factors.
ar dealer, Cooper Motor Cor- features, more refined styling, and more
poration (CMC), has unveiled sophisticated technologies. Drivers will
a new Ford EcoSport compact feel more comfortable and self-assured
Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) on than ever at the wheel,” CMC Country
the Ugandan market as it seeks to tap Manager, Herman Mbalasi said.
into the growing middle class. Richard Musani, the Brand Manager
The Ford EcoSport offers customers Ford Uganda said EcoSport features
more style, comfort, capability, and enhancements in both exterior and inte-
choice – blending rugged SUV function- rior design, new and upgraded smart
ality with city car practicality – making it and safety features and improvements
more appealing and competitive in driving performance
than ever. and fuel efficiency.
Featuring enhanced
dynamic, rugged and
refined exterior styling,
the new EcoSport
reflects the latest
design cues of Ford’s
larger SUV models and
its proud heritage in
this segment.
“The vehicle comes
with more advanced

28 August. 16 - 22 2019
 business

Business conditions
improve – Stanbic report
By Julius Businge 15.1% in the second Quarter of

U
ganda’s private sector
saw further growth
in production, new
orders and higher
employment, according to the
latest Stanbic Bank Purchase
Managers Index (PMI).
The PMI posted 58.2 in July
up from 57.8 in June. Improving
business conditions were seen
across agriculture, construction,
Umeme’s Credit Control Manager, Immaculate Asiimwe (R) displays a campaign industry, services and whole-
massage aimed at improving the utility’s revenue collection. Customers will be sale and retail sectors. Since
rewarded with refrigerators, cookers, television sets, microwave, ovens, kettles, its inception, all readings have
television sets, blenders and DVD players.  INDEPENDENT/ ALFRED OCHWO
been above the 50.0.
The monthly survey, which
began in June 2016, involves
interviews with over 400 pri-
vate sector companies and is
sponsored by Stanbic Bank and
produced by IHS Markit.
Benoni Okwenje, the fixed
income manager at Stanbic
Bank said for the second month
in a row, the PMI rose to a sur-
vey record high of 58.2 in July,
backed by a continued pick up
in private sector activity.
He said this is consistent
with the macroeconomic envi-
ronment that reflects annual
private sector credit growing to
2019. Companies across differ-
ent sectors have been forced to
expand in order to meet rising
demand. Okwenje said that
despite higher input costs, the
rise in new orders has support-
ed overall output.
“With business sentiment
remaining positive, we suspect
this trend will carry through for
the most part of the year,” he
said. The report adds that busi-
ness sentiment remained posi-
tive in July with 79% of respon-
dents predicting an increase in
output over the coming year.
Some firms plan to expand
operations over the next 12
months, while predictions of
higher new orders and ongoing
advertising efforts also support-
ed confidence at the start of the
third quarter.
The report states that Ugan-
dan companies recorded a rise
in overall input prices, with
purchase prices, staff costs and
electricity bills all reportedly
contributing to inflation. With
input costs rising, and customer
demand improving, firms were
able to raise their selling prices
again in July.

(L-R seated) GIZ Representative, Donald Agaba, Petroleum Authority ED, Ernest
Rubondo, Stanbic CE, Patrick Mweheire and the chairperson of Parliament’s
Committee on Trade, Tourism and Industry, Robert Ssebunya, posses for
photographs with the graduands from the Stanbic Bank Business Incubator in
Kampala on August. 09.  INDEPENDENT/ ALFRED OCHWO
Weekly share price movement (August. 08)
Security August. 08 July.29 Movement
BATU 30,000 30000 00
BOBU 128 128 00
CENT 1,157 1,165 0.6
QCL 130 149 0.6
DFCU 650 650 00
EABL 7,243 7,143 1.4
EBL 1,446 1,446 00
JHL 13,261 13,183 0.6
KA 105 152 30.9
KCB 1,411 1,421 0.7
NIC 12 12 00
NMG 1,609 1,681 4.2
NVL 329 329 00
SBU 29 29 00
Barclays Bank Managing Director, Nazim Mahmood (C), Micheal Segwaya, the
executive director and chief finance officer for the bank alongside another UCHM 12 12 00
official announce the 2019 half year financial results at their headoffices in UCL 14 14 00
Kampala on Aug.13. INDEPENDENT/ALFRED OCHWO UMEME 297 299 0.6
ALSI -- -- --

August. 16 - 22 2019 29
By Yap Boum
I
n August 2015 Dr Sakoba Keita, who led
the Ebola response in Guinea during the
largest Ebola outbreak the world has
ever seen, declared: “The Ebola vaccine
is a gift from Guinea to West Africa and the
world”.
This was just after the preliminary results
of the “Ebola ça suffit” trial that proved
the safety and efficacy of the rVSV ZEBOV
vaccine produced by Merck and currently
being used in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC). This vaccine is not
licensed but is being currently used on a
compassionate basis in the DRC to protect
those most at risk of infection.
Back in 2015, some of us felt that his
statement was possibly a bit too much con-
sidering that the vaccine was not licensed.
In addition, we knew from bitter experience
that the vaccine was only one part of the
Ebola response pillar. Others included com-
munity engagement and surveillance.
But since seeing firsthand the challenges
of implementing another vaccine trial in the
same conditions in the DRC today, I appre-
ciate better Dr Keita’s words. I also have
become hugely appreciative of the courage
being shown by the Ugandan Ministry of
Health in supporting the launch of this new
trial. In the first week of August, researchers
from Epicentre, Uganda Virus Research
Institute, Mbarara University of Science and
Technology and the London School of Tropi-
cal Medicine and Hygiene started a new trial
in Uganda.
The aim is to provide additional informa-
tion and to evaluate the safety and immune
response generated by a two-dose Ebola
vaccine regimen manufactured by Janssen
Vaccines and Prevention. The study will take
place at the Epicentre Mbarara research cen-
tre in Mbarara in the south west of the coun-
try. It will last for two years and will include
800 healthcare and frontline workers.
What’s on trial?
The vaccine regimen uses a “prime-boost”
approach. This involves two doses 56 days
apart. The approach is designed to pro-
duce stronger and longer-lasting immune
responses.
The other reason the vaccine is notewor-
thy is that it could provide protection against
other strains of Ebola viruses. While the
DRC is mainly affected by the Ebola Zaire
strains, countries like Uganda and Sudan
have been exposed to outbreaks by other
strains including Ebola Bundibugyo, Ebola
Sudan and Marburg virus.
This vaccine could therefore provide larg-
30 August. 16 - 22 2019
The Uganda
vaccine trial
How African researchers are tackling Ebola
er protection for potential Ebola outbreaks,
including those not covered by the rVSV
Ebola vaccine that addresses only the Ebola
Zaire strains.
The Janssen vaccine could provide an
alternative to the Merck vaccine being used
in the DRC. This would be ideal as it’s criti-
cal to have different options to prevent and
control Ebola virus disease. This isn’t just the
case for Ebola: we cannot imagine having
only one drug for treating other diseases
such as malaria. The trial in Uganda could
also support the DRC in launching its trial
on the same vaccine. The recommendation
of the World Health Organisation’s Strategic
Advisory Group of Experts is that the new
vaccine should be tested in Uganda as well
as in areas of the DRC where no cases have
been detected. This will enable the trial to be
run without confusing the population with
two different vaccines in the same area.
The chances of this happening have
increased since the resignation of the former
Minister of Health, Oly Ilunga Kalenga, in
the DRC. He had raised concerns about the
implementation of the vaccine. DRC Pres-
ident Felix Tshisekedi has set up an expert
committee to lead the Ebola response, which
contributed to Kalenga’s departure. Prof
Jean-Jacques Muyembe has been named the
head of the committee. He was also leading
the first implementation of the Merck vac-
cine in the DRC.
What happens next?
The outcome of the study will be watched
with intense interest for a number of reasons.
The first is that it is expected to provide
evidence that will enable the vaccine to
be registered, opening the door to having
another tool with which to fight against Ebo-
la in the DRC and elsewhere.
The second is that the Janssen vaccine
could produce stronger and longer-lasting
immune responses against different strains
of Ebola virus as well as the Marburg virus
and Tai Forest virus that affect other African
countries.
And the trial will provide new evidence
about Ebola virus disease and its transmis-
sion, as well as perceptions and attitudes
about the vaccine. All of this will be useful in
improving the use of the vaccine in the com-
munity during an outbreak.
Another important outcome of this trial
is the strengthening of research capacity in
Africa. This trial is the product of a consor-
tium of scientists from Uganda and beyond.
It’s being led by two top African researchers
– Professor Pontiano Kaleebu and Professor
Juliet Mwanga-Amumpaire.
I believe that the initiative will allow Afri-
can researchers to be on the frontline of the
research on Ebola.
Yap Boum is Professor in the faculty of Medicine,
Mbarara University of Science and Technology.
He is also the regional representative for
Epicenter Africa, the research arm of Médecins
sans Frontières. He is involved in the Ebola
outbreak and the use of the Ebola vaccine for
MSF/Epicenter.
Source: the epicentre

Ebola is now curable
Here’s how the new treatments work
By Agencies
A
clinical trial in the Democratic Re-
public of Congo has been testing
new Ebola drugs with dramatic
results. For newly infected patients
on one of the drugs, the mortality rate
dropped to 6 percent.
Amid unrelenting chaos and violence,
scientists and doctors in the Democratic
Republic of Congo have been running a
clinical trial of new drugs to try to combat
a year-long Ebola outbreak. On Aug.12,
the trial’s cosponsors at the World Health
Organisation and the National Institutes of
Health announced that two of the experi-
mental treatments appear to dramatically
boost survival rates.
While an experimental vaccine previ-
ously had been shown to shield people
from catching Ebola, the news marks a first
for people who already have been infect-
ed. “From now on, we will no longer say
that Ebola is incurable,” said Jean-Jacques
Muyembe, director general of the Institut
National de Recherche Biomedicale in the
DRC, which has overseen the trial’s opera-
tions on the ground.
Starting last November, patients in four
treatment centers in the country’s east,
where the outbreak is at its worst, were ran-
domly assigned to receive one of four inves-
tigational therapies—either an antiviral drug
called remdesivir or one of three drugs that
use monoclonal antibodies. Scientists con-
cocted these big, Y-shaped proteins to recog-
nise the specific shapes of invading bacteria
and viruses and then recruit immune cells to
attack those pathogens. One of these, a drug
called ZMapp, is currently considered the
standard of care during Ebola outbreaks. It
had been tested and used during the devas-
tating Ebola epidemic in West Africa in 2014,
and the goal was to see if those other drugs
could outperform it. But preliminary data
from the first 681 patients (out of a planned
725) showed such strong results that the trial
has now been stopped.
Patients receiving Zmapp in the four trial
centers experienced an overall mortality rate
of 49 percent, according to Anthony Fauci,
director of the NIH’s National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases. (Mortality
rates are in excess of 75 percent for infect-
ed individuals who don’t seek any form
of treatment.) The monoclonal antibody
cocktail produced by a company called
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals had the biggest
impact on lowering death rates, down to 29
percent, while NIAID’s monoclonal anti-
body, called mAb114, had a mortality rate of
34 percent. The results were most striking for
patients who received treatments soon after
becoming sick, when their viral loads were
still low—death rates dropped to 11 percent
with mAb114 and just 6 percent with Regen-
eron’s drug, compared with 24 percent with
ZMapp and 33 percent with Remdesivir.
Drugs based on monoclonal antibodies
have become a mainstay of modern medi-
cine—fending off a variety of diseases from
cancer to lupus. But it takes many years of
painstaking reverse-engineering to make
them. Zmapp, for instance, was developed
by infecting mice with Ebola and then col-
lecting the antibodies the mice produced
against the virus. Those antibodies then had
to be further engineered to look more like
a human antibody, so as not to provoke an
immune reaction.
Ebola infiltrates its victims’ cells using
spiky proteins on the virus’s outer shell,
so researchers screened the antibodies for
the ones that did the best job of binding to
those proteins. Block access, and the virus
can’t replicate and spread. But compared
with other viruses, Ebola is large and has the
ability to change shape, making it difficult
for any one antibody to block its infection.
That’s why a cocktail approach has become
favoured, like the Regeneron product—a
combination of three monoclonal antibodies
generated first in mice.
An even better solution, some have pos-
ited, would be to mine the serum of Ebola
survivors and harvest the DNA from the
white blood cells that make antibodies. That
would yield a set of genetic instructions
for making antibodies with a proven track
August. 16 - 22 2019
health
record against the Ebola virus. That’s what
the NIH’s mAb114 is—an antibody isolated
from the blood of a survivor of a 1995 out-
break in Kikwit, DRC. Scientists discovered
it a few years ago—they had been circulating
in his body for more than a decade.
With the WHO’s announcement a new
trial will now kick off, directly comparing
Regeneron to mAb114, which is being pro-
duced by a Florida-based company called
Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. And all Ebola
treatment units in the outbreak zone will
now only administer the two most effective
monoclonal antibody drugs, according to the
WHO’s director of health emergencies, Mike
Ryan.
“Today’s news puts us one more step to
saving more lives,” said Ryan. “The success
is clear. But there’s also a tragedy linked to
the success. The tragedy is that not enough
people are being treated. We are still seeing
too many people staying away from treat-
ment centers, people not being found in time
to benefit from these therapies.”
Since the ongoing outbreak began last
August in DRC’s North Kivu province, more
than 2,800 people have become infected,
with 1,794 confirmed deaths. It is the sec-
ond-largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded.
On July 17, the WHO declared it a “public
health emergency of international concern,”
after a case showed up in Goma, a large city
bordering Rwanda. The risk of transmission
across international borders remains high.
Source: Internet
31
comment
By Kaushik Basu
The language of conflict
Exploring the link between language and conflict
enables greater understanding of the world
I
was having lunch in an Ithaca restau-
rant with my mother-in-law, who was
visiting from India, when the Chinese
waitress serving us asked her where she
came from. “Kolhapur,” my mother-in-law
replied, referring to the small town in Ma-
harashtra where she was born. Much to my
surprise, the waitress looked overjoyed. “I
lived there for several years,” she said.
They hit it off. My mother-in-law said
that the world’s best ice cream comes
from there, and the waitress agreed that
she had never had better since she left.
After a while, I realised what was hap-
pening: my mother-in-law was talking
about Kolhapur, and the waitress about
Kuala Lumpur. But all their facts matched
perfectly, so I decided not to spoil their
joy.
Language is a strange thing. It is an
enabler of human progress and happiness
(including through amusing misunder-
standings like the one in Ithaca), but it
can also be a source of conflict and an
instrument of oppression.
The connection between language and
conflict is not as far removed from the
social sciences, including game theory, as
many think. By exploring this important
link more closely, economists and other
researchers could perform a great service
by helping us understand the contempo-
rary world.
After all, we live in the best and worst
of times. The world has never been as
rich as it is today. Yet it is coming apart
at the seams, amid increasing political
polarisation, great-power rivalry, and
xenophobia.
Today’s mix of rising prosperity and
deepening divisions is reminiscent of
the Industrial Revolution that began in
the mid-eighteenth century and lasted
nearly a hundred years. Unsurprisingly,
that era coincided with major theoretical
breakthroughs in political economy, from
Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations in
1776, to the contributions of Augustin
Cournot and Léon Walras. Theirs were
not everyday research findings. Like the
later seminal work of John Hicks, Paul
Samuelson, and Kenneth Arrow in the
twentieth century, they produced deep
32 August. 16 - 22 2019
insights that provided sudden, blinding
clarity about how the economy works,
and how politics interacts with markets
and economic wellbeing.
Although we cannot predict the path of
future political-economy research, past
experience suggests it will be in multiple
directions. Language is likely to be one
of them. Some scholars have already pro-
vided critical insights into the political
economy of language, such as Princeton
University’s Stephen Morris on political
correctness. But there is much more to
be done, particularly on the connection
between language and conflict.
Signs of this link are evident in the
United States, where, earlier last month,
President Donald Trump made state-
ments which seem patently racist. He said
that four nonwhite Democratic congress-
women should “go back” to the countries
they came from – even though three were
born in the U.S. and the fourth is a natu-
ralised citizen who arrived as a child ref-
ugee. And yet Trump’s appeals to white
identity appear to have cost him few sup-
porters. I do not believe all his supporters
are racists. The generous interpretation is
that they use language differently from
Trump’s critics.
Because what a speaker means and
what a listener hears can be very dif-
ferent, language can be an instrument
to foment trouble. Much of the problem
stems from the fact that the real world is
extremely varied and granular, whereas
language is coarse by comparison. Some
political leaders seek to exploit this to
control and subjugate the population.
George Orwell’s 1984 describes a team
of bureaucrats working on the eleventh
edition of the Newspeak Dictionary to
“cut language down to the bone.” As
Orwell puts it, one of them “bit hungrily
into his bread,” and said, “It’s a beautiful
thing, the destruction of words.”
If, for example, people regard the words
“socialism” and “communism” as synon-
ymous, rather than describing different
systems of political economy, then it
can become impossible to talk about the
former without stoking fears of the latter.
Similarly, a right-wing group in Israel
can silence dissent by promoting the view
that criticism of the group is equivalent
to anti-Semitism (or self-hatred, in the
case of Jewish critics). This would prompt
many people who would hate to be
anti-Semitic to avoid criticising the group.
In India, some groups label anyone
espousing ideas to the left of the extreme
right as an “urban Naxal,” referring to a
violent revolutionary group with which
few want to be associated. In a similar
vein, the Indian columnist Mrinal Pande
has highlighted how the use of modern
Hindi to promote a chauvinist culture
and totalitarian ideas creates division,
and also damages the reputation of the
language itself.
Digital technology and the continued
growth of social media are increasing the
scope for conflict and political mischief
by bringing together large numbers of
people from different cultural and polit-
ical backgrounds. For many of them, the
same word may have a different emo-
tional or political valence, and the same
sequence of words may be interpreted in
different – even contradictory – ways.
As words acquire new meanings, many
people stop using certain words in order
not to be seen as sitting on the fence. As
the fence shifts, this becomes a dynamic
process producing increasingly polarised
societies. Understanding these dynamics
will require a combination of logic, equi-
librium analysis, philosophy, and cre-
ativity.
The world is changing as rapidly as it
did during the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries, if not more so. It
is time for economists to venture out in
novel directions, as their illustrious pre-
decessors did.
Kaushik Basu, former Chief Economist of
the World Bank and former Chief Economic
Adviser to the Government of India, is
Professor of Economics at Cornell University
and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the
Brookings Institution.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.
www.project-syndicate.org

By Cissy Kagaba
Secret Lubowa Hospital dealings
The construction of the costly facility shouldn’t
be shrouded because it took taxpayer money
O
n August 6, 2019, the Minister
of Health, Dr. Ruth Aceng,
the Permanent Secretary, Dr.
Diana Atwine and Members of
Parliament from the National Economy
Committee were denied access to the
site of the ongoing construction of the
International Specialised Hospital of
Uganda located in Lubowa.
It was unclear as to why the officials
were denied access to visit the site;
a visit meant to satisfy the oversight
function of Parliament. The meeting had
been planned over several weeks and
the decision to bar them from visiting
the site may have been taken quite early
on as well.
Finasi/Roko Special Purpose Vehicle
(SPV), the contractor has explained that
security turned away the Minister and
the MPs for their own safety. The MPs
had sought permission from the Health
ministry to visit the site. However, they
found the gate to the site blocked with a
grader and a pickup truck parked at the
entrance of the facility.
A statement from Finasi/Roko SPV
also notes that it is critical procedure
at all construction sites that health and
safety measures must be sufficiently
adhered to at all times for all persons,
including visitors, as there are heavy
moving equipment and machinery on
site and open trenches, among others,
that are potentially harmful to humans
if not well managed.
Initial reports indicated that the team
from the Ministry of Health and that
from Parliament had been turned away
on the orders of the Secretary to the
Treasury and Permanent Secretary
to the Ministry of Finance, Planning
and Economic Development, Keith
Muhakanizi. The reason for denying the
access was that the construction site had
been handed over and the Government
had no business walking on and off the
site as works were already ongoing.
However, it should be noted that the
construction of the facility at Lubowa is
shrouded in mystery. First, the Govern-
ment of Uganda secured a promissory
note of $379 million (Approx. Shs1.4
trillion) and gave it to a handpicked
Italian firm, Finasi. No procurement
process was done and a shell company
to oversee the process has since been
created in what is termed a special
purpose vehicle in a venture that also
has Roko Construction Firm. A third
firm, Chinese PowerChina Guizhou
Engineering Co. Ltd have also joined
the consortium to conduct civil works, a
mainstay of Roko which has prompted
Roko to drag Finasi, Government of
Uganda and the PowerChina Guizhou
Engineering Co. Ltd to court citing
anomalies.
Upon completion this will be the most
expensive health facility in the country
with just the interest on the loan
amounting to Shs477 billion, this could
have been more than enough to reno-
vate, upgrade and equip all the national
hospitals in the country.
Members of Parliament have not
warmed up to the project with a number
of them questioning the rationale of
government inviting an investor, who
has to be guaranteed with huge sums of
taxpayers money and also be given land
on which to set up the facility.
They also objected to the high-interest
Upon
completion
this will be the
most expensive
health facility
in the country
with just the
interest on the
loan amounting
to Shs477 billion
August. 16 - 22 2019
comment
rate of Shs477 billion and the purpose
of financing the facility, considering
the poorly financed hospitals across
the country. However, the request was
endorsed by the National Economy
Committee of Parliament which had
been given a task to review the applica-
tion and interact with key players in the
health and finance sectors to establish
whether the partnership had value for
money.
The Specialized Women and Neonatal
Hospital in Mulago, built on similar
terms as the Lubowa facility was built at
only $25 million (Approx. Shs92 billion)
far less than the $379 million that is
needed by the investors to construct the
International Specialised Hospital, con-
sidering that the cost of the land is not
factored into these equations and the
constructor, Finasi, was not subjected to
a competitive bidding and evaluation
process.
Needless to say, the Specialised
Women and Neonatal Hospital in
Mulago has been in operation for
slightly over a year and is yet to achieve
optimum output. How will an over-
priced facility in Lubowa, meant to stem
the influx of Ugandans seeking special-
ised medical care abroad, compete with
similar facilities elsewhere that do not
have an 8-year timeline to pay off an
impossible debt?
We call upon government to exercise
caution when entering into deals with
so called investors facilitated using
taxpayers money. We also urge the gov-
ernment to indulge in open contracting
practices especially where public funds
are concerned.
Cissy Kagaba is Executive Director of the
Anti Corruption Coalition Uganda
33
comment
By Kartik Akileswaran and Georgina Hutchinson
Africa and the digital revolution
An adaptive approach should be underpinned by a
technological focus on the challenges and opportunities
T
he Fourth Industrial Revolution is
reshaping the world of work. While
policymakers in the West are strug-
gling to respond, the task facing
African governments appears even more
daunting. In navigating the challenges and
opportunities of the digital age, the conti-
nent’s policymakers must be willing to adapt
and experiment.
Most of today’s developed countries,
as well as those that transformed their
economies in the second half of the twen-
tieth century, relied on export-oriented
manufacturing to boost productivity and
create large numbers of jobs. But robots,
the Internet of Things, and 3D printing
may change manufacturing so much in
the coming years that African countries
aspiring to follow the same path will not
get the same bang for their buck, espe-
cially in terms of job creation.
Yet, as we argue in a recent report, these
and other technologies will also offer
African governments new ways to tackle
social challenges and boost economic
growth. For example, the use of sensors,
Big Data, and machine learning could
greatly increase the continent’s agricul-
tural productivity. Applying artificial
intelligence to personalised learning plat-
forms could transform basic education
in many African countries, where results
remain poor despite increases in enroll-
ment. And blockchain technology could
facilitate transactions that require high
levels of trust, such as land purchases.
African policymakers must, therefore,
strike a balance between managing the
impact of new technologies in order to
benefit as much as possible from tradi-
tional manufacturing-based development
models, and embracing the new oppor-
tunities that stem from technological
advances. Identifying the right mix of
policies for each country will be critical,
particularly in view of Africa’s economic,
political, and demographic diversity.
That said, policies that look good on
paper may not have the intended effects
in practice, as our experience working
directly with a number of African govern-
ments over many years has shown. After
all, attempts to solve complex challenges
are inherently uncertain, and policy
implementation may be weak.
34 August. 16 - 22 2019
Given the pace of change in today’s
globalised world, and the urgency of the
challenge posed by the Fourth Industrial
Revolution, African governments need to
focus as much on enabling effective pol-
icymaking as they do on specific policy
measures themselves. Adaptive govern-
ment will be central to achieving this.
Making government more adaptive
requires firms, entrepreneurs, subnational
administrative bodies, public officials,
and civil society to develop a shared
national vision for inclusive growth. This
process should gather the best policy
ideas, regardless of their origin, and aim
to ensure that key economic actors are
pulling in the same direction.
African governments should also
encourage experimentation. And where
policies are reversible (and many are),
officials should be biased toward action.
Governments should take a portfolio
approach to policymaking – similar to
what venture capitalists do with their
investments – so that successes can bal-
ance failures and provide political cover
for them. To support such experimenta-
tion, governments must develop systems
to monitor which policies are working
well and which are not, so that successes
can be scaled up.
Some African countries have already
employed elements of an adaptive
approach. Liberia’s government, for
example, recently experimented with out-
sourcing school management to a number
of different non-state entities, and com-
missioned a study to compare their
performance both against one another
and relative to regular state-run schools.
Meanwhile, the Ethiopian government
is developing a “portfolio” of industrial
parks as the centerpiece of its plan to
make the country an African manufac-
turing hub. Building the parks in different
parts of Ethiopia will allow the govern-
ment to spread the benefits and potential
risks around the country.
To become more adaptive, African
governments need to take a top-down
approach to setting economic objectives
and evaluating efforts to achieve them,
while also providing the necessary space
for experimentation and learning to allow
effective policy ideas to emerge from the
bottom. This adaptive approach should
be underpinned by a technological focus
that keeps the challenges and opportu-
nities of the digital revolution front and
center.
The outside world can play an
important role in supporting African gov-
ernments’ efforts to adapt. For one thing,
any attempt to embrace new technologies
requires super-fast, reliable, and afford-
able connectivity – including for those
at the bottom of the pyramid. Because
African countries cannot shoulder the
necessary investment alone, traditional
donors and global tech giants alike
should explore innovative financing
arrangements and experiment with new
technologies that can increase access.
More broadly, tech firms and other
entrepreneurial organizations can play
a key role in bottom-up policy experi-
mentation. At the same time, traditional
development institutions should be pre-
pared to offer long-term support to gov-
ernments that are implementing policies
aimed at systemic change.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution does
not mean the end of traditional manu-
facturing-based development models in
Africa, but it will require governments
and policymakers to become more inno-
vative and experimental. They will have
to rely less on detailed planning, and
be increasingly prepared to try things,
learn, and scale up what works. Africa
can find a path to the economy of the
future if its governments are ready and
willing to adapt.
Kartik Akileswaran is Deputy Lead of
the Inclusive Growth and Private Sector
Development Practice at the Tony Blair
Institute for Global Change (TBI), and
was previously Ethiopia Manufacturing
and Investment Adviser at TBI. Georgina
Hutchinson is a senior adviser at TBI.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.
 ART | BOOKS | SOCIETY | TRAVEL | CULTURE

Exciting
student art
It’s multi-disciplinary,
full of potential

E
By Dominic Muwanguzi

xhibitions by art students

often throw up surprises.
Young artists are adventurous,
innovative and revel in what
is trending in the art world
to cross boundaries. An
ongoing exhibition by second and third
year Industrial and Fine Art students
of Kyambogo University at Tadooba
Gallery in Mukono packs all these exciting
features.
The annual exhibit now in its second
year celebrates students who think
critically about art through an artists’
residency program.. They are encouraged
to produce art in diverse media and
genres in experimental and innovative
approaches. It is a technique designed to
ready them for the now very competitive
art industry. This year’s edition is titled
`Series of Single Stories’.
It appears that working in the same
space and getting constant appraisal from
their contemporaries and tutors makes the
young artists bold and confident and their
work authentic, relevant and innovative.
The students also become eloquent in
articulating their art in form, concepts, and
technique. It validates their ownership of
the works and is a very rare quality.
Jumah Ntege displays a series of
children portraits that are unassuming
to reflect the life of the African child who
grows up in a deprived community and
more often has little chance to fulfill their
dreams. His technique of creates them
from bird feathers pasted together on
canvas with acrylics makes them unique.
Feathers have been used before as a
surface to paint. But, as Ntege explains,
he was inspired by the opportunity to use
these organic materials as medium and not
as a tool. He gives the feathers, which are
almost always discarded as the objective is
the meat, a new life – in art.
With a background in drawing, he
works
with
different
tones
and shades
to create cleans the environment.
a startling Rachel Ndagire is a student
portrait that of fashion design who presents
immediately abstract human figures uniquely
draws attention and curiosity. fabricated from textile off –cuts. But
Many viewers ask questions about his instead of stitching the miniature images
creative process. His alternative media on fabric in traditional fashion, the artist
work is adoptive and inexpensive as it displays them behind a glass frame as
uses easily accessible material. It also if they were paintings or drawings. Her
work is innovative in the way it juxtaposes
sketching, stitching, and patchwork in
a way that makes images come to the
fore instead of disappearing into the
background.
The same innovative boldness pervades
Sharon Nambalirwa’s use of coffee as a
primary medium in her art. Her technique
of mixing the beverage is intricate and the
results spectacular on canvas. Her recurrent
subject matter are traditional music
instruments; an allusion to the richness of
African culture that unfortunately is never
celebrated that much.
Tadooba gallery is located in Mukono,
Nangwa- Butwalo Village.

August. 16 - 22 2019 35
Woman MP sent out of parliament after showing up with baby
Drama and confusion
greeted the National
Assembly after Kwale
Woman Representative
Zuleikha Hassan was sent
out of the chamber on the
morning of Wednesday,
August 7. The lawmak-
er had walked into the
House with her baby
prompting acting Speak-
er Chris Omulele to order
her out terming the action
not procedural. She was
defended by Homa Bay
MP Opondo Kaluma
and his Alego Usonga
counterpart Samuel
Atandi. The men asked
Zuleikha to stay put. But
bemused lawmakers
watched in dismay as an
equally vexed Zuleikha
was walked out by the
sergeant-at-arms despite
her pleadings. Speaking
to journalists outside the
chamber, the MP clari-
fied she had an emergen-
cy and being a mother
of three, she could not
leave her suckling baby
behind. “A baby is a
normal part of life of a
woman,” she said.

112-year-old This Island somehow makes animals smaller

fish found
Scientists just added a big-
mouth buffalo, which is a large,
sucker-mouthed fish native to
North America, to the growing
list of centenarian animals that
will likely outlive you and me.
A new study describes says the
fish lived to a whopping 112
years, crushing the previous
known maximum age for the
species—26—by more than
fourfold. That makes it the
oldest age-validated freshwater
bony fish—a group that com-
prises roughly 12,000 species.
“A fish that lives over 100 years?
That’s a big deal,” said Solo-
mon David, assistant professor
at Nicholls State University
in Louisiana. In recent years,
thanks to more advanced aging
techniques, scientists have
discovered many species of
fish live longer than originally
thought—the Greenland shark,
for instance, can live past 270
years. To validate these extraor-
dinary age estimates, scientists
use bomb radiocarbon dating,
a well-established method used
to age everything from human
remains to sharks.
36 August. 16 - 22 2019
Scientists are fascinated after
finding that Flores Island, in
eastern Indonesia apparently
has the power to somehow
make humans and other mam-
mals shorter and smaller. It’s a
known fact that homo sapiens
migrated to Flores Island on
two separate occasions over
the last 70,000 years, and both
times their size decreased dras-
Chinese invent self-riding bicycle
While tech giants like Tesla
and Google are working hard to
perfect autonomous cars, a team
of scientists in China is devel-
oping a self-driving bicycle and
their results are pretty impres-
sive. Showcased in a short video
tically. But humans weren’t
the only species to suffer this
mysterious decrease in size.
There was also an elephant
species that weighed only
300kg (1/18th the weight of
its relatives) and only reached
an average human’s shoulder
in height. One mystery sci-
ence has been unable to solve
is why the people of Flores
presentation, the autonomous
bicycle developed by scientists
at Tsinghua University, in Bei-
jing, can balance itself while also
avoiding obstacles, following
certain trajectories and obeying
vocal commands.
Island are so much smaller
than those on surrounding
islands. Scientists believed they
were the ancestors of the pyg-
mies currently living on Flores
Island, which made perfect
sense, only it turns out that the
two have nothing in common.
If anything, both species had
been independently “shrunk”
by the island itself.
Star male basketball
player found to
pregnant!
The 28-year-old
American basketball player,
Donell “D.J.” Cooper,
was recently found to be
pregnant during a routine
urine test. His urine sample
was found to contain high
levels of human chorionic
gonadotropin (hCG)—a
hormone produced by the
female placenta during
pregnancy. Instead of
praising the finding
as a divine miracle,
International Basketball
Federation (FIBA) assumed
that Cooper had submitted
a woman’s urine as his
own, without knowing that
she was pregnant at the
time. He was banned from
playing competitively for
two years.
 Child car seat fitting
How to make sure it is correctly done
By Agencies
R
esearch suggests
that more than
70% of all child car
seats are incorrectly
fitted, or the wrong size.
Here’s everything you need
to know about making sure
your child car seat is fitted
correctly.
A twisted belt, resting
the child seat against
the backseat’s head rest
instead of the seat back, or
using the wrong seat for
your child’s age or size,
and more besides are all
examples of a child seat
not being fitted correctly.
Even moving a child out
of a child seat too soon is
dangerous and risks your
child’s life in the event of a
collision.
Before we go too deep,
we need to point out that
this is general advice
only and that all child
seats are different – you
should always follow the
manufacturer’s instructions
for your child seat. And, if
in doubt, always check with
a child seat fitting expert.
Age should only ever
be used as a guide when
moving your child from
one seat type to another
and that’s because not all
children are the same size/
height at the same age. So,
you should always go off
the height markers on your
child seat before moving
your child from one seat
type to another.
Some accepted age-
based rules:
 Children under the age
of six months must use a
rear facing car seat
 Children aged six
seat fitted by a professional
especially if it’s your first
infant seat.
What about the straps?
Most will tell you there
shouldn’t be more than
a centimetre or two of
movement in your child
seat, either forwards and
backwards or side to
side. Always follow the
manufacturer’s instructions
and make sure there are no
kinks or twists in the top
tether strap and seatbelt
when passed through the
seat to hold it against the
seat back.
Quite often you’ll see
a child seat that’s resting
against a headrest and not
the seat back. That’s wrong.
You want your child seat
back resting against the
seatback. This way, when
the top tether anchor straps
go over the back of the seat
you’ll be able to achieve a
snug fit.
What about the harness?
Well, before buying a
seat you should check the
ease of use of the harness
mechanism. Some are
designed to move up and
down with the shoulder
height repositioning, but
some aren’t and need to
months to four years can to place them in one of the be unclipped, the shoulder
use either a rear facing outboard seats. and head support section
car seat or a forward- What about installing the raised and then the strap
facing car seat. seat, you just plonk it down clipped again. This usually
 Children aged four years and connect the top tether involves removing the seat
to seven years (approx.) anchor and you’re good, altogether.
must travel in a forward- right? Wrong. Most infant When it comes to how
facing car seat or booster carrier-style seats will have ‘tight’ the harness should be,
seat. Although staying level indicators on them to it should be snug on the child
in a harnessed seat is the allow you to identify exactly and remember you’ll need
safest option. when the seat is located to adjust according to the
Where should you put correctly. Some suggest, clothes the child is wearing.
your child seat? Well, many adding a towel to achieve
say the middle seat in the the correct angle if your
backseat is the safest in car’s seat base is flat. When
the event of a side impact. fitting an infant seat, it’s
But others argue it’s safer best if you go and have the
August. 16 - 22 2019 37
 Obituary
Toni Morrison photographed in 2010: in both her fiction and non-fiction, she sought to expose the ‘national amnesia’ underlying often unconscious forms of racism.
Toni Morrison
American literary giant made it her life’s work
to ensure that black lives (and voices) matter
By Tessa Roynon
T
he peerless novelist and cultural
commentator Toni Morrison, who
has died aged 88, never accepted
the received wisdom about
anything. In a writing career that spanned
half a century – from the appearance of
the first of her 11 novels, `The Bluest Eye’,
in 1970, to that of her last essay collection,
`Mouth Full of Blood’, in February
2019 – she unfailingly cast in new light
both aspects of human experience and
moments in American history that, in
38 August. 16 - 22 2019
our complacency, we thought we already
knew.
Morrison was born (as Chloe Wofford)
in the depressed Rustbelt town of Lorain,
Ohio, to a family of modest financial
means and rich cultural and emotional
resources. Her father worked as a welder
at the nearby US Steel plant and her
mother was a key member of the African
Methodist Episcopal church choir. Her
grandparents – who had migrated north
from Alabama and Georgia – were also
a significant presence and influence. The
music, storytelling and reading from
the King James Bible that characterised
Morrison’s childhood were to indelibly
shape the values and aesthetics of her
own writing. As the first member of her
family to go to college, Morrison attended
Howard University in Washington DC
between 1949-53 (where she majored in
English and minored in classics) – and
was shocked by the segregation and
“colourism” she encountered. She went on
to complete her MA in English at Cornell
in 1955 and, after various teaching and
publishing jobs, became a trade editor for
Random House in 1968.

Here, in the New York office, she
reshaped the American literary scene by
actively seeking out and promoting the
fiction of black authors such as Toni Cade
Bambara, Leon Forrest and Gayl Jones. She
also edited the autobiographies of Angela
Davis and Muhammad Ali.
Morrison was able to focus full time
on her writing after the resounding
success of her third novel, `Song of
Solomon’, in 1977. Reputed to be one of
Barack Obama’s favourite books, this
text – which focused on the Civil Rights
era of the 1950s and 1960s – is typically
Morrisonian in its mock-heroic blending
of the Bildungsroman (conventions about
an individual’s progression to knowledge
through experience), with classical epic
paradigms, West African myth and African
American folkloric wisdom.
It is notably untypical, at the same time,
in its focus on a male protagonist (the
strangely named Milkman Dead – names
and naming were always all-important to
Morrison), and on friendships and family
ties between men.
The novel for which Morrison is
best known, `Beloved’, was to follow
in 1987 and next came her arguably
underrated (because it was insufficiently
understood?) masterpiece, `Jazz’ (1992).
Each of these continues the intense focus
on individuals that both society and
history have spurned or overlooked.
These are those Morrison has called the
“disremembered and unaccounted for”,
that she initiated with her examination of
the interior life of the abused “ugly” black
girl, Pecola Breedlove, in `The Bluest Eye’.
Both the exploration of an infanticidal,
formerly enslaved mother’s quest for
atonement in `Beloved’ and the depiction
in Jazz of the struggles and triumphs of a
middle-aged couple, migrants from rural
Virginia, in 1920s `Harlem’, epitomise
Morrison at her uncanny best. Her work
is unflinching in her attention to the brutal
realities of innumerable black lives and
attends equally to their creative resilience
– combining broad historical sweep with
an intimate knowledge of the individual
human psyche.
Nobel laureate
Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 1993 and numerous other
awards and accolades have followed. She
is read, studied and revered in numerous
languages all over the world. But our
sense of loss at her passing should not
blind us to the fact that for far too long she
was at once a celebrity and insufficiently
acknowledged – particularly in the more
conservative wings of academia and
the media – as a figure of universal (as
opposed to “minority”) significance.
Even now, there persists some
resistance to including her work on “high
literary” syllabi. She once observed wryly,
at a book reading, that she was taught in
the African American studies departments,
in sociology and even in Law faculties, but
rarely in the English departments of elite
universities. There continues a failure to
recognise the extent of her contribution
to intellectual history that both her fiction
and her extraordinary essays constitute.
Her reclaiming of modernism as
primarily a black experience, as well
as her insistence that any distinction
between the aesthetic and the political is
a false dichotomy, and her illuminations
of the way colonialism and imperialism
consciously fabricated African culture
and history as irrelevant, are among her
greatest legacies.
Public intellectual
Morrison herself was acutely aware
of the complex and sometimes insidious
nature of her reception, repeatedly
addressing this in interviews and
comment pieces. She frequently
mentioned the initial New York Times
August. 16 - 22 2019
Obituary
review of `Sula’, for example, which
implied that such a powerful writer
ought really to focus her attention on
something more important than the lives
of black women in the Midwest. In a 1983
interview with literary critic Nellie McKay,
she famously insisted that she was “not
like James Joyce, not like Thomas Hardy,
not like Faulkner”. Such comparisons
at that time, she believed, obscured her
specific commitment to black politics and
aesthetics.
Never resting on her laurels, throughout
her professorship at Princeton, her guest
curatorship at the Louvre in 2006-07, in
her retirement and until the very end, she
remained profoundly alert to the way
her books and essays were read, (mis)
understood and (mis)represented. In her
role as public intellectual and fearless
social commentator, she was prescient
about the racist violence that precipitated
the Black Lives Matter movement and
prophetic about the regressions that the
Trump era has entailed.
Although her unwavering commitment
to social justice and radical change perhaps
occasionally led her to overexplain – in
the forewords she wrote for the Vintage
reissues of the novels in the early 2000s, for
example, or in her final novel, `God Help
the Child’, which lacks the pitch perfection
of its predecessors – we shall ignore her
wisdom about power (and how to subvert
it) at our peril.
A recent documentary film, `The
Foreigner’s Home’, depicts Morrison
drawing parallels between the trauma
undergone by captured Africans
transported on the slaving ships’
Middle Passage to the Americas, the
experience of black residents of New
Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and
the current worldwide migrant crisis.
The very making of such connections,
and the way she deploys her customary
stunning oratory to expose uncomfortable
truths about the nature of “home” and
“homelessness”, epitomises all that will
endure about the phenomenon that was
Toni Morrison.
Above all, the insights of this film
insist, as does her fiction implicitly, and
her Nobel Prize lecture explicitly, that the
future is “in our hands”. The power and
the responsibility for making the world a
better place lies not with the great artists
whose passing we mourn, Morrison
always maintained, but with ourselves
– the readers and thinkers who have so
much work still to do.
Tessa Roynon is Teaching and Research Fellow,
Rothermere American Institute, University of
Oxford
Source: theconversation
39
global comment
By Landry Signé and Ameenah Gurib-Fakim
Integrated Africa’s high-growth promise
Up to 49 deals worth over $38bn were done at the
African Development Bank’s Africa Investment Forum
A
t a time when the United States,
once a standard bearer of multi-
lateralism, is embracing protec-
tionism, Africa has taken a bold
step in the opposite direction, creating the
world’s largest free-trade area since the
establishment of the World Trade Organi-
sation in 1995. The African Continental Free
Trade Area (AfCFTA), which came into force
on May 30, includes nearly every country on
the continent. And it proves, yet again, that
Africa is on the move.
In recent years, Africans have been
working to reclaim the narrative, high-
lighting their countries’ remarkable progress
and the continent’s vast potential, in order
to attract investment and deepen regional
and global engagement. They have much to
boast about.
In recent years, Africa’s average annual
GDP growth has consistently outpaced the
global average, and is expected to remain
at least 6% until 2023. Six of the world’s ten
fastest-growing economies are in Africa;
for the period 2014-2050, PwC projects that
Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt will remain
in the top ten.
Africa will owe much of this growth to its
large working-age population and growing
consumer markets. Throughout the twen-
ty-first century, Africa – the youngest region
in the world – will be the source of the vast
majority of global labour-force growth. This
implies massive potential for increased pro-
duction and savings, which could sustain an
economic boom that supports rapid poverty
reduction. In 2050, the richest 10% of Afri-
cans – some 250 million people – will drive
as much as a five-fold increase in demand
for consumer goods and services.
Of course, such outcomes are not guaran-
teed. If the continent is to reap the produc-
tivity and growth benefits of its growing
workforce, its governments will need to
ensure that people have the right knowl-
edge, skills, and opportunities.
Fortunately, Africa’s governments are
working to develop the required infrastruc-
ture and institutions. Across the continent,
efforts are underway to improve education
and foster a culture of innovation. Moreover,
political leaders are implementing reforms
aimed at improving business conditions.
In the World Bank’s 2019 Doing Business
Index, five of the ten most-improved
40 August. 16 - 22 2019
countries are in Africa, and one-third of all
recorded reforms occurred in Sub-Saharan
Africa.
Already, returns on investment and entre-
preneurship are rising fast. Over 400 African
companies now boast annual revenues of
$1 billion or more, and 700 more report rev-
enues of over $500 million. An assessment
of 360 companies from 32 African countries
reveals an impressive average compound
annual growth rate of 46% in 2019, up from
16% last year.
Lucrative investment opportunities are
available in sectors like energy, agriculture,
water, and mineral processing. Agriculture
(including agribusiness), projected to be a
$1 trillion industry in Sub-Saharan Africa
by 2030, is attracting a growing amount
of private-sector investment. Africa is also
expected to receive almost $2 trillion in
investment in natural resources by 2036.
But Africa’s economies are not seeking to
cling to past growth strategies. Instead, the
growth and revenues brought by invest-
ments in resources like oil will enable them
to diversify – including by developing tech-
nology-enabled non-manufacturing indus-
tries, like information and communications
technology-based services – and deepen
regional integration.
Such integration was advanced last
November at the African Development
Bank’s inaugural Africa Investment Forum,
where business and government leaders
closed 49 deals worth over $38 billion. It has
now been accelerated by the AfCFTA, which
promises to deliver major gains to all coun-
tries involved.
The AfCFTA could increase the value of
intra-African trade by 15-25% by 2040, and
boost economic output by $29 trillion by
2050. This would enable companies to take
advantage of economies of scale, while sup-
porting the diversification of industrial sec-
tors and driving growth in manufacturing
value added. If governments create the right
conditions, this could spur job creation and
lead to significant poverty reduction.
African countries’ cross-border trade and
investment ties are hardly confined to the
continent. Trade with the advanced econo-
mies (particularly the European Union and
the US) remains high, though it is declining.
Among the emerging economies, China
has been particularly proactive in deepening
its links with Africa, including by investing
in the continent’s industrialization, agri-
cultural modernization, and infrastructure.
With China projected to shift 100 million
labor-intensive manufacturing jobs offshore
by 2030 – jobs that Africa’s large and young
workforce could easily fill – this relationship
could be a game changer.
Africa has also pursued partnerships with
emerging economies like India, Indonesia,
Russia, and Turkey. This is broadly good
news, though African governments must be
aware of both the benefits and drawbacks of
new trade deals and loan agreements with
emerging economies, including China.
At the same time, policymakers must
continue to foster a vibrant innovation
culture, including by strengthening intel-
lectual-property protections. Innovations
in mobile finance, such as Kenya’s M-Pesa,
have already improved financial inclusion
on the continent. Similar innovations can
help countries to expand access to quality
education, develop their human capital, and
much more.
Africa’s political leaders, businesses, and
citizens increasingly recognise that inte-
grated economies, powered by innovative
and high-growth companies and strong
private investment, are the key to a pros-
perous future. Now, they must each do their
part to drive progress on all of these fronts,
including by continuing to embrace initia-
tives like the AfCFTA.
Landry Signé, Founder and Chairman of the
Global Network for Africa’s Prosperity, is a
David M. Rubenstein fellow at the Brookings
Institution’s Global Economy and Development
Program, Distinguished Fellow at Stanford
University’s Center for African Studies, and the
author, most recently, of African Development,
African Transformation: How Institutions
Shape Development Strategy. Ameenah Gurib-
Fakim, the first female president of the Republic
of Mauritius, is a distinguished adviser at the
Global Network for Africa’s Prosperity, and
author of her autobiography, `Ameenah Gurib-
Fakim: My Journey’.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.
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