News analysis Health Business

English and failing More men are infertile, Why Barclays Bank lebrating
of science exams so why blame women? rebranded to Absa Ce

Issue No. 511 March 09 - 15 2018 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8
Years

Behind sacking
of Kayihura,
Tumukunde
By Haggai Matsiko

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INBOX

Issue No. 511 March 09 - 15 2018

How sacking
Kayihura,
Tumukunde
leaves Museveni
weaker

The Week The Last Word Analysis Business Arts &

Culture
4|UCC asked The fall of 14|Failing science 24|Why Barclays
to investigate exams: is rebranding as
unregistered SIM
Kayihura: Could English Absa:
35|African art
gains:
cards Why the language be the The South African
`Mona Lisa’
firing of problem? bank to open offices
fetches U.S$
in London and
the IGP New York to serve
1.68m at auction
4|Museveni makes has more clients seeking to
promotions in the invest in Africa
army
to do with 16|More men are
Kampala- infertile:
50% of failed 37|When you
Kigali conceiving is due vehicle gets
25|Bad news
relations to a male factor but on revenue
flooded:
4|Tumukunde The dos and
praises Besigye in
than crime treatments target collection: don’ts
Rukungiri in Uganda women But Finance
Minister, Kasaija,
says the overall
FY2017/18 budget
is performing well

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

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

2 March 09 - 15 2018
 Offline

Pariticpants at the
judges’ and tax appeals
tribunal workshop
organized by Uganda
Revenue Authority at
Lake Victoria Serena
Kigo on March 1

“Even when he was still in government,

as a young man below 30, when he
summoned you to his office, you would
see a person with power, but he really
never abused this power.” Lt Gen. Henry
Tumukunde, former Minister for Security on Dr
Kizza Besigye

Evelyn Anite, (in red)

Minister for Privatisation
and Investment signs an
MoU on Feb. 23 between
the government of
Uganda and Bionas East
Africa Group, an investor ““Since Parliament did not have the
set to implement four
major projects in Uganda. legal mandate to make amendments
The projects involve without a referendum, the committee
agriculture, construction, logically recommended that a
energy generation and
tourism. The project
referendum should be held.” Frank
will be implemented Tumwebaze, the Minister for Information on
by a consortium of 21 move to hold referendum
Malaysian and 6 Chinese
companies

Pupils of Ekanba Primary

School in Buyende
District  express excitement
after receiving a new
water tank as one of
the ‘ DStv Kampala Kids
Run’  beneficiaries of clean
water supply.
“As we consider concrete steps to forge
a way forward on peace and security
in Somalia, we have made enormous
efforts and sacrifices to AMISOM and
Somali National Army (SNA). Therefore
it is crucial that mechanisms be put
in place that aim at safe guarding the
enormous AMISOM success” Sam Kutesa,
Minister for Foreign Affairs on UPDF mission in
Somalia

5 10 Shs40bn
People shortlisted for the position People who die in Money MPs have allocated
of executive director for National road accidents in for procurement of drugs
Forestry Authority Uganda each day for public health facilities

March 09 - 15 2018 3
week

UCC asked to investigate unregistered SIM cards

The Uganda Communications Commis-
sion (UCC) has been directed to investigate
the existence of active SIM cards that are
not properly registered. This follows the
kidnap and murder of Susan Magara grand
daughter to former First Deputy Prime
Minister Henry Muganwa where criminals
used different unregistered cards to call
her parents for ransom. “All telecom opera-
tors are on notice, if they don’t switch off
illegally acquired sim-cards they will be
penalized or have their licenses revoked.
Cabinet has taken this position and we will
enforce it without exception,” said Minister
of ICT and National Guidance Frank Tum-
webaze in a tweet. He said he had directed
UCC to commence investigations into how
some alleged Airtel numbers were got with
wrong or forged identities by criminals.
However, by close of registration dead-
line on August 31, 2017, UCC and the office
of the Prime Minister reported that 98% of
the SIM cards had been successfully regis-
tered and were compliant. Mutabazi said
then that the 2% that was not registered by
end of August was insignificant going by
industry operations. Meanwhile, the only
required document according to the law for
one to register is a National Identity card.

University asks lecturer to respond to sex allegations Museveni makes

promotions in the army
exchange for marks. Kyomuhendo
President Henry Isoke is
was exposed by a former student of
Yoweri Museveni, now Brigadier,
Social work and social administra-
the commander- and Commander
tion that was named ‘Eunice’ in a
in-chief of the Motorised Infantry
TV story but her identity was con-
armed forces has Brigade Col
cealed.
promoted over Charles Byanyima
According to a letter written by 1000 officers is also brigadier
the acting Principle of the College and militants to and Deputy
Professor Josephine Ahikire , she various ranks. The General Officer
noted that they needed a response promotions that Commanding
as such acts contravene the Mak- were approved by Reserves Brig.
erere University Human Resources the president upon Rwabantu is now
manual (2009) and the university recommendation of a Major General.
policy and regulations on sexual the Commissions Also Colonels
harassment (2006. Board on Mar.03 Kagoro Asingura
The letter further reads that the saw popular and James
allegations against the lecturer Brigadier Kasirye Nambale were also
are urgent hence required that the Gwanga being promoted to the
In a Feb.27 letter, the Makerere response be made not later than promoted to the rank of Brigadier.
University College of Humanities March 01. rank of Major Meanwhile
and Social Sciences directed a senior According to the story, ‘Eunice’ General. Gwanga is set to
lecturer in the department of social contacted the station after Kyo- Others promoted retire this year. He
work and social administration Dr. muhendo persisted on meeting her include the had previously
Swizen Kyomuhendo (Pictured) to outside the University premises if Army’s Director retired from the
formally respond to accusations of she wanted to have her name on the for Human Rights army, but later
sexual misconduct and harassment graduation list earlier this year. Col Charles Wacha asked to return to
of female students. This however comes after a report who is now a active service after
This was after a story run by NBS done by a visitation committee Brigadier, Deputy he said he couldn’t
television showed the lecturer on revealed that sex for marks was one Chief of Military’s handle civilian life.
camera allegedly trying to sexu- of the problems that the university Intelligence’s Col
ally harass a final year student in needs to deal with urgently.

*terms and conditions apply

Dial *134 * 7#
4 March 09 - 15 2018
 Week

Renowned journalist Cheeye passes on Tumukunde praises

At 59 years, renowned
Journalist Teddy Ssezi
Cheeye breathed his last
on Mar.01 after being hit
by a speeding motorcycle
as he crossed the road in
Nakawa.
Cheeye who used to
publish a Newspaper
Called the Uganda Confi-
dential has been eulogized
by many as one journalist
who dared speak truths
to power and put those in
authority on the spot.
While being laid to
rest at Namatogonya vil-
lage in Luweero District
on March.04, President
Museveni in his message
delivered by State Minis-
ter for Tourism Godfrey
Kiwanda Suubi warned
motorist against reckless-
ness and asked people to
worry about the appalling
statistics which put Ugan-
da high interms of acci-
dents in Africa. He said
in addition to the fact that
people as important as
Cheeye have perished the
country’s image abroad
has been tarnished too.
Cheeye was also Head
of Economic Monitoring
at the Internal Security
Organisation (ISO) before
he was imprisoned
over embezzlement of
Shs120million of the
Global Fund.
He was only released
recently after serving six
years in prison.
Besigye in Rukungiri
Former Security Minister, Henry Tumuku-
nde used the funeral platform of former min-
ister Matthew Rukikaire’s son in Rukungiri
on Mar. 02 to praise his bush war comrade
Dr. Kizza Besigye. He said; “Besigye is out of
government but he remains a very powerful
man. What is more important is that he never
uses this power to divide people… I think that
is why we are friends. I have known you as a
person who never sabotages development. I
think that is why we are friends. I hope you
can also be friends with your other power-
ful man (possibly referring to Mr Museveni).
Also, let me state it here that if it wasn’t for
you, Besigye, I would not have a leg.” Two
days after he made these comments – March
04, he was dropped as Minister alongside his
opponent, Kale Kayihura, the former Inspector
General of Police. It is not clear whether these
comments were the reason behind his sacking.

World Cup trophy in Uganda for viewing

The FIFA world cup trophy arrived in
Uganda on Mar.05 ahead of public viewing
on Tuesday. Uganda is one of the 51 coun-
tries across the globe set to have a feel of the
trophy ahead of the kick-off at the Luzhniki
stadium in Russia on June 14.
As is tradition that only heads of states
and former winners are allowed to handle
the FIFA World Cup trophy with their
naked hands, President Museveni graced
the event as the trophy got set to tour the
country for the second time since making its
maiden landing in the country in 2009.
Before coming to Uganda, the trophy was
flown to Kenya, Mozambique and South
Africa. Only ten countries in Africa are set to
view the trophy. This is the fourth time the
original trophy is going on a tour around
the world.

March 09 - 15 2018 5
Week

CSO calls for rejection of unnecessary supplementary budgets

In a statement released on Mar. 02,
a Civil Society Organization – CSBAG
(Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group)
asked parliament to reject unnecessary
supplementary budget requests by the
government. The organization calls for
the Public Finance Management (PFM)
Act 2015 to be reviewed and the clause
that allows for flexibility allowing
supplementary budgets to sail through
without parliamentary approval to be
removed.
In its current form, the Act under sections
22 and 20, allows enough flexibility for
government to spend money without
asking for supplementary budgets.
“Parliament should throw out some
of these supplementary budgets by the
government so that they are considered
as losses,” Julius Mukunda, the executive
Director CSBAG said.
The CSOs noted that if the Public finance
Act 2015, which empowers government
to take supplementary budgets before
prior approval by parliament, is reviewed,
parliament will be able to lock out any
uncalled for supplementary expenditures.
The Public Finance Management Act
regulations, specify that the supplementary
budgets should be unforeseeable and
unavoidable but CSOs say this has created
laxity among government officials who
make inadequate planning since they know
they will get supplementary resources
approved by parliament easily.

PAP in campaign to end armed violence

Do not repeat mistakes in Somalia –
Museveni urges UN Security Council The Pan African Parliament
(PAP) is in a campaign to push
for ratification and implementa-
President be much better troops by 2020. tion of the Arms Trade Treaty
Yoweri Museveni anytime soon. Museveni to address armed violence ram-
has called upon Let us avoid new mandated the pant on the continent. The MPs
the United mistakes,” he African Union note that the readily available
Nations Security said. Museveni Commissioner, small arms and weapons are
Council not to convened the Mr. Moussa Faki responsible for the high crime
repeat previous Summit in the Mahamat to rate and terror among the popu-
mistakes made wake of the communicate to lation in Africa.
in Somalia. challenges the UN Security Karin Olofsson, the Secretary PAP President Roger Dang chats
Museveni made AMISOM Council the General of the Parliamentary with Latigo after the meeting in
the remarks at was facing, decisions and Forum on Small Arms and Midrand.
the Summit of characterized recommendations Light Weapons while address-
Heads of State by a mismatch of the Kampala ing Parliamentarians attending systems where people find
and Government between the Summit. Troop a Pan African Parliament work- equity. The two-day regional
of Troop mission ideals Contributing shop in Midrand, South Africa seminar sought to increase par-
Contributing and resources. Countries on Mar.03, said in South Africa liamentarians understanding
Countries (TCCs) It also followed (TCCs) to the alone, 18 people are killed every and ownership of international
to the African the adoption African Union- day by guns. She said armed instruments that guide and
Union Mission of the UN led Mission conflict and violence, regard- regulate conventional arms
in Somalia Security Council in Somalia less of scale, are perpetuated as well as promote increased
(AMISOM) held resolution 2372 (AMISOM) by uncontrolled availability of parliamentary participation and
at Speke resort of 30th August include Burundi, small arms and light weapons. action in international process-
Munyonyo Hotel 2017 whose main Djibouti, According to Uganda’s Prof. es. The seminar aligns with the
in Kampala. “If thrust was the Ethiopia, Kenya Ogenga Latigo, the heart of African Union flagship initiative
we do things phased reduction and Uganda. the problem of gun violence of silencing the guns by 2020,
right, chances and drawdown in Africa is in politics and the which aims at eventually real-
are Somalia will of AMISOM inability to establish governance izing a conflict free Africa.

6 March 09 - 15 2018
Humour Did you know?
Remains of U.S. pilot from
WWII found in ocean

China’s Communist Party is planning to get rid of presidential term limits from the
country’s constitution, to enable President Xi Jinping run for as many terms as possible More than 70 years
ago, during World War
II, a U.S. pilot was shot
down as he was flying
over the Pacific. Over the
decades, sand and sea life
at the bottom of the ocean
covered the wreckage,
further obscuring it from
view.
But now, members of
the U.S. armed forces have
retrieved the remains of
the pilot, as well as his
plane, which were found
near Ngerekebesang
Kyadondo East Member of Parliament Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu has called on security forces to work to Island, in the Republic of
keep Uganda safe instead of only reacting when insecurity arises. Palau.
The recovery team
completed the mission on
Feb. 25, but won’t release
the identity of the human
remains until it can verify
whose they are and notify
the next of kin, the U.S. 7th
Fleet said in the statement.
The mission is part of the
United States’ commitment
to recover personnel lost
during World War II, the
U.S. 7th Fleet said in the
statement.

The British government has donated Shs.1.8billion to the Ugandan Judiciary to

intensify its fight against corruption. Source: Livescience

March 09 - 15 2018 7

Inbox
Letters are
welcome !
The Editor welcomes short and
concise letters from our esteemed
readers on topical issues. Please
send them to:
The Editor, The Independent
Publications Ltd,
P.O Box 3304,
Plot 82/84 Kanjokya St,
Kamwokya.
Kampala,Uganda.
Email: editor@independent.co.ug
Rise and fall
of Cheeye
Teddy Seezi Cheeye has left a
mark. Founding Editor of Tarehe
Sita in January 1987, then Found-
ing Editor of Uganda Confiden-
tial in 1990, and Director of Eco-
nomic Monitoring ISO, etc....
In his paper that used to split
the atom, to use its own slogan,
Cheeye wrote many controversial
stories.
Cheeye, the media general,
who survived bullets during
RPF liberation war (1990-1994)
where he was almost a war cor-
respondent, court cases including
that famous one of ‘chapati” lady
at Black lines, and jail, died as a
nobody after being hit by a boda
boda.
KCCA Executive Director Jen-
nifer Mususu Ssemakula, had
come out with a noble program
of regulating boda boda in and
around Kampala but was frus-
trated. It is high time the pro-
gramme was revisited.
Cheeye, with his Uganda Con-
fidential, following Weekly Topic
owned by SAPOBA trio; Bidandi
Ssali Kintu Musoke and Kirunda
Kivejinja, developed investigative
journalism in Uganda, and will
be remembered for that. In 1995,
however, Cheeye admitted to
taking money to kill a story. RIP.
Ahmed Kateregga
8 March 09 - 15 2018
News analysis Health Business
US$78 billion regional Expired drugs; Stanbic seeks to become lebratin
infrastructure projects who is to blame? Bank Holding Company Ce g
Issue No. 510 March 02 - 08, 2018
Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8
Years
Kasaija, Muhakanizi
in tight corner
Finance under attack over fresh
borrowing, faces tough IMF
Follow us on Twitter @
http://twitter.com/#!/ugandatalks
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www.independent.co.ug
Mwenda’s idea dangerous
Refer to: “The Problem
with Africa” (The Inde-
day problems. I can use a
family setting to illustrate
teenagers and youths, will
you revert to your old ways
pendent Feb.23). Eeh! This my point. When does to get them to do things
article by Mwenda is very coercion in a home work because they worked for
misleading. I hope nobody best? Is it when children are you earlier, will you suc-
with power reads and young, youths, middle age ceed? What I think needs
believes it. It’s good to read or adults? Now compare to be done is study the
history and learn from it, that to what Mwenda is current problems of the
but you are bound to make saying and you will see country and find viable
the same mistakes as his- my point. If when raising solutions.
tory tells us if you try to your children you teased
use old century methods/ them and forced them to do Nsiko
solutions to solve modern things, when they become
Laziness causes backwardness
Refer to: “The Problem with there’s need for radical policies Gadhafi. There’s no any better
Africa” (The Independent
Feb.23). To enable citizens
aimed at benefiting the peas-
ant whom the contemporary
justification for the backward-
ness of our countries than
achieve desired standards of West and their followers like laziness being encouraged by
living is to empower them. It Mwenda believe are being politicians and elites.
doesn’t mean extreme capital- mistreated by brutal develop-
ism. It means being Confu- ment oriented leaders like Paul Bhoryiaak Isaac Mayen
cianist. If Africa is to change Kagame and late Muammar
Africa needs benevolent
dictators
Refer to: “The Problem with Africa”
(The Independent Feb.23). On this point,
I agree with Mwenda fully that in order
to transform the livelihood of the masses,
Congs Mulago on heart surgery one needs to introduce drastic measures.
It requires a benevolent dictatorship (like
is done in the military), do away with
Refer to: “Mulago’s to government and the parliamentary sittings in a designated
breakthrough heart parliamentarians for building, marshal a military that works
bypass surgery” (The recognising the great productively and eliminate crime in its
Independent Feb.23). work and supporting totality by abolishing courts and profes-
The surgery done by the the acquisition of more sional judges and lawyers. Communal
doctors at the Uganda medical equipment and courts officiated by laymen of integrity
Heart Institute, Mulago a new home for UHI. are more potent, just, fast and satisfac-
National Referral This is the way to go. tory to aggrieved parties. It was so
Hospital in Kampala Appreciating people proved in Rwanda ‘gachacha’courts that
exhibited the high level while they are still alive the whole world was awed at how fast
of skill we have as a is a good thing instead a back-log of criminal cases can be dealt
country. The kind of of paying tribute to with. I am reliably informed President
operation they did has people when they have Amin had no single business, commer-
not been done in the already died. Thanks to cial building, or even any rental estate.
East African Region, not The Independent team Such a man, who is not greedy despite
even Nigeria and Gha- for the quality and infor- all opportunities at his disposal, is the
na. Bravo to the heart mative news. We learn a right benevolent dictator if he will not do
surgeons and medical lot from such stories. the things they say Amin did.
team! Bravo to UHI
administration! Bravo Shakilah Lisa Rwasubutare

The fall of Kayihura
By Andrew M. Mwenda
Why the firing of the IGP has more to do with
Kampala-Kigali relations than crime in Uganda
F
inally President Yoweri Museveni
has fired the Inspector General of
Police, Kale Kayihura. It was a sad
ending for a man who more than
anyone else has fought the hardest to de-
fend Museveni’s job. It must be painful for
Kayihura because he was not even given
an alternative appointment as minister or
ambassador or even the token one of “se-
nior presidential advisor” that the president
gives to many people he fires. In leaving
him jobless, Museveni has not disguised his
extreme displeasure with Kayihura.
Kayihura has been the most hated person
by Uganda’s opposition because he was
extremely effective at blocking and dis-
rupting their political mobilisation. While
effectiveness made him very powerful, it
also attracted considerable envy among
some in government, especially in sister
security agencies. These became determined
to bring him down.
There thus emerged a convergence of
different but compatible interests between
certain powerful forces in government
and opposition leaders and activists.
Both wanted him to be fired from his job.
Museveni kept Kayihura for long because
he was extremely loyal to him and devoted
his tenure fundamentally to protect Musev-
eni’s power. So why did Museveni drop a
man who sacrificed everything for him?
This is where we need to begin. In recent
months, there have been complaints that
crime has run out of control and that the
country was on the verge of falling apart.
These alarmist reports and analyses were
not driven by crime but politics. Many
Ugandan journalists became prey to a cam-
paign against Kayihura by his rivals inside
government and his enemies in the opposi-
tion who had a vested interest in exagger-
ating the problem.
Indeed Kayihura’s enemies could have
been the ones behind recent crimes around
the country including the kidnapping and
murder of Suzan Magara. They could have
designed this strategy in order to taint Kayi-
hura and police and therefore create a justi-
fication for his removal. However, Uganda,
like any other country, is going through
a short spell of crime (if this, itself, can be
proved statistically) that given time police
would bring under control.
However, the opposition, journalists
and social media activists who joined the
“increasing crime” and “partisan police”
The Last Word
bandwagon were mistaken. Kayihura’s
departure will not change the fundamentals
on crime but rather buy government a new
lease of legitimacy by creating an appear-
ance that something is being done. And
if his removal stops police from being the
political mobilisation arm of the NRM (and
this is possible) another security agency will
take over this role.
Museveni did not fire Kayihura because
of “increasing crime.” Indeed, there is no
scientific evidence of this. It is true percep-
tion and fear of crime has gone up. But this
does not necessarily mean crime itself has
increased. Studies from the USA show that
as crime fell in the 1990s, the perception of
increasing crime grew as a result of media
exaggerations. The same may be the case
for Uganda. For example, compared to the
crime situation in the 1990s and early to
mid-2000s in this country, the recent spate
of crime in Kampala is a mere pinprick.
Therefore it is unlikely that Museveni
could have fired Kayihura because of crime.
Rather the allegations of increasing crime,
backed by public perception and anger pro-
vided the president the excuse to remove
him. The primary reason for firing Kayihura
seems to be the shifting geopolitical position
of Uganda in her relationship with Rwanda.
When the feud between Kampala and
Kigali began, Kayihura confided in friends
that when Uganda and Rwanda fight, he
pays the price. Being an ethnic Munyar-
wanda, the Ugandan side accuse him of
being a mole while the Rwandan side see
him as a traitor. A reliable source told me
that Museveni was “convinced” by other
intelligence organisations that Kayihura
allowed Rwanda to use Uganda Police to
conduct their operations inside this country.
In exchange, it was alleged that Rwanda
was helping him use police to build a polit-
ical base for his presidential ambitions.
Given the hostility Kayihura was facing
from inside security circles, the opposition
and social media, he became expendable. In
firing him, Museveni was killing fours birds
with one stone. First, he would appease
insiders who wanted Kayihura out. Second
he would dupe the opposition into thinking
they will get some relief. Third he would
please some in the diplomatic community
who were wary of the police. And fifth, he
would get rid of someone he cannot trust
given the current frosty relationship with
Kigali.
Opinion
Kayihura has been an exceptionally suc-
cessful IGP. He has ensured that this city
is safe from criminals and hooligans who
want to take advantage of politics to stage
an insurrection. He has equipped the police
to handle crime with more infrastructure,
manpower, training, tools and morale. This
is the reason the president kept him for
almost thirteen years.
But most critically, Kayihura understood
that Uganda’s rapid growth and urbanisa-
tion are turning the country’s urban centres,
especially Kampala City, into a tinderbox of
social frustration. That this can easily lead
to political upheaval. The other person, who
understands this, and has been trying to
exploit it to grab power, is Kizza Besigye.
Therefore for the last 12 years, these two
men have faced-off on the streets of Kam-
pala.
Kayihura understood that the fight for
the soul of the youths in Kampala was not
challenge that could be handled with the
repressive capability of the state alone. He
saw it as a political problem. Given NRM’s
weak organisational capabilities in urban
areas, Kayihura transformed the police
into a political mobilisation tool for NRM.
This is partisan but it served police well
as it brought it more resources to do other
things.
Kayihura infiltrated opposition strong-
holds, cajoled and bribed their leaders to
either change side or become his informers.
No protest could take place without
Kayihura’s knowledge. Indeed, most of
them were nipped in the bud. Kampala is
peaceful because Kayihura understood its
political dynamics.
Firing him has left a vacuum. If the oppo-
sition were smart, this is the time to chal-
lenge the system. Of course the state would
deploy its military apparatus to contain
the protests. But it is unlikely they have
political networks needed to infiltrate and
demobilise protests before they occur.
This is because the political infrastructure
Kayihura had built has been systemati-
cally disbanded in the struggle to get rid
of him. Of course another security agency
can rebuild this infrastructure. But it
would take time to do so. NRM will soon
realise Kayihura’s value.
amwenda@independent.co.ug
March 09 - 15 2018 9
cover story

How sacking Kayihura,

Tumukunde leaves
Museveni weaker
By Haggai Matsiko

P
resident Yoweri Museveni on
Sunday March 04 moved to
clean up the shabby image of
the country’s security agen-
cies when he fired Police Chief
Gen. Kale Kayihura and Secu-
rity Minister Lt. Gen. Henry Tumukunde.
Although the duo had for some time been
discredited limping lame ducks in their
positions, some insiders say, the manner of
their sacking does not show Museveni at his
tactical best and might have exposed him
as weak and indecisive, insiders say. Part of
the lack of enthusiasm around the shuffle
concerns their replacements.
Museveni’s biggest move was to replace
Tumukunde as the new security minister
with Gen. Elly Tumwine. But according to
several commenters, it is also the weakest
partly because Tumwine’s appointment
represents a move backwards – to 1986
when he was first army commander, minis-
ter of Defence, head of the External Security
Agency (ESO) and more.
Although not a novice in security, hav-
ing been the first bush war commander
of Museveni’s rag-tag bush army in 1981,
Tumwine is now 64 years and been out of
effective service since 1996.
His return is read together with that of
Retired Col. Frank Kaka Bagyenda, another
bush war veteran, to head the Internal Secu-
rity Organisation (ISO) and the renewed
influence of President Museveni’s decorated
brother and war hero, Gen. Caleb Akand-
wanaho aka Salim Saleh.
The inter-agency rivalry between Bagy-
enda’s ISO, who was seen as a surrogate of
Tumukunde and Saleh, partly prompted
this reshuffle. It is not clear what Bagy-
enda’s fate will be now that Tumukunde is
out.
Equally interesting is how the boss of the
Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI),
Col. Abel Kandiho and the new player at
police Brig. Sabiiti Magyenyi of the so-called

10 March 09 - 15 2018
 cover story

March 09 - 15 2018 11
cover story
Muhoozi 1997 group (in reference to young
officers recruited and groomed by Musev-
eni’s son, Maj-Gen. Muhoozi Kainergugaba)
will either gel or break up with the old
guard of Elly Tumwine, Bagyenda, and, to
some extent Saleh.
Tumwine and Ochola’s roles
In reality, a lot rides on how seriously
Gen. Tumwine intends to play his role. In
the past the Security ministry has been an
inconsequential docket. The posting that
matters most has always been that of the
military head, the Chief of Defense Forces
(CDF), currently Gen. David Muhoozi. The
Security docket has at times been held by
people who were both clueless and disinter-
ested. But Tumwine is not one of these and
sparks could soon be flying. If that happens
we might soon see a fight for supremacy not
unlike the one we have been seeing under
Kayihura and Tumukunde.
The other big move is Museveni’s replace-
ment of Kayihura with his former deputy,
Okoth Ochola.
Unlike Kayihura, who is a decorated war
army general and member of Museveni’s
trusted inner circle who was parachuted
into the police force in 2005, Okoth-Ochola
is a career cop with 30 years on the force and
rising through the ranks since joining as a
non-commissioned officer in 1988. Although
he joined when Museveni was president,
Ochola is seen either as a grey entity or as
part of the old-style police force that Musev-
eni is not very fond of. That Ochola has
survived and thrived in an ethnically riven
force where his peers have been weeded
out, speaks more about his character and
survival instinct than his policing profi-
ciency. A laid back, soft-spoken man with
a slow gait and sharp mind, Ochola is dif-
ficult to fathom as he keeps himself and his
views to himself, wears an incomplete smile
on a taciturn face, and is press shy. In other
words, he is the total opposite of the man he
succeeds. But is he likely to bring a different
style to the force. Most likely; he will not.
Part of the reason is that at 60 years of
age, although he is two years younger
than Kayihura, he looks and acts older. It
is unlikely that Ochola will be gallivanting
across the country from one crime scene to
the next, crafting political strategy in mid-
night meetings, or plotting to increase the
police’s operational budget to stock up on
teargas and anti-riot gear. Changes in police
under him are likely to evolve rather than be
reforms. Another reason for an anticipated
slower pace is that Ochola is smart enough
to recognise that his appointment is a stop-
gap measure.
How Museveni manages security
At best Museveni’s appointment of
Ochola represents an appeasement of
the old guard in police who felt sidelined
by Kayihura. But Museveni clearly has
12 March 09 - 15 2018
Gen. Elly Tumwine
Okoth Ochola
every intention of keeping the police as an
appendage of the military. And the man to
ensure that is Ochola’s new deputy; Brig.
Sabiiti Magyenyi, the former Commander
Military Police.
Magyenyi is likely to emerge as the true
commander of the force that Kayihura had
built over the last 12 years.
He will control the Shs500 billion plus
budget, and expand its role in intelligence
gathering, crime fighting, counterterrorism,
and political counter mobilisation against
the opposition. These are the things that
gave Kayihura clout.
But they are also what attracted enemies
for Kayihura to the extent that even Musev-
eni became wary of him. According to
informed sources, Kayihura was removed
partly because Museveni perceived him as
a threat to his power; especially once intel-
ligence reports started emerging that he
was getting support from Rwanda (because
of ethnic links and close relationship
with Rwandan President Paul Kagame).
Although sounding farfetched to the politi-
cally naïve, Museveni is not one to dismiss
such intelligence. He is known to eliminate
threats, assumed or real.
So first, it is said, Museveni had
appointed Tumukunde as security minister
although he was aware that it would create
friction with Kayihura. Museveni’s gambit
was to signal to Kayihura that he is being
watched.
After appointing Tumukunde, Museveni
appointed Kandiho to head CMI, which
returned the military intelligence outfit back
to the apex of Uganda’s security system.
Working with Tumukunde, Kaka Bagyenda
also revived ISO to counter police.
Over the years, this has been Museveni’s
way of managing the security agencies.
When Jim Muhwezi was the Director Gen-
eral ISO, ISO was at the apex of the security
system. When Muhwezi was kicked out,
Museveni put the late Brig. Noble May-
ombo then heading CMI at the top of the
security system. With CMI facing intense
criticism over torture and becoming a
major cost on his government’s reputation,
Museveni turned his eyes onto police, eject-
ed Gen. Katumba Wamala and appointed
Kayihura Police Chief. Gen. Kayihura built
police and put it at the top. With Kayihura
becoming a threat, Museveni has put CMI
on top again.
Meanwhile pressure had been mounting
from President Museveni’s inner circle, civil
intelligence and military intelligence to kick
out Kayihura. But not known to act under
any one’s pressure, the president kept his
police chief on the job.
Kayihura’s troubles
Kayihura’s fall has been loud because
Museveni had, over the years, severally
praised him as a great cadre. The President
in May last year renewed Kayihura’s con-
tract clearing him to add on his 12 years as
police chief, the longest in Uganda’s history.
While Museveni often quarreled with
Tumukunde in cabinet meetings, the closest
he got to express concerns about Kayihura
was last year when he complained that
police had been infiltrated by bad elements.
Still, after that, in October last year, the
president attended the thanksgiving for
Kayihura’s father, the late John Kale Kale-
kyezi, who he described as a great Pan Afri-
canist at Isaaza Grounds in Kisoro Munici-
pality. President Museveni then thanked
Gen. Kayihura for keeping his father’s
legacy alive and celebrating him.
Kayihura appeared to have earned his
power by turning the police into a political
arm of the ruling National Resistance Move-
ment (NRM).
In using the police to fortify Museveni in
power, Kayihura has been able to success-
fully divert a significant amount of budget-

ary resources to the force, thereby turning
it from a sidelined and weak organisation
into the most visible institution in Uganda’s
power politics. When Kayihura joined
police in 2005, police budget was under
Shs70 billion; it has since skyrocketed to
about Shs500 billion.
Kayihura’s success appeared to walk
hand in hand with his doom.
Last year, the situation appeared to get
out of hand. When Assistant Inspector Gen-
eral of Police (AIGP) Andrew Felix Kaweesi
was murdered in March, many pointed to
rogue elements in police. It was the 12th
high profile murder under Kayihura’s
watch but it was worse because it had
claimed a central security figure and spread
doubt and fear that a force that couldn’t
protect its own couldn’t protect the public.
In the same year, machete wielding gangs
sent shock waves across central Uganda.
When police carried out a sting, some of
the suspects said they were working with
police. As security officials were still grap-
pling with this crisis, a spate of women
murders also engulfed Kampala suburbs.
His troubles were worsened by tensions
with Rwanda other than his own actions.
The rising crime wave, botched up inves-
tigations, and bust ups with ISO and the
army, were a trigger not the powder keg of
his troubles.
Kayihura was accused of stage-managing
confessions by known criminals to implicate
Tumukunde in murders, including that of
Kaweesi.
But Kayihura’s weakened position was
exposed when CMI entered the investiga-
tions into the murder of one Francis Ekalun-
gar, the former accountant of Case Clinic,
and arrested Huzair Kiwalabye, a brother
of Kayihura’s operative Abdallah Kitata, the
self-proclaimed patron of Boda Boda 2010.
The arrest of Kitatta was a major window
into how far the military was willing to go to
dismantle the power structure of Kayihura.
Kitata has faced military court and been
remanded together with 12 others over
charges of unlawful possession of arms.
The arrest signaled the return of CMI to the
apex of Uganda’s ever-changing security
infrastructure.
Kitatta’s arrest came months after another
round of investigations climaxed into the
arrest and trial of seven police officers
close to Kayihura before the General Court
Martial (GCM) on Oct.27.
The seven included; Senior
Superintendent of Police Nixon Agasirwe,
the former commander Special Operations
Unit, Senior Commissioner of Police Joel
Aguma, the commandant of the police
Professional Standards Unit, Assistant
Superintendent of Police Magada, crime
intelligence; Benon Atwebembeire, Sgt Abel
Tumukunde, the Kampala Metropolitan
Police flying squad commander, Faisal
Katende, flying squad and Amon
Gen. Salim Saleh.
Sabiiti Magyenyi
Kwarisima.
They were supposed to be 12 but five
were yet to be netted, a source intimated.
Jonathan Baroza, the former Aide to Gen.
Kayihura, was also targeted.
They were charged with conveying Joel
Mutabazi; a former presidential guard
for Rwanda President Paul Kagame and
Jackson Kalemera without their consent to
Rwanda.
Kayihura’s foes used intelligence against
him from one Ali Kabanda, a Special
Police Constable who was attached to the
Police Flying Squad but claims his life was
under threat because of his knowledge of
the arrests and extradition of Rwandese
refugees.
Kabanda had revealed that at the centre
of these operations were Nixon Agasirwe,
one of the seven facing trial, Baroza, who
was Kayihura’s aide and Ismail Baguma,
who officials at CMI had expressed concerns
about.
cover story
Tumukundes’s troubles
Tumukunde’s fortunes, meanwhile,
exploded when he resorted to his known
penchant for braggadocio, relishing the
jet-set life and fighting colleagues in public.
He also churned out a stream of, especially
financial fake intelligence, against others
and openly criticised government.
Kayihura, it is said, angered Museveni
when he directed the rank and file not to
share intelligence with the military without
his approval. It was reportedly seen as a
direct affront to Museveni who had directed
the military to take over police roles.
Officially, it was described as against the
spirit of the National Security Council, the
highest security body that brings together
security chiefs from different bodies to deal
with security issues.
Matters were not helped by the recent
high profile murders in hotels (Tersvouri
Toomajuha Petteri, a 42-year-old Finish
national , who died at Pearl of Africa
Hotel on Feb.08 and Alex Sebastian, a
40-year-old Swede, who died at Sheraton
Hotel on Feb.06) and of Suzan Magara
who was kidnapped in the Kampala
surburb of Rubaga Division on Feb.07.
Magara’s parents paid a ransom of about
Shs700million and Museveni got personally
involved but failed to save her as her body
was discovered at Kitiko near Entebbe
Expressway. Security inter-agency rivalry
became a focal point of anger and left
Museveni frustrated. It gave Museveni the
perfect circumstances to fire Kayihura and
Tumukunde.
Since Kayihura was already encircled,
it was easy for Museveni to swing the
axe without fear of jeorpadising national
security although the inter-agency fights
had exposed vulnerabilities in Uganda’s
security system and were failing to solve
crime.
Kandiho, Magyenyi and their boss, Gen.
Muhoozi are all astute officers and respected
commanders. Working together they have
cracked the women murders and have been
dealing with other crimes. Kandiho is also
said to have experience in counterterrorism.
But at this point, having dismantled
Kayihura’s network, they must build a new
network to replace Kayihura’s. They must
reengineer the bulk of the rank and file who
were recruits of Kayihura.
It will be interesting to watch how
Magyenyi works with Ochola who already
knows the inner workings of police. Indeed,
Brig. Magyenyi’s role will be to neutralise
any potential threats with in police and
keep it under firm control of the military
and reportedly purge it of any lingering
sympathies for any perceived internal and
external security threats.
March 09 - 15 2018 13
rwanda
700 noisy churches
Why Rwanda closed them
By Independent Team
A
bout 700 churches were recently
closed down in Rwanda. Most
of them are small Pentecostal
churches. One mosque was closed
too but the focus was on the churches.
The closure late last February by the
Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) was
meant to tighten rules on registration and
functioning of churches.
Most are Pentecostal churches, meaning
they emphasise “baptism in the Holy
Spirit, evidenced by ‘speaking in tongues’,
prophecy, healing, and chasing of demons
or exorcism”. Usually they are led by a
charismatic preacher or a person claiming
to have power to perform miracles.
According to one report, when the
Rwandan President Paul Kagame first
heard that more than 700 churches had
been closed down by authorities in Kigali,
he was taken aback.
“Seven hundred churches in Kigali? Are
14 March 09 - 15 2018
these boreholes that give people water?” he
reportedly said, “I don’t think we have as
many boreholes. Do we even have as many
factories? But 700 churches, which you
even had to close? This has been a mess!”
He pointed out that had there been
proper planning, the situation would not
have got to a level where the government
has to close churches.
According to Kagame, such a big
number of churches is suitable in bigger
and developed economies that have the
means and systems to sustain them.
“Rwanda has not reached a level where
it needs all these churches,” he said.
“The second scenario is that you will
find such a mess [of churches] in societies
which have nothing like ours for different
reasons. In Rwanda and Africa, there are
those who want to see us in such chaos.
When authorities intervene and stop them,
they lament that it is a human rights abuse.
People should have a right to worship in
whatever church, they say,” said Kagame.
A joint operation of local government
authorities and the Rwanda Governance
Board (RGB) which oversees the
registration and operations of churches
saw the closure of 714 churches in Kigali.
Kigali’s three districts reportedly have
1,351 registered churches and an estimated
100 unregistered ones. Kicukiro, another
district has 352 registered churches,
Gasabo 699 and Nyarugenge has 300.
RGB has also drafted a new legal
framework to guide the operations of
faith-based organisations to help weed out
unscrupulous activities among religious
groups.
It is reported that incidents of police
being called to intervene in wrangles over
noise pollution from the churches have
been on the increase. Residents unable
to bear living close to the noisy churches
have demanded they install sound-proof
systems. But the churches have not acted.
Instead, many of the churches continue to
operate in rickety shelters, including tents.

According to the Rwanda Governance
Board, the decision to implement the
regulations required of churches was in the
interest of the Rwandan people.
“It is about honouring God. It means
that if we are Christians where we worship
must meet standards showing respect for
God. Standards that reflect the importance
of God in our lives,” Anastase Shyaka the
Chief Executive of RGB told The New
Times newspaper.
He added that the move also aimed at
dignifying worshipers as well as ensuring
that worshiping is conducted in decent
places without inconveniencing others.
But religious and rights groups
protested; claiming that RGB’s actions
amount to infringement on the right to
worship.
Shyaka said the process to close down
the churches was done in consultation with
local religious leaders and their members.
“We believe in collaboration and
we would not like the exercise to be
misunderstood as Rwanda’s attempt to
infringe on freedom to worship. We are
doing it in total transparency together with
local faith-based organization leaders, local
governments,” he reportedly said.
“It should be free of any critics regarding
the government’s commitment to what is
enshrined in the constitution regarding
freedom of worship. We very much respect
the freedom to worship but we would like
it exercised within the law,” he added.
Some local religious leaders have
supported the closures.
Bishop John Rucyahana, a retired
Anglican Bishop is reported by The
New Times newspaper to have said
that churches ought to serve as positive
examples to the rest of the society on the
importance of obeying the laws of the land
and meeting required standards.
“The work of the Lord is not inferior that
it can be done in sub-standard places. It
has to be safe for occupants,” he said.
Bishop Rucyahana pointed out
that Rwandans ought to confront and
castigate religious leaders they find to be
manipulative or operating below required
standards.
“Why should we wait for the
government to close down these churches?
The government has a lot to do in other
aspects of development. As Christians
we should know what is the standard
and acceptable for a place of worship
and confront and avoid religious leaders
who do not. We should also do the same
for those we consider to be manipulative
religious leaders,” he said.
Pentecostal churches have grown
rapidly in many parts of Africa in recent
years. According to the BCC which has
offices in most countries on the continent,
some are massive, attracting thousands
of worshippers each Sunday, but others
consist of tiny structures built without
planning permission. Church leaders
have at times been criticised for using
loud public address systems to attract
worshippers.
These are led by self-proclaimed
prophets or messengers who are believed
by their millions of devoted followers
to have the power to perform a range of
miracles from healing the sick, curing Aids
and even raising the dead.
Some leaders, such as Kenya’s President
Uhuru Kenyatta have recently called for
the regulation of churches.
“They are thieves and not preachers. We
have to consult and know how to remove
them,” the president is quoted as saying by
Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation.
When approached for comment on the
scepticism around their sometimes bizarre
practices, the church leaders response is
Religion in Africa:
 63% Christians
 30% Muslims
 3% Traditional reli-
gions (many also mix
traditional beliefs with
Christianity and Islam)
Of the Christians:
 57% Protestant
(includes members of
African Independent
Churches and Angli-
cans)
 34% Catholic
 8% Orthodox
 1% Others
often a variation of “we are being targeted”
or “the Bible says the man of God will
face opposition. Christ himself faced
opposition”.
Nigerian evangelist TB Joshua made
news following a building collapse at his
Synagogue Church of All Nations church
in Lagos, which killed 116 people.
A coroner’s report blamed the collapse
on shoddy work, saying the structure
had not met safety standards but Joshua’s
church denied this, instead blaming the
collapse on a mysterious plane which
had been flying above the double-storey
building shortly before it was reduced to
rubble.
Of those killed, more than 80 were from
South Africa, illustrating the international
nature of some of the bigger churches.
In South Africa, two churches - Rabboni
Ministries and End Times Disciples
Ministries - made headlines here when the
churches posted images of their leaders
feeding followers snakes and rats, or
instructing congregants to drink petrol and
rwanda
eat grass. The images caused a nationwide
outcry.
At the time, the man dubbed the “snake
pastor” by local media, Prophet Penuel
Mnguni, said he was “doing God’s work
and didn’t need to explain God’s ways to
people”.
But his church in extension 13 in
Soshanguve, a township outside Pretoria
was burnt down by residents.
The South Africa’s Commission for the
Promotion and Protection of Cultural,
Religious and Linguistic Communities
(CLR) summoned 40 churches and
criticized the commercialisation and abuse
of people’s belief systems.
“The sector needs to be regulated,” CLR
chairperson Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva
told the BBC.
“We’ve found that other religions
such as Islam and the Jewish religion are
systematised for disciplinary codes and
monitoring but Christianity, because of its
volatility in terms of anyone being able to
start up their own church, we feel there is
a need for regulation, self-regulation,” she
said.
Pastor Conrad Mbewe, of the Kabwata
Baptist Church in Zambia, says charismatic
churches have a stronghold on the
continent because “Africans are hugely
spiritual”.
“Africans do not question the existence
of God as in the case with many in the
Western World,” said Mr Mbewe.
“It is believed that there needs to be
a conduit that enables communication
between humans of the various layers of
spiritual beings, which include angels,
demons and spirits. They see these
prophets as messengers from God,” he
said.
He said financial swindling and sexual
abuse were a concern for church leaders in
Zambia.
“We have been made aware of incidents
of sexual abuse, which is said to take
place when they attend overnight church
gatherings.”
“Issues of poverty and unemployment
are at the core of people’s reliance on
these types of churches. We’ve found this
group is incredibly desperate and will do
whatever they are told to do if promised
that it will change their lives.”
This is not to say all evangelical churches
are bad, the same way we cannot say all
orthodox churches are good and without
controversy.
“There needs to be at the very least,
a bare minimum standard that we as
Christians can set and adhere to and any
church found to be operating outside of
that needs to be stigmatised. We would
have failed as church leaders if we do
nothing,” said Reverend Nthla.
Source: Pew Research Center
March 09 - 15 2018 15
news analysis
By Ronald Musoke

T
he search for solutions to the declin-
ing uptake and rising failure rate of
the three core science subjects and
mathematics at secondary school
exam level has until now focused mainly on
the lack of adequate preparation and lack of
teachers.
As a result, it has been argued that once
candidates get adequate practical training
and schools get more science teachers, exam
grades in physics, chemistry, and biology
will improve. Unfortunately, it has not
happened even in schools which, on paper,
appear to have both.
So, could it be that in order to improve
the performance of students in science
exams, it is necessary to look at something Students doing a practical examination in a Kampala school. Many Ugandan students lack such
completely new – the students masterly of practical experience.  INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA
the English language?

Failing science
According to Daniel Nokrach Odongo,
the Uganda National Examinations Board’s
(UNEB) executive secretary, the Uganda

Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE)
is designed to test the candidates’ ability
to understand and apply knowledge in
original situations, demonstrate logical
reasoning skills, show ability in performing
scientific experiments, interpret results, and
draw conclusions.
But, while releasing results for 2017
recently, Odongo said many candidates still
show misunderstanding of questions lead-
ing to wrong answers while many more
show inability to deal with questions which
require explanation, interpretation and
original formulation of responses.
“These candidates also showed inability
to organise their essays in a manner reflect-
ing logical flow of thought,” he said, “Many
are comfortable listing points without the
kind of explanations or arguments expected
at UACE level.”
He added that candidates also tend to
exhibit poor mastery of the English lan-
guage which affects performance in science
subjects. He said examiners noticed this
when, while carrying out the practical tests,
the students failed to follow instructions.
Other challenges include misspellings
of technical terms, writing unbalanced
chemical equations, lack of mathematical
skills where these are needed, failure to plot
graphs, especially where negative values
are included; and generally interpreting a
set of experimental readings recorded.
Only candidates from the traditional gov-
ernment schools and the better established
private schools exhibited good quality work
in science subjects. Most of the other candi-
dates appeared unprepared, Odongo said.
Masterly of the English language, ques-
tion interpretation, and essay writing skills
appear critical because of the way science
exams are graded. While a lot of failure is
blamed on lack of experience with practi-
cal laboratory work, the grading system
examinations
Could English language be the problem?
gives the theoretical papers higher scores.
According to science teachers that The
Independent spoke to, some practical papers
like biology at O’ Level are marked out of
60 while the theory paper is marked out of
100. This means that if a student got 50% of
the answers right in the practical paper they
would get 30 marks. On the other hand, if
a student got 50% of the answers correct in
the theory paper, they would get 50 marks.
To get the students grade, however, the
examiners simply add the marks for the two
papers and divide by two.
This means that if a student was very
good and got 90% of the answers in the
practical paper correct, they would get 54
marks. And if they got 30% of the theory
paper they would get 30 marks. The stu-
dent’s average and final marks would be
42. On the other hand if the student was
very bad and got 30% in the practical, they
would have 18 percent and if they got 90%
in theory, they would have 90 marks. This
student’s final mark would be 54. So, it
appears, a student is better off scoring high-
er in the theory than in the practical. And
to answer the theoretical part correctly, the
candidates require masterly of the English
language.
In 2012, the Uganda National Council of
Science and Technology’s (UNCST) human
capital development unit published a report
entitled, “The Quality of Science Education
in Uganda,” which noted that Ugandan
students are failing because of poor science
infrastructure in schools and the teaching
and learning methods that are basically
theoretical. The reality, however, is that if
the theory was taught properly and the stu-
dents mastered it, they would score higher
marks.
As Odongo said, even at UACE, in many
schools the practice appears to be “cover the
syallabus theoretically and if time allows,
then do the practical lessons.” However,
even the theory appears not to be mastered.
Odongo said many candidates appear
not to understand something as basic as the
X and Y axis not meeting at zero.
“When they see a negative value of two at
Y or X axis, they do not know where to plot
it and yet this is extremely important at this
level,” Odongo said. He said such problems
could be resolved if theory and practical
knowledge is given at the same time.
It is a point made by John Chrysostom
Muyingo, the minister of state for Higher
Education.
“Schools and teachers must go back to
the basics and handle the teaching of science
as it ought to be; theoretical and practical
aspects of science teaching go hand in hand,
and not one after the other.”
According to him, the uptake of science
subjects will get better once the problems
which affect the transition of students from
lower to upper secondary level are identi-
fied.
Science textbooks not read
In fact, lack of masterly of the English
language appears to be tied to another

16 March 09 - 15 2018

problem that the Ministry of Education has
unearthed – the failure to read textbooks.
Speaking during the release of the 2017
UACE results in February, Benson Kule, the
commissioner in charge of Secondary Edu-
cation said, thanks to a World Bank funded
project, the government has given science
and mathematics textbooks to secondary
schools. Unfortunately, he said, it appears
the books are not being read.
“We have moved around the country
inspecting the schools and we have discov-
ered that the books that were supplied to
the schools are still new with many still in
the boxes,” Kule said.
The commissioner said since the Min-
istry’s school inspectors cannot be every-
where, head teachers have been instructed
to ensure that the science text books are
used by the students to improve results. Is it
not possible the head teachers already know
this, but also know that the students lack
masterly of the English language and, there-
fore cannot read the books?
Kule was reacting to concerns about the
continued low uptake of science subjects
and yet another poor performance in sci-
ence subjects by the 2017 UACE candidates.
Odongo had earlier noted that, whereas
mathematics, chemistry, biology and phys-
ics are compulsory subjects at O-Level, the
number of students opting for science com-
binations at A-Level remains low.
UNEB officials say entry figures continue
to show that the overwhelming majority of
learners are opting for humanity subjects.
In 2017, only about 20% of the candidates
opted to sit for science subjects.
Odongo said only 22.8% of the candi-
dates who sat for UACE offered mathemat-
ics, down from 31.3% in 2016; physics had
13.8%, a slight increase from 12.5% in 2016.
Chemistry had 15.2%, a decline from 16.2
and biology, 13.0%, a decline from 16.9%.
When it came to actual performance in
the examinations, Odongo said only 1.5%
of the candidates scored ‘A’ in mathematics,
while those who scored ‘A’ in physics were
1.9%, chemistry (1.7%) and biology (0.1%).
Close to 50% of candidates who registered
for sciences barely passed or got an ‘E’.
Odongo said even if the 2017 candidates
had performed slightly better in biology
and chemistry, the general performance in
science remains poor.
Lack of laboratories
Even the coveted improvement in prac-
tical laboratory experience appears to be
affected.
According to members of Parliament’s
Standing Committee on Education and
Sports who travelled around Uganda to
inspect schools, they found “shocking
things in some of the schools.”
“We found expired chemicals; schools
didn’t have laboratories and where we
found laboratories, we found that biology
and physics practical lessons were being
done in the same laboratory,” said Joseph
Gonzaga Ssewungu, the MP for Kalungu
West (DP) who is on the committee.
Ssewungu says the MPs found some
schools did not have science teachers. He
said there are schools in the countryside
that do not have science teachers because
the government has refused to recruit new
science teachers.
“We have said recruit science teachers;
the government has refused; pay those ones
who are in the system, they have refused,
provide laboratory equipment and utilities,
they are not there,” he said, “If a student
takes four years to touch litmus paper or
see a specimen, how do you expect them to
perform?”
Dr. Mary Goretti Nakabugo, the head
of Uwezo— a Twaweza East Africa pro-
gramme that tracks learning and numeracy
outcomes around the region also agrees
with MP Ssewungu. She told The Indepen-
Janet Museveni Chrysostom Muyingo
dent on March 05 that unless the govern-
ment makes ample investments in science
teachers and science practical facilities,
the compulsory science policy needs to be
rethought.
“We need good, well trained science
teachers who are passionate about student
learning but right now many schools lack
science teachers,” she said.
“We also need good methods of teach-
ing science which make science learning
meaningful and interesting,” she said, “Cur-
rent teaching is very theoretical and does
not relate text book knowledge to the real
world, which in turn leads to rote learning
and cram work.”
Nakabugo added that most schools hard-
ly have laboratories to conduct the most
basic of science practicals
“Unless all the above three are in place
across all schools, let us rethink the com-
pulsory science policy. There is no need to
continue producing failures in the name of
policy,” she said.
As the search for better performance
continues, the current low uptake and
performance in science exams is likely to
slow the development of the country. Mary
news analysis
Okwakol, the UNEB Chairperson pointed
out that sciences are vital in spurring the
development of any country. And, as Odon-
go noted, the low enrollment in sciences at
secondary school level, affects other pro-
grammes in higher institutions of learning.
Twelve years ago, the government intro-
duced a policy that made the core science
subjects; physics, chemistry, biology and
mathematics compulsory for all lower sec-
ondary level students.
The policy was in line with the govern-
ment’s bold step to boost science education
as a strategic investment to create a critical
mass of scientists and engineers to spur
growth and development in the country.
A similar policy was adopted at the
tertiary level where half of the students on
government scholarship must study science
and technology. It meant rectification of
longstanding attitudes that promoted and
valued arts and social science—a stance
which led to the shunning of science right
from primary level.
The policy is meant to fast-track Ugan-
da’s mission of achieving middle-income
status spelt out in the country’s develop-
ment blue print, Vision 2040, which seeks
to have a transformed Ugandan society
from a peasant to a modern and prosper-
ous one within the next 22 years.
But experts insist the fundamentals
must be got right. These include; putting
up the necessary infrastructure, promot-
ing science, technology, innovation,
engineering and upgrading the human
resource especially the youthful popula-
tion.
So far, although focusing on improving
the quality of science teachers and recruit-
ing more of them as recommended by the
2016 UNESCO International Institute for
Capacity Building in Africa might appear
well intentioned, it might not tell the
whole story of poor learning outcomes.
The report argues that low quality edu-
cation and poor learning outcomes are
not simply caused by a lack of teachers,
poor training or poor instructional prac-
tice but reflect historic investment made
in the education sector, the quality of
policy making and the cumulative impact
of many different decisions taken, and
tradeoffs made, across national education
systems.
Focusing on the student’s masterly
of English, which is the language of
instruction, might be one of the trad-
eoffs required for better results. In other
words, ensuring that students are able
to read and understand the science text-
books in addition to the teachers using
their reference books as emphasized by
officials from the Education ministry,
might improve the performance in science
exams more than the dogmatic emphasis
on practical laboratory work.
March 09 - 15 2018 17
advertorial

JLOS three-year strategic

plan puts people at centre
Implementation of the fourth strategic plan is
empowering people to build trust and uphold rights

T
he Justice, Law and Order Sec-
tor (JLOS) has implemented
three strategic plans in the
past 15 years and one major
issue that has stood out is; the forma-
tion and stabilization of the sector.
In order to build on this stabil-
ity, JLOS is at the moment execut-
ing its fourth Sector Development
Plan - SDPIV (2017-2020). The plan
is designed to ensure that people in
Uganda live in a safe and just society,
in line with the aspirations of Ugan-
da’s Vision 2040 and the National
Development Plan II. Essentially, the
strategy aims at promoting the rule
of law.
It is prioritizing interventions in
the following areas; widening and
deepening access to services of JLOS
institutions; eliminating case backlog;
addressing the wider civil and crimi-
nal justice challenges; development
and funding of special programmes to
target gender, age, poverty and other
forms of vulnerability; mainstreaming
national priorities and the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs); tackling
the growing concerns of corruption
and human rights violations; and
strengthening the environment for
competitiveness.
JLOS Institutions
The JLOS sector brings together 18
institutions responsible for adminis-
tering justice, maintaining law and
order, and promoting the observance
of human rights. The sector also
brings together state and non-state
actors who play complementary roles
in planning, budgeting, programme

A member of the public airing his views during a JLOS consultative meeting.

18 March 09 - 15 2018
 advertorial
compared to 65% in 2012/13 and 59.8%
The overall cost Wages Operational Capital of districts in 2015/16 have a complete
of the SDPIV will cost recurrent development
Shs chain of JLOS services as compared to
implementation costs will funding will 53% in 2014/15.
is approx. 1.617tn take require
The crime rate reduced during the
Shs 5.709 Shs Shs SIPIII period from 298 per 100,000 in
tn 2.649 tn 1.443 tn 2014 to 296 per 100,000 in 2016. There
was also a reduction in the rate of
Shs 500 bn Donors will JLOS is present in recidivism in prisons to 21% due to
is anticipated to come from contribute approx. Satisfaction 82% strengthening of rehabilitation pro-
other development partners 10% attained by of districts as grammes. Alternative Dispute Resolu-
and private sector contribution Government and those that compared to
received tion (ADR) programmes, juvenile jus-
budget support
JLOS
65% tice initiatives, including diversion and
The Plan will be donor funding will in 2012/13 and
constitute a total services innovations such as plea bargaining
financed by public,
donor and private of Shs5.172 trillion rose from 59.8% and small claims took root as part of
an average of districts in
resources the strategies to improve case disposal.
of 2015/16 have a
About complete chain As a result, pending cases reduced
90% 59% of JLOS services by 20% and case clearance rate stood
in 2012 to
of the funding will as compared to at 125%. The sector also registered a
come from government 72% 53% reduction in human rights violations.
through the budget in 2016
in 2014/15. In terms of financial performance,
the overall sector budget grew in
absolute terms from Shs 568 billion in
FY 2012/13 to Shs 1.244trillion in FY
JLOS
services The Judicial 82% 2015/16. However, the share of the sec-
rose from an Independence of the tor allocation in the national budget
grew by population during the implementation of the SIPIII
average of
59% 22% were traversing
shorter reduced by 19% from 5.6% in 2012/13
in 2012 to from 2.8 in to 4.4% in 2016/17. The financial per-
2014 to 3.14 in distances
72% 2016 to get JLOS formance was further affected by cuts
in 2016 services in donor support to the sector follow-
ing the enactment of the Anti-Homo-
sexuality law.

Challenges and future plans

implementation, monitoring and evalu-
ation.
The state institutions responsible
for administering justice, maintain-
ing law and order and promoting the
observance of human rights include;
Ministry of Justice and Constitutional
Affairs (MoJCA); Judiciary; Ministry of
Internal Affairs (MIA); Directorate of
Citizenship and Immigration Control
(DCIC); Office of the Director of Public
Prosecutions (DPP); Uganda Police
Force (UPF); Uganda Prison Service
(UPS); Judicial Service Commission
(JSC); Law Development Centre (LDC);
Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social
Development (MoGLSD)-Gender, Jus-
tice for Children, Labour and Probation
Functions; Ministry of Local Govern-
ment (MoLG)-Local Council Courts;
Tax Appeals Tribunal (TAT); Uganda
Human Rights Commission (UHRC);
Uganda Law Reform Commission
(ULRC); Uganda Law Society (ULS);
Centre for Arbitration and Dispute
Resolution (CADER); Uganda Registra-
tion Services Bureau (URSB) and the
National Identification and Registra-
tion Authority (NIRA).
The non-state actors including;
development partners, academia,
CSOs, media and private sector groups
complement Government in the deliv-
ery of justice, law and order and advo-
cacy for adherence to human rights.
Achievements
Important to note is that the good
collaboration amongst these institu-
tions, over the four years specifi-
cally has yielded tangible results. For
instance, there has been an increase
in public trust, increased stakeholder
engagement, awareness and higher
satisfaction by the people who seek ser-
vices from JLOS institutions.
In the past five years, public confi-
dence in JLOS institutions increased
from 26% in 2012 to 48% in 2016, and
public knowledge about JLOS insti-
tutions increased to 90% on average
in 2015/16. The level of satisfaction
attained by those that received JLOS
services rose from an average of 59% in
2012 to 72% in 2016. The Index of Judi-
cial Independence grew by 22% from
2.8 in 2014 to 3.14 in 2016.
In addition, the sector was able to
ensure that unified JLOS services are
available in more districts than in the
year 2000 and 82% of the population
were traversing shorter distances to
access services. The sector is also func-
tionally present in 82% of districts as
The above achievements would have
been felt more by the citizens if not for
a few challenges. They are; continued
urban bias of JLOS institutions which
require increased focus on de-concen-
trating JLOS services; continued use
of rudimentary technologies; capac-
ity gaps in systems and processes; an
increase in white collar crime; interna-
tional crimes and sexual and gender
based crimes; and continued conges-
tion in the prisons.
In order to deal with these challeng-
es, in years to come, the sector needs
to contend with emerging issues that
have informed the new priorities under
the SDPIV. These include, among oth-
ers, changing crime trends including
cross border crimes; terrorism and
cyber-crime; climate change and envi-
ronmental issues that impact other
national programmes; a high youth and
child population; increasing numbers
of refugees and programming to attain
the SDGs.
The other key focus areas will rotate
around increasing public trust from
49% to 55% and public satisfaction
with JLOS services from 72% to 78% as
well as increasing the index of judicial
independence from 3.41 to 3.8. In addi-
tion, more focus will be on reducing

March 09 - 15 2018 19
advertorial
case backlog from 24% to 9%, increas-
ing districts with one stop JLOS front-
line service points from 59.3% to 80%,
reducing the crime rate, improving the
corruption perception index from 0.25
to 0.30, reducing pre-trial detainees
from 52% to 45% and reducing human
rights violations, improving the ease
of doing business index from 57.7 to
63 and increasing the index of the effi-
ciency of legal framework in settling
disputes from 3.8 to 4.1.

Funding the ongoing strategy

The overall cost of the SDPIV imple-
mentation is estimated at approx. Shs
5.709 trillion. Wages will consume Shs
1.617trillion; operational recurrent
costs will take Shs 2.649 trillion while
Shs 1.443 trillion will be required for
the envisaged capital development and The Chief Justice inspects an exhibition by JLOS institutions during the Buganda Road DCC open day
other much needed reforms to achieve
the set targets.
The Plan will be financed by public,
donor and private resources with about
90% being Government and budget
support donors and approx. 10% by
other development partners and the
private sector (Private-Public Partner-
ship arrangement). The Government
and budget support donor funding will
constitute a total of Shs5.172 trillion
and Shs 0.587 trillion is anticipated to
come from other development partners
and private sector contribution.
The anticipated impact of the invest-
ments in the SDPIV will include
increased public trust in JLOS insti-
tutions; greater public satisfaction;
increased independence of the judicial
process; and an ‘A’ status of the nation-
al human rights body.
To achieve the above impact, the
sector will over the next SDPIV period
JLOS Awards; Anatoli Muleterwa (M) receiving the 2016 JLOS Human Rights Defender Award from the Chief
implement programmes, investments Justice, Bart Katureebe (Left) and the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Kahinda Otafiire.
aimed at enhancing infrastructure and
access to JLOS services; promoting the
observance of human rights and fight-
ing corruption; strengthening com-
mercial justice and the environment for
competitiveness.
Meanwhile, the other critical issue
to note is that the JLOS SDPIV for the
period 2017/2018 to 2020/2021 is a
result of many months of preparation
by the JLOS institutions that was char-
acterized by extensive participation
and consultation within the sector and
with its stakeholders and partners.
This collaborative approach is based
on the shared value that coming togeth-
er was the beginning of the journey to
achieve important targets. By working
in line with the theme, one of the ulti-
mate goals will be, to contribute to the
transformation journey of this country
to middle income status by 2020. The Vice President, the Speaker of Parliament and Chief Justice at the opening of the new law year 2017.

20 March 09 - 15 2018

A
s we celebrate this In-
ternational Women’s
Day, we take this op-
portunity to appreci-
ate all partners who continue
to support Business Develop-
ment Fund (BDF) in achieving
the objectives of facilitating
women to access finance.
Recognizing the importance
of women empowerment, the
Government of Rwanda has
put in place various programs
that are mandated to facilitate
women in Business Develop-
ment and Access to Finance.
BDF is an independent com-
pany that was created in col-
laboration of the Government
of Rwanda and the Develop-
ment Bank of Rwanda (BRD).
The fund is one of the imple-
menting institutions of the
National SME Development
Policy and has been mandated
to implement the “Access to
Finance” objective.
Through Credit guaran-
tee scheme, grants, Business
Development Advisory sup-
port and SACCO refinancing
programs, women have been
one of BDF’s special groups
intended to benefit from these
programs.
Credit Guarantee is BDF’s
core product that enables
entrepreneurs to access loans
from financial institutions
even when they lack enough
collateral for these loans.
Special groups that include
women benefit more from
this intervention whereby
BDF SME Guarantee Fund
and Agriculture Guarantee
Fund cover women’s loans
to a maximum of 75% of the
total loan issued by the bank/
Microfinance Institutions or
SACCOs. To date, 408 proj-
ects promoted by women
have benefited from BDF’s
Agriculture Guarantee Fund
covering total loans worth
Rwf. 3,669,908,198 and 2361
women’s SME projects that are
loans worth 7,833,934,007.
Another program intended
for SACCO refinancing to sup-
port women who carry out
advertorial
BDF- WOMENS BRIDGE
TO ACCESSING FINANCE
commercial trade in boarder
areas has also created capac-
ity to start and improve busi-
nesses carried out by women
who belong into cooperatives
around the border areas.
Under this program, SACCO
is given 5,000,000 RWF with-
out any interest charges to
give to each cooperative that
requests for a loan. Coop-
eratives that receive this loan
facility from SACCO, receive
a grant of 50% from BDF.
Hence the cooperative pays
50% of the loan to SACCO
with a subsidized interest of A BDF official during one of the awareness campaigns
10%.
Another facility designed to
support women is a SACCO
refinancing program for
women and girls who have
graduated from the Adoles-
cent Girls Initiative (AGI)
program with start-up toolkit
/equipment. This support is
provided through SACCOs
loans to beneficiaries at a very
subsidized interest rate and
also benefit from a grant of
50% of the total loan.
Many other projects pro-
moted by women continue to
benefit from other programs
offered by BDF leading to
creation of thousands of jobs.
We wish joyful celebrations
of this important day to all A group of participants in one of the workshops organized by BDF
women and promise BDF’s
continued support.
March 09 - 15 2018 21
Vivo Energy Uganda
Celebrates 5 years of growth and success
W
ith a vision to
become Africa’s
most respected
energy business
Vivo Energy, the company that
distributes and markets Shell-
branded fuels and lubricants, is
celebrating five years of growth
and success in Uganda since its
establishment in the country in
February 2013. The Shell brand
has been present in Uganda for
the past 65 years.
Since January 2014, when
Vivo Energy Uganda regained
market leadership position, the
company has held the highest
market share and specifically in
the retail segment. Our custom-
ers have increasingly chosen
Shell fuels and lubricants with
fuels volume growth of 50%
and lubricants growth of 130%
over the past five years. Thank
you to all our customers, busi-
ness partners, and key stake-
holders for your support and
trust in our brand.
Our retail network has
grown with 34 new Shell ser-
vice stations opening to bring
our high quality Shell products
and services closer to our cus-
tomers.
We know that our customers
are looking for more than just
a fill up when they come to our
service stations and have added
10 new restaurants and cafes
22 March 09 - 15 2018
in our restaurants, including visible gas levels to allow the age capacity and revamped our
three KFCs, two Java House, customers track usage at all depots to increase our capacity
two Pizza Hut, Cafe pap, times. It is lighter in weight by to load and off load products.
Prunes, and 2k restaurant. We 50% compared to the metallic These two among other initia-
introduced Airtel Money and cylinder and is made from rust- tives have increased our depot
other mobile financial services free material.  efficiency and minimized stock
at Shell service stations and Today we stand apart as outs at Shell service stations.
opened a Yana Tyre centre. We the company with special We upgraded and launched
have refreshed and revamped care for boda boda riders. We our quality lab and mobile
Shell service stations to make introduced 16 Shell bodaspots fuel testing lab to reassure our
them a destination for our cus- at Shell service stations and 61 customers of the quality of
tomers. dedicated motorbike service Shell fuels at every Shell ser-
In 2013, we launched Shell points. We launched Shell vice station. We are proud to
FuelSave unleaded and diesel, Advance Motor Oils for motor- be the only fuel company that
giving our customers extra bikes and ran a boda specific conducts self-regulation, in
miles for every litre so they can campaign called Gwe Kapo addition to the efforts on UNBS.
do more of the things they love. where riders walked away with We won a Vivo Energy group
Later on, we also launched the various prizes including brand award for reputation building
growing Shell V-Power Club new motorbikes. We annually through this quality campaign
that brought together a commu- train over 1000 riders in defen- in 2013.
nity of customers who prefer sive riding to improve their As a company, we have con-
using high performance fuels safety on the road. tinued to transcend the fuels
for their vehicles. We doubled our fuels stor- and lubricants space to make
We have run numerous
promotions to reward our loyal
customers like Fuel & Win,
Mafutaman, Do More and Shell
True Queens.
In 2015 we introduced the
Shell Gas Tokosa food festival
that grows in popularity each
year. We introduced the 6 kg
Shell Gas Kaportable and Shell
Gas Lite to meet our various
customers’ unique cooking
needs and bring good times to
your cooking. Shell Gas lite - a
composite cylinder, is a con-
venient cooking solution with
 advertorial

our service stations a destination that offer convenience through our

restaurants and cafes, mobile financial services, Yana Tyres and now
the recently launched Easy Go card.
Our reputation as a leader in road safety has significantly grown
through our highly impactful community programmes like the
Tweddeko TV campaign; school training programmes that have
impacted over 75 schools; and bodaboda and taxi driver training. We
developed a free child road safety app called Zizi the Zebra to teach
children about road safety, painted Zebra crossings and provided
schools with furniture and solar lamps.
Our Health and Safety performance has improved. Our contac-
tor drivers cover an annual distance of about 17 million kilometers
annually to safely deliver Shell fuels and lubricants. All our drivers
receive annual defensive driving training to improve their safety per-
formance and deliver our Goal Zero target of zero harm to people,
assets and the environment.
We have employed new, young and vibrant staff, offered training
and development for young graduates through our internship and
apprenticeship programmes, refreshed our company values and cel-
ebrated good performance annually. We have highly engaged staff
who are eager to make their individual contribution to achieving our
goals.
Thank you for being part of our journey.

March 09 - 15 2018 23
advertorial
Uganda hosts first AEO
conference in Africa
Dicksons Kateshumbwa is the Commissioner for Customs at the Uganda Revenue Authority
(URA). He spoke about the Authorised Economic Operator program and the upcoming 4th World
Customs Organisation Conference to be held in Kampala from March 14 – 16; Excerpts
What is the Authorized
I
Economic Operator program?
t is a trade facilitation
program which the
Customs Department
in Uganda Revenue
Authority is undertaking to
facilitate trade and promote
security of international
trade supply chain. Under
this arrangement, businesses
which comply with customs
laws and regulations
benefit from customs
preferential treatments such
as fast clearance of their
goods through simplified
procedures and reduced
inspection. AEO is derived
from the World Customs
Organisation framework of
standards called the ‘SAFE’
an acronym which stands
for Security and Facilitation
in a global Environment.
The SAFE is a document
that was developed by the
WCO member countries
represented by their heads of
revenue administrations at its
headquarters in Brussels in
2005 with major objectives of
enhancing trade facilitation
and promoting supply chain
security. The SAFE has got
two standards which are;
Customs-to-Customs standard
and Customs – to Business
standard. AEO therefore falls
under the second pillar of the
SAFE.
Who is implementing AEO?
AEO is being implemented
by most of the World
Customs Organisation
member countries although
implementation is at different
stages. In the great lakes,
all the five EAC countries
(Uganda, Kenya, Burundi,
Rwanda and Tanzania) are
implementing AEO at national
level. However, at the regional
24 March 09 - 15 2018
level, the program is being
implemented under the East
African Community AEO
regional program.
What is the criteria for
making an entity an AEO?
We follow the same
standards across the world.
The process starts with the
expression of interest through
writing to the Commissioner
Customs to be part of the
AEO. This is followed up with
self-assessment as a business
entity specifically looking
at key areas such as internal
arrangements of the company
like information technology,
how the entity secures
goods, premises, quality
of employees and related
parties such as quality of
clearing agents. Once this RAPID KATE SERVICES (U) LTD
is done, we have our team
that visits the business entity
and carryout verification of
information. When we are
satisfied that you are a low
risk business entity, meeting
the conditions and able to
sustain it, then we grant you
an AEO status. This status
comes with a certificate
and a Memorandum of
Understanding as well as
a logo to use while dealing Rapid Kate Group of Companies provide a
with customs. Within the
EAC, we have the mutual comprehensive suite of services tailored to your
recognition of the AEOs specific requirements within the supply chain.
and therefore if the business Other offices in Kenya, Rwanda and UAE
entity is an AEO in Uganda,
it will get the same benefits SERVICES
in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda
and Burundi. We are also AIR FREIGHT WAREHOUSING
looking at having mutual OCEAN FREIGHT LAND TRANSPORT
recognition with other CUSTOMS CLEARANCE DOOR TO DOOR
countries around the world. CONSOLIDATIONS
How many companies do Krish Mall, 5th Floor,Spring Road, Bugolobi.
P O Box 9218, Kampala, Uganda.
you have on the program? +256 200960940/1/2/4
Currently, there 36 sales@kla.rapidkate.com
companies and we would www.rapidkate.com
like to have as many as

possible perhaps 100 in the next two
years. But again, it is upon companies to
meet requirements because we do not
want to chase the numbers at the expense
of the process. The good thing is that even
the ones that we have are not bad because
the clearing firms involved handle about
20% of our business and this is quite
impressive.
What prompted you to come up with
this AEO program?
The AEO introduction follows the
September 11, 2001 bombings in the US
in which the world reacted differently.
As a result, the international customs
community came together to respond
to such threats. The whole world came
together and said, ‘how do we respond?’
So, the customs bodies through the WCO
responded by developing a framework
that has got three pillars: customs
cooperation – meaning that customs
operation should be able to cooperate
with each other, sharing information
and intelligence so that they are able to
vet dangerous items or people coming
into the country. The second pillar is that
customs and business should enter into
a partnership where goods go through
vigorous checks and assessments and can
be trusted by customs and thus accorded
with rewards while concentrating on
the non-compliant ones. The AEO
program means, we have checked them,
they are complaint, have met security
requirements and when there people
come, we accord them with preferential
treatment. The third pillar is customs and
other government agencies. It states that
customs must be able to work with other
agencies at the borders to secure revenue.
How do you ensure that the business
entity declares the right quantity or
values?
We have monitoring mechanisms for
the transactions. So far, the companies
that we have are actually compliant. I can
mention companies like Steel and Tube,
Nice House of Plastics where everything
they have done is right. And even if they
make a small mistake, we will be able to
look at that mistake and say, Ok, it is one
out of 10,000 declarations, and maybe it
was not intended. We can therefore live
with that possibility of a small mistake
but we also have the ability to detect it.
How does this program impact on your
revenue targets?
This program impacts on our revenue
targets so much. Looking at statistics, less
than 10% of business entities contribute
about 80% of our revenue. Now, the
success of revenue collection is a function
of various factors: compliance, efficiency
in tax administration, and being able to
facilitate the process of revenue collection.
We therefore heavily rely on self-
assessment. For instance, if one imports a
car, he/she appoints an agent, who goes
ahead to make a declaration and lodges in
the customs entry. But the most important
thing is that the declaration has to be
accurate. This therefore means that if I can
get many companies being compliant and
doing self-assessment, declare the correct
revenue, then, half of our problems will
be solved. More often, we spend over 80%
of our times chasing clients to pay taxes
yet their contribution is less than 20%
of the revenue collections. Our strategy
therefore is to ensure that we improve on
the issue of compliance.
How much is URA saving by using this
program?
Well, it is not quite easy to say that we
have much less work to do because the
remaining 80% as I have said keep us very
busy to ensure that we collect the little
taxes. For instance, you can be sure that
Toyota Uganda will make a declaration
that is accurate and I do not need to put a
staff there to monitor the bond but then, I
advertorial
will have to put that staff somewhere else
where something is likely to go wrong.
So, yes, there are savings though I may
not be able to quantify.
Tell us about the importance of the 4th
Global AEO conference?
This is the 4th Global AEO conference
. The first conference was held in Korea
in 2012, Madrid, Spain in 2013, and in
Cancun, Mexico in 2015.This upcoming
conference is therefore the first on the
African continent, which is a very good
thing for not only Uganda but the
continent. This conference is important
in a sense that it is bringing over 800
delegates and 60 speakers globally,
ranging from customs administrators,
academia, logistics and more. Holding
this conference in Kampala will therefore
enrich not only our program but also
other areas because the topics are quite
diverse including risk management and
trade facilitation. The private sector,
who are involved in this, will get a lot of
knowledge and also be able to network
with other companies around the globe to
do business. But beyond URA, it is also a
good thing for the country to have these
delegates in Kampala. They will boost the
country’s hospitality industry, contribute
to foreign exchange, and also boost our
image as Uganda.
Who are the local players that will
participate in the conference?
We encourage people involved in
business to register, particularly the
AEO’s, those involved in logistics and
supply chain within the region. We have
invited President Yoweri Museveni as the
chief Guest. Besides the local participants,
we also expect high level delegation from
around the world including the WCO
president, ministers from Korea and
China and commissioner customs from
other countries.

Parth International Ltd

We are proud to have attained a special status as
International Logistics Authorized Economic Operators with Uganda Revenue
Authority. This has increased our turnover of business
and enhanced our business operations in the region.
It has also come with a benefit of easy access to URA
services and working closely with URA for continued
improvements to serve our clients better.

Offices: SERVICES:

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www.parthinternational.co

March 09 - 15 2018 25
feature
Happiness and God
Are religious people happier than non-religious people?
By Kayonda Hubert Ngamaba
W
hat makes people happy? This
question can be difficult to
answer. Happiness has been
discussed throughout history.
Philosophers, thinkers and activists, such
as Aristippus, Aristotle, Zhuangzi, Jean
Jacques Rousseau, Jeremy Benthan and Ber-
trand Russell, have considered happiness
and life satisfaction to be one of the highest
goals of human motivation.
But happiness and life satisfaction can be
tricky to define. While both make up part
of a person’s well-being, happiness refers to
an individual’s emotions, feelings or moods.
Life satisfaction, on the other hand, is more
to do with the way people might think
about their life as a whole – including their
relationships.
Previous research suggests the “happy
person” is young, healthy, well-educated,
well-paid, optimistic and extroverted. The
same research found the happiest people
tend to be religious, married, with high self-
esteem and job morale and modest aspira-
tions. It seems your gender and level of
intelligence don’t necessarily come into it.
Research suggests that around the world,
over 84% of people belong to or are con-
nected to a religious group. And our recent
research looks at whether different religions
experience different levels of happiness and
life satisfaction. The findings show that indi-
vidual religiosity and their country’s level of
development both affect people’s happiness
and life satisfaction.
26 March 09 - 15 2018
Happiness research
Our study looks at a large number of dif-
ferent religious groups across 100 countries
– from 1981 to 2014 – using data from the
World Value Survey.
Our findings suggest that Protestants,
Buddhists and Roman Catholics are hap-
pier and more satisfied with their lives,
compared with other groups. Jews, Hindus,
Muslims, and the non-religious were in
between, while Orthodox Christians were
found to have the lowest happiness and life
satisfaction rates.
In our research, we found that many
factors were positively associated with hap-
piness and life satisfaction. These included
being Protestant, female, married and
younger (16 to 24 years old). The house-
hold’s financial situation also came into it,
as did a person’s state of health and free-
dom of choice.
We discovered that national pride and
trust were important in terms of happiness
rankings, as was having friends, family
and leisure time. Attending weekly reli-
gious practice was also discovered to be an
important factor. On the other hand, being
unemployed and on a low income was
negatively associated with happiness and
life satisfaction.
A closer look at the magnitude of the
association between these factors and hap-
piness and life satisfaction revealed that
health, financial stability and freedom of
choice, or control over one’s life were the
most important factors. But more research
needs to be done to understand why some
religious groups are happier and more satis-
fied than others.
A global objective
In recent years, interest in well-being
research has surged – with economists such
as Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz agreeing it
is time to shift the emphasis from measur-
ing economic production, to measuring
people’s happiness and life satisfaction.
But to make human happiness the overall
guide to human progress requires good
data on the quality of human lives – and
this is something that is sadly still lagging in
most countries.
In the meantime, it might be worth both
individuals and governments engaging
with positive psychology. New research
shows that schools teaching positive psy-
chology radically improve the happiness of
pupils in countries as varied as Peru, China,
Bhutan and Australia.
It’s clear then that while happiness can
mean different things to different people,
there are some fundamental uniting princi-
ples that make us more likely to feel happy
or unhappy. And as our findings suggest,
by improving access to healthcare and sup-
porting their basic financial needs, govern-
ments can do much to help boost people’s
well-being and life satisfaction.
Kayonda Hubert Ngamaba is Research
Associate, Social Policy and Social Work
Department, University of York
Source: theconversation

B
By Isaac Khisa
arclays Africa Group
Limited (BAGL) plans
to return to its former
name, Absa, across its
operations on the African
continent.
The bank’s executives said the move
is to reclaim the African identity and
‘become a banking group of which
Africans can be proud… recognizes
African heritage, rooted in Africa, and
with global reach.’
The decision follows successful
reduction of shares by its majority
shareholder – the London-based
Barclays PLC –that is exiting the
African market subject to regulatory
approvals and holding of the
shareholders' Annual General Meeting
scheduled for May, 2018. Barclays
operations will trade as Absa, its
original name, prior to Barclay’s
purchase of majority stake in the bank
in 2005.
BAGL Chief Executive Officer,
Maria Ramos, who used the
opportunity of the bank’s annual
performance announcement to reveal
the transition process on March 01,
said this development comes after
an extensive research internally
and externally. Ramos said the
process included more than 130,000
conversations with employees and
Why Barclays is
rebranding as Absa
Bank to open offices in London , New York
for clients seeking to invest in Africa
stakeholders.
“This is an exciting time for us…
the sell-down gave us an opportunity
to rollout a brand that reflects our
identity in Africa and to unite our
operations behind one name” she
said. “We will be Absa, not as you
know it, but re-launched, represented
and with an identity fit for the new
and forward looking business we are
creating.”
Listed on the Johannesburg Stock
Exchange, BAGL has operations in 12
African countries including Kenya,
Uganda, Tanzania, Botswana, Zambia
and South Africa, with approximately
40,000 employees. It is one of Africa’s
major financial services provider with
a portfolio that includes personal
and business banking, credit cards,
corporate and investment banking,
wealth and investment management.
The rebranding exercise comes
two years since the London-based
Barclays decided to sell its operations
on the African continent.The bank
reduced its majority stake from 62.3%
to merely 14.9% and will contribute
US $1.04bn (£765million) towards the
bank’s rebranding agenda.
Ramos said the bank’s priority is
to restore leading positions in core
business areas while expanding into
new markets, enabling the group to
deliver double digit growth.
This will include expanding its
corporate and investment banking unit
to certain international jurisdictions,
with offices set to open in London and
later in New York, trading as Absa
Securities, and offering opportunities
for its clients, offshore investors and
corporate institutions seeking to invest
in Africa.
March 09 - 15 2018 27
business
“Growth has to be an essential part
of our DNA, the driver behind our
every action and a core facet of our
ambition for this business,” she said,
adding that the bank’s ambition is
to double its market share of African
banking revenues to 12% in the
coming few years. This development
comes as the BAGL recorded a 4%
increase in headline earnings in 2017
to US$ 1.3bn (R15.6bn) compared
with the previous year despite the
continued slow economic expansions
in some of the Group’s largest
markets, including South Africa,
where it generates approx. 80% of its
income.
Rajesh Jha, the chief executive
officer at Barclays Bank Uganda Ltd
said the change in the bank’s brand
will not affect its operations or its
customers. He said the bank would
continue implementing its programs
and new products including; agent
banking as well as leveraging on
technology to grow revenues.
Background of Absa, Barclays
Founded in 1991, Absa is an
amalgamation of various financial
service providers including United
Bank (South Africa), the Allied Bank
(South Africa), the Volkskas Bank
Group and certain interests of the Sage
Group.
The following year, Absa acquired
Bad news on
revenue collection
But Finance Minister, Kasaija, says the overall
FY2017/18 budget is performing well
By Julius Businge
T
here is bad news coming from
Uganda Revenue Authority and the
Ministry of Finance Planning and
Economic Development (MoFPED).
The latest data on tax collections shows
that URA recorded Shs 324bn as revenue
shortfall in the first half of the FY2017/18,
partly attributed to low levels of economic
activities, currency depreciation and the
related price hikes for some commodities.
Henry Martin Saka, the assistant Com-
missioner for Domestic Taxes at URA told
28 March 09 - 15 2018
Maria Ramos
the entire shareholding of the Bankorp
Group which included Trustbank,
Senbank and Bankfin, thereby
extending its asset base further.
However, each of the banks
operated as independent entities
until 1998 when they were fused into
a single brand, adopting Absa as a
brand identity.
In May 2005, UK’s Barclays
purchased 56.4% stake in Absa as
part of its drive to expand its global
product and international retail and
commercial banking businesses to
The Independent in an interview on March
02 that whereas they have always been con-
fident about hitting targets including this
financial year’s (of Shs 15tn), he was equally
worried about the current wave of price
increases especially of fuel and weakening
shilling that could lead to an increase in
the cost of doing business and negatively
impact on tax collections.
Fuel prices have since last month
increased by over Shs400 at most pump
stations countrywide crossing the Shs 4,000
mark per litre of petrol and Shs 3500 for a
litre of diesel.
untapped markets outside the UK.
It was also a return to the South
African banking market, 20 years after
being forced out by the anti-apartheid
protesters. Barclays called the
transaction at the time of its largest
investment outside the UK and the
largest ever direct foreign investment
in South Africa. And in 2013, the
group acquired the entire issued share
capital of Barclays Africa Limited
and issued 129.5million consideration
shares to Barclays Africa Group
Holdings Limited (a wholly owned
subsidiary of Barclays) thus increasing
the shareholding of Barclays Bank PLC
to 62.3%.
The consideration shares were listed
on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
from the commencement of trading
on July 31, 2013. The name was later
changed from “Absa Group Limited”
to “Barclays Africa Group Limited”
effective August 02, 2013.
But in Feb 2016, Barclays PLC CEO,
Jes Staley, announced that the British
bank was exiting the African market
in a bold move to refocus its core
business in UK and the US.
The bank cited various risks
including slowdown in the African
economies, currency devaluation, risk
of corruption and misconduct as some
of the factors for the exit.
The shilling has been relatively stable
although has been recently experiencing
slight depreciations against major foreign
currencies especially the U.S dollar.
“…It is crunch time at URA and we all
hope that the annual revenue target for this
financial year will be reached,” Saka said.
Whereas it might be early to determine
the extent to which these indicators will
affect revenue collections at the end of the
year, in the recent five years, they have
influenced negative growth of the economy
that averaged between 4-5%, which is far
below the projected 6-7% growth rates of

the comparable period before.
This has consequently led to increased
cost of doing business, constrained demand,
resulting to reduced tax revenues.
For instance, in the last financial year
(2016/2017), the tax body recorded a 13%
growth in revenue collection but ended up
with close to Shs 500 billion revenue collec-
tion as shortfall of the Shs 13.2 trillion target.
Similarly, the year before that (2015/16),
collections grew by 15.6% but with Shs 404
billion as shortfall of the Shs 11.6 trillion
target.
This financial year 2017/18, the target has
been set at Shs15 trillion, 14% higher than
last year.
However, there are already indications
that the target will not be met. On Feb.09,
Finance Minister, Matia Kasaija wrote to
Parliament seeking approval for borrowing
Shs 736bn to fund government programmes
and use part of the money, Shs 48bn to pay
salaries.
Critics are opposed to the proposal argu-
ing that it would further put pressure on
interest rates in the market and compete
with the private sector that is supposed to
pay taxes.
They say efforts should not be put on
borrowing by government but should be
directed towards critical revenue generating
policies that can raise more money.
But Kasaija insists that the purpose of the
borrowing is to mitigate the revenue short-
falls being experienced this year.
He said revenue shortfall of Shs324bn
during the first half of this financial year
was on account of lower collections for Val-
ue Added Tax (Shs139.04 bn), international
trade taxes (Shs53.07 bn) and income and
excise taxes (Shs.144.85 bn).
“It is important to note that the borrow-
ing will ensure that we meet the financ-
ing obligations of on-going infrastructure
projects whose certificates will fall due this
financial year as well as other statutory
obligations such as wages,” Kasaija said on
Feb.20 at Media Centre.
“I want to assure the public that in spite
of the short term revenue shortfalls being
experienced, the budget for FY2017/18 over-
all is performing well and its execution is
on track as appropriated by Parliament and
Government will continue to meet its obli-
gations including salaries and wages which
take the first call on the budget,” he said.
However, Parliament is yet to respond to
Kasaija’s request as at the end of March 05.
Bigger problems
Saka said that taxpayers continue to
devise different ways to avoid or even
evade taxes. He said, in addition to other
challenges causing revenue shortfalls,
URA’s failure to collect more tax is being
hindered by slow disposal of the cases in
courts of law.
He said over Shs 1 trillion is yet to be col-
Doris-Akol
Matia Kasaija
Key numbers
 Shs 324bn; revenue shortfall for first
half of FY2017/18
 Shs 15 trillion; FY2017/18 revenue
target for URA
 Shs 8 trillion; Revenue collected as
at January 31, 2018
 Shs 1 trillion; uncollected revenue
locked in court cases
 Shs 736bn; amount that government
wants to borrow to pay salaries and
fund other programmes
 Shs 48bn; amount of money gov-
ernment wants to borrow to pay
salaries
business
lected pending adjudication in the Courts
and Tax Appeals Tribunal.
“We have also had an increased challenge
in the numerous numbers of ex-parte or
at times inter-party interim orders issued
against Uganda Revenue Authority,” he
said, “adding since January, 2016, to date,
we have so far been served with interim
orders stopping us from collecting over Shs
550bn.”
Saka said that they also have a chal-
lenge of subsequent attachment of the
bank accounts of the organisation (both
operational accounts and the tax collec-
tion accounts) through ‘Garnishee Orders’,
which not only greatly impairs their work
as tax collectors but also affects remittance
of funds to the consolidated fund hence
negatively affecting government operations
and delivery of service.
He said that they have further received
some orders instructing URA to release
unaccustomed goods or lift ‘third party
agency notices’ without any form of secu-
rity for the unpaid taxes deposited with the
URA or the Court.
“This state of affairs is of great concern
to us as an organization which is tasked to
collect revenue to support government pro-
grammes and budgets,” he said.
What next?
Experts say URA’s search for more
money requires; a very strong economy that
would attract more new taxpayers (big busi-
nesses); enhancing URA’s capacity to deal
with tax evaders; identifying new sources of
taxable areas without killing businesses and
ensuring fiscal discipline or avoiding wast-
age expenditure of collected revenue by
spending agencies of government.
In an interview with The Independent
on Mar.02, Norbert Kagoro, a partner at
Deloitte, an audit firm, said the tax body has
consistently recorded increase in revenues
yearly but said more needs to be done effi-
ciently.
Beyond URA, he said there is need for
increasing production and productivity and
so is exports and reduce imports.
“There is also need to attract more foreign
investors which all would increase taxable
areas and save the country from recording
shortfalls,” he said.
Saka said they have noted an increase
in imports at the beginning of this year, a
scenario that would see revenue collections
increase in the coming months.
He also said they expect to collect more
corporation tax in the coming months
because companies are now able to make
their investment decisions basing on full
year (2017) performance.
He also said the reduction in the central
bank rate by Bank of Uganda from 9.5% to
9% on Feb.13 would necessitate reduction in
lending rates and give chance to those that
borrow to pay taxes.
March 09 - 15 2018 29
 Executive Style
Why the publishing
industry is struggling
What exactly does Reviser
Uganda offer in the pub-
O
lishing industry?
ur main business
is to help chil-
dren and young
people develop a
reading culture by availing
them with relevant read-
ing materials. These are in
form of storybooks, based
on the Uganda primary
schools syllabus topics.
The children do not only
enjoy the stories but also
use them to develop their
language competences for
use in other subjects and
out of schools. The materi-
als contain information on
health, tourism, agriculture,
technology such that as
they enjoy the stories, they
also get informed on partic-
ular themes. We operate a
unique subscription model
to enable as many pupils as
possible to access the books
without leaving their schools.
Every term, pupils pay Shs
8,000 and get two readers de-
livered to them at their schools
based on their age and class.
What were the key drivers for
starting such a business?
I have been in the educa-
tion sector for all my life.
And I discovered that there
is a serious knowledge gap.
Many people coming out of
the school system know little
else from what they read in
class for exams. Yet in real life,
we need more than that. The
world now needs people with
diversified knowledge and
skills, all of which cannot be
learnt in class. They must be
self-taught through personal
reading. And this is only pos-
sible if we start with the young
and interest them in reading
because that is when habits
are formed.
Considering the social envi-
ronment where many people
don’t value reading, how is
30 March 09 - 15 2018
Herbert Asiimwe Mutamba is the CEO of Reviser
Uganda Limited. He spoke to Flavia Nassaka
about their entry into book publishing
this impacting your busi-
ness?
It is indeed true that it is
much easier for most parents
to buy cakes for their children
rather than buy them books.
This is worsened with the fact
that the parents themselves
don’t read. Surprisingly, even
teachers don’t read outside
what they have to teach in
class.
However, we are now
doing a lot of sensitization for
parents, teachers and pupils.
We are explaining to them
that in an information age like
the one we live in, we need
to keep educating ourselves
through reading. We attend
class days in schools and
interact with the parents and
pupils to help them under-
stand that continuous learning
through reading is no longer a
matter of choice.
How do you rate Uganda’s
market for publications?
The demand for non-school
books is very small and tech-
nology is making this worse.
People have substituted books
with WhatsApp and other
social media channels and for
the few people who read, they
can easily access electronic
books on their electronic gad-
gets making the demand for
the printed book decline. Since
this does not seem to end
soon, the publishing industry
needs to innovate and make
the printed book a treasure
that it used to be.
How are you incorporating
ICTs in the Reviser?
There is no business that
can ignore ICT now because
it makes business operations
cheaper, quicker and accu-
rate. However, it also makes
business more fluid and
unpredictable. Every depart-
ment of a business uses ICT
differently. This ranges from
computerized bookkeeping to
the use of ICT in marketing.
We want to make use of these
advancements.
Last year, we tested our
mobile app called Reviser
Mobile where parents
received reading materi-
als on their mobile phones
which they shared with
their children on a daily
basis We are trying to see
how ICT can make read-
ing more interesting and
dynamic for the teachers,
parents and pupils.
Businesses often fail to
survive their fifth birth-
day. What’s your sustain-
ability plan?
Once you have a busi-
ness, be flexible. Allow the
business to be shaped by
the changing environment.
Allow a lot of feedback
from the consumers and
adjust the product and
processes accordingly.
This is what we intend
to do because we believe
this will enable us remain
relevant to the customers
and increase our chances
of survival. We also want
to develop robust systems and
procedures to help us predict
trends in the customer needs
so that we always adopt early.
What are your future plans?
Our ultimate objective is
to create a reading country
.We want to help in creating a
country where people value
self-education through read-
ing to complement what they
study in formal schools.
We want to enroll more
schools in the reading pro-
grams and excite partners into
joining this crusade. We also
want to keep abreast of the
changing needs and develop-
ments in the industry as a way
to shape our products and
channels.
For example, we want to
build a mobile library that will
go park at a school, children
come and borrow books for
a weekend and return them
after a few days. The mobile
library can rotate among sev-
eral schools.
 business
csr telecom

Airtel conducts health camp in Arua MTN named “most valuable

pads, sexual and reproduc-
telecom” brand in Africa

tive health services to the
residents, in partnership
with other stakehold-
ers including Ministry of
Health.
Flavia Lwanga, the
director human resource
at Airtel said the health
camp was part of their plan
to improve the lives of the
communities in which they
operate.
“We at Airtel, not only
Airtel staff assist some of the patients who want to provide the best
turned up for the health camp.
telecommunications ser-
M
TN has once again been named
among the top 300 valuable tele-
com brands in the world, accord-
ing to the research conducted by
Brand Finance.
The South African based firm was ranked
45th. With 25 subsidiaries most of which are
in Africa, the company moved two places
from 47th 2017 to 45th in 2018. The com-
pany’s value was placed at $3.3bn, a rise of
9% in 2018.
MTN’s largest competitor on the conti-
nent, Airtel is not ranked based on its Africa
operations but rather the larger company,

I
n an effort to boost
the socio-economic
development in North
West Uganda, Airtel
on March 02 held a health
camp at St. Kizito Primary
School in Ombaci in Arua
District.
The exercise involved
provision of free healthcare
services including dental
care, eye checkups, blood
donation, safe male circum-
cision, cancer and Hepatitis
B screening, teaching youth
how to make recyclable
vices in the country, but
to also be a big part of
enhancing and bettering the
lives of those in communi-
ties in which we operate,”
she said, adding, “We are
proud to have bettered over
5,000 lives.
Airtel, which is headquartered in India.
Africell is also mentioned in the report, rank-
ing at 228th on the continent.
According to the report, other African
based telecoms that have been ranked
include among others; Safaricom, Kenya
(99th), Maroc Telecom, Morocco (111th), and
Glo Mobile, Nigeria.

trade
Retail

Shoprite eyes Kenya’s African SMEs set to benefit from $7 4million guarantee

T
he African Guaran- ment. structure sector,” he said.
retail market tee Fund for Small Felix Bikpo, AGF’s CEO GuarantCo’s CEO, Las-

S
and Medium-Sized said his company is glad to itha Perera, said the new
outh Africa’s retail chain, Shoprite Enterprises (AGF) be joined by GuarantCo in partnership will increase
Holdings, plans to take advantage of has entered into a re- guar- bridging the infrastructure support to SMEs active in
disarray in Kenya’s grocery sector to antee transaction of up to financing gap in Africa. the infrastructure sector in
open its first stores in the major East $74 million with GuarantCo “This partnership aims to Africa.
African market this year. to increase its guarantee put in place an even stron- AGF has led the guar-
Two of Kenya’s three top retailers - Uchu- capacity for SME financing ger collaboration that will antee market in Africa by
mi Supermarkets and former regional giant, on the continent. work on the entire value issuing financial guarantees
Nakumatt - are failing, opening the door to The new financing will chain of infrastructure proj- to a tune of $690 million,
chains such as Shoprite and Carrefour. enable AGF to support ects in Africa. We are look- enabling financial institu-
Shoprite Chief executive, Pieter Engel- larger local currency trans- ing forward to supporting tions to issue loans estimat-
brecht, said they had never considered the actions for SMEs involved other SMEs that work with ed at $729 million to about
Kenyan market before because of the domi- in infrastructure develop- key players in the infra- 7,600 African SMEs.
nance of those three players. He said six of
its seven new stores will be in Nairobi. aviation
“Retail in Kenya currently is in total disar-
ray... we could now go in and secure seven Qatar Airways cuts prices to woo customers

premises without paying anything other
than agreed rental,” he told Reuters news
agency.
Shoprite, which is 17% owned by retail
tycoon Christo Wiese, has grown from eight
supermarkets in 1979 to a no-frills mass-
market grocer with operations in 15 African
countries including two stores in Uganda.
M
iddle East carrier, Qatar Air-
ways, is slashing prices by up to
a quarter to customers, increas-
ing competition in the aviation
industry.
The airline announced that it will offer
passengers discounts of up to 25 % on all
cabin classes. Passengers travelling with
friends and family can also enjoy a special
discount with the airline’s Companion Offer
in Premium. “Passengers now have even
more incentive to travel with friends and
family, as they can take advantage of our
Companion Offer in Premium. We look
forward to welcoming all passengers on
board,” said Ehab Amin, Qatar Airways
Chief Commercial Officer.
The airline will also offer a 10% discount
to car rentals booked online. This comes few
months since the airline added new destina-
tions to its network including Chiang Mai,
Thailand; St. Petersburg, Russia and Pen-
ang, Malaysia, with direct service to Cardiff,
United Kingdom and Mykonos, Greece set
to launch later this year.

March 09 - 15 2018 31
business

Stanbic’s report points to

consistent economic growth
By Julius Businge an improvement in business

S
tanbic Bank’s Purchase
Managers Index (PMI)
posted 51.1% growth
in February down from
52% in the previous month,
signaling moderate improve-
ment in business conditions by
the private sector.
Commenting on February’s
survey findings on March 05,
Jibran Qureshi, the Regional
Uganda’s Vice President Edward Sekandi (L) with the outgoing TMEA Board Economist for East Africa at
Chairman Ali Mufuriki, CEO Frank Matsaert receives a gift on behalf of Stanbic said business condi-
President Yoweri Museveni during the Trade Development Forum hosted tions in Uganda’s private sec-
by TradeMark East Africa in partnership with the government through the tor continued to improve albeit
Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives on Feb 28, 2018. at a more moderate pace.
The survey findings came
a few weeks after Bank of
Uganda announced a cut in
the Central Bank Rate from
9.5% to 9%. This move would
further signal improvements
in economic growth and lower
lending rates. BoU also revised
GDP growth for FY2017/18
from 5% to above 5.5%.
Benoni Okwenje, the fixed
income manager at Stanbic,
said the Central Bank’s projec-
tions are aligned with Stan-
bic’s PMI survey which signals
conditions.
“Output growth was
observed in the industry, ser-
vices, construction and whole-
sale and retail sub-sectors,” he
said.
“Anecdotal evidence linked
the expansion to a number of
new projects amid stronger
underlying demand,” he add-
ed. Indeed, new orders rose…
with businesses citing inten-
sive marketing efforts as the
driving force, Okwenje said.
The report says that output,
new orders and employment
continued to increase but out-
put prices rose further amid
higher cost burdens.
The Stanbic’s PMI is a com-
posite index, calculated as a
weighted average of five indi-
vidual sub-components: new
orders (30%), Output (25%),
employment (20%), suppli-
ers’ delivery times (15%) and
stocks of purchases (10%).
Readings above 50% signal
an improvement in business
conditions on the previous
month, while readings below
50% show deterioration.

DSTV Marketing Manager, Phoebe Nakabazzi (R) officially turns on a tap as

Robert Ziribasanga (in a brown jacket), the LCV Chairman, and Muslin Kiwanuka
(L), the CEO of the Kampala Kids Run at Kakoge Primary school in Buyende
District. This was during a campaign to provide clean water to undeserving
schools to improve sanitation. Weekly share price movement (Feb 27)
Security Feb 27 Feb 20 Movement
BATU 30,000 30000 00
BOBU 120 109 10
CENT 1,704 1,650 3.3
DFCU 683 682 0.1
EABL 8,611 8,862 2.8
EBL 1,542 1,533 0.6
JHL 17,975 17,940 0.2
KA 556 574 13.1
KCB 1,632 1,632 00
NIC 15 15 00
NMG 3,695 3,767 0.7
NVL 510 510 00
SBU 29 29 00
UCHM 107 111 3.6
(L-R) Dr. Kisamba Mugwera, the current Chairman of the National Planning UCL 29 29 00
Authority, Junior Minister for Micro-finance, Haruna Kasolo, and Outgoing UMEME 405 410 1.2
Board Chairperson Justine Bagyenda Justine during the inauguration of the new
ALSI -- -- --
Microfinance Support Centre board members on March 01, 2018.

32 March 09 - 15 2018

By Morris Komakech
Magara and other chilling murders
A travel advisory to Uganda is now in order as the forces
fail to guarantee security for persons and property
T
he chilling kidnap and murder
of Suzan Magara has dented
the faith of Ugandans in
the security of this country.
This crime was at another level of
syndication, a high level of crime
in the developing murder industry.
The mystery of European “investors”
dying in five-star hotels in Kampala
had hit a new peak to displace the
mystery of the murder of young
women whose bodies were dumped in
different bushes along the Kampala-
Entebbe corridor. That series of
murder superseded the assassination-
type killings of Prosecutor Joan
Magezi and Assistant Inspector
General of Police Felix Kaweesi.
The Kaweesi killing was somehow
not very surprising although the
manner in which it was executed
shocked the nation. It was like an
over-filling balloon of murders that
inevitably burst with a prick. There
were murders, kidnaps and illegal
detentions of businessmen and women
already going on. The Police was
already engulfed in these murders
with a strong sense that Kaweesi was
part of this criminality.
Before that, the unfettered killings
of Muslim clerics had demystified
assassinations in Uganda. The general
population had the impression that
society was proliferated with guns.
These things come along in predictable
patterns like the hind legs of the
cow follow the front. When crimes
are committed and the authorities
downplay them, obscure facts about
them, and fail to resolve them, it opens
the door for more crimes. In fact, if
the killers of Suzan Magara are not
apprehended, we shall yet witness a
higher level and some more organised
gruesome killings.
The series of shocking murders
show how criminals have usurped and
pervaded this nation. Most frightening
is the fact that the Uganda police and
a plethora of security organisations
are literally unable to avert crime. This
may beckon citizens’ indulgence in
their own security.
The Magara murder affirms that
the security people prefer reactionary
approaches to dealing with crime. The
explanation could be that they are
inextricably intertwined with these
crimes, and some benefit from these
crimes individually. You see, suspects
apprehended, remain suspects with
incomplete investigations to tie
them to any of these crimes. Even
then, many attest that they operate
on behalf of, or in association with
the security people; some are false
suspects tortured into confession.
Ms Magara’s circumstances are
certainly unique given the monies
and involvement of the person of the
President in the matter. She was a
privileged person in life and death.
The criminals seem to have known
their target quite well. They were not
petty criminals - they are professionals
who are well rehearsed and connected
to the system. They were able to use
unregistered sim cards. How so?
The paradox to grapple with is that
The Magara
murder
affirms that
the security
people prefer
reactionary
approaches to
dealing with
crime
COMMENT
with all these unresolved extra-judicial
murders, it takes the Ugandan security
operatives no less than 20 minutes
to quickly mobilise, deploy, and
contain a peaceful demonstration with
precision.
More challenging is the choice of
Kampala and Wakiso as the crime-
end-scene. This is fascinating because
of the dense network of security along
the Kampala – Entebbe corridor. The
security lapse raises concerns that
the security operatives are primary
suspects or key enablers of these
crimes.
Unfortunately, some of the
victims are so ordinary that the
President Yoweri Museveni thinks
they are prostitutes and drunkards.
Such unfortunate considerations
only demonstrate the nature of an
incompetent and illegitimate state
that is distanced from the unadorned
realities of its own people.
It is increasingly obvious that
security instrument of the state is
organised and structured to protect
the political ambitions, wealth, and
cronies of one person – Museveni.
Without guaranteeing the security
for persons and their properties,
Ugandans in diaspora are advised
against travelling to Uganda. Soon,
more investors, their children, school
children, tourists, and rural to urban
migrants will become soft targets of
kidnaps for ransom.
Morris Komakech is a Ugandan socio-
political commentator based in Canada.
Contact: mordust_26@yahoo.ca
March 09 - 15 2018 33
COMMENT
By Dylan Loh Ming Hui
Xi Jinping’s ‘lifetime presidency’
How the move by the Chinese president to entrench
himself in power could change China – for better or worse
T
hanks to surprising new constitu-
tional amendments – curiously, first
announced in English – the path is
clear for Xi Jinping and his chosen
vice-president to rule China beyond the ten-
year two-term limit.
Pragmatically, most analysts expected Xi
to retain power to some extent after 2023
by retaining his posts as Chairman of the
Central Military Commission and General-
Secretary of the Communist Party. But
now, it seems he is going nowhere and the
full implications of this will busy China
watchers for many years.
What does a (potentially) life-term
president in Beijing mean for China’s Asian
neighbours? For starters, Asian countries
worried about China’s increasing assertive-
ness can no longer pin their hopes on a
more benign and mild leader arising in the
future. Strategically, they would have to
meet a more robust China as a geopolitical
fact for decades to come. This would mean,
possibly, more countries pivoting towards
China as a hugely unpredictable U.S. con-
tinues to send mixed signals to Asia.
Next, as a historically weak institution, we
can expect to see growing confidence from
the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
its diplomats. Xi has already shown he’s
prepared to rely on the ministry as he con-
solidates power even further, and now, its
stock will continue to rise.
China is now also ready to recalibrate its
“soft power” efforts along more Xi-centric
lines. China Xinhua News may have laid it
on rather thickly by claiming that the “per-
sonal charisma of President #XiJinping fos-
ters a love of China in countries all around
the world #Xiplomacy”, but the rest of the
world can nonetheless expect more efforts
to control and promote Xi the man as a
regional and global leader.
The role of vice-president will also be
closely watched. Traditionally, the vice-
presidency is largely ceremonial and devoid
of real power or in a suppliant position
for the president-elect to observe and be
observed. But with Xi’s changes in place,
a future vice-president will wield consid-
erable influence and power – even if Xi
decides to appoint one who currently sits
outside the Politburo (the party’s political
bureau) or its smaller standing committee.
The widely rumoured frontrunner for the
job is Xi’s trusted ally Wang Qishan. Wang
not long ago retired from the seven-member
34 March 09 - 15 2018
Politburo, which some saw as a sign that Xi
still felt bound by the so-called “seven up
eight down” norm in which officials must
retire from the Politburo Standing Com-
mittee if they are 68 or older at the time of
a Party Congress. But given Xi has now
sidestepped both party and state conven-
tion to further entrench his power base, his
new prerogatives quite probably override
conventions over who can be appointed to
what and when.
The perks of a lifetime president
However unpalatable it may sound,
having a strong, long-serving leader may be
a good thing for China. Predictability and
stability will earn Xi the political capital he
needs to instigate urgently needed financial
and social reforms – fixing the banking
system, allocating and reallocating capital,
reworking regulatory structures, tackling
inequality. This can only bode well for the
Chinese economy, and as an upshot, the
regional and global economy.
On another front, the prospect of a lifelong
Xi presidency will disappoint many corrupt
and potentially corrupt Chinese officials
who originally thought they could simply
stick it out till 2023. Xi’s anti-corruption
campaign (even if we consider it a political
pruning exercise) has undoubtedly deliv-
That is a
worrying
prognosis. Xi
has eliminated
his political
rivals and
emasculated
alternative
power centres
ered real benefits to the economy and its
people. Having shown no signs of slowing
down his campaign, Xi seems intent on not
just rooting out corrupt individuals, but
forcing the sort of cultural shift that inevi-
tably takes a long time. If he succeeds, this
may be his most important legacy.
Additionally, if Xi indeed stays on for
more than ten years, it prevents alternative
leaders from undoing his work. This gives
him all the more freedom and resources to
achieve the “Chinese Dream” and the twin
goals known as the “Two Centenaries” – a
“moderately well-off society” by 2021 and
a “democratic, civilised, harmonious, and
modern socialist country” by 2049.
While it may seem too early to consider
life after Xi, China has to start imagining
what that life might look like – especially
if Xi successfully uses his long reign to
refashion institutional and party norms in
his image.
A recent study by Erica Frantz and
Andrea Kendall-Taylor shows that insti-
tutionalised authoritarian regimes tend to
remain remarkably stable where they enjoy
strong party and military support. As they
write: “22% of highly personalised dictator-
ships (those regimes lacking strong parties
or a military) collapsed when the leader
died – compared to 6% of institutionalised
dictatorships. Although instability risk in
highly personalised settings is compara-
tively higher, the actual prospects remain
low”.
If we take their findings as read and
assume that Xi gets his way, the prospect
that this president will eventually be
succeeded by another enduring and
entrenched authoritarian is more than
likely. That is a worrying prognosis. Xi
has eliminated his political rivals and
emasculated alternative power centres.
Should a truly dangerous dictator come to
power, he would find a cowed elite, weak
institutional constraints, and a compliant
public unused to political mobilisation.
Xi’s move, perhaps ironically and however
unintended, lays the groundwork for
another Mao to emerge - presenting the
biggest risk of all in Xi’s gambit.
Dylan Loh Ming Hui is Graduate Research
Fellow and PhD Candidate, University of
Cambridge
A statue of a pregnant woman at the women Hospital International and Fertility Center. The facility has birthed about 7000 IVF babies and done
numerous fertility tests on men. But, infertility remains highly misunderstood in the country.

More men are infertile

50% of failed conceiving is due to a male
factor but treatments target women

M
By Flavia Nassaka
ale infertility is the
new social crisis,
according to Carolyn
Nakakande who
heads a group of
about 500 women
trying but failing to conceive. They
have formed a group called Blessed
Be My Womb and their leader says;
unfortunately, the crisis of male
infertility is not getting the attention it
should.
She says infertility is so highly
misunderstood in the country that
even when women who fail to
conceive are tested and found to be
alright, they never consider asking
their husbands to go for checkup.
“Testimonies from bold women who
have taken their spouses for checkup
show they actually find it’s their men
with a problem,” she said.
Dr. Tamale Sali, the medical director
at the Women’s Hospital International
and Fertility Center agrees with
the women. The centre carried out
the first In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
in the country and is among the

36 March 09 - 15 2018

leading providers of fertility services
having conducted about 10,000 IVF
procedures since they established
in 2004. IVF is a procedure where a
woman’s egg is fertilized outside her
body.
According to Sali, results of the
couples that report with infertility
problems at his hospital show that
30% of the causes are from the man,
60% from the woman, and in 10%
of the cases both partners have a
problem.
He says, based on these results,
his hospital resolved that before
embarking on any kind of fertility
treatment both a male and female have
to be tested even if more women than
men seek services at the center.
“The first thing we do is take history
from the couple. The men may claim
they have children but when we check
them they don’t have a seed that
makes babies,” he explains that the
sperm analysis that is done after two
days of abstinence takes about five
minutes and is cheaper compared to
other tests.
“It should always start with the
man. If a couple is still unable to
conceive within a year of marriage
then there’s a problem. The mistake
that many doctors make is exhaust all
female tests but ignore the men,” he
said.
Failure by a couple to conceive
can be a frustrating experience
and was the main topic during the
International Infertility Symposium
on March 01 in Kampala. The first
of its kind to be held in Africa, the
symposium was on the lookout for
solutions.
Held under the theme; “Infertility
awareness, Access, Capacity building
and management in Sub-Saharan
Africa for Happy families”, the
symposium was partly to create
awareness about the options available
for struggling couples.
One of the issues that came up was
how to enroll more men into fertility
care. This was after Tina Buchholz,
a Scientific Director at the Germany
based Centre of Reproductive
Genetics pointed out that even as
World Health Organisation figures
show 50% of infertility is a result of
a male factor; the problem is almost
never talked about as a man’s issue.
And this is what women in Uganda
are currently grappling with.
“All doctors have said the same
things. Uteruses, tubes, cycles, eggs
I’ve heard it all, I’ve done it all,” said
a 34 year-old woman who asked not to
be named.
She told The Independent that she
and her husband married six years
ago but she has failed to conceive. She
said they are now trapped in a medical
mystery where doctors have tested
one potential solution after another.
She said she had undergone several
rounds of unblocking tubes even as
tests always revealed everything is
okay. She had recently just abandoned
herbal concoctions she had resorted
to. Despite this frenzy, she said, her
husband has never been tested.
Ministry of Health figures show that
infertility affects about 15% of couples
of reproductive age in Uganda.
The figure could be bigger but is
underreported. The figures appear to
correlate with studies done in the West
that show that sperm counts have
declined by more than 50% in less
than 40 years.
Sali says increased awareness could
be a factor in the new results as more
health
men are now having their fertility
investigated. He says it’s only now
that men are starting to realise that
what they might have is a medical
condition like any other. He says
many men still do not know where to
go to seek help and, since infertility
does not cause physical pain or
kill, “many tend to hold on to their
problems”.
To him, only a few men suffer from
congenital infertility like undescended
testes, the majority up to 50%
become infertile because of sexually
transmitted infections whereas
about 15% is due to viral infections
like mumps whereas in some cases
environmental factors such exposure
to radiation and trauma caused by
kicks or accidents are a reason.
Another Expert, Dr. James Olobo-
Lalobo a Consultant Fertility Specialist
says about 10 to 30% of men have
fertility problems some arising from
lifestyles like smoking, excessive
alcohol consumption, overly tight
pants and hot saunas which harm
sperm production.
“We have testis outside our bodies
for a reason,” he explains “they are
supposed to be at least two degrees
cooler than the rest of the body and
once their temperature is risen it can
have an effect on fertility”.
However, while doctors point out
a number of issues that show need
for men to get fertility services, their
options for treatment still do not
match that of women. Olobo says
that could be down to women having
functions of gestating and birthing
that have made them the center for
research. It could also be that male
issues can be easily treated because
they are easily examined for their
reproductive organs are outside the
body. He says their emission too can
be easily got for analysis.
According to World Health
Organisation, one in every four
couples in developing countries
has been found to be affected by
infertility. This prevalence is based
upon patient numbers who came to
the clinics requesting for assistance
related to infertility. Unfortunately
in Uganda such treatment is largely
offered in private health facilities
and therefore attracts a cost which
may not be affordable to the patients.
And worse, most of the assisted
reproductive technology clinics are
located in the city and urban centers.
March 09 - 15 2018 37
health

Beyond donor dollars for health

How Uganda is thinking outside the box
By Henry Zakumumpa

O
ver the last 15 years, there’s been
a rapid increase in the number of
patients receiving HIV treatment
in sub-Saharan Africa. This has
largely depended on foreign aid, particular-
ly from global aid organisations such as the
U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief (PEPFAR) and The Global Fund.
Millions of lives have been saved and the
quality of life of those living with HIV has
been improved dramatically.
In recent years there have been persis-
tent reports of a decline in the amount of
international assistance that governments
are getting for HIV treatment. This has hap-
pened at the same time as there’s been a
dramatic increase in the number of people ted to enrol 80% of the people living with extra money was used to support the costs
who need HIV treatment. The numbers HIV on antiretroviral treatment by 2020. of poorer patients.
spiked significantly after the World Health Although the government has increased its Some clinics had also developed a special
Organisation announced in 2015 that every- domestic spending on HIV in recent years, ‘HIV’ medical insurance scheme to help
one diagnosed with HIV should start treat- large international funders still finance vital patients manage costs because these can
ment immediately. components of the HIV programme such as fluctuate with HIV. By expanding private
African countries have become depen- HIV drugs. insurance coverage clinics could potentially
dent on foreign aid to meet the escalating But a large part of the drive requires reduce the outpatient burden in public facil-
demand for HIV treatment. In Uganda for scaling up services and there are a number ities by redistributing some of the patient
example, foreign aid accounts for 85% of the of critical areas that aren’t covered. This loads.
national HIV response. includes, for example: Several public hospitals behaved like
This is a dangerous place to be. Changes * Medication that is administered to HIV NGOs to source funding, and had a team of
in the governments of donor countries patients for the numerous opportunistic grant writers on board.
can affect foreign aid commitments. And infections they can get. Most health facilities in our survey no
countries receiving aid are susceptible to * Buying food for patients to make sure longer depended solely on PEPFAR and
donors using aid as a political tool. In 2015 they don’t take their medication on empty The Global Fund. They had managed to
for example, donor aid to Uganda was tem- stomachs. attract at least two additional funders, with
porarily halted after an anti-gay law was * Paying for multivitamins and the addi- many having as many as five donors.
passed in the country. tional nutrition support patients need to Reducing dependency on donors
What’s become increasingly clear is that ensure they stay healthy.
* Funding community HIV outreach Governments in Africa should all be
there’s funding gap for the scale-up of
activities in all districts of Uganda without moving closer to fulfilling the Abuja Dec-
antiretroviral treatment as well as service
exception. laration which commits them to spending
delivery. The gap is for the ongoing services
We looked at close to 200 health facilities 15% of their annual budgets on the health
that people living with HIV need, like hav-
across Uganda that provided emergency sector. At the moment the average is no
ing their viral loads tested regularly or get-
roll-out of HIV treatment between 2004 and more than 5%. This would reduce the cur-
ting multivitamins to build their immune
2009 to see how they coped. rent very high levels of dependency on
systems.
Our study shows that these gaps were foreign aid.
In our research we looked at how
funded by private individuals and founda- And there are other alternatives that
Uganda is attempting to plug this gap with
tions. should be explored. In Zimbabwe, for
a range of innovative approaches involving
example, HIV services are funded by a 2%
different donors and for different aspects of
How funding gap is being closed levy on beer and soft drinks. Uganda has a
HIV treatment.
In the Masaka region of South Western similar initiative. But it hasn’t been imple-
We found that the initiatives have
Uganda the majority of HIV clinics are mented yet even though it’s been in the
resulted in multiple funding streams, which
funded by the California-based African pipeline since 2014.
in turn has increased access to the support
Health Care Foundation. But several health On top of this, as our study shows, it’s
services that people on ARVs need.
facilities didn’t solely depend on foreign also possible to find local alternative mecha-
nisms to improve access to HIV services.
What’s not covered aid. To cover their costs they introduced
In Uganda there are about 1.7 million innovative funding strategies.
Some introduced ‘VIP’ clinics where Henry Zakumumpa is PhD Candidate,
people living with HIV. More than 750 000
higher-paying patients were treated after Makerere University
of them are on antiretroviral treatment.
As part of its national HIV and AIDS normal working hours. They paid what was
strategic plan the country has commit- called ‘Robin Hood’ pricing because the

38 March 09 - 15 2018
 ART | BOOKS | SOCIETY | TRAVEL | CULTURE
By Dominic Muwanguzi
A painting of an African princess
from Nigeria’s Ife; the spiritual
heartland of the Yoruba tribe,
recently went under the hammer
for more than U.S$ 1.68 million
at the Bonhams Auction House
in London.
T
he African Mona Lisa
portrait, like it has been
fondly described by the
western press and art
critics across the globe,
is by deceased Nigerian
artist Ben Onwonwu; and is part of the
series of three paintings painted by the
artist between 1973 and 1974.
The African Mona Lisa has the
subject matter `Adetutu Ademiluyi
aka Tutu’ gracefully posing facing
the audience with finely chiseled
facial features and a willowy neck
much familiar to royals. Her long
dark flowing hair is tied in a small
knot at the back; a symbol of her
natural beauty. She looks on with
such solitary calmness that is only
unique to females of her caliber. The
oil painting, according to Bonhams
was painted by the artist after he
African art gains
`Mona Lisa’ fetches U.S$ 1.68m at auction
encountered her walking in the
countryside. After the painting was
finished, it disappeared and has
only been recently discovered in a
“modest” home in north London.
“I was absolutely staggered when
I first saw the piece, “remarks Giles
Peppiat, Director of African art at
Bonhams.
Critics have also described the
painting as having an ambivalent
character like the legendary `Mona
Lisa’ painting by Italian painter,
Leonardo da Vinci.
Such rare discovery alongside
the exquisite beauty of the artwork
influenced it price. On the other
hand, the painting has been described
as a national icon and symbol of
cultural significance by art experts.
Incidentally, it was painted at the
dawn of the Biafra war in Nigeria,
and as such provides a platform of
reconciliation.
Across the continent, the smashing
sell of Tutu Portrait, is an emphasis
on the growing interest in Art from
Africa. This is already evident in
the African art pavilions created
at international art festivals like
the Venice Art Biennale, Paris Art
Fair,Shanghai Biennale and Berlin
Biennale. On the local art scene,
Onwunwo’s runaway successful
inspires the notion of local relevance
in art and the apparent need to
preserve Africa’s indigenous culture.
Unlike the popular belief that an
artist should create art for the tourist
market, art that is influenced by
indigenous concepts has more appeal
internationally.
As the euphoria of Tutu Portrait
continues to engulf the art scene on
the continent, Ugandan artists must
be hoping to someday get a taste of
such sweet success. Will it be Geoffrey
Mukasa, Fabian Mpagi or Sanaa Gateja
this time?
Additional reporting from CNN/ BBC
March 09 - 15 2018 39
 Selfie addict takes
200 photos daily
Junaid Ahmed, a 22-year-old
man from Peterborough, UK,
is obsessed with selfies. He can
spend up to three hours getting
himself ready for his daily pho-
to-shoots, and claims to snap
around 200 photos of himself,
uploading the best of them to
his Instagram page. An ex-fash-
ion student and model, Junaid
calls himself the ‘selfie king’.
“When I post a picture, in the
first minute or two I’ll prob-
ably get 100 likes and I love
it, my phone goes crazy, it’s
just amazing,” Junaid Ahmed
recently told BBC, adding that
it was his obsession with selfies
and social media that inspired
him to “upgrade” himself
through plastic surgery.
Cancel your debts,
magically!
Ever wish there was a way
to instantly erase all of your
financial debt without actually
paying back one cent? Who
hasn’t, right? Well, an Indone-
sian guru (religious cult leader)
claims he can do just that for the
followers of his mysterious debt
forgiving cult, Swissindo World
Trust International Orbit. Bapak
Soegihartonotonegoro, a.k.a.
M1 claims to be the sole inheri-
tor of an unimaginable treasure
that will allow him to give any
man woman and child on Earth
$6 million at some point in the
future. But until then you can
send him US$400 (Approx.
Shs1.5 million) and your debt of
billions will disappear. Several
banks have denounced the claim
as a fraud.
40 March 09 - 15 2018
Arsenal star’s mom homeless he earns £30,000-a-week
Chat with the dead
A funeral agency in Sweden
is currently seeking volunteers
for a project that it hopes will
offer people comfort by allow-
ing them to speak to their
deceased loved-ones. The agen-
cy called Fenix wants to create
chat bots (artificial intelligence)
to comfort mourning relatives
`Get Out’ star Kaluuya
impress at Oscars
He was competing in one of
the most anticipated categories
of the 90th Academy Awards
- Best Actor – and did not get
(it went to `Darkest Hour’ star
Gary oldman). But if 29-year old
Kaluuya was simply in the run-
ning for best dressed at Sunday’s
Oscars, he’d have been the run-
away winner. The London born
actor dressed to impress in a
Brunello Cucinelli bronze velvet
blazer as he hit the red carpet at
the Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles.
by giving them a chance to chat
with their deceased loved-ones.
A Russian computer program-
mer Eugenia Kuyda already
created such a bot so she could
chat with her deceased best
friend, fellow tech entrepreneur
Roman Mazurenko, who died
in a car accident. It’s possible
Artist creates
illusions of her face
Dain Yoon uses only make-
up, face paint and brushes to
make her own face and body a
canvas for mind-bending visu-
al effects. The 24-year old who
attended some of the most
prestigious art schools in South
Korea decided to focus on ‘illu-
sion art’, a modern art form
that has proven very popular
thanks to social media sites like
Instagram and Facebook.
Arsenal star Ainsley Maitland-
Niles’ mother claims she is
homeless and sleeps in a 10 foot
metal storage crate while he lives
in a £700,000 apartment. Jule
Niles, 38, said the £30,000-a-week
footballer refused to be a guaran-
tor so she could rent a flat. While
he shares a luxury home with
brother Cordi she has to sneak
past staff at the Big Yellow Stor-
age warehouse to sleep in the
freezing container. “My son Ain-
sley could buy me a flat with two
weeks or two month’s wages.
But the money’s gone to his head
and I’m in this position.”
that chatting with the bots pos-
ing as their deceased loved
one could provide necessary
comfort. “For example, for an
old man who has lost his wife
and feels very lonely it may be
worthwhile to chat with the bot
online, even if he knows it’s not
really her,” the Fenix CEO said.
Woman divorces
man over `rolex’
A 30-year-old woman
in Egypt recently filed for
divorce from her 32-year-
old husband after only 40
days of marriage on grounds
that he is so stingy that
he refused to buy her a
shawarma sandwich (sort
of `rolex’) on their first and
only outing as a married
couple. On their first day of
marriage, the man allegedly
told his wife that he hated
going out because he viewed
it as a waste of money.
When your vehicle gets flooded
The dos and don’ts
By Motoring Guru
A

s the annual long rains of March
to May set in, chances of getting 
caught up in a flood rise. When
that happens, know that your 
vehicle could be rendered irreparable or
else, it might require quite some money
and effort to get it back into drivable 
shape. Depending on how deeply the car
is submerged, it might end up with exten-
sive rust and corrosion, or severe electron-
ics damage. Even if the damage is not ap-
parent immediately, it could appear later.

As a first step, ensure that you do
the following:
 Quickly assess the extent of your car’s 
flood damage, and weigh repair costs
against the cost of replacing your car.
 Depending on how deeply the car is
submerged, consider not restarting
your car as this will cause more dam-
age if there is water in the engine.
 Act quickly. Get the car towed out of
the water as quickly as possible and
set on higher ground.
Start drying out your vehicle as quick- 
ly as possible.
Drain oil and transmission fluids and
lubes before towing.
Pay special attention to the engine.
Get an expert mechanic to check it 
out.
If there are water droplets on the oil
dipstick, it might indicate water in the 
engine. If that’s the case, the cylinders,
which are supposed to compress
air instead of water, will be broken.
Replace them.
Change the oil and transmission fluid. 
You’ll want to do this again after the
car is drivable and you’ve gone sev-
eral hundred kilometres.
Clean the interior. If floodwaters 
went inside your car, remove carpets
and dry out seats with a soak cloth.
Remove seats and seat cushions if
possible, and dry them in the sun.
Turn the A/C on and use strong air
freshener to remove the difficult smell
of mold and mildew, especially from
wet seats and AC vents. If damage is
March 09 - 15 2018
extensive, reupholster the entire car.
Get the car cleaned as a fine layer of
silt will cover everything; including
difficult to clean engine compart-
ments, air cleaner, and spaces in the
interior.
Check the spare tire compartment for
signs of moisture, inside the head-
lights for standing water or fog.
Check electrical components and
replace damaged parts. Ensure that
the radio and other signals work.
Check fuses box and battery termi-
nals.
Check the fuel tank and line. If you
note any water (which would natural-
ly separate from the fuel), you’ll want
to empty the tank completely.
If the windows of your car aren’t
sealed very well, you might hear
water sloshing around in your car.
That is flood water trapped inside
your doors. If you look along the
bottom of the door, you’ll see several
plugs. Use a screwdriver to open them
and let water will drain out.
41
 Profile
Agnes Atim Apea on women empowerment
By Agnes E Nantaba
I
n 2017, Agnes Atim Apea (PhD)
popularly known as ‘Mama Rice’;
especially in northern Uganda, was
named among most innovative women
in the world by British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC). She joined the list
of inspirational and influential women
around the world for her role in the fight
for social justice among the women and
girl child education. It was rewarding for
an expert sociologist who successfully
exploits opportunities in agriculture to
enable women to economic freedom.
Atim maintains her passion for women
empowerment using business to solve
social problems.
“My kind of business is not conventional
because it involves identifying the available
resource and using it to empower the
community; especially women,” said Atim.
In 2012, Atim returned home from
United Kingdom where she was enrolled
for PhD at the University of Reading in
International Development to undertake
her thesis on participatory development
in post-conflict Amolatar district. She hails
from a war torn area in Lango sub-region,
Northern Uganda.
“The intention was to use research
to improve lives through participatory
development targeting how people can
reconstruct themselves in post war zones,”
said Atim.
She mobilised up to twenty women
and started a rice growing project as a
high end food that could fetch higher
returns if handled well throughout the
value chain. The rice growing project has
earned her the name ‘Mama Rice’ in the
region something she brags about for
reconstructing the lives of women and their
families in the post-war zone. The group
has since grown to over 1000 women in the
sub-region. And for the same project, Atim
was also named most influential farmer
in the region and received an award from
President Museveni for creating change in
the community.
Perhaps, her zeal to empower
women stems from her disadvantaged
background, being the first born in a family
of eight girls. Just like in any other African
setting where girls were regarded as less
useful compared to boys, it was a struggle
for Atim to go through school. At some
point, she had to do odd jobs like working
as a maid in people’s homes and labouring
42 March 09 - 15 2018
in gardens to raise school fees. She almost mortality and child marriages among
gave up on school after the death of her others.”
parents but fate got her into the hands of a At 45 years, Atim still looks at reinforcing
strict grandmother who also emphasised the achievements in women empowerment
the value of education and hard work for for sustainable development. She is
any aspiring successful woman. married to Jacob Apea with whom they
Fate could only land her at VH Public have three children.
School, St Catherine Girls School and
Awelo secondary school. She would
qualify for a course at Makerere University
or any other higher institution with the
additional 1.5 points for girls but was
failed by money.
“I took on the admission at
Aduku NTC near home to
pursue education because at
that time, a teaching job was a
sure deal,” she says.
But with passion to
empower the community,
Atim applied for and earned
a job as a social worker with
a Christian based NGO and
since then, she has worked
with several ones for the
same cause. In late 2017 she
was appointed to head the
Local Government Finance
Commission in Kampala.
Apea also unsuccessfully set one
leg into politics in 2016 running for
Woman MP Amolatar district.
Being an instrumental women
activist, Atim maintains that Uganda
as a country has done tremendously
well in terms of policy reform.
“We have over 30% women in
leadership but our focus should not be
on counting numbers,” she says, “We’ve
got so much to do with livelihoods and
women empowerment because
when a woman has
money, it breaks
down to reducing
maternal

Agnes Atim Apea’s Liteside
Any three things that we don’t
I
know about you?
am a people centered per-
son who loves working
with people. But I am also
an analytical person who
questions things a lot. I am so
passionate about the girl child
and believe that if we invest
in girls, we can take the com-
munity to another level. I really
love giving back to my com-
munity.
What is your idea of perfect
happiness?
I feel so happy when I have
done something small and the
impact turns out big.
What is your greatest fear?
Failure and wars; growing
up in the era of wars, even the
imagination of it freaks me out.
What is the trait you most de-
plore in yourself?
Some people say that I am
very tough and too straight
which sometimes makes me
scared to engage. Sometimes
I talk too much and end up
dominating the conversation.
What is the trait you most
deplore in others?
Dishonesty and not being
straight.
What is your greatest extrava-
gance?
I love shopping.
What is the greatest thing you
have ever done?
I have always loved to do
something that impacts on the
life of someone directly and I
really tried to do it especially in
the NGO world. I am so proud
of the Mama Rice project
What do you consider the
most overrated virtue?
It has to do with politics; we
overrate politics in Uganda
yet elsewhere it is service to
humanity. Politics is like a do
or die in Uganda which makes
it overrated and I think it has
to do with high rates of com-
mercialisation of politics. It
has made the country to be so
polarised.
What does being powerful
mean to you?
Power comes with a position
of influence.
On what occasion do you lie?
Lies are relative but its better
I tell a lie and let the other party
deal with it than cause more
damage with lies.
What do you most dislike
about your appearance?
I am one of the few people
who appreciate the way I was
made.
What is the quality you most
like in a woman?
Balance of roles as a mother
and wife but also ability to
stand up for her rights.
What is the quality you most
like in a man?
The ability to appreciate oth-
ers especially women in their
natural being.
What or who is the greatest
love of your life?
That has to be my children.
When and where were you
happiest?
When I was admitted for a
PhD in 2012; it was a moment
to look back at how I had come
and struggled through with
life. I was also happy at my
wedding in 2012. I have always
loved to work with govern-
ment but I had not figured out
how and at what point so being
here as part of the solution is
truly rewarding.
If you could change one thing
about yourself, what would
it be?
There is nothing I can think
of.
What do you consider your
greatest achievement?
Being able to serve and cre-
ate an impact within my com-
munity.
Where would you most like
to live?
I am one of the few who
believe that there is no better
life outside home. I love my
country because I believe that
we have so much potential in
this country.
What is your most treasured
possession?
At the moment, it is my com-
puter because I have become so
attached to it.
What do you regard as the
lowest depth of misery?
Being a girl without parents
and no one to run to is disheart-
ening to the extent that the only
option left is to get married.
What is your favorite occupa-
tion?
Community service to see
communities transform is the
gist of my work.
What do you most value in
your friends?
I value their time and my
husband is one of those. He
March 09 - 15 2018
Q&A
understands what I believe and
stand for.
Who are your favorite writers?
I love reading memoirs to the
extent that I have covered hun-
dreds of them.
Which historical figure do you
most identify with?
Mahatma Gandhi was a
selfless character who served
above self. I loved his approach
of leadership, mobilisation
and simplicity. He just did too
much sacrifice for his commu-
nity as a selfless character.
Who are your heroes in real
life?
My mother, Grace Owalla;
she gave birth to only girls and
in our culture, we are regarded
as almost useless but she put
in me that we are actually use-
ful. Everything I do currently
would actually please her
because I grew up working
hard in anger to disqualify the
statement that girls are use-
less. My grandmother Esseri is
my other hero who took us on
after the death of my mother.
Mahatma Gandhi is my hero
in the career world. He was so
humble.
What is your greatest regret?
I regret not being able to
bring up my sisters and get
them through school. All my
sisters dropped out of school
because there was nobody and
it wasn’t because of my wish
but I couldn’t help it. I have
now resorted to educating all
their children to fill the gap.
How would you like to die?
I wish I could die a God fear-
ing person.
What is your motto?
Service above self.
43
Global comment
By William M. LeoGrande
Washington meddles in politics
How the U.S., which has been covertly interfering in other
nations’ politics for decades, has made itself vulnerable
T
hey have no damn right,” former
Vice President Joe Biden said on Feb.
16, denouncing Russia’s interference
in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
“It’s our sovereign right to be able to con-
duct our elections unfettered. Period.”
Biden spoke for many Americans who are
indignant over the mounting evidence of a
multifaceted effort by the Kremlin to sow
discord among Americans and tilt the elec-
tion in favour of Donald Trump.
There is some irony to this. The United
States has been covertly interfering in other
nations’ politics – including elections – for at
least three-quarters of a century. It still does
today. Latin America, the focus of my own
research, has been a frequent target.
Rather than using Facebook and Twitter to
create make-believe organisations, the CIA
organised front groups. Rather than creating
bots to spread fake news, the CIA bribed
foreign journalists, financed foreign news-
papers and set up false flag radio stations.
The disruptive goals of information warfare
have not changed over the decades, only the
technology has.
Here are just a few of the most notorious
examples of U.S. election meddling.
The CIA’s ‘Mighty Wurlitzer’
The origins of Washington’s political war-
fare – known then as psychological opera-
tions, or psy-ops – trace back to the begin-
ning of the Cold War.
The U.S. feared that Western European
Communist parties would ascend to power
by winning elections. One of the very first
covert actions by the CIA’s new operational
wing, directed by Frank Wisner, was a
concerted effort to prevent the Italian Com-
munist Party from winning the 1948 election.
Washington funneled several million dollars
to the conservative, pro-American Christian
Democrats.
Former CIA officer F. Mark Wyatt
explained, “We had bags of money that we
delivered to selected politicians, to defray
their expenses, their campaign expenses, for
posters, for pamphlets, what have you.”
Whether the CIA’s support made the dif-
ference or not, Washington interpreted the
Christian Democrats’ victory as a huge suc-
cess. The agency used it as proof of concept
for a model of political manipulation that
the CIA continued to employ in Italy for the
44 March 09 - 15 2018
next several decades and replicated around
the world.
Wisner built a network of foreign journal-
ists, newspapers and magazines known
officially as the Propaganda Assets Inven-
tory. Wisner liked to call it his “Mighty
Wurlitzer,” after Wurlitzer-brand organs. It
was a propaganda instrument so powerful,
it could play any tune to audiences world-
wide.
Applying the Italian model in Latin
America
The CIA sought to replicate its Italian suc-
cess in Chile. In the 1960s, Chile, like Italy,
had formidable socialist and communist par-
ties contending for electoral power. The CIA
began funding Chile’s Christian Democrats
in 1962, helping them win a narrow victory
over socialist Salvador Allende in 1964.
In 1970, a socialist-communist coalition
led by Allende won the presidential elec-
tion. The United States escalated its covert
support for the opposition, including the
far right, encouraging political polarisation
and violence. This set the stage for Chile’s
1973 military coup in which Allende died.
A linchpin of the CIA’s political war against
Allende was Chile’s main newspaper, El
Mercurio, which attacked Allende’s govern-
ment without respite, spreading disinforma-
tion.
A decade later, the CIA enlisted La Prensa,
Nicaragua’s main newspaper, to play a
similar role in a covert war to overthrow the
Sandinista leftist government. As in Chile,
the CIA funneled funds to a wide variety of
opposition political parties, private sector
groups and voluntary organizations – not
to mention creating a counterrevolutionary
paramilitary army, the “contras,” in neigh-
boring Honduras. The Reagan administra-
tion’s funding of the contras in defiance of
a congressional ban led to the Iran-contra
scandal.
In 1990, the CIA brokered an agreement
among the Sandinistas’ disparate opponents
to support Violeta Chamorro of the National
Opposition Unity party for president. The
CIA funded her successful campaign.
In neighboring El Salvador, politics had
also become polarised between the far right
and revolutionary left. U.S. financial backing
was indispensable in keeping the Christian
Democratic Party viable throughout the
1980s. Its leader, Jose Napoleon Duarte,
was a paid CIA informant. The agency
helped fund his unsuccessful 1982 election
campaign for provisional president, to be
selected by a new Constituent Assembly.
He was defeated by the notorious death
squad organiser and far right leader Roberto
D’Aubuisson. However, the U.S. Embassy
deprived D’Aubuisson of the presidency by
threatening to cut military aid if the armed
forces allowed him to take office. The mili-
tary then installed a president of their own
choosing, Alvaro Magana. Duarte ran again
in 1984, with the CIA’s support, and won.
Since the Cold War era, Washington has
adapted its approach for the digital age.
For example, in 2014, the Associated Press
reported that the United States had created
two social networking apps, ZunZuneo and
Piramideo, which it distributed to Cubans
free of charge in order to create a channel for
distributing anti-government messages.
What makes political warfare possible?
The cases in which the CIA’s money
and propaganda, what today people often
refer to as “fake news,” successfully tipped
the electoral scales all have one thing in
common: The CIA was able to find eager
partners among local elites. These elites were
willing to collude with a foreign power in
order to gain the upper hand over domestic
opponents.
Polarisation in the target countries was
so intense that people could rationalise
behavior that might otherwise be regarded
as treasonous. They saw it as a lesser evil
than allowing their opponents to prevail.
Sound familiar? Now, the United States
has become the target country, with our
elections under attack. Facebook and Twitter
are scrambling to control the proliferation of
Russian bots and fake news. But I believe
it is the polarisation of American politics
that has created an environment in which
people believe the most fantastic lies
demonising their fellow Americans. This
has made the U.S. vulnerable to the tech-
niques of foreign manipulation that the
U.S. so often inflicted on others.
William M. LeoGrande is professor of
Government, American University
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