News analysis Health Business

A look at EAC as Uganda scores in CEOs take on

DRC wants to join Hepatitis B fight the new budget

Issue No. 578 June. 28 - July. 04 2019 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8

BoU’s printing
money saga
Behind Nakalema, Akullo investigation

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June. 28 - July. 04 2019 1
inbox

Issue No. 578 June. 28 - July. 04 2019

News analysis Business Health Arts Motoring

Cover story
BoU’s printing money saga
Behind Nakalema, Akullo investigation

5 The Week
30 Comments
Uganda hailed at first ever
African Hepatitis B summit Justice for journalists:
Those who end up killed
deserve justice for the sake
9 The Last Word
of other journalists who risk
The tyranny of expert their lives every day
advice:Why Africans need to look
beyond the oversimplification of
32 Health
our development challenges
Hepatitis B in Uganda :
14 Analysis Country leads in tackling
growing health challenge
EAC at 20: A look at the bloc’s
state and DRC’s intention to join

35 Arts & Culture

27 Business
Art that cares: `We have
CEOs take on the new budget: lost our capacity to
They see opportunities for business, empathise; to ask what if
economy in FY2019/2020 it were me’

STRATEGY & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Andrew M. Mwenda WRITERS:Ronald Musoke, Flavia Nassaka, Ian Katusiime,
MANAGING EDITOR: Joseph Were Patricia Akankwatsa, Julius Businge.
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BUSINESS EDITOR: Isaac Khisa CARTOONIST: Harriet Jamwa

PUBLISHER: Independent Publications Limited, Plot 82/84, Kanjokya Street, P. O. Box 3304, Kampala, Uganda
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2 June. 28 - July. 04 2019

 inbox

“It is not abnormal to make mistakes,

but we demand that the record be set
straight. Government is not aware
where Enanga picked his information
from.”Ofwono Opondo, Gov’t spokesperson
clashed with Police Spokesperson on the BOU
currency saga

Jane Ruth Aceng (in glasses), celebrates with sicklers and their parents during the World
Sickle Cell Day held at Uganda National Health Laboratory Services in Butabika on June 19.
She said Hydroxyurea medicine is now available to treat both cancer and sickle cell patients
and are working to bring down its price.  INDEPENDENT/ALFRED OCHWO

Finance Minister Matia

Kasaija reacts to NIRA “It is not easy for people to come back
official during the
National Information after six months for the third dose. I
Technology Authority appreciate WHO for revising this and
– Uganda two-days
e-government saying that people can still come back
expo held at the within a period of a year.”Jane Aceng,
Garden City. Over Minister for Health on new measures for
10 government
institutions Hepatitis B dosage
participated in
sensitizing the public
and private sector
on the critical role
ICT plays in service
delivery.  INDEPENDENT
/ALFRED OCHWO

Lwemiyaga County MP
Theodore Ssekikubo (2nd-
R) finally graduated on June
21 at Law Development “The five of us who did not participate in
Center after he was thrown the burial in Bundibugyo do not consider
out in last years graduation
ceremoney. Ssekikubo that our mother was buried, we think
through his lawyer had
in 2018 asked the high
that her body was just kept somewhere
court to block the April for a while so that when as a family we
27 graduation ceremony resolve the current misunderstandings,
because he was not on the
list but failed.   INDEPENDENT/ her remains will be exhumed to be given
ALFRED OCHWO a decent burial.”Rwenzururu King Wesley
Mumbere

Goals Uganda scored Workers at a marijuana Residents of Mubende

2 against DRC in first
AFCON match
370 firm in Uganda who
were laid off
1000 District ordered to vacate to
pave way for tree planting

June. 28 - July. 04 2019 3

week

Museveni in
China over SGR
President Yoweri Museveni
has been in Beijing, China
on a four day trip where
financing for the Standard
Gauge Railway (SGR) has
been top of his agenda.
Museveni attended the
China-Africa Economic
and Trade Expo and also
VP Edward Ssekandi (in black) with Health Minister Jane Aceng, US Ambassador Deborah Malac and others at the summit. held a bilateral meeting
with Chinese President,
Uganda hailed at first ever African Hepatitis B summit Xi Jinping. The meetings
were aimed at finding a
way forward for the $60b
Uganda hosted the first ever African Hepatitis the population aged 15-64 years. The Minister of (about Shs224 trillion) in
B Summit and rallied partners and countries to Health Ruth Aceng revealed that the Ministry of new funding that Jinping
eliminate Viral Hepatitis B in Africa. The theme Health established a Hepatitis Technical Working promised to African leaders
for the summit was, “Eliminating Viral Hepatitis Group, which developed a strategic action plan for at a similar summit in
in Africa; Implementing the Viral Hepatitis Strat- the elimination of Hepatitis B, a Vaccination plan September last year. Uganda
egy”. The event brought together participants to vaccinate adolescents and adults and statuto- and Kenya are in desperate
from over 25 countries and provided an opportu- ry instruments declaring Hepatitis B as a public need of a loan for the SGR
nity for countries to develop and work towards health threat in Uganda. Another instrument in which Kenya needs to
implementing action plans, sharing best practices the plan makes vaccination of health workers complete to enable Uganda
and lessons learnt from each other in the fight against Hepatitis B mandatory. At the summit, the start on its section of the
against Viral Hepatitis. In Uganda, according to ministry of health also awarded Abbot, a global railway. The first phase
the Uganda Population-based HIV Impact Assess- healthcare leader, for its exceptional performance of Kenya’s SGR running
ment survey, (UPHIA, 2016), it is estimated that and contribution towards viral hepatitis response from Mombasa to the
the prevalence of Viral Hepatitis B is at 4.1% in in Uganda and worldwide. capital Nairobi, cost $3.8b
(Shs13 trillion) and was
commissioned in June 2017.
NIRA rolls out National IDs to Ugandans in South Africa It is also constructing the
other phase from Nairobi to
As part of fulfilling one of extended their services to the register Ugandans in its area Naivasha but has not secured
their mandated functions; Ugandans in South Africa. of accreditation. financing for the third phase
registering all Ugandans and The Executive Director, The NIRA team carried out which runs up to Malaba, the
issuing them with National Judy Obitre Gama and a team a very successful training of Ugandan side. Museveni’s
Identification cards, National of four officers from NIRA the responsible mission staff delegation also included
Identification and Registration made a three day working and indeed, a pilot registration Foreign Affairs minister
Authority (NIRA) in visit from 19th-21st June to of over 70 enthusiastic Sam Kutesa, Works minister
conjunction with the Uganda Pretoria to train and equip the Ugandans was successfully Monica Azuba, officials from
High Commission in Pretoria mission with the capacity to carried out. Ministry of Finance, Attorney
General, and others.

Archbishop Stanley Ntagali in long farewell to flock

It was an emotional mass on June 23
when hundreds packed Namirembe
Cathedral in a farewewll service for
Church of Uganda Archbishop Stanley
Ntagali (Pictured) who is set to retire
on March 1, 2020. Ntagali has been
at the helm of the church for nine
years. The Rt. Reverend Wilberforce
Kityo Luwalira, Bishop of Namirembe
Diocese, hailed the outgoing
Archbishop for setting an example for
leaders to retire when their time has
come. The church lauded Ntagali for his
strong stance against homosexuality.
“You have said no to ungodly behaviour
being advanced by churches in Europe
and you have ensured that Christians
remain rooted in Christ.” Luwalira also
praised Ntagali for his crucial role in
promoting children’s ministry in church
and advancing the role of the youth. A
message from the Buganda Katikkiro
Charles Peter Mayiga described
Ntagali, the ninth Archbishop, as a
great leader and one who labored
through enormous challenges.
Meanwhile Ntagali advised Christians
to ignore speculation on who would
succeed him, saying God has already
chosen the next Archbishop. Sheldon
Mwesigwa of Ankole Diocese, Stephen
Kazimba of Mityana Diocese and
Samuel Egesa of Bukedi Diocese have
all been touted as possible successors.
Since he announced his retirement,
Ntagali has been traversing the country
bidding farewell to his flock.

4 June. 28 - July. 04 2019

 week

BOU saga: MPs to summon all actors

As the nation grapples with answers
over the fluid currency saga at Bank of
Uganda, the Parliamentary committee
on Commissions, Statutory Authorities
and State Enterprises (COSASE) plans to
summon all officials involved to explain to
Ugandans what happened. The currency
saga has been a whirlwind of accusations,
counteraccusations, denials and clashes
between government departments. The
incident has sucked in Civil Aviation
Authority (CAA), Police, State House
COSASE’s Munyagwa Governor Mutebile
Anti-Corruption Unit, Entebbe Airport,
and other high ranking government offi-
cials. Two officials from BoU have been
arrested and questioned by the Police. The
currency printing saga has yet again put
BoU in the news for the wrong reasons
after two years dealing with the fallout
from the sale of Crane Bank and other
banks over the years. It all started when
the State House Unit made swoops on the
Central Bank arresting some officials after
an anomaly was reported in inventories at
BoU. Since then, it has become a full blown
crisis engulfing government.

Fresh row at UTL: Minister says administrator not transparent
The struggling Uganda
Telecommunications Limited
(UTL) is once again caught up
in a fresh fight between its line
minister, Evelyn Anite, in charge
of Privatisation and Investment,
and UTL administrator, Beman-
ya Twebaze, also Registrar
General of Uganda Registra-
tion Services Bureau (URSB).
Minister Evelyn Anite accuses
Twebaze of insubordination and
failing to provide accountability
regarding the operations. Citing
a report by a select committee of
Parliament, she told the House
that government has lost control
Ethiopia’s military chief killed
An attempted coup in
Ethiopia left four officials
dead, including the country’s
military chief. The chief of
Ethiopia’s armed forces,
Gen. Seare Mekonnen, was
fatally shot at his home by
his bodyguard in the capital
of Addis Ababa. A retired
Evelyn Anite
general who was visiting
Seare was also killed. The
killings came hours after
a violent attack rattled
Ethiopia’s north. Armed forces
tried to take over the regional
government of Amhara. The
region’s governor, Ambachew
Mekonnen, was killed in the
over UTL. MPs also accused
Twebaze of blocking audits of
UTL. However he has denied all
the accusations levelled at him
and said it is not the right time
to carry out audits. Twebaze at
a press conference said the final
audit on UTL will be done in
November when his tenure as
administrator comes to an end.
He insisted that he has been
filing bi-annual reports detailing
the incomes coming into UTL.
The URSB boss said the politi-
cians are mudslinging him for
their own agendas.
city of Bahir Dar during a
meeting in his office with his
senior adviser.
Seare, the army chief, was
planning a response when
his bodyguard shot him. The
government says it believes
the two attacks are linked.
Collapsed Lohana
wall kills six children
A wall of Lohana High
school that collapsed and killed
six children has left questions
hanging over the mandate and
enforcement of the Kampala
Capital City Authority (KCCA).
Deputy Kampala Metropolitan
police spokesperson Luke
Owoyesigyire says that the
wall collapsed during a heavy
downpour at 2 am killing
six street children on spot.
Two others are currently
hospitalized in Mulago
hospital. The children were
resting in a channel adjacent
to the school. An eye witness
said that the children were
struggling to find clothing
to cover themselves with
during the early morning rain
when tragedy struck. Heavy
downpours in Uganda have
been fatal in the last one month.
Not long ago, a perimeter wall
collapsed in Seguku killing
five family members during a
heavy downpour.

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June. 28 - July. 04 2019 5

week
AFD marks 20 years of cooperation with Uganda
Last week, the French
Development Agency
(AFD) marked 20 years
of a growing partnership
with Uganda at a ceremony
held at the French Embassy
in Kampala. AFD has
committed 1 billion Euros
(Shs1.4trilllion) over the
past 20 past years. Almost
52%. Virgine Leroy,
Country Director AFD
in Uganda said over 50%
of this funding has been
extended to Uganda in the
past three past years. Leroy
highlighted infrastructure,
increasing access to energy
and urbanization as some of
the areas AFD has supported
strongly. “I will start with
water which is our core
and first historical sector
in Uganda with 32% of our
portfolio together with the
former KCC, the Ministry
of Water and Environment
and National Water and
6 June. 28 - July. 04 2019
Nkenda sub-station in Hoima
Sewerage Corporation,”
Leroy said while speaking
about AFD support to
infrastructure in Uganda.
There have been several
projects commissioned. Late
last year, the Vice President
of Uganda, Edward Sekandi,
commissioned the Nkenda-
Hoima transmission line and
its associated substations
as part of the Ugandan
government’s Electricity
Connection Policy, whose
goal is to achieve a 60% level
of access to electricity across
the country by 2027. The
project was funded by the
French government through
its financing arm, the French
Development Agency (AFD),
which contributed €20.4
million (Shs84.5bn) to the
project’s estimated cost of
€85 million. (Shs352bn).
It was co-financed by the
Government of Norway,
and is intended to improve
power supply, quality,
and reliability in Western
Uganda. Sébastien Minot,
the Deputy Director for
Africa FDA, also attended
the event presided over by
Gabriel Ajedra, Minister of
State for Finance (General
Duties). Meanwhile AFD
Uganda will get a new
Country Director in August,
Hatem Chakroun.
Humour Did you know?
It’s better to lose wallet
with cash in it

If you’re prone to losing your

wallet, keep it filled with cash. That’s
Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has said.MPs should a tip from researchers who “lost”
pay their own OTT Tax because they can afford it over 17,000 wallets in 40 countries. In
all but two countries, the likelihood
of a stranger returning a wallet
increased if there was money inside,
the researchers report June 20 in the
journal `Science’.
Behavioral economist Alain Cohn
of the University of Michigan in Ann
Arborand his colleagues deployed
13 Swiss college students, wallets in
hand, to 355 cities across the globe.
Each wallet was clear, letting a finder
see the contents without opening it.
And each contained a grocery list, a
key, three identical business cards
with a local-sounding name and an
e-mail address. Some of the wallets
had no money, while others held
$13.45 (Approx. Shs50,000). The
research assistants then turned the
wallets over to employees of banks,
museums, post offices, hotels and
The Democratic Republic of Congo has formally applied for admission to the East African Community police stations along with a note,
reading: “Hi, I found this on the street
around the corner. Somebody must
have lost it. I’m in a hurry and have to
go. Can you please take care of it?”
The researchers then calculated a
“return rate” based on how many
employees e-mailed the person on
the business card within 100 days to
report the wallet as “found.”
On average, 40% of wallets with
no money were reported found,
compared with 51% of wallets with
some money. Up to 82% of wallets
holding $13.45 were turned in
Denmark and 20% in Kenya. In the
United States, 57 percent of wallets
with money were given back. Cohn
says further research revealed that
decisions to return wallets were
motivated less by thoughts of the
wallet’s owner than by not wanting to
The Uganda Cranes fly past the Democratic republic team winning 2 – 0 feel like a thief.

June. 28 - July. 04 2019

 News analysis Health Business
Ebola Zaire tests Acholi culture How you will benefit from
Uganda’s response to fight HIV the 2019/2020 budget

Issue No. 577 June. 21 - 27 2019

Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8

BoU multi-billion
currency saga
What went wrong?

Inbox
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www.independent.co.ug

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
Details in BOU currency saga
Refer to: “Detailed account in
the BOU currency saga” (The
Independent online June 15). It’s
good that the formal investiga-
tive agency, police takes over
from State House’s Lt. Col. Edith
Nakalema. Next all procedures
must be made public where pos-
sible. Do not to keep citizens in
the dark. By the way what had
prompted the Governor of Bank
of Uganda, Tumusiime Mutebile
to sidestep the police in the first
place in favor of Nakalema who
is solely deployed for corruption
issues? Had Mutebile already
concluded this to be corruption?
Secondly for Omar Mandela and
his old clean record to feature
here, really someone more influ-
ential in terms of authority must
have compelled him.
Simon Kimoyi

Beti Kamya quits NBS investigation story proves Congratulations to

UFA presidency
Refer to: “Betty Kamya quits
UFA presidency” (The Indepen-
dent Online June 21). That’s the
characteristics of people void
of principles. Because they only
live to eat (mugatti wa batta),
they are capricious and can
bet their mothers for a piece of
chapati and a plastic mug of chai
mukalu.
Anonymous
YouTube to protect
young users
Refer to: “Pressure mounts
on YouTube to better protect
young users” (The Inde-
pendent Online June 21).
Compelling YouTube to put
all child-directed videos in
its separate YouTube Kids
app is a good venture. I think
this will protect not only the
young persons but to some
extent even the adults will be
protected. I also thought that
pornographic videos would
be the first to mention. You-
Tube indeed has to revise its
mechanisms.
Openjmungu Brigjt
government provides drugs
Local senior
investigative journalist
Solomon Serwanja and
journalists attached to
British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC) finally
unleashed their long
awaited investigative
story digging deep into
the drug theft in some of
our government medical
facilities.
We thank Serwanja
and the team which
came up with this idea
of exposing those who
cause our people to suffer
and later damage the
image of the government.
We welcome such news
reporting styles because
they not only describe
professionalism in the
field of journalism but
they are in line with
government’s fighting
corruption and ensuring
that people receive
government services
fully.
The title of this
investigative story
“Stealing from the sick”
portrayed what most
of our people face even
before the clip is played.
For long, we have heard
and seen media coverage
showing people crying
that there are no drugs
and medical equipment
in the hospitals.
Although government
provides them many
people doubted it.
Serwanja and team
showed that government
distributes medicine and
other medical equipment
but they are stolen by
the individuals who
are within the medical
field which President
Museveni refers to as
‘Kawukuumi’ (weevils).
Serwanja and the team
did their part and now
it is upon government
to continue with the
investigation and the
Ministry of Health to
introduce electronic
tracking mechanisms so
that such habits do not
happen again.
David Serumaga
Kampala
the Uganda Cranes
June 22 was a historic day for Ugandan
football. After 41 years without a single
victory in the African Cup of Nations
finals, the curse is now really off. Ugan-
da Cranes defeated the Leopards of DR
Congo by 2-0. The curse had been was
brought about by the ideology of neglect-
ing sports for over four decades. Clearly
Uganda can do much better than we
think. The whole country 41 years ago in
1978 celebrated the national team reach-
ing the final game of this tournament and
emerging second on the continent. There-
fore, the end to the long walk is near. The
ultimate African victory is within visible
reach. The Cranes are almost there. So
we encourage their progress once again.
One game at a time. Nothing unites a
nation like sports. Congratulations to all
those who never lost hope in national
sports despite the lack of political will
and the lack of support. This is also their
effort. Congratulations to the Uganda
Cranes. Remember that you stand on the
shoulders of those giants who raised the
barrier for Uganda in AFCON. President
Idi Amin set the standard that remains
unbeaten by subsequent generations of
young Ugandans. But by staying strong,
fit, vigilant and determined in a common
purpose, you can surpass yourselves and
do even better, and from there the sky is
the limit!
Hussein Amin

8 June. 28 - July. 04 2019


The tyranny of expert advice
By Andrew M. Mwenda
Why Africans need to look beyond the
oversimplification of our development challenges
L
ast week, a member on a WhatsApp
chat-group I belong to posted a video
of a Singaporean professor explaining
why that country transformed from
a third world to a first world economy
in a generation. The professor, Kishore
Mahbubani, offers to give the “secret
formula” behind this phenomenal success.
It is an explanation a large section of global
and African elites are always keen to
embrace. This is driven in large part by belief
that there is something wrong with our
countries and political leaders.
Mahbubani’s “secret formula” to
Singapore’s success is MPH where M stands
for meritocracy, P for pragmatism and
H for honesty. He argues that Singapore
avoided the temptation for ideological and
policy dogmatism and instead followed
what worked i.e. was pragmatic. Of course,
there is a thin line between pragmatism and
opportunism, just like there is a thin line
between being principled and being rigid.
While I agree (to a large extent) with him on
pragmatism, I found little to agree with on
meritocracy and honesty.
For instance, he explains that Singapore
created a system where public sector jobs
were given on professional merit. But then
he confuses academic performance with
professional competence yet the two are
quite different. He explains the selection of
Lee Hsien Loong, the current prime minister
of Singapore who is also a son of founding
Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, on purely
academic grounds by saying that he was a
top student at Cambridge and later at the
Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
Often the most brilliant students in
class rarely become the best politicians or
administrators. They become lecturers.
To be technically competent at a job does
not require only high grades in class but
a series of other attributes; like emotional
intelligence to manage people and situations.
Secondly, the most important quality for
a public (or even private) sector employee
is not even professional competence but
loyalty. Of course the two are not mutually
exclusive. However, if asked to choose
between competence and loyalty, many
employers pick the latter.
George Akerlof won the Nobel Prize in
economics in large part by showing that is
it not professional excellence or incentive
pay that makes successful organisations. It
is identity i.e. one’s identification with the
The Last Word
goals of the organisation. In politics it would
be called patriotism. Even in war, success
does not go to the best-trained and most
professionally competent militaries (even
though that is an important factor). Rather it
goes to the army with a strong commitment
to the cause for which they are fighting.
Meritocracy is overrated. By most
accounts, the United States overtook Great
Britain as the world’s largest economy in
1888 as industrialisation accelerated. Yet up
till 1890, there was not a single official in the
U.S. government who had been recruited
on the basis of professional merit. On the
contrary, all public sector employees were
being hired on nepotistic i.e. jobs were
being given on the basis of political and
social connection to relatives, friends and
campaign agents.
There was resistance to the introduction of
the civil service entry exam in Europe and
the USA. Meritocracy in the Western world
is a consequence not a cause of development.
We see this in the works of Max Weber on
capitalism and bureaucracy in the early 20th
century. Even then, Weber made it clear that
his arguments of meritocratic recruitment
were an idealised version rarely found in
reality. However, meritocracy has always
been a valued attribute of recruitment into
the public sector in East Asian – Korea,
China and Japan. It dates as far back as 600-
500 BC largely drawn from the teachings of
Confucius and practiced over millennia.
According to Mahbubani, the biggest cause
of failure in the development efforts of poor
countries is corruption i.e. lack of honesty.
This is the most popular misconception of
development in contemporary thinking. Its
adherents are committed to it as a religious
doctrine in disregard to all historical
and contemporary evidence. Most of the
developed countries of today had high
levels of corruption during their intense
period of transformation from backward,
poor agrarian societies into modern
affluent industrial nations. China is rapidly
transforming today against the backdrop
of high levels of corruption – as did South
Korea in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
The reader should not think that I am
calling for nepotism and corruption as
virtues in our countries. Indeed, emotionally
I get extremely upset at corruption and
nepotism because they are unfair and
immoral. However, it is wrong for an
intellectual to mistake morally repugnant
opinion
behavior for impediments to economic
development.
Nations are not biological organisms the
management of which depends only on
technical considerations. They are social
organism whose management involves
complex social-cultural calculations. Leaders
do not make decisions where choices are
between right and wrong, good and bad.
On the contrary, every decision they make
involves tradeoffs.
For instance, the first condition of
prosperity is not merit or honesty but order
– the creation of a secure zone where people
can trade and thrive. How leaders achieve
this goal differs from one country to another
depending on circumstances. In our multi
ethnic peasant societies, order is established
by first addressing the problem of identity.
This is critical to make the different ethnic/
religious groups who compose a polity
feel a sense of belonging to the political
community – Kenya, Senegal, Ghana,
Uganda or Nigeria.
One way African leaders have achieved
this is by building large and diverse electoral
and/or governing coalitions. They coopt
influential leaders of opinion from the
different ethnic and religious communities
such as traditional leaders, religious
clerics, articulate youths, accomplished
professionals, successful businesspersons
etc. and bring them to the centre of power
as ministers, ambassadors and other high
ranking government officers. This is what
creates the sense of belonging to their
constituents. But it comes at a cost. For
instance, leaders make a tradeoff between
meritocracy and inclusion and choose
loyalty over professionalism.
Secondly, how do these powerful ethnic
and religious elites in poor countries
secure the following of their communities?
Through the extension of personalised
benefits to their followers by connecting
them to jobs, contracts and by giving charity
– paying fees, medical bills and feeding their
needy constituents. This is especially critical
because poor countries simply do not have
the resources to provide a large basket of
public goods and services to all their citizens
to the quality and quality desired. Resources
to distribute such personalised patronage
come through corruption. That is being
pragmatic i.e. doing what works.
amwenda@independent.co.ug
June. 28 - July. 04 2019 9
COVER STORY

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+ 20 pallets
+ ?+ ? ?
Extra Arrives April
+
20 pallets 1 Pallet BOU staff Network Airline of currency
cargo 4 BOU staff 27 at 8am
of currency ( Kakeeto, 350bn pallets ( Kakeeto,
of raw Wanyama)
350bn
Wanyama)
materials

Graphic shows movement of currency from France to Bank of Uganda. question mark indicates unanswered areas.

BoU’s printing
money saga
Behind Nakalema, Akullo investigation

A
By Haggai Matsiko
t 10am on June 12 Col. Edith
Nakalema, Assistant Inspec-
tor General of Police (AIGP)
Grace Akullo and their team
arrived at Bank of Uganda
(BoU).
Nakalema who is the head of the Anti-cor-
ruption Unit-State House and Akullo who
is the director of the Criminal Investigations
and Intelligence Department (CIID) headed
straight to the topmost floor of BoU—Level
7. This floor has very few offices. Governor
Tumusiime Mutebile’s office and that of
his Deputy Louis Kasekende are the most
notable.
But Nakalema, Akullo and their team did
not enter any of these. They went straight to
the boardroom, where the senior manage-
ment of the bank—Executive Committee
(EXCOM)—usually meets.
Governor Mutebile was not in office. Nei-
ther was his Deputy.
Mary Katarikawe, the Executive Director
Operations (EDO), who was chairing the
meeting in the boardroom, introduced the
Nakalema, Akullo delegation and explained
why they were there.
Katarikawe told the meeting that the gov-
ernor had requested Nakalema to investigate
the circumstances under which a plane char-
tered by BoU to bring 1400 boxes of currency
notes from France to Entebbe on April 27
ended up with extra unauthorised cargo.
By now all the BoU officials in the room
knew about the incident.
What some did not know is that on May
03, a week after the incident, Governor
Mutebile had called Nakalema on his per-
sonal mobile phone, informed her about
the incident and asked her to investigate.
Nakalema had asked him to put the request
in writing and the Governor on May 08 had
done exactly that.
Leaked documents show that Dr. Natam-
ba Bazinzi, the Assistant Director Adminis-
tration Currency Department who was at the
time the Acting Director Currency, was the
first to report the matter of extra cargo. Insid-
ers say he reported to his other immediate
bosses and together they secured a meeting
with Governor Mutebile on May 03. That
meeting started at about 3pm. But details
about it remain scanty.
“How could this happen?” Governor
Mutebile muttered during the meeting,
“That cannot happen.”
When officials briefed him that they had
been investigating, Mutebile decided the
matter could not be investigated by internal
bank staff.
Given that time had passed and the cargo
had since been taken away, Mutebile wanted
to know what was in the five extra cargo
pallets.
The Independent could not confirm
whether Governor Mutebile called Nakale-
ma during or after this meeting. But we con-
firmed that Nakalema received a call from
Mutebile that very day.
After the meeting, Mutebile tasked the

10 June. 28 - July. 04 2019


Entebbe
+ +
URA staff Milton Heavy
Baluku security
officials to come up with a proper
brief, which he would base on
to officially write to Nakalema
requesting her to investigate the
matter.
After receiving the brief, he
fired off the official letter to
Nakalema on May.8.
8 BoU officials detained
That is how Nakalema and
Akullo ended up at BoU a month
later. Given the sensitivity of the
matter, Nakalema had decided to
work with Akullo’s CIID. Governor Mutebile
Now in the BoU boardroom,
Nakalema told the BoU officials
that eight of them would be accompanying
her to record statements and help in the
investigations. Tension mounted. The offi-
cials were not even allowed time to return
to their desks to windup whatever they had
been doing.
Instead, a white Nissan omnibus was
already waiting in a parking at Level 2. The
eight BoU officials were told to board. It was
about 11am. None of them knew where they
were headed.
But a few minutes later, the omnibus
stopped at the former President’s Office
building next to parliament about 500 metres of Uganda, The Independent has pieced
away.
Here, each one of the eight recorded a
statement or was interrogated separately.
This went on up to about 6pm. Then they
were put into sets of two still in separate
rooms.
One pair was told they would be taken to
Special Investigations Unit (SIU) in Kireka,
another one to Central Police Station (CPS),
and another one to Katwe Police Station.
Only two officials were allowed to return to
BoU and then go home.
An official involved in the investigations
BOU
+ ?+
Heavy
Trucks carry security
away 20 pallets
of currency
350bn
Edith Nakalema Grace Akallo
told The Independent, the two allowed to
return home because their statements were
consistent while the others gave contradicto-
ry statements.
But even those released were told to stay
within Kampala and keep their phones on.
Back at BoU, they relayed the events of the
day to anxiously waiting colleagues, a source developing is that on June 21 it was only
at BoU told The Independent.
The hunt for extra printed currency
Details of this investigation have remained office.
largely unreported. But relying on sources
inside Nakalema’s unit, the police, and Bank
together the events.
Apparently, Nakalema’s team did not
start at BoU. They first went to Uganda Rev-
enue Authority (URA) and had decided to
work with Akullo’s CIID.
A source who is privy to the details told
The Independent that when police officers
arrived at URA to check the extra cargo from charges and Grade one Magistrate Herbert
the BoU plane, they expected to open it and
find extra printed money.
“It was clear, they were disappointed
when they did not find the money,” the
source noted.
COVER STORY
URA
Incharge at BOU
Charles Malinga Extra
Martin Lukagga cargo
Natamba Bazinzi cleared
by URA
Juliet Piloya
Weeks later, the investigators
visited BoU where they picked the
eight officials and released two.
Among those detained was the
team that went to France compris-
ing Francis Kakeeto, the Assistant
Director Mbale Currency Centre
and Fred Vito Wanyama, the BoU
Verification Officer. These were
interrogated for two days and
released on Friday June 14.
At this point it was clear that the
investigators were most interested
in Kakeeto and Wanyama. It was,
therefore, not surprising when
they were re-arrested on June 19.
This time it was also together
with Milton Baluku, the BoU official who
headed the team that went to Entebbe Air-
port to pick the currency, and their boss,
Charles Malinga, the Director Currency at
BoU.
Another pointer to how the case was
Kakeeto and Wanyama who appeared
before the Anti-Corruption Court in Kam-
pala on charges of corruption and abuse of
Prosecution alleges that Kakeeto and
Wanyama on April 26, 2019 between France,
Belgium and Entebbe International Airport
allowed the inclusion of unauthorised cargo
on a plane chartered by BoU.
They are also accused of corruptly
neglecting to perform their duty when they
failed to refute or report the inclusion of
unauthorised cargo on the plane. At their
first appearance in court, the duo denied the
Asiimwe remanded them to Luzira Prison
until June 25. When they reappeared they
were joined in the dock with their boss, Mal-
inga.
Initially, the investigation focused on
June. 28 - July. 04 2019 11
COVER STORY
Kakeeto and Wanyama because the two had
on April 20, been nominated by Malinga,
the Director Currency, to travel to Chantepie
in northwest France, home of the currency
printer Oberthur Fiduciaire.
Kakeeto and Wanyama were to carry out
quality assurance for the procurement of the
currency.
They were to witness as the currency
was loaded and even send photographic
evidence to Kampala where another team
would be waiting amidst tight security.
The cargo in question was 70 million cur-
rency notes of the UShs 5000 denomination
with a value of Shs350 billion loaded in 1400
boxes, according to details from leaked doc-
uments.
That is a very heavy load because, if each
note is about one gram, it means each of
the 1400 boxes weighed about 50kg. Which
means transporting the notes would require
a minimum of seven 10 tonne trucks as each
would carry 200 boxes maximum. In other
words, this was a major logistics operation,
even without factoring in the extra unautho-
rised cargo.
Kakeeto and Wanyama spent a week in
France. As is the practice, they had been giv-
en a checklist. They were supposed to note
each detail surrounding the printing, pack-
ing and loading of the currency.
According to insiders, this is a rigorous
process. Officials are supposed to ensure
that the ordered notes are packed in boxes.
A certain amount of cash is supposed to fit
in a box. Then a certain amount of boxes are
supposed to fit on a single pallet.
April
2018
Order to print
new currency
starts
The two officials were supposed to record
the loading arrangement and communicate
it back to Kampala such that the team wait-
ing at Entebbe would use it to verify. This
process is meant to ensure that BoU cargo is
not tampered with at all along the way.
The cargo departed France on April 26
and arrived at Entebbe on April 27 at 8am.
Dickson Kateshumbwa, the URA Acting
Commissioner General, said in a statement
to journalists on Saturday June 15 that when
the plane arrived, and as normal practice for
sensitive cargo, customs facilitated clearance
of the currency at the tarmac in presence of
BOU officials, aviation security, and other
security agencies.
He explained that the BoU consignment
was then loaded on BOU vehicles and taken
to Kampala with heavy security escort. The
extra cargo, which belonged to other indi-
viduals, companies and organisations, he
12 June. 28 - July. 04 2019
added, was cleared after paying taxes.
The BoU team that picked the currency
was led by Milton Baluku.
Baluku was answerable to Dr. Natamba
Bazinzi, the Assistant Director Adminis-
tration Currency Department. Bazinzi was
standing in for his boss, Charles Malinga
who was the Contract Manager but away
on leave. It is Malinga who selected Kakeeto
and Wanyama to go to France.
The case of extra cargo
Sources at police have told The Indepen-
dent that while being interrogated, Bazinzi
said that on April 26, he received informa-
tion that the cargo had set off. The cargo
would land in Entebbe at about 8am on
Saturday April 27, he was informed. The two
officials in France; Kakeeto and Wanyama,
did not notify him of any extra cargo on the
plane.
BoU had a strategy meeting in one of the
hotels in Kampala starting on April 25 and
Governor Tumusiime Mutebile and his Dep-
uty Louis Kasekende were in attendance.
According to sources at the centre of
the investigations, Bazinzi says once he
got information that the plane had set off
and everything was in order, he informed
authorities, and headed to the BoU retreat.
He reportedly assigned another official,
Juliet Piloya, to be in charge of the consign-
ment.
Piloya’s job was to ensure that Baluku’s
team would be at Entebbe to inspect and
pick the cargo. That is exactly what hap-
pened. But even after Entebbe no official
April 26 April 27
currency
cargo plane
currency
cargo plane
departs lands at
France Entebbe
mentioned the extra cargo. So between Sat-
urday April 27 and Monday April 29, neither
Piloya nor Bazinzi heard about the incident
at the airport.
Then on Tuesday April 30, Bazinzi
received two reports—the quality assurance
report and another from Baluku, who led
the team to Entebbe. The report had photos
showing that there was extra cargo on the
plane.
This three-day delay to report would be the
start of troubles for Baluku. But even bigger
trouble awaited Kakeeto and Wanyama.
Why hadn’t they reported these details
while still in France? Better yet why hadn’t
they reported these matters on arrival?
Could they have been covering up some-
thing? Was there extra currency in these
pallets? Investigators grappled with these
questions.
Amidst all this it emerged that even the
currency BoU ordered did not, as agreed,
fly directly from France to Entebbe. It was
diverted to Liege Airport in Belgium. This
raised new questions: How did the cargo
land at Liege? Were Kakeeto and Wanyama
at Liege? Did they even see the cargo being
loaded on the plane?
Leaked documents seen by The Indepen-
dent reveal that Dr. Bazinzi fired off memos
to the Bank’s Legal Counsel and even the
printer, Oberthur Fiduciaire seeking to get to
the bottom of the matter.
On May 02, Bazinzi wrote to a one Chris-
topher Montet, the Commercial Director
Oberthur Fiduciaire, demanding an explana-
tion and citing a breach of contract.
Bazinzi wrote: “Reference is made to your
letter dated March 22 2019 notifying the
Bank about the different flight options, types
and indicative prices for cash of them for
the delivery of 70 million bank note pieces
of printed matter. The letter highlighted that
the flight type was full charter; however,
during the inspection of cargo in the plane
the team noted that 5 out of the total 25 pal-
lets had items that did not belong to Bank of
Uganda as per the fixed labels. This contra-
vened the freight terms of Full Charter and,
presented a high risk to the Central Bank of
Uganda. The purpose of this letter, there-
fore, is to request you justify the contract
breach, given the risks associated with this
kind of action.” It is the cargo company that
responded. Sam Lindsey, the Commercial
Manager, Network Airline Management
Ltd, replied:
May 03
Dr. Bizinzi
briefs
Mutebile about
the extra cargo
“Unfortunately, during a routine inspec-
tion of the MD-11F aircraft due to operate
charter flight AJK4042/LGG-EBB/26th April
2019, the maintenance team identified a tech-
nical issue deeming the aircraft AOG in EBB
and unable to operate. To eradicate any risk
of delaying this important charter, we took
the decision to utilise our B747-400BCF to
operate on schedule. In addition to the print-
ed matter, there were also some spare parts
for the unserviceable MD-11F and some
general cargo loaded onboard to mitigate the
losses of operating the B747F on this routing.
Please accept our apologies that this was
not declared when the change of the aircraft
was made. We fully appreciate and under-
stand the importance, and security required
when carrying such cargo and apologise for
any inconvenience caused.”
Then on May 07 Oberthur Fiduciaire also
wrote:

“The two Bank of Uganda rep-
resentatives were informed about
the 1 raw material pallet. For the
four remaining pallets, the cargo
company “Network Airline Man-
agement” did not inform us and
have presented their apologies in
writing. Fortunately, we were able
to maintain delivery as per the
initial commitment.
However, we would like to
compensate Bank of Uganda for
the misinformation regarding the
4 pallets and the inconvenience
caused. Would you please tell us
whether you prefer a 10% discount
on the coming delivery of the
UGX10,000 notes or 15,000 US Dol- BoU’s Charles Malinga (L), Vito Wanyama (C), and Francis Kakeeto (R) appearing Oberthur Fudiciaire went
lars off of your invoice to pay for
before the Anti-Corruption Court on June. 25 2019.  NET PHOTO
the UGX 5000?
Bazinzi had also written to BoU’s
Legal Counsel for an opinion on whether the etor of City Oil fuel stations and Café Javas.
service providers breached the contract.”
Christopher Montet, and Claire-Lise BAS-
SAGET, the Back office Manager, Oberthur
Fudiciaire, signed the later.
Investigations by The Independent show
that Montet also visited BoU around the
same time. But details of what he discussed
with the officials remain scanty.
A memo written by Bazinzi to BoU’s
Legal Counsel also revealed several details
about the contract BoU had entered with
Oberthur.
According to the memo, the contract dat-
ed July 26, 2018 required
Oberthur to reprint 170 million pieces and
May 03
Mutebile
asks
Nakalema to
investigate
130 million pieces of UGX 5000 and UGX
10,000. Oberthur was required to select two
reputable carriers and insurers, from which
BoU picked Kuehne+Nagel.
The Independent wrote to Oberthur Fudi-
ciaire and Kuehne+Nagel.
Charlotte Lafont, the Group Commu-
nications Manager, Oberthur Fudiciaire
responded: “Many thanks for your email
and your interest. Please note that we do not
have any additional information to give.”
Kuehne+Nagel did not respond.
This saga is a major setback for BoU
although Nakalema now says the focus of
her investigation is on how extra cargo end-
ed up on a plane that was supposed to carry
only BoU cargo.
Apparently, the cargo belonged to over
10 entities including organisations like the
United Nations, USAID, and individuals like
businessman Charles Mbire, the chairman
MTN Uganda, Omar Mandela, the propri-
Despite these clarifications, however,
there is a story that has refused to die down.
It alleges that the investigation includes
alleged printing of unauthorised excess cur-
rency notes.
This story grew wings when police con-
firmed it had raided homes of officials BoU
officials at the centre of the controversy.
The Independent understands that police
decided to intensify the investigations. That
is how officials who had been released, were
recalled, interrogated again, and others
detained.
This time, Kakeeto, Wanyama, Baluku,
and Malinga, the Director Currency were all
May June 21
08 Suspects Kakeeto,
Wanyama appear
Mutebile before Anti
writes to -Corruption Court
Nakalema
arrested on June.19. Initially, only Kakeeto
and Wanyama were charged. We had not
established Baluku’s fate by press time.
That day Malinga was asked to bring all
the documents surrounding the procure-
ment to police. Apparently, when he took
them to police, he was detained. He too was
on June.25 brought before the Anti-Corrup-
tion Court and charged.
Malinga’s troubles rotate around two
issues. During investigations, authorities
learnt that he was the Contracts Manager for
the Contract with Oberthur Fiduciaire.
But sources also claim that during interro-
gations, investigators learnt that even though
he was on leave, the officials that travelled to
France kept informing him about the details
of the procurement and yet he had not
reported the same. “Investigators are try-
ing to find out why?” a source privy to the
investigations told The Independent before
he was brought before court.
COVER STORY
So was extra currency
printed?
Nakalema has dismissed
reports that her investiga-
tion includes alleged print-
ing of unauthorised excess
currency notes.
This could be because
printing this currency
involves what insiders
describe as “the usual
rigorous contracting pro-
cess” that lasts a year and
involves many signatures
and paper trail.
That is the process
through to win the contract.
Apparently every quarter,
BoU assesses the stock of
currency in circulation. Mainly it looks at
how currency in circulation matches condi-
tions in the economy, especially its growth.
There are other factors; including feculent
currency that is withdrawn.
Once the currency department determines
that there is need to print new currency,
it tables the demand before the Currency
Policy Committee (CPC). Once this commit-
tee approves, the process of procurement
begins. In the case of this contract, the pro-
cess began around April 2018.
Prequalified companies including Ober-
thur, De La Rue, and G&D were invited to
bid. Oberthur won following evaluation by
the BoU’s Contracts Evaluation Committee.
June 25
Charles Malinga
appears
before the Anti
Corruption Court
The committee made recommendations to
Governor Mutebile.
In July 2018, BoU entered a contract with
Oberthur Fudiciaire. There was another
elaborate process that involved ensuring
that the printer used the right raw materials.
Throughout all these processes, BoU would
send officials to do quality assurance.
Charles Malinga, the Director Currency
had been appointed the Contract Manager
with Martin Lukagga as the Assistant Con-
tract Manager.
The job of the Contract Manager and his
Assistant is to ensure everything around the
contract goes according to plan.
That is how Malinga came to appoint the
team that went to France and the one that
went to Entebbe to pick the cargo. And that
is where the trouble started.
June. 28 - July. 04 2019 13
news analysis
Budget of big `ifs’
What must be done if Shs40.5 trillion is to deliver
promise of inclusive growth and shared prosperity
By Joseph Were
U
ganda on June 13 announced its
biggest budget ever which, at
Shs40.5 trillion (Approx. US$10.7
billion), has been described as
ambitious and upbeat. But its promise it not
matched by its offer.
According to the Minister of Finance,
Economic Planning and Development,
Matia Kasaija, approximately 600,000 job
seekers enter the formal labour market
every year. But the cumulative employment
in the country is 700,000 in industry, 1.3
million in services, and 170,000 in ICT. Up
to 4 out of every 5 people who should be
working are unemployed. The mismatch is
wider because 80% of jobs in Uganda are in
the informal agricultural sector.
14 June. 28 - July. 04 2019
Manufacturing, which the government
has been pushing as the source for jobs
in the last five budget cycles, grew at
just 2.8%. It was an improvement from
1.7% from last year. But it is far lower
than the industry sector growth of 5.8%
which includes mining and quarry,
manufacturing, construction, and electricity
and water supply.
As the minister noted, most of Uganda’s
economic growth came from the services
sector which comprises 50.3% of the
economy, employs 50% of the labour force,
and grew highest in FY 2018/19 at 7.2%.
The services sector includes jobs in
trade, communication, education, financial
services, transport, real estate, professional
services, hotels, accommodation, and food,
arts and entertainment, and domestic work.
Commentators have focused on the
ambitious expenditure targets (a 23%
increase on last year and the biggest in the
East African region), aggressive borrowing,
the doubling of the budget deficit, sector
expenditure allocations, revenue targets
and taxes and their likely impact.
But what if we shift the analysis to the
strategy behind the budget? The budget
focuses on a one-year financial period, but
is it in line to deliver on the government’s
promise of inclusive growth and shared
prosperity in the long term? The concern
is raised because, despite budget theme
proclamations, Uganda has not been
performing well on these two fronts over
the last five budgeting cycles.
This is partly because the behavior of the
government; especially of President Yoweri

Museveni and his inner circle, differs
completely from the pronouncements in
the budget and work plans of government
ministries, departments, and agencies.
The economic transformation path
chosen by the government and indicated
in the budget; through industrialisation
- agro-processing, light manufacturing,
and mineral processing – is being staked.
Together with how the expected resultant
prosperity will be shared.
Within the same state apparatus are
technocrats trying to implement empirical
interventions expected to spur economic
growth, and on the other are politicians
pursuing prestige projects and perpetuating
a handout culture that has proven
unsustainable.
At the budget reading, for example,
President Museveni stepped outside of the
presented financial plan and announced
that he would set up three new additional
wealth and job creation funds.
Typically, these so-called wealth and job
creation funds involve the President or a
trusted aide like his brother, Gen. Caleb
Akandwanaho aka Salim Saleh, driving
around the country with bags of money
and handing cash to lucky groups or
individuals as a booster or start-up capital.
Sometimes the money is offered as a loan
Minister
Kasaija
announced
that in the
FY2018/19,
the
economy is
estimated
to have
grown by
6.1%
to
US$29.5B
but a culture has emerged that there is no
requirement to pay the loan.
The new handouts have this time been
promised to practitioners of 13 trades;
including carpenters, salon operators,
welders, mechanics, tailors, taxi drivers and
even media people. Other beneficiaries will
be politicians at lower government level
and lower level ruling party officials.
The culture of handouts has been
criticised because it is done without proper
preparation of recipients, and breeds a
belief among recipients that they do not
have to work to earn money. In the long-
term it complicates the government’s ability
to monitor and evaluate the performance
of various interventions in the fight against
poverty.
Observers point out that when the
country got a bumper harvest of maize
and cereals in the 2017/18 FY, for example,
Salim Saleh’s Operation Wealth Creation
programme claimed it had caused it. But
so did the Ministry of Agriculture, and the
National Agricultural Advisory Services
(NAADS).
In reality, according to some
commentators on the budget, the bumper
crops were a result of `God’s blessings’
of adequate rain and not any direct
interventions of the government.
news analysis
While delivering the budget to
parliament, Minister Kasaija also noted
the contribution of “improved weather
conditions” to the country’s economic
growth in FY2018/19. Other factors
were increased private and public sector
activities and a relatively stable global
economy.
Based on such, observers want to assess
more systematically the impact of proposed
government intervention to spur inclusive
growth and shared prosperity.
Rich get richer, poor poorer
While delivering the budget, for example,
Minister Kasaija announced that in the
FY2018/19, the economy is estimated to
have grown by 6.1% to US$29.5 billion.
He noted that employment was growing
at a rate of 9.8% in seven years from 2010,
and the share of industry had risen from
11.3% in 1986 to 21% in 2019 and average
incomes of Ugandans have increased to
US$825 (An average of about Shs25,000 per
person per month).
But what if the minister had focused on
how Uganda has performed on inclusive
growth and shared prosperity?
Just last year, a major World Bank report
had listed Uganda among countries where
its policy drives for inclusive growth and
shared prosperity were failing.
According to the World Bank, shared
prosperity means working to increase the
incomes and welfare of the 40% least well-
off in any economy. According to the World
Bank, the concept of inequality is distinct
from poverty and fairness. This means
that improved economic growth figures,
rising per capita income, or increased
industrialisation could happen without a
country achieving shared prosperity.
In the report titled `Piecing together
the poverty puzzle’, the World Bank
documented how prosperity was shared in
each of the 140 countries where it serves. Its
conclusion was that there was progress in
sharing the prosperity across the globe but
some countries were falling short. Uganda
was listed among these.
It divided the countries in three
categories; Panel A had countries where the
income of the poorest 40% is growing faster
than the average. This had countries like
China, Malaysia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, and
Egypt.
Panel B had countries where income of
the bottom 40% is growing more slowly
than the average. It included Ethiopia,
Namibia, Mozambique, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,
Sweden, and Norway.
And Panel C, where Uganda is, had
countries where the incomes of the poorest
40% are declining faster than the average.
Other countries in this cohort were Greece,
West Bank and Gaza, Zambia, South Africa,
Germany, Canada.
Finance Minister Kasaija had the figures
June. 28 - July. 04 2019 15
news analysis
to make the same World Bank case. He
announced, for example, that “income
inequality has widened between rural and
urban areas as wealth has not been created
faster in rural communities in comparison
to the urban areas”.
Unlike Kasaija, however, the World
Bank also employs another concept of
“multidimensional poverty measures” to
assess shared prosperity that looks beyond
measures of monetary poverty such as
GDP per capita. It looks at aspects like
security of citizens from crime and natural
disasters, access to quality healthcare,
education, water, sanitation, electricity,
and more.
Based on these, the World Bank noted
that Uganda’s poverty rate rose from 35.9
percent in 2012 to 41.6 percent in 2016.
These are people who live on less than
US$1.90 a day and disproportionately live
in rural areas, making them vulnerable to
disruptions caused by the climate.
Real consumption for Uganda’s bottom
40 shrank by 2.2 percent a year, the World
Bank said. It described the setbacks in
poverty reduction and shared prosperity
as significant and blamed droughts and
pests that affected harvests starting in
2016.
The World Bank advocates constantly
measuring both poverty and shared
prosperity. A look at the budget shows
that despite noting the problem, the
government is looking in the wrong
direction for solutions if shared prosperity
is the destination.
What if Uganda stopped looking at
the Gini coefficient; which is the most
common index for measuring inequality?
What if Uganda started looking at another
more relevant index to the question of
16 June. 28 - July. 04 2019
Based on
these, the
World Bank
noted that
Uganda’s
poverty rate
rose from
35.9 %
in 2012 to
41.6 %
in 2016
shared prosperity; the 20:20 ratio? This one
measures how much richer the top 20%
of populations are to the bottom 20% of a
given population.
According to experts, the 20:20 ratio can
show more clearly how income inequality
affects the population as it prevents the
big middle part of the bell curve (60% of
the population) from confusing the gap
between the richest and the poorest.
For example, Uganda’s Gini coefficient
in 2017 was better than Kenya (0.48)
yet Kenya is a far richer country. Its FY
2019/20 budget is US$30 billion compared
to Uganda’s US$10.7 billion. (Tanzania is
US$14.3 billon, Rwanda US$3.16 billion,
and Burundi is US$725 million).
Advocates of the20:20 ratio say it avoids
confusion in understanding inequality.
The Gini index runs on a range between 0
and 1 (where 0 indicates perfect equality
and 1 indicates maximum inequality) and
in 2017 Uganda was somewhere in the
middle at 0.45, according to a report titled
‘Urbanisation and industrialisation for
Africa’s transformation’.
The report pointed out that the
government had failed to introduce
programmes to raise the incomes of the
poorest 40% while the rich were getting
richer.
In this aspect, according to the report,
Uganda performed worse than all other
East African countries. At the time,
Tanzania’s Gini coefficient was 0.36, and
Burundi 0.33 and Rwanda (0.51).
Advocates of the20:20 ratio say it also
measures human development and social
stability better. This is the measure used
for the United Nations Development
Programme Human Development
Indicators. It shows, for example, that
Japan and Sweden have a low equality
gap, where the richest 20% only earn 4
times the poorest 20%, whereas in the UK
the ratio is 7 times and in the U.S. 8 times.
How shared prosperity is got
Shared prosperity is among the known
strong pillars of sustainable economic
growth. Most economists agree that
ensuring shared prosperity starts with
education and skilling of the population to
participate productively in the economy.
The population has to be equipped with
the right knowledge, skills, and attitudes
for the world of work. Vocational training,
lifelong learning opportunities, working
age population growth, and labour
productivity are the required interventions
for human capital investment; especially in
the fast shifting digital world.
These interventions benefit hugely
from industry-related infrastructure
development, free market ideologies,
promotion of technological advancement,
and social security safeguards.
In contrast, social welfare programs
favoured by Museveni may boost the
welfare of low income household in the
short run but are not sustainable in the
long run. There has been Entandikwa
(Seed Money), Boonabagagawale
(Properity for All), and now Operation
Wealth Creation. The most obvious is the
Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment
(SAGE) programme. People over 80 years
old get Shs22, 000 a month. That can
buy a kilo of sugar, a bar of soap, a kilo
of meat, and a loaf of bread. The people
Museveni gives free money through these
programmes might buy assets such as
motorbikes and bicycles, metal and wood
working machines, domestic animals such
as cows, and household items such TVs
and radios. Most of these people become
poor again as soon as the money runs out.
This is mainly because cash-handouts
weaken incentives to work and invest
while redistributive policies such as the
minimum wage are counterproductive as
they hit small businesses hardest.
What if the government rearranged
its priorities to give human capital
development the attention it requires? The
government would immediately notice
that the current 90 technical and vocational
schools in the country with total enrolment
of 129,000 students are inadequate.
Increasing infrastructure access
and reliability, maintaining peace and
security and good governance, and
industrialisation and improving health
and nutrition might deliver economic
growth but they cannot cause shared
prosperity.
Focus on ICT and skilling
Minister Kasaija noted that increased
electricity generation and transport

infrastructure, and provision of basic health
and education through UPE and USE have
enabled the economy to produce basic
manufacturing products such soap, sugar,
cement, and light steel products. He said
the next phase is production of same goods
for export and import substitution. This
strategy to ensure that most Ugandans
are proactively engaged is commodity
based. However, it misses a critical point;
that we are entering a critical point in the
digital age; the era of the fourth industrial
revolution. The Internet of Things (IoT) is
set to change how people live, work and
relate to each other and with machines
and technology. If the speed in the Third
Industrial Revolution dominated by
electronics and information technology has
been fast, what is coming will be dizzying.
Artificial intelligence, self-driving cars, 3-D
printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology,
quantum computing and the connection
of millions of digital devices through
unprecedented processing power and
databanks requires a rethink of strategy.
Focusing on industrialisation for job
creation and shared prosperity is traditional
linear thinking. As Klaus Schwab, the
Founder and Executive Chairman of the
World Economic Forum, said in the Fourth
Industrial Revolution; “We need to shape
a future that works for all of us by putting
people first and empowering them”.
On this, there is a fascinating paper that
Matia Kasaija and other politicians and
technocrats in the government need to read
to see how a government official works to
transform an economy. It is titled `Political
entrepreneurism: Reflections of a civil
servant on the role of political institutions
in Technology Innovations and Diffusion
in Kenya”. It was written by Elijah Bitenge
Ndemo; a business professor who was
in 2005 abruptly appointed by President
Mwai Kibaki as PS of the Ministry of ICT
and worked with a new minister, Mutahi
Kaggwe, and the private sector to push
through policy reforms and practical
innovations that propelled Kenya as a
regional ICT hub.
President Kibaki allowed them a free
hand. He simply told them: “Mambo
ya Information and Communication
Technologies, ICTs, ni yenu sasa, sisi ni
wazee” (Everything to do with ICTs, is for
you to deal with, we are now old people).
What is unique about these two is how
they were strategised and prioritised. First
they established a powerful ICT team, and
together with major stakeholders drew
up an ICT Master Plan Summary to break
through some archaic regulations set up
by the previous government of President
Daniel arap Moi; including a ban on the use
of any communication technology such as
computers, fax machines as enforcement
of the Official Secrets Act. They found
the EAC leaders fumbling for years with
the East Africa Cable Submarine System
(EASSY) and quickly conceived The East
African Marine Systems (TEAMS) that
laid the undersea fibre optic cable from the
United Arab Emirates even as the country
was going through the 2008 political
upheaval and Kibaki launched it in 2009.
They also developed rural ICT centers,
subsidised broadband to universities,
subsidised students to purchase laptops,
digitised government registries, support
Business Processing Outsourcing start-
ups, and got the government to acquire
high speed broadband in all of its offices.
news analysis
According to
the Minister
of Finance,
Economic
Planning and
Development,
Matia Kasaija,
approximately
600,000
job seekers
enter the formal
labour market
every year
They set up software coding competitions
involving university kids. Local and
international ICT enthusiasts swarmed
Nairobi. That is how MPesa and other ICT
innovations happened.
Under the sub-topic `Entrepreneurial
Failure and culture of handouts’ Ndemo
concludes, that only their rural ICT strategy
failed.
“Of the 36 centers built, only five
were viable and capable of repaying the
US$50,000 loan advanced to them. In
retrospect, we did not spend enough time
in planning and developing a business
case for each entrepreneur. Although we
trained those who were recruited to run
the enterprises, the recruits’ backgrounds
were not suited for entrepreneurship, and
the team should have taken into greater
consideration regional, ethnic and gender
factors that sometimes are in conflict with
the desired outcomes.
“Many years of handouts (grants) had
eroded any understanding of other forms
of financing, such as loans, in this case to
the extent that majority of recipients had
no intention of repaying the loan. With
such intentions, some recruits diverted
the loan into other uses depleting their
operational expenditure”.
If President Museveni and others who
see cash handouts as a way of creating
jobs and sharing economic prosperity read
Prof. Ndemo’s experience, they will find
that educating and skilling the population
works better. That is what China,
Malaysia, India, the Koreas, and Japan
have done to succeed.
June. 28 - July. 04 2019 17
news analysis
East African leaders at an EAC Heads of State summit
By Ian Katusiime
T
he decision by the Dem-
ocratic Republic of Con-
go (DRC) to apply to join
the East African Com-
munity (EAC) may seem like a
coup for the bloc but on closer
scrutiny it may compound the
problems the EAC is currently
facing.
DRC President Felix Tshiseke-
di wrote to his Rwandan coun-
terpart Paul Kagame, who is the
current chairman of the EAC,
seeking to join the six member
bloc.
With the EAC marking its
20th anniversary in November, it
appears like a great way to cap
a milestone. But that is until one
assesses the baggage that the
DRC brings as a mineral rich
country with an all too familiar
record of the natural resource
curse; armed and social conflict,
health challenges, and the threat
of internal implosion.
Numerous local and foreign
militias control most of the
eastern part of the country and
fights between them for a share
of illicit trade in gold, coltan,
18 June. 28 - July. 04 2019
EAC at 20
A look at the bloc’s state
and DRC’s intention to join
diamond, and more are com-
mon. Currently, DRC is reeling
from an Ebola outbreak that
has claimed an estimated 1,400
lives and an unstable existence
between Tshisekedi and his pre-
decessor; Joseph Kabila looms
over it. The EAC, meanwhile,
is also grappling with myriad
sets of troubles. The fragility of
the EAC hit a crescendo with a
border dispute between Rwanda
and Uganda. The sudden halt to
the free movement of goods and
people violates the EAC Com-
mon Market protocol of free
movement of goods and people
and Rwanda has been firm in
denying it closed the border. The
Ugandan side, however, insists
the reality refutes Rwanda’s
denials. Whatever the case, the
development is a major step
back for the EAC when Rwanda
is the current chair.
The highly publicised state
visit by President Yoweri
Museveni to Kenya in March
this year where state pacts were
hammered out did little to ease
the friction on these trade terms
and neither did it harmonise the
two countries on their disputes
on poultry and dairy products,
sources say.
Slow implementation of
bilateral deals
Kenya and Uganda have nev-
er resolved their work permit
tussles, their sugar barons still
bicker over sugar quotas.
By many accounts, Uganda’s
ban on beef and its by-products
from Kenya still lingers and so
does Kenya’s restrictions on
poultry products from Uganda.
The head-butting continues and
Gideon Badagawa, the Execu-
tive Director of Private Sector
Foundation Uganda, the private
sector umbrella body, has an
explanation.
“It is all about sovereignty,”
he tells The Independent. “Most
of our partner states are looking
to develop on their own. That is
what sovereignty is all about.”
He states that technocrats will
always find reasons to halt
goods.
“It is one thing for Presidents
to go to Arusha at a summit and
another for these decisions to be
followed through.”
Badagawa does not like the
often stated claim that the EAC
is the fastest growing region on
the continent. “You always hear
that being sung but then tourism
is always blocked from Tanza-
nia and food items are always
stopped from Kenya,” he says.
He argues that the harmoni-
sation of standards is key for the
EAC to thrive saying it is a waste
of time for countries in one bloc
to subject themselves to other
standard checks once they cross
borders. “Why should goods be

at Malaba for three days before the Kenyan
standards authority has to approve them?”
He adds that bureaucracy rides with
corruption and some technocrats may delay
goods and services with the hope of eating
a bribe.
Tanzania and Kenya have had unending
and malicious deliberate trade barriers
between each other.
On the other hand, Burundi has been
plagued by perennial instability while South
Sudan has been a powder keg since it joined
the EAC in 2016; sort of compelling other
member states to keep a keen eye on it.
The other strategic bottleneck that has
hit the EAC is the stalling of the Standard
Gauge Railway (SGR)- a signature infra-
structure project of the bloc supposed to link
the vital Mombasa port with the other land-
locked states in the community.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta failed
to secure funding from China for the con-
struction of the third phase of the railway in
the country and by extension, casting doubt
on the part that will go through other mem-
ber states.
Journalist Charles Onyango Obbo in an
article in The East African contextualised the
current state of the EAC writing that it has
two tiers: “with Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania
and Rwanda up in a Premier League, and
Burundi and South Sudan, wracked by
conflict at the bottom, languishing as basket
cases in a Second Division.”
Rwanda-Uganda impasse
Emmanuel Sebijjo, the Programs Director
at The African Institute of Regional Inte-
gration Studies (AIRIS), an organisation
whose focus is on the education of the legal,
economic, policy and business aspects of
regional integration in Africa, says the EAC
should take pride in its institutions such as
the East Africa Court of Justice (EACJ) which
can always come in to resolve disputes.
Sebijjo refers to the border closure as a
“small hump” in the grand scheme of things.
“It has not lasted more than a year and you
have seen it opening up recently.”
Sebijjo was referring to the recent decision
to open the border for movement of heavy
trucks. However in a statement, Rwanda
Revenue Authority, said the border would
only be open for a period of less than a fort-
night, from June 10 to June 22, 2019.   munity biting more than it can chew, there
Sebijjo says the EACJ has the potential
to end the conflict between the two states
which some analysts refer to as more of a
clash of egos between former comrades;
Museveni and Kagame, and more critically
a delicate relationship between the two
nations dating from when and how the two
regimes came in place.
He posits that the East African Court
should be the arbiter ultimately. “Countries
do not want to be pointed at by an interna-
tional court.” Sebijjo perhaps as someone
who works for an institute wishes for the
inculcation of international norms in a
region known more for its revolutionary
figures and loose pacts.
In reality though, some institutions such
as the Arusha-based East Africa Legislative
Assembly (EALA) seemed to have steered
clear of the border incident.
Abdullah Hasnuu Makame, an MP in
EALA representing Tanzania, told The Inde-
pendent that there have not been “strong
discussions” on the border closure. “This
is more of an issue for the Executive, or the
Heads of State Summit to resolve. It can also
be handled by the Council of Ministers.”
“We have specialisation and division of
labour and for us in EALA, this is not our
issue.”
DRC’s move
According to Sebijjo of the African Insti-
tute, if DRC joins the community it will have
to watch its behavior and adds that it could
harness advantages it doesn’t know how to.
“Uganda is a food basket, Kenya is a finan-
cial hub, Tanzania has vast resources and
Tshisekedi
wrote of his
desire to join the
Community “so
that we can work
together for the
development of
our respective
countries and
stabilise this
part of Africa
Rwanda is tech savvy, so something good
could come out of DRC after it has joined.”
Various observers have spoken positively
of DRC’s intentions to join the EAC. Apart
from the concerns of the six member com-
has been the issue of whether there should
not be geographical limits to what a regional
grouping can constitute.
If admitted, it means that the region that
is the EAC will have ends on both the Indi-
an and Atlantic Ocean. Christelle Malala, a
citizen of DRC spoke to The Independent, first
about the cultural complexities of her coun-
try and then other dynamics.
“What’s sure is that there’s definitely no
fear of language change. And even if there
were, I would strongly oppose it although I,
personally, prefer English and a curriculum
news analysis
like the ones in those systems too.” The offi-
cial language of DRC is French.
Then the other concerns. “What worries
people here is based on the lingering trau-
ma from the (Rwanda) genocide and the
ever-present war in the East. What if the
trade agreements with Rwanda embolden
them in pillaging? Malala wonders and
adds, “We’re fine with being impoverished
even more if it all backfires... But we refuse
to risk mass massacres! We trust Felix (Tsh-
isekedi) not to sell the country, but backstab-
bing in politics is pretty fair game.”
As a mark of re-shaping DRC under his
reign, President Tshisekedi in his letter to
Kagame wrote “This request follows the
ever-increasing trade between the economic
players of the Democratic Republic of the
Congo and those of the states of the Com-
munity,” he wrote on June 8.
Tshisekedi wrote of his desire to join the
Community of regional leaders “so that we
can work together for the development of
our respective countries and stabilise this
part of Africa.”
Malala however is cautious about what
DRC has made of its time in another group-
ing- the Economic Community of Central
African States (ECCAS) and also wonders
what benefits DRC will lose if it leaves the
union, as some claim.
She says that Kagame appears to be a
lightning rod for her fellow countrymen
and women. “It’s ridiculous how the anger
towards Kagame is having people talk about
some sort of “betrayal” towards the region
we were born in!”
She adds that as of now the country is
evenly divided on the issue.
For now, Tshisekedi has had an interesting
half year report since he assumed the reins
in January. He has already visited Rwanda,
Kenya, Uganda and recently concluded a
two day state visit to Tanzania.
He has also struck a friendship with
Kagame who has traditionally had a tense
relationship with leaders of DRC. Kagame
plotted Laurent Kabila’s ouster and did not
see eye to eye with Joseph Kabila, the imme-
diate former President of DRC.
Some have argued that Tshisekedi’s
decision to sit at the EAC table could be the
beginning of a plan for a clean image-DRC-
leader that his predecessor could not muster.
In spite of the immense troubles like the
rebel-infested eastern part of the country
which is also crumbling under an Ebola
epidemic, Tshisekedi has taken on his new
job with a quiet optimism dealing with each
challenge one step at a time.
Malala thinks highly of the new presi-
dent too. “Felix wants results. Compared to
Kabila, he’s more interested in staying in the
history books than become rich.” She adds,
“Partnering with Kagame is possibly the
biggest gamble he would ever make. There
can’t be a comeback if it backfires.”
June. 28 - July. 04 2019 19
NEWS ANALYSIS
Poor countries pay more
for medicines – study
Everyday drugs can cost up to 20 to 30 times more
By Independent Team
B
asic, everyday drugs can cost up to
20 to 30 times more in some poor
countries than others, according to
a new study released on June 17
by the Center for Global Development. The
study examined billions of dollars of health
spending on common, life-saving medicines
in developing countries, mostly in Africa
and Asia. To date, it is one of the largest-ever
studies on global health procurement.
Amanda Glassman, one of the authors of
the study and the executive vice president
at the Center for Global Development, said
poor countries pay more than others for
common medicines to relieve pain or treat
hypertension in large part because of flawed
drug buying practices and broken generic
medicines markets.
Glassman’s research focuses on priori-
ty-setting, resource allocation and value for
20 June. 28 - July. 04 2019
money in global health, as well as data for
development.
Kalipso Chalkidou, the director of global
health policy at the Center for Global Devel-
opment and an author of the study said a
robust market for generic drugs is a core part
of an affordable health system. But in way
too many countries, generic drug markets
are broken and patients are paying the price,
she said.
But in countries such as Zambia, Senegal
and Tunisia, everyday drugs like parac-
etamol can cost up to 30 times more than in
the UK and USA.
The very poorest countries are currently
not affected when foreign donors purchase
medicine on their behalf, meaning their
over-the-counter medicines remain at low
cost. But with income levels rising, low- and
middle-income countries face the prospect of
a transition from donor aid. Yet many poor
countries have limited experience and capac-
ity in procurement-related functions.
Richer countries, thanks to public money
and strong processes for buying drugs, are
able to procure cheaper medicines.
Low- to middle-income countries “have
little ability to negotiate prices down and
quality assure products” and there are lots of
mark-ups, often due to taxes and corruption.
“You need enough competition to keep
prices low and quality assurance that con-
sumers trust, or essential medicines are
going to be much more expensive than they
should be,” Chalkidou said.
Also, poor the disease burdens in poor
countries is shifting from infectious to non-
communicable diseases such as cardiovas-
cular disease, cancer, and diabetes. To meet
their citizens’ evolving health needs, govern-
ments will need to purchase and make avail-
able a very different set of health products
from those procured today.
The report noted that health product pur-

chasing in low- and lower-middle-income
countries already makes up a sizeable share
of overall health spending.
Procurement is not only essential to the
missions of global health entities like the
Global Fund, Gavi, UNICEF, UNFPA, and
PEPFAR, but it also represents big money. In
the case of the Global Fund, health product
procurement accounts for $2 billion per year,
or almost half of its 2017 disbursements.
Yet despite its importance, procurement is
an underappreciated health system function.
“Today’s procurement systems are hob-
bled by inefficiencies that leave some of the
poorest countries paying some of the highest
drug prices in the world,” the report says.
As governments strive to achieve univer-
sal health coverage within tight budgets,
they will have to make procurement deci-
sions that deliver the most value for money.
The Center for Global Development con-
vened the Working Group on the Future of
Global Health Procurement to review the
evidence and formulate recommendations
for how the global health community—inter-
national health organisations, their bilateral
and foundation donors, and low- and mid-
dle-income countries—can ensure afford-
ability of global health procurement.
Discussion focused on the journey of
a health product from manufacturer to a
centralised warehouse or other wholesaling
facility.
The study had three main findings: First
that developing countries, prices for basic
generic medicines can vary widely and far
exceed wealthy-country prices. Some pur-
chasers in low- and middle-income countries
pay as much as 20 to 30 times more for basic
generic medicines like omeprazole used
to treat heartburn, or acetaminophen (also
known as paracetamol), a common pain
reliever.
Secondly, low- and middle-income coun-
tries purchase more expensive branded
generic drugs rather than unbranded quali-
ty-assured generics. In the U.S., most drugs
are either on-patent medicines or unbranded
generics. But in many developing countries
more expensive brand-name generics are
widely used, because people are concerned
about unsafe or counterfeit drugs.
Chalkidou said less stringent regulation
meant the quality of the drugs was also not
as high.
“Without regulation, people perceive the
products don’t work, so pay extra money for
things they think will work and won’t work
either,” Chalkidou explained.
In the poorest countries, unbranded
generics are only 5% of the pharmaceutical
market by volume—in comparison to the
U.S. where unbranded quality-assured
generics are 85 percent of the market by
volume.
Three, there is little competition in the
supply of essential medicines in low- and
middle-income countries. The largest sell-
er of products like contraceptives, cancer
medicines, and antiparasitics can account
for upwards of 85% of all sales in some
countries.
“We’re talking about access to common
medications for pain or high blood pressure,
not the latest cutting-edge cancer drugs,”
Glassman said.
“It’s not as exciting to talk about procure-
ment as new health technologies or biotech
breakthroughs,” she continued. “But drug
purchasing is incredibly important, and if
it’s done badly you end up with the poorest
countries in the world paying some of the
highest drug prices.”
A global analysis shows that world
consumption of pharmaceutical products
increased dramatically from US$ 70 billion
to US$ 317 billion in the period between 1975
and 2000. During this period the world’s per
capita consumption of medicines increased
from US$ 17 to US$ 53.
Yet more than 80% of all pharmaceutical
products are consumed by the 15% of the
world population living in industrialised
Seeking
care is more
commonly
a question
of buying
medicines
than of
consulting
a qualified
health
worker
countries, a figure which reflects a grossly
uneven distribution of pharmaceutical con-
sumption across the world.
Also, despite the increased world con-
sumption, problems remain in ensuring the
availability and affordability of medicines,
including those which are essential for treat-
ing the majority of common diseases prevail-
ing in low and middle-income countries.
The reasons for this are complex. They
are not only related to financial constraints,
but also to the attitudes of key actors in the
health sector - a sector which comprises a
network of relationships between the gov-
ernment, public and private providers in
the health and pharmaceutical sectors, an
important volume of industrial activity and
the consumer.
The report notes that governments,
NEWS ANALYSIS
non-governmental organizations, and
households in many low-income countries
struggle continuously to ensure and secure
access to even the most basic life-saving
medicines, especially in rural areas.
In low-income countries therefore, the
most urgent concerns relate to the need to
attain affordability and equity of access with
respect to these vital pharmaceuticals, and
beyond that to attain the same for a some-
what wider range of “essential medicines”.
According to the World Health Organi-
sation (WHO), essential medicines are those
that satisfy the priority health care needs of
the population. They are selected based on
public health relevance, evidence on efficacy
and safety, and comparative cost-effective-
ness. They should be available in health
systems at all times in adequate amounts, in
the appropriate dosage forms, with assured
quality and adequate information, and at a
price the individual and the community can
afford.
The report notes that affordability of med-
icines by individual patients in low-income
countries is an important factor influencing
access to care and treatment.
“Seeking care is more commonly a ques-
tion of buying medicines than of consulting
a qualified health worker,” the report says.
It adds: “Drug prices, which are some-
times actually higher than those in high-in-
come countries, often have to be met entirely
by sick persons or their households.”
The report notes that for decades, the
public health sector in developing countries
was mainly financed by the government,
and the public health sector commonly pro-
vided medicines free of charge. But this is
changing because diminishing budgets have
increasingly led to drug shortages in the
national health system, particularly in rural
areas. The widespread supply of free drugs
has collapsed.
“This is the principal reason why health
care in low-income countries is today pre-
dominantly financed privately,” it says.
The report says it is important that prices
of drugs are brought to the lowest attainable
level through promoting competition among
quality generic medicines where off-patent
items are concerned, negotiation of prices,
and therapeutic competition for on-patent
medicines.
Other interventions include use of the
provisions stipulated under the Agreement
on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPS) where necessary to
increase affordability of medicines still under
patent, reduction of duties and taxes, and
reduced wholesale and retail margins.
“It is equally important to provide
transparent price information for healthcare
providers and consumers so that the
community knows how to find the most
affordable products when they are needed,”
the experts say.
June. 28 - July. 04 2019 21
Man getting vaccinated
Hepatitis B in Uganda
Country leads in tackling growing health challenge
U
By Patricia Akankwatsa
p to 6% of people in
Uganda are infected
with Hepatitis B; a virus
that can cause acute and
chronic liver infections
(cirrhosis) which is
incurable.
That means if you are in a place with
15 people; at least one of them, on
average, has the infection.It is serious
because dying of viral hepatitis in
Africa is becoming a bigger threat than
dying of AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis.
Similar to HIV, hepatitis B virus is
transmitted through unprotected sex,
infected blood products and items
such as needles, razor blades, dental or
medical equipment, unscreened blood
transfusions, or from mother to child
at birth.
Unfortunately 90% of the infected
people do not know it because they
do not show any signs of sickness and
therefore can easily infect others.
22 June. 28 - July. 04 2019
Emma Lutamaguzi was one of them.
Although he knew that his dream of
working overseas meant he would
have to undergo strict medical tests, he
was confident he would pass because
he felt and looked healthy.
But his dream was shattered when he
was diagnosed with Hepatitis B Virus
(HBV).
“When the doctor told me, I was a
little scared because this is something
that I had no idea about,” he says.
The doctor referred him to another
doctor who, unfortunately, told him
scary stories about the infection.
“He made the situation worse for
me,” Lutamaguzi recalls, “He was
money oriented.”
The same thing happened when
Lutamaguzi told his family and friends
about the infection. Some sympathized
with him, others thought he was lying
because he did not show any sign of
sickness and others stigmatized him.
He says the stigma did not affect
him that much because he had a
background of working with people
living with HIV.
“I knew they stigmatized me out of
ignorance. So I would teach them about
the virus and encourage them to test
and vaccinate,” Lutamaguzi says.
He was also comforted because the
first doctor had told him that his signs
were still mild and something could
be done to save him.So he continued
his search for a more helpful doctor.
He also told his story on social media.
And that is how he met Kenneth
Kabagambe; the executive director
of National Organization for People
Living with Hepatitis B (NOPLHB).
NOPHLHB is an NGO which provides
comprehensive hepatitis information on
prevention, care and support services.
Lutamaguzi says finding it made him
feel comforted. However, the hardest
part was changing his lifestyle.
“It was hard quitting alcohol but I
had to because the long term effects of
Hepatitis B virus is liver cancer,” he says.
He says he now lives a healthy

lifestyle, eats healthy and exercises
regularly. He says all these are part of
treatment.
Risk
The hepatitis virus is present
worldwide, but some populations in
sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia,
Eastern Europe, and the Middle East,
as well as in indigenous communities
are Hepatitis B carriers.
Every year more than 200 000 people
in Africa are dying from complications
of viral hepatitis B and C-related liver
disease, including cirrhosis and liver
cancer. Sixty million people in the
WHO Africa Region were living with
chronic hepatitis B infection in 2015.
More than 4.8 million of them are
children under five years old. A further
10 million are infected with hepatitis
C, most likely due to unsafe injection
practices within health facilities or by
communities.
Speaking at the first African
Hepatitis summit held last week at
Munyonyo, the Minister of Health,
Ruth Aceng, viral hepatitis is a
growing health challenge in Uganda.
It is acquired before the age of five
and believed to largely be the result of
mother-to-child transmission.
However, Aceng said health workers,
the military, persons living with HIV,
and commercial sex workers are the
adults most prone to Hepatitis B
infection.
A new scorecard by WHO launched
at the event shows that Uganda is
among only three of countries in Africa
on track to eliminate the disease. The
others are Rwanda and Cabo Verde.
Uganda is noted for starting free
nationwide hepatitis B treatment, and
Rwanda is providing free treatment
for both hepatitis B and C. This places
them on track to reach the WHO 2020
Framework targets for testing and
community awareness.
Only seven out 47 countries are
leading prevention efforts. National
coverage of both Hepatitis B birth dose
and childhood pentavalent vaccination
exceeds 90% in these countries. Up to
28 countries have developed a national
hepatitis strategic plan but most are
still in draft form.
According to the Health ministry,
Hepatitis B is more prevalent in the
Northern part of the country with 4.6%
and lowest in the south west at 0.8%.
And of these 4.3% are aged between 15
and 49 years.
Elimination strategy
In 2014, the government
acknowledged that hepatitis is a
serious health concern, making a public
declaration to address it. An estimated
$3million of the annual government
budget has been earmarked to tackle
hepatitis B.
In 2015, the Ministry of Health
launched a screening and treatment
programme exclusively for hepatitis
B targeting those above the age of 15.
Those who test negative are given
vaccinations as a preventative measure.
This effort started in the north where
the prevalence is high, followed by the
east with the aim of covering the whole
country. Since September 2015, over 60
million people have been vaccinated.
However according to Aceng, of
those eligible for vaccination, 92%
have received the first dose, 68% have
received the second dose and only 33%
Jane Ruth Aceng Ponsiano Ocama
We are now
trying to see
the feasibility
of having
Hepatitis B
virus services
integrated to
the HIV setting
have received the third dose.
“After the first dose, I don’t know
what happens. People don’t come back
to complete all the doses and yet they
are important. I think the World Health
Organization (WHO) needs to do
more research to make the vaccination
period shorter”, she said.
To tackle the prevalence among
children, the government introduced
a vaccination programme for infants
at six weeks after birth. To strengthen
this, the Ministry of Health is to start
screening all pregnant women as well
as introduce a birth dose under which
infants receive the first dose within 24
health
hours after birth to safeguard against
mother-to-child transmission.
Challenges
The number one impediment is
finance. First, the patients are required
to pay for some tests before starting
treatment which has resulted into
delayed diagnosis.
“We are seeing that most of the
patients who are infected are going
to hospitals when they are at the end
stage of the disease, when it is very
advanced”, says Kabagambe.
Another impediment to testing and
treating is that diagnostic equipment;
especially in rural areas, is often
made available through donor funds
which do not take into consideration
maintenance and other recurrent costs.
“We need to find a way of mobilizing
domestic resources because Uganda
has limited partners supporting us in
this fight, “says Aceng.
Going forward, Ponsiano Ocama the
chair of the department of medicine
and academic hepatologist at Makerere
University says integrating hepatitis
services with HIV programmes should
be considered.
“There are many similarities
between HIV and hepatitis in terms
of transmission, disease progression,
diagnostic and monitoring equipment
required and in some cases treatment
too. Globally, between 5% and 20% of
the people living with HIV are also
infected with Hepatitis B,” Ocama says.
“We are now trying to see the
feasibility of having Hepatitis B virus
services integrated to the HIV setting.
And then if it is feasible, we are trying
to assess what kind of additional
funding will be required,” he adds.The
ministry of health also promises free
laboratory tests before treatment.
Hepatitis B quick facts
  Hepatitis B can cause serious liver
damage in people with chronic
(long term) infections.
  Only 5% of those who are infected
as adults will develop serious liver
damage called cirrhosis.
  95% of people infected as adults
will clear the virus naturally.
  If you clear the virus naturally
during the acute phase, you become
immune and cannot be re-infected.
  95% of people infected as children
will go on to develop a chronic
infection.
  25% of those infected as children
will develop serious liver damage
later in life.
June. 28 - July. 04 2019 23
Karuma Hydropower dam is one of the big projects receiving substantial sums of money from the government ahead of its launch in December 2019
CEOs take on the new budget
They see opportunities for business,
economy in FY2019/2020
C
By Julius Businge
onversations on the recently
read new budget are gaining
momentum amongst key play-
ers like chief executive officers
of corporate firms.
The executives, from key
sectors of banking, manufacturing, industry,
information technology, agriculture, trade
are believed to hold informative views on
the opportunities that the budget has for
them and their clients and for the general
economy and its people.
The budget, with a resource envelope
of Shs40.4trillion – compared to one of
Shs32.4trillion for the ending financial
year–will continue to run under the theme of
industrialisation for job creation and shared
prosperity. Under this theme, the govern-
ment continues to focus most of its budget
expenditure on development projects and
key sectors that drive Uganda’s private sec-
tor-led economy. The Independent spoke to
several executives from corporate companies
to be able to do this informative analysis.
Anthony Kituuka, the chief executive
officer for Equity Bank said that increased
funding in big sectors of energy, agricul-
ture, works and transport signals banks to
prepare and offer financial services to these
sectors.
24 June. 28 - July. 04 2019
Kituuka said the dividends are not only
for banks but for all the people benefiting
both directly and indirectly in this process.
Particularly on agriculture, he said that Equi-
ty bank has special interests in investing in
value chain financing – linking farmers to
export markets.
He said that the bank plans to open new
branches to serve in the areas of Masaka,
Kasese and Soroti to be able to facilitate
players in the economy to access funding
for their trade, especially engaging in value
addition. “We believe that industrialisation
helps to improve the economy’s perfor-
mance,” Kituuka said. “As Equity we follow
the money,” he added. “We will invest more
in big impact areas to improve lives and live-
lihoods,” he added.
Kituuka’s views appear to reflect Finance
Minister Matia Kasaija’s new budget plans.
Kasaija plans to spend more on agriculture
Shs1trillion up from around Shs800bn allo-
cated for this ending financial year (2018/19),
then Shs6.4tn to works and transport
involving roads, power dams and related
infrastructure like transmission lines and the
national airline.
The energy sector with an allocation of
Shs3trillion too has opportunities for banks
to lend to the players involved. Banks also
will have an opportunity of earning from
government’s revenue mobilisation by par-
ticipating in treasury bills and bonds market
– where the government raises money to
fund budget activities.
Joseph Nkandu, the executive director of the
National Union of Coffee Agribusiness and
farm enterprises (NUCAFE), said the budget
theme and plans are good for farmers and
the economy in general.
He said that beyond the government
allocating money to supply agriculture
inputs like coffee seedlings to farmers, more
innovations by spending agencies should be
geared towards financing processing infra-
structure to organised groups of farmers to
improve their productivity, incomes.
He said that most farmers cannot afford
such infrastructure because the cost of credit
in the market is high and yet they (farmers)
engage in a sector that is critical for growing
the economy longer than other sectors.
“When they do that, more jobs will be
created directly and indirectly,” he said.
NUCAFE has a total of 1.5million coffee
farmers organised under 200 farmers associ-
ations and cooperatives across all the regions
of Uganda.
Gideon Badagawa, the executive director
of the largest private sector umbrella body –
Private Sector Foundation (Uganda) said the
theme of the budget is good and that there
are opportunities for the private sector to
exploit especially when it comes to supply-
ing inputs to key development projects.
He also said that going by the theme, the
more money allocated to the agriculture
sector should be geared towards value chain
 business

CNOOC faces Hoima residents

By Julius Businge these species were safe and pro-

T
he oil and gas sector
continues to interest
different players hoping
to make some money
out of it.
At one of the events organised
by the Petroleum Authority of
Uganda and National Environ-
ment Management Authority,
a big crowd of 8, 000 people
attended to raise their concerns.
It was the Kingfisher Devel-
opment Project (KDP) Public
Hearing held at Kabaale Public
Primary School in Buseruka,
Hoima district on June 21. It
was held for the locals to give
comments on the Environmental
and Social Impact Assessment
report that was done by China
National Offshore Oil Corpo-
ration, one of the companies
licensed to extract oil out of the
Albertine Graben.
The participants, hailing from
Hoima and the neighboring dis-
tricts raised concerns regarding
land acquisition, employment
and skills development, educa-
tion and business related oppor-
tunities.
The KDP will include build-
ing a feeder pipeline to transport
crude oil from Buhuka to the
delivery point in the proposed
CNOOC officials sharing notes during the hearing on June 21.
industrial park in Kabaale vil-
lage in Hoima. The production
facilities for the project will
include four onshore well pads,
a central processing facility
(CPF), production flow lines and planning and environmental
water injection flow lines linking impact assessment coordinator
wells to the CPF and the lake
water abstraction plant. Other
facilities include camps, a mate-
rials yard, a jetty and internal
access roads.
Pius Wakabi Rujumba, the
Member of Parliament for
Bugahya, Hoima district urged
CNOOC to consider the locals
for employment opportunities
in the KDP project. He also
tected.
Moses Ronald Oteng, the
land acquisition supervisor at
CNOOC said land acquisition
grievances and compensation
matters are handled in a trans-
parent manner.
“…a good number of vulner-
able people have been compen-
sated regardless of the vulnera-
bility status,” Oteng said adding,
“That some had passed on but
there were procedures in place
for their families to receive their
compensation.” 
CNOOC has conducted finan-
cial literacy workshops to equip
land compensation beneficiaries
asked the oil company to consid-
with knowledge for spending
er setting up a technical institute
their money. It has also spon-
in the area to equip locals with
sored students at various insti-
skills needed by sector players.  
tutions of learning and trained
Edgar Buhanga, the senior
teachers in schools.
“CNOOC is committed to
ensuring efficient development
at Uganda Wildlife Authority
of the Kingfisher Development
said they dropped plans to
Project” Aminah Bukenya,
construct an oil road running
the senior public relations and
through Bugoma forest because
supervisor at CNOOC said.
it would threaten lives of species
CNOOC alongside other oil
of animals like chimpanzees.
companies are working with a
On the threat of polluting the
plan to extract approx. 6.5bil-
water in Lake Albert which is
lion barrels of oil resource
the habitat for hippos and croco-
discovered in 2006 in the entire
diles, Buhanga said stakeholders
Albertine Graben.
had made provisions to ensure

financing to support agro-processors that
have capacity to create opportunities for oth-
er players in the economy.
He, however, said that he is not comfort-
able with the continued government move
to borrow locally which directly compete
with the private sector that is in dire need of
credit to expand business.
He said they will continue to engage gov-
ernment on this to ensure that private sector
players win.
According to the budget speech, access to
affordable finance is an important catalyst
for the growth of viable private sector enter-
prises.
It adds that affordable long term finance
from development financing, pensions, and
capital markets sources, facilitate Private
Sector investment.
“Commercial bank lending rates remain
high,” he said, “This calls for government
interventions,” he added. In this regard,
Kasaija said that the Uganda Development
Bank (UDB) will be further capitalized with
Shs103.5billion for the new Financial Year for
this purpose.
In addition, to support private companies
raise equity capital, Kasaija said, the Capital
Markets Authority will establish a center to
facilitate access to long term domestic and
foreign capital on the stock exchange. He
added that the necessary legal and regula-
tory framework for the operation of Private
Equity funds will be designed to attract
more investment into Uganda’s private
sector.
Santosh Gumte, the managing director for
paint maker, Kansai Plascon Uganda Limited
said any construction activities that the bud-
get will support like roads, power transmis-
sion lines, dams where paint as an input is
required, they are ready to supply.
Gumte added that they see the new bud-
get as one supporting development and are
ready to participate in its implementation.
“…as implementation happens many
people will be impacted…they will build
homes, commercial property which will all
provide opportunities for us to supply with
paint,” he said.
Uganda Breweries Limited Managing
Director Mark Ocitti welcomed government
focus on spending on agriculture infrastruc-
ture like irrigation schemes to increase out-
put especially in dry areas of Uganda.
Ocitti said that the government has a bud-
get that promotes its objectives. He however,
said it should look into the concerns of the
private sector. “Most importantly I would
like to see a regime that favors farmers that
we work with,” he said.
He added that more budgeting for agri-
culture is important but also more policy in
terms of what the government is doing in
terms of agricultural value addition and how
it is working with them who are already in
this field is important.
Kasaija said that throughout the imple-
mentation of the new budget, the govern-
ment will promote an attractive business
environment to potential investors, includ-
ing the provision of a business-friendly tax
environment, and eliminating distortions to
private sector investment decisions.

June. 28 - July. 04 2019 25

business
Afreximbank shareholders
to earn $69million
The bank’s assets grew 15% to $15 billion in 2018
By Isaac Khisa
S
hareholders of Africa Im-
port-Export Bank (Afrex-
imbank) are set to earn
$69million as dividends
following record growth in prof-
its in 2018. Last year, sharehold-
ers earned $57.53million.
The decision was reached
during the Annual General
Meeting of Shareholders (AGM)
of the Bank that was held on
June 22, in Moscow, Russia. The
AGM also approved the Bank’s
2018 Annual Report which
includes the 2018 Financial State-
ments.
In his report to the AGM,
Benedict Oramah, the president
of Afreximbank, said the Bank’s
total revenues rose by 24% in
2018 to reach $806 million while
the net income increased to $276
million, representing a 26%
increase on the level in 2017.
The bank’s total assets, includ-
ing contingent liabilities, went
up by 15% from $13billion in
2017 to $15 billion in 2018.
The profit performance
reflected strong growth in inter-
est and fee income from diversi-
fied sources by geography and
financial products.
He informed the shareholders
that during its extra-ordinary
session in Nouakchott in July
2018, the African Union Heads
of State Summit had approved
the accreditation of the Bank
to the AU, allowing the AU to
adopt most of the Bank’s flag-
ship initiatives as continental
initiatives.
That action would help to
accelerate adoption of such
initiatives at the national level,
thereby improving the pace of
implementation at lower cost.
Oramah explained that the
accreditation was a privilege
which was previously enjoyed
only by the African Develop-
ment Bank and the United
Nations Economic Commission
26 June. 28 - July. 04 2019
for Africa.
The end of the AGM marked
the conclusion of the Bank’s 2019
Annual Meetings which started
on June 20 with the seminar and
meeting of the Advisory Group
on Trade Finance and Export
Development in Africa, declared
open by Russian Foreign Minis-
ter Sergey Lavrov.
On June 21, Dimitri Medve-
dev, the chairman of the Gov-
ernment of the Russian Federa-
tion, had addressed the opening
session of the AGM.
The AGM was held under the
theme “Harnessing Emerging
Partnerships in an Era of Rising
Protectionism” and deliberated
topics such as; How South-South
trade can be a path to Africa’s
integration into the global
economy; Multilateralism in the
current global economic order
of protectionism; and the role of
investing in Africa’s infrastruc-
ture in accelerating intra-African
trade and economic develop-
ment.
Highlights of AAM2019
include the launch of the Afrex-
imbank Export Trading Com-
pany Strategy; and a half-day
programme of activities dedicat-
ed to Russia–Africa investment
cooperation. A number of trade
agreements were also signed
at the event including the Ros-
congress, Afreximbanks and
Russia’s Centre’s cooperation
agreement.
AAM2019 marked the second
time Afreximbank Annual Meet-
ings would take place outside
Africa. The 2012 Annual Meet-
ings were held in Beijing.
Kampala regional office
Meanwhile, the bank execu-
tives told The Independent that
they are in the final negotiation
with the Ugandan government
to set up its regional office in
Uganda.
Oramah said while the gov-
ernment passed a law granting
them an opportunity to set up
an outlet last year, it had mis-
takes that needed to be corrected
prior to signing an agreement
with the government to set up
its office in Kampala.
Afreximbank ditched their
plan to have the east African
regional office in Nairobi for
Kampala following long wind-
ing negotiations with the Ken-
yan government that did not
seem to yield any positive result
within the shortest time possible.
The bank’s other regional
headquarters are in Abuja (Nige-
ria), Harare (Zimbabwe), Tunis
(Tunisia) and Cairo (Egypt).
Started in 1993, Afreximbank
shareholders are a mix of the
public including Uganda and
private entities divided into four
classes consisting of African gov-
ernments, central banks, region-
al and sub-regional institutions,
private investors and financial
institutions, as well as non-Afri-
can financial institutions, export
credit agencies and private
investors.
Class “A” shareholders are
African states, African central
banks and African public insti-
tutions, including the African
Development Bank, while Class
“B” is made up of African finan-
cial institutions and African pri-
vate investors.
Class “C” shares are held by
non-African investors, mostly
international banks and export
credit agencies, including Stan-
dard Chartered Bank, HSBC,
Citibank, China Exim Bank and
Exim India.
Class “D” shares, a tier
approved in December 2012,
are fully paid value shares that
can be held by any investor.
SBM Securities, Mauritius, is
currently the only investor in
this class on behalf of holders
of its depository receipts which
are listed on the Stock Exchange
of Mauritius
 business

Africa’s trade
numbers on the rise
Afreximbank says China and India have consolidated their
positions as the continent’s single largest trading partners
By Isaac Khisa

A
frica’s output grew by 3.4% be-
tween 2017 and 2018 despite the
slowdown in global growth during
that period, according to the Afri-
can Export-Import Bank’s latest report.
The report titled ‘African Trade
Report 2019: African Trade in a Digital
World,’  launched on June 21 in Moscow,
Russia, during the 26th Afreximbank
Annual Meetings, shows that Africa’s total
merchandise trade in 2018 had a value of
over $997.9billion, noting that the conti-
nent remained one of the fastest growing
regions in the world.
World Trade Organisation estimates
show that the volume of global merchan-
dise trade grew by 3% in 2018, down from
4.6% in 2017.
The African Trade Report 2019 findings
highlight the resilience of Africa’s econo-
mies to global volatility at a time of rising
uncertainty, escalating trade wars and tariffs
between the United States, China and others.
The resilience reflects the diversification
of Africa’s trading partners in the context
of South-South trade, growing fixed invest-
ment and public and private consumption,
boosted by expanding urban populations
and softening inflation. These factors reduce
Africa’s exposure to the business cycles asso-
ciated with individual countries and regions.
The report noted that while the European
Union remained Africa’s main continental
trading partner in 2018 - accounting for
29.8% of total trade - African trade with the
South grew significantly over the last decade
to account for more than 35 % of the conti-
nent’s total trade in 2018.
China and India further consolidated their
positions as Africa’s first and second single
largest trading partners, accounting for over
21% of total African trade in 2018. Intra-Af-
rican trade also increased steadily in 2018,
growing by 17% to reach $159 billion.
The report highlights that Africa has the
potential to do more, noting that its contri-
bution to global trade remains marginal at
2.6%, up from 2.4% in 2017, and that, while
intra-African trade rose to 16% in 2018 from
5% in 1980, it remains low compared to
intra-regional trade in Europe and Asia.
The report states that ongoing digital-
President of Afreximbank Benedict Oramah (centre) presents the launch of The African Trade Report
2019 in Moscow, Russia, on June 21. He is joined on stage by Amb Albert Muchanga of the African
Union Commission and Vera Songwe of the UN Economic Commission for Africa.
isation is paving the way for a new African
economy, with e-commerce platforms and
internet penetration expediting transactions,
reducing costs and leading to a new genera-
tion of transnational digital consumers.
The report urges African governments
to further capitalise on the opportunities
associated with digitalisation, by bolstering
regulatory environments and supporting the
development of digital ecosystems.
Digitalisation, the reports states, can
unlock Africa’s potential in driving econom-
ic development and the integration of Afri-
can countries into the world economy.
It can also reduce the region’s dependency
on raw commodities and natural resources
by helping economies diversify into more
value-added products that can enhance
extra-and intra-African trade.
This development comes as the continent
prepares to usher in the Africa Continental
Free Trade Area in Niamey, Niger, next
month, a step that would open up market
for trade for more than 1.2billion people.
Afreximbank President, Benedict Ora-
mah, said: “It is vital that Africa grasps the
economic growth opportunities flowing
from the African Continental Free Trade
Agreement, growing domestic demand and
population and our ever-closer investment
and trading links with emerging partners in
the South. We must exert concerted action
to ensure that we develop, industrialize and
diversify our industries and supporting
infrastructure to foster regional integration
and participate fully in regional and global
value chains.”
Chief Economist and author of the report,
Hippolyte Fofack said: “Intra-African trade,
which grew by 17% in 2018, more than three
times the rate of growth of extra-African
trade, was the major driver of Africa’s total
merchandise trade in 2018.”
With a total asset base of US$13.4bn, the
African Export-Import Bank is the foremost
Pan-African multilateral financial institution
devoted to financing and promoting intra-
and extra-African trade.
The Bank was established in October 1993
by African governments, African private
and institutional investors, and non-African
investors. Its two basic constitutive docu-
ments are the Establishment Agreement,
which gives it the status of an international
organisation, and the Charter, which gov-
erns its corporate structure and operations.
Since 1994, it has approved more than
$67billion in credit facilities for African busi-
nesses, including $7.2billion in 2018.
The Moscow AGM was the second of its
kind to be held outside of Africa since 2012
when Beijing, China hosted the first.

June. 28 - July. 04 2019 27

interview
Government should lead
in promoting exports
Elly Twineyo Kamugisha is an economist and the current executive director for the
Uganda Export Promotion Board (UEPB). He spoke to The Independent’s Julius Businge
on why it is urgent for the government to heavily engage in export development activities.
What is new at the Uganda Export
Promotion Board that the public must
I
know?
n line with our mandate, UEPB
continues to facilitate exporters and the
general public to access foreign markets
and more importantly encourage the
business community to export. The key
important developments of direct interest
to exporters and other key stakeholders are
the promotional activities taking place in the
China, Middle East and South Korea market.
Three export promotional events are taking
place this year in China. The government
of Uganda coordinated by UEPB and
Uganda High Commission in Beijing,
together with The China government is
holding a six-month Beijing International
Horticulture Expo 2019 that started in
April 29 running up to October 7. It aims
to expose and promote Uganda’s products
to the China market. To further promote
Uganda at this international event the
organisers held the Uganda National Day
on June 22 with special events to promote
Uganda’s trade tourism and investment
opportunities. In line with the interest so
far identified, UEPB is working with the
ministry of agriculture to register up to
twenty 20 Ugandan products for import-
entry into China. It is the first China-Africa
Economic and Trade Expo to which Uganda
is invited as the “Guest Co-Host Country.”
Ugandan exporters will also participate at
the second China International Import Expo
running from November 5-11. Uganda will
also be participating in the Expo Dubai
2020 which will run for six months starting
October 20. In addition, with support from
the Korea Trust Fund through the African
Development Bank (ADB), UEPB will at the
right time engage exporters to participate in
an activity aimed at penetrating the South
Korea market.
What major achievements have you
recorded since you took over this job?
UEPB was going through restructuring
at the time I joined the institution in 2015.
With the support of the Board of Directors,
we have been able to re-organise the
institution and create roles that are aligned
to our role as the government export
28 June. 28 - July. 04 2019
marketing agency. This has enabled us Uganda has products to export. We have
focus our operations and serve our clients made some strides in the EAC market
better. UEPB is now more visible, as a trade especially with the low hanging fruits –
support services provider and has been those you can produce within 3 months to
able to help more exporters annually to 3 years and market. We have also promoted
achieve their export objectives. UEPB is now the development of cocoa production which
compliant with all government operational has expanded from the traditional growing
requirements, right from administrative to areas to Mubende, Mukono, and Kayunga.
financial and technical requirements. This The commercial diplomacy program that is
has led to a gradual increase in government being implemented by Ministry of Foreign
funding to the institution especially for Affairs to enhance the capacity of Uganda’s
funds to carry out the activities (non-wage missions abroad to
allocations). Over the last five years our
budget has increased from Shs800million to
Shs3billion in FY2018/19. We can do more
with increased funding.
But some critics say that your export
promotion strategy is not helping
Uganda to reverse the
negative balance of trade…
Our current export
promotion strategies
as a country are in line
with Vision 2040, National
Development Plan II, National
Export Development Strategy
and the Action Plan to
development exports. Exports
take time to grow – from
anywhere 10 to over 30 years
or even more, depending on
the social, political and economic
factors in both the domestic and
global environment. We started
with what we call export
development
to ensure
that

promote Uganda’s exports, tourism and
investment potentials is a welcome move.
The recently read budget emphasises that
exports will play an important role in
growing the economy. How ready is the
UEPB to support this?
Within its very limited budget, UEPB
continues to provide market information
about products and services. As more
households produce for the market,
export some of their produce (agriculture,
agro-processing, industries and services),
jobs are created, taxes are paid, and gross
domestic product grows. As an institution
we normally advise government on areas
that will enhance export growth and
development.
The big challenge that faces Ugandan
exporters is quality. How have you
intervened to deal with this?
It all begins with awareness. UEPB
annually invests about 70% of its resources,
provided for technical activities, in
creating awareness on the significance of
quality; market-entry requirements and
export competitiveness. In the agriculture
sector, UEPB is working with ministry of
agriculture to build the capacity of exporters
to comply with export market requirements.
Annually, UEPB conducts up to four
regional export information dissemination
activities which target producers and other
actors in the agricultural export value chains.
For instance, in FY2017/18, on receipt of the
warning from the European Union about a
possible ban due to increasing interceptions
as a result of non-compliance to food safety
requirements in the EU, UEPB working with
relevant government agencies conducted
an export quality awareness program in up
to eight key sesame producing districts in
Uganda. UEPB also regularly works with
the Uganda National Bureau of Standards to
improve standards.
Which markets would you advise exporters
to exploit at the moment?
Ugandan exporters should be targeting
the easy to reach markets of East
Africa Community and the
Common Market for
Eastern and Southern
Africa. These are near
markets with entry
requirements that can
be easily met. There are
emerging markets in
Dubai, UAE, China,
India, and USA.
But some of these markets are practicing
protectionism…?
Regional integration is very important
for small countries, and most landlocked
countries. Uganda is a member of the
various trading blocs and as a member state,
we implement the recommended protocols.
As member states we all appreciate the
benefits of these trading blocs to our people
and are working towards that.
Several stories have been shared regarding
failure by many Ugandan entrepreneurs
to meet demand for various goods from
external markets. How are you helping?
Uganda is an agriculture-based economy
and more than 60% volumes of our exports
Our challenge
has been the
thinking in some
government
offices that
exports can
grow without
government
role in export
development and
promotion
are in agriculture. The challenge has been
production and production for quantities
for the export markets. This affects the
exporters, most of whom are not producers
or manufacturers. We are saying that for a
company to successfully and consistently
meet the demands of foreign buyers it must
focus on three things; quality; quantity and
sustainability of production.
There is general talk that some government
agencies are failing because they are
not properly coordinated. How are you
managing?
UEPB continues to encourage the
efforts to strengthen these partnerships.
For instance, through the export readiness
programs, UEPB invites MDAs such as
UNBS, ministry of agriculture and others to
speak to exporters. We also work together to
develop standards and train companies on
interview
the export requirements.
Where is the space for the unemployed
youths in the export business?
One of our strategies is to increase the
number of small and medium enterprises.
SMEs are the biggest contributors to
employment and therefore by increasing
their participation in exports business value
chains, we shall also be solving the current
challenge of unemployment. Over 80%
of the companies registered as potential
exporters at UEPB are SMEs.
What is your message to some analysts
who think UEPB should be among those
agencies to merge because its roles are
duplicated?
As per the UEPB Act 1996 Cap. 102,
the mandate of UEPB is very clear. It
involves both development and promotion
of exports. We have to note that UEPB
challenge is not that others are duplicating
our roles. For a long time, UEPB importance
was not appreciated because the focus was
originally domestic market, and import
substitution. Our challenge has been the
thinking in some government offices that
exports can grow without government role
in export development and promotion.
We can appreciate this thinking given the
fact that we are a developing country with
budgetary constraints. All countries that
have achieved high levels of economic
growth and developed (UK, USA, Germany,
Japan, Asian tigers, India, and recently China
among others), their governments invested
a lot funds (they still do) to market their
exports. We need to do the same because our
exporters are SMEs and have no capacity
to do it themselves. It is no longer in doubt
that UEPB, like other Export Promotion
Agencies adds value to the economy in
terms of GDP and increased exports. It
only needs ample support to do its job. The
International Trade Centre and World Bank
have recently said in conducted studies
that one dollar spent on export promotion
generates $87 dollars of additional exports.
One dollar spent on export promotion
generates a $384 increase in GDP. They say
that Trade Promotion organisations (TPOs)
contribute a 5%-6% rise in GDP per capita
and 7%-8% rise in exports. The government
should consider critically what agencies are
required at this stage of Uganda’s stride to
economic growth. We feel that such agencies
responsible for business competitiveness
and formalisation of the informal sector
(like Uganda Revenue Authority, Uganda
Registration Services Bureau, UEPB, Uganda
Investment Authority, and Uganda Tourism
Board should get a stronger place in the
current and future government architecture
and construction to be able to achieve more
on their mandate.
June. 28 - July. 04 2019 29
business
Uganda joins international
body on power dams
By Independent Reporter
T
here is good news for Uganda
which is investing heavily in the
energy sector development projects
to support economic activities.
On June 14, Uganda was formally elected
as the 101 member of the International
Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD).
This was announced at the ICOLD’s 87th
Annual General Meeting and Symposium
held in Ottawa, Canada.
ICOLD was founded in 1928 to provide a
forum for discussion and for the exchange
of knowledge and experience in dam
engineering for engineers and players
involved in the development of water
resources.
The commission works to advance the
art, science, and engineering techniques
for the planning, design, construction,
operation, and maintenance of safe
dams to ensure sustainable development
and management of the world’s water
resources.
It accomplishes its objectives through its
various national committees and regional
clubs by exchanging information and
experiences and through annual technical
meetings and general assembly, triennial
congresses, studies and research, and
publications of proceedings, reports and
technical bulletins via its 28 technical
committees and over 500 experts.
The commission’s work is critical
because power dams are a vital part of
the infrastructure worldwide and provide
many benefits but also present significant
risks.
The benefits in this case include
water supply, agriculture, recreation,
hydroelectricity, flood control, navigation,
and mining. On the other hand, the major
risk is dam failure, which releases the
energy of the water stored behind the dam
and can cause loss of lives and extensive
damage to property and the environment.
The risk of failure is higher in dams that
are poorly planned, designed, constructed,
and inadequately operated and maintained.
ICOLD does not only deal with technical
aspects related to the design and safety of
large dams but is also concerned with dams
of all sizes and purposes - including small
dams, mine tailings, dykes and levees.
It provides a forum for the exchange of
knowledge and experience based on nearly
a century of global practice.
30 June. 28 - July. 04 2019
Harrison Mutikanga, the chief executive officer for UEGCL (3rd right), Proscovia Njuki (3rd left), the
UEGCL board chairperson joined ICOLD’s top officials in Ottawa, Canada on June 14.
Whereas ICOLD has made remarkable
progress in developing standards and
guidelines to ensure that dams are built and
operated safely, the recent catastrophic dam
failures – Brumadinho in the state of Minas
Gerais, Brazil in January, 2019; Xe-PianXe-
Namnoy Hydroelectric Dam in July, 2018
in Laos, and California’s Oroville Dam in
February 2017 show that there is still a lot
of work to be done and calls for renewed
focus on continuous improvement in the
development and operation of dams.
Uganda joined ICOLD under the
National Committee name of Uganda
Commission on Large Dams (UCOLD).
UCOLD membership to ICOLD was
driven by the increasing number of dams
for hydropower generation, water supply,
and water for production, agriculture.
The founding agencies are the Directorate
of Water Resources Management (DWRM)
and Uganda Electricity Generation
Company Limited (UEGCL).
The current President of UCOLD is
Callist Tindimugaya - the commissioner
in the DWRM and the Vice-President is
Harrison E. Mutikanga – the chief executive
officer of UEGCL.
The Secretary is Frederick Wasike – the
senior dam safety engineer at UEGCL.
The National Committee is going to grow
to include other government ministries
and agencies and private organisations
involved in the management of water
resources, development and safe operation
of dams and with interest and competence
in matters related to improving dam safety
such as ministry of disaster preparedness,
regulatory authorities, consultancy firms,
construction firms, research institutions,
universities, and professional institutions.
Mutikanga said that by joining ICOLD,
Uganda will now access publications on
advances in technology of dam engineering,
standards and guidelines on dam safety,
networking and sharing knowledge and
experiences with international experts on
dam safety best practices.
He added that the success of UCOLD
will depend on the individual contribution
of its members mainly on volunteer basis.
“We therefore encourage organisations
with persons competent and interested
in matters relating to dam safety and
sustainable water resources to join UCOLD
and ensure better dams for a better world,”
he said in a notice shared on June 24.
This development comes a few months
after the country increased its electricity
generation to 1,177 MW in March 2019,
following the commissioning of the Isimba
Hydro Power Plant (HPP) that added 183
MW to the National Grid. The government
plans to commission the long awaited,
largest 600MW Karuma hydropower dam
at the end of this year.
The government is continuously
investing substantial sums of its budget
on development projects in the energy
sector mainly to power industries – the key
for achieving the long term development
agenda.
Additional reporting by Julius Businge
 business
PENSIONS MERGERS

NSSF ‘Friends with Benefits’ show is back

T
he National better and informed de-
Social Securi- cisions when managing
ty Fund has their personal finances.
returned its Beneficiaries will be
award winning savings required to submit a
initiative dubbed NSSF short and compelling
Friends with Benefits story, stating how they
for the third year. The
initiative that takes a
utilized their NSSF sav-
ings and transformed
Vivo energy, KFC
television show format their lives through a form joint venture

V
promotes a savings NSSF’s Barbra Arimi (wearing pink dress) is joined by form available on the
culture amongst Ugan- partners to officially launch the campaign on June 18 NSSF website. The ivo Energy plc, the
dans by highlighting inspirational. Barbra is focusing more on show is supported pan-African retailer
successful stories of Teddy Arimi, the NSSF imparting financial by FINCA Uganda, and distributor of Shell
people who received head of marketing and literacy knowledge to Housing Finance Bank, and Engen-branded
their NSSF savings and communications said benefit not only their Commercial Bank of fuels and lubricants, has agreed
sustainably invested the show for this year members but also their Africa and PriceWater- to form a non-fuel joint venture
them or did something is unique as the Fund young people to make HouseCoopers. to accelerate the roll-out of
KFC restaurants in Kenya,
Uganda and Rwanda, officials
announced on June 20 in a
INVESTMENT BANCASSURANCE notice. The 50/50 joint venture
will manage and operate the
Stanbic CEO preaches Stanchart partners with Sanlam restaurants in the three markets

S
EAC in Joburg tandard Chartered cover from the bank to deal
on behalf of Kuku Foods East
Africa Holdings, who will

E
ast Africa represents one
of Africa’s oldest trading
areas with a deep history
of effective integration,
according to Patrick Mweheire
(Pictured ), the Stanbic bank
CEO. Mweheire was delivering
the keynote address to around
160 corporate individuals at the
first East African oil and gas
summit in Johannesburg South
Africa on June 18. He said EAC
economy is the next investment
frontier for oil and gas and genu-
ine investors have an opportuni-
ty to invest there. Mweheire add-
ed that East African economies
are supported by capital-friendly
and globally-focussed gov-
ernments with political will to
support and increase foreign
investment, business growth
and deeper regional integration.
At the same time, he added that
no other African region has suc-
cessfully deployed technology
to leapfrog the need for legacy
Bank Uganda has
commenced offering
insurance services
to its clients in partnership
with Sanlam. Officials urged
members of the public to
purchase the right insurance
Officials displaying insurance policies offered by Stanchart
MOTORING
Pirelli F1 campaign returns
with unforeseen looses. The
two institutions will offer
three retail products for
the start – home insurance,
motor comprehensive and
travel insurance – officials
said on June 18.
remain the local KFC franchisee.
Completion of this transaction
is subject to standard legal
agreements and regulatory and
competition authority approval.
The restaurants, 22 in Kenya
and 8 in Uganda, are located
in shopping malls, city centre
locations, and service stations.
Kuku Foods plans to open its
first KFC restaurant in Rwanda
in 2019. However, the 5 KFC
restaurants operated by Kuku
Foods Tanzania and the KFC
franchisee in Tanzania will not
be part of this deal. The joint
venture will enable a significant
increase in the number of KFC
restaurants in the portfolio
in the coming years. It is
envisaged that many of the
new restaurants will be opened
at Vivo Energy’s network of
service stations across Kenya,
Uganda and Rwanda.

C
transactional infrastructure.
ity Tyres, the official
distributor of Pirelli
tyres in Uganda is
running yet another
promotion for motorists to
wine Pirelli goods. Winners
will be drawn to get free full
service for their vehicles, 50
litres of fuel and a dinner for
two at Café Javas. The grand
price will be for eight lucky
winners where they will be
sponsored in all-expenses
paid one week trip to go and
watch the F1 race at the Yas
Marina. The 4th edition of
this campaign was launched
on June 18, at Mandela Auto
Zone, 6th Street in Industrial
Area, Kampala. Mahad
Twaha, the company’s
executive corporate for sales
said to enter the competition,
one has to buy two Pirelli
Tyres from City Tyres and
get a coupon that will be
entered into a raffle every
month until December 2019.

June. 28 - July. 04 2019 31

business

Russia’s investment
in Africa hit $20bn
By Isaac Khisa as Gazprom, Lukoil, Rostec and

R
ussia‘s investment in
Africa now stands at
$20bn, according to the
country’s Minister for
Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov.
Lavrov, who was speaking
during the African Export-Im-
port Bank 26th Annual General
Meeting in Russia – the second
AGM to be held outside of
Africa, said Russia has made
investments in mining, energy
and railway sectors.
“We are moving towards
Ahmed Omar Mandela (L), CEO Mandela Group, Domenico Fornara broadening our relationship,
(2nd L), Italian Ambassador to Uganda and Pirelli Formula officials
especially in our cooperation
take part during the launch of the Pirelli Formula One promotion on security and peace making,”
held June 18, at Mandela auto zone 6th Street in Kampala
he said, describing Africa as
Russia’s important partner in
the global struggle for truth
and fairness. Lavrov said Rus-
sia is committed to promoting
Africa with a view to providing
African solutions to African
problems. He urged the inter-
national community to provide
its support by helping to incen-
tivise and develop programmes
that help African businesses.
This comes as Russia deepens
its influence in Africa to tap into
the continent’s vast resources
especially minerals. Currently,
several Russian companies such
Spear motors, the official importer of Mercedes Benz vehicle have
launched the new generation of heavy- duty Actros and Arocs
trucks in Uganda for construction and off – road application at
ceremony held Serena Kigo.
Rosatom are active across Afri-
ca mainly in Algeria, Angola,
Egypt and Nigeria.
However, in 2016, Rostec
pulled out of negotiation with
the Ugandan government for
the construction of the US$4bn
oil refinery, ahead of produc-
tion slated for 2023.
Benedict Oramah, the presi-
dent of Afreximbank, said 2019
marked a major point for the
Bank as it looked to the future
of Africa’s trade and finance
and sought to build bridges
with global powers.
More than 1,000 African and
international trade develop-
ment experts, representatives
of government, business lead-
ers and other trade industry
players took part in the annual
meetings. The meetings were
serving as a platform for Afri-
can and Russian businesses
to meet, strengthen and grow
partnerships in order to foster
business relations. Russia,
through the Russian Export
Center (REC) purchased shares
in Afreximbank in 2017, becom-
ing the bank’s third-largest
non-African financial institution
shareholder. The bank boasts of
US$13.4bn asset base.

Weekly share price movement (June 10)

Security June 10 May 13 Movement
BATU 30,000 30000 00
BOBU 128 129 0.8
CENT 1,225 1,178 4.0
QCL 170 170 00
DFCU 670 700 4.2
EABL 7,593 7,944 4.4
EBL 1,474 1,553 5.0
JHL 14,666 15,229 3.6
KA 132 143 7.7
KCB 1,470 1,544 4.7
NIC 14 14 00
NMG 2,023 2,154 6.0
NVL 330 334 1.1
SBU 29 30 3.3
Sunil M. R. the lecturer at the faculty of ICT, ISBAT University demonstrates UCHM 18 12 50
to students of Kololo SS how robotic car works during the University’s UCL 15 16 6.25
scholarships award ceremony on June 21.   NDEPENDENT/ALFRED OCHWO UMEME 300 300 00
ALSI -- -- --

32 June. 28 - July. 04 2019


By Mukalazi Deus
Respect inherent right of assembly
Museveni is wrong to advise that Ugandans with
views that don’t sound sweet to him shouldn’t rally
P
resident Yoweri Museveni on
May 5, 2019 published an essay
titled “Article on legitimate
public assemblies.” In the
article, the President maintains that
if one is desirous of holding a public
meeting or a procession, there is need
to liaise with the police so that the
meeting does not endanger the lives of
other Ugandans or the safety of their
property. He said the problem is that
some elements of the opposition ignore
this. They want to hold meetings or
processions near markets or through
crowded streets. He goes ahead to say
that if one wants to assemble publically
it must be for a legitimate reason.
On the face of it, the President’s
pronouncements appear harmless
since he goes ahead to justify his
stand. However, a big problem
lies underneath this seemingly well
intentioned stand; the problem is on
the limitation of freedom of expression.
Article 29 of the 1995 Constitution
of the Republic of Uganda grants
all people in Uganda freedom of
expression, speech and assembly. The
constitution further puts a limitation to
the enjoyment of these rights in Article
43. The President is therefore right to
say that enjoyment of these freedoms is
not absolute.
The problem though is his insinuation
that state organs like the police are
right to curtail this freedom based on
speculation and the judgement that
these assemblies are likely to prejudice
public order and interest and curtail
freedoms of others.
It’s also important to note that
tolerating offensive conduct and
speech is one of the prices to be paid
for a reasonably free and open society.
Freedom of expression extends to
holding, receiving and imparting
all forms of opinions, ideas and
information. It is not confined to
categories, such as correct opinions,
sound ideas or truthful information.
Subject to the limitation under
Article 43, a person’s expression
or statement is not precluded from
the constitutional protection simply
because it is thought by another
or others to be false, erroneous,
controversial or unpleasant.
Everyone is free to express his or her
views. Indeed, the protection is most
relevant and required where a person’s
views are opposed or objected to by
society or any part thereof, as “false”
or “wrong”.
Secondly, the issue is not whether,
under democracy, citizens are required
or permitted to make demonstrably
untrue and alarming statements
under any guise. A democratic society
respects and promotes the citizens’
individual right to freedom of
expression, because it derives benefit
from the exercise of that freedom by
its citizens. In order to maintain that
benefit, a democratic society chooses
to tolerate the exercise of the freedom
even in respect of “demonstrably
untrue and alarming statements”,
rather than to suppress it.
In the Supreme Court case of Charles
Onyango Obbo and Andrew Mujuni
Mwenda v Attorney General, court
agreed that applying the constitutional
protection to false expressions is
not to ‘uphold falsity.’ The purpose
is to avoid the greater danger of
‘smothering alternative views’ of
fact or opinion. The Constitution
In a democratic
society, what
is expected
is to counter
the lies and
misinformation
with the truth
and facts
comment
guarantees to everyone in Uganda
the right of freedom to hold opinions
and to receive and impart ideas and
information without interference.
In the above landmark judgement,
which is binding on all persons in
Uganda; including the President, the
Supreme Court gave an interpretation
of Article 43 clause 1. The clause
states; “In enjoyment of the rights and
freedoms prescribed in this Chapter, no
person shall prejudice the fundamental
and other human rights and freedoms
of others or the public interest” Court
held that the clause does not expressly
or implicitly extend to a third scenario,
where the enjoyment of one’s right is
“likely to cause prejudice”.
Going by the above decision, it is
therefore wrong for the President
to advise that Ugandans should not
be allowed to assemble and express
themselves simply because they
might express themselves on issues
that do not sound sweet to him or
what he calls lies or decampaigning
of government investments. And
the reason is plain enough; no
man, no committee, and surely no
government, has the infinite wisdom
and disinterestedness accurately and
unselfishly to separate what is true
from what is debatable, and both from
what is false. In a democratic society,
what is expected is to counter the lies
and misinformation with the truth
and facts. Indeed it’s not surprising
that shortly after the President’s
“misadvise,” the Constitutional
Court on May 31st 2019, ruled that as
unconstitutional Sections of the Police
Act that gave police powers to disperse
rallies and use all necessary force
including killing Ugandans.
Deus Mukalazi is a Research Associate-
Democracy and Rule of Law Program at
the Great Lakes Institute for Strategic
Studies (GLISS) in Kampala
June. 28 - July. 04 2019 33
comment
By Leon Willems
Justice for journalists
Those who end up killed deserve justice for the sake
of other journalists who risk their lives every day
I
t has been more than eight months
since Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent
Saudi journalist and critic of his home
country’s government who had been
living in self-exile, was tortured, killed, and
dismembered inside the Saudi consulate in
Istanbul. As the Saudis bent over backward
to obscure the truth about Khashoggi’s fate,
Turkey launched an investigation. As ex-
pected, not much has come of it.
Turkey is hardly a credible advocate for
press freedom: in 2018, more than 80 jour-
nalists in the country received long prison
sentences or fines for their work. But even
if the Turkish government’s indignation
over Khashoggi’s murder was exagger-
ated for diplomatic gain, Turkey’s judi-
ciary has complied with its international
obligations to investigate.
Saudi Arabia, by contrast, is utterly
flouting its obligations on this front.
Under international pressure, the
Kingdom is conducting hearings for 11
suspects. But according to Agnes Calla-
mard, the United Nations special rappor-
teur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbi-
trary executions, these secretive, closed-
door hearings are more about saving face
than securing justice.
“We do not know who are charged as
defendants, who among them face death
sentences, and what are the charges”
Callamard noted at a recent conference
in Berlin. Western governments, she con-
tinued, “should not rubber-stamp a trial
process that is ignoring all international
standards.”
By accepting the results of criminal
proceedings that lack transparency and
due process, the international commu-
nity would fail Khashoggi and severely
damage the broader effort to end impu-
nity for crimes against journalists. Unfor-
tunately, there is precedent for precisely
this outcome.
In 1982, at the height of El Salvador’s
civil war, Colonel Mario Reyes Mena
ordered his troops to set up an ambush
just outside of the city of El Paraiso. Four
journalists working for the Dutch broad-
caster IKON, who were in the country to
report on the war, walked right into the
trap, and were essentially executed.
Amid the ensuing global outrage, El
Savador’s government tried hard to con-
34 June. 28 - July. 04 2019
ceal the truth, claiming that the reporters
were accidentally caught in crossfire
between the army and the rebels. The
United States government, which trained,
advised, and supplied the Salvadoran
army, backed this explanation in public
statements, spurring outraged protesters
to descend on the U.S. Consulate General
in Amsterdam.
But the victims’ colleagues did not give
up: their research indicated that the four
journalists had, in fact, been deliberately
targeted. Nearly a decade later, in 1993,
the UN Truth Commission tasked with
investigating the Salvadoran civil war
confirmed this view. Yet Reyes Mena,
now 79 years old, lives a quiet life in a
suburb of Washington.
At first, this impunity could be
explained by a 1993 amnesty law pro-
tecting the military, paramilitary groups,
and guerrilla fighters from prosecution
for human-rights abuses committed
during the war. But the Salvadoran
Supreme Court overturned that law in
2016, declaring it unconstitutional.
Now, an ill-equipped and understaffed
Salvadoran prosecutor, acting on a crim-
inal complaint filed by the lawyers of one
of the slain journalists’ brothers, is inves-
tigating possible criminal charges against
Reyes Mena, as well as Francisco Antonio
Moran, the former head of El Salvador’s
secret police. But it is hardly clear that
justice will be served, not least because
of an enduring culture of impunity for
crimes against journalists.
That culture is on stark display in Saudi
Arabia, and not just over the Khashoggi
killing. Dozens of journalists are in prison
in Saudi Arabia. One of them, Turki bin
Abdulaziz al-Jasser, was reportedly tor-
tured to death last year. Saudi Arabia
has faced no diplomatic penalty for such
behavior.
But impunity for perpetrators of crimes
against journalists is not a foregone
conclusion. Last year in Slovakia, the
27-year-old journalist Ján Kuciak, who
had been investigating alleged political
corruption linked to organized crime, and
his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, were shot
dead. After the killings, people took to
the streets to demand that the authorities
prosecute those responsible.
Public pressure, together with the
European Union’s demands for due
process, had a powerful effect: the prime
minister resigned, the general prosecutor
was replaced, and an investigation was
launched. In March, the businessman
Marián Kočner was charged with
ordering the murders.
Even in El Salvador, there is now a
glimmer of hope that justice will be
served. Thanks to the work of human-
rights lawyers and activists, the resolve of
the victims’ family members and former
colleagues, and pressure from the Dutch
government, the public prosecutor’s office
is preparing to take statements from the
relatives of the slain IKON journalists.
To support such efforts to secure justice
for serious violent crimes against journal-
ists, Free Press Unlimited, the Committee
to Protect Journalists, and Reporters
Without Borders have created “A Safe
World for the Truth.” Investigations
of such crimes – carried out by a team
of journalists, forensic specialists, legal
experts, and public data researchers – will
be at the heart of the project.
To encourage public pressure like that
seen in Slovakia, the investigators will
publish their findings in documentaries
and on social media, and deliver them to
the relevant authorities. If this does not
spur credible action to bring perpetrators
to justice, we will create an international
body to prosecute cases in a transparent
and open People’s Tribunal on Crimes
Against Journalists.
Journalists around the world risk their
lives every day to shine a light on what
those in power want to keep hidden.
Those who end up paying the ultimate
price – such as Khashoggi, Malta’s
Daphne Caruana Galizia, and Belarus’s
Pavel Sheremet – deserve justice, not just
for their own sake, but for the sake of the
journalists who are still here, working to
reveal to their readers, viewers, and lis-
teners the world as it really is.
Leon Willems is Director of Free Press
Unlimited.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.
www.project-syndicate.org

By Md. Shahidul Haque
Making migration work for everyone
Interconnected global forces are ushering in a new
phase of migration, defined by different dynamics
I
n a globalised world, migration is a
fact of life that should be governed
accordingly. To that end, it is time
to establish what I call “Migration
Order 3.0,” a new framework that would
make migration work for everyone.
Until World War II, transnational
human mobility was subject to Migra-
tion Order 1.0: immigration controls
were established solely at the national
level by governments. After the war,
international institutions such as the
United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees and the forerunner to the
International Organisation for Migration
(IOM) were created to manage refugee
and migrant flows, primarily from and
within Europe. During this era of Migra-
tion Order 2.0, the movement of people
across national borders was governed by
mutually agreed norms, standards, and
practices.
Large-scale cross-border movements
of people, however, have exposed
fault lines in that post-war framework.
We now know that Migration Order
2.0 is inadequate to the task at hand.
According to the UN Department of Eco-
nomic and Social Affairs, most migrants
tend to move within their own conti-
nents, and not necessarily toward the
destinations that one would assume.
Moreover, interconnected global forces
are ushering in a new phase of migra-
tion, defined by different dynamics than
in the past. A global shift in the balance
of power has created new geopolitical
tensions, and governance failures have
led to armed conflicts and civil wars, vio-
lent extremist movements, and the rise of
ultra-nationalism and populism in many
countries. The world is experiencing a
violent backlash against globalisation,
rising inequality, and sudden labour-
market disruptions.
Social inequities, humanitarian crises,
demographic changes, and identity poli-
tics all pose a challenge to a development
paradigm that was supposed to leave no
one behind. At the same time, climate
change and biodiversity loss are threat-
ening to displace entire populations from
vulnerable locations around the world.
In the past, the movement of people
tended to follow four broad patterns:
migration for work, education, and
family; irregular migration, mostly due
to human trafficking; cross-border dis-
placements triggered by conflicts and
natural disasters; and refugees fleeing
persecution. But these four categories
have increasingly begun to overlap,
which places strain on a system that
was designed to manage each type sep-
arately.
Today’s mixed migratory patterns
demand a more cohesive yet differenti-
ated approach. The costs of maintaining
the status quo in response to disorderly
migration cannot be ignored. Growing
anxieties among host populations are
causing an unwarranted backlash, with
far-reaching negative implications for
economic and political systems. There
is also a moral dimension to consider:
migrants in all categories are increas-
ingly vulnerable to abuse, owing to lack
of access to resources and power.
Fortunately, there are realistic options
for improving migration governance.
With objective information about migra-
tion and its consequences, we can dispel
popular misperceptions and reduce
social tensions. We can also design and
implement policies that will secure the
many benefits of migration. Investment
in empowering migrants is a win-win
The vicious cycle
of migration,
economic
hardship, and
social backlash
can be turned
into a virtuous
cycle of
integration and
economic growth
comment
proposition for everyone. The vicious
cycle of migration, economic hardship,
and social backlash can be turned into
a virtuous cycle of integration and eco-
nomic growth.
Of course, all of this is easier said than
done. National sovereignty and uni-
versal human rights can be difficult to
reconcile. Governments struggle to strike
a balance between realising the economic
gains of migration, protecting native-
born citizens’ interests, and ensuring
national security. And it doesn’t help
that the capacity and resources for gov-
erning migration effectively are often in
short supply.
Nonetheless, the international commu-
nity is making progress toward over-
coming these challenges. The UN Sus-
tainable Development Agenda includes
a specific target (Target 10.7) for opti-
mising migration governance. And the
new Global Compact on Safe, Orderly,
and Regular Migration (GCM) provides
a non-binding framework to guide coun-
tries and other stakeholders toward a
more comprehensive approach.
The GCM’s implementation is being
overseen by the IOM. Astute observers
will note that the GCM’s provisions are
perfectly aligned with the principles and
objectives that governments have already
embraced under the Sustainable Devel-
opment Agenda and the IOM’s Migra-
tion Governance Framework. It does not
offer a silver bullet, but it will serve as
the blueprint for building a workable
Migration Order 3.0.
The final text of the GCM was agreed
only last year. As always, mustering a
constructive multilateral effort will take
political will. But the GCM promises to
make migration work for everyone. The
only question is how long it will take
governments and other stakeholders
to recognise it as a powerful tool for
addressing the geopolitical dimensions
of migration and unite around realising
its potential.
Md. Shahidul Haque is Foreign Secretary of
Bangladesh.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.
June. 28 - July. 04 2019 35
comment
By Moses Khisa
Engineering life presidency
How President Yoweri Museveni has twisted Uganda’s
constitution with changes that could see him rule for life
F
or a period of time between 1986 and
the early 2000s Uganda was con-
sidered to be a country committed
to democratic reform. But in recent
years the democratic space has shrunk dra-
matically.
In a recently published journal article I
argue that two factors have been crucial. The
first is the gradual breakdown of the political
consensus that was forged under a ‘broad-
based’ government. This consensus resulted
in a relatively progressive constitution which
was adopted in 1995.
The second is the security imperative
which has been accentuated by the fight
against terrorism. As a result, the legitimate
opposition has become a target of trumped
up terror charges.
These two factors have been compounded
by incumbent president Yoweri Museveni’s
determination to be in power indefinitely.
He’s dug in. He wants to rule for life. To stay
put in State House, Museveni has had to run
roughshod over important constitutional
and institutional safe guards, checks and
balances that were enshrined in what was a
relatively progressive and liberal constitu-
tion. His actions have eroded the minimum
political consensus embodied in Uganda’s
1995 constitution.
The result has been an erosion of basic
democratic institutions, the securitisation of
politics, criminalisation of political competi-
tion, and an upsurge in contentious politics.
The outcome is that the country is facing a
deep governance crisis.
How it’s meant to work
To work effectively a democratic govern-
ment, of whatever stripe and tenor, must
be anchored in a set of institutions. It must
follow the ‘rules of the game’ that structure
and condition actor-behaviour. In many
countries the constitution is the primary
source of the rules that translate into func-
tional institutions, governmental bodies and
state agencies.
But how do the rules of the game come
about? They can be imposed through colo-
nial conquest and forceful occupation, or
through autocratic leadership. But taking
this route is inevitably a recipe for contesta-
tion, protestation and even violent confron-
tation.
The second, and more sustainable, way of
establishing the rules of the game is through
36 June. 28 - July. 04 2019
negotiation, compromise and, in some
respects, co-option of key political actors and
their constituents. The essence is to arrive
at some minimum political consensus that
embodies the aspirations and wishes of key
political actors and the wider public.
This minimum consensus turns on the
basic norms and beliefs about what is accept-
able and what is considered outside the
bounds of political activity and engagement.
Without this it’s not possible to sustain dem-
ocratic governance.
In the early years of Uganda’s National
Resistance Movement there was an attempt
to build minimum consensus around some
basic rules. This culminated in a constitution
being adopted in 1995 that provided for
several crucial checks and balances. This
included granting parliament autonomy and
the judiciary independence. There were also
assurances of public accountability through
a slew of institutions. These ranged from
parliament’s public accounts committee to
the Inspectorate of Government and the
Auditor General.
But, in my view, the minimum consensus
embodied in the 1995 constitution has been
ripped apart.
What’s been broken
In 2003, Museveni began his assault on
the constitution with a view to deleting
presidential term limits. This came after
two decades of single-party rule, which was
a system of governance that was cleverly
packaged as ‘no-party’ politics.
As part of Museveni’s assault on the
supreme law there was a turnaround to
embracing multiparty politics. In 2005,
Ugandans went into a referendum and
voted to return to a mulitparty system of
governance. But the referendum was no
more than a tactical move; it was used as a
bargaining chip to remove term limits. As
a result, Uganda has been on a downward
spiral since 2006.
By undermining the 1995 constitu-
tional order in pursuit of regime survival,
Museveni and the National Resistance
Movement have simultaneously eroded
minimum consensus and triggered political
polarisation. And there has been little regard
for policy alternatives and how best to move
the country forward in successive election
cycles. This state of affairs has produced
toxic politics and a highly adversarial rela-
tionship between the political opposition
and security agencies, especially the police.
The sum of it is that state security and police
agencies have placed squarely at the centre
of political contestations.
The desire to cling to power has also led to
institutions being undermined. In the judi-
ciary, for example, the appointment of ‘cadre
judges’ became pronounced after 2005.
In addition, state patronage, gerryman-
dering, and outright rigging have been
used to manufacture a super majority in the
house. Consequentially, Parliament has been
grossly watered down and twisted to be at
the service of regime survival.
The war on terror
The breakdown of minimum elite con-
sensus has been compounded by the fight
against terrorism. Museveni has astutely
used this to continue positioning himself as
a security president: needed by the west and
trusted at home.
For most of the 1990s and early 2000s,
insurgencies in the north, northeast and
parts of the west of Uganda were the pri-
mary source of Museveni’s justification for
holding onto power, ostensibly to deal with
the insecurity. This security appeal had
waned by the 2000s. But it was revived when
Al-Shabaab attacked Kampala in July 2010.
The upshot is that the imperatives of
security are used to criminalise otherwise
legitimate political activities, which has
resulted in tension and uncertainty during
election time. In addition, opposition leaders
are arrested too often. Since 2005 a review
of media reports shows that Kizza Besigye
– Museveni’s main challenger in the oppo-
sition – has been arrested more than 1,000
times.
It has also become routine that whenever
Besigye’s allies plan rallies or other political
events, their homes are cordoned off by the
security forces to stop them from leaving.
All these developments underline the
fact that the country is in crisis. It’s only
by reaching a new national consensus and
enacting rules of engagement that Uganda
will detour off its current slippery slope.
Moses Khisa is Assistant Professor of Political
Science, North Carolina State University
Source:theconversation
 ART | BOOKS | SOCIETY | TRAVEL | CULTURE
Art that cares
`We have lost our capacity to empathise;
to ask what if it were me’
F
By Dominic Muwanguzi
or his boda boda helmet project,
artist Collin Sekajugo creatively
decorates works motor-cycle
rider helmets using textile col-
lages or paintings in a campaign
against road accidents. Kampala
has narrow roads that are quite busy and
accidents are common.
The boda- boda helmets are Sekajugo’s
way of responding to menace. He targets
boda-boda because the motorbike taxis have
been identified as the biggest cause of road
accidents for all road users; including pedes-
trians, passengers and cyclists themselves.
Sekajugo’s project is driven by his need to
demonstrate affection for the victims. It’s
empathy in art.
Understanding and sharing another per-
son’s experiences and emotions is difficult.
Increasing cruelty and hatred against immi-
grants, in war and human epidemics shows
a global deficit of empathy.
“We have lost our capacity to empathise;
to ask what if it were me,” says Wandia
Njoya, cultural analyst.
Sekajugo is a social entrepreneur. He
wants his art to contribute to solving a prob-
lem. He creates awareness on different per-
tinent issues. In the past in this has been on
recycling and dumping. Now it is boda boda
and road safety with art and entertaining
layered therein.
Sekajugo has appointed himself to be a
boda boda road safety “ambassador”. He
wears the helmets. He thinks this will inspire
others to do the same.
Most boda-boda riders shun shared pas-
senger helmets. They consider them dirty.
In some cases people; especially women,
reject them for aesthetic reasons like fear of
messing up their hair.
Artworks of empathy are evident in
Lilian Nabulime’s series of hardwood
sculptures that navigate the subject of HIV
and Aids in young women at universities.
A university lecturer at Makerere Margaret
Trowel School of Industrial and Fine Art,
Nabulime’s figurine spark diverse con-
versation on the epidemic and its related
taboo topic of sexuality in young women on
campuses.
Statistically, young women at higher
institutions of learning are more likely to
be infected by the disease because of their
active lifestyle and little knowledge on how
they can prevent themselves from acquiring
the disease. In her exhibition “Dreams and
Consequences” she re-ignited the aware-
ness campaigns on the disease.
“I feel it is important to have conversa-
tions going on that warn young women so
that they can avoid some challenges, and
manage their womanhood effectively,” she
says.
Such art which focuses attention to
critical issues in the community promotes
the plurality of voices which is an essen-
tial component of good art. In the case of
empathy in art; it endorses divergent views,
opinions and interpretations of artwork. It
allows the artist to give voice to others to
re-tell their stories through over-represen-
tation of some and under-representation of
others. It builds bridges with people who
are distant from each other.
June. 28 - July. 04 2019 37
103-year-old sets world record for 50m dash
103-year-old Baton Rouge
native Julia “Hurricane”
Hawkins on June 17 set a new
world record in her division—
the women’s 100-plus—by
completing the 50-meter
dash at the Senior Games in
Albuquerque, New Mexico, in
Magician drowns
after being lowered
into river in chains
An Indian magician,
Chanchal Lahiri, whose stage
name was Jadugar Mandrake,
disappeared in the afternoon
on June 16 when he was
lowered into the Hooghly
River, which branches off the
Ganges. His body was found
on June 17 about a mile from
where he performed the stunt.
According to the BBC,
Lahiri, in his 40s, was shackled
with six locks. Before he
attempted the trick, Lahiri,
dressed in a yellow and red
costume, turned to a crowd
and said: “If I can open it up,
then it will be magic, but if I
can’t, it will be tragic”. Famed
illusionist Harry Houidini
performed a version of the
trick more than 100 years ago
when he escaped from a box
tossed into New York’s East
River. Lahiri also had done the
stunt at least a dozen times.
He said he was attempting the
stunt again to “revive interest
in magic.”
38 June. 28 - July. 04 2019
just 46.07 seconds.
In 2017, the former teacher
set her first world record (which
she still holds) by finishing the
100-meter race in less than 40
seconds. Hawkins, who cred-
its the sport with keeping her
mind and body sharp, says her
Super female athlete turns out to be a man
The suspect was working
at the Emergency Section of
the Moi Teaching and Referral
Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret,
Kenya, when other nurses grew
suspicious after failing to find
`her’ name on the interns reg-
ister. Police were called in and
made an arrest and detained
the suspect at the Eldoret GK
Women Prison on June 14. She
had impersonated a nurse at the
hospital identified as Pamela
Mulupi but during question-
ing identified herself as Shieys
Couple wakes up to their house sinking
A devastated couple woke up
to find their stunning £850,000
(Approx. Shs1 billion) riverside
cottage sinking. Ken Pitts and
wife Gail discovered to their
horror that their idyllic thatched
home where they have lived for
17 years had developed a severe
lift around three months ago.
Ken said there had been no
preferred method of training
is walking around her garden.
She also has noble goal each
time she picks up the pace. “I
hope I’m inspiring (other peo-
ple) to be healthy,” she said,
“and to realise you can still be
doing it at this kind of an age.”
Chepkosgei. However, during
routine checks, officers discov-
ered that Chepkosgei was not
a woman but a man; real name
Hillary Kiprotich.
The man is currently on trial
but told court on June 18 that he
associates more with the female
gender. As Chepkosgei, the
29-year old man has participat-
ed in a number of international
marathons as a female athlete
in Malaysia, Morocco, Tanzania
and Zambia as a female athlete
and won three medals.
warning signs that the west side
of their home starting to sink
and that it simply happened
How uncool is
cooking, cleaning
for husband?
A 19-year-old woman plan-
ning to cook and clean for her
future husband was sent pack-
ing by Twitter for her anti-femi-
nist and “old fashioned” views.
Brylea Langley of Tyler of
Texas, USA, started a gender
war with a June 10th tweet: “I
was raised to take care of my
husband make his plate every
night, wash his work clothes for
him, make sure he’s up for work
the next morning, always have
a clean house for him to come
home to, etc. and that’s exactly
wife I will be.”
Responders said Langley
would be enslaved to her future
spouse and suggested she was
brainwashed. A husband tweet-
ed that while Langley’s vision
sounded majestic at first, it was
too retro for his comfort level.
When her tweet soured,
Langley wrote, “My momma
has been doin’ it for over 20
years now, that’s what I saw
growing up and that’s what I
believe is right.”
“overnight”, leaving them
“devastated”. The site of their
reed-thatched home leaning
significantly to one side has
caused a stir among locals and
passers-by. A Broads Authority
spokesman said: “Unfortunately
it is something that can be an
ongoing danger for properties
built on unstable ground.”
Toyota to axe LandCruiser V8
Next generation LandCruiser 300 Series expected to have V6
diesel and V6 petrol power – and eventually a hybrid – but no V8.
By Agencies
T
he iconic Toyota LandCruiser V8
is nearing the end of the road, with
well-placed sources claiming the
next generation 300 Series will have
a choice of V6 turbo-diesel and V6 turbo
petrol power when it goes on sale in late
2021 – before eventually being joined by a
V6 hybrid a few years later.
Toyota says it’s too early to discuss tech-
nical details of what will be the first com-
pletely new LandCruiser in 14 years, how-
ever the current 4.5-litre V8 turbo-diesel and
4.6-litre V8 petrol will be phased out due to
tougher global emissions standards.
While diehard LandCruiser fans will
mourn the loss of the effortless towing abil-
ity and the lusty sound of a V8, it appears
Toyota is unable to avoid the car industry’s
push to downsized engines that produce the
same or more power from smaller capaci-
ties.
“You would see most brands are shifting
down from V8s whether it be petrol or
diesel configurations. It’s generally in the
pursuit of greater efficiencies and to reduce
CO2 emissions, so that’s the global trend,” a
Toyota official said.
While there has been much speculation
about a hybrid LandCruiser, that variant
will arrive a few years after the 300 Series
goes on sale, after it initially launches with
V6 diesel and V6 petrol power. Toyota is
clearly a leader in hybrid technology.
Although a shift to V6 power – and even-
tually hybrid technology – is apparently
inevitable, Toyota insists the LandCruiser
won’t lose any of its off-road or towing
capability. Toyota has previously claimed
it will offer a hybrid variant in every model
range by 2025.
“By around 2025, every model in the Toy-
ota and Lexus line-up around the world will
be available as either a dedicated electrified
model or have an electrified option,” it said
in a statement.
For now, however, it’s unclear if Toyota
will introduce a diesel hybrid or a petrol
hybrid LandCruiser. To date, Toyota has
not produced a diesel hybrid variant of any
vehicle.
While Toyota is yet to announce timing
of the next generation LandCruiser, it has
confirmed that development work is well
progressed, including local testing.
In the meantime, if the LandCruiser V8 is
to be phased out, industry insiders are pre-
dicting a stampede on showrooms to buy
the runout model, given traditional buyers
prefer larger capacity engines and the V8
has proven so popular.
If the V8 LandCruiser is axed and hybrid
power becomes an option, it won’t be the
end of the road as many fans might fear.
Based on what we know is available
today, Toyota could adapt the 3.5-litre
hybrid petrol V6 engine used in the Lexus
LS500h sedan, which is mated to a contin-
uously variable transmission (CVT) and
produces a combined 294kW of power and
650Nm of torque – that’s 94kW more power
and the same torque output as the current
twin turbo 4.5-litre V8 diesel.
Even a non-hybrid turbo V6 could be a
tantalising proposition to replace the V8
petrol LandCruiser.
Toyota currently has at its disposal a
twin-turbocharged 3.5-litre V6 that produc-
es 310kW of power and 600Nm of torque,
which eclipses the current 4.6-litre V8 pet-
rol’s modest output of 227kW of power and
439Nm of torque.
June. 28 - July. 04 2019 39
global comment
By Bertrand Badré
World is running out of time
We have reached a point where leading thinkers
are questioning the fundamentals of this system
I
n 2015, the international community
launched a renewed effort to tackle
collective global challenges under
the auspices of the United Nations
Sustainable Development Agenda and
the Framework Convention on Climate
Change (COP21). But after an initial
flurry of interest, the progress that has
been made toward achieving the Sustain-
able Development Goals and tackling
climate change has tapered off. Around
the world, many seem to have developed
an allergy to increasingly stark warnings
from the UN and other bodies about ac-
celerating species extinctions, ecosystem
collapse, and global warming.
Now is not the time to debate whether
progress toward global goals is a matter
of the glass being half-full or half-empty.
Soon, there will no longer even be a glass
to worry about. Despite global news
coverage of civic and political action to
address our mounting crises, the under-
lying trends are extremely frightening.
In recent months, the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has
marshaled overwhelming evidence to
show that the effects of global warming
in excess of 1.5oC above preindustrial
levels will be devastating for billions of
people around the world.
A recent report from the Intergovern-
mental Science-Policy Platform on Bio-
diversity and Ecosystem Services serves
as yet another wake-up call. Human
activities, the report concludes, have put
an unprecedented one million species at
risk of extinction. The oceans that supply
food and livelihoods to more than four
billion people are under threat. If we
do not take immediate action to reverse
these trends, the challenges of playing
catch-up later will probably be insur-
mountable.
For decades, most of the major econo-
mies have relied on a form of capitalism
that delivered considerable benefits. But
we are now witnessing the implications
of the Nobel laureate economist Milton
Friedman’s famous mantra: “the social
responsibility of business is to increase
its profits.” A corporate-governance
model based on maximising shareholder
value has long dominated our economic
system, shaping our accounting frame-
40 June. 28 - July. 04 2019
works, tax regimes, and business-school
curricula.
But we have now reached a point
where leading economic thinkers are
questioning the fundamentals of the
prevailing system. Paul Collier’s `The
Future of Capitalism’, Joseph E. Sti-
glitz’s `People, Power, and Profits’, and
Raghuram G. Rajan’s `The Third Pillar’
all offer comprehensive assessments of
the problem. A capitalist system that
is disconnected from most people and
unmoored from the territories in which
it operates is no longer acceptable. Sys-
tems do not work in isolation. Eventu-
ally, reality asserts itself: global trade
tensions reemerge, populist nationalists
win power, and natural disasters grow
in frequency and intensity.
Simply put, our approach to capitalism
has exacerbated previously manageable
social and environmental problems and
sowed deep social divisions. The explo-
sion in inequality and the laser focus
on short-term results (that is, quarterly
earnings) are just two symptoms of a
broken system.
To maintain a well-functioning market
economy that supports all stakeholders’
interests requires us to shift our focus
to the long term. In some ways, this
is already happening. But we need to
Short-term
tensions over
trade and
other issues
will inevitably
capture the
attention of
people and
governments
channel the positive efforts underway
into a concerted campaign to push sys-
temic reforms past the tipping point.
Only then will we have achieved a feed-
back loop that rewards long-term, sus-
tainable approaches to business.
Most important, we must not succumb
to complacency. Short-term tensions
over trade and other issues will inevi-
tably capture the attention of people and
governments. But to permit the latest
headlines to distract us from impending
environmental and social catastrophes is
to miss the forest for the trees.
Having said that, the impetus for
driving positive change cannot be based
on fear. The looming crises are both real
and terrifying, but repeated warnings
to that effect have diminishing returns.
People have become immune to reality.
Long-term change, then, must come
from a readjustment of the market and
our regulatory frameworks. Although
consumers, investors, and other market
participants should keep educating
themselves and pushing for change,
there also needs to be a thorough and
rapid re-examination of the rules and
norms governing capitalism today.
We need to impose real costs on market
participants who do not change their
behavior. That won’t happen through
speeches, commentaries, and annual
reports. The market economy is a pow-
erful force that needs direction, and
regulators and market participants them-
selves are the ones holding the compass.
It is time to get serious about estab-
lishing the direct financial incentives
and penalties needed to drive systemic
change. Only after those are in place can
we begin to debate whether the glass is
half-empty or half-full.
Bertrand Badré, a former Managing Director
of the World Bank, is CEO of Blue Like an
Orange Sustainable Capital.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.
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