News analysis
Behind Constuonal Court decision to remove age limit, annul 7 year term
Issue No. 532 Aug Aug 03 - 09, 2018
Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8
Did Kayihura kill Kaw Kaweesi? eesi? Details of murder investigations report Museveni refuses to meet Kayihura Former IGP accused of plotting to kill Muhoozi Findings: allegations Findings: allegations baseless Recommendation: Release Kayihura men
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Issue No. 532 Aug 03 - 09, 2018 News analysis
Business
Health
Arts
Motoring
Cover story
Inside Kayihura investigations 4
The Week
29 Comments
Observers report high turnout in rst post Mugabe polls
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The Last Word
Africa over the last 30 years: Why the claim that our continent’s problems are caused by “poor governance” is a lot of baloney 16
Analysis Paying more to avoid a tax: What reactions to social media tax reveals about aitudes
Judges without substance: The Judges Judg es shou should ld have have tak taken en into into consideration the recent L.C 1 and Women Councils elections which NRM won
33 Health Face-to-face with medicine smugglers of the DR Congo: Uncovering the underworld of how Uganda’s marked medicines are stolen and sold
35 Arts & Culture 23
Business Uganda Airlines and the ‘orphaned’ Airbus A300-800 neo: Aircraft might be dicult to maintain, nance or resell
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Nkole’s 5 minutes of history And its monument gaining international signicance
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Aug 03 - 09, 2018
OFFLINE
President Museveni with Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India. after addressing members of Parliament on July 25.
“Therefore, I find that the action of the Police and the army in forcefully evicting MPs from the chambers and arresting them after manhandling them violates the constitution.”Justice constitution.” Justice Kenneth Kakuru in his ruling on the age limit petition
Rebecca Kadaga, (L) the speaker of Parliament (L) officially unveiling Pats journal a project website on Albini Alb inism sm by Sou Source rce of the Nile Union of Persons with Albini Alb inism sm IN Jin Jinja ja on Jul Julyy 25. Looking on is singer Jenneth Prischa (2R) .
“The problem is that people think FDC is JEEMA. We are political parties and we can compete at any point. We are going to compete against each other in Arua by-election where our own, Kassiano Wadri is running as an independent. independent.””Ibrahim Semujju, FDC Spokesperson
Sarah Oprndi, Minister of Health posing next to the mammography van that was donated to Uganda Cancer Institute by the Honorary consul of the Republic of India Madhusdan Agrawal on July 25. INDEPENDENT/ JIMMY SIYA
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Ugandan women who are trafcked daily- police report
19
Years MbraraMb rarabased Radio West is marking
“I am happy with the court ruling. It is a victory for Ugandans. Now all the arms of government have pronounced themselves on the matter and their verdict is known.”Raphael known.” Raphael Magyezi, Igara West MP and mover of motion to amend presidential age limit
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Friesian cows residents of Kalungu district revived revive d from Operation Wealth Creation
Aug 03 - 09, 2018
3
WEEK
No vaccine derived polio outbreak, Ministry
Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Nelson Chamisa casts his vote.
Observers report high turnout in first post Mugabe polls International observers have reported a high voter turnout in the July30 vote in Zimba bwe. The vote which which saw 22 22 candidates competing had people lining up at polling stations before sunrise. Liberia’s former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who is monitoring the poll on behalf of the US-based National
Democratic Institute, told the BBC that the long queues showed that Zimbabweans were enthusiastic about voting, without any kind of repression. Also, the European Union was among the observers. The US and the EU have not observed elections in the country for 16 years and it’s
also the rst election to be held in over 30 years without President Robert Mugabe on the ballot. However, he came out a day before to say that he wouldn’t participate. He had been president president of Zimbabw Zimbabwee since 1980 when he was forced out of oce in November last year by the military.
Following media reports that there’s an outbreak of vaccine deprived polio, the Ministry of Health said on July27 that despite the fact that there has been an out outbre break ak in the nei neighgh boring bor ing Demo Democra cratic tic Rep Republ ublic ic of Congo, Uganda has not registered a case since 2010. This strain is rare and emerges after prolonged multiplication of aenuated strains of the virus contained in the oral polio vaccine (OPV) in the guts of children with immunodeciency or in populations with very low immunity. After prolonged multiplication, this vaccine virus derived strain changes and reverts to a form that can cause paralysis in humans. The vaccine – OPV is on the ministry of health schedule and is given thrice before a child makes a year. The Ministry says the vaccine is safe and is in use in over 190 countries.
Somalia, Eritrea restore ties After close to 15 years, Somalia and Eritrea announced on July 30 that they had restored their diplomatic ties and that embassies will soon open in their capitals. The decision was reached during a summit in Asmara, Eritrea, where Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo was in the country for three days from
July28 on invitation invitation of President President Isaias Isaias Afwerki. Eritrea’s information minister shared the joint statement on Twier where the two presidents were calling upon the UN to lift the embargo it had put on Eritrea. “Eritrea & Somalia will work in unison to foster regional peace, stability & eco-
nomic integration. Eritrea strongly supports the political independence, sovereignty & territorial integrity of Somalia”, it read. At the summit a number of issues were discussed including regional security and changing relations among Horn of Africa countries.
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Aug 03 - 09, 2018
WEEK
Hope as a donation of two cancer machines is announced Mbarara and Gulu hospitals will soon start oering radiation services after the country got a donation of two Cobalt 60 Radiotherapy machines from from India. The donation announced at a press brieng on July 30 was one of the donations including a mobile mammography van for breast cancer screening that were unveiled during the visit of the India Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Dr. Jackson Orem, the Executive Director at the Uganda Cancer Institute said to decongest the Mulago based radiotherapy division and to take services to the country side they have resolved to have the new machines in the West and Northern region. Once they arrive, the country will have a total of three which will in turn increase access to treatment. Now, with the only machine in the country delivering up to 180 radiotherapy radiothera py sessions every day, many of the hundreds of people requiring this treatment are left out where some die as a result. Since January when the services resumed, Orem says, 31000 sessions have been deli delivere vered. d. This This machi machine ne replaced an old one that was installed more than 22 years ago beforee it crash befor crashed ed in Marc March h 2016. 2016.
Sheema North MP seat falls vacant after Tumwesigye win
Dr. Elioda Tumwesigye in yellow
For the rst time in the country, a siing member of parliament was cleared to contest for the same post in another constituency. Dr. Elioda Tumwesigye who doubles as Minister
for Science, Technology and Innovation was representing Sheema North Constituency until last month when he contested in a newly created Sheema municipality and won the seat in a poll held on July
27. “I’m the rst person in the whole of Africa to be chairman of the party at district level, minister and again represent two constituencies in parliament at once, I will sele down and I write a book about about myself myself because this is un usual”, he spoke to his supporters shortly after being announced announced winner of of the highly competitive poll in which he garnered 13, 590 votes against the 11,489 garnered by his closest rival of the opposition’s Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party. He said he would soon vacate the Sheema North post. This means, soon, the Electoral Commission will organize a by-election by-electi on to ll ll the vacuu vacuum. m.
Chaos in Nebbi as NRM candidate is declared winner There was chaos after the NRM party candidate, Hashim Sulaiman was declared winner for the Nebbi Municipality MP seat on July27. Sulaiman defeated his closest rival Robert Onega of the FDC party with 4483 against Onega’s 4159 votes. The chaos at the tally centre started when Obongi County MP, Kaps Hussein Fungaroo, complained about the disparity of votes at Tata polling station. He said that the votes for MP exceeded those of the Mayor and the directly elected councillor by over 100 votes.
However, no sooner had Fungaroo and other opposition supporters started raising their complaints to the media, police and other security personnel roughed up Journalists and opposition supporters, forcing them out of the tally centre. After being forced out, the Neb bi Ret Return urning ing Oc Ocer er Ray Raymon mond d Kasirale declared Suleiman the winner. However, this did not go on well with Suleiman’s supporters who tried to force their way into the tally centre. The police and the army were forced to re
live bullets and tear gas to disperse the rowdy supporters. Earlier in the evening, opposition members accused police of using its regional medical service vehicle to carry preticked ballot papers, an allegation that was denied by the RPC West Nile Jonathan Musinguzi. Other candidates in the race included Patrick Okumu Ringa who polled 1,270 votes, Opio Enrico 143, Bey Odongo Pacutho 46 and Berocan Okurocal 59 votes, all independent candidates.
Aug 03 - 09, 2018
5
WEEK
Correction
Asantehene at Kabaka’ Kabaka’ss coronation anniversary
In our Independent Magazine issue No. 513 March 23-29, 2018, we ran an article entitled “Exposed: Dirty secrets of 200bn Crane Bank Sale” wherein, we reported that “in just a few months the three rms MMAKS, Bowmans and Sebalu & Lule Advocates had earned an estimated UGX 5.4 Billion from BOU”. While is it true that all the three mentioned law rms (including Sebalu & Lule Advocates) appeared in court to represent Crane Bank Limited in Receivership (Bank of Uganda as Receivers) in the suit against Sudhir Ruparelia and Meera Investments limited, Subalu & Lule Advocates were not beneciaries of the initial UGX 5.4 Billion payment referred to in our article. We would like to correct the record and state that the UGX 5.4 Billion referred to in our abovementioned article, was paid by Bank of Uganda to MMAKS Advocates and Bowmans (AF Mpanga Advocates). Any inconvenience the error might have caused Sebalu & Lule Advocates is highly regreed.
Ghana’s cultural leader, Asantehene Otumfour Nana Osei Tutu II arrived in the country on July29 two days before the 25th coronation anniversary celebrations of Kabaka Ronald Mutebi. The two cultural leaders had dinner together and aended a prayer ceremony at the Angli-
can cathedral in Namirembe where they prayed for God’s guidance as the kabaka continues to provide leadership in the country’s biggest kingdom. On July31, King Tutu who was coroneted in 1999 ociated as a chief guest at the Jubilee celebrations held at the King’s palace in Mengo.
Justt like Jus like Bug Bugand anda, a, the Asha Ashannti Empire has a history of being erce and a conqueror as they acquired vast lands during the pre-colonial era in West Africa. Also, like Buganda Asganti kings fell out with colonialists where two of their kings were forced into exile.
Women activists call for a sexual offenses bill as Rwabogo tormenter appeals sentence Brain Isiko, a student of YMCA Jinja campus became popular recently especially on social media after Kabarole district woman Member of Parliament Sylivia Rwabogo wept in court where she had dragged him for torturing her with love advances. Isiko was sentenced to two years in prison for the oence but
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he on July30 petitioned court to appeal this sentence. Isiko’s sentence had caused uproar in July where several people blamed the legislator for dragging a 25 year old to prison over mere sexual advances but came out to defend herself that she feared for her life as the torture went on for months and yet other
avenues like blocking his phone numbers and social media didn’t help. Following this, women activists are now calling for the enactment of a sexual oenses law so that it becomes clear of what punishments are given to people who engage in such sexual harassment acts.
Humour
Did you know?
The sun is changing shape Ministry of Finance has promised to sack any accounting officer implicated in abuse of public funds
A repo report rt about gov govern ernanc ancee indi indicate catess people people’s ’s ina inadeq dequate uate awa awarene reness ss of inst institut itutions ions that dispe dispense nse justice, with more Ugandans indicating a preference for Local Council when seeking justice
On 30 July, general elections were held in Zimbabwe to elect the president and members of both houses of parliament
According to a new paper in The Astrophysical Journal, the Sun grows and shrinks every 11 years by 1 to 2 kilo k ilomete meters rs (0.6 ( 0.6-1. -1.22 mile m iles). s). Colloquially, you could very well say that it breathes, albeit very slowly. It’s a very faint “inhale” and “exhale” though, with those extra kilometers increasing the radius of the Sun by just 0.00029 percent at most. With that in mind, then, it’s incredible that the team from the New Jersey Institute of Te Technology chnology and the University of Cote d’Azur managed to detect it at all. So how did they? As with several recent studies, the team zeroed in on the plasma streams escaping and returning to the solar surface – highly energetic ionized gas strands. Turns out that the frequencies of the plasma waves that slosh across the star aren’t too dissimilar from the sound waves given off by a musical instrument. Say you’ve got a saxophone, because beca use you fan fancy cy som somee jazz. ja zz. You play a note, noise comes out, and all’s well. Now, if the tubing inside the saxophone suddenly expanded outwards, the pitch of that no te would drop. Squeeze it all in, and the pitch would be higher. The Sun’s a bit like a magical saxophone in that sense. The frequencies of those waves change depending on how sizeable the Sun is, and this can be measured rather precisely by scientists on Earth. It wasn’t easy, though; after all it did take 21 years of observations using two separate NASA space telescopes to make this discovery. Eagle-eyed solar science types among you may have already guessed what the “breathing” is related to, and you’ you’d d be right: it’s to do with the solar cycle. Aug 03 - 09, 2018
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The Kabaka’s 25 th Coronation anniversary marked with pomp on July 31 31..
The Last Word
OPINION
Africa over the last 30 years By Andrew M. Mwenda
Why the claim that our continent’s problems are caused by “poor governance” is a lot of baloney
I
have just re-read the 1989 report of the World Bank titled “Sub Saharan S aharan Africa: From Crisis to Sustainable Development.” It is a rich document in terms of the data it gives about Sub Saharan Africa (hereinafter called Africa). It is also in this report that the World Bank introduced (for the rst time) the argument that one of the powerful causes of Africa’s poor economic performance was “governance.” The report itself did use the expression “good governance”. That was in the Foreword by the World Bank president. However, in subsequent documents, the World Bank began to use the expression “good governance”. Since then, it has entered the modern political lexicon as almost the singular explanation for everything that has gone wrong with Africa. Everywhere you turn – African elites, academics, journalists, politicians, and “experts,” – all aribute all failure in Africa to a lack of “good governance.” While the Bank presented this as one among other causes of Africa’s decline, over time it has been bee n tran transfor sformed med int into o “the “the onl only” y” expl explana ana-tion. The 322 pages report gives a grim but insightful account of where Africa had sunk. It says our region enjoyed a brief period of economic growth in the 1960s, entered a period of stagnation in the 1970s and began rapid economic decline in the 1980s. By 1987 with 450 million people (double the population at independence) Africa was as poor as (or even worse than) the early 1960s. The report further says that the region’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $136 billion was almost equal to that of tiny Belgium with only 10 million people. To maintain investment amidst declining growth, governments in Africa had borrowed heavily from abroad. By 1988 foreign debt was 100% of the region’s GDP. Consequently, debt service obligations were 47% of total foreign exchange earnings and only half were being paid. To contain this problem, the IMF and World Bank had negotiated over 100 debt-rescheduling yet arrears were accumulating. Looking back 30 years later, one can say Africa made a turn for the beer. Its GDP has grown from $136 billion (or $276 billion in 2018 dollars) in 1988 to $1.645 trillion today, the population from 450 million to
1.014 billion today. Therefore, even after adjusting for ination, our region’s GDP has expanded six fold thereby tripling per capita income. Beer still, only four out of the region’s 46 countries have a debt to GDP ratio above 100%, the average is 50%. Of course Africa’s economic performance is not as dramatic as what we have seen in China but it is fai fairly rly goo good d none nonethe theles less. s. Even when we use Belgium as our reference point (as the World Bank did), there is some smell of good air compared to 1988. Belgium’s population has grown from 10 million people in 1988 to 11.4 million people in 2018 while its GDP has less than doubled from $276 to $500 billion today and so has been its per cap capita ita inc income ome whi which ch has gro grown wn from $28,000 to $48,000. It seems Africa has since the gloomy 1980s taken a turn for the beer. But what explains the region’s change of course from economic decline to sustained growth? The IMF and World Bank would say that “good governance” (the quality of institutions) has signicantly improved and that economic policies are beer. Governments in Africa have since began to respect central bank ban k inde independ pendenc ence, e, int introd roduce uced d more more democratic governance etc. Countries have since reformed the civil service, privatised public enterprises, liberalised the economies, controlled ination, etc. This is only partly true but I don’ don’tt thin think k it it has has been fun fundam dament ental. al. I am more inclined to believe that governance has improved due to sustained economic growth, not vice versa. Why? Countries that have exhibited rapid growth over the years have widely diering governance systems. Some are seen as being fairly democratic (Ghana, Zambia, Senegal), others are categorised authoritarian (Ethiopia, Rwanda, Equatorial Guinea, Angola) while many are referred to as high breed bre ed (Uga (Uganda nda,, Tanz Tanzani ania). a). Som Somee are are civ civili ilian an others are military; some have long serving leaders others short lived ones. Some have withdrawn the state from business entirely (Uganda, Zambia,) while others have retained a strong role (Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia). Some have accepted central bank independence while others have not. However, regardless of regime type, the quality of institutions and the mix of policies, the region has been de-industrialising i.e. ratio of manufacturing to GDP has
remained stagnant or even declined. This means there has been lile or no structural transformation i.e. a shift in most people’s livelihoods from depending on agriculture to industry and services. Growth has been sustained by export of primary commodities like minerals and agricultural produce. I am inclined to believe that more than improved governance, the biggest driver of growth in Africa over the last 30 years has the rapid growth of China. This has increased the demand for the raw materials Africa produces, thereby increasing their value on the international market. Indeed the recent decline in growth in China has led to a signicant decline in the rate of growth of Africa. In the 1960s, Africa grew rapidly because the economies of Western Europe were growing rapidly and demanding a lot of our raw materials for their reconstruction after World War Two. As the West entered a period of slow growth precipitated by the oil shocks of 1973 and 1979, Africa’s economies also began to decline. This led to shrinking state revenues, which led to poor public sector wages. I believe this is what worsened governance in Africa. As already noted, Africa’s growth is not driven by innovation but China buying our raw materials. Our economies continue to depend on nature’s (or God’s) bounty for export revenues. Economic history shows that it does not really maer how a country is governed: whether it is a democracy or a dictatorship, has an honest or corrupt government. For as long as it has appreciating terms of trade (what it sells abroad brings in more money than what it buys from there), such a country will prosper. This explains why Equatorial Guinea with vast oil revenues but horrible governance has had the fastest growing economy in the world over the last 30 years. Today it has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world – $35,000 at purchasing power parity. The debate on the economic development of Africa has been focused on peripheral issues (“good governance”, corruption, etc.). This has obscured fundamental ones like the dominance of multi national capital in our nations and poor terms of trade.
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Aug 03 - 09, 2018
9
COVER STORY
By Haggai Matsiko
T
he commiee investigating former Inspector General of Police, Gen. Kale Kayihura, for allegedly killing his former deputy, AIGP Andrew Felix Kawesi, has found that the allegations are baseless. According to well-placed sources at State House, the joint investigations commiee handed over their report to President Yoweri Museveni last week on July 27. The Independent has learnt that the joint investigations commiee made up of four police ocers and two ocers from the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) and another two from the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) nished their report last week. According to contents of the report, parts of which have been seen by The Independent, the joint investigations commiee recommended that all the ocers close to Kayihura arrested over alleged involvement in the murder of Kawesi should be released forthwith. The fate of Joseph Baroza, the former Kayihura ADC who escaped arrest and went into hiding was not handled in the report. In a related development, The Independent has reliably learnt that following his arrest, Kayihura requested the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Gen. David Muhoozi, to secure an appointment for him to meet Museveni. According to a highly placed source at State House, Muhoozi presented this request to Museveni during a meeting of senior army ocers with the president. Insiders say Museveni declined to see Kayihura. He told the army ocers that he preferred to keep emotional distance. He said that if he met Kayihura personally, he could be swayed by kindness and emotion towards him. In their heydays, Museveni always praised Kayihura as a loyal cadre, and it appeared understandable that he felt seeing Kayihura could aect him that way. The statement also revealed that Museveni was taking the investigations against Kayihura seriously. Sources further told The Independent that even before Kayihura was removed as IGP, Muhoozi had led a team of army ocers to meet Museveni where they expressed concern regarding the position of the IGP whose powers had been signisigni cantly trimmed. A source at State House told The Independent that Museveni took time to explain to the ocers that he considered Kayihura a good cadre who had transformed the police from an anti-NRM institution into a “progressive force.” However, Museveni added that Kayihura’s problem was that he had allowed criminals to inltrate the police 10
Aug 03 - 09, 2018
Inside Kayihura investigations Museveni refused to meet Kayihura Former IGP accused of plotting to kill Muhoozi Findings: allegations a hoax Recommendation: Release Kayihura men
Brig. A bel Kandiho
Grace Akullo,
– and then as an afterthought added: “and foreigners.” Later in June, the Director General of ISO, Kaka Bagyenda, presented a report to the president, which claimed that Kayihura
Col. Kaka Bagyenda,
had killed Kawesi in order to forestall a possibility of the laer becoming a successor. According to an impeccable source at State House, the report had an audio recording, which appeared to prove this accusation.
COVER STORY
Some of this “evidence” was openly put to Kayihura on June 13 after Deputy Chief of Defence Forces, Lt. Gen. Wilson Mbandi, and the head of CMI; Brig. Abel Kandiho, arrested him from his farmhouse in Kashagama, Lyantonde District, and ew him to Entebbe in helicopter and immediately drove him to Makyindye Military Barracks, where he remains detained. After his arrest, Museveni instructed that a joint investigations team comprising of police, ISO and CMI be set up to handle the maer. Initially it comprised 12 ocers who were later reduced to eight to make the work faster. Those from police are Grace Akullo, the Director Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Department (CIID), who also chairs the team, her deputy; Senior Commissioner of Police (SCP) Elly Womanya, and two other police detectives. From ISO, it is Lt. Churchill Mutatina and another, and from CMI, it is the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force (JATT) Director, Charles Asiimwe, and another agent.
Fake evidence According to sources close to the investigations, the team has found that all the evidence against Kayihura and his associates was fabricated. These associates include; Richard Ndaboine, the former head of cyber intelligence, Col. Ndahura Atwooki, the former head crime intelligence, and Herbert Muhangi, the former head of Flying Squad, among others. CMI picked up these oo cers around the same time Kayihura was arrested. The Independent understands that most of the evidence, the investigating team was relying on was supplied by ISO led by Col Col.. Kaka Kaka Bagy Bagyend enda. a. The Ind Indepen ependent dent also understands that CMI’s Abel Kandiho and Police’s Akullo are furious that ISO got them involved in a scheme largely driven by fab fabric ricate ated d evid evidenc ence. e. The evidence involved about four elements; a recording in which Kayihura was said to be talking to the killer of Kawesi, witnesses who claim to have driven the assassin to the scene of crime, and a meeting at which the murder was allegedly planned, among others. ISO agent Simon Peter Odongo, who recently led a raid on telecom giant, MTN Uganda and carried away some servers, is said to have been the source of the recording. In the recording Kale is said to be talking to Herbert Muhangi, the former Commandant of the defunct Flying Squad in the recording. “Kaweesi is dead, the mission has been accomplished,” Muhangi allegedly says in the recording.
“Thank you very much,” Kale replies. Initially, those involved in the investigations appeared to believe the recording as
Kaweesi murder scene
had Museveni. In fact, sources say it was this recording that led Museveni to order the arrest and detention of Kayihura. But when the recording was taken to Makerere University’s digital laboratory to check its authenticity, they found a lot of issues. The recording was found to comprise three dierent pieces of communication that were edited to sound as one. The rst bit wa wass of of Muha Muhangi ngi tel tellin ling g Kayi Kayihur huraa that that Kawesi is dead. The second part of “the mission has been accomplished” was from Muhangi to Kayihura but many months before befo re the Kaw Kaweesi eesi mur murder der.. The The las lastt bit bit of Kayihura saying, “thank you very much” was picked from his closing statements at a press conference. Apparently, ISO operatives had goen dierent voices from dierent times and occasions and creatively fabricated evidence to pin Kayihura. The Makerere software, however, is able to establish the date when any voice or image was recorded or taken. This is exactly what happened when the audio was taken to Makerere University digital lab for proper authentication and factual verication. That is how the record ing collapsed. But ISO still had its two alleged key witnesses. One of them, Rwoga-omugatyarize Kiiza aka Rasta, claimed that he had been at a meeting at Kati Kati Restaurant along Lugogo bypass with senior police ocers who planned and executed the murder. Apart from Muhangi, this witness claimed that others were; former Kampala Metropolitan Police Commander, Frank Mwesigwa, Col. Ndahura Atwooki, the former head crime intelligence, Muhangi and Christine Mbabazi, who is said to have been Kaweesi’s girlfriend. This witness claimed that Mwesigwa was the strategist of the murder and Muhangi executed it. The said witness claimed he rode Muhangi on the bike and the laer shot and murdered Kaweesi. However, when they took him to Kati Kati to point to the place where the meeting took place, he showed them the bar counter. The investigators
found it hard to believe that such a sensitive murder could have been discussed at a bar counter. They began to develop suspicions. The investigators also learnt that ISO’s Kaka called Mbabazi for a meeting at a hotel in Kampala and asked her to implicate Kayihura. Mbabazi said Kaweesi had told her that there had been people trailing him and his relationship with Kale was not good. When Kaka brought the same witness who claimed to have been in the meeting at Kati Kati, in handcus, to another meeting to identify Mbabazi, the witness started yelling at Mbabazi; “Y “You ou don’t know me? You don’t know me?” Mbabazi said she didn’t know him. The other witness, a one Kimbowa, also claimed he had been riding the other shooter—a one Sergeant Abel Tumukunde. But when pressed, he confessed that they coached him to claim that he rode a bike on which the alleged second shooter was.
Witnesses unmasked Apart from this, from his phone call records, the commiee found that the rst witness was in Mubende at the time of the shooting of Kaweesi. He had left Kampala at 7am and reached Mubende at 9:00am. Kaweesi was shot at 9:15am. When pressed further, he even confessed that he had met and talked to Kaka. The Independent has learnt that all the witnesses confessed that they had been coached. Who was couching them? It turns out that it was all the work of one Paddy Sserunjogi aka Sobi, a self-confessed criminal turned ISO operative, and a one Lt. Abdul Juuko Serwanga, a former Wembley Operation operative, who had been red from ISO only to be re-hired by Kaka. Last year, Sobi, confessed on camera to be the leader of the notorious Kifeesi criminal gang. At a meeting aended by the then police commandant for Kampala East, Siraje Bakaleke and Kampala Metropolitan Police commander Frank Mwesigwa, the Kifeesi criminal gang agreed to work with police. However, following public backlash, Sobi Aug 03 - 09, 2018
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COVER STORY
was arrested and detained in Nalufenya, the defunct notorious torture centre. Insiders say Sobi was arrested at about 10:00am and had already been released by 5:00pm. According to an impeccable source, Museveni called Kayihura and ordered him to release Sobi. Sobi had earlier on told journalists that he wanted to give up crime earlier and tried to work with police but was disappointed to nd even more criminals in police. He later met a general who convinced him to abandon criminality and get his colleagues to do the same, Sobi claimed. When Museveni ordered Kayihura to release Sobi, the then IGP obliged and handed him over to ISO. Upon his release, Sobi was driven away from Nalufenya like a VIP in two heavily armed military vehicles allegedely provided by a general who was also a cabinet miniser. When Kale appeared before parliament, MPs asked him why he released Sobi. Kayihura said he had not released him but handed him over to ISO adding,"He still has les with us but there is a sister security agency that has issues to either question him (about) or work with him and that is how we work,” Kayihura told parliament, “Perhaps they want to interrogate him or work with him, it might be an intelligence operation and they requested us (for him) and we handed him over”. This was true. It later emerged that Sobi had stopped working with police months ago and had joined joi ned ISO ISO.. He He had had work worked ed wit with h poli police ce for years following his release from Luzira prison where he had spent years on remand. At ISO, insiders say Sobi is a real heavyweight; he is driven in an SUV and even has an escort pickup with soldiers that guard him. Juuko, Juu ko, on the oth other er han hand, d, wa wass in in ISO ISO during Elly Kayanja time. But in the early 2000s, according to court records, while an ISO agent, Juuko was remanded on charges of assisting a Pakistan drug tracker, Nisar Ahmed, found in possession of 2.103kg of heroin valued at Shs113 million, escape arrest. Amos Makumbi and Brig. Ronnie Balya, who succeeded Kayanja later, did not tolerate him. During their tenures, they refused to work with him and kept him away from the institution. When Kaka came into ISO, Kayanja, who is a close friend of Kaka, introduced Juuko to the new DG who he re-hired him. Today, Juuko runs the Kyengera safe house where ISO allegedly tortures people. The safe house is called Value Addition. A squad commanded by Juuko controls it. They arrest people there, torture then and extort money from them, sources in security claim. The witnesses confessed that Sobi and Juuko Juu ko wer weree the the one oness coac coachin hing g them. them. Appa Apparrently, Sobi had told one of the witnesses 12
Aug 03 - 09, 2018
that this was a Shs4 billion deal. He bragged that he had been recruited into ISO, has a double cabin pickup complete with bodyguards. The witnesses mentioned Sobi in their statements, which are both video recorded and wrien. Insiders say that Kaka thought that if he worked with criminals, he would apprehend all criminals in the city. Away from the Kaweesi case, one of the witnesses also claimed that Kayihura had hired him to kill the President’s son, Maj. Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba at a bar in Kololo. He added, however, that when they reached there, they found it had CCTV surveillance cameras and Muhangi ordered them to abort the mission.
ISO’s Kaka under fire Having interrogated these witnesses, all the members of the commiee came to a conclusion that these allegations are mere fabrications. Why did Kaka allow this investigation clearly knowing ISO did not
Kale Kayihura
have any evidence to prove Kayihura was involved in the murder of Kawesi? Insiders suspect that Kaka had thought that these would be desk investigators. But when commiee members began going to the crime scene, gather large volumes of technical evidence, and visit many other places, Kaka’s allegations were quashed. Investigators discovered that it was all a hoax. Insiders say he has been briefed and is under intense stress. Akullo, who was heading the team, insiders say, was upset about the fabrications. Every witness was video recorded, so they cannot claim they did not say those things. Apart from this, one of the suspects, Abbey Kitagenda, the former Commandant Flying Squad in charge of Kampala North, who had been arrested with other police ocers, was released because the Court Martial did not nd any evidence against him. According to highly places sources inside ISO, he was taken to Serene Suites in Mutundwe where he met Kaka and the busine bus inessma ssman n cum cum mus musici ician an Dan Daniel iel Kaz Kazii bwe aka Rag Ragga ga Dee Dee.. Ragg Raggaa Dee, Dee, who ran
for Kampala Mayor was a key contact of former Security Minister, Lt. Gen. Henry Tumukunde. He had helped in the ght against Boda Boda 2010. Together they were fronting another boda boda association called Century to rival boda boda 2010. Ragga Dee was its patron and they wanted to neutralise Kale politically in Kampala. In Mutundwe, Kaka and Ragga Dee asked Kitagenda to collaborate with them and implicate Kayihura in the murder of Kaweesi. When he refused, he was arrested for about two months. While in ISO detention, Kitagenda was not able to show up for his bail. As a result, they took him to Makindye and said he was jumpin jum ping g bail bail and mil milita itary ry pol police ice put him back bac k in in jail jail.. As the investigations began to close in on the entire hoax, Kaka got jiery at ISO and tried to salvage it. In the last frantic eort, insiders say, ISO’s Simon Peter Odongo raided MTN and conscated their servers. According to sources deep inside ISO, the aim was to try and manipulate call data so as to place the witnessed and the accused at the crime scenes in order to validate the allegations. Odongo raided MTN together with other operatives together with whom they work with Kaka. Unknown to them, the witnesses had already made confessions to the joint joi nt inv invest estiga igatio tions ns com commi miee ee reg regard arding ing the places they were at the time of the murder of Kawesi, which rendered all evidence valueless. This is not the rst time ISO is generatgenerat ing what critics call fake intelligence. For instance, in May last year, The Independent reported how Museveni had been told that senior government ocials had hacked the central bank system and stolen some $38 million. After reading this report, Museveni is said to have met the agents behind these reports. Odongo was one of these agents. One of them told Museveni that he was involved in transporting huge sums of money for ocials looking to sponsor rebel activity. The agent also claimed he had dropped US$ 1.5 million in Mbarara at Agip Motel, US$ 1 million in Masaka and another US$ 1.5 million in Mbale to coordinate rebel activity. When the President probed further, Odongo said he had given the money to someone at Agip Motel in Mbarara. But it seemed suspicious that an agent would just hand US$ 1.5 million to someone they did not know just like that. The central bank governor, Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, Tumusiime-Mutebil e, would also later report to President Museveni that these allegations were a hoax as no such money had been stolen from the bank. In this case, Museveni just ignored the maer. It remains to be seen how he will react to ISO’s intelligence in the Kale case
NEWS ANALYSIS
The coram of Judges; ( L-R) Barashaki, Kasule, DCJ Dollo, Kakuru, and Musoke.
FILE /PHOTO
Courts of fear Behind Constitutional Court decision to remove remov e age limit, li mit, annul 7 year term By Agather Atuhaire
T
wo days before the July 26 decision of the Constitutional Court to uphold the constitutional amendment by parliament to remove the Presidential age limit and quash the amendment for a seven-year term for MPs and return of presidential term limits, word circulated that President Yoweri Museveni was calling some of the judges on the coram – to ensure a favourable decision. Nothing unusual there. As far back as 2012, one of Uganda’s top justices, George Kanyeihamba who has been involved in similar decisions had, in his book `The Blessings and Joy of Being who You Are’, wrien about President Museveni calling judges jud ges jus justt befo before re impo importa rtant nt rul ruling ingss are are made. Kanyeihamba, who was on the coram that heard the election petition by opposition candidate Kizza Besigye against President Yoweri Museveni’s Museveni’s win in 2006 writes
that similar rumours of the President calling judges cir judges circul culate ated. d. Kanyeihamba writes: “It was said that the Chief Justice had been summoned by the highest political authority, which controlled the then prevailing constitutional order of governance, and told in no uncertain terms that the authority could not be trusted to contain possible actions by the Uganda Defence Forces when rejecting any orders allowing the petition.” Kanyeihamba writes that all seven judges on the coram, including then-Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki, denied they had been called. But he reveals on page 386, that a year or two later, Odoki –in a judicial slip of tongue - revealed that the President had summoned him and warned him of the possible consequences of their 2006 verdict. He says it was later conrmed by several soldiers on the army high command. But the word that circulated two days to the Mbale Constitutional Court decision had an unusual twist; it alleged that one of the judges on the coram had told o
Museveni. This twist added more anticipation of a judgment tough on Museveni. But it was proved wrong. The day’s grapevine had another tale; that the coram of ve justices would allow the removal of age limits but disallow the extension of the term of members of parliament from ve years to seven. This was proved right. But even this had another twist; that the court would rule that a referendum be conducted to determine whether to change the length of terms. The court discussed the referendum issue but did not rule on it. Finally the word had it that the justices would rule 3:2 in favour of lifting the age limit and retaining the ve year terms and return of presidential term limits. This was also proved wrong. The justices ruled 4:1 on the former and 5:0 on the laer two.
Sitting on a time bomb Those happy with this decision celebrated. But many others said the judges exhib Aug 03 - 09, 2018
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NEWS A NAL NALYSIS YSIS
ited double standards in nding that some parts of the same law are null and void while others are legitimate. They appeared unconvinced by the argument of the justices that, under the severability doctrine, some sections of a law that are unconstitutional can be severed and those that are not are saved. The analysts say the justices had a perfect opportunity to forestall a looming political crisis surrounding Museveni’s continued clinging to power and missed it. “What their decision means is life presidency and that means no peaceful transfer of power which means we are siing on a time bomb,” said Wandera Ogalo, the lawyer for the petitioners, in an interview with the Independent. The Citizens Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU) Coordinator, Crispin Kaheru, also says the decision of the court spells doom for democracy. “The judgment may have substantially and inadvertently reversed the country from a multi-party political dispensation to an individual-based political system,” he said, “The fear to hurt the interests of President Museveni could have compromised the objectivity of the judges.” For the purveyors of the grapevine drivel, all the detail was of lile consequence, it is the substance that maered. To them it was enough conrmation of the rumours that four out of the ve justices of the court held that the constitutional amendment Act, which was passed amid controversy and police and army brutality; including the invasion of parliament and baery and detention of some MPs in December last year, was valid. Clearly, the justic jus tices es were were det determ ermine ined d to to allo allow w Muse Museven venii to run for presidency for the sixth time in 2021 when he will have been 35 years in power.
as a once renowned member of the opposition Democratic Party (DP) was expected to “fear” to challenge Museveni. 70-year old Kasule’s views carry weight as he is also the current Chairman of the Uganda Law Council and, as he is due to retire this year; he was expected to want to go out with a bang. Kasule and Museveni also have a checkered history. When he ascended to the Court of Appeal in 2011 many recalled that his name had been rst nominated in 2002 but rej reject ected ed by Musev Museveni eni who pre prefer ferred red the outgoing Deputy Chief Justice Steven Kavuma. Even when Museveni accepted Kasule in 2011, many of his advisors said he was misadvised. And they appeared vindicated when Kasule was only one of the ve jusjus tices of the Court that ruled in favor of the rebel MPs when NRM sought to throw them out of Parliament after their expulsion
And Kakuru went a step further.
So how did it happen? The turning point appears to have been reached at Justice Remmy Kasule’s verdict. He ruled that the framers of the 1995 Constitution did not put the article on presidential age limits among articles that require a referendum to change. They left that to Parliament which, in his view, was within its powers to amend them together with those of District Chairpersons. Kasule cited the Odoki Constitutional Commission Report proposing that only proposed minimum age limit of 40 years for one standing for the oce of President and never put a maximum age limit of the President, reasoning that: “Since we have proposed the minimum age, we are of the view that there is no need to x the maximum age; the electorate will decide on the appropriate candidate.” So why were many surprised by Kasule’s decision? Partly, it must have been because Kasule, 14
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lone demolisher of the amendment removing the presidential age limit from the constitution. Kakuru, of all the justices, sought to contextualise his ruling on Uganda’s turbulent political history and the spirit and intent of the framers of the 1995 national constitution. “The history of the country and the legislative history of the Constitution is also relevant and a useful guide in constitutional interpretation,” he said adding that, in the preamble to the constitutional, the people of Uganda emphasised the country’s history, acknowledging sadly that it has been characterised by political and constitutional instability. “Lest we forget,” he said, “My aempts to recount the constitutional history was to re-echo the people’s cry, in the preamble to the Constitution. We must always recall our history. “Lest we forget.” He added, regarding the motive behind the lifting of the presidential age limit which the other justices fudged: “Born in 1944 President Museveni will not have been qualied for election as President under the Constitution as it stood in 2017, as he would have aained the age of 75 years in 2019, the next General Elections being due in 2021.”
Kenneth Kakuru
from the party. In an elaborate dissenting judgment, Kasule said that expulsion from a party does not mean an MP automatically loses the seat in Parliament. The rebel MPs based on his ruling to challenge the decision of the majority in the Supreme Court which conrmed Kasule’s judgment. Many of those that sought dissenting voices in the Mbale ruling based on such rulings and his pedigree in the opposition DP to bet on him. They lost.
Counting on Kakuru That left Justice Kenneth Kakuru as the
He invoked the Basic Structure Doctrine; a legal principle originating from India that says that national constitutions have fundamental features that go to the very root of the constitution and should never be altered through a parliamentary amendment becaus bec ausee that that wou would ld amo amount unt to dest destroy roying ing the foundation and structure of the constitution. Kakuru stated that there are provisions of the Constitution which parliament does not have power to alter even if it followed all the required procedures of amendment. “Parliament, in my view, has no power to amend alter or in any way abridge or remove any of the above pillars or structures of the Constitution, as doing so would amount to its abrogation,” he said. He added: “In this regard therefore, I nd that the basic structure doctrine applies to Uganda’s Constitutional order having been deliberately enshrined in the Constitution by the the peo people ple the themsel mselves ves.” .” Kakuru ruled that MPs have no power, including legislating on extending their term from ve to seven years. “The power to legislate belongs to the people of Uganda, who every ve years deldel egate it to some amongst themselves under Article 1 of the Constitution. This power therefore delegated as it is very limited in both bot h in in time time and sco scope. pe.”” He concluded that the contravention of several articles of the Constitution and omission defeated the whole amendment. He ruled: “The entire Constitution (Amendment) Act 1 of 2018 is unconstitu-
NEWS ANALYSIS
tional and is therefore null and void. All its provisions ought to be expunged from the Constitution of Uganda.” But Kakuru was outnumbered 4:1. In the end, several renowned constitutional lawyers say the judgment reached was technically unimpeachable not substantially unconvincing.
Shallow interpretation of constitutionalism Prof. Oloka Onyango of Makerere University Kampala whose latest book is `When Courts Do Politics’, says on the technical questions, it is hard to fault the judges jud ges bec becaus ausee wheth whether er the age lim limit it can be removed or not is not a legal issue. “In the black leer of the law, there was no problem with the removal of age limit,” he told The Independent in an interview “Article 102 (b) is an article like any other which can be amended by parliament.” But, he added “You need to contextualise it.” “The age limit is not an event,” he said, “it had to be put into context.” He says the Justices by their decision created a life presidency. “In a country where you have never had a free and fair election, where there has never been peaceful transfer of power, where there are no functional institutions, you cannot aord to create a life presidency.” He says the Judges should have based their decision on the context within which Uganda nds itself and the implications of a life presidency. Instead, he says, the court’s decision depicted the justice’s shallow interpretation of constitutionalism. “A constitution is not a statute,” he said, “You cannot interpret a constitution as just a legal document. It is a political document, a social document, a cultural document.” He says Judges needed to refer to Uganda’s history of coups and militarism, the awed elections, and the malfunctioning malfunctioni ng institutions. He says such a context renders the judges’ unanimous condemnation of the extension of terms for MPs and local government leaders while promoting a life presidency inconceivable. inconceivable. He aributes the decision of the justices to fear. “What we are seeing in this country is structural fear,” he says. “People have lived in a context of a dictatorship and have goen accustomed to not questioning anything. That is why the Judges can challenge life MPs but not life presidency.” Oloka calls this a structural fear which, he says, is not only in politics but even in the social life of Ugandans. Lead lawyer for the petitioners, Wandera Ogalo, agrees with Oloka that the Judges needed to show what they understand will be the the impact impact of their their decis decision ion on a coun country try that is yearning for a peaceful transfer of
Wandera Ogalo (L) and petitioner Male Mabirizi
power and elections with meaning. “The judges know very well that there is a problem with the election process,” he told The Independent in an interview and reeled o a list of recent awed election. He cited the Rukungiri Municipality Municipality by-electi by-el ection on where where Presid President ent Musev Museveni eni sought to inuence the vote by splashing over Shs5 billion worth of freebies to voters with a stern warning: you either vote the NRM candidate or you will not get government services. “Term limits and age limit are a conscious process to ensure democracy in Uganda because these other institutions, for instance the Electoral Commission are too weak,” Ogalo said. He says the Judges should have pronounced themselves on the implications of the removal of age limit in Uganda’s context. But even Justice Kakuru, the lone remover of the age limit did so without pronouncing himself on the issues Ogalo and Oloka wanted addressed. And it appears, Kakuru anticipated the Ogalo and Oloka challenge. He ruled: “I have found nothing to suggest, let alone prove that Parliament Parliament cannot, through the established constitutional constitution al process, vary the qualications qualica tions of the President or that of the District Chairperson. The qualications of the President and those of Chairpersons District local governments governments do not in my view form part of the basic structure of the Constitution which I set out earlier in this Judgment. Judgm ent. “The people of Uganda, through their Constitution, should be able to freely, whenever it is absolutely necessary to do so, vary the qualication of their leaders. These
qualications include but are not limited to citizenship, age, and 10 academic qualications. The same ought to apply to the disqualications of the same leaders. It may be, for exa exampl mple, e, fou found nd nec necessa essary ry in fut future ure to require every Presidential candidate to be computer literate, uent in both English and Swahili and at least two local languages the list is endless”. So, it appears Ogalo and Oloka might not have convinced Kakuru on that one. Still, Ogala says removing age limit is disastrous for democracy in Uganda. But he says the Mbale Judgment is good for the growth of constitutionalism and enrichment of jurisprudence. “The Judgment, particularly of Justice Kakuru and Remmy Kasule which delved into our history was good,” he says. Ogalo is happy that the Basic structure Doctrine has been introduced in Uganda’s law. But Oloka says the reference to the Basic Structure doctrine by the justices was pointless if in the end they upheld an amendment that completely violates all the tenets of the doctrine. Ogalo disagrees. He says if the Judges had applied the doctrine to the present dispute, there would be a risk of it being struck out by the Supreme Court on appeal. “That is why I didn’t even argue it,” he says, “I feared it because it was rubbished in Tanzania but Lukwago (Erias) argued it. “Even though they did not apply it to the present facts”, he adds, “I am more than happy that it is now part of our law and that to me was a plus.” And the debate goes on. Aug 03 - 09, 2018
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RDB chief tourism officer Belise Kariza cut ribbon tocommission the houses.
COURTESY/ PHOTO
Gains from protecting wildlife Villagers get new houses, mobile clinics, solar systems By Independent Reporter
S
upporting and engaging in wildlife conservation conservation pays. But for communities living on the fringes of national game parks this is always a hard hard choice. For close to 50 people in Kitabi sector, Nyamagabe district, the conservation choice is paying o. On July 27 the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) handled them keys to 10 modern housing units valued at Rwf36 million. This is under the government’s revenue sharing programme, where communities bordering parks get a share of monies raised from the game park. The current beneciary families had all previously lived in the buer zone of Nyungwe National Park, according to RDB. The modern houses will accommodate 48 occupants, including children, a statement from RDB shows. The donation is the rst community project of the Kwita Izina 2018 activities. The second donation of a mobile clinic, solar lighting systems and solar water pumps will be given to residents of Karambi and Sangano villages in Ndego sector, Kayonza District on Sept. 05. Speaking at handover event, the chief tourism ocer at RDB, Belise Kariza, said the programmes funded by the 16
Aug 03 - 09, 2018
Revenue Share Programme are about improving people’s lives. “This project is one of a kind. It demonstrates our commitment to preserving biodiversity while contributing contributi ng to improving the livelihoods of people living adjacent to our national parks and the overall development of the country,” she said. Marie Rose Mureshyankwano, the governor of Southern Province, who presided over the function, noted that good housing was essential for the development of the family. “Our future depends on the stability of f amily institution and it is, therefore, important that we continue to protect the general welfare of families, especially children,” she said. Initiated in 2005 by the government, the revenue sharing programme aims to guide investment in the areas surrounding the various national parks in Rwanda in order to enhance awareness of importance of conservation conservat ion to communities living around national parks. Following a Cabinet decision in 2017, the funds available to support the revenue sharing programme were increased from 5% to 10% of all tourism revenues in 2018. 2018 Kwita Izina
The theme of this year’s Kwita Izina
event is ‘Conservation is Life’ and the naming ceremony will take place in Kinigi, Northern Province on Sept.07. In addition to the launch of the Kwita Izina community projects, the ‘Conversa ‘Conversation tion on Conservation’ (CoC) Forum that will take place alongside it on Sept.04-05 will focus on conservat conservation ion trends and practices. It will bring together tourism and conservation partners from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania to showcase conservation eorts and avail educational materials to the general public and global conservat conservation ion leaders. It will provide a unique platform linking conservation with sustainable tourism by embracing all layers of the value chain. As a result of conservation eorts such as Kwita Izina, the population of the endangered mountain gorilla has increased to 604 in 2016 in the Virunga Massif compared to 480 in 2010. The Virunga Massif is comprised Mikeno Sector of Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. Mountain gorilla numbers in the entire area had fallen to a low of 242 in 1981.
RWANDA
By Julius Businge
A
ndela, a global engineering rm based in New New York, York, has raise raised d US$80million US$80millio n in venture funding to mentor software developers in the four African countries where it operates; Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria. The rm invests in Africa’s most talented software developers developers and pairs them with engineering rms around the world. Ocials say the goal is to solve the tech talent shortage by accelerating the growth of tech ecosystems on the continent. Four days after launching its operations in Uganda on July 19, Andela issued a notice on July 24 announcing its entry into the Rwandan market where it aims to establish a pan-African technology hub. Andela’s co-founder and Chief Exectuve Ocer, Jeremy Johnson said they are partnering with the Government of Rwanda through the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), an organisation organisatio n responsible for transforming the country into a dynamic global hub for business, busi ness, inv investmen estmentt and and innov innovatio ation. n. Kigali was chosen due to its strong existing infrastructure infrastructure and ease of doing business busi ness and access access for deve develope lopers rs acros acrosss the continent. Jeremy Jerem y said said that that throu through gh the the partnership, RDB will support Andela’s eorts to build a pan-African workforce and support the development of Rwandan and other African talent. He added that this will catalyse Andela’s mission to invest in Africa’s most promising talent and build the continent’s future technology leaders, adding to over 700 Andela developers based in the company’s existing locations in Lagos, Nairobi, and Kampala. “We are thrilled to have found a partner in the Government of Rwanda whose mission is so closely aligned with our own which is to grow and sustain a pan-African elite tech workforce,” he said. Jeremy Jerem y said said in Kiga Kigali, li, they foun found da location that makes travel to-and-from other African countries seamless and also has the modern and connected infrastructure infrastruct ure they require to collaborate with a global workforce. Seni Sulyman, Andela’s vice president in charge of global operations described Kigali as a 4G African city that continues to push towards ICT excellence and is fast becoming beco ming one of East East Afri Africa’s ca’s key tech tech hubs. “Connecting talent with opportunity on a global scale is Andela’s ethos, and with the opening of our Kigali hub, we expect to extend opportunities to thousands more software engineers from across the continent that will make their mark on the global tech scene via Kigali,”Sul Kigali,”Sulyman yman said.
RDB partners with global IT rm, Andela US$80million available for specialists in 4 African countries
Jackie Ochola, Andela’s country director for Uganda
Through Andela’s distributed model of work, developers gain global experience with the world’s top technology rms while working remotely from an Andela campus. Sulyman said this enables them to actively contribute contribute to the growth of their local tech ecosystems by leading developer groups, mentoring junior technologists, and serving as an example of how local developers can compete on a global level. Clare Akamanzi, the RDB chief executive ocer said the partnership with Andela will help Rwanda build the next generation of technology leaders who will lead innovation in Kigali and beyond. “Through partnerships, such as the one we are announcing today, we are accelerating acceleratin g Kigali’s growth as a global technology hub while also advancing skills development and employment opportunities for young, talented Africans,”Akamanzi Africans,”Akaman zi said. Four years ago, Andela rst launched operations in Nigeria and has since mentored slightly over 500 software developers. In the three markets (Nigeria, Kenya,
Uganda), the company has mentored more than 700 software engineers across the continent that collectively collectively help power the technology teams of more than 150 global companies including Viacom, GitHub, Pluralsight and more. Speaking to The Independent on Independent on the sidelines of Andela’s inaugural developer conference at its new hub in Kampala, Jackiee Ochola Jacki Ochola,, the the rm’s rm’s count country ry direct director or for Uganda, said that when one joins and nishes Andela’s four year fellowship, their human potential will have advanced a lot faster than it would anywhere else. She said after the fellowship, beneciar bene ciaries ies coul could d become become tech tech-entrepreneurs or join world class companies in senior level roles. Speaking at the ocial opening of Andela’s operations in Kampala on July 19, Micheal Niyitegeka, an IT expert based in Kampal Kampalaa said, said, Andel Andela’s a’s comi coming ng into the market will positively impact on the general ICT sector through skills development. He said retooling and skills development of IT specialists is important because beca use of of the chang changing ing dynam dynamics ics of the the entire sector. He said trainees must be eager to learn and practice what they learn if they are to move things. Indeed trainees of Andela appears to be ready to show what they have and benet from the gains of the sector. Nickson Kamugisha, a third year student of computer science at Uganda Christian University (UCU) told The that he joined the Andela Independent that Independent fraternity in 2016 and he hopes to benet a lot from it. Kamugisha wants to develop mobile apps and other desktop applications in the near future. “So far they are already training us and we do expect to enhance our skills that we do get from schools and colleges,” Kamugisha said. The entire fellowship programme lasts for four years. Going forward, Andela targets to mentor 100,000 software software developers by 2024 in the four markets of Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria.
Aug 03 - 09, 2018
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Indian PM Modi and President Ka game.
COURTESY/ PHOTO
After Indian PM Modi’s visit Opportunities open but challenges loom for Rwanda businesses By Stephen Nuwagira
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ust days after the July 23-24 visit to Rwanda of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there is already increased interest in the country among Indian business people. Modi’s two-day state visit was the rst by an Indian Prime Minister despite the long-standing cordial relations between the leaders of the two countries. “In Rwanda, every window of opportunity leads to another window of opportunity, which leads to a palace of opportunity,” Modi told the Indian 18
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business community during the IndiaRwanda Business Forum in Kigali on July 24. Now, Clarence Fernandes, the chairman Rwanda Renaissance, which markets Rwanda in India, says following this, Indian business people are increasingly exploring opportunities in trade, tourism, and other investment areas in ICT, healthcare, manufacturing and nance. Modi visited Rwanda with a high powered delegation of 100 business leaders and Clarence Fernandes says the country should be gearing up for
a marked increase in Indian visitor arrivals. The ocial, who is also co-chair of the Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Commiee at the IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Indian investors are aracted by Rwanda’s impressive credentials in good governance, ease of doing business and the country’s policy on zero tolerance to corruption, coupled with high levels of safety and security.
Indians already in Rwanda According to Rwanda’s Private Sector
RWANDA
Federation (PSF) chairman, Robert Bafakulera, 197 investors from India have opened shop over the past six years, mainly in health, education, ICT, and agro-processing. Dr. Jatin Uppadhyay, an academic cum businessman in Rwanda, is typical. He has been in Rwanda for over 10 years and has invested in the hospitality sector. He mentions incentives for Indian investors; including the government willingness to support investors to setup in the country by requiring no security deposit or guarantee except for the RDB requirements, the use ICT in all areas of business registration, tax ling or paying taxes using mobile money. “All these make it easy and cost eective to do business in Rwanda,” he told The Independent. Clarence Fernandes added that Indians who want to open businesses in Rwanda are happy to easily get a visa as long as they meet the minimum requirements. He, however, wants immigration to clarify on how SMEs can recruit workers; especially for skills that might not be available in the local market And Modi’s visit is being seen as a trigger to greater trade relations between Rwanda and India, and easing of restrictions on local businesses exporting to the vast Asian country, according to the local private sector body. “The visit marked a new dawn for Rwanda,” says Bafakulera. “After “After the PM Modi’s visit, we expect this number to increase signicantly.” He says also expected are more Indian tourists to Rwanda in coming years. Bafulera says in meetings with their counterparts from India who accompanied the PM, they agreed on future interactions with them and how entry into the huge Indian market could be eased from what it has been previously. Bafakulera says the private sector will take advantage of the growing relations between Rwanda and India to export more local products; especially agricultural produce and minerals. Speaking at the business forum, President Paul Kagame said that as the country implements the Made-inRwanda initiative, it welcomes Indian investment, especially in manufacturing, where India has great experience and know-how. “Rwanda is keen to learn from the renowned `Made-in-India’ experience, as we implement our own Made-in-Rwanda policy, particularly in the manufacturing, construction and ICT sectors,” he said, “We are eager to get going and to maximise these opportunities for the benet of the people of our two
countries and the rapid socio-economic transformation that we both seek”. He said direct ights to Mumbai by the national carrier, RwandAir, were already facilitating travel and business. Kagame said a pledge by Modi to open an Indian embassy in Rwanda soon will further strengthen the existing good bilateral relationship between the two nations. Presently, the Indian High Commission in Kampala is also in charge of Kigali. The President added that the African Continental Free Trade Area provides even greater opportunities for
be competitive on the local regional and global markets,” he says. He said poor quality and lack of proper packaging have been some of the main challenges which have aected market entry of local manufacturers and SMEs over the years. He said, however, he is condent that with support from Rwanda Standards Board, issues of quality will soon be addressed through certication; particularly products and rms targeting the export market. The business leader says the government has subsidised standard
Indian Prime Minister Modi is entertained at Girika ceremony where he donated 200 head of cattle.
investment and trade between Africa and India in the years ahead.
Determined to succeed But as many local producers, particularly from Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) gearing to enter the Indian market, Bafakulera says they are struggling to meet quality standards. “There is now no option but to improve production processes and product quality as well as packaging to benet from markets like India that boasts of 1.2 billion people,” he said. “We are working hard to ensure that manufacturers and SMEs acquire the necessary standards and quality for us to
certication charges for SMEs by 50% to encourage and enable more smalland-medium enterprises to meet quality requirements of export markets. This, Bafakulera says, will go a long way in helping the government to realise its goal of increasing Rwanda’s exports by 17% by 2022. Meanwhile, the Indian Prime Minister took o time to tour Rweru Model Village in Bugesera District, Eastern Province during the visit, where he donated 200 cows to residents as part of his country’s support to the Girinka programme. He was accompanied by President Kagame. Aug 03 - 09, 2018
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Paying more to avoid a tax What reactions to social media tax reveals about attitudes By Ronald Musoke
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rank Tumwebaze, the Minister of ICT and National Guidance is puzzled by the current resistance to the social media tax which his government recently introduced. “Why don’t you want to contribute to your economy?” says Minister Tumwebaze, “Ask yourself how much you are spending on data for you to download VPN to enable you bypass capacity. If you are really a committed Ugandan and want services from your government, why are you motivated to contribute money 30 times higher than the OTT tax to the innovator of the VPN?” Tumwebaze was on July 17 reacting to the evasion with which most Ugandans have reacted to a Shs200 (approx. 5 U.S. cents) daily tax on the use of social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Viber, and LinkedIn. The government also imposed a 1% 20
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levy on mobile money deposits and withdrawals. Although this attracted fewer furors, President Yoweri Museveni ordered the tax rate down to 0.5% and only on mobile money withdrawals. The government expects to collect between bet ween Shs 400b n and a nd Shs 1.4b n every year from the s ocial media tax according to finance minister’s 2018/19 budget bud get spe ech of Jun Junee 14. 1 4. But many Ugandans are resisting the new tax and some have resorted to using the Virtual Private Network (VPN) which remains out of reach of the government. Many of those opposed claim the tax is double taxation that also infringes on their lifestyles. Supporters of OTT tax say it is an opportunity for the government to raise money internally and avoid borr owin g and a nd rel relianc ianc e on o n donor d onor aid. “We have a budget of Shs 33 trillion and we are only collecting Shs 16 trillion – the rest we borrow,” says Lawrence Bategeka, an economist and
MP for Hoima Municipality, adding that new taxes are needed if the country is to develop. Compared to other EAC countries, Uganda’s tax to GDP ratio is one of the lowest at around 14%; Kenya’s stood at 20%, Rwanda’s at 14.7%, and Tanzania’s Tanz ania’s at 21.0% as per 2013/14 figures. Bategeka says Ugandans have a bad attitude to paying taxes. “We have a culture of not wanting to pay taxes and (yet) the same people want to live a good life,” he says, “If Ugandans don’t want to pay taxes, then we need to have a discussion and find an alternative, and in this case, that alternative is to downgrade our ambitions as a country.” But Albert Mucunguzi, the chairperson of the ICT Association of Uganda says Ugandans do not have poor attitude to paying taxes. Rather, they rushed to install VPNs as a form of protest and to make a p oint to the government. Days before the government
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introduced the social media tax, the Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR) weighed in on the debate with a panel discussion on: “Ta “Tax x Fairness: How do government’s new tax measures advance tax fairness?” Dr. Grace-Edward Galabuzi, a s enior research fellow at the institute argued that tax fairness is one of the attributes of a good policy because it plays a good role in tax reporting behaviour. “If a tax system is perceived to be unfair or inequitable, it can breed tax evasion and turn out less successful and illegitimate,” he said, “Tax payers who are not satisfied with the treatment from the tax authorities and also from the government in terms of return on taxes may seek ways of evading those taxes.” “Levying taxes on social media for instance may represent a real revenue boon , but b ut is i t fair f air or is i s it i t s een to be fair? Are there alternatives that may be bet better ter sou sources rces of r even ue tha thatt th e government desperately needs?” Dr. Galabuzi said if tax payers are given voice and allowed to contribute to the process of decision making, it would suggest tax payers are valued and respected by the authorities and the government. At the same discourse, Dr. Fred Muhumuza, a development economist said a tax regime begins to be unfair if the government brings taxes that are not pegged on the logic of fairness but onl only y in clin ed on o ne arg argume ument nt of revenue collection. But for many others, like Adventino Bajwa, a graduate student at the Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR) in Kampala, the issue is clear; taxation should go hand in hand with the state’s role of providing public goods such as good quality education, health and security. Bajwa says currently, while the government has privatized many of these public goods, it continues to demand taxes. He says that is unfair. “At a time when former public goods are going private full scale and we are yet to pay for roads in Uganda, it is perplexing that the debate around taxation proceeds as though the state has not changed a single bit since the colonial days. “More than ever before in our history, the most urgent debate today is not on whether taxes are fair or not but whe the therr th ere is sti still ll n eed to p ay taxes,” he says. Bajwa’s views may be more extreme than most and he may have spoke n before bef ore the rec recent ent taxe s, yet his insistence on a link between the low government service delivery and the
attitudes of Ugandans to being taxed, and their low compliance rates is widely shared. Julius Jul ius Kap Kapwep wepwe, we, the dire cto ctorr for f or programmes at the Uganda Debt Network says at this moment in time “Ugandans cannot afford to have a state whose role is to cross its legs on the other side, watch citizens suffer day and night to earn an income and then simply come to pick taxes”. “It is high time the state made its
Frank Tumwebaze
Lawrence Bategeka
fair share of investment upon which it earns its own income and then it can ask the rest of us to make a contribution.” Their views fit in with the f indings of a recent study on taxation in Uganda by the Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI) that Uganda lacks such fiscal contract between the people and the government. The researchers concluded that as a result, tax morale is either non-existent or very low. Instead, the researchers said, high levels of corruption and mismanagement of tax revenues, uncertainty and a lack of communication about the use of tax revenues, and poor delivery of public services, contribute to citizens’ unwillingness to pay taxes.
A 2013 Afrobarometer paper titled, `To Pay or not to Pay? Citizens’ Attitudes Attitu des towards taxation in Kenya, Tanzania, Ta nzania, Uganda and South Africa’ also noted that tax compliance attitude is positively correlated with the provision of public services in the four countries. The researchers said attempts to broa den the tax bas e shou s hould ld b uild on insights into how citizens experience and perceive the tax adm inistration and enforcement, and whether and how their tax behaviour is correlated with their perceptions. The researchers noted that tax compliance is influenced by the extent to which citizens trust their government. The researchers defined legitimacy as “belief or trust in the authorities, institutions and s ocial arrangements to be appropriate, just, and work for the common good.” The link between tax compliance attitude and public service provision depends on the specific s ervice in question. For instance, while access to infrastructure such as roads and electricity encourage tax compliant attitude in Kenya, respondents in Tanzania and Uganda refer to education and health services as key to their tax compliance. A 2013 OECD policy paper on tax and development also notes that citizens are more likely to perceive tax obligations more favourably when their government is seen to be acting in a trustworthy manner. “A government s een to be making good use of tax revenue is associated with higher levels of trust and tax morale,” the OECD paper states in part, “Tax morale is at the heart of state building and the citizen-state relationship.” Minister Tumwebaze also sees the link between taxes and the services from the government. But he insists Ugandans should pay the tax first if they want to demand services from the government. As the debate rages, however, some officials say the government’s next move will be to block the VPN. Godfrey Mutabazi, the executive director of the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) which regulates social media says the government already has the required software. Mutabazi adds that individuals who circumvented the Over the Top (OTT) services tax system could also be penalized with surcharges. To this camp, it appears, better bet ter tax com complia plia nce enf orce men t an d not attitude change is required. Aug 03 - 09, 2018
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Asuman Basalirwa and Bobi Wine Wine in Bugiri.
Bobi Wine beats Besigye Besigy e in Bugiri NRM takes Kotido, Ibanda, Sheema, Nebbi By Ian Katusiime
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suman Basalirwa, the MP-elect for Bugiri Municipality, confesses that people had always addressed him as a Member of Parliament before the just concluded election that sent him to the August House for the rst time. During a television interview on the morning of July Jul y 30, 30, Basa Basalir lirwa wa rev reveal ealed ed tha thatt oci ocials als in government and those who meet him in the various places his political work takes him, constantly addressed him as “Honourable”. He mentioned the times when he appeared in court and was addressed as an MP and at various events organised by the Opposition. However he had stood three times unsuccessfully for the parliamentary seat of Bukooli North, in Bugiri district, and lost. “Winning an election is a very exciting and satisfying thing because we go through a lot,” he says now. Basalirwa who is the president of the lile known JEEMA party bagged 3,928 votes to beatt his bea his clo closest sest cha challe llenger nger,, Fran Francis cis Oket Oketcho cho,, of the NRM who polled polled 3,267 votes. The FDC candidate Eunice Namatende came third with 928 votes and the party per22
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formed dismally in several parliamentary elections held in municipalities on the same day, July 27. The Bugiri municipality election got extra aention because of the actors involved. When Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi backed Basalirwa three months ago, it set the tempo for the election because he was going to lock horns with FDC, a party he allied with to defeat the ruling NRM in two by-elections; Jinja Municipality East and the Rukungiri Woman MP seat. The contest in Bugiri was also seen as a turf war between Dr Kizza Besigye, former FDC president and four time presidential ag-bearer, and Kyagulanyi also known as Bobi Wine whose popularity as a musician saw him romp to victory in 2017 in a parliamentary by-election. Before the nominations, JEEMA and FDC were in talks to have Basalirwa as the joint joi nt can candid didate ate but the tal talks ks yie yielde lded d noth noth-ing and the two camps traded some harsh words against each other. Basalirwa’s camp felt betrayed by FDC, saying Basalirwa had always fought FDC legal bales on the many instances party supporters were detained on frivolous charges. On the other hand Kyagulanyi had
claried earlier in June on his support for Basalirwa. “We “We have seen him crisscross courts of law- from the lowest to the highest, defending opposition leaders, representing activists and arguing the case for good governance and human rights for all. In 2016, we saw him aggressively argue the presidential election petition,” he wrote. From the Bugiri election, Kyagulanyi has emerged as a political force to reckon with even though Basalirwa seems to downplay it. “Bobi Wine found me in the struggle which I joined in 1998 , what what peo people ple need to know is that we have been around for some time. There’s nothing like a third force but he represents a generation that believes,” the former Guild president at Makerere University said when asked about the inuinu ence of the singer turned politician on his election victory. However some sources in Bugiri say Basalirwa has Kyagulanyi to thank for his new fortunes. “He was not popular. He only won because of the Bobi Wine eect,” Waiswaa Batambuze, who hails from Bugiri Waisw told The Independent. After leading a social media tax protest in Kampala streets and helping Basalirwa clinch a parliamentary seat in one month, observers are looking out for the next card Kyagulanyi will play in a eld dominated by Muse Museven venii and and Besi Besigye gye..
Tumwesigye takes Sheema Meanwhile, Elioda Tumwesigye, the Minister for Science and Innovation, was declared MP-elect for Sheema municipality after beating FDC’s Virginia Plan Mugyenyi with a comfortable 2000 votes. In his rst press conference after the victory, Tumwesigye accused the FDC of rigging votes whenever it takes part in elections. Tumwesigye’s win means there will be a by-election in Sheema North which he represents. But the FDC team protested the election outcome. Supporters of Mugyenyi say she was in the lead in the night of the election count only for Tumwesigye to be declared winner shortly. Mugyenyi issued a statement a day after the poll decrying a heavy presence of the army, arrests of her agents, intimidation and bribery of voters. In Ibanda, Tarsis Rwaburindore Rwaburindore of the NRM was declared winner of the Ibanda municipality parliamentary election with a total of 13,331 votes. Peter Agaba, an independent candidate came second with a total of 12,850 votes and Alex Byarugaba of the FDC came third. The ruling party also won in Kotido with Peter Abrahams Lokii scooping 4,248 votes against a measly 137 of FDC’s Moses Oriono Okot. In Nebbi, the NRM’s Hashim Sulaiman trounced FDC’s Robert Onega by 324 votes when he polled 4,483 against the laer’s 4,159 votes.
COMMENT
By Andrew Mold
Africa’s narrow growth path That over 60 years Africa’s economy has been outperforming the global average should be a cause for celebration
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his year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). Against the opposition of the former colonial powers, UNECA was set up in Addis Ababa in 1958 to provide technical support and as a platform for African countries to discuss and nd solutions to mutual challenges and problems. It was an auspicious time. The year before, Ghana had become the rst African state to achieve independence, in what was soon to become a tidal wave of African countries reclaiming their sovereignty. Yet at UNECA’s inaugural meeting in December 1958, there were still only 10 independent African countries represented on the continent – the four African founding member states of the UN – Egypt, Ethiopia, Liberia and South Africa, plus six newly independent countries – Ghana, Guinea, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Tunisia, and Sudan. The population of the whole continent in 1958 was just 270 million. How times have changed! Sixty years later, Africa now comprises 55 independent member states – and a combined population of 1.2 billion - four times larger than in 1958. But the economy has expanded even more rapidly, and is 11 times larger (measured in real terms - i.e. discounting the eect of ination). Our economies are also more dynamic. According to the World Bank , six of the ten fastest growing economies in the world are currently located in Africa – and Eastern Africa is especially blessed, with three of those economies being located in our sub-region (Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Tanzania), with Rwanda not far behind. It would not be too presumptive to claim that today the African economy is stronger and more resilient than at any other time in its history. This is a useful juncture to look back at some of the economic and social trends which have got us where we are today. Between 1958 and now, while the African economy has expanded in real terms 11-fold, the global economy is only 8 times larger. This in itself should be a cause for celebration, as Africa has clearly been outperforming the global average. There is an important caveat, however. The beer performance of Africa comcom pared to the global average is explained principally by our demographics, and
not income per capita growth, which has been below the global average for the period (2.5 vs. 3.2 for the world). When we compare this performance to the socalled ‘Asian ‘Asian giants’ (China and India) over the same period, that trajectory has been much less satisfactory - the average per capita income in China today is 13 times larger, and India 6 times – compared to incomes in 1958 (see Figure 1). Figure 1: Growth of Population, Economy and Incomes 1958-2018 (multiple times 1958 values, calculated using constant prices)
Source: UNECA, calculated from data from the Maddison Project (2018) In defence of that performance, it could be argued that Africa has suered during during the 1980s and 1990s from several decades of lost growth, when the continent suffered from a pernicious combination of an adverse international economic climate (particularly low commodity prices), a period of politically instability and heightened conict against the back drop of the Cold War, as well as externally imposed programmes of austerity (in the guise of Structural Adjustment Programmes). Per capita incomes during this period actually declined for the majority of countries in Africa – living standards were, in eect, deteriorating. dete riorating. But those explanatory arguments can only be taken so far. India and China also suered comparable ‘lost decades’ – in the 1960s and 70s, China suered all the dislocation associated with the ‘Great Leap Forward’ and the ‘Cultural Revolution’. After the death of Chairman Mao in 1976, it took several s everal years before political stability was re-established and a reform-minded President (Deng Xiaoping) nally took over. In India, up until the early 1990s, the country was considered to be suering from the ‘Hindu rate of growth’ whereby an overregulated and sluggish economy
never grew in excess of 2-3 percent – barely enough to keep up with the demographic growth of the country. Only in the 1990s did the economic performance of India start to take o. So the performance of the two Asian giants does suggest that, in the face of setbacks, rapid catch-up can be achieved with subsequent bursts of sustained growth. The other big dierence between the African continent and the Asian Giants is that for India and China, the demographic contribution to growth has been small - just a quarter of all Chinese and a third of Indian growth, compared with nearly two-thirds in the case of Africa (Figure 2). Income growth for the Asian Giants has clearly been driving the expansion of the economy in a way which has been far more subdued for the African continent. Figure 2: Percentage Contribution of Income and Population Growth, Africa, China and India Compared, 1958-1960
Source: UNECA, calculated from data from the Maddison Project (2018)
This last point is of course the real challenge. While the African economy has expanded massively since the late 1950s, by global standards continental income growth has still been modest. To achieve higher living standards and meet the developmental aspirations embodied in the African Union’s 2063 Agenda, over the coming decades the growth of the African economy should not be primarily population but rather income-driven. Over the long-run, that is the true conundrum which the continent must confront and resolve. Andrew Mold is the Acting Director SubSubRegional Oce for Eastern Africa of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
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Musician turned politician Robert Kyagulanyi (C) is joined by other activists on July 11, 2018 in Kampala, Uganda during a protest against a controversial tax on the use of social media. /AFP
Africa’s attack on internet freedom While Washington turns a blind eye, autocrats across the continent are muzzling their citizens online By Hilary Matfess, Jeffrey Smith
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n August 2017, during a new media roundtable between leaders from China and Tanzania, the Tanzanian deputy communications minister praised the Beijing government for blocking social media med ia platforms platform s in China and replacing them with “homegrown sites that are safe, constructive, and popular.” The Tanzanian minister lamented that his 24
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country was not there yet. Less than one year later, a number of popular Tanzanian websites that had been critical critic al of the government were taken down in June to avoid hefty nes imposed as a result of the country’s new internet regulations that were passed in March. The new laws, including similar ones imposed eective July 01 in Uganda, are the latest in a long and troubling succession of restrictiv restrictivee measures enacted across Africa to
muzzle free speech and dissenting political views. Tanzania and Uganda are the latest nations to fall victim to a wave of internet censorship that has been inspired and exported by autocratic powers such as China and Russia, as well as totalitarian regimes like North Korea. These restrictions are often implemented under the guise of public order and security. These days, abusive leaders with authoritarian tendencies
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as Museveni — who has been in power for 32 years — are exploring new methods to block opposition forces and halt political mobilisation. The Tanzanian and Ugandan governments demonstrate that illiberal governments governments will go to great lengths to restrict speech in the digital realm. By doing so, they are strengthening negative norms and landing a formidable counterpunch to the once perceived inevitability inevitability of online mobilisation and the widening of democratic space. No amount of technological innovation will stop anti-democratic anti-democrat ic governments from co-opting and manipulating the internet to entrench their power. When legal restrictions — and oldfashioned economic intimidatio intimidation n — have failed to muzzle dissent and popular mobilisation, governments have turned to more extreme methods: internet shutdowns. From January 2016 to December 2017, the internet advocacy group Access Now documented more than 180 such instances worldwide, including a 93-day blackout in Cameroon, the longest recorded over
are no longer compelled to rely heavily on baton-wielding security forces and brute violence to entrench their personal power and prevent criticism. This “rule by law” method, popularised by Vladimir Vla dimir Putin’s regime in Russia, allows leaders to manipulate legal processes for their own purposes while avoiding the international condemnation that typically comes with images of brutality. In recent days, Uganda has seen protests against a social media tax of Shs200 (US5 cents) per day that would, in the words of President Yoweri Museveni, put an end to “gossip.” His real objective, it seems, is to muzzle dissenting voices. Both the unrest and the government’s harsh response to criticism (which included ring tear gas and live rounds at demonstrators) suggest that the current governance of the internet and technology is not only itself anti-democratic but might also facilitate other anti-democratic practices. It’s not surprising that elites feel threatened. After all, vibrant social media platforms, a critical and uninching press, and free expression have the potential to level the political playing eld. Entrenched African leaders such
There was a time when democracy activists in these countries could have expected backing from Washington this time period. Importantly, these assaults on basic human rights do not occur in isolation and often form part of a broader campaign against freedom and democratic principles. The concept of internet sovereignty, promoted by autocratic states such as China and Turkey, Tur key, means that the web is now a censored spigot that can be turned on and o at the government’s discretion. China, for example, moved this year to ban virtual private networks netwo rks (VPNs), (VPNs ), which are often used to circumvent government censorship of the internet; in 2017, it was reported that the government had demonstrated the
ability to intercept and delete images being sent s ent electronically elect ronically in one-to-on one-to-onee chats. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Twier a scourge and promised to eradicate it at a rally in 2013; since then, his government has overseen multiple suspensions of access to social media sites and prosecuted citizens for political speech online. Across sub-Saharan Africa, free expression is being unjustly curtailed, and the internet is increasingly being used by authorities to censor and surveil citizens, often with a focus on independent journalists, civic activists, and vocal opposition leaders who are seen as threats to the government. This sort of manipulation presents a clear threat to democratic values by constraining the internet’s potential to act as a virtual public square and by preventing the rise of a robust digital fourth estate. There was a time when democracy activists in these countries could have expected backing from Washington. But despite mounting evidence of authoritarian authoritar ian regimes exing their collectivee muscle online, the United collectiv States has been asleep at the wheel. The U.S. government — under both Democratic Dem ocratic and Republican administrations administratio ns — has traditiona traditionally lly been a global g lobal standard-beare stand ard-bearerr for freedom of expression. Today, Washington’s failure to speak out and stand up for internet freedom has global consequences. In addition to the harsh new laws in Uganda and Tanzania, Zambia also now requires WhatsApp and Facebook group administrators to register with the government — and is threatening to punish users for promoting what it calls “false information. information.”” In Zimbabwe, a new Ministry of Cybersecurity, Threat Detection, and Mitigation — reminiscent of the North Korean model — will focus on eliminating “abuse and unlawful conduct” in cyberspace like a “trap used to catch rats,” according to a government spokesperson. At a time when the country may be at a democratic inection point, the continuation of such policies under President Emmerson Mnangagwa suggests that the anti-democrat anti-democratic ic tendencies developed under deposed President Robert Mugabe could undermine the country’s democratic transition. This anti-democrati anti-democraticc initiative revealed that Mnangagwa is not so dierent from Mugabe when it comes to curtailing freedom of speech. Source: FP magazine Aug 03 - 09, 2018
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INTERVIEW
ICC cannot exist without support from African states The International Criminal Court (ICC) marked its 20th anniversary on July 17. Maria Mabinty Kamara, the ICC Outreach Ofcer for Uganda spoke to Ronald Musoke on why the court remains important How would you rate the performance of the ICC over the last 20 years? he creation of the Rome Statute in 1998 was a historic event in itself, marking a landmark in eorts towards justice and accountability for serious crimes. The crimes under the ICC jurisdiction are the most serious crimes of concern to the international
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community. These include sexual violence, destruction of cultural heritage, and use of child-soldiers in hostilities, to name a few. It took the work of thousands of diplomats, human rights activists, and lawyers to build a permanent International Criminal Court and the Trust Fund for Victims. Today, with 123 states parties, with a fully-functioning ICC and very busy Tru Trust st Fun Fund d for for Vi Victi ctims, ms, jus justic ticee is in motion. Our institution may not be perfect and more work surely needs to be done but the global movement for accountability that started 20 years ago is alive. People worldwide are now asking for their leaders to be held accountable. The question is not if trials
should be conducted, but where and when. What’s your view on the continued accusation by some African heads of state that the ICC deliberatel deliberately y targets African presidents yet the same violations happen elsewhere in the world? ICC’s focus is not on a specic continent, country, party, or community. Its mission is to prosecute the perpetrators of the most serious crimes and to establish justice for the benet bene t of vic victim timss and and fut future ure gene generat ration ions. s. The ICC is not a western institution (because) over 120 countries are states parties to the Rome Statute, representing all regions. The perception that the ICC is focusing on Africa is reducing the continent to 20 suspects, instead of seeing Africa in the face of thousands and thousands of victims. Of the court’s on-going 11 investigations, ve were referred to the court by the concerned African states parties themselves (Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and Mali) recognising the inability to address the crimes at stake at the national level, and two were referred by the United Nations Security Council (Darfur and Libya) where African states are represented. In addition to that, Côte d’Ivoire voluntarily accepted the jurisdiction of the court, giving the prosecutor the possibility to open an investigation. In Kenya, it was the political scene that prevented the Kenyan authorities from self-referring the post-elections violence to the court, so the ICC prosecutor opened an investigation, with the chamber’s authorisation, but only after thorough discussions with the Kenyan authorities. Moreover, the ICC-Oce of the Prosecutor (OTP) has also opened an investigation in Georgia and developments in this investigation should be up coming. The ICC-OTP is also conducting preliminary examinations on other continents, including Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, Palestine, and Ukraine. The court would not exist without the strong support of African states and civil society who were actively involved in the court’s establishment. 33 African states have ratied the Rome Statute, making
INTERVIEW
Africa the most represented region in the court’s membership. The court has also benet ben eted ed fro from m the the pro profess fession ional al exp experi erienc encee of Africans. At At the ICC, four out of the 18 current judges of the court are African. What do you make of sentiments that until some states that seem to be “bigger than global justice” ratify the Rome Statute, the work of the ICC will remain a farce? Ratifying an international treaty is a sovereign maer and all states have a sovereign right to decide to join or not. The ICC is, however, keen on promoting the universality of the Rome Statute and dispelling misperceptions about the ICC. While 60 states were needed for the statute to enter into force, over 120 nations have now joined the system. The referral by a unanimous decision of the UN Security Council is a demonstration of the growing condence placed in the ICC as an independent judicial institution by those states. Note that even though some states are not parties to the Statute, it does not prevent them from cooperating with the court in a number of areas such as seizing and freezing of assets, witness protection, or arrest. One of the best ways to convince states that are still reluctant to join the statute is for the ICC to continue showing that it is successfully fullling its mandate. In Uganda, what would you say has been the ICC’s proudest moment in delivering justice to the victims of the war in the north? The opening of the (Dominic) Ongwen trial marked a new phase in the court’s activities in Uganda. This turning point has had an impact on the intensity of our outreach activities in Uganda. While they had started long ago, our activities have intensied with an actual trial ongoing regarding alleged crimes in the region. Any personal reections from your outreach work? On a personal level, it brings me a sense of pride to note the progressive understanding communities have reached on the ICC mandate and the trial of Dominic Ongwen. We have been together in this journey for over ten years. I have witnessed an evolution of questions and trends from the basic to the sophisticated as well as growing interest to follow ICC judicial proceedings. But the other important aspect of the Rome Statute impact in Uganda is the ongoing activities of the Trust Fund for Victims, with nine projects in 18 districts of northern Uganda. Those projects developed together with implementing partners have included physical rehabilitation (such as reconstructive surgery, general surgery, bullet bul let and bom bomb b fragm fragment ent rem remov oval, al, prosthetic and orthopaedic devices;
concerns in the courtroom.
The expectations and challenges are high. But I hope the ICC will benet from a
stronger states’ cooperation to meet these challenges
screening, medical referral and support for victims who have suered from gynaecological/reproductivee complications) gynaecological/reproductiv comp lications) and psychological rehabilitation (such as individual and group-based trauma counselling; community sensitisation workshops; direct mental health services and clinical mentoring to counsellors). For many followers of proceedings at the ICC, the process remains too technical, slow and quite limited for the victims of the northern Uganda war. How have you helped ordinary people follow the proceedingss in a simplied manner? proceeding ICC proceedings are indeed processes of law that can be technical for the general public. However, ensuring that the communities most aected by the cases before the ICC have access to and understand the judicial proceedings at all stages, is a priority for the court. Special eorts have been made by the court to render the proceedings accessible to communities in northern Uganda. While they had started long ago, our activities have intensied with an actual trial ongoing. We have launched the “Access to Justice” project to respond to the information demands of aected communities on the ongoing trial, including through video screening equipment at 23 locations; interactive radio programmes and listening clubs with the aected people; as well as activities with cultural, religious leaders as well well as journalists. journalists. Furthermore, as we have done in the past few years, the ICC continues working in partnership with local and international actors present in the north to ensure the timely dissemination of the information at dierent levels. The victims formally participating in the proceedings also have a privileged and regular contact with their lawyers, helping them to beer understand the proceedings but als also o to to brin bring g back back the their ir vie views ws and
What do you make of the fact that some victims have died without seeing justice done to perpetrators like Dominic Ongwen and Joseph Kony? We understand the feeling of anxiety of the victims and we have deep concern and sympathy for them. However, the ICC cannot try suspects in their absence. The ICC has no police force and therefore, the cooperation of states with the court is highly needed to eect ICC arrest warrants. What was created in Rome was not an autonomous court but a global system designed to incite states to assume responsibility for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes and to cooperate with the ICC to implement its mandate. As noted by a community leader from Abok at a recent ICC outreach session: “The community screening of the trial of Dominic Ongwen not only demysties the complex judicial processes, it makes them more relevant and meaningful to victims and aected communities.” What new mechanisms of criminal justice is the ICC looking at to rein in more of the perpetrators of gross human rights violations? In general, the ICC welcomes any initiative to ensure justice for the victims through genuine national and regional judici jud icial al mec mechan hanism ismss as as long long as tho those se are are compatible with the Rome Statute— the court’s founding treaty. The ICC is not meant to replace all other courts but to complement them.The ICC is already cooperating with regional and hybrid courts, such as the recently-created special court in the Central African Republic, in the extent possible and in full respect of its mandate and independence. Going forward, what will be the focus of the ICC over the next 20 years? The expectations and challenges are high. But I hope the ICC will benet from a stronger states’ cooperation to meet these challenges. For example, regarding the situation in northern Uganda, one suspect is still at large, and the cooperation of states with the court is highly needed to eect this. This is the same for all other suspects who have pending arrest warrants against them. I hope the ICC will continue developing as an innovative and impartial court of law and acting as a model for the highest standards of fair trials. Governed by the complementarity principle, the ICC can play a role in inciting the governments to strengthen their national judicial systems to build, bui ld, col collec lectiv tively ely,, a mor moree just just wor world. ld.Whi While le the ICC has two-thirds membership of sovereign states, it would need more states to join to become truly universal. Aug 03 - 09, 2018
27
Uganda Airlines Airlines and the ‘orphaned’ Airbus A300-800 neo Aircraft might be difcult to maintain, nance or resell By Isaac Khisa
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n July 18, Uganda’s aviation sector marked a new beginning. The government signed agreements with two aircraft manufacturers, Airbus and Bombardier, for delivery of six airplanes during the Farnborough Air Show, ahead of the planned launch of a national carrier next year. The Airbus is set to deliver A330-800 New Engine Option abbreviated as A300-800neo while Bombardier will deliver CRJ900. But the announcement has elicited both excitement and questions in equal measure with regard to the choice of A300-800neo aircraft. Launched at the Farnborough Airshow in 2014, the A330 neo aircraft is a replacement for A330-200, powered by new Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines and also features zero-splice nacelles, titanium pylons and new winglets. While the aircraft was designed simultaneously with the A330-900 – the beerselling of the two, with 214 orders – the 800s have failed to aract buyers. The 257 seater aircraft ies longer and at less fuel compared with the A330-900, although the laer carries 50 more passenpassen gers. The sole customer -Hawaiian -Hawaiian Airlines, Airlines, which had ordered six A330-800s in 2014 as a strategy to replace its aging eet cancelled the deal in March this year, in favour of Boeing 787-9s. Hawaiian Airlines, Airlines, which operates an existing version of the A330 on ights to Asia and the US, cited lack of interest for the aircraft by other carriers as the main reason for cancelling the deal. This followed previous cancellations of similar aircraft by TransAsia Airways before collapse. The Boeing 787-9 is a stretched variant of the 787-8 aircraft. aircraft. The aircraft, with a seating capacity suitable for 250-290 passengers, consumes 20% less fuel than any other aircraft in its class. 28
Aug 03 - 09, 2018
Experts said Hawaiian Airlines was trading cautiously arguing that managing such ‘orphan’ aircrafts is more dicult to main m ain-tain, nance and resell. But Monica Azuba Ntege, the minister for works and transport insists that Uganda made the right choice following a careful analysis of technical and nancial specispeci cations of the companies that expressed interest. She said government received proposals from Airbus, Bombardier, and Boeing but after careful analysis, they chose the rst two. She said the government has already paid US$400,000 to Bombardier and US$800,000 to Airbus to facilitate the aircraft manufacture. The government plans to purchase the A330s at US$293 million and CRJ’s at US$190 million each. On cancellation of the A300-800 orders by earlier carriers, Azuba said there are many reasons as to why an airline may cancel an aircraft order. “The change of order by the (Hawaiian) Airline was mainly on political grounds according to our sources,” she said. She said the A330-800 variant will have a shorter fuselage (the main body of an aircraft) allowing it to y longer and further than the current 900 version. This performance, she says, will enable Uganda Airlines to operate non-stop ights on long routes to China and the Middle East. Uganda’s move to revive the national carrier comes at the time the airline industry in Africa is projected to make a loss of US$100million this year, the same loss recorded in 2017, according to the International Air Transport Association (IAT (IATA). A). “While trac is growing, passenger load factors for African airlines are just over 70% which is over 10 percentage points lower than the industry average,” the report states in part. “With high xed costs, this low utilization makes it very dicult to make a prot. Stronger economic growth will help in 2018, but the continent’s governments
need a concerted eort to further liberalise to promote growth of intra-Africa connectivity.” In addition, competition is growing as other African countries revive their national carriers and plan major expansions. For instance, Air Tanzania, which is barely bar ely two yea years rs in ope operat ration ion,, plan planss to to star startt direct ights from Dar es Salaam to Entebbe and Bujumbura later this month, the routes that have been dominated by Kenyan and Rwandan national carriers. Air Tanzania said it will charge US$363 for a return ticket to Entebbe, ying on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Its Bujumbura customers will pay US$358 for Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday ights. This is lower than the average of US$390 that travellers to Bujumbura and Dar es Salaam via Nairobi, Kigali or Addis Ababa pay, with an additional three to six hours connecting time.
Enter President Museveni
Plans to revive the national carrier gained momentum on Dec 31, 2016 when President Yoweri Yo weri Museveni said in his New Yea Yearr message that the government had nalised a plan to revive the carrier in a bid to ease travels in and out of the country and reduce on Ugandans’ expenditure on foreign airlines. Started nearly four decades ago, the Uganda Airlines, then popularly known by its slogan ‘Flying Crane’, was liquidated by Museveni’s government in 2001 as a result of mismanagement and an accumulated debt of $6million. Government ocials argue that more Ugandans are now spending on air travel amounting to US$420million per annum and that it is time to tap into the sector. Uganda’s international annual air trac has grown more than 10 fold to 1.5million in 2017 and is projected to reach 7.6million by 2033 2033,, acco accordi rding ng to the sect sector or reg regula ulator tor,, Civil Aviation Authority.
BUSINESS
Africa-India trade declines to US$55bn-Report US$55bn-Report Uganda plans to intensify relations in trade and investment By Julius Businge
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rade between Africa and India has recorded a 30% decline in volume from US$78billion in 2014 to about $55 billion in 2017 citing a tough economic environment. However, this was more than seven times higher 17 years ago when the trade volumes stood at merely US$7.2bn. These gures are contained in a report jointl joi ntly y produ produced ced rec recent ently ly by the Afr Africa ican n Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and Exim Bank of India (Exim India) titled; Deepening South-South Trade: An Analysis of Africa Afr ica and Ind India’ ia’ss Trad Tradee and and Inv Invest estmen ment. t. According to the report, these latest gures make India, Africa’s fourth-largest national trading partner. More trading by the two counterparts means increased demand for goods and services, creation of job opportunities, technology and skills transfer which all feed into the performance of the two economies. The report notes that trade accounted for more than 6.8% of total African trade in 2017, up from 2.7% in 2001, with trade with Africa now accounting for about 8% of India’s total trade. The report says that Africa’s exports to India remain essentially concentrated in crude oil and primary commodities while India’s exports to Africa are more diversied and include more manufactured and technological-content products. It says that Africa’s ongoing eorts at diversifying sources of growth and structural transformation would see the composition of trade evolve to include a greater proportion of manufactured, nontraditional and agro-processed exports from Africa to India. An assessment conducted as part of the study estimated the value of the bilateral trade potential between Africa and India to be in exc excess ess of US$ US$42 42 bil billio lion n per per ann annum. um. The study also showed that the aractivearactive ness of Africa and India as investment destinations had risen in recent years, driven by strong economic growth, an improved business environment and beer investment climate and regulations, high rates of return on investment, and a rising consumer market, among others. In terms of India’s foreign direct investment (FDI) stock in Africa, the report says,
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) and President Museveni at State House Entebbe
this rose from US$11.9billion in 2010 to US$15.2 billion in 2014. Over the same period, Africa’s FDI stock in India increased from US$57billion to US$73.3billion, with investments in such sectors as oil and gas, agriculture, retail, healthcare and telecommunications. In addition, India’s development cooperation with African countries has evolved to incorporate varied avenues such as trade and investment, capacity building, technology transfer, and grants and concessional loans.
Below potential Despite the growth in trade numbers since 2001, the report indicates that the two partners were not yet operating at their full potential, aributing this to a number of constraints, including nance, infrainfra structure, capacity and market access, with access to nance singled out as a major inhibiting factor to trade. The joint study was conducted by Afreximbank and Exim India as part of the ongoing collaboration to accelerate the transformation of the economies of their member countries through innovation in trade nance and expansion of South–South trade.
The timing The report was released ahead of the visit of India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi to a few selected African countries – Uganda, Rwanda and South Africa. While in Uganda, Modi and President
Yoweri Museveni held bilateral talks on trade, investment and tourism among other areas. Modi also met the Indian business community in Uganda and also addressed Members of Parliament on trade and related maers. Observers lauded Modi for his visit and were optimistic that his coming would strengthen bilateral relations between Uganda and India. The same is expected betwee bet ween n Indi Indian an and Rw Rwand anda, a, and Sou South th Africa where, Modi met the presidents, the Indian Community, other groups and discussed trade and related issues. Modi announced that India would extend credit worth US$200million to boost Uganda’s investments in key sectors of energy, infrastructure and manufacturing. Analysts welcomed this facility which would support priority sectors of development detailed in the National Development Plan II and Visions 2020 and 2040. Critics however, say government should strengthen mechanisms of spending and monitoring projects that will be funded by this credit facility so as to achieve desired results. For many years, Uganda has been a key trading partner with India having recorded about US$58million as total value of exports for the last ve years, according to data from Bank of Uganda. Similarly, the value of exports to Uganda from India have totalled to approx. US$1.5billion in the same period. Additional reporting by Isaac Khisa Aug 03 - 09, 2018
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BUSINESS
Insurer boosts Uganda’s renewable energy projects The African Insurance Agency will support solar PV, hydro, wind, geothermal, biomass and cogeneration technologies By Isaac Khisa
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he multilateral insurer, African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI), will provide up to US$10million as nancial protection to new small and medium-sized renewable energy projects in Uganda to facilitate their smooth operations in times of delayed payments. ATI Chief Executive Ocer, George Otieno, said during the signing of an agreement with the government in Kampala on July 27 that the prospective Independent Power Producers (IPPs) will benet from this initiative upon payment of 3% of the value of the project as premium. The new initiative that targets IPPs with up to 50MW, and in exceptional circumstances up to 100MW, will be extended through the Regional Liquidity Support Facility (RLSF). RLSF is a US$74million joint initiative of ATI and KFW with funding from the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. It is intended to protect IPPs in the Sub Saharan Africa. “ATI, as a manager of the facility, will instruct a bank to issue leers of credit to approved Independent Power Producers (IPPs) with the backing of RLSF,” he said. Otieno said although the leers of credit are traditionally valid for a year, the bank will will issue leers leers of credit with with tenors tenors of up to 10 years. This comes as the GET FiT programme report 2017 reveals that an installed capacity of 158 MW of clean renewable energy shall be added to the national grid from 17 projects in the coming years. The report noted that six of the 17 projects have been commissioned with signicant construction progress registered on the majority of the remaining projects. Finance Minister, Matia Kasaija, said the new development reects the government’s commitment to ensuring the viability of small and medium sale renewable energy projects. “Uganda has a solid history of supporting our public concession, with up 30
Aug 03 - 09, 2018
Minister of Finance, Matia Kasaija (L) and ATI CEO, George Otieno (C) displays agre ements signed on July 27, 27, 2018. The agre ement paves way for ATI to offer protection to new small and medium-sized renewable energy projects countrywide
to US$500million spent in the last decade on improvements to the grid,” he said. “With this agreement, we see a RLSF providing a perfect complement to our ongoing strategy of accelerating the delivery of clean energy to the national grid.”Executives grid.”Execut ives from the energy ministry said the new initiative will help remove liquidity risks and ensures success of IPPs. Since it was established in 2001, ATI ATI has provided insurance coverage to projects in virtually all sectors including energy projects in Tanzania, Kenya and Zambia, mining and oil projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and Zambia, manufacturing manufacturi ng and infrastructure projects in Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya, and telecommunication telecommunicat ion projects in Burundi, and Madagascar. In Uganda, the agency specically provided coverage to, among others, Kalangala Infrastructure Services, Pearl of Africa Hotel and the ongoing construction of the 600MW Karuma Hydropower Dam. In Rwanda, the agency provided support to RwandAir.
Profitability Last month, ATI announced that it will pay its African member governments and
other shareholders its rst ever dividend this year after recording a 55% growth in net prot to US$9.9million in 2017. The dividend payment came after the General Assembly of ATI approved it at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. ATI has earmarked an initial US$2.5million US$2.5milli on in payments to its shareholders which include 14 African member governments inclusive of Uganda. The multilateral insurer recorded gross exposures of US$2.4bill US$2.4billion ion and, in the same period, the company covered investment and trade activities across the continent valued at US$10 billion. ATI owes its strong results in part to growing demand from investors and African governments for their products as the continent continues to position itself as an aractive destination for investors. The African multilateral insurer also announced the Indian government’s 5% shareholding worth US$10million that will be repres represented ented by Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India.
Executive Style
Solar is Uganda’s best So energy solution What is the signicance of the US$25,000 grant that you received from TDB Group for the people of Nakivale Refugee Selement and the entire country? n the refugee selements, access to power, information, and basic necessities are inadequate. There are numerous entrepreneurs, students, and farmers who can create opportunities for themselves. However, the lack of basic infrastruct infrastructure ure hinders many people in these camps. With access access to energy and internet we can raise the standard of living for many in this community. Access to ICT services allows people to earn income beyond the connes of their communities. Digital services push people from informal to formal businesses busi nesses,, establi establish sh nanci nancial al inclusiveness, inclusive ness, and create tools for self-reliance and exposure. In Nakivale alone, 80% of refugees own a phone; of those 26% own a smart phone.
agriculture, and mobile agriculture, clinics where these would run completely on solar energy. In agriculture, we are looking at solutions to power milling plants.
I
What emerging issues would you share with us regarding solar energy business in Uganda? Unlike solar energy, oil and gas and hydro-power have huge voices in terms of policies and have a lot of government support. Because there are small solar companies, there has not been a push for or lobby for serious policies for solar. We hope with more solar companies coming into Uganda there will be space for policy formulation and making solar business more aractiv aractive. e. Some people think solar products are fake…that is not the case – it is the people who are not informed. We need to do more education on solar products, technology space and price. People should should go for solar because it is more of a necessity and also the national
Esteeri Kabonero is the managing director for Powah Limited, a solar solutions energy company operating in Uganda. She spoke to The Independent’s Julius Businge about the recent grant that they obtained from Trade and Development Bank (TDB) formerly known as the PTA Bank to go about solar energy needs in Nakivale Refugee Settlement.
electricity grid hasn’t reached some communities. Solar in the long run is actually cheaper than the grid. The reason why some people haven’t adopted it is because the upfront cost is high; however there are companies that are trying to come up with friendly ways of payment to make it easy for people to access solar systems. How does Powah Limited’s work feed into the solar energy sub-sector in Uganda? Powah Uganda Limited is a solar solutions company. We focus on solar for productiv productivee use – we design our own solar solutions just like the Powah hub for Nakivale. The hub is essential because it can help people have access to their computers, charge their phones, use mobile money
and do any other income generating activity. We also focus on solar installations in oces, homes and farms. We have come across customers who use solar as a backup in the event that power from national grid is o. There are dierent solutions for dierent people. We also do product distribution distributio n like aordable lights, lanterns and others especially to those who cannot aord the high cost of solar installations. What other partnerships are you eying that would directly or indirectly tackle energy and related problems of the country? There are numerous partners we are trying to look at. We are also looking at going into health technology,
How best can government go about solar energy in its service delivery programmes? Like I said earlier, government has put a lot of focus on oil and gas and hydro-power. Solar hasn’t got its day. There are subsidies in other sectors but sola solarr does does not not have have such oers. If we have voices pushing government for beer policies, the investment in solar will have to grow with time costs will decline as more and more people demand for solar solutions. Uganda has the best weather for solar energy and we should utilize it. Being a manager, what kind of management philosophy do you embrace to move things at Powah Limited? As a leader, I inspire my team and try to be kind of a visionary. I try to show people our vision mainly looking at where the company will go. I bring brin g in a team team that that bala balances nces with my management skills. And lastly, what two major things do you envision for Powah Limited in the coming few years? I want to see Powah Limited being one of of the leade leaders rs in in the energy solutions in the country. In Uganda, 20% of the population has access to the grid, so if we can increase that, it will be great. We intend to expand to neighboring countries like Rwanda in the next few years.
Aug 03 - 09, 2018
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BUSINESS
TELECOM
EQUITIES
Airtel opens new service centers
Airtel officials at tending to customers at the Nde eba premium shop.
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ollowing successful network expansion and countrywide broadb bro adband and availability campaigns, Airtel Uganda is expanding its footprint across the country to provide one-on-one customer care experiences to its
subscribers via premium shops. This announcement was made at a press conference at the new premium shop in Ndeeba-Kampala on July 25. Dorothy Kyeyune, from Airtel, said having invested heavily in infrastructure “we now feel that it is
CSR
TN Uganda Foundation on July Jul y 26 26 dona donated ted hospital equipment to Oriajin Hospital based base d in in Aru Aruaa as as part part of its Access to Health Care initiative project. The donation will benet hundreds of patients from the West Nile region and neigh bourin bou ring g DRC DRC who fre freque quent nt one of Northern Uganda’s busiest busi est pub public lic hosp hospita itals. ls. During the handover ceremony, the 20 hospital beds, 20 hospital maresses, 20 hospihospital blankets and 20 mosquito nets were received by ocials from Orijuan Hospital. MTN Uganda’s Senior Manager Corporate Aairs, Justina Just ina Nta Ntabgo bgoba, ba, sai said d she she was delighted with the work done by Oriajin Hospital in provision of quality health care in Arua since its incep32
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rug maker CIPLA-QCI will soon announce its IPO on the Uganda Securities during the rst half of August with trading in its stock expected to follow a month later, according to the media reports. It is believes that the company that is currently on a roadshow to promote its stock in Europe will make the announcement on August 13. The roadshow follows closed talks with Ugandan institutional investors that were meant to help determine the share price. Sources familiar with the plans say, the price is the only missing number in the prospectus that will soon be submied to the Capital Markets Authority Authority for approval ahead of a public announcement. CIPLA’s move comes amidst a determined push by the government to get more rms to list on the USE. Currently, USE has only eight local rms.
CSR
MTN Foundation boosts Arua’s Oriajin hospital
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important to enhance the customer experience by ensuring our physical presence in as many areas as possible.” Kyeyune said the 18 premium shops will further strengthen their footprint in the country by sup ple plemen men ting on t he already existing kiosks, mini shops, distributor locations and super agencies. Previously, Airtel Uganda has opened premium shops in Kampala, Entebbe, Gulu, Lira, Kabale, Soroti, Jinja, FortPortal, Mbale, Mbarara and Arua Districts. The shops act as a one-stop center for the company’s service solutions such as SIM card purchases and registrations, Airtel Money, e-recharge and data connectivity. Experienced staff is in place to serve customers.
Cipla IPO slated for August 13
tion in 1984. “We are happy to see that Oriajin Hospital is playing a huge role in the delivery of health and medical services to thousands of people in the West Nile region,” she said. The Arua District Medicines and Supplies Inventory Manager, Margaret Bayoru, said MTN’s donation was timely and the rst in the region. “…we have been grappling with poor facilities to host our patients and doctors’ accommodation for a long while now. The level of morale has been bee n noti noticea ceably bly low in the past, but this is starting to look up now,” she said. The MTN Foundation Access to Health Initiative is a Shs 500m support program aimed at improving the quality of health care countrywide.
Aug 03 - 09, 2018
NBL lights Mulago children unit
NB L's Onapito NBL Onapi to Ekomoloit (C) hands over a solar panel unit to Mulago Hospital adminstrators on July 25.
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n July 25, Beer maker, Nile Breweries limited through its Nutri-Kit project, handed over a solar panel unit alongside other items to the Mwanamugimu Nutrition Unit. The annual malnutrition campaign, which was unveiled last year is geared towards promoting nutrition especially towards women and children. Handed over to Mwanamugimu which currently has
250 beneciaries, are 250 NutriNutri tion Kits, 100 mosquito nets, one solar panel unit, in total worth Shs 60million. “The kits we have provided to these mothers and children contain a rich variety of food nutrients such as soya, silver sh, groundnuts, rice, posho, potatoes, beans bea ns and sug sugar ar as wel welll as as soap soap and are to cater for their basic nutritional and wellbeing needs,” Onapito Ekomoloit, the NBL’s Legal and Corporate Aairs Director, said. Reports from Mulago shows that malnutrition is a major public health concern in Uganda yet proper nutrition is essential to ensure the growth, health and development of children to their full potential. David Nuwamanya, the principle administrator at the referral hospital thanked NBL for their contribution saying it will contribute greatly to the facilities vision to be the leading centre for health care services.
BUSINESS
BATU half- year prot rises to Shs6.2bn By Isaac Khisa
H Brian Agaba, (L) Driver Taxify Taxify Uganda and Julian Byamugisha Bya mugisha – Operations Manager Taxify Uganda unveil Taxify Go, an economy category that uses smaller 4-seater cars to allow customers pay a base fare of UGX 800shs which is 400 UGX per km, 70 UGX per minute and a minimum fare of UGX 3000 on July 27. INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA
Agnes Mub Agnes Mubiru iru,, (L) (L) Mana Manager ger E-C E-Chan hannel nelss and and Mar Market keting ing with Vin Vincen centt Omoth, Omoth, (M) Marketing Manager Fresh Dairy handover cartons of Fresh Dairy yoghurt to the kids area instructor for kids as part of Fresh Dairy’s sponsorship contribution towards the 7th CBA Classic and Vintage Auto show on July 28. INDEPENDENT/
igh operating profits coupled with lower financing costs helped the tobacco maker, British American Tobacco, to record a 77% rise in net profit to Shs6.2bn for the half year ending June 30. The latest financial results shows that the company recorded an increase in the operating profit from Shs 5.3bn in June last year to Shs 8.8bn this year due to lower costs attributable to the absence of one-off incurred in the first half of 2017 to supp ort compliance with the Tobacco Control Act, 2015. On the other hand, financing costs dropped from Shs 291million to Shs 103million during the same period under review.
The Uganda Securities Exchange listed firm recorded a relatively flat revenue of Shs 73.7bn and the value added tax standing at Shs 40.4bn. Nicholas Edimu, the company secretary on behalf beh alf of t he Boar d of Directors said they are still engaging with the government on how to improve the tobacco busine bus iness ss env environ iron men t. “Our engagement with the relevant government agencies continue to advocate for a more stable taxation regime, reduction in the illicit trade incidence and regulation that are sound, evidence based and that have gone through a formal consultative process, “he said The firm has declared an interim dividend of Shs 126 per share, up from Shs 71 in the previous year.
JIMMY SIYA
Weekly share price movement (July 31)
MTN and Oriajin Hospital staff pose for a group photo in one of the Wards that benefitted from MTN Foundations’ donation under its Access to Health Initiative.
Security
July 31
BATU
30,000
30000
July 17
00
Movement
BOBU
140
145
3.4
CENT
1,218
1,277
4.6
DFCU EABL
950 8,307
970 7, 574
2.1 9.7
EBL
1,846
1,792
3.0
JHL
18,460
19,451
5.1
KA
374
402
6.9
KCB
1,753
1,755
0.1
NIC
17
17
00
NMG
3,304
3,456
4.4
NVL SBU
450 32
450 32
00 00
UCHM
64
45
42
UCL
23
23
00
UMEME ALSI
330 --
350 --
5.7 --
Aug 03 - 09, 2018
33
COMMENT
By Ssabalwanyi (President Museveni)
Judges without substance The Judges should have taken into consideration the recent L.C 1 and Women Councils elections which NRM won Country men and women, I draw your attention to my two recent short speeches: one in Parliament on July 25 when HE Narendra Modi, the Prime minister of India addressed Parliament of Uganda and the second one on july 27 when I addressed the 10 th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit in Johann Joh annesb esb urg urg,, South S outh Afr Africa. ica. All of them illuminate different angles of NRM’s four principles: Patriotism (anti-sectarianism), Pan-Africanism (working for African Unity economically and politically), social-economic transformation (modernising the African society), and Democracy (the democracy of substance, not mere form). We are making good friends all over the world that will help us to achieve our goals, starting with unity of our African brothers and sisters in the form of the EAC and CFTA in order to unite our markets. Unfortunately, our judges in Uganda spend more time on form and not substance, on procedure and not substance. My freedom fighter’s sense of justice in this matter (the age limit ruling) focuses more on the convenience of seven years rather than five year terms. With the current five year term, a lot of time is spent on electioneering and less time on development. The first two years settling in, the third year some work in the constituency and, then, by the four th year year,, elec e lection tion eer eering ing again. In the end, however, the judges are not the ones in charge of the country. If the NRM MPs follow my guidelines and bond closely with the people through wealth and job creation, we can; together with the people, make the necessary Constitutional reforms, judg es or no j udg udges. es. The Constitution should facilitate the modernisation of Uganda and the economic and political integration of Africa for the survival of the people of Africa as free people, not just the
34
Aug 03 - 09, 2018
theatre of democracy of form without addressing substance. The Judges should have taken into consideration the recent L.C 1 and Women Councils and Committees elections which gave massive victory to the NRM, soon after the age limit and the seven years’ debate. This was more or less a referendum. There was open participation by the millions. We shall harmonise and galvanise our position. The undemocratic age limit nonsense was clear. “Nibagaya Engabo oti mwihemu abagurusi?” (How can you say old soldiers should be dis disqual qual ifie d when w hen ever ybo ybody’ dy’ss
Our judges in Uganda spend more time on form and not substance, on procedure and not substance
efforts are needed because the good soldiers are not enough?) I congratulate the NRM on winning the four seats for MPs and the five seats for mayors of the seven new municipalities. The new municipalities were: Apac, Nebbi, Ibanda, Sheema, Bugiri, Njeru and Kotido. It is a shame to hear of the sectarian manipulation by some elements of opposition in Bugiriusing religion (Islamism) and tribalism (Busogaism Vs Badaama). Such nonsense grows when there are weaknesses in the local area of handling the social- economic issues, service delivery, and lack of sensitisation. The NRM leaders need to deal with social- economic issues, and the rest will be e asy.
This year’s budget has focused on these very issues. Those who use sectarianism of religion and tribe or gender chauvinism are bankrupt ideologically and dangerous for the future of Africa. They were the problem of Uganda in the past and they have no value economically and, therefore, socially (socio-economic transformation). I went to the schools in the 1950s and 1960s because my father was able to pay the school fees of that time by selling some of his cattle in the monthly auction markets of Ntungamo. Who were buying the cattle? It was three businessmen and none of them a Munyankore. These were: Wal Walusimbi-Mpanga usimbi-Mpanga from Kampala, Bukyenya (Bukenya) from Mbarara and Shear, a Muzungu, operating out of Ishaka who was taking cattle to Kilembe to feed the miners there. Who, then, were the supporters of my education apart from my father? They were certainly not the Banyankore or Church of Uganda; m y religious denomination. Sectarianism is pseudo-ideology. If we get evidence about the promoters of sectarianism, we shall act against them politically and criminally. I also got alleged reports of importing voters in Bugiri as happened in Kyadondo and Jinja East. The case of Jinja Eas t is in the courts on the same issue of importing voters from other areas. Back to the question of sectarianism, we should never allow identity to eclipse or subvert interest. Down with opportunists (Nalilawa, abanyaanda) - those who do not have positive (beneficial) principles that cause our countries to grow. President Yoweri Museveni gave this written statement on July 30 on the Constitutional Court ruling of July 26 in Mbal e on o n the th e so-ca s o-ca lled Age Age-Lim -Limit it case c ase and new municipalities’ elections.
COMMENT
By Morris Komakech
Behind the Mbale constitutional ruling The decision shows that in Uganda now, one can buy parliament and get the judiciary for free as bonus
T
imes for seasonal sales are known for cost cuing and savings. Some stores urge consumers to “buy one and get one for free.” This sales principle seems to be the modus operandi betwee bet ween n the the thr three ee arm armss of of gover governmen nmentt The Executive (Museveni), Legislative Le gislative (Parliament) and Judiciary. There is a trade of conscience going on betwee bet ween n the the thr three ee arm armss of of gover governmen nmentt with with the masses standing by to watch helplessly. The just concluded Constitutional Court proceeding in Mbale is one case which demonstrates that Ugandans are far from geing either justice or good governance. The ruling on the removal of age limit for President (allowed), and arbitrary extension of Parliamentary term from ve to seven years (quashed) is a demonstration that even the Judiciary is on sale. In law, Machiavellianism is an exception, not the rule. The general consensus is that the entire process of Constitution amendment, the subject of the Mbale contention was awed. The outcome of a awed process cannot partially be valid. Period! The turn of events occasioned by this Mbale edict may call for a radical transformation of our society to reset our society to a proper legal order. The way our society is organised or disorganised does not serve the interests of Ugandans. In fact, the order of business in Uganda militates towards a shared vision for this country. Both the Legislature and Judiciary are in the belly of the same beast, and are incapable of performing their traditional roles for their pay grade. Many commentators have questioned whether former regime ministers, ideologues, and cadres can exhibit impartiality before befo re the law whi which ch thr threat eatens ens the sta status tus quo. In the past, I likened such expectations to whether monkeys could willingly agree with each other to cut down their forest. It may never happen. Without going into the merits of the case or its controversial ruling, the wise words of Immanuel Kant, the 18 th century German philosopher who argued that reason is the source of morality, should suce. Kant observed that rational humans should be treated as an end to themselves and not as a means to anything else. Kant explains that if a person is an end, his existence does not
The legislature and Judiciary now feed the monster which often plays them in the manner a jilted lover plays his guitar
depend on externalities because we exist becausee we becaus we have have va value lues. s. It is our va value luess as as humans that make us act rationally, with respect to reason and purpose in acting. In the circumstance under which Ugandans subsist now, no one will openly concede that they all live, and are governed by fear of obliteration by the system of dictatorship presided over by, and for the person of Mr. Museveni. As such, we stand a terrible risk to expect either parliament or the judiciary to act rationally or virtuously so as to counter the surging boundlessness of the
dictatorship. In short, both the legislature and judiciary have become the instrument for legitimising the impunity of a dictatorship. The legislature and Judiciary now feed the monster which often plays them in the manner a jilted lover plays his guitar. It is here that we see the MPs taking cheap bait to rubber stamp a lifelong tyranny over Uganda, and the Judiciary, without fear of contradiction, legitimizing a fraud for free. Museveni feels no remorse because he paid beforehand for his purchase - life Presidency. And, the folly goes to the grassroots. If you won the grassroots election and lost the mind and heart of the people who once cherished you; where else do you go? We now see that the army, parliament, judiciary, investors, and local governments all tucked under the spell of the tyranny. That is how the man hoards power. But power is not a currency for immortality. To the contrary, excessive power can mediate mortality when we start buying one with the hope of geing two for free. Morris Kom Morris Komake akech ch is a Ugan Uganda da soc social ial cri critic tic living and studying in Canada. Can contact via
[email protected]
Aug 03 - 09, 2018
35
COMMENT
By Kaushik Basu
A currency crash course for politicians Why exchange-rate management is one of the most complex areas of economic policymaking
O
ne major impetus behind U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies is his belief that China has articially weakened its currency in order to dump goods in the United States. Trump harped on this issue often during his presidential campaign. But now that he is taking action to reduce America’s bilateral trade decit with China, there could be grave consequences for the world economy. Trump is making a mistake. And yet his views about China’s currency should not come as a surprise, given that exchange-rate management is one of the most complex areas of economic policymaking. I learned this the hard way while serving as an adviser to the Indian government from 2009 to 2012. After Standard & Poor’s downgraded U.S. long-term sovereign credit from AAA to AA+ on August 5, 2011, I was surprised to see the dollar begin to strengthen. It took me a while to understand what was happening. Investors were worried that the downgrade could cause global turbulence and began to pull their money out of emerging markets. In earlier times, investors would then have parked some of their money in strong European economies. But, because most of those countries had handed over monetary policy to the European Central Bank and could no longer print their own money there was a heightened risk of default. By contrast, the U.S. had its own currency and central bank, allowing it to make good on its debt under almost any circumstances. And investors were also reassured by the fact that the world’s second most powerful economy, China, had a vested interest in a relatively strong, stable dollar, owing to the fact that a large portion of its massive stock of foreign-exchange reserves was held in dollars. Hence, the paradox: though the source of the problem was the U.S., money went rushing to the U.S., strengthening the dollar. I have had a keen interest in exchangerate management ever since that episode. In May 2013, when I was Chief Economist at the World Bank, my colleague Aristomene Varoudakis and I published 36
Aug 03 - 09, 2018
a study examining dierent exchangerate policies across a wide range of countries. We found that almost all countries occasionally buy and sell on foreignexchange markets in order to increase or boost the value of their own currency. currency. In most cases, this is not done directly, but rather by commercial banks acting at central banks’ behest. China, for its part, has pursued an interesting exchange-rate policy over the decades. Through the 1980s and 1990s, there is no doubt that China kept its currency articially undervalued so that it could sell more goods internationally. From the mid-1990s to 2005, the renminbi was virtually pegged to the U.S. dollar in nominal terms, and the dollar did experience real appreciation. The logic was simple: by buying dollars, China could cause the relative value of the dollar to rise, which meant that the value of the renminbi would fall. Accordingly, the People’s Bank of China accumulated enormous dollar reserves during this time. As it happens, Swierland pursued a similar – albeit shorter-lived – strategy after the 2008 global nancial crisis, and particularly after September 2011. During that time, the Swiss National Bank managed to hold down the Swiss franc’s value while accumulating a huge volume of foreign-exchange reserves. Is this a good strategy? In China’s case,
Investors were worried that the downgrade could cause global turbulence and began to pull their money out of emerging markets
it certainly allowed domestically based rms to export more, but only because they were selling at below-cost prices, thus incurring losses. This approach makes sense if one is selling habitforming goods, because you can raise prices and make up for earlier losses once the customer has become dependent on the product. Hence, if you were starting a newspaper in the print era, it was generally wise to underprice it until you had built up a large base of loyal readers. Like certain products, buying from a country can also be habit-forming. Once you have mastered all of the rules and regulations, as well as the culture and politics, of a trading partner, you have an interest in continuing to do business with that country. With the U.S. and many other nations now hooked on buying from China, Chinese policymakers no longer need to maintain an undervalued currency. And, indeed, China has been spending down its foreign-exchange reserves since mid-2014. Though the renminbi was once kept articially weak, there are now many economists who believe that it is actually overvalued. That, after all, is what one would expect for the seller of an addictive good. In this context, Trump’s tari war comes far too late, and will prove uerly self-defeating. But let’s assume that Trump is right – that China is still selling its products to U.S. consumers at a loss. In that case, my advice to him is simple. He should send a thank-you note to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Kaushik Basu, former Chief Economist of the World Bank and former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India, India, is Professor of Economics at Cornell University and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2018.
Face-to-face with medicine smugglers of the DR Congo Uncovering the underworld of how Uganda’s marked medicines are stolen and sold By Flavia Nassaka
W
e have been waiting for close to two hours when a man emerges from a nearby thicket with water from the afternoon drizzle dripping like white beads o his very dark face and compact body. He signals his colleague to join him at the other side of the road from where we are standing and they speak for about 20 minutes. It’s July 25, and I am in Opia, a deserted village in Vurra Sub County at the Uganda – Democratic Republic of Congo border in Arua district. My mission is to nd out how medicines and sundries from Uganda government stores end up in the DR Congo. Finally, an agreement appears to have been rea reache ched d betw between een the two men men.. The The man from DR Congo has agreed to talk to me but with some conditions; including no use of names or cameras. He asks to conrm that I am a journalist and I give him my identity card. Finally, he suggests that we nd a more comfortable place, out of the drizzle, for the interview. But as we ride on his number plate less yellow bike on the Ugandan side of the border, the man from DR Congo is already telling me stories about how Ugandan drugs have become a savior in the neighboring country – and a money maker for him. The man conrms that he is ConCon golese and works for a health facility called Yofenyiri Yo fenyiri Health Center, just across the border bor der in DR Con Congo. go. He says dru drug g short short-ages have worsened since the government there contracted the supply to hospitals and health facilities in the Ituri province to an NGO of the Catholic Church – Malteser International, from the island nation of Malta located in the Mediterranean Sea between North Africa and Italy. Ituri province is huge; about the size of northern Uganda and riven with warlords and bandits – making it dicult for MalteMalte ser to deliver medicines. “You “Y ou make an order today they will bring the drugs after two months, three months,” says my man, who adds that when patients
Dr.. Ojera displays stolen drugs to journalists in April Dr
come to his health facility and nd he doesn’t have drugs, they will run away to other clinics. “That’s why I decided to get an agent from Arua hospital,” he explains in the dicult Congolese English. When we arrive at our destination, he opens a box which is covered in several jacket jac ketss in in a sac sack. k. He has jus justt purc purchas hased ed a box ful fulll of, of, lar largel gely, y, the ant antima imalar larial ial dru drug g Coartem, antibiotics, straps of Paracetamol, and gloves. All are labeled ‘Government of Uganda, Not for Sale’. “These cost me 400,000 shillings,” he says. The man from DR Congo says 80% of cases at his Yofenyiri facility suer from malaria and the medicines he has bought so far are not enough to meet the demand. Yet, he says, his colleague from Ikara health facility also in Ituri province of DR Congo had called him two days ago requesting for anti-malarial medicines. “I will not be able to supply them,” he says. His facility, he says, is located just eight kilometers away from the border and he has used this proximity to his advantage. He is now the link person between Ugandan medicine dealers and the health facili-
ties deeper in the DR Congo that buy them. Every month, he says, he buys fresh supplies of medicines of up to Shs800, 000 from Uganda. He wants more medicines. “You know Uganda drugs are cheap,” he says, “They also tell us the expiry dates when selling to us.” He says the Congolese trust Ugandan medicines and medical facilities. “My friends also ask me whether the person bringing the drugs is a doctor,” he says.
Threats to Uganda
As he constantly combs West Nile health facilities for these drugs, he appears oblivious that their rightful beneciaries in Uganda are going without their doses. He might be a very small player in a very big racket, but does he even know that his business presents a serious threat to the already fragile Ugandan health system? This nancial year, the government of Uganda plans to spend Shs277 billion on drugs. It is not clear how much of that the country will lose to theft as there is currently no published data to show the exact extent of the drug theft problem. However, Aug 03 - 09, 2018
37
HEALTH
anecdotal evidence indicates a lot of drugs are geing stolen. At the Ministry of Health headquarters in Kampala, for instance, Dr Jimmy Opigo; the Manager of the Malaria Control programme says last year, 21 million doses of antimalarials were procured and only 14.5 million doses were reported as used. “We don’t know where the six million treatments went,” he says, “There was a big stock out.” The Ministry of Health has since 2017 been bee n subsi subsidisi dising ng ant anti-m i-mala alaria ria dru drugs gs sol sold d in in some private pharmacies. The medicines which bear a green leaf are recommended to be sold at US$1 or less per dose. Up to US$4 million provided by the Global Fund is to be spent on the subsidy each year until 2019. Another US$3.2million is to be spent on monitoring supply and providing information on malaria patient care. If Dr Opigo’s numbers are correct, the missing six million treatments represent an addition US$6 million (Approx. Shs22 billio bil lion). n). Tha Thatt is is money money goi going ng to to medi medicin cinee smugglers like my man from the DR Congo. After our meeting, I headed to Arua Regional Referral Hospital, where he claims to be geing some of his drugs. But its Prin cipal Administrator, Michael Odur, says the hospital is not connected to the DR Congo medicine racket. “I’ve been here since November (last year). None of our hospital sta has been arrested,” he says, “We only hear that Uganda drugs are on sale in Congo but we have not had a case here.” Odur says Arua hospital, like many others around the country usually gets stock outs of the malaria drug, Artesunate and others like Fragyl and antibiotics Amoxyl and Ceftriaxone injection in addition to gloves and stitchers. But, he says, the constant stock outs are not because drugs are stolen. “We get a high number of unbudgeted for patients from neighboring Congo and of late refugees from South Sudan,” he says. Every day, he says, the hospital handles around 400 out patients and 350 in patients and 33% of these are Congolese seeking mostly care for HIV, Malaria, pneumonia or maternal and child health services. Because of the patient pressure, Arua hospital was this year given an extra Shs240million on top of its annual Shs1billion budget. Odur says the Uganda-Congo border is porous and given that the hospital is just 7kms away makes it very easy for them to be tar target getss by cri crimin minals als.. But But he says says he can can-not tell how, if at all, drugs could be stolen from the hospital. He speaks of a system innovated by the Ministry of Health to control any leakages at the hospital. It is called the ‘Daily Dispensing Log’ where all patients that come to the facility in a day are registered and given patient numbers. The same log has provisions where drugs and their quantities are 38
Aug 03 - 09, 2018
recorded to ensure accountability. In addition to this, a medical worker is supposed to sign a drug requisition form which is authorised by the facility in charge before befo re bei being ng giv given en medi medicin cines. es. Odur says they follow this religiously. But he also admits they have had recording gaps he calls minor that they keep improving when they spot them. He appears unaware that the criminals could also be taking out drugs in very small quantities to to be noticed. A package seen by The The Ind Indepe ependen ndentt had had medi medicin cines es tha thatt were not packaged in the usual dispensing boxes or tins. The various medicines appeared to have been poured randomly in one big package.
Arua not alone
And Arua is not the only Ugandan border town with the DR Congo via which stolen medicines and sundries are smuggled out. Kasese district in South Western Uganda is another one. Here, the Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Lt. Col James Mwesigye, told The Independent that he has baled medicine thieves at the Congo - Mpondwe border in the district.
Diana h At wine
Diana h At wine
He said he has encountered techniques where hospital workers would move out with a small package each day, meet at some point, and put the dierent medicines together in one package for sale. “We increased surveillance and held operations every day,” Mwesigye said, “One day we unpacked a truck full of sh only to nd medicines below them.” He says, in his view, solving the problem requires strict checking at border points since not much can be done at the hospital level. Dr. Patrick Anguzu, the Arua District Health Ocer agrees. He says hospitals are constantly working to tighten security measures against drug theft; including surveillance, regular pill counts and room restrictions. But he says these are never enough to stop drug thefts. “It can be hard to anticipate the strategies that criminals use,” he says. He says the stolen drugs from Uganda are now being sold in the DR Congo becaus bec ausee all all eo eorts rts req requir uired ed to mak makee it it impossible for these drugs to be sold in Uganda have been done. At the Health Monitoring Unit (HMU) of
State House, the Director Dr. Jackson Ojera says their investigations have revealed that drugs are mostly stolen at hospital level. He gives an example of Kapchorwa where the DHO was conniving with in-charges and they would hide drugs in maresses and drive them out without raising any suspicions until they got a tip o about this theft. In its latest investigation, the HMU has recovered stolen drugs and sundries estimated at Shs25 million. The items were found in a house in Nsooba; a village located just a few meters away from Mulago National Referral hospital in Kampala. They included antimalarials Chloroquine and Coartem, gloves, cannulas, antibiotics, and gauze. It was not clear, whether the suspects found with the drugs were government workers or where they were going to sell the drugs. What is clear though according to observers is that at the root of this trade are poor management and security lapses in the country and the healthcare system that hospital sta and medicine smugglers exploit. Speaking to The Independent on July27, Moses Kamabare; the General Manager of National Medical Stores, said medicine theft can be countered with simple practices. He says to counter any leakages at the time when drugs are transported to health facilities, NMS has developed a tracking system in their trucks that monitor movement of the vehicle and the system will be notied incase anything happens along the way. “If you take a wrong route the vehicle will be disabled. Once an order is made, the in charge at the facility will be notied about when the deliveries will be made. They are also informed when the truck leaves NMS,” he says. These constant notices, he says, give no chance to the criminals to interfere with the stocks because the in charges are expected to sign the delivery notes conrming receipt. Ojera also recommends more regular audits at facilities. He says currently audits are mainly done when there is suspicion of theft. Also, to solve the problem of drug theft and stock-outs, the Ministry of Health has been piloting a programme dubbed ‘Results based Financing’ in West Nile and parts of western Uganda. During a post budget meeting at the Ministry of Health in June, Dr. Sarah Byakika, the commissioner planning at the Ministry of Health said, under the programme, whatever medicine is dispensed is properly accounted for as health facilities are obliged to carryout quarterly assessments of the outputs. For Odur in Arua, however, this is a problem without quick xes. “The Congolese will be coming here anyway,” he says citing the many panya routes from DR Congo into Uganda where there are no checks at all. All one needs is a numberless Boda Boda like the one of my man in Opia village.
ART | BOOKS | SOCIETY | TRAVEL | CULTURE CULTURE
Nkole’s Nkol e’s 5 minutes of history histor y And its monument gaining international signicance By Dominic Muwanguzi
A
bout 600 bout 600 yea years rs ago ago,, in in 1520AD, three powerful kingdoms thrived in present day central and western Uganda. Located in triangular formation with Buganda, which occupied a long a narrow swath along the shores of Lake Victoria facing Bunyoro-Kitara to the northwest and Nkole to the southwest. Bunyoro was the biggest but its martial King; Olimi 1 Rukidi Rwitamahanga wanted more. So he raided tiny Nkole and easily overrun it; pillaging its cale and women, and causing a great famine called “ijunga nyonga” within the Kingdom. Nkole continued to ght back and during one of the bales in broad daylight, somesome thing unheard of and never seen before happened. Darkness fell on the baleeld at Biharwe hill. The Bunyoro soldiers, fearing that it was an apparition of Ankore spirits intervening on the side of the Nkole ghters, ed from bale ba le and out of the kin kingdo gdom. m. The Nko Nkore re kingdom soldiers celebrated the unusual victory and the bale became etched in the kingdom folklore. Today, of course, we know that was the total eclipse of 1.30PM on April 17, 1520 that lasted 5 minutes and 15 seconds. But that has not stopped the Nkole people from celebrating Biharwe hill as a “sacred and historic site” at the Biharwe Eclipse monument shows. Constructed to commemorate the incident, it stands atop Biharwe hill approximately 6kms from Mbarara town on the Mbarara- Masaka highway. To reect the present day unity between the once-warring kingdoms, the monument is built in lineal form, with three pillars symbolising the three kings of the period; Olimi of Bunyoro, Ntare1 Nyabugarobwera of Nkole, Nakibinge of Buganda. According
to folklore, Bunyoro had raided Buganda with intent to bring back Buganda to Kitara. In the centre of the monument, on top, is an orange round gurine, symbolising the sun that is synonymous with the eclipse. On the upper exterior of the monument are Ankole wall paerns that give it cultural quality. The theme of cultural identity and signicance is very much on display in the neighbouring Igongo Cultural Museum which features cultural norms and practices of the Ankole people in gurative and realrealistic forms. For example, the museum preserves many utilitarian objects used by the two Nkole tribes; the Bahingi (crop- farmers) and Abarisa aka “Omutungi w’e nte” (cale-keepers) in their households. The dissimilarity of objects they used in their day to day life is striking. For example, in the Bahingi household the women grinded millet as the daily menu and there was a re-place to prepare it. On the other-hand, within the Abarisa home, the inhabitants fed only on milk and roasted meat, hence the dominant presence of the milk gourd used to carry and and preserve the milk. The women from this household were also very ornamental in their physical presentation, evidenced by their hairstyles that involved shaving concentric designs
within the hair and wearing bracelets around their waists. The traditional wall paerns on the Nkole households- huts- suggested the residents’ lifestyle in the aspects of medicine, astronomy, entertainment and spiritualism. The huts decorated with such imagery, were often used for ocial celebrations like giving away a girl into marriage and, therefore, signied an element of purity and holiholi ness. They are true testimony to the overall early civilization of this region. The Ankole people were well organised in four clans; Abahinda, Abashambo, Abagahe and Abaishikatwa, a symbol of cultural dynamism and commonality visible African monarchs that decentralised political powers through chiefs. Like Buganda, the kings of Nkole distributed their political powers through a prime minister and chiefs who also wielded authority. The hairstyles, thrones (chief’s ocial seats) and gourds evoked such supremacy in their day to day life. The Biharwe Eclipse monument and installation might have been constructed as a cultural museum, to bring to life the cultural history of Nkole that mirrors their cherished traditional norms and beliefs and aract tourists to view their cultural iden tity and values. But in this post- modern era of globalisation, Biharwe monument is acknowledged internationally. The auspicious date is, for example, used to calculate periods in which the dierent Kings of the Great Lakes region reigned. The monument was constructed by Jose Joseph ph Ssem Ssemati atimba mba,, a Makerere University senior Lecturer in the Department of Industrial and Fine Arts.
Aug 03 - 09, 2018
39
The best time to have sex
Ripped 81-yearold bodybuilder Most octogenarians would consider themselves lucky to be able to not have a hip or back bac k prob p roblem lem,, but b ut t his 81-year-old Japanese bodybu bod ybuilde ilde r is not only in perfect physical condition, he also looks better bet ter tha than n a lot of men a quarter his age. Toshisuke Kanazawa who was multiple champion bodybu bod ybuilde ilde r in his yout h, took up the challenge again at 50 years to make his sick wife happy.
Who is behind this A-list selfie? You might not know his name, but he’s one of the world’s most well-connected men. And Madonna’s manager Guy Oseary, 45, showed o his inuence recently in a remarkable Instagram snap from his summer vacation in France, surrounded by his A-list pals. Sacha Baron Cohen and Bono were joined by Mahew McConaughey, Chris Rock and Isla Fisher among a staggering array of many more famous
faces. The talent manager was also joined by Woody Harrelson, McConaughey’s model wife Camilla Alves and French photographer JR for the starstudded getaway to Château La Coste, in the country’s southern region. Others were Madonna, Helena Christensen, Dakota Johnson Joh nson,, and and Tob Tobey ey Mag Maguir uire’s e’s ex-wife Jennifer Meyer, and Oseary’s wife, Brazilian model Michelle Alves.
Two recent studies of more than 800 million tweets over four years discovered that people’s rising and falling moods are almost exactly matched to our daily psychological body bod y clock c lock . 6a m is i s for f or getting up – to lower rates of depression and better goal setting, 8am is a peak time for sadness and tiredness – so take a walk, and 9am is best for coffee – as mood imp roves. 10am is best for taking advice, 11am is high point for the brain’s bra in’s ana analyt lytical ical powe rs and productivity, 12 noon is for making important calls, such as negotiating a pay rise. Afternoons are most unproductive, 8pm is the happiest point, and the best time to have sex is 10pm if you are in your 50s and 10.20pm if you in your 40s, according to circadian rhythm expert Dr Paul Kelley. Avoid midnight – it is a time of anger and 1am to 4am is peak sleep time.
Catholic Church suspends rapping priest On a typical Sunday at the St. Monica Catholic Church in southwest Kenya, Father Ogalo would be draped in his usual church vestments for morning mass. Later in the day, he would change into shorts, a long t-shirt and tie a red bandana tied around his head, spiing hip-hop rhymes into his
mic. Popularly known as ‘Father Masaa,’ he said music was to aract a young people to his church, spread the message against drug abuse, and bridge the generation gap. But his unconventional preaching style has landed him in hot water with Catholic Church heads. However, his bosses dis-
agreed. Speaking to CNN, Bishop Philip Anyolo, who heads the diocese in Migori County where Father Ogalo serves, said the antics had earned the priest a suspension. “The use of rap music is not allowed in preaching,” he said.
Sadness in marriage is no ground for divorce
If you don’t have a Zebra, fake it!
A woman who has been trying to divorce her husband for three years was recently denied the right to do that by the UK’s highest court, which ruled that an unhappy marriage that had broken down for years was not grounds for divorce. 68-year-old Tini Owens had been hoping to nally end her 40-year marriage to Hugh Owens, 80, but the ve jud judges ges at the UK’ UK’ss high highest est cou court rt unanimously upheld rulings by a family court and the court of appeal that the two must stay married at least until 2020. The
A new zoo in Cairo’s International Garden municipal park has come under re for trying to deceive visitors by paintpaint ing a donkey black and white to make it look like a zebra. The fake was spoed on July 21 by Mahmoud A. Sarhani, a student who posted a photo of a strangelooking zebra on his Facebook page after hot weather caused the paint to smudge. Most people found it hilarious, but some were outraged. But the zoo’s management denied the Zebra was a fake.
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decision has been met with criticism from divorce lawyers. Tini claims the father of her two children, Hugh Owens focuses only on his job rather than his home life, doesn’t show her love and aection, and is always moody and argumentative.
Buy this bulletproof car for MPs
S
ince President Yoweri Museveni ordered the Ministry of Finance to provide army snipers and bullet bull et- pro proof of esc escort ort cars for MPs, the Daily Monitor newspaper has been running stories unpacking the implication of the directive. One of the stories pointed out that the government could end up spending as much as Shs 866 billion to protect the MPs. The newspaper said in interviews, some manufacturers had revealed that a 2017/18 model bullet-proof Land Cruiser pick-up could cost about $520,000 (Approx. Shs1.9 billion) while a 2017/18 model bullet-proof Hilux pick-up costs about $166,000 (Shs 630 million).
The course is, of course, mind blow ing ing.. Bu t what w hat got me real ly thinking is the image of a typical MP, cruising along the Kampala-Mbarara Highway in their favourite vehicle, the Toyota Land Cruiser TX – which might be anything from the Third Generation Prado of 2002-2008 or the newer Fourth Generation Prado of 2009 to present which are bigger in the five-door version and are in the TXL or VXL grade. These luxury SUVs SUVs have a basee p rice of US$ bas US$85,0 85,0 00 ( Abo ut S hs3 hs320 20 million) minus taxes, insurance, and freight charges (which could double the cost and explains why most MPs buy fro from m the t he loca l us ed mar market ket at betwee bet ween n Shs5 S hs500 milli m illion on and Shs 100 million). The local Toyota dealership in Namanve has the Land Cruiser 200 VX-R, most likely f rom South Africa
where it goes for between US$75,000 and 100,000). Meanwhile, depending of security plan; either behind or in front the MPs second-hand jalopy would be the bullet-proof Land Cruiser pick-up which costs Shs1.9 billion. Really, does that make sense? A look at President Museveni’s own security detail makes clear the sheer senselessness of the deal. Of course, the President’s security is top secret. But at one point the President acquired a Mercedes Benz Pullman, a limousine that combines top security functions and luxury. This huge vehicle looks ordinary but it can withstand bullets and explosives and its interior can act as a bunker in case of attack. In this case, the President’s guards, with their open pick-ups, have far less p rotection. That means there is an easier way to protect MPs – simply buy them armoured vehicles which look like civilian vehicles. My pick for them is the Range Rover series since s ome MPs already drive some ordinary ones. They can upgrade to the 5.0-litre V8 armored version which has a bullet resistant exterior and is capable of still operating on flat tyres, with self-sealing gas tank, and side blast grenade and high caliber bullet bul let pro protec tection tion .
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Prole
Prof. Ssentamu on Ssentamu on his time as VC Makerere University By Agnes E Nantaba
P
rof John Ddumba Ssentamu is one of Uganda’s long practicing economists. He is best known, however, for serving as the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the country’s oldest university, Makerere University Kampala from 20122017. He chose to bow out upon completion of one term. He says “I would have loved to continue but,, judg but judging ing the sit situat uation ion ahe ahead ad and the politics within the recruitment procedures; I chose to end it there”. Ssentamu is an alumnus of the same university founded in 1922 and he spent most of his working life, more than 35 years, here. He rose from academic ranks to administrator and nally to VC. Prior to his appointment as VC, Prof. Ssentamu was the Principal of the College of Business and Management Science at the university. Meanwhile, for the last 15 years, he has served as chairman of the board at Centenary Bank, the second-largest indigenous commercial bank in the country with the majority shareholding of the Catholic Church. He has also been Caretaker VC for Ndejje University; an Anglican Church founded institution institution and is vice chair of the council of Muteesa 1 Royal University; a Buganda Kingdom founded institution. His role is to steer the process of enabling the university to acquire a charter. His tenure at Makerere University was characterised by having the highest number of strikes but he says some were engineered by peo people ple wit within hin the syst system em bec becaus ausee of of internal ghts. He cites an instance when he made a decision to suspend some of the students who led a strike but unfortunately some body bod y with within in the syst system em over overtur turned ned the decision. He says this is why, at some point in time, he appeared not to be moved by student demands expressed through strikes. He prefers to dwell on his biggest achievements at the great institution. “I worked with the council to introduce a system of external service providers for food so the strikes during my reign were never about food,” he says. The other is that under him, Makerere never went lower that the 8th position on 42
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continental ranking because research at the college of health sciences greatly improved. He also points at the improved road system and the initiation of the construction of part of the university perimeter wall. Today, he still lectures at post graduate level at the university and also is the chairman of the governing council for Kisubi University. He prides in being a teacher who has shared and imparted knowledge with many lovers of economics both in Uganda and other countries. It’s a journey that he embarked on in 1977 after being retained as a special teaching assistant at Makerere University. He had justt grad jus graduat uated ed wit with h a bac bachel helor or’s ’s deg degree ree in economics at the same institution for which he emerged the second best student. The same year, he started teaching on part-time basis bas is at Cal Caltec tec Aca Academ demy. y. He says, “That is when I started enjoying teaching and those are the years that made me famous in economics because I taught many students from dierent schools; especially during holidays”. About the same time, he furthered education graduating with a Master of Arts in Economics at the University of Waterloo Water loo in Ontario, Canada. He returned to Makerere to ll-up the shortage of teaching sta at the time. He married in 1983 but unf unfort ortuna unatel tely y his his wife passed on seven years later leaving him with two young children. He then returned to Makerere
to pursue his doctorate degree, graduating with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), also in Economics Prof Ddumba was born and raised in Masaka present day Lwengo district to Edward Patrick Ssentamu and Teresa Ssentamu Nakalema both deceased. He went to Villa Maria Primary School and Kabojja and Savio Junior School in Kampala and Wakiso districts, and St Mary’s college Kisubi for secondary school.
Q&A Q& A
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Prof Ddumba’s Liteside Any three things that we don’t know about you? am proud of integrity; everywhere I have a trace, the team can acknowledge it. I am an open person who would not mind breaking it face to face when things go wrong. I am also a straight forward person.
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What is your idea of perfect happines happiness? s? Seeing things going right. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Not being aggressive enough because people talked too much during my tenure as VC of Makerere University but I kept a deaf ear. My predecessor was very aggressive and I only got to understand why he acted that way during my term of office. I wish I was also more aggressive. What is the trait you most deplore in others? Dishonesty. Which living person do you most admire? Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala is a straight forward person, listens and I believe that he is
spiritually right. I recall one day when he invited me to his office requesting me to take on the position of board chairman of Centenary Bank; I s till admire his humility. What is your greatest extravagance? I hate being shabby; therefore, I spend some good money on good dressing. What is the greatest thing you have ever done? In 1998, I was on a council for Ndejje University and about the same time, the then vice chancellor Prof Walusimbi (RIP) had his contract ending. My name was forwarded to take over from him in acting capacity to which I agreed and my first task was to organise the first graduation. I did it successfully regardless of working in a very hostile environment characterised by opp osi osition tion fro from m some s ome sects of the Anglican leadership since I was a catholic. However, I was very much appreciated at the end of the tenure and up to today, I am remembered for turning around the university. The people of Ndejje University still appreciate me. What is your current state of mind? Many times, I am a happy man. What do you consider the most overrated virtue? We waste too much time and money on luxurious functions. We are wasting this country and yet we could devote the resources elsewhere. What does being powerful mean to you?
Being morally upright, honest and having integrity. Unfortunately such people are few in Uganda. On what occasion do you lie? I hardly tell lies. What do you most dislike about your appearance? I am not bothered about my appearance. Which living person do you most despise? Anyone who changes goal-posts every time and those are quite many individuals. What or who is the greatest love of your life? It has to be my children. When and where were you happiest? The day I got married in 1983. I was also happy graduating with a PhD that I pursued in very trying times when my wife had justt pass jus p ass ed on and bei being ng torn into raising our very young children that she left behind. I was also very happy being part of the team that took a decision to construct Mapeera house and witnessing its construction as well as official opening. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I am too soft and some people take me for granted. So I wish I could be more aggressive. What do you consider your greatest achievement? Being a part of the growth at Centenary Bank and turning around Ndejje University.
Uganda is my country so I have to live here although I would love a bet ter Uga nda, very well organized. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? As an economist, living below bel ow the pove rty line is too much suffering. It hurts that as an individual, I can’t do so much to get such people out of such abject poverty. What is your favorite occupation? Being an economist although the challenge is that our work is sometimes not taken seriously because of politicking in everything. What do you most value in your friends? Sharing with them ideas and issues let alone money. Who are your favorite writers? Chinua Achebe wrote things that touch our lives as well as those that we appreciate. Which historical figure do you most identify with? Cardinal Emmanuel Nsubuga was a straight forward man, very hardworking and made genuine statements without fear or favour. What is your greatest regret? My regrets come in at Advanced level; may be if I hadn’t wasted so much time in social activities I would have become a med ical doctor. What is your motto? It’s about time.
Where would you most like to live? Aug 03 - 09, 2018
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GLOBAL COMMENT
By Mahmoud Mohieldin and Svetlana Klimenko
Unlocking private-sector funds One way to close the funding gap and catalyse substantial investment for Sustainable Development
F
or the last three years, dozens of countries have gathered each July to present their national plans to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the latest of these United Nations High-Level Political Forums, governments rolled out impressive bluepr blu eprint intss – alm almost ost non nonee of of whic which h incl include uded d realistic budgets or revenue sources. Estimates of the development investment gap are typically in the trillions of dollars, while ocial development assistance is hovering around $140 billion per year. One eective way to help close this funding gap is to catalyse substantial investment from the private sector. The private sector has long played an integral role in poverty reduction and economic development – a role that extends well beyond nance. Private companies create 90% of jobs (the most eective way to lift people out of poverty) in the developing world and facilitate improved eciency, technological adoption and innovation, and the distribution of goods and services. Private-sector nancing of the SDGs would occur via established institutional investors, including pension funds, sovereign-wealth funds, and insurers, which together represent trillions of dollars of “patient capital.” Yet, as it stands, institutional investors allocate only a small share of assets to so-called impact investing, while channeling huge sums toward a relatively small number of public companies. The key to achieving the SDGs is thus to impel public companies – especially the large rms that receive the majority of institutional investment – to account for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria relevant to the SDGs in their decision-making. This approach recognises the need to adopt a long-term perspective when implementing the SDGs, even as we respond to their urgency. The good news is that ESG-anchored investing is already on the rise, with most of the major institutional investors integrating ESG factors into their investment strategies, at least to some extent. The 2016 Global Sustainable Investment Review reported that $22.89 trillion worth of assets were “being professionally managed under responsible investment strategies” worldwide, up 25% from 2014. Europe accounted for $12 44
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trillion, and the US total was $8.7 trillion, though the highest growth rates were in Japan Jap an and Oce Oceani ania. a. Viewing ESG awareness as a way to mitigate risk and even as a source of upside opportunities, institutional investors are seeking to bring this approach into their mainstream activities. This bodes well for the SDGs, but there are still important challenges to overcome, beginning with an inadequate understanding of the link betwee bet ween n ESG ESG stan standar dards ds and the SDG SDGs. s. Only a few investors and businesses are currently using SDGs as the basis for sustainability-focused strategies. But the only way to boost shareholder value and contribute to meeting the SDGs is for companies and investors to ensure, in advance, that they focus on ESG standards that are both bot h mater material ial to the their ir ind indust ustry ry or bus busine iness ss and useful to advance the SDGs. In a recent paper, Gianni Bei, Costanza Consolandi, and Robert G. Eccles map the relevant ESG issues identied by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) in 79 industries in ten sectors, grouped by SDGs. Companies that use this kind of mapping will understand to which SDGs they would be contributing – down to the target level – by performing well on
Investors could consider taking a long-term view with regard to the nancial
performance of their ESG-based portfolios
their chosen ESG criteria. By reviewing data on companies’ ESG performance, investors can see how their funds are contributing to achieving the SDGs. Based on this information, they may decide to reallocate their resources or to engage with beer-performing companies. In 2016, Mozaar Khan, George Sera feim, and Aaron Yoon created portfolios of companies that were performing well and poorly on the material issues in their industry. The rms with the highest annuannu alized active return (alpha) of 4.8% were performing well on the material issues and poorly on the immaterial issues. Those with the lowest alpha, -2.2%, were performing poorly on both. both. Critically, however, the divergences did not start to appear until after 7-8 years. This demonstrates that executives must balanc bal ancee aen aentio tion n to to shor short-t t-term erm per perfor forman mance ce with a long-term perspective. That includes an understanding of which ESG issues will be mat materi erial al to the their ir ind indust ustry ry in the fut future ure,, and which SDG eorts in those areas they may serve to advance. Investors could consider taking a longterm view with regard to the nancial performance of their ESG-based portfolios. They can expect periodic reports on ESG performance and its contribution to the relevant SDGs – just as they receive periodic reports on nancial performance – in order to monitor progress and make adjustments if needed. In many ways, private rms are already contributing to the SDGs, but they are doing so in an ad hoc manner hoc manner that is not adequately labeled or targeted. By creating smart, comprehensive, and clearly dened strategies, private companies can not only get credit for their eorts; they can also help governments to establish realistic budgets and clear nancing plans for the SDGs. Mahmoudd Mohi Mahmou Mohield eldin in is Sen Senior ior Vi Vice ce Pres Preside ident nt at the World Bank Group. Svetlana Klimenko is Lead Financial Management Specialist at the World Bank Group. Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2018.
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