News analysis
Health
Business
ICC comes of age at 20
Eat sh, live longer
Pension assets nearly double in three years
Issue No. 531 July 27 - Aug 02, 2018
Tackling economic growth bolenecks
Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8
Sa S aleh’s hand in Sudhir Sudhir BoU ght revealed Links with recent uproar over Bagyenda, dfcu
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Issue No. 531 July 27 - Aug 02, 2018 News analysis
Business
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Arts
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Cover story
Sale Sa leh’ h’s s ha hand nd in Sud udh hir Bo BoU U gh ghtt re rev vea ealled Links with recent uproar over Bagyenda, dfcu 4
The Week
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Museveni calls for lining up in NRM primaries
Tech and healthy activism can curb fake news: Keep your
personal data to yourself and be cautious when using large social media websites or search engines
The Last Word
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Comments
Our nation’s next disaster:
How the re-launch of Uganda Airlines is most likely going to bring bri ng our cou countr ntryy to to tear tearss – un unles lesss
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Health Eat sh, live longer:
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New study explains the secrets
Analysis After NRM `swept’ LC elections:
Living among villagers divided by pa party rty col colou ours rs
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Business
Pension assets nearly doubles in three years:
Financial experts concerned with the 70% of pension funds invested in government securities at the time country’s debt servicing costs are high STRATEGY & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Andre Andrew w M. Mwenda Mwenda MANAGING EDITOR: EDITOR: Joseph Were INVESTIGATIONS EDITOR: Haggai EDITOR: Haggai Matsiko BUSINESS EDITOR: Isaac Khisa PHOTOGRAPHER: Jimmy Siya
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July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
OFFLINE
Former FDC president and flag bearer, Kizza Besigye arrives in Kanekye village in Sheema municipality to campaign for Sheema Municipality MP aspirant Virginia Mugyenyi.
President Museveni greets a mango grower during the launch of a new agricultural Programme known as ‘Kisoboka’ [it is possible] in Mityana District on July 22. Lookingg on is the Sta te Lookin Minister for Tourism, Kiwanda Geoffrey Ssuubi.
“I am German when I win and an immigrant when I lose,”Mesut lose,”Mesut Ozil quits German national soccer team over racism and disrespect
The minister minister of state st ate for cooperative, Frederick Ngobi Gume, (2L) together with Matovu Vianney Ngoma, (R) Chief whip National political commissar FRONASA inspecting the HIV testing and cancer team led by Bukonko Wilbert force the chairman Busoga FRONASA Veterans cooperative.
UPDF
3
ofcers killed in Arua over theft claims
“I want to appeal to district civil servants to ensure that these traditional birth attendants do not continue with their work because they are partially responsible for the high maternal mortality. mortality.”” Sarah Opendi, state minister for health
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Cattle government has distributed to families in Karamoja sub-region
“When it became known that I would seek a second term, the environment became so toxic that on July 14 I decided to step down”Ben down” Ben Misagga, former SC Villa President on why he resigned
Shs523bn July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
Money Indian Prime Minister gave to Uganda in loans 3
WEEK
Judicia Judic iary ry dis dispe pels ls promotion of judge jud ge ru rumo morr Solomon Muyita (Pictured) , , a communications Ocer of
the Judiciary on July23 said that they had not yet received any communication regarding the appointment of Justice Remmy Kasule to the Supreme Court. Muyita was responding to media reports that the judge jud ge wh whoo is is also also amo among ng the panel of ve who heard the age
Museveni calls for lining up in NRM primaries While canvassing for votes for the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party candidates in the Kotido municipality mayoral and parliamen parliamentary tary race on July22, President Yoweri Museveni suggested suggested that the party considers using the lining up method to vote as a solution for irregularities complaints. The party parliamentary
candidate is Peter Abraham Abraham Lokii while Ismael Muhammad Lomuar holds the ag for the
mayor. However, Museveni made the remark of bringing back the lining lining up method method when he learnt that Lokii’s rival, Jean Mark Aporu who is now standing as an independent is disgruntled that he has cheated in the primaries
claiming he stued the bal -
lots. But, Museveni’s mooted method which was recently employed when voting for local council leaders is dreaded by members of the opposition, rights bodies and analysts for breeding voter apathy because of the intimidation involved.
Gunshots at Bugiri rally leave one dead The newly created Bugiri municipality goes to the polls on July27 in which voters are choosing between JEEMA’s Asuman Basalirwa, NRM’s John Francis Oketcho, FDC’s FDC’ s Eunice Namatende and an independent candidate Joel Wamono. This brings to end a month long campaign which has been marred with confrontations between police and supporters with the latest being on July 19,
when a person was shot. The 30 year old Ramadhan Walyendo a supporter and body guard of Basalirwa B asalirwa was shot in the chest as the police dispersed supporters at a rally held at Busoga University grounds. Speaking shortly after the incident Basalirwa said he suspected that the shot was targeted at him since he was standing next to the deceased. This race has
been referred to by many analysts as a faceo between
JEEMA and FDC whereas to others it was testing strength of Kyaddondo East legislator Robert Kyagulanyi Bobiwine who threw his weight behind Basalirwa and FDC’s Dr. Kizza Besigye. The comparisons continued even on social media although the two remained silent about the issue.
limit petitions was given a new appointment even as he just have months to retire. “If the president makes such an appointment, the judiciary
has to be notied by parliament.
There is also supposed to be
arrangements for oce space
and others. We have not yet got any communication from anywhere and we are treating it as fake news”, Muyita said. However, the news of the promotion coming just a week before bef ore Jul July26 y26 age lim limit it ve verdi rdict ct day sent the public into murmurs about what is likely to come out of the ruling where petitioners are against the removal of presidential age limits from the constitution and the extension of MPs term of oce from ve to seven years.
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July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
WEEK
Kiyingi dropped off Mukulu’s Mukulu’s charge sheet Australia based Ugandan cardiologist Aggrey Kiyingi has been cleared of terrorism, murder and aggravated robbery charges after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) amended Ex-Allied Democratic Forces Rebel Leader Jamilu Mukulu’s charge sheet and dropped those that have never been arrested. Reading out the submissions to court, Senior Assistant Assistant of the DPP John Baptist Asiimwe said they had withdrawn three
accused persons and led the leers to Jinja
and Mbale Magistrates courts. He also said they had added two new suspects to the case making the number of accused persons 38. The court is currently conducting a pretrial session to determine whether the case in which Mukulu is accused of launching a rebellion that led to deaths in the Rwenzori region should go to full trial. The hearings are to be conducted again on Aug.15.
David Emong
Emong takes the night at USPA gala The Uganda Sports Press Association (USPA) held a gala on July20 recognizing
those that excelled in dierent sports activi -
ties in 2017. The gala also aimed at celebrating the association’s forty eighth birthday was graced by the speaker of parliament Rebecca Kadaga Kadaga and saw para–athlete David Emong winning the biggest trophy of the sports personality of the year. Emong who won the men’s 1500 T46 World Para Athletics Championship gold medal at the games in London came out victorious of the other three nominees – Peace Proscovia of the She-cranes netball team, Uganda Cranes’ forward Georey Sserun kuma and Rugby Cranes 7s’ star Phillip Wokorach. About thirty other trophies were given out in which Georey Sserunkuma and Vanesa
Edith karungi were the year’s best in football whereas Ronald Rugumayo was the best in golf. Peace Proscovia won the netball trophy and the Motocross rider of the year was Isa bella be lla Bli Blick. ck. The ten tenni niss play player er of the ye year ar wa wass taken by Duncan Mugabe
Controversial Excise Duty bill re tabled The controversial Excise Duty Amendment Bill was re tabled in parliament on Julyy 19. Jul 19. Fin Financ ancee Mini Ministe sterr Mati Matiaa Kasa Kasaija ija pre pre-sented the bill for its rst reading less than
three weeks before the previous amendments came into force. The amendments that were passed by Parliament on May 30 provided for levying a 1% tax on all mobile
money transactions and Shs200 daily on social media usage but with the new amendments they are seeking to reduce the tax on mobile money transactions to 0.5% and only on cash withdrawal transactions. transactions. When the 1% was implemented on July01, it caused controversy that activists and some members of parliament parliament took to the streets to
protest whereas others including the Kasaija admied that they had approved the levy
in error. Now, the new reforms come after a presidential directive requiring parliament to review the tax on mobile money and keep the shs200 daily charge on social media as amended.
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
5
WEEK
Zimbabwe election scheduled for July30 The people of Zimbabwe will on Monday go to the polls for the rst time since 1980 without
ex -President Robert Mugabe on the ballot. Mugabe had been president of the country since the beginning of the presidential system in the country. On the ballot this time will be his suc succes cessor sor Pre Presid sident ent Emmerson Mnangagwa who came to power in November
last year when the army and his party ZANU PF kicked out the 94 year old over plans to have his wife Grace Mugabe succeed him. Mnangagwa is competing with 22 others but his biggest challenger is Nelson Chamisa of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Results of an opinion poll released by Afro barometer on July20 Jul y20 pre predic dicts ts a run run o in the
NGOs urge government on Apaa land conflict Non-governmental organisations under their umbrella organization, Uganda Land Alliance (ULA) are calling on government governme nt to opt for dialogue and not violence and use the available laws on land management and administration to manage the land conict that has been
on for years. The land at the centre of dispute is claimed by the Uga Uganda nda Wildlife Authority, Amuru district, and Adjumani district. The land also draws in the Acholi people in Amuru who claim ancestral/customary ownership. The other claimants are Madi leaders, National Forest
6
poll as none of the top candidates garnered a 50% required for one to win in the research carried among among 2,400 voting-age voting-age Two contestants in the Zimbabweans. According the Rukungiri woman Member poll 40% answered they would of Parliament in the recent vote for Mnangagwa whereas by-elect ion might by-election mig ht be headed h eaded for another legal bale after 37% said would vote for Chamisa. 20% were undecided the looser petitioned court and yet the 3% said they would citing irregularities including for the other 21 candidates. intimidation, voter bribery and donations. NRM’s Winfred Komuhangi Matsiko was defeated by Forum for Democratic Change (FDC)’s Bey Muzanira.
Authority and Uganda Wildlife Authority. As a measure of seling the conict,
government sometime back placed mark stones to form a demarcation for the two districts, a move that residents of the two districts and leaders continue to oppose and interpret as outright ‘land grabbing’. Government Governme nt has maintained security personnel in Apaa to deal with any likely conict that might
emerge. The ULA members also want government to withdraw security in the area so that dialogue can be embraced to end the conict. It is
not clear when this will happen
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
Rukungiri women in another legal battle
Two schools win in Buganda, Airtel games Following a two-day display of talent, in the central region of Buganda Kingdom – Masaka – two teams were crowned champions of the Buganda region in the Airtel Rising Stars soccer games, Airtel said in a July 22 notice. The two schools are; Rays of Grace Junior Jun ior Sch School ool,, Buik Buikwe we and Mpi Mpigi gi Di Divin vinee Star Stars. s. In the boys’ games, Rays of Grace Junior School played against Mpigi Mixed School while Pride College School faced Mpigi Divine Stars. The games were presided over by Fred Mukasa Mbidde, the Mem berr of be of Parl Parliam iament ent of the 3rd Eas Eastt Afr Africa icann Leg Legisl islati ative ve Assembly. Mbidde applauded Airtel for its eorts in
advancing football across the country and for involving females in the games. Remmie Kisakye, the Airtel Uganda head of brand and communications said they are commied to further supporting Ugandan foot balll from bal from the gr grass assroo roots. ts. Bot Bothh win winnin ningg team teamss rece receiv ived ed trophies, goodies and a cash prize of Shs1mn each.
In her petition last week, Matsiko said her opponent used abusive language during her campaign and had hooligans who scared away people from showing up to vote. She also alleges that through her agents, Muzanira was giving out money and buildingg materials buildin mater ials to t o people peopl e and asking for votes in exchange. Among those she pointed is Buhweju Member of Parliament Francis Mwijukye who gave contribution of Shs500, 000 to building a catholic church and in his speech asked the congregation to vote for the key, a symbol of FDC. The two had been in court after the 2016 election where Muzanira was challenging Matsiko’s win. A by- election was held after another court struggle at the appeals court as initially the high court had dismissed Muzanira’s petition a thing she appealed.
Humour
Did you know?
People who feel guilt People are more trustworthy A number of studies have looked into why people do or do not trust each other,
but li lile le rese researc arch h has has add address ressed ed wha what, t, Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Maj.Gen. Kahinda Otafiire attacks Ugandan leaders on greed and failure to fight poverty among their people
exactly, makes someone trustworthy. A new study suggests that, when considering who is worthy of our condence, we may
want to look to those likely to feel guilty. In the study led by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in Illinois, Emma Levine and team set out to investigate what makes a person worthy of others’ trust. After conducting several experiments, the team identied one key
trait to be a good predictor of whether or not someone is likely to behave in a trustworthy manner: guilt-proneness. Unlike feelings of guilt, which are likely to emerge after a particular act has
been bee n comm commie ied d and and to lea lead d to to repa reparat rativ ivee
Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi was detained det ained at Central Police Station for illegal assembly and theft of police handcuffs
behavior behav iors, s, gui guiltlt-pro pronen nenes esss pred predate atess any any act that might result in guilt. As the study authors explain, guilt-prone people will anticipate that they will have feelings of guilt as a result of performing a certain act, which will deter them from doing it. In short, they are more likely to feel accountable and therefore therefore to avoid wrongdoing. The team’s ndings are
reported in a paper recently published in the `Journal of Personality and Social Psychology’. Who is trustworthy? Levine and found that people who had high guilt-proneness were likely to return higher amounts of money to others, compared with participants with low proneness to guilt. Also, guilt-proneness guilt-proneness was found to be a beer predictor of a person’s
trustworthiness than many other trustworthiness personality traits, including their extraversion, openness, agreeableness, pronenesss to neuroticism, and pronenes conscientiousness.
“Our ndings,” say the study authors,
President Museveni has rejected the Tax Procedures AmendmentAct 2018 and demanded MPs to erase a provision that would have allowed Uganda Revenue Authority to charge interest on tax arrears
“extend the substantial literature on trust by deepening our understanding of trustworthiness: trustworthin ess: when deciding in whom to place trust, trust the guilt-prone.” This might have important implications for employers and team leaders when it comes to them choosing who to work with. July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
7
President Paul Kagame and visiting President Xi Jinping of China at Kigali International Airport on July 23. Rwanda First Lady, Jeannette Kagame and China First Lady Peng Liyuan in background COURTESY/ PHOTO
The Last Word
OPINION
Our nation’s next disaster By Andrew M. Mwenda
How the re-launch of Uganda Airlines is most likely going to bring our country to tears – unless he decision by Uganda governme government nt to re-establish a state-run airline is a strategic blunder. More than two decades ago, Uganda took a strategic decision to get government out of business. It disbanded state monopolies monopolies,, privatised state run enterprises, liquidated others (like Uganda Airlines) Airlines) and largely restricted itself to the role of overseer/regulator overseer/regulator of private enterprise. Government held onto some enterprises many of which have been very successful
T
and intense contests among the dierent
factions of our body politic. The losers in the contracts-and-jobs-lobby contracts-and-jobs-lobby will run to parliament, the media, the IGG and other oversight institutions institutions to complain of foul play. These will kick o the dust, which will
airline, these mistakes would be corrected with time. The strategic challenge is political: the ideology of government bureaucrats, the behavior of our legislators – both in government and opposition – and the
now pollute social and traditional media. The management of the new airline will be besieg bes ieged. ed. In this politically charged environment, Uganda’s international creditors will weigh in. IMF and World Bank will argue that they knew all along this was going to happen and threaten to cut aid and other support. Uganda’s bureaucrats at the Ministry of Finance and central bank will spot their quarry. Being free marketers hostile to the state doing business, they will make public statements against the airline. MPs (including those of NRM) will exploit this to grandstand by refusing to approve the budge bud gett of of the the air airlin line. e. We must remember that in the initial years, the airline will have invested heavily in capital expenditure and have high operating costs yet business will be low. So the losses will be very high –up to $50 million per year. These losses will have to be funded from the budget. The strategic challenge is whether the Ugandan body politic can accept taxpayers’ money subsidising a loss making state enterprise accused of nepotism, corruption, incompetence, and mismanagement. In this politically and diplomatically toxic atmosphere, President Yoweri Museveni, will withdraw his support from the airline. Money to the airline will be cut, its ambi-
aitude of Ugandan elites towards the state.
tious growth strategy like ying more
– The New Vision Printing and Publishing
Corporation, National Water and Sewerage Corporation, Post Bank, Housing Finance Bank, National Social Security Fund, Pride Micro Finance, etc. are prominent examples. However, these have been successful in large part because they are very few. Across most of the world, airlines are losing money – including our neighbors Kenya and Rwanda. Why is Uganda entering a failing industry? Analysts have argued that the choice of planes Uganda is buying, the routes it intends to y and
the liberalisation of passenger and cargo
handling, in-ight catering services, com -
petition from the big boys in the industry, etc. all limit the business opportunities this airline can rely on to succeed. However, Howeve r, these criticisms address tactical not strategic risks. If government were totally commied to building a successful
How? Given our knowledge of Uganda’s politics and fully aware of the challenges of build bu ilding ing a busi busines nesss from from scr scratc atch, h, the ini initia tiall years of this airline are going to be characterised by nepotism, favouritism, fraud, corruption and gross incompeten incompetence. ce. These weaknesses (in-and-of-themselves) are not unique to Uganda or even a strategic risk to the airline. They are part of the process of growth and learning, which many successful businesses have historically faced. In fact they are an inevitable short-term short-term cost for a long-term goal. The issue is the bureaucratic and political response to them. The award of contracts and hiring of sta, however honestly and
transparently transparen tly done, will evoke suspicions
routes, will be halted. Then the service will decline and the mechanical condition of the planes will deteriorate. In short, the political debate will have created a self fulllingprophesy. After four or ve years in opera-
tion and over $400 million or even more lost, the airline will be closed, the critics proved right. Yet it does not have to be like this. Every young business behaves like an infant. In the early years it is helpless and fragile. The parents have to feed it while it pees everywhere. As it begins to walk, it breaks things in the house, wrecking havoc. Parents have to spend more than two decades feeding, clothing, housing, and educating it while the child brings zero returns and the parents are unsure whether the investmen investmentt
in upbringing and education will yield expected results. Successful nations that midwifed great busin bu sines esses ses we went nt thr throug oughh the these se cha challe lleng nges. es. For example, the government of Japan subsidised Toyota, a private company, for 20 years before it broke even. Three times the company came to the verge of bankruptcy, three times the government government bailed it out. Today Toyota is the second largest automo bile bi le com compan panyy in in the the wo world rld.. What What we see in Japan Jap an is pat patien ience ce and un under dersta standi nding ng,, qual qualiities that Uganda lacks. Many Ugandans think this deep-seated suspicion of the state is because of the way Museveni has managed the country. There has been a lot of corruption, which has led people to lose faith in the benevolence of the state. I used to think this way too. But that is only partly true, mostly an excuse not an explanation of the suspicion. Ethnically diverse societies tend to have deep-seated suspicions of “the other” – making it hard to manage public goods. Museveni is not the president of Kenya, Malawi, Ghana, Zambia, Nigeria, Congo DR, USA, etc. yet similar suspicions dominate. I have learnt from Rwanda that building a national airline needs a grand national vision, backed by a political commitment to succeed against all odds (by taking a very long term and broad view of the busine bus iness) ss) bu buress ressed ed by a poli politic ticss where where
citizens believe in the state. RwandAir has faced many challenges. It has made losses for years. President Paul Kagame has constantly changed managers and/or management, all the time trying many things without leing tactical challenges cloud his
strategic objective. For Uganda airlines, Museveni will need to do with it exactly what he has done with oil: build a highly competent technical team, insulate it from political – and most especially democratic – pressures, by making it accountable directly to him. He will also need a person of the caliber of Allen Kagina, someone who can hold her own and fend o wheeler-dealers that may seek to scav enge on the airline. But this airline is small and cannot aract such political commit ment from Museveni as oil did. Hence, the project may be “dead on arrival” i.e. headed to failure even before it begins.
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July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
9
COVER STORY
Sa S aleh’s hand in Sudhir BoU ght revealed Links with recent uproar over Bagyenda, dfcu
10
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
COVER STORY
By Haggai Matsiko
G
en. Caleb Akandwanaho aka Salim Saleh is urgently seeking to sort out the Crane Bank, BoU, and dfcu Bank saga, The Independent
has learnt. Sources close to the General who is the de facto Number Two in his brother, Yoweri Museveni’s government, say he most likely is acting on the President’s instructions. instructions. The Independent has learnt that Gen. Saleh has this month been closely looking into the issues surrounding the closure of Crane Bank and the on-going court cases it sparked. Sources tell The Independent that Saleh has hosted a select group of officials from the central bank in an effort to properly understand what the stakes are in the fight between BoU and tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia. President Museveni has for some time wanted to end the saga over Bank of Uganda’s takeover of tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia’s Crane Bank in October 2016 and eventual sale to dfcu Bank in January 2017 in a deal that sparked several court cases. Now it appears, Gen. Saleh is the man to deliver the President’s wish. The question is why Museveni is sending Saleh now? The Independent understands that some government officials have been convincing Museveni that Sudhir should not be allowed to get away with his alleged transgressions at Crane Bank. These officials feel that BoU has a good chance to win the cases against Sudhir. But Sudhir equally feels he can win the cases. Stakes are high for the officials at the central bank. If they lose the case, they stand to lose over Shs 500 billion, part of which they pumped into Crane Bank before selling it to dfcu at Shs 200 billion. The transaction wiped out the central bank’s capital. Stakes are high for tycoon Sudhir too. He could pay B oU the same amount should he lose. He stands to lose property property too. Having lost the bank, Sudh Sudhir ir appea a ppears rs keen k een to keep k eep his h is properties and hinges his hope on the fact that BoU breached an agreement he had entered with them. Part of the explanation could also be that the parliamentary Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) is expected to publish findings of its investigations into BoU soon. Although various aspects of the
Governor Tumusiime Mutebile talks to Sudhir at a Crane Bank function before it was liquidated
President Yoweri Museveni
report have either leaked or been released, intense debate and scrutiny of the same is expected in parliament. It could also tie in with two stories that have recently dominated the news and appear unconnecte unconnected. d. One story claimed the one of Uganda’s top banks, dfcu, is in trouble over liquidity following an announcement announceme nt that one of its longterm shareholders was bailing out. It was a false alarm. The other was that the embattled former BoU Director Supervision, Justine Just ine Bagyen B agyenda da has been reappointed to the board of the Financial Investigations Authority (FIA) – which, ironically, is investigating her for alleged breaches committed at BoU. There is already uproar over this in parliament. Amidst all this, sources close to Gen. Saleh say he is now closely looking into the issues surrounding the closure of Crane Bank and the on-going court
cases it sparked. Anticipation appears to tie in with recent strident statements by BoU officials that they have acted appropriately; appropriatel y; especially in the takeover and sale of Crane Bank. In the most recent case, BoU Governor Tumusiime Mutebile has spoken publicly—emphasising that BoU did not have a choice but to take over Crane Bank because its managers had mismanaged its capital. The belief by each side that it can win could partly explain why arbitration talks between Sudhir and BoU agreed in 2017 before Principle Judgee Yorokamu Judg Yorok amu Bamw Bamwine ine have h ave stalled. Just this mont monthh on July 17, Bamw Bamwine ine sent the case file back to the head of the Commercial Court, Justice David Wangutusi for further action, and citing failure of both BoU and Sudhir to make meaningful input. It is not clear whether Saleh falls in the camp of those convinced that Sudhir can be defeated and punished. But sources tell The Independent that when Saleh in early July hosted a select group of officials from the central bank, he reportedly told them that although he has read the documentation about the issues, he wanted to hear from them what exactly was at stake. An officials who attended told The Independent on conditions of anonymity, that the venue of the meeting was at Saleh’s favoured venue for such critical meetings— Serene Suites—a boutique hotel on top of Mutundwe Hill on the edges of the Kampala city owned by Esther Ampumuza, a middle-aged businessw busi nesswoman oman,, who wh o works wo rks clos closely ely with Saleh. In the past, The Independent has July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
11
COVER STORY
Tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia with his lawyers at the Commercial Court
reported that Saleh has since late 2014 been occu occupying pying the only pres presiden idential tial suite at Serene Suites that costs US$1,000 per night. Saleh also maintains an office at the hotel and, since he hosts visiting delegations of the nation’s Who is-Who, it has led Serene Suites to be called “the other State House”.
dfcu lawyers fear loss
The Independent understands that due to the controversy surrounding aspects of the case, dfcu’s lawyers have advised the bank that it was likely to lose the case on former Crane Bank branches to Sudhir. While previously BoU and dfcu appeared in control of the situation, the wheel started turning against them. But at the meeting, the source said, the officials stuck to BoU’s script—that Crane Bank shareholders mismanaged its capital and that the central bank acted legally when it took it over and later sold it to dfcu. Even if some officials might have made some mistakes, they told Saleh, these did not absolve the shareholders of Crane Bank. Going into the Serene Suites meeting, a source told The Independent, some of the officials already knew some of the details of the COSASE reports and that might have led them to be confident to deal 12
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
with any fallout. Instead, many were anxious to know Saleh’s position. At the meeting, Saleh reportedly appeared keen to know whether BoU stood a chance to trounce the tycoon. Saleh is not one of Sudhir’s sympathisers, at least from what he has said about the tycoon in the past. “I asked Sudhir to lend me money and he refused,” Saleh has told those close to him, “he missed an opportunity to control me the same way he controls politicians in this town. He also missed the opportunity to cultivate an important relationship.” Saleh was right. But he is also pragmatic. He knows that earlier on March 26, President Museveni directed BoU to settle the case with Sudhir out of court. Back then, Museveni had called a meeting at State House to crack the whip on what were seen as feuding camps. Museveni warned that he was tired of seeing BoU matters in the press. The BoU Governor Tumusiime Mutebile, his Deputy Governor Louis Kasekende, the Inspector General of Government (IGG), Irene Mulyagonja, and a few members of the parliamentary Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) attended.
At the time, Mulyagonja was threatening to launch an investigation into BoU after being petitioned over a reshue, which aected over 50 top
executives including nine executive directors, 13 directors and 24 assistant directors, amidst a host of internal scandals at the bank. The most aected ocial in this reshue was the Executive Director
Banking Supervision Justine Bagyenda. Mutebile had red her but she
protested and refused to leave. But at the meeting, Museveni hinted that she should leave. “I hear Bagyenda does not want to go,” Museveni reportedly said with his characteristic laugh and the message was not missed. Bagyenda had been packing her bags – but not exactly leaving the Bank. She clung on and has only left the bank recently, recently, in early July. In fact, The The Independent has learnt, ocially she
went on leave pending her retirement. For Saleh at least, Bagyenda’s departure is mistimed. She is the most qualied ocial to explain to Saleh what wh at
really happened at Crane Bank since she supervised it for almost as long as it existed. Could her reappointment at FIA suggest she is not totally out?
Who is influencing Saleh?
But Saleh is not without potential allies on the matter. He can rely on
COVER STORY
William Byaruhanga, who is now the Attorney General and a major Sudhir foe. He used to be Saleh’s legal advisor, was handed his current job by Saleh, Sa leh, and is a majo majorr influe in fluence nce on the government’s views on the Sudhir case. Significantly, Byaruhanga was in the past a lawyer for Sudhir, but they fell out following a fight over prime property in Kampala. Byaruhanga, also happens to be business busin ess part partner ner with BoU’ BoU’ss lawyer, la wyer, Timothy Kanyerezi Masembe of top law firm MMAKs Advocates, and obviously shares a view that the BoU case against Sudhir is solid. At the height of Sudhir’s problems, insiders said Byaruhanga was working with BoU officials to prefer criminal charges against him. President Museveni blocked this. This forced BoU to instead slap a civil suit against the tycoon. In the July 03, 2016 suit, BoU alleges that Sudhir and his other company Meera Investments Limited, on several occasions and over many years, fraudulently took money totaling over Shs300 billion out of Crane Bank where he was the dominant shareholder. It alleges that in 2013, Sudhir fraudulently shifted ownership of the 48 Crane Bank branch buildings from Crane Bank to his other company called Meera Investments. Sudhir allegedly then proceeded to charge his own bank very high rent, among others. BoU also claims that the tycoon owned and controlled Meera and Crane Bank 100% even if he deceived BoU, his customers, and auditors about this. BoU also alleged that Sudhir concealed his 100% ownership of Crane Bank by introducing fake shareholders including his wife and three adult children, one Kasiklal Kantaria of a phantom company called White sapphire, one Jitendra Sanghani, and businessman businessm an Godfrey God frey Kirumira. Ki rumira. The basis of these allegations was reportedly a forensic audit by Price Waterhouse Coopers, commissioned by the t he Centr C entral al Bank. B ank. In his counter suit, Sudhir accused BoU of breaching a Confidential Settlement and Release Agreement (CSRA) agreement of March 20 agreement in which the two parties had agreed to settle their differences amicably. The agreement stated that if Sudhir gave BoU US$60 million in cash and properties, BOU would ensure that he is not sued by any claimant either in a civil or criminal court. Under the agreement, BoU undertook to secure
Sudhir from any prosecution and compensate him for any harm or loss caused by prosecution. Sudhir had paid US$8 million to cover one case in which he allegedly lent himself money from Crane Bank, which is not allowed under banking law. After paying this amount, according to the agreement, BoU was supposed to return some properties to him but did not. Instead, in a letter dated May 29, Mutebile informed the government, through the Attorney General William Byaruhanga that he had instructed lawyers to start criminal charges against Sudhir because he had refused to comply. Through Meera Investments Ltd (MIL), the tycoon also sued dfcu Bank, seeking to reclaim leasehold titles and developments for 48 banking halls taken over by the latter when Crane Bank was liquidated. MIL also sued the Commissioner for Land Registration, accusing them of conniving with dfcu Bank to transfer the leases into the latter’s names without its consent.
removed from the case because they represented Crane bank until October 20, 2016, when BOU took over its management and thus the law firms shared confidential information with the central bank, which they were now using against him. In response to this charge both Masembe and Mpanga had argued that there was no conflict since they represented Crane bank, which is a separate entity from Sudhir, who was now being sued as an individual. However, the judge pointed out that the two, in their main pleadings while acting on behalf of BOU, had accused Sudhir not only of being the sole owner of Crane Bank, which is against the Financial Institutions Act but also running the bank on his whims, suggesting that he was running its day-to-day activities. “The meaning of this, is that Crane bank and Sudhir were one and the same person,” Justice David Wangutusi noted adding, “ So going by that t hat it means m eans that ther theree was a fiduciary relationship between the applicant (Sudhir) and first (Masembe)
Justine Bagyenda
Timot hy Masembe
David Mpanga
The Independent has seen a lease agreement showing that the properties belong belo ng to t o MIL, MI L, which value valued d them th em at at Shs. 100 billion but dfcu Bank acquired these documents at Shs 10 billion and immediately valued them at Shs47 billion bill ion much to Sudh Sudhir’s ir’s chag chagrin. rin. The Independent understands that due to the controversy surrounding the properties, dfcu’s lawyers have advised the bank that it was likely to lose them to Sudhir. Also, BoU and dfcu have suffered major setbacks in their court case, albeit of a technical not substantial nature. For instance, Justice David Wangutusi, kicked off the case the two key BoU lawyers Timothy Masembe Kanyerezi of MMAKS Advocates and David Mpanga of AF Mpanga/ Bowmans on grounds of conflict of interest. Sudhir had asked that the two are
Willia m Byaruhanga
and second (Mpanga) respondents.” Even the third law firm BoU hired suffered almost a similar fate—almost bringing bring ing the BoU case to a stan standsti dstill. ll. As the central bank was still reeling from these losses, an agreement BoU had entered with dfcu over the sale of Crane Bank leaked, raising a storm. This storm fuelled tensions at BoU resulting into the February reshuffle in which Mutebile fired Bagyenda and shuffled top officials at the bank. A combination of all these saw Museveni intervene and put in place a committee to resolve this chaos. It is this committee that had quieted the storm at BoU and bought officials at the central bank time to re-strategise against Sudhir. It appears the contest is about to resume. What is not clear is whether Saleh will be an arbiter or a contestant.
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
13
NEWS ANALYSIS
Residents of Bukasa lining up to vote their L.C.1 chairperson.
By Flavia Nassaka
n the evening of July 10 when Local Council One elections were held across the country, Justine Kasule Kasule Lumumba; the the Secretary General of the ruling NRM party of President Yoweri Museveni said, they had won. She said preliminar preliminaryy results put them in the lead. “We have provisional results from 42 districts. NRM has won 7224 of the 10,789 villages. We have swept even the so-called opposition strongholds like Kasese and Kampala,” she said. Jubilations, parties, parties, and NRM victory victory speeches started almost immediately. Watching from his constituency in Gulu district, the Tochi County MP Peter Okot, says it became immediately clear that holding Local Council One elections along party lines was a mistake. Okot who sits on the Local
O
Government Commiee of Parliament,
says his constituency has 91 villages and his Democratic Party won 17 and the rest were taken by Independents, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and NRM. He says conducting LC One elections along party lines has divided communities that are supposed to be one and solve issues amicably as the village. 14
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA
After NRM 'swept' LC One elections Living among villagers divided by party colours According to him, the village is the rst
unit where justice can be cheaply and easily dispensed. But the election has resulted in LCs becoming double edged. “LC leaders have to be impartial as they adjudicate on village issues. But now you will hear stories of people beneting from programmes because
they wear Yellow. It will be chaos,” he says. The situation is compounded because, Roland Mugume Kaginda of the opposition FDC says, the NRM claim of victory is baseless because they basically “bought the election”. Mugume is referring to money NRM splashed on campaigning and paying for the requirements of the party candidates
and agents. According to NRM Deputy Secretary General Richard Todwong , the party spent Shs11 billion. That is almost as much as the Shs15 billion that the government gave the national Electoral Commission to conduct the election. Loyal NRM MPs also received Shs3 million each - to conduct mobilization activities in their respective constituencies. “This is where they derive the condence of throwing around gures
since the commission handed the role of handling the election to the party secretariat,” says Mugume, who is the Rukungiri Municipality MP.
NEWS ANALYSIS
“They chose intimidation and cuing out
those who can’t be intimidated,” Mugume says worrying that this trend may continue even into how the leaders elected along party colours operate. For Mugume and Okot, the ideal would be for par party ty col colors ors in pol politi itics cs to sta start rt fro from m LC 3 councils. Below these, he says there
should be leadership aained on individual
merit. He says the NRM also deployed vote rigging tactics, including ensuring that the Electoral Commission uses NRM registers in the village as the voters’ register. Mugume who also seats on the parliamentary parliament ary Public Service and Local Governments, says as a result many opposition party supporters failed to vote because their names were not on the register. “In Rukungiri, where we had just concluded a by election, some people missed on the register yet they had just voted in another election less than a month ago. What would explain that?” Mugume said, “People came with their valid national IDs but were not allowed to vote”. His constituency, Rukungiri Municipality is an opposition stronghold and is the birth home of opposition leader Col Dr. Kizza Besigye. There, Mugume says, of the over 800 villages, 250 FDC ag-bearers and nine
NRM’ss plan NRM’ pla n For him, the rush by the NRM to announce speaks of the pressure and uncertainty that the election had put on the party considering its increasing unpopularity at the grassroots. “They hatched plan after plan. They kept postponing these elections until they were ready,” he says. He cites a petition by one James Tweheyo; Tw eheyo; a member of the NRM and employeee of State House, that led to employe court stopping the election just a day before the set poll day in November 2017. Mugume says considering the importance and the time the country had taken without validating these leaders, such excuses as some students were at school could not have led to extension but they gave gave NRM time to organise organise itself and get an appropriate strategy. In the end, Mugume and Okot say, the system of lining up behind candidates of choice which was used was wrong. They say it was a strategy to intimidate voters and in the process win the ruling party seats. According to Mugume, people were warned to either vote the NRM or face being locked locked out of village-level village-level projects projects like the popular Operation Wealth Creation which are directly sponsored by the government.
FDC-leaning FDC-leani ng independen independents ts won.
EC not sure who won
Mugume’s claims are critical because the issue of which party won and where has become contentious and divisive. When, a week after the LC One election on July 18, The Independent asked the Electoral Commission which party had won the election, the Commission’s Deputy Spokesperson, Paul Bukenya, said they did not know for sure. “We are still receiving data from villages. We can’t tell yet which party performed beer than the other,”
Bukenya said. The mandate of announcing this win is for the electoral commission and according to Bukenya, at the closure of elections, 635 villages of the 60800 that registered to vote did not go to the polls. At the time of the interview, this number had reduced to 165 since the Commission had Okayed villages that had experienced irregularities to repeat the exercise the next day. “I don’t know about NRM gures.
Once we are done with data collection and all villages have voted we will be able to do the the categorisation categorisation and announce the result,” Bukenya said when asked about where the NRM was picking the gures they were announcing.
Despite this, the NRM released a
statement seemingly conrming the
claims of its secretary general. It has been
congratulating its members for winning the majority posts amidst what they called endless criticism from opposition leaders that the regime had lost popularity. Todwong says the NRM is condent because it because it had had a beer stru structur cturee than than that that
of the EC. “While the EC has coordinators up to the parish level, ours go up to the deepest village. We had tally centers in these areas; so geing this data wasn’t a problem,” he
says. He also dismisses claims that the NRM bought the election and locked out opposition supporters. He says instead, the NRM had a strategy of aggressive mobilisation that ensured that every member of the party participated. He says the mobilisation gobbled up to Shs11 billion bil lion.. It was also a huge departure from 2001 when the last LC elections before the recent ones were held. Back then, there were no parties and not a penny was spent on vote mobilisation. The elections were held under a de facto one party system also called the Movement System. And when the LC One election were rst
mooted in 2006, after the country switched to multiparty elections, the Constitutional Court ruled in petition by then opposition member of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Rtd Maj Rubaramira Ruranga, that the law needs to be changed. Rubaramira had argued that a new election law was needed because the system had changed. The law was never amended and instead, over three cycles of general elections, the country went without choosing these grassroots leaders. When the law was amended in 2016, the dates would be set and cancelled either because bec ause the there re was was no mone moneyy to cond conduct uct the polls or because of contestations over the mode of either using secret ballot or lining up behind candidates. Now, it appears that although the elections ended without the feared election violence, there is fear that the divisions they created between members of the same tiny communities might take longer to heal – or even worsen. Todwong says the NRM is aware of this fear and has designed a solution already. Todwong says he was also against voting along party lines at the village level. But now that it was done, he says aggressive programmes will be conducted to sensitise elected leaders on where party colors should stop while conducting village business. For him, village issues are not ideological in nature to require that those with divergent views are locked out. “They handle land disputes, family problems, and minor village thefts,” Todwong says, “These have no party colors.” July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
15
NEWS ANALYSIS
Dominic Ongwen attends a confirmation of charges hearing session at the ICC in The Hague. Ongwen is facing several counts of charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity at t he ICC
ICC comes of age at 20 But what is its future in Uganda? By Ronald Musoke
he International Criminal Court’s 20 year anniversary on July 17 has been a day of reflection for experts on justice and victims of injustice. As the day, which also marks the World Day for International Justice, was being marked in the Dutch city known as The Hague by dignitaries from 30 states and parliaments,
T
Victor Ochen; a northern Uganda
war survivor watched with mixed emotions. Ochen is a survivor of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebellion that raged from 1987 to the mid-2000s when it peaked until its leader was driven into the jungles of eastern DR Congo where he remains a lethal fugitive and looming threat to peace. Ochen told The Independent on July 24 that until the ICC indicted five LRA commanders in 2005, many victims of war in northern Uganda believed they would never get justice. “There was evidently lack of commitment from the government to protect civilians,” he says. But the ICC indictment changed that. “The arrest warrants issued by 16
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
the ICC scared both domestic and overseas supporters of the LRA,” Ochen says. He adds that the consequent cut-off of all support, including the supply of weapons and the provision of intelligence services, is among the most important reasons for the LRA fleeing northern Uganda for the DR Congo jungles. Another watershed was when, after years of pursuing the indicted LRA commanders, the ICC got hold of Dominic Ongwen in 2015 and he was transferred transferre d to The Hague to face trial. Ongwen was captured by UPDF forces in the Central African Republic. But it is his handover to the ICC that excited Ochen most. He recalls it as a moment that brought more interest in the affairs of the ICC and the LRA conflict. “It gave the people in northern Uganda much hope,” Ochen says. Jackson Jack son Odo Odong, ng, the prog programme ramme manager conflict, transitional justice and governance at the Makerere University-based Refugee Law Project says the ICC scored even higher when it placed victims of the northern Uganda conflict at the centre of Ongwen’s trial. In 2017, the ICC partnered with the
Danish Embassy in Uganda to provide television sets, portable public address systems, and generators to enable free public screening of the Ongwen trial. It also flew several cultural, religious, and opinion leaders and journalists to The Hague to witness the trial first hand and launched outreach radio programmes called ‘Justice Matters’ which targeted to reach 11 million people in northern Uganda so that war victims in the remotest villages are able to follow the proceeding in The Hague. The ICC even set up a Victims
Trust Fund, to provide financial relief for victims. Odong says the outreach unit was the ICC’s way of dealing with its limited and selective approach to justice. just ice. But it was wa s good. go od.
Africans protest
Ongwen, together with Kony, Raska Lukwiya, Okot Odhiambo, and Vincent Otti in 2005 became the
first people to be indicted by the ICC. That was just two years after the ICC was set up in 2002 and its first judges appointed in 2003. Uganda became the first country in the world to refer a case to the ICC on December 13, 2003. Ratified by over 120 countries, the ICC was designed to prosecute
NEWS ANALYSIS
individuals for crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes; especially when national judicial judi cial syst systems ems fail fail,, are ar e unwill un willing, ing, or unable to prosecute the criminals. The ICC is currently investigating cases in Burundi, Central African Republic; Côte d’Ivoire; Darfur, Sudan, the DR Congo, Georgia, Kenya, Libya, Mali, and Uganda. It also has preliminary examinations in Afghanistan, Colombia, Gabon, Guinea, Iraq, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Palestine, the Philippines, Comoros, Greece, Cambodia, Ukraine, and Venezuela.
But the court suffered a backlash when, in 2009 and 2010, it indicted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and issued summons to appear for Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2014. African states accused the court of bias and whipped up antiICC sentiments among the continent’s leaders. It was a build-up from 2009, when the African Union had urged its member states not to cooperate with the court regarding al-Bashir’s warrants, leading to what the AU called a withdrawal strategy in 2017. So far, the AU threat has not led to a walk out but it has ensured constructive engagement. But some experts, like Allan Ngari; a senior researcher at the Pretoria-based Institute of Security Studies, believe the threat of AU withdrawal is the greatest challenge the ICC faces. Ngari says this is because cooperation is an essential cog in the Rome Statute wheel of justice, and without it the ICC cannot deliver on its mandate. Odong puts it more directly: “There are states that feel that they are bigger than global justice.” For him, that the ICC cannot go for individuals from member states that do not subscribe to the Rome Statute remains a bigger challenge, even if the UN Security Council could deal with such cases. But Dr. Livingstone Sewanyana, the executive director of the NGO; Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, says it should not be surprising that the ICC has indicted more leaders from Africa than elsewhere. “That is not surprising because African leaders have been at the forefront of abusing those fundamental rights,” Sewanyana who also doubles as the United Nations Human Rights Council’s independent expert on the promotion of democratic and equitable international order, told The Independent in an interview.
He says the ICC has been an important development in dealing with crimes against humanity because, before befo re it, i t, the t he world w orld did not have an internationall mechanism to address internationa this problem. He says the ICC has achieved a lot in its 20-year lifespan given that it requires cooperation from heads of state. But going forward, Sewanyana, says the ICC needs to rethink how to address the global challenge of impunity. He says a lot of violations and abuse go unpunished in DR Congo, Sudan, Uganda and others. He says a better approach would be for
the ICC’s justice system that she finds frustrating. She says, as a result, the ICC is still not understood by many of the victims of the northern Uganda conflict. “In terms of victim participation in the ICC, the system remains too technical and too slow and limited for the victims,” she told The Independent on July 23. Back in The Hague and to the 20 year anniversary celebrations, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda stressed that although the international criminal justice system is ever evolving, the ICC is its central pillar.
Ongwen was arrested in t he jungles of Central African Republic by b y the African Union Regional Task Task Force
the ICC to decentralize its activities around the world instead of being cocooned in The Hague. He says the ICC’s presence would be felt more if it were decentralized.
The future
Today, peace has returned to northern Uganda and Ochen heads an NGO, the Africa Youth Initiative Network, based in Lira town. It rehabilitatess victims and survivors of rehabilitate the LRA and Ochen is happy. But Odong says the Victims Trust
Fund that the ICC set up to cater for survivors like Ochen should be spread across all northern Uganda, instead of being limited only to those areas under investigation. For Lina Zedriga Waru, the secretary of the Uganda National Committee for the prevention and punishment of Genocide and Mass Atrocity (UNCP-GNA) it is the slow pace of
“A more rule-based global order where mass atrocities are checked through the force of the law and the progress of humanity demand it,” she said. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari who was the chief guest told the guests that ICC’s biggest achievement has been giving hope for justice just ice to so many m any vict victims. ims. Buhari urged all states that have not yet done so to, as a matter of deliberate state policy, accede to the Rome Statute of the ICC so that it can become beco me a unive universal rsal trea treaty. ty.”” As part of the commemoration, representatives of the Assembly, the Court, the Trust Fund for Victims,
civil society and counsel planted a tree on the Court’s premises in The Hague in remembrance of the victims of the most serious crimes as well as to symbolize a deep-rooted commitment to end impunity for such acts. July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
17
NEWS ANALYSIS
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Museveni during the talks at State House Entebbe.
Modi’s visit to Kampala A tale of a bond sealed with blood By Ian Katusiime
hen India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed at Entebbe International Airport on July 24, very few Ugandans possibly recalled that he had been here before – in 2007. The visit back then was the result of a tragic event which resulted in a strong bond of friendship between Modi and Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni. As Nimisha J. Madhvani, Uganda’s High Commissioner to United Arab Emirates, who was formerly posted to India, tells it, Modi and Museveni share a more than 10 year-old relationship. And it is an unfortunate incident in Uganda that ignited the relationship between the two leaders. Nimisha told The Independent that the relationship of the two men goes way back to 2007 when riots over the proposed giveaway of part
W
18
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
of the Mabira tropical rain forest to the Indian-owned sugar producing company resulted in the death of an Indian national in Kampala. President Museveni had proposed to give away 7100 hectares of Mabira to Sugar Corporation of Uganda (SCOUL), which is owned by the Mehta family that originated from India. The young man was killed by an angry mob as he rode on a motorcycle in Kampala during the riots. His killing led to tensions between Ugandans and the Indian community in the country. Following the strained relations between the two countries, Madhavni says Ruhakana Rugunda, then the Minister of Internal Affairs, led a delegation to India to extend an olive branch to the Indian government. Other members of the delegation included Fred Beyendeza, then Acting High Commissioner to India, his deputy Nimisha Madhvani, Singh Katongole NRM Deputy Treasurer,
then Tororo municipality MP Sanjay Tanna, Sanji Patel deputy head of the Indian association in Uganda, and Mukesh Tahkrar the MD of the company the slain Indian national worked for. Madhvani says Rugunda’s delegation conveyed President Museveni’s apology to the Indian government, who included the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The delegation also assured the Indian government then led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, that the days of Idi Amin would not return to Uganda. During the reign of Amin in Uganda, tens of thousands of Indians were expelled from Uganda in 1972 which threw many of them into a life of destitution although some of them, including the Madhivani family, prospered. The Rugunda-delegation followed up with a visit to the state of the
NEWS ANALYSIS
Modi being entertained by a traditional dance troupe at State House Entebbe on July 24.
deceased Indian national, Gujarat, and were received by its then chief minister, Narendra Modi. The Ugandan delegation expressed their condolences and handed $10,000 to the bereaved berea ved fami family. ly. As a sign of improving relations betweenn Uganda betwee Ug anda and Indi India, a, Muse Museveni veni invited Modi to Uganda and the chief minister honoured the invite in November 2007. So, when Modi landed at Entebbe this time on July 24, it was literally the second coming. Modi emerged from his plane at Entebbe International Airport at 2:20pm and was received by Sam Kutesa, Minister of Foreign Affairs. He held talks with President Yoweri Museveni at State House Entebbe, addressed Parliament and met the Indian community at Kololo Independence Grounds during his two-day state visit to Uganda from July 24-2 24-25. 5. Museveni described Modi as “an old friend” and thanked him for the cooperation between the two countries. In a joint statement at State House, Museveni said he and Modi discussed mainly trade, tourism, and investment because the three enhance mutual prosperity. Museveni told the
congregation that the trade imbalance between betwe en Uganda Ug anda and Indi Indiaa was reducing. On tourism, the President revealed that Uganda Airlines is being revived and said the national carrier would fly directly to Bombay, a city in India, due to the many people he knows there. He said the many tourists flocking to Uganda would fill the country with dollars. On investment, Museveni said India has pledged to invest in Uganda’s healthcare system since Ugandans go to “India a lot for medical treatment.” Modi said the healthcare investment would be in form of a modern cancer therapy machine. “The machine will not only benefit Uganda but other East African countries.” The two countries also signed a defence pact which will see Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) get training from India’s Ministry of Defence. Modi also travelled with a 60-member delegation of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). These signed bilateral agreements with the Ugandan government in the areas of trade, tourism and investment. The CII is a body whose primary
goal is to develop industry in India and abroad for the growth and development of the Indian nation. Modi extended credit worth $200million to boost investments in several sectors of Uganda’s economy, including energy, infrastructure, agro processing. India is a key trading partner of Uganda and the value of exports to India in the last five years has grown from $15million to $43million, according to statistics from Bank of Uganda. On the other hand, the value of imports from India to Uganda has ranged from $1.2billion to $600million in the last five years. The imports trend indicates a sharp decline and analysts say Modi visited the country to open up more markets for India’s fast growing economy which has been overtaken by its Asian rival, China as a trading partner to Uganda. The Indian Prime Minister was on a five-day tour of three African nations; he visited Rwanda before Uganda and attended a BRICS summit in South Africa. BRICS is an acronym for the five global emerging markets. It was the first time an Indian prime minister was visiting Rwanda and Uganda. July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
19
FEATURE
An agricultural success story Dairy sector takes off in western Uganda By Rinus van Klinken
s the prospect of Uganda reaching middle income status seems to be receding, it might be worthwhile for policy makers to examine the experiences of the dairy sector. Dairy has for long been seen as a static static sector sector,, dominated by pastoralists and subsistence farmers. Hardly the commodity that is a shining example of the much talked about, but rarely showcased, commercialisation of agriculture. Yet, the sector has in the past few years been catapulted to the forefront of the (agricultural) economy. Two interrelated developments have greatly contributed to this transformation of the dairy sector; the meteoric rise of export of dairy products, and the professionalisation of production. For the second year running, dairy was the third agricultural export commodity in 2017. The leading export
A
crop is coee, and has been
so for many years, though any rise in the value of the crop has been rather modest considering the fairly strong government support. Fish as second agricultural export commodity is uctuating,
depending on the catches from Lake Victoria, but ultimately
is showing a gradual decline. Dairy is only a recent export. Initially growing slowly with exports to neighbouring countries, it has grown exponentially in the last three years. While exports in 2016 had reached a credible US$50 million, in 2017 they are thought to have increased to some US$120 million. If current trends and industry predictions are anything to go by, they they could could reach reach US$200 US$200 million in the next three to ve years. With that, Uganda 20
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
is set to become the largest dairy exporter in the whole of Africa, by-passing South Africa, who now holds that position. The dairy export is mainly driven by the three large processors, dominating the sector. Pearl, part of the Midland Group, has quickly grown in the four years since it started operations; exporting to many countries (from Nigeria in We West st Africa to Japan in the east, with a sizeable portion going to Arabian Gulf countries). Its Lato brand has recently penetrated the Kenyan market with its long shelf life milk, providing strong competition to Brookside. Amos, owned by Indian Indian and interna internationa tionall investors, is exporting casein to the American market, and has recently added whey powder and UHT (for the Kenyan market) to its products. Brookside, owned by the the Kenyan Kenyan compan companyy of the same name, has been the longest in the market, and is using the privatised factory of the defunct National Dairy Corporation. It produces for the domestic market and exports only to its mother company in Kenya. There are a number of mediumsized companies that are also combining production for the domestic market with exports to neighbouring countries, of which the most important are JESA and Lake Lake Side Dairi Dairies es (both of which have also been expanding or have plans to do so). It is signicant, that
of these processors, it is only JESA that is is fully fully locally locally owned and that the rest are all foreign investors, and the product of government policy to deliberately foster such investments (including receiving tax and other favours). It is not by co-incidence that all the exporters are either based in or near Mba Mbarara rara,,
FEATURE
or are sourcing most of their milk from there. This has a lot to do with government investment, the natural conditions as well as the changing composition of the farming community. While government
Rinus van Klinken is based in Mbarara as Project Manager for the TIDE dairy project, implemented by SNV and funded by the Government of The Netherlands
aention for the dairy sector is limited
(certainly compared to other agricultural commodities, like coee and tea), the sector has beneed from recent investments.
Construction of roads in Kiruhura and neighbouring districts (the main source of milk) may have been done for political reasons, but it has certainly opened up these areas for milk transporters. This, coupled with the fact that more than one third of all milk coolers in the country can be fou found nd in in just just one dist district rict (Ki (Kiruhu ruhura) ra),, has has created the conditions for a huge increase in milk marketed from the area and was a major incentive for the dairy processors to set up shop here in the rst place.
The dairy farming system is also very conducive. With fairly large land holdings and good grazing conditions (though seasonal), milk can be produced cheaply and in large quantities. Dairy farmers have invested into upgrading their stock, crossing the Ankole cow with the higher producing Friesian/Holstein. This has increased productivity of dairy milking cows from 3-5 ltr/day to 6-10 ltr/day. Costs remain fairly limited, making dairy literally a cash cow for dairy farmers in Southwest Uganda, enabling them to produce milk at one of the lowest costs in the world. However, the current dairy farming system is close to reaching its productivity limit. To increase productivity even further, farming practices need to change. The key changes required to bring bri ng prod producti uctivity vity to the the nex nextt level level are conservation of feeds and increasing access to water. These changes are demanding, but fea feasib sible. le. Man Manyy farme farmers rs in in South Southwes westt Kenya are already taking up these innovations and are transforming their practice. Growing of maize for making silage was unheard of just a few years ago, but is now bei being ng prac practise tised d by an incre increasin asingg number of farmers. Many farmers have in the recent past invested in geing water on
their farm, by digging valley dams, and are now starting the process of distributing the water within the farm, in order to reduce the burden for cows to walk long distances to drink water. Increasing milk prices are making these investments feasible. In Southwest Uganda, milk prices have always uctuated with the seasons. But the
new element of increased competition for milk that is exported is causing a gradual structural increase in the price of milk. The upper limit in these prices is the world market and Kenyan milk market developments. But if there are no drastic changes in either, and for as long
Text box: Transforming dairy practice
default ult to dairy dairy far farmin mingg as a vocati vocation. on. Agricultural exports of Uganda ($million) by defa Commodity
2011
2017
Increase
1
Coffee
467
555
19%
2
Fish
142
134
-6%
3
Dairy
17
120
606%
4
Maize
27
88
222%
5
Tea
72
79
10%
6
Beans
27
78
185%
7
Flowers
52
58
11%
8
Cocoa
44
54
22%
9
Hides and skins 33
53
60%
10
Cotton
86
50
-42%
11
Tobacco
55
46
-16%
12
Fruit & Vegs
12
37
216%
18
27
47%
13 Ri R ice
as Uganda keeps on exporting its milk, it should be feasible for processors to pay Shs800 – 1,300 for a litre of milk produced in Southwest Uganda. There is a small, but growing set of farmers, that are eyeing these developments and are transforming the face of dairy. For long the dairy sector has beenn domin bee dominated ated by ‘tra ‘traditi ditional onal’’ farme farmers, rs, whose prestige was based on the number of animals. They used this social capital to cement their position in politics. Now, a new class of farmers is emerging. They are entering dairy farming from a dierent perspective; not aiming for prestige but for prot. They come from diverse backgrounds. A signicant number
are recently retired, and rather than relying on their investments in town, are taking up dairy farming as a business. Others have made the transition from keeping livestock
The most exciting are a young group of farmers. With university education behind them, they have made the deliberate choice to make dairy farming a profession. Whether a business, vocation or profession, they all have in common that they are at the vanguard of the transformation of dairy farming in Southwest Uganda. The big ques question tion is whet whether her they can pull the sector along with them. If they do, the best is yet to come. Farmers often complain about the price of milk and the cost of investment. But farming as business is now a distinct possibility in SW Uganda. Take a farmer, who owns 60 acres of pastures (including some matoke) and milks 10 cows that give him 70 litres per day for sale. At a market price ofShs700 per litre (the average over the past two years), his revenue will be Shs1.5 million per month. The costs of production in that grazing system are fairly limited, mainly labour and veterinary care, so a net income ofShs750,000 (dairy only) per month is feasible. Now, if the farmer invests Shs30 million in water and other farm infrastructure and equipment required for growing silage, he can easily (with improved husbandry) increase production to 150 litres per day. At a constant price, this will increase his revenue to Shs3.15 million per month. With production costs only slightly increasing, and accounting for the nancing costs of
the investments, net income will increase to Shs1.3 million per month (or 70%). The current increase in market prices makes this calculation only more aractive.
It demonstrates that with increased production, unit costs decline and create an aractive return of investment. July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
21
ADVERTORIAL
Rwanda Social Security and Revenue Revenue bodies launch joint declaration portal, reduce employer employ er burden in meeting obligations
RSSB's Director General Jonathan Gatera (left) and RRA's RRA's Pascal Bizimana Ruganintwali at a press conference to announce t he PAYE PAYE unified platform in Kigali recently.
A
s a Human Resources Manager of the Rwanda Red Cross Society, Esther Mukamurenzi’s roles are largely to support the organization’s employees deliver on their responsibilities through oering a supportive environment which includes ensuring benets and remunerations are remied on time. A big chunk of her work time is spent on managing the payroll, which includes remiing employee remunerations, declaring and ensuring the payment of the Pay as You Earn (PAYE) (PA YE) tax and declaring and remiing social security contributions to all mandatory schemes including pension, 22
occupational hazards insurance, maternity leave and medical insurance scheme. All these tax and social security contributions are supposed to be declared and remied not later than the 15th day of the month following the one for which they are being made. Coupled with handling salaries for the over 100 sta employed by the organization, Mukamurenzi says that at least 2-3 weeks of her oce time are taken up by these very important tasks. In her oce during these weeks, she is busy entering data in spreadsheet after spreadsheet to ensure that every employee of the organization has had their declarations and remiances made and without any
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
alterations on how much is expected to be made. “It is very time-intensive and during these days, I sometimes leave the oce as late as 9pm to ensure that I maximize on time and be able to deliver deliver in other responsibilities expected of my position other than this.” But Mukamurenzi is not alone. According to the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) there are over 11, 800 taxpayers or contributors concerned with PAYE and the mandatory social insurance contributions and a big majority of them continue to go through hefty procedures to declare and meet their employee’s tax and social security obligations. To facilitate employer compliance with the law and
reduce the nancial and time costs incurred by taxpayers and contributors to social security, RRA in partnership with the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) recently launched a new online-based unied declaration for Pay as You Earn (PAYE), and contributions to pension, occupational hazards, medical and maternity leave benets insurance schemes dubbed “PAYE-Unied”. With the innovation, taxpayers will no longer queue in order ord er to pay PA PAYE YE tax or make social security contributions. The new system was developed from RRA’s already existing E-tax platform and according to ocials from RSSB and RRA who recently had a joint press brieng with journali journalists sts in Kigali; the digital system will ensure that employers eectively remit their workers’ PAYE PAYE and social security contributions. Previously, some employers according to the ocials would only pay RRA taxes and not remit their workers’ contributions to RSSB, or vice versa, which was dicult to control or monitor because previous systems were largely manual. Speaking to journalists, RSSB Director General Jonathan Gatera said said that that the two institutions decided to combine declaration systems in view of the fact that they serve the same clientele of taxpayers and contributors which was only logical and important that they combine eorts to make their (taxpayers) work quick and simultaneous instead of the previous back and forth transactions between the two Government of Rwanda bodies.
ADVERTORIAL
‘’The new automated system is envisaged to reduce the workload of lling out three or four separate annexures since one single annexure will henceforth be lled out and uploaded instantly”. The RSSB Director General added that “The online portal will not only allow RSSB and RRA to contribute to improving Rwanda’s doing business environment by lowering lowering costs costs related related to to meeting meeting tax obligations but also inuence eciency in collecting taxes and compliance with tax obligations for taxpayer”. Pascal Bizimana Ruganintwali, RRA’s Deputy Commissioner General acknowledges that the former system was too procedural and involved unnecessary extra paper work but noted that the new development comes to make the E-tax system seamless. Describing the former system, the tax body’s ocial noted that it made the workload of paying PA PAYE YE and contributing to social security unnecessarily cumbersome for the taxpayer. “The taxpayer would come to RRA to declare PAYE PAYE taxes. After lling required forms, they would go to the bank to pay due tax. Later, they would go to RSSB to declare due contributions, and then go to the bank to make payments, which was both time and money consuming,” Ruganintwali says. With the new PAYE Unied portal, possession of a computer connected to the internet will be all a taxpayer needs. “With a computer in the comfort of their oce or home, the taxpayer will be able to log into the RRA website, ll out
PAYE Unifed PAYE Un ifed to contribute to improving Rwanda’s doing business environment by lowering costs related to meeting tax obligations
only one form and enter all necessary data for both bo th PAYE PAYE and social security contributions at once, as well as pay using already available mobile phone-based payment solutions to nalise payments, or make e-payment through a bank account” Ruganintwali added, stressing that this would make the previously burdensome burdens ome activity activity seamle seamless ss increasing increasing eciency and the possibility for more compliance by taxpayers.
Using PAYE Unified According to Mr. Gatera, for a taxpayer to use the new system, they are required to log into RRA’s e-tax system (available on www.etax.rra.gov.rw) where they will input all necessary information including names and National Identication numbers of their employees.
However, he armed that there will be no replacement on the already existing system, but rather, they will work concurrently, given that there are RSSB contributors who are not necessary PAYE registered. In the pilot phase of the PAYE Unied, 804 contributors and taxpayers have used it and led returns since 2016 and the results indicate that the platform is easier and resource saving for the taxpayer to meet its obligations. However, this number of current users of the system represent only about 6.9 per cent of the over 11, 800 taxpayers or contributors who ought to use it according to Ruganintwali. There are about 600,000 employees contributing Rwf75 billion to the public pension scheme annually. However, this number represents less than 10 per cent of the people in the workforce. The informal sector, especially small private businesses, constitutes a large part of those who are not covered by the various social security schemes run by RSSB as they do not make contributions. The Government of Rwanda has been making making signica signicant nt eorts eorts towards towards using Information and Communication Technologies such as the internet to improve on aordability and access to services to its population. PAYE PA YE Unied adds to t he score of services that are already online through the Rwandan Government’s online portals to contribute to reducing bureaucracy burea ucracy that makes servi service ce delivery in most developing countries slow and inecient.
RSSB and RRA officials speak to journalists in Kigali recently regarding the new payment portal July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
23
RWANDA
RwandAir to y direct to Maputo Mozambique president’s visit to Rwanda yields cooperation deals strengthening of ties between the two countries will enable it to track down fugitives of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, some of whom are believed to be hiding in Mozambique and have eluded justice for the past 24 years. Rwanda Justice Minister Johnston Busingye said cooperation in justice was a key aspect of the KigaliMaputo relationshi relationship. p.
Supporting continental free trade zone
President Kagame and President Nyusi on July 20 hold a press conference at Village Urugwiro in Kigali By Daniel C. Ntwari
E
conomic and political relations between Rwanda and Mozambique are rming
following the signing of multiple cooperation deals during President Filipe Nyusi’s recent state visit to Kigali. Among deals agreed is one to enable the national carrier, RwandAir, to start direct ights to the Mozambique
capital, Maputo. President Nyusi was on July 20 in Kigali on his rst state s tate
visit to Rwanda.
During his visit, up to ve
bilateral bilater al agree agreemen ments ts were were signed, mainly to expedite doing business and political relations between the two countries. They include agreements on bilater bil ateral al polit political ical coop coopera eration tion,, exemption of visa requirements for diplomatic and service passports, bilateral air services agreement (BASA), exchange of technology, science and technical higher learning, and Memorandum betwee bet weenn Rwan Rwanda da Deve Develop lop-ment Board and Mozambique Investment Promotion Agency. Under the BASA deal, Rwandans travelling to 24
Mozambique by air will no longer have to go through a third country, meaning the journe jou rneyy from from the the south southern ern central African country will no longer take 16 hours from Kigali International Airport and involve many stopovers. Rwanda’s national carrier
COURTESY PHOTO
and code sharing. This means that the over 4,000 Rwandans living in Mozambique and business people traveling travelling to
President Nyusi said stronger cooperation will support trade and growth of the two countries going forward. “We need triangle relations so that we can speed up the growth,” he said, “We have tea and sugar, but Rwanda has expertise in innovation which we want to explore.” Nyusi was addressing a jointt press join press confer conference ence at Vil Village Urugwiro in Kigali. Also speaking at the press conference, Kagame said that his earlier visit to Mozambique in 2016 was beginning to bear fruits, adding that he had held
the country will nd it easier, convenient, and more aord -
mutually benecial discussions on maers of national, regional
RwandAir will now ocially y direct to Maputo using
the already existing routes to which each has direct ights
able when RwandAir starts
direct ights between Kigali
and Maputo in the near future. RwandAir ying directly to
Maputo also means more business for the carrier and expansion of its existing 26 routes. The air agreement comes at a time when Rwanda has similar agreements with other southern African nations and brings bri ngs the num number ber of Afr African ican countries that have accepted to open their airspace to RwandAir to 25 out of the 54 countries on the continent. Rwanda has over 60 BASA agreements globally.
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
and continental interest with Nyusi. He said he was hopeful that the bilateral agreements signed between the two nations will benet their citi zens and development initiatives. Rwanda will now open an embassy in Maputo which has hitherto been covered by Rwanda’s High Commission to Zambia. President Kagame said the embassy will help to carry on with the work of strengthening our cooperation. Rwanda also hopes the
The Mozambican leader said they would speed up signing of many protocols and agreements on the continental level, including the African Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) agreement. He said Mozambique has a lot of potential and business opportunities in areas of energy, tourism, infrastructure and agriculture that both countries can tap to boost growth. Nyusi travelled to Kigali with a delegation of private sector leaders who met and signed a memorandum of understanding with local counterparts during the Mozambique and Rwanda Business Forum in Kigali on July 20. During his stay, Nyusi also visited the Kigali Special Economic Zone, Kigali Genocide Memorial site, meeting young innovators, and was treated to State banquet hosted in his honour by President Kagame. “There is no beer way
to continue our liberation journey, than to combine our respective strengths and capabilities and transform the lives of our people,” he told reporters. Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited Rwanda early this week; Jinping was in the country July 22-23, and Modi followed from July 23-24.
RWANDA
pregnancies last year. “This means that 724 children gave birth to other children,” she said, adding that the local government currently has 1, 448 children who need socio-economic socio-econom ic integration integration.. “We are trying to look for support from partners to address the issue,” she said and added that the district had put in place interventions to reverse the trend.
Call for action
Paul Jabo, the Executive Secretary of Northern Province, castigated irresponsible men who take advantage of poor teenage girls and then abandon them after discovering that they are pregnant. He called on religious based organizationss to interven organization intervenee and help the community. He said families need to embrace their responsib responsibilities ilities to their children and religious
Abused and dumped The pain of Rwanda’s underage mothers By Elias Hakizimana
he teenage mothers number over 17,000. Most are from the poorest backgrounds. Most are abandoned by the men who got them pregnant.
T
Many are suering with trauma
and stress. Those are some of the harrowing results results of a nationwide study on teenage pregnancy released recently in the Northern Province city of Musanze. The study was carried out in 2017 by Reach Children Rwanda and Rwanda Religious Leaders Forum. And the Rwanda Gender Monitoring Oce (GMO) says the gure
for 2018 could be even higher. Under Rwanda law, any person who engages a child below be low the age of 18 in sex sexual ual activity commits the crime of delement and is liable on
conviction to life imprisonment with provisions. Not surprisingly, many civil society organisations (CSOs), faith-based faith-base d organisation organisations, s, and government agencies in the country are angry about the “17,000 children who gave birth to other 17,000 children”. They want concrete action to be taken to stop the negative
trend which endangers the lives of both the teen mothers and their children. They are angry that while all the surveyed teen mothers aged around 16 years old and their children are currently being exposed to harsh conditions of life, the men responsible for their plight a roaming free without being held accountable for their actions, according to the authors of the report. Of the 17,000 teenage mothers, only about 800 or 5% receive any support from the fathers of their children. About About 23% or 3900 of the teen mothers do not know the fathers of their children. This is possibly because, according to another study carried out by civil societies and Human Rights Watch, up to 9% of all teenage pregnancies in Rwanda are a result of sexual violence, including rape. The researchers interviewed 818 teen mothers under 18 years old from 52 sectors in 10 districts, including Bugesera, Rwamagana, Rwamagan a, Kamonyi, Huye, Nyamasheke, Karongi, Gicumbi, Nyarugenge, Kicukiro and Gasabo. Their report indicates that 64% of the teenage mothers are enticed by money. This is mainly because they are from poor backgrounds.
Another batch are not guided properly by their careless parents (13%), and others lack knowledge on reproductive health with 9% , while 5% are from families embroiled in dispute-rivenn families. dispute-rive It was revealed that 88% of victims do not get support from the perpetrators and 99% of victims do not get any legal support in regard to the unwanted pregnancy.
organisations need to ght vices
like drug abuse among young generation. He said it is wrong to engage children in child labour and appealed to membersof the community to report abusers. Caritas Mukandasira, the deputy chief gender monitor in Gender Monitoring Oce
(GMO), noted that children and youth represent over 60% in the country’s population. Mukandasira said they need to inherit beer values and life
Some are repeat victims since 10% have two children and 1% has more than two children. Up to 89% of the surveyed teen mothers have one child Some are repeat victims since 10% have two children and 1% has more than two children. Up to 89% of the surveyed teen mothers have one child. While speaking at the launch of the report, Musanze Vice Mayor in charge of Social Aairs, Marie Claire
Uwamariya, said her district Uwamariya, recorded about 724 teenage
away from child labour, sexual abuse, early pregnancies, and other forms of child abuse. Bishop John Rucyahana, the chairman of Rwanda Religious Leaders Forum (RRLF), said perpetrators of sexual crimes against children should be reported so that they are prosecuted. He challenged church leaders and parents to play big role in ensuring peaceful families, educating children and imparting good moral values to their children; and also urges them report perpetrators so that they are prosecuted. “Some of the children are being bei ng ae aecte cted d by by trau trauma ma and
stress caused by their parents’ conicts in home,” he said, “I
ask churches to take action and, together, we work to stop these disasters.”
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
25
RWANDA
President Kaga me (R) and Pr esident XI.
First Lady J eannet te Kaga me and First Lady Peng Liyuan.
Xi Jinping’s historic visit Deepening bilateral relationships, nancing development By Daniel C. Ntwari
hinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Rwanda between July 22 and 23 is being be ing hai hailed led as a boon boon for bus busine iness ss
C
cooperation, nancing deals signed,
and a strong foundation for bilateral and trade relations between the two countries. During bilateral talks at the President’s
Oce at Urugwiro Village in Kigali, the two
leaders; the host President Paul Kagame and Xi Jinping, witnessed the signing of 15 bilateral pacts between the two nations, including, visa exemption for diplomatic and service passport holders, culture and scientic operations, as well as Silk Road
Economic Belt cooperation, investment cooperation and e-commerce. Others included civil air transport, law enforcementt cooperation and human enforcemen resource development, exchange of geology surveys, expansion of Masaka Hospital in Kicukiro district, plus concessional loans for the construction of Huye-Kibeho road and 26
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
a loan agreement for the Bugesera International Airport access road (16km) project that is tipped to cost $54 million. This is a four-lane 14-kilometre 14-kilometre road, stretching from Sonatube main roundabout in Kicukiro district, through Nyabarongo Bridge between Gahanga and Nyamata sectors to Bugesera International International Airport. These road construction projects, once completed, will make a total of 1,200km of road built by Chinese in the last 12. The ongoing rst phase of the airport is to cost
$418 million, according to the ministry of Infrastructure.
Aviation boost
Under the civil air transport agreement, agreement, Rwanda’s national carrier, RwandAir, will start operating ights to China’s economic
city of Guangzhou. The national carrier is scheduled to commence ights in Febru ary 2019, adding on the airline’s ambitious expansion bid to over 26 destinations, including Gatwick International Airport,
London in the UK, and Brussels in Belgium, which were opened last year.
Historic visit
President Xi, who was accompanied by China’s First Lady Peng Liyuan’s arrived in Kigali aboard Air China for the two-day state visit on July 22. The visit heralded the beginning of stronger cooperation between the two countries, and the African continent generally generally.. They were welcomed by President Paul Kagame and First Lady Jeannee Kagame
at the Kigali International Airport. Airport. As a result of the visit, China will sup-
port Rwanda’s development eorts nanc -
ing projects infrastructure, health, cultural exchange and capacity building for Rwandans. Under 2018-2020 culture exchange and scientic cooperation deal, Rwandans will benet bene t fro from m the the exp expans ansion ion of Chi Chinese nese
medicine and medical training opportunities which are currently being implemented
RWANDA
(L-R) (L -R) First Lady Jeannette Kaga me, First Lady Peng Liyuan, President XI and President Kagame.
at the Masaka Hospital in the outskirts of Kigali city. Rwanda is also expected to benet from a
memorandum of understanding on the Silk Road economic belt in 21st century Martine Silk Road initiative, while mineral surveys will also be conducted by the Chinese in Kibeho in Nyaruguru district. These will be an addition to other Chinese investments investments in the country, which amount to about $352.6 million in tourism, mining and construction sectors.
Building partnerships and learning from China’s experience Speaking after the signing of the deals, President Kagame said he appreciates the contribution of China historically to the development of Rwanda and Africa in many areas that are very important to its citizens. “We look forward to building more partnerships and gaining from China’s experience and capacity in many elds.
“I look forward to more cooperation and deepening of our bilateral relationships in deepening dierent eld of development, working
together not only bilaterally but also on the global scene and supporting cooperation betw be twee eenn Chi China na an and d Afr Africa ica.. The The sig signin ningg of of bilat bi latera erall agr agreem eemen ents ts spe speaks aks for its itself elf for what is possible between our two countries
and between China and the continent of Africa,” he said. Kagame said that China relates to Africa as an equal. “We see ourselves as a people on the road to prosperity. China’s actions demonstrate that you see us in the same way. This is a revolutionary posture in world aairs, and
it is more precious than money,” he said. He added that the growing relationship with China was based as much on mutual respect as on mutual interests as evidenced by Xi Jin Jinpin ping’s g’s per person sonal al com commit mitmen mentt to to the the continent. On his part, the Chinese leader said the bilate bil ateral ral re relat lation ionss will will str streng engthe thenn the the two countries, noting that Kagame has championed the Africa integration and the development of Rwanda. “It’s a win-win cooperation and other African leaders and Kagame will gather in Beijing to discuss further ways of implementing how to yield more fruit in future. We had an in-depth talk on the Beijing summit and reached a broad common understanding,” Xi said. China retains the largest amount of foreign direct investments in Africa with Rwanda having a good share with 61 investmentt projects and joint ventures investmen worth amounting to $419.556 million over the last 12 years. Chinese-African Chinese-A frican trade, projected to dou-
ble by ble by 2020 2020,, alre already ady tot totals als ove overr $200 $200 bil billio lion, n, more than twice the level of US-African trade. In 2014, the US commied to invest ing $14 billion in African aid over the next decade compared to China’s commitment to invest an additional $175 billion over a 10-year period. Nearly half of China’s total foreign aid goes to African nations.
Busy week for Kagame
Rwanda also hosted India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi from July 23-24, who was expected to donate 200 cows to Rwandan farmers in Bugesera district. Earlier, that country had hosted President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique who also signed ve bilateral agreements which will
speed up the process of doing business and political relations between the two countries. Deals signed between Mozambique and Rwanda during Nyunsi’s visit centred on bilate bil ateral ral pol politi itical cal coo coope perat ration ion,, exem exempti ption on of visa requirements for diplomatic and service passports, bilateral air services agreement (BASA), exchange of technology, science and technical high learning, and a memorandum of understanding between Rwanda Development Board and Mozam bique biq ue In Inve vestm stmen entt Prom Promoti otion on Ag Agen ency. cy.
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
27
Pension assets nearly double in three ye years ars Financial expert concerned with 70% investment in government securities by quo quoted ted equ equiti ities es (15 (15.4% .4%),), pr prope operty rty (5. (5.3%) 3%),,
By Julius Businge
U
ganda’s pension sector is continuing to grow with the
(2.2%), corporate bonds (1.3%) and other investments investmen ts (1.4%). However, some market analysts have raised concerns on this investment cluster. Joseph Jos eph Lut Lutwa wama, ma, the pol policy icy,, leg legal al and regulatory specialist at Financial Sector Deepening Uganda (FSDU) was concerned about the 70% of funds being invested in governmentt securities yet the country’s governmen debt servicing costs are close to 30% of the national budget. He said this would pose a big risk in the
latest gures indicating that
assets – a major indicator of growth – have increased from Shs5.2trillion in 2014 to Shs10.04trillion Shs10.04trill ion in 2017. This represents 93% growth. This is lower than Tanzania’s Shs20 trillion and Kenya’s Shs37.8 trillion pension sectors. The Uganda Retirement Benets Regulatory Authority (URBRA) report for 2017 released on July 18 at the Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala shows that out of the total assets recorded, the National Social Security Fund has about Shs9trillion. The rest is owned by the other small saving schemes. The increased assets means employees are saving more with pension schemes, and that more money is available for borrowing through commercial banks to among other things power the economy and create jobs. Releasing the report, the Acting Chief Executive Ocer, Martin Nsubuga, said
the compound asset growth rate for the last four years was 15.46% driven by contributions, investment earnings from government bonds, deposits, and listed equity. “This was a commendable performance given the declining interest rate environment and depressed equity market conditions witnessed in 2017,” Nsubuga said adding, “At sector level there is no distress.” The country’s interest rates have fallen from as a high as 20.3% per annum in December last year to around 17% at the moment. Nsubuga added that amidst the growth, they remain cautious given that while some investments investmen ts saw positive returns, they lost value on the original capital at the same time. He said the sector’s return on investment increased from 11.6% in 2016 to 14% in 2017. This, however, is lower than the 18.2% return on investment recorded in 2015 and 16% in 2014. The new report comes at the time the government is considering amending the 28
xed deposits (2.6%), unquoted equities
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
Martin Nsubuga
1985 NSSF Act to incorporate issues that
were raised earlier by dierent players during aempts to liberalise the sector.
Andrew Kasirye, the URBRA’s board
chairman, said the sector’s growth reects the board’s eorts for building the founda tion for eective discharge of the authority’s
functions. To date, the sector is comprised of two mandatory, eight umbrella (with 104 participating employers) employers) and 53 segregated schemes. The authority has so far licensed nine
event that government nds it dicult to
meet its debt obligations and that the earnings would also drop in the event that interest rates on bonds decline. However, Howev er, Nsubuga said in a bid to avoid the risk of poor stewardship, they issued targeted information and guidance to the various parts of the regulated community, spanning all areas of the business.
Beyond Uganda
increased asset growth. “We are also vigilant in implementing our supervisory framework. I therefore reiterate URBRA’s oversight responsibility
The sector asset to GDP ratio was quoted at 14% for Uganda, 10% in the case of Kenya and 11% for Tanzania. Workers covered were 20% for Kenya compared with 14% and 10% for Uganda and Tanzania, respectively. The number of mandatory schemes for Uganda currently stands at two compared with one in Kenya and seven in Tanzania. Similarly, occupational schemes stands at 1,302 in Kenya, 61 in Uganda and seven in Tanzania. However, Tanzania has the highest num ber of in infor formal mal sec sector tor sch scheme emess (05) (05) fol follow lowed ed up with Uganda and Kenya, with two and one, respectively. Going ahead, Nusbuga said they envision a well regulated and performin performingg
over all retirement benets schemes and
retired benets sector for Uganda through
administrators, seven fund managers, ve
custodians, four corporate trustees and 415 individual trustees to ensure segregation of duties with the goal of mitigating operational and governance risks. Kasirye added that professionalism and strategic approach has built condence
in the regulator, resulting into a number of positive aributes – among them is
service providers, and I reassure the public that their savings are under well-ma well-managed naged schemes,” Kasirye said.
Investment areas
According to the report, governme government nt securities takes the largest share of total investment by asset class (71.7%) followed
the current regulatory framework and technical competence of the regulator and other sector players. He said the regulator has also come up with a training programme aimed at improving standards of scheme governance, administration and compliance with the URBRA Act
BUSINESS
Afreximbank’s online platform connects investors to banks Failure to submit and update relevant documents risks making the platform irrelevant espite the fact that Africa continues to receive high levels of interest as an investment destination from investors across the globe, access to data remains a big challenge to en-
D
Benedict Oramah, the President and Chairman of the Afreximbank, said the goal of Mansa is to facilitate access to information necessary for conducting KYC, antimoney laundering and counter terrorism valuations thereby reducing compliance costs with respect to African trade and proj-
able them make nal investment decisions.
ect nance costs.
By Isaac Khisa
As such, a Cairo-based lender, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximb (Afreximbank) ank) has unveiled unveile d its new customer due diligence (CDD) platform, called Mansa, which seeks to provide a single source of primary data required for prospective investors and banks ba nks to con conduc ductt CDD CDD an and d kno know w your your customer (KYC) checks on counterparties in Africa. George Elombi, the bank’s executive vice president for governance, legal and corporate services, said the new platform will
“Our new Mansa platform is a natural extension of Afreximbank’s Afreximbank’s mission to expand, develop and diversify African African trade. Mansa will enhance African trade by ena enabli bling ng the ec ecien ientt on-bo on-board arding ing of
customer’s whilst reducing both operational workloads and the costs of compliance by counterparts,” he said. He said the new digital service is a winwin for all participants participants,, contributors, subscribers, national and international partners advocating for good governan governance. ce.
make it easier and more more cost-eective for
African businesses, businesses, large and small, to be on boarde boa rded d by by nan nancia ciall insti institut tution ions. s.
He said the bank hopes to “end the sub jective jecti ve ev evalu aluati ation on of cus custom tomers ers and eli elimiminate the perceived, and often unfair, risk in trading with African counterparti counterparties.” es.” He said the entities set to use the platform institutions (FIs), corporate or SMEs who will upload their information to the repository using standardised KYC templates, or
currently free to join the platform, and that it will remain so, for a year. Thereafter, and the bank is “aracting
enough customers on the platform”, it will introduce fees based on dierent categories
of use.
gap,” Duarte Pedreira, Pedreira, the head of trade
nance at Crown Agents Bank, told Global
Trade Review. However, he added, “the devil is always in the detail”. For one, platforms only work as much as the involved parties allow them to. “So, if banks banks and corporates corporates do submit and update their relevant KYC/CDD documents in Mansa, then the platform will be as relevant as it can be,” Pedreira said. But if they don’t, the platform risks becom be coming ing “y “yet et ano anothe therr emp empty ty cha chann nnel el tha thatt never materialised its potential”. The platform is named after Mansa Musa, the powerful ruler of the West African Malian Empire in the 1300s who was responsible for placing Africa on the map and opening up trade across Africa by establishing Timbuktu as his commercial hub. Meanwhile,, Afreximbank released its Meanwhile 2018 Africa trade report that showed that trade decit narrowed to $96.9 billion last
users, specically nancial institutions that
compliance at Afreximbank said rms are
ll the information gap that many consider to be at the heart of the wider trade nance
Trade volumes
are either contributors – African nancial
provide banking facilities and are looking for information on a particular company. “For every client that provides some information about their company some degree of validation is done before that is taken onto the platform,” Elombi said on the side-lines of the just concluded 25 th Anniversary and Annual General Meeting held in Abuja, Nigeria on July 11-14. “Care has been taken, but obviously it’s not going to be 100% sound proof – there will be some slippages. But these are the steps we have taken.” Maureen Mba, the associate director
welcomed the initiative, cautioned that its welcomed success would depend on industry support and the accuracy and validity of the information it provides. “I think Mansa has the potential to help
Louis Kasekende
Benedict Ora ma ma h
Commenting on the new development, Louis Kasekende, the deputy governor, Bank of Uganda, told The Independent in an interview that the new platform will ensure that banks do not deal with sanctioned entity. “If one is able to check who he or she is dealing with online, then, one is able to know the other party that he or she is dealing with and that is how it is going to help Small and Medium Enterprises in accessing nances,” he said. He said the platform will also help nan -
cial institutions ensure that they do not deal with UN or US sanctioned parties.
Challenges that lies ahead
A section of banks and exporters, though
year compared with $132.5 billion in the previous year. Exports increased to $405.3 billion in 2017 from $344 billion a year earlier, while imports advanced to $502.3 billion from $476.6 billion. The report also notes that whereas Africa’s trade with the rest of the world expanded 11% to $907.6 billion last year, the portion of trade within the continent declined to 14 % of the total. South Africa, Namibia and Nigeria accounted for more than 35 % of intra-Africa trade last year. South Africa contributed contributed a quarter of the region’s domestic commerce in 2017, mostly in oil imports from Nigeria and Angola. The report, however, notes that if African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) is implemented implemen ted on time, the intra-Africa trade could increase by at least 50% in the next four years. July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
29
BUSINESS
Tackling economic growth bottlenecks National Planning Authority boss outlines weaknesses in Uganda’s development agenda, shares solutions – would be a walkover, he said. Experts are in agreement with Mugerwa saying for country to achieve the two visions of growth, it requires GDP growth
By Julius Businge
isamba Mugerwa, the chairperson of National Planning Authority Authority (NPA), is a well-known speaker on
K
rate averaging to 6.4% over the ve years
of NDPII implementation while keeping population growth rate at not more than 3%. Mugerwa said the focus of the Uganda
maers Uganda’s journey to the
middle income status. It was the same on July 18 as he delivered a keynote address to 380 accountants who had gathered at Imperial Resort Beach Hotel in Entebbe to take part at the twoday 6th CPA economic forum that was organised by the Institute of Certied
Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPA-U (ICPA-U).). His talking point centered on the ‘prospects and challenges of achieving Uganda’s growth and development agenda in the medium term,’ linking his views to Vision 2020 where the government target
to achieve the lower middle income status with a per capita income of US$1,039 and Vision 2040 where it targets to achieve
upper middle income status with a per capita income of US$9,500. However, this target is way above the current per capita income of approximately US$760.
Economic challenges Mugerwa admied that the country’s
growth momentum has slowed over the rst two years of the NDPII that started
in FY2015/16 averaging only 4.4% growth compared to the required NDPII period average growth of above 6.4%. He said there is still slow growth in a number number of areas areas including; including; domestic revenue mobilisation, exports and private sector credit as a percentage of GDP, which stood at 14%, 12% and 8% in FY2017/18, as opposed to the target of 15.8%, 14% and 15% respectively. “The low economic growth performance for the last two years of NDPII implementation puts the country at the risk of not being able to achieve the NDP II targets by 2020,” Mugerwa said.
Vision 2040 and the NDPs has been
Kisamba Mugerwa
CPA Fredrick Kibbedi
leading to frequent supplementary expenditures, o budget nancing, public
borrowing borrow ing and hig highh inte interes restt paym payment entss crowding out budget allocations to key sectors that are key in driving growth and improving competitiveness of the economy. He said delays to realise oil and gas revenues, high population growth and increasing dependence burden are the other challenges hindering progress.
New strategy
Mugerwa said NPA is engaging other government agencies on the need for a new strategy that focuses on design of holistic programmes that cut across all government jurisdi jur isdictio ctions ns in ord order er to fast fast-tr -track ack the implementation of priority programmes and projects. “The other is maintaining sound macroeconomic environment – single digit ination, stable exchange rate regime
Mugerwa said ineective nancing
and low interest rates,” he said, adding that prioritising industrialisation to build on existing resources including power generation, iron ore and agriculture could stimulate faster economic growth. Mugerwa added that there is a need to strengthen the linkage and synergies betwe bet ween en pla planni nning, ng, bud budget geting ing and res resour ource ce allocation of the development budget in addition to enhancing domestic revenue
bolenec bol eneck, k, whic which h manife manifests sts in var variou iouss
mobilisation to nance the plans. Once that is done well, aaining middle
of development priorities remains a big ways such as misalignment between the intent of the budget and the actual budget allocations and poor budget discipline, 30
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
income status which has three major dimensions –growth and incomes, social transformation and economic vulnerability
on strengthening the fundamentals – infrastructure, human capital development, physical and human resources such as agriculture, tourism, minerals, oil and gas and more. He said some of the high prole
projects such as Bujagali hydro-power dam (250MW), Entebbe Express Highway (37KM) and the new Nile Bridge at Jinja are on course and destined to support the economy to grow further.
Going forward
CPA Fredrick Kibbedi, the president of ICPA-U said the accountants in Uganda applaud government for the achievements recorded so far in terms of socio-economic transformation. He, however, said more eort need to be
focused on the development of a long term plan for infrastructure development by buildi bui lding ng loc local al cap capaci acity. ty. He called for the revision of procurement laws to remove delays in handling projects, more recapitalisation of Uganda Development Bank, revival of Uganda Airlines, revival of cooperative societies and supporting information communication innovations. In separate interviews, the Private Sector Foundation Uganda Executive Director, Gideon Badagawa and the Senior Economics Lecturer at Makerere University Business School (MUBS), Isaac Nkote shared similar views. They said government needs to show commitment in ghting corruption, dealing with low absorption of funds for dierent projects and programmes, cuing its
domestic lending and above all, increasing domestic revenue mobilisation.
Executive Style
Free trade trade pact to boost intra-African trade Albert Muchanga is the commissioner for trade and industry at the Afric Af rican an Un Union ion.. He spoke to The Independent’s Isaac Khisa on the progress made with the planned Afric Af rican an Co Conti ntine nenta ntall Free Trade Area on the sidelines of Afreximbank’s 25th Anniversary and Annual General Meeting recently held in Abuja Ab uja,, Nige Nigeria ria..
What progress have you reg istered in the implementation of AfCFTA?
e are making good progress. In March this year in Kigali, Rwanda, we had 44 signatories and at the moment we have 49 signatories including South Africa. We are
W
condent that before the end
of the year, the rest of the six remaining countries will have signed. Which countries are these that are yet to sign?
We have Nigeria, Benin and Guinea Bissau in West Africa, Eritrea in East Africa, and with the peace process underway, I think they are in a good position to sign. In Southern Africa, we have Botswana and Zam bia.. We bia We hav havee bee beenn talk talkin ingg to to all all these countries and they have given us assurance that they are going to sign soon. What stage follows upon sign ing this agreement? The next stage is ratication. We need at least 22 ratica -
tions for AfCFTA to come into force. We have six deposits of
instruments of ratications and
remaining with sixteen. We
expect the 16 ratications to be
generated by the end of Decem berr and be and ev even entua tually lly com coming ing int intoo force of the agreement on January 31, 2019. What preparation are you making ahead of the coming into force of the agreement?
We are working on the structure of the permanent secretariat. We are also encouraging member states to make tari oers so that we begin
negotiation on the removal of 90% of the taris. Once that is
done, the market will become operational. We are also going to come up with a mechanism of monitoring non-tari bar riers like corruption. This is in addition to working with a
Pan African Quality Institute to come up with ‘Made in Africa’ brand bra nd so tha thatt thos thosee who who qua qualif lifyy can label their products ‘Made in Africa’. But why should we care about AfCFTA?
AfCFTA is important in that manufacturers in Uganda should not look at a market of a population of only 40million. They should look at a market as 1.2billion Africans. The challenge for them now is how to increase supply and open up market in other parts of Africa. AfCFTA therefore provides huge opportunities for businesses to grow either on their own or through joint ventures with other countries.
What is your assessment of the level of trade on the continent?
Africa has the lowest level of intra-regional trade, at just 18%. We intend to increase this by at least 52% by 2022. The greatest opportunity is in manufacturingg because 42% manufacturin of intra-African trade is in the manufactured goods. When we liberalise, there will be an
incentive for value addition and so manufacturers in Uganda should prepare themselves to come up with new manufacturing products to sell in larger markets. The private sector claims they haven’t been involved in this exercise yet are supposed to be part of implementation?
They are involved. We invited the private sector to the African Business Forum in Rwanda and a number of them including private sector players in Uganda participated. This was during the signing of AfCFTA agreements.. It is actually the agreements private sector that wanted the whole exercise to be institutionalised and we are going to have another private sector forum next year. The summit has also approved that each country should have a national committee on the AfCFTA so that they are aware of the operation. Mistrust remains a big issue in maers regarding cooperation among countries. How do you plan to handle this?
mechanism. If one country feels like it is being unfairly treated by a fellow African country, rst of all, they will
discuss among themselves. If they fail to agree, they go to the next stage involving the third party. Is there a clause for exit?
There should be no need for any country to consider exiting AfCFTA because of the advantages of free trade area. The industries industries in Uganda, for instance, should adapt to the growing competition and look for mechanisms on how to thrive beyond the country’s market. Don’t you think we are moving fast in implementing AfCFTA yet we still have challenges of poor infrastructure…?
Infrastructure is not a problem. The problem is market information, and we are creating a pan African trade observatory to establish a platform for real time information market opportunities including pricing of those commodities. What have been some of the challenges, if any, in implementing this agreement?
Mindset is the biggest challenge. Most people still don’t believ bel ievee tha thatt we we hav havee crea created ted a large market as most people still believe in their own national markets. We have to change people’s mindset to think big. People are also not sure if they can thrive in this wider market. The other challenge is the risk of trader geing paid as
soon as the transaction is concluded. Therefore, challenges will always be there and will remain. So far, we have a list of 55 challenges and they are still increasing.
We have a dispute resolution
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
31
BUSINESS
CSR
ICT
First winner of City Tyres Pirelli promo drawn
New ICT firm opens office in Kampala
one Twiine is the
partnership with Italian tyre maker, Pirelli, to give Ugandans a rare Formula 0ne treat. The exercise is now in its third year. Some of the prizes for the runners in the
A
rst of the eight
lucky winners who will watch
the Formula One nale at
the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi come Novem ber. be r. Twin winee was was dra drawn wn
rst draw included four
new Pirelli tyres, full car service, and dinner for two. To enter the draw, one has to buy four Pirelli tyres from any City Tyres outlet.
during the ocial launch
Some of the officials who attended the event
of the City Tyres Pirelli promotion held at City Oil gardens, Kamwokya. The promotion is sponsored by City Tyres in
ndela, the global en-en gineering organisation has opened its operations in Kampala, seeking to equip the next generation of technologis technologists ts and innovators with expertise they need in software development.
A
The oce that was opened on
INVESTMENT
US investment group commits US$58m to Uganda verseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the US government’s
O
development nance institution, has commied
US $58m to Uganda to invest in motorcycles and taxi business, busin ess, touris tourism, m, agricultu agriculture, re, hydropower plant and in technologies that provide access to information through
Ray Washburne
telecommunications. Ray Washburne, President and CEO of OPIC, said the money will be provided in terms of loans to various businesse busin essess to promote promote investment in the country. This comes a few days after the US government doubled the investment portfolio of OPIC from $30bn to $60bn, Washburne said.
July 19, July 19, wil willl hous housee And Andel ela’s a’s 110 110-strong world-class developers and sta in a work space aimed
at fostering collaboration of technology leaders across Africa. Jackie Jac kie Och Ochola ola,, (Pictured) Andela’s director in Uganda said they are targeting to equip over 100,000 software developers in Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria. “I am excited to create opportunitiess for Ugandans,” opportunitie Ochola said. Albert Mucunguzi, the Board Chair of the Uganda ICT Association, said Andela’s work would boost Uganda’s eorts of achieving growth tar gets through information technology innovati innovations. ons.
CSR
AVIATION
UBL, Majestic Brands donate Shs50m for Kabaka’s anniversary
Uganda Airlines orders for six planes
18 at Bulange Mengo, UBL Marketing
Director, Juliana Kagwa, said the
beerr rm bee rm has had a
Kagwa (c) handing over a Shs50 million dummy cheque to Mayiga. Looking on is Catherine Twesigye, the brand manager for Ngule Beer Be er..
ganda Breweries Limited and Ma jestic jes tic Bra Brands nds – the the investmentt arm of investmen the Buganda Kingdom has announced a Shs 50million contribution towards Kabaka’s 25th coro-
U
32
nation anniversary slated for July 31, 2018. The two rms
jointl joi ntlyy prod produce uce
Ngule, the ocial
beer of Bug beer Bugan anda da Kingdom.
Handing over the contribuon to the Kaikkiro of Buganda, Peter Mayiga, on July July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
long standing relationship with the Buganda kingdom and that they were pleased to be part of an activity that promotes the preservation of cultural heritage. Mayiga thanked UBL for their contribution towards the coronation dinner adding that the kingdom had dedicated the whole year to celebrate the Kabaka’s 25th coronation anniversary.
he long awaited Uganda Airlines could soon be in the ski skies es on once ce again after Uganda National Airlines Company signed an order for four Bom bardie bar dierr CRJ9 CRJ900 00 air aircra crafts fts.. The order valued at $190million, will see the airline operate the CRJ900’s in
T
dual-class conguration, with 76 seats, including 12 rst
class seats. Also, the company signed for two A330-800neo, the new version of the best-sellin best-sellingg A330 wide body airliner, featuring new wings new Rolls-Royce’s latest-gen latest-generaeration Trent 7000 engines, new systems and a new Airspace cabin interior. “We are delighted to have ordered the world’s leading
regional jet, and we look forward to providing the most modern passenger experience in regional aviation to the people of Uganda and across Africa,” said Ephraim Bagenda, CEO, Uganda National Airlines Company. Uganda Airlines, which started its operations in 1977 during the Idi Amin administration, was liquidated in 2001, after failing to aract
investment from several foreign carriers.
BUSINESS
Banks demand demand quick reforms in insurance, ICT By Julius Businge
ommercial banks under their umbrella organization,, Uganda organization Bankers Association (UBA) are demanding reforms from government in key sectors of agriculture, information technology; insurance and debt repayment to enable them thrive in tough economic times. Patrick Mweheire, the chairperson of UBA and the Chief Executive, Stanbic Bank, said during the 2 nd Annual Bankers Conference in Kampala on July 17 that bankin ban kingg sect sector or in Uga Uganda nda is operating in a challenging environmentt of high cost to environmen income ratios estimated at 60% as of 2017, low coverage and penetration among the bankable population, increasing regulatory requirements and a populationhungry for alternatives. This situation, he said, has been be en wo worse rsene ned d by by sev severa erall
C
CSBAG National Coordinator, Coordinator, Julius Mukunda (R) speaking to t he media on t he implications of the newly introduced mobile money tax on July 18. He said the mobile money industry has lost Shs 5bn in the past weeks, with agents expected to receive Shs 2.5bn less in commission INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA
borrow bor rowers ers wit with h signi signica cant nt loa loan n
exposure due to delayed or non-payment non-payme nt for their services from government. Currently,
NPL stands at 5.8% according to Bank of Uganda. “NPLs can impact interest rates upwards as pricing for risk,” he said. “This constrains lending appetite and private sector credit which in turn aects trade and economic
growth, since government is the largest business driver.” The other concern is Agricultural Credit Facility (ACF) that banks says are yet to benet fully from the 50%
guarantee to claim recoverie recoveriess due to new and burdensome approval process for write o
claims. Mweheire said there is need for government to link
insurance to agro–nance as
well as pass laws related to data privacy and protection
to instill customer condence
in the banking industry. However, the Bank of Uganda Governor, Emmanuel T. Mutebile simply said banks must invest in systems that ensure sound risk management to among other things protect customer deposits.
Sheraton Kampala Hotel General Manager, Jean Phillipe Bittencourt (R) and his staff address the media during the opening of the hotel’s La-Terrasse Lounge on July 18. INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA
Weekly share price movement (July 17)
Fresh Diary Marketing Executive, Monica Kulabako (R) hands over yoghurt to a lucky customer, Andrew Bingi Rwakaikara at Shoprite Supermarket on July 17. The milk firm has been running a promotion to sensitise customers on the newly branded Fresh Diary Yoghurt. INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA
Security
July 17
BATU
30,000
30000
June 25
00
Movement
BOBU
145
155
6.5
CENT
1,277
1,429
10.6
DFCU EABL
970 7,574
870 8,211
11.5 7.8
EBL
1,792
1,870
4.2
JHL
19,451
19,300
0.8
KA
402
437
0.8
KCB
1,755
1,851
00
NIC
17
17
00
NMG
3,456
3,606
4.2
NVL SBU
450 32
450 32
00 00
UCHM
45
55
18.1
UCL
23
21
9.5
UMEME ALSI
350 --
300 --
16.7 --
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
33
COMMENT
By Co-Pierre Georg, Christoph Aymanns, Jakob Foerster
Tech, activism can curb fake news Keep your personal data to yourself and be cautious when using large social media websites or search engines he term “fake news” has beco me ubiqu become u biquitou itouss over ov er the t he past two years. The Cambridge English dictionary defines it as “false stories that appear to be news, spread on the internet or using other media, usually created to influence political views or as a joke”. As part of a global push to curb the spread of deliberate misinformation, researchers are trying to understand what drives people to share fake news and how its endorsement can propagate through a social network. But humans are complex social animals, and technology misses the richness of human learning and interactions. That’s why we decided to take a different approach in our research. We used the latest techniques from artificial intelligence to study how support for – or opposition to – a piece of fake news can spread within a social network. We believe our model is more realistic than previous approaches because individuals in our model learn endogenously from their interactions with the environment and not just follow prescribed rules. Our novel approach allowed us to learn a number of new things about how fake news is spread. The main take away from our research is that when it comes to preventing the spread of fake news, privacy is key. It is important to keep your personal data to yourself and be cautious when providing information to large social media websites or search engines. The most recent wave of technological innovations has brought us the data-centric web 2.0 and with it a number of fundamental challenges to user privacy and the integrity of news shared in social networks. But as our research shows, there’s reason to be optim o ptimisti isticc that t hat tech technolo nology, gy, pair paired ed with a healthy dose of individual activism, might also provide solutions to the scourge of fake news.
T
Modelling human behaviour
Existing literature models the spread
34
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
of fake news in a social network in one of two ways. In the first instance, you could model what happens when people observe what their neighbours do and then use this information in a complicated calculation to optimally update their beliefs belie fs about a bout the worl world. d. The second approach assumes that people follow a simple majority rule: everyone does what most of their neighbours do. But both approaches have their shortcomings. They cannot mimic what happens when someone’s mind is changed after several conversations or interactions. Our research differed. We modeled humans as agents who develop their own strategies on how to update their views on a piece of news given their neighbours’ actions. We then introduced an adversary that tried to spread fake news and compared how efficient the adversary was when he had knowledge about the strength of other agents’ beliefs compared to when he didn’t. So in a real world example, an
adversary determined to spread fake news might first read your Facebook profile and see what you believe, then tailor his d isinformatio isinformationn to try and match your beliefs to increase the likelihood that you share the fake news he sent to you. We learnt a few new things about how fake news is spread. For example, we show that providing feedback about news that’s been shared means that it’s easier for people to detect fake news. Our work also suggests that artificially injecting a certain amount of fake news into a social network can train users to better spot fake news. Crucially, we can also use models like ours to come up with strategies on how to curb the spread of fake news. There are three things we have learned from this research about what everyone can do to stop fake news.
Fighting fake news
Because humans learn from their neighbours, who learn from their neighbours, and so on, everybody who detects and flags fake news can help
COMMENT
prevent the spread of fake news on the network. When we modeled how the spread of fake news can be prevented, we found the single best way was to allow users to provide feedback to their friends about a piece of news they shared. Beyond pointing out fake news, you can also praise a friend when they share a well-researched and balanced bala nced piec piecee of qual quality ity jour journali nalism. sm. Importantly, this praise can happen even when you disagree with the conclusion or political point of view expressed in the article. Studies in human psychology and reinforcement learning show that people adapt their behaviour behav iour in respo r esponse nse to negat n egative ive and a nd positive feedback – particularly when this feedback comes from within their social circle. The second big lesson was: keep your data to yourself. The web 2.0 was built on the premise that companies offer free services in exchange for users’ data. Billions followed the siren’s call, turning Facebook, Google, Twitter, and LinkedIn into multi-billion dollar behemoths behem oths.. But B ut as a s these th ese comp companie aniess grew, more and more data was collected. Some estimate that as much as 90% of all the world’s data has only been crea created ted in the t he past p ast few years. ye ars. Do not give your personal information away easily or freely. Whenever possible, use tools that are fully encrypted and very little information is collected about you online. There is a more secure and more privacy-focused alternative for most applications, from search engines to messaging apps. Social media sites don’t yet have privacy-focused alternatives. Luckily the emergence of blockchain has provided a new technology that could solve the privacy-profitability paradox. Instead of having to trust Facebook to keep your data secure, you can now put it on a decentralised blockchain that was designed to operate as a trustless environmen environment. t. Co-Pierre Georg is Senior Lecturer, Lecturer, Afri can Inst itute for Fina Financia ncia l Ma rke rkets ts and Risk Management and Director, UCT Financial Innovation Lab, University of Cape Town, Christoph Aymanns is Assi sta stant nt Prof P rofess ess or, Unive rsi rsity ty o f St. St . Gallen - School of Finance, University of St.Gallen, and Jakob Foerster is Doctoral student, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Mach ine Lear ning ning,, Univer Un iver sity of Oxfo Oxford. rd.
By Samuel Murangi
Fort Portal medical varsity Founded by an orphan, it will now train both nurses and doctors y dear friends, while coma graduate medical education instipleting high school in tution in the Toro Kingdom which Uganda in the late 80s, I encompasses the seven districts of came across a small book Kabarole, Kyenjojo, Kyegegwa, Bunwith tattered covers lying on the yangabu, Kamwenge and Ntoroko and desk in the school library. Fascinated extending to other districts such as by the t he title t itle of the t he book, bo ok, “Gre “Great at Men M en Bundibugo and Women” I opened the pages and It is one of the goals of the Fort Portal began to read. r ead. Medical University to train a new One story caught my attention: It generation and grow a new generation was a story of Florence Nightingale, an of medical practitioners through a rigEnglish lady who changed the outlook orous five years of study and clinical of the nursing profession. Little did I experience at this university and know that one day I would find myself various other health providing faciliestablishing a tax ties in the commuexempt, charitable nity. The goal is to non- profit organeducate and mentor isation, High Hope the most ethical and International, and competent clinical As in many helping a young practitioner, with a developing orphan, Victor lifelong study habit, Kalenzi, paying his and a societal pernations, the tuition from middle spective to support current statistics school through unithe health of the versity. My efforts people and to meet indicate the have not been in society’s expectaratio of nurses vain! tions. In less than a It is also our to patients as month I will be major goal to help 1:1000 travelling to Fort the Government of Portal in Western Uganda and other Uganda for an governments in exciting occaEast Africa, in prosion: presiding viding the research over a graduation and international ceremony and collaboration curawarding diplomas and certificates rently not available in the nation. This to over 300 nurses who have successway, we shall be helping reduce the fully completed training at what is cost and improving the effectiveness of now Fort Portal International Nursing healthcare which only the government school. The institution was founded by and a few individuals can afford. Victor, and his wife Ester Philomenah, This is a huge task for me as I have approximately five years ago. been given the honor of servi s erving ng as as On the same occasion, I have been Chancellor of the newly established asked to be the guest of honor and to University. It is also a huge endeavor for the founder, Victor and all those launch a new institution, a new Medical University which is an extension called to serve this New Medical Uniof the Nursing School. versity. As in many developing nations, the My task of promoting and reprecurrent statistics indicate the ratio senting the Instituti Institution on has begun. I of nurses to patients as 1:1000 and covet your prayers and support. medical doctors 1: 25725 (WHO). The Very Reverend Samuel Murangi, The healthcare situation is worse in MSW, MDiv MDiv.. is Cha Chancel ncellor lor,, Fo rt P ort ortal al rural areas in Uganda which lack well Medi cal Unive rsi rsity ty equipped medical facilities, as well as training institutions. Until recently, there never existed
M
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
35
COMMENT
By Jason Furman
Immigration and economic Success The choice between paying the economic price of exclusion and reaping the benets from openness ne of the central challenges facing the world’s advanced economies is slowing growth. Over the last decade, growth rates in the advanced economies have averaged 1.2% , down from an average of 3.1% during the previous 25 years. History shows that slower economic growth can make societies less generous, less tolerant, and less inclusive. So, it stands to reason that the past decade of sluggish growth has contributed to the surge of a damaging d amaging form of populist nationalism that is taking hold in a growing number of countries. As in the darker decades of the twentieth century, today’s nationalism takes the form of heightened opposition to immigration and – to a lesser degree
workforce, immigrants actually boost per capita GDP by increasing productivity – that is, the amount that each worker produces. The reason is that immigrants are much more likely to be entrepreneurial and to start new businesses. In Germany, for example, foreignpassport holders started 44% of new businessess in 2015. In France, the OECD businesse OECD has estimated that immigrants engage in 29% more entrepreneurial activity than native-born workers do, which is similar to the average for the OECD as a whole. And in the U.S., immigrants take out patents at 2-3 times the rate of native-born
– free trade. Making maers worse,
eect on how that pie is shared? Here the
O
today’s toxic nationalism will exacerbate the economic slowdown that fueled its emergence. Turning this vicious circle into a virtuous one – in which increased openness drives faster growth – will depend, at least in part, on making immigration more compatible with inclusionary forms of nationalism. The economic evidence on this issue is clear: immigration makes a strong contribution to economic growth. Moreover, immigration is more necessary than ever, because population population aging and lower birthrates across across advanced advanced economies are are producing a retirement boom without a commensurate cohort of native primeage workers to support it. For example, Japan’s working-age population has been shrinking since 1995. In the European Union, immigrants accounted for 70% of labour-force growth from 2000 to 2010. And in the United States, immigration is the primary reason the workforce will continue to grow; if the U.S. relied only on native born workers, workers, its labour force force would shrink. Faster growth is benecial even if
it must support a larger population, because working working immigrants immigrants pay taxes that help support pensioners and retirees. In general, it is much beer to
be a fast-growing fast-growing country with a vibrant, vibrant, expanding population than a country with a dwindling population, like Japan. Moreover, in addition to expanding the 36
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
citizens, and their innovations benet non-
immigrants as well.
There can be lile doubt that immigrants
expand the overall pie; but what about their evidence is less clear. There are certainly winners and losers. Yet, on balance, the available evidence suggests that immigrants do not reduce wages for native-born workers. In fact, it is more likely that immigrants increase wages overall. One recent study of France, for example, found that each 1% increase in immigrants’ share of employment within a given département raises its native-born workers’ wages by 0.5%. It would seem that in addition to contributing to the size and productivity of the workforce, immigrants also often complement the skills of native-born workers, helping them earn more.
My professional focus is on economics, so I have emphasised the role of growth. But that clearly is not the only factor behind the rise of populist nationalism. The fact that developed countries are changing culturally also maers, perhaps even more so. In
the US, for example, the foreign-born share of the population has risen from 5% in 1960 to around 14% today. As Harvard University’s Yascha Mounk notes in his insightful new book, `The People vs. Democracy’, that is the highest share since the last major antiimmigrant backlash in the U.S: the early twentieth-century “yellow peril.” The trends are similar, and sometimes even more dramatic, in other developed countries. The foreign-born share of the population in Sweden, for example, has gone from 4% in 1960 to 19% today , repr repreesenting a much larger shift than that in the U.S. All countries face a choice when it comes to immigration. They can pay an economic price to follow a more exclusionary course, or they can reap the economic benets from
greater openness. But while public policies can help ensure that the benets of open ness are realised, we should not lose sight of their political political and economic limitations. limi tations. Looking beyond policy solutions, we also need to establish a cultural expectation that immigrants will not just bring diverse perspectives, perspectives, but also join their new country as citizens. That means speaking the language, honouring national traditions, and – as I saw rst-
We need to establish a cultural expectation that immigrants will not just bring diverse perspectives
hand while discussing these issues at Les Rencontres Économiques in Aixen-Provence, France – cheering for the national soccer team. In the U.S., in particular, that is the vision of immigration and inclusive nationalism that we should be working toward – including the better soccer team. Jason Furman, Professor of the the Practice of Economic Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, was Chairman of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers. Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2018.
Eat sh, live longer New study explains the secrets By Tim Newman
A
16-year study, which dove into the data of almost half a million men and women, concludes that a diet rich in sh predicts a
longer life.
Consuming sh has long been recommended as part of a nutritious diet. Rich in high-quality proteins, vitamins, and healthful oils, sh is roundly considered
a healthful choice.
Oily sh are rich in omega-3, and, over
recent years, this oil has received a great deal of aention from medical research ers and supplement manufacturers alike. Evidence is far from overwhelming, overwhelming, but scientists have already already searched for for any associations it might have with lower cancer risk, improved cardiovascular health, and reduced inammation. Other studies have tried to nd links
between omega-3 and and mental health, health, aging, and vision. Work is ongoing, but because ndings are often contradictory or weak, the relationship between a sh-
heavy diet, omega-3 intake, and good health are still up for debate.
Fishing for details
Recently, a team of researchers set out to gain more clarity on the important
question, “Does eating sh impact mor tality risk, and how does omega-3 t in?”
The scientists delved into data from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, which is the largest study on health and diet ever carried out. In all, they followed 240,729 men and 180,580 women for 16 years. Participants Participan ts provided information about their dietary habits, and their health was monitored. Over the course of the study, 54,230 men and 30,882 women died. The results have been published recently in the Journal of Internal Medicine. The main nding is that consum ing more sh and long-chain omega-3s
reduces total mortality. And, looking further into these data, the researchers found that men who ate
the most sh had a 9 percent lower mor -
tality risk than those who ate the least. When the researchers drilled down
into specic causes of death, they found that males who ate the most sh,
compared with those who ate the least sh, had a: 10 percent reduction in
cardiovascular disease mortality, 6 cardiovascular percent reduction in cancer mortality, 20 percent reduction in respiratory disease mortality, 37 percent percent reduction reduction in chronic liver disease mortality.
Comparing the highest and lowest sh
consumers among female participants, they measured an 8 percent reduction in overall mortality and a: 10 percent reduction in cardiovascular disease mortality and 38 percent percent reduction reduction in in Alzheimer’s disease mortality. The scientists switched their analysis to look specically at the level of
omega-3 intake calculated from the participants’ food intake surveys. They discovered that men and women who consumed the most omega-3 had 15 and 18 percent reductions in cardiovascula cardiovascularr mortality, respective respectively. ly. The results are intriguing and add to the evidence for the health benets of omega-3 and sh in general. However, not all sh was protective.
Avoid the frier
Importantly, these results did not
apply to fried sh. Among men, the consumption of fried sh had no impact
on mortality risk. Among women, however, higher consumption of fried sh
increased the risk of cardiovascul cardiovascular ar mortality, respiratory disease mortality, and overall mortality. This is probably for a number of reasons. For instance, frying the sh creates trans-fay acids and also increases the
energy density of the end product, both of which could potentially undo any good work that omega-3s carry out.
Overall, the authors conclude: “Consumption of sh and (omega-3s)
was robustly associated with lower mortality from major causes. Our ndings support current guidelines for sh con -
sumption while advice on non-frying preparation methods is needed.” The study does have some shortfalls, though. For example, it was observational, so it is dicult to tease apart cause and eect. Also, the participants
— on average — did not consume a
great deal of sh when compared with
those in other studies. However, the project was large — it is the largest study to investigate dietary sh and mortality to date — and the
long follow-up duration was key; similarly, there were a relatively high num ber of deaths, making the analysis anal ysis more robust. For these reasons, the results provide a welcome boost to the evidence in favor of the protective power of sh-
based foods.
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
37
HEALTH
Treating vitiligo New approach might works for disguring skin disease treatments to repigment the skin would be long-lasting and possibly permanent. We then tested our hypothesis on mice we specically engineered to develop vitiligo. Like humans, mice also have memory T-cells so we looked for their “Achilles heel” to see if we could knock them out without
By John Harris
I
n many parts of the world there is great shame and stigma tied to vitiligo, an autoimmune disease of the skin that causes disguring white
spots, which can appear anywhere on the body. In some societies, individuals with vitiligo, and even their family members, are shunned and excluded from arranged marriages. The rejection is so crip-
harming other cells. Our team gured
out that the vitiligo-causi vitiligo-causing ng memory cells require a special protein called “IL-15” to survive. We injected the vitiligo mice with an antibody that blocks the IL-15 protein from interacting with the memory cells. After just a few weeks we discovered that the treatment wiped out the memory cells from the mouse skin, allowing the brown
pling that one person suering from the
disease even requested an amputation of his forearm aected by vitiligo because he
could marry with only one arm, but could not with vitiligo. I am a physicianphysician-scientist scientist and director of
pigment to return in a spoy paern, just as
we see in patients who respond to therapy. Importantly, just two weeks of antibody treatments caused repigmentation that lasted for months, suggesting this strategy, unlike existing treatments, might provide
the Vitiligo Clinic and Research Center at the University of Massachuses Medical
School and I have witnessed my patients’ suering and depression. Some are so
ashamed of how they look; they refuse to leave their homes in daylight, they quit their jobs, job s, an and d the theyy lose lose rel relati ation onshi ships ps.. Some Some of
long-term benet for vitiligo patients.
those aicted with vitiligo have commied
suicide. I began studying vitiligo in 2008
becaus bec ausee this this dev devast astati ating ng con condit dition ion ae aects cts
about one percent of all people – over 75 million worldwide – and patients deserve beer be er tre treatm atment ents. s. In a rece recent nt rep report ort published in Science Translational Medicine, we describe a new therapy that is showing particular promise in mice with this disease.
You Y ourr sk skin in ha hass a me memo mory ry
Existing treatments such as topical steroids and light therapy, which are used “o-label” because they have not been FDA-approved to treat vitiligo, can be eec -
tive for patients. These treatments reverse the disease by stimulating brown spots to appear around hair follicles within the aected white patches of skin. As these
brown spo brown spots ts inc incre rease ase in nu numbe mberr and and siz sizee they merge until the white patch is replaced with normal skin color. This takes between one and two years, depending on the location of the body being treated. However, in most cases the white spots reappear at the same location, often within just one year after stopping the treatments. This recurrence can be just as devastating as when the white patches rst appeared. We wanted to nd out why these spots
reappear. Our research team suspected that “memory” forms within the skin when the white spots rst appear, so that the spots
“know” where to return when treatments are stopped. Working separately, we and three other laboratories led by Liv Eidsmo, Mary Jo Turk, and Julien Seneschal searched 38
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
This African woman suffers from an autoimmune disease called vitiligo which causes the loss of skin pigment.
for the source of this memory in the skin. These three other labs rst found cells
in vitiligo skin from mice or humans that looked a lot like the memory cells that protect the skin from a second exposure to a viral infection, suggesting that the body “thinks” it is ghting a viral infection when it “misres” at the patient’s normal cells,
killing the pigment-producing pigment-producing cells in the skin called melanocytes and causing vitiligo. These cells are called “resident memory T cells.” Because immune responses to a virus act in a similar way to immune responses that cause autoimmune diseases, it seemed reasonable that these cells might also be the source of this remaining disease memory in the skin.
Disease memory can be erased with new treatment
We used a technique called skin blister-
ing to isolate skin and skin uid directly
from the spots of my vitiligo patients and isolate the disease-causing memory cells so we could analyze them more closely. Similar to the other labs, we also found the virus-like memory cells, and we were able to also determine that these cells specically
targeted the melanocytes. We hypothesised that if we could remove these memory cells from the skin using a new treatment, then
Human clinical trials may begin next summer
During our study we also found that the vitiligo-causing memory T-cells in both mouse and human skin seem to require IL-15 more than other types of T cells – which means they are more sensitive to levels of this protein. This is important because it means we might be able to selectively remove the vitiligo-causing cells without harming other important immune cells too. In the treated mice, the vitiligo-causing cells became bec ame und undete etecta ctabl ble, e, but the oth other er TT-cel cells ls responsible for ghting infection remained
unharmed and present, suggesting that our antibody therapy might be safer for the immune system than rst thought.
Based on these results, we are working with the National Institutes of Health-fu Health-fundnded Immune Tolerance Network (ITN) to develop a clinical trial to test this antibody treatment in human patients. We are hopeful that we can begin recruiting patients next summer. Although this antibody drug has only beenn prov bee proven en to wo work rk in mi mice ce wit withh viti vitilig ligo, o, we are excited to test it in humans because it could represent a signicant advance over
existing treatments. The partnership with the ITN will allow us not only to test whether it works for vitiligo patients, but also how it works. This will help us know when and in whom to use this new therapy. John Harr John Harris is is Ass Associ ociate ate Pro Profes fessor sor of Dermatology, University of Massachuses Medica Med icall Scho School ol
ART | BOOKS | SOCIETY | TRAVEL | CULTURE CULTURE
By Dominic Muwanguzi
ow do you get students of art to understand an artist’s work in the real world? For Dr. Emmanuel Mutungi, Head of Department Art and Industrial Design at Kyambogo University in Kampala, the answer is clear; make them do a real artist’s work in the real world aka industrial training. Mutungi sees industrial training as a perfect gateway for learners to enter the world of work. For this season, he has got his students to stage an exhibition at the Tadooba Gallery in nearby Mukono town under the general theme of `Rhymes of Astonishing Creations’. Unlike previous exhibits where the students showed technical incompetence
H
and lacked condence on canvas, this time
round, the second and third year students show they can draw and be innovative. Many applied the right studio skills in picture construction, tonality, perspective and depth as captured in their self-portraits, capture of still life, and imaginative (abstract) compositions.. The young artists compositions artists clearly wanted to present paintings that match the professional standards of other work exhib-
Young talent at Yo Tadooba Gallery Gallery Creative students grab rare opportunity ited in the gallery. Tadooba Gallery Founder/ Director Weazher Mayanja Richard was impressed by how the tra traine inees es wor worke ked d toge togethe therr to to crecreate dierent expressions of the theme. He
says Mutungi’s approach is a major departure from the western modernist approach of art teaching that entirely excludes the hands-on approach and independent thinking. At Tadooba Gallery art is practiced as it should be; as a practical subject. Students get skills beyond the classroom space. In this case they got hands-on knowledge on studio establishment and management, studio technology in their eld of spe cialisation, and art entreprene entrepreneurship urship and marketing strategies. Those are some of the most important skills they need for the job
market. By engaging students in this professiona professionall approach to art production, the gallery is echoing its objectives to train students beyon be yond d the the aca academ demic ic un under dersta standi nding ng and appreciation of art. This form of industrial training prepares prepares the student to excel at each task they will face outside the school environs. The exhibiting artists are all from Kyambogo University and include, Gilbert Natwijuka, Agnes Ajambo, Nambalirwa Sharon, Mminge Mark, Takan Raymond, Emmanuel Adoli, Tonny Bongole , Atuhairwe Fred and Kimuli Farahat. The exhibition opened on July 13 and will run until August 25 at Tadooba Gallery, Mukono. July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
39
Chinese village where women marry as many men as they fancy In the foothills of the Himalayas lies picture-perfect Lugu Lake, the home of the picture-perfect Mosuo people and the gateway to a mysterious land often dubbed ‘The Kingdom of Women’, according to the BBC. One of the most unique cultural traditions is zouhun or ‘walking marriages’.
After a coming of age ceremony, Mosuo females can choose their lovers, having as many or as few as they wish within their lifetime. During these ‘marriages’, ‘marriages’, men visit the woman’s home upon invitation, and
home. Couples do not live together, and babies are rea babies reared red exc exclus lusiv ively ely in the fem female ale’s ’s family, with brothers and uncles providing the fatherly role. “In Mosuo culture,” one woman explained, “relationships are all
stay the night in a designated ‘ower room’,
about mutual aection. When it fades, we
leaving at daybreak to return to their own
move on.”
Most expensive France’s Mbappe donates Shs1.9 bn World Cup money 19-year-old 19-year-ol d Kylian girlfriend in Mbappe will donate money earned from the world? featuring in the 2018 Yang Yizhen, a young
online inuencer,
livestreamer and freelance model is being labeled the most expensive girlfriend after her boyfriend squandered US$10.5 million (Approx. Shs38 billion) of his family’s fortune on her in all kinds of expensive presents, from designer clothed and accessories to jewelry, cars, and trips to Dubai. Chinese media reports that to keep up with the constant expenses, the 29-yearold reportedly borrowing more friends. Zhang Xiaoen, the son of a successful busine bus inessm ssman an fro from m Hangzhou, became her boyfri boy frien end d two two ye years ars ago and spared no eort
in making sure Yang is happy. Unfortunately, even for a rich boy like him, Yang’s needs were apparently too much to handle. He resorted to gambling to win money. Instead he accumulated a debt of US$26 million (Shs98 billio bil lion) n).. Unab Unable le to pay backk his bac his deb debts, ts, he wa wass eventuallyy arrested eventuall and jailed. His highmaintenance maintenan ce girlfriend started posting photos of herself with other men on Facebook and is collaborating with prosecutors to build the case against him. 40
World Cup tournament in Russia to a sports charity that works with disabled and hospitalised children, Premiers de Cordee. Mbappe was paid £17,000 per game (Approx. Shs83 million) and pocketed £265,000 (Approx.Shs1.3 billio bil lion) n) for be being ing par partt of of the team who won the
tournament. Speaking to Le Parisien, Premier de Cordee charity general
manager, Sebastian Rufn said: “Kylian, he’s a
great person. “He has a
What a boss, what a worker!
Walter Carr, an employee of Bellhops Movers in Alabama, U.S. had a scheduled job when when his car broke down. Rather than call-in to cancel, and with no other way to get there, Carr decided to trek the 33km to his client’s house, leaving at midnight to arrive by 8am. With the help of some kind police o cers, he made it to the client, Jenny Lamey’s home, where he did not even take a break before geing to work. “I just wanted to
prove that I was determined, that nothing would stop me from geing there,” he said.
Lamey shared Carr’s story on Facebook and started a
GoFundMe page to get his car xed. Her post got the aention
of Bellhops CEO Luke Marklin. And guess what? The boss gave the worker his very own car! “I think the car will do him more good than it’ll do me,” the boss said.
`Smartest’ man in Africa James Jam es Mai Maina na Mwangi turns heads with his fashion sense. The man from Nairobi has about 160 suits, 300 caps, and 200 pairs of shoes. A native of Nairobi, Kenya, Mwangi describes himself as the most stylish and smartest man in Africa because of his unique dress style. In an interview with BBC Africa, he
wearing a green suit, he must match it with “green shoes, green shirt, green cap, green handkerchief, handkerch ief, green underwear, green pen, and a green cover of my phone” in monochrome style. He said when he rst came to Nairo bi,, he bi he had had one shi shirt rt an and d peo peo-ple laughed at him because of his poor background. So he asked God to bless him with
said he has a matching outt
something dierent from
for every occasion. If he’s
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
other people – his style.
very good relationsh relationship ip with children, he always nds the right words
to encourage them. “I sometimes even feel that he takes more pleasure to play with the kids than the kids themselves.” Mbappe was named Young Player of the World Cup and became the rst teenager to score in a World Cup nal
since Pele in 1958.
Woman MP kicked kicked out hotel over marriage certificate A hotel in Kericho, Kenya, recently kicked Catherine Waruguru, the Laikipia Woman Representative, out of her room because becau se she she came came in with a man and they failed to produce their marriage certicate.
Sunshine Upperhill Hotel has a clear notice on its main entrance: “It is against our rules for a man and woman outside wedlock to sleep in one room”. Never mind that the MP was with her husband, William Kigen. The MP, and other to
Kenyan women, is suing the hotel. Hotels have no business busin ess with with what a grown up man and woman do in their hotel rooms, they say. “Let couples enjoy what they have to enjoy. What business busin ess does does a receptionist have with what a man and a woman are up to in their hotel room?” The hotel requires couples to produce a marriage certicate
before they before they can be accommodated.
Why do modern cars look alike? o modern cars look irritatingly alike? Of course they do. Justt take Jus take a look look at you yourr Range Rover Evogue and your neighbour’s Ford Edge or the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight. It is a real tussle telling
D
who did the design rst. And the ght sometimes
gets ugly. The Germany government, for example once banned the sale of the Shuanghuan s-CEO – because it was so alike the BMW X5. The BMW looks like a Subaru which looks like a Toyota Altezza.
So why do the car manufacturer manufacturerss not save us the hustle of telling the Toyota Rav4 from the Ford Kuga or the Mercedes Benz CLS and the Volkswagen CC or the Hyundai i20 and Vauxhall Vauxhall Corsa? Why,
The Mercedes looks like Honda. Check out this Honda E-Class
So the modern car is streamlined for the most ecient aerodynamics possible to save fuel.
These days the line from the hood of the car to the windshield windshiel d to the roof must transition in gentle and smooth fashion. The less the glass and the bigge big gerr the the doo doorr pill pillars ars,, the the saf safer er the car car.. The The mai mainn considerations are comfort, safety, eciency. But the philosophers have the nal word,
according to one blogger, do these cars all have slit-like windows and massive front ends? Apparently,, it is for two reasons; Apparently aerodynamicss and safety. One aerodynamic saves fuel and the other saves lives. Also, while car buyers accuse car designers of laziness, the designers counter that the buyers are resistant to change. Give them anything too unusual and they reject it.
This Honda Accord is not so different from a Mercedes C-Class. This Mercedes SL and a future S2000 Honda might look alike.
possibly. Every generation goes through these phases. First the cars become similar. Then some radical designer comes up with someone a lile dierent. If the market lights up, the other
designers soon copy it and before long, all cars end up looking the same again. That is the reason all cars look the same these days, possibly. July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
41
Prole
So S olome Basuuta ta:: The queen of love By Agnes E Nantaba
olome Basuuta is commonly known as the `queen of love’. It is all she sings about. She also calls her music the ‘love genre’. Her debut album was titled `The Song Love’ and features a poem and her hit song `Nz’ani’. “My music reminds people that they are loved and deserve to be loved because love is universal and everyone has an aspect of love,” she says, “It’s one thing that touches people’s
S
lives and it has aected me as
well so it’s very close to my heart.” Basuuta is a singer/songwriter and performing artist of soul music with a bluesy or Jazzy feel. She is also a lady of colour and owers and, for most of
her performances, appears with owers tucked in her natural
hair or sometimes locks. Her performancess are usually lit performance
and lled with a fusion of tra -
ditional African talking drums which form the base around which a body of other western musical instruments compose. She sings with energy and a big voice that belies her not so big physic. It is a package accentuated with colors to make any audience yearn for more. She says she picked colour and the art from her mother who is a visual artist and teacher. “I grew up in a very vibrant home,” she says, “My mother used to sing in choir and always appreciated art but I never saw myself end up as a musician.”
Basuuta is the last born of ve children of Prof. Mugambe
and his wife, Lydia. Basuuta believed she was more like her father whose life revolved around science and math. But at Gayaza High School where she had her ordinary level, Basuuta was introduced to choral and classical music which she says laid a foundation for her music. While at the girls’ only school, Basuuta was also introduced to 42
acting which was reinforced at Makerere College School where she had her advanced level of school. “I was always in the space of dancing, singing and acting,” she recalls. She studied a computer science degree at Makerere University Kampala and on graduation joined the central bank of Uganda in the IT department. She stayed for eight years. She joined an a cappella group called Talitha and in 2008 was a back-up singer for renowned crooner Maurice Kirya, and in 2010 joined Pragmoja Band as the lead singer. She wrote and released her rst
song called ‘Dance’ in 2013. In 2015 she held her rst sold out
concert and embarked on a solo career the same year. “After my m y concert, doors started opening and I did events like blankets and wines, comedy meets music, Quella juncti jun ction on an and d man manyy more,” she says. In 2016, Basuuta released ‘can we stay’ which she co-wrote with two others. Her most recent song is titled ‘Ndeete’. Taking on a musical career meant leaving professional work and her family did not
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
like that. It meant moving to an industry full of uncertainties. “My parents questioned my choice but I had made up my mind to focus fully on music,” says Basuuta. And even when several years after, the move hasn’t paid o, she is opti mistic about the future. She has justt held jus held he herr
second musical concert. “I kind of knew what I was going into although I didn’t know how hard it would be,” she says. “I wouldn’t trade where I am for anything and so I don’t regret the decision,” she adds.
Q&A Q& A
ADVERTORIAL
So S olome Basuuta ta’’s Liteside Any three things that we don’t know about you?
am a colorful person and also spontaneous; I can wake up to do anything and sometimes I never think through the bigger picture or the details. I love colours which is also shown in the way I express my music because it is complemented by several instruments. I also have a big heart that accommodates too much. On one hand it’s a good thing as I take in a lot of people’s good but also sometimes, I end up taking in a lot of people’s crap.
I
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Being in a space where I am loved and appreciated What is your greatest fear?
Fear of failure. I also have a fear of reaching a time when I have no people in my life What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
I am too accommodative but it is a character that can be remold re molded. ed. I need ne ed to to learn how to sieve and have boundaries on acceptance.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Failure to give feedback rubs me the wrong way because beca use I love lo ve two tw o way communication. Which living person do you most admire?
My mother Mrs. Lydia Mugambe is one woman who has been the strong pillar at home and one who brings us all
together. She has taught us a lot about morals and how to treat people regardless of their status. She has loved my father all the time and is so artistic in every move. She has taught me to be myself. What is your greatest extravagance?
I spend quite a bit on makeup and jewelry. What is the greatest thing you have ever done?
Graduating with an Upper Second class degree at the university was not a joke. Doing my concert and starting my solo career were also great moves. What is your current state of mind?
I am happy and excited.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Wasting too much time on social media makes me feel like there is no privacy and people bonding. bond ing. What does being powerful mean to you?
Having wealth or riches and knowing how and when to use them. On what occasion do you lie?
It usually happens when I want to protect myself. What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I would like my side hair to grow because it would look better. I also have a lazy right eye that comes up usually when I’m stressed.
Which living person do you most despise?
Despise is too hard and strong a word. What is the qu ality you most like in a woman?
A woman needs to have an identity of who she is and celebrate herself. What is the qu ality you most like in a man?
Cleanliness and sensitivity to other people’s feelings and how his actions can affect them. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My family, Pastor Jack Barlow and Ron Michael. When and where were you happiest?
May 1, 2015 when I held my first concert, singing at Blankets and Wines the same year. I was also happy the day I had my first flight. Which talent would you most like to have?
Acting and baking.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
My lazy right eye is interestingly a nice starter for a conversation so I don’t mind it much. Where would you most like to live?
I would love to travel the world but come back home.
misery?
There is being poor where you lack food or walk the streets but poverty without dignity is the worst. It equates to being wort worthles hless. s. What is your favorite occupation?
I can’t trade where I am and what I do for anything so it has to be music. What do you most value in your friends?
Being yourself and honesty
Who are your f avorite writers?
I like Sunday Adelaja; especially in his book ‘The Church shift’. It is about the church that goes out to impact communities. Who is your hero of fiction?
Taraji Penda Henson; she brings out different characters in human beings. being s. Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Princess Diana had the heart for people. She gave honour to the lowest person and that’s a legacy that I want to leave behind. behin d. What is your greatest regret?
I don’t have regrets.
How would you like to die?
What is your most treasured possession?
My phone is a gift and with it I can do lots of things in one space.
It could be nice to die when people are singing around me. What is your motto?
What do you regard as the lowest depth of
You are loved.
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
43
GLOBAL COMMENT
By Gaspard Koenig
Leaving the data dark ages When our personal data enriches a few digital companies, property rights are ripe to be revolutionised revolutionised
uring the High Medieval Period, from the eleventh to the thirteenth century, serfs in France had no property rights. Instead, those with land had to hand over most of what they produced to the local seigneur (lord)
D
who could conscate their land upon their death (“mainmorte”). In return, they did
receive services, such as protection from
conict and access to a mill or village oven. They had lile choice: opting out of
the deal and, say, building their own mill would have been strictly forbidden. This dynamic arrangement arrangement – which continued until the French Revolution, when peasants gained full property rights – looks a lot like consumers’ relationships with Internet rms today.
In this age of digital feudalism, we
have lile choice but to agree, with
one click, to an impenetrably long and convoluted set of terms and conditions, which subjects us to constant monitoring by the platforms platforms we use. use. The platforms platforms collect our personal data and sell them to many more actors, including advertising companies that can then serve us targeted ads. For Internet rms, this is a highly
lucrative practice: the value of users’ personal data is expected to reach 8% of European GDP by 2020. In exchange, the rms oer “free services,” such as social
media, to the digital serfs who produce the data. This is not a “sharing economy,” but an optimised extractive economy –
based on the near-innite availability availability of
raw material (our personal data) – that enriches a few companies at the expense of consumers. And, like the economy of the High Medieval Period, it is ripe to be revolutionised revolutionise d through property rights. Property rights have protected and empowered individuals for millennia, evolving as technology does. For example, the printing revolution brought intellectual property rights (thank you, Beaumarchais), and the Industrial Revolution popularised the patent system. What the digital revolution must bring is the right to personal data ownership, including the classic 44
July 27 - Aug Aug 02, 2018
elements of property rights: usus (I use my data as I wish), abusus (I destroy my data as I wish, without any fancy “right to be forgoen”), and fructus (I sell my data for prot if I wish).
Personal data ownership would spur the emergence of a personal-data market, with some of the world’s 3.5 billion Internet users claiming remuneration for sharing their data, according to the value they produce. Other users, prioritising privacy over prot, would pay a fair market price to benet from a service
anonymously. This is what the U.S. tech executive Sheryl Sandberg was hinting at recently, when she suggested that a full blown opt-out opt-out from data collection collection on Facebook would be a “paid product.” The change would be profound, and the practical challenges could be overcome with existing technological solutions. For example, to support data management, users could each have a “smart account” that stores the information and the contractual conditions for its use. As for pricing, intermediaries would likely emerge to negotiate directly with the big platforms on behalf of millions of users, leading over time to the creation of a proper marketplace. Eective legal implementation of the
right to personal data ownership will certainly take work. Yet personal data ownership remains a more rational and realistic solution than other approaches that have been put forward, such as the right to “informationa “informationall self-determination” self-determ ination” established by Germany’s constitutional constitutional court in 1983. The potential benets of giving
individuals more control over their digital lives extend beyond economic fairness. Such a system could also crack open the much-maligned “lter bubbles”
that have arisen as a result of socialmedia algorithms, which show users content that reinforces their existing biases and beliefs. beliefs. In this this sense, personal personal data ownership could help to ease the dangerous political polarisation that now aicts many countries.
Today, not a single legal system
recognises personal data ownership. But the idea is gaining ground all over the world. Briany Kaiser – an executive-turned-
whistleblower at Cambridge Analytica, the political data rm that allegedly
misused users’ data from Facebook and other platforms to inuence political
campaigns – now advocates that users treat their data as property, just like their houses. Owning a house doesn’t make you a greedy real-estate speculator; it allows you to participate fully in what the philosopher John Rawls called a “property-owning “property-ow ning democracy.” The same goes for data. In France, the think tank I created, GenerationLibre, GenerationLi bre, issued a 150-page report on personal data ownershi ownership, p, which prompted a erce public debate.
At the European level, the General Data Protection Regulation, which has just come into force, prepares the ground for property rights by guaranteeing the portability of personal data. In the United States, the author and researcher E. Glen Weyl, together with legendary virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier and others, recently argued that data should be treated (and remunerated) as labour. (I would prefer to treat data as capital, as they originate from our self-owned personality, but this is essentially essentially just just semantics.) And, on a practical level, a growing number of startups are developing datamonetisation services. In his bestselling book Homo Deus, the historian Yuval Noah Harari anticipates the advent of “dataism,” whereby personal free will is sacriced at the altar
of the algorithm. But humans do not
have to be at the mercy of data ows. By
establishing personal data ownership, establishing the very notion of individuality could be fortied, bolstering the liberal values that
have made our civilization succeed.
Gaspard Koenig, a philosopher, is founder and president of GenerationLibre. Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2018.
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