News analysis Health Business

BobiWine unveils Blood pressure: Both numbers Will Uganda Airlines

`red army’ may predict heart disease flights start this month?

Issue No. 583 August. 02 - 08 2019 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8

Regulate
Regulate
Regulate
What does Museveni want and
can new tough laws deliver it?

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August. 02 - 08 2019 1
inbox

Issue No. 583 August. 02 - 08 2019

News analysis Business Health Arts Motoring

Cover story
Regulate. Regulate. Regulate.
What does Museveni want and can new tough laws deliver it?

5 The Week
30 Comments
19 Generals retired from the UPDF
in phased retirement process What next for Sudan?: Even
after agreeing on transitional
power-sharing to end the
9 The Last Word
political deadlock, country
The dangers to our liberty: Why should be monitored
we should be wary of the influence
of new communication technologies
32 Health
in the hands of extremists
Blood pressure: Both numbers
14 Analysis may predict heart disease
BobiWine unveils `red army’:
But what future does he offer?

35 Arts & Culture

27 Business
Embodiments of reason:
Will Uganda Airlines commence Six artists revolutionising
flights this month?: Analysts say materiality and collaboration
carrier will struggle to compete at
fair rates and service

STRATEGY & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Andrew M. Mwenda WRITERS:Ronald Musoke, Ian Katusiime,
MANAGING EDITOR: Joseph Were Patricia Akankwatsa, Julius Businge.
INVESTIGATIONS EDITOR: Haggai Matsiko DESIGN/LAYOUT: Sarah Ngororano
BUSINESS EDITOR: Isaac Khisa CARTOONIST: Harriet Jamwa

PUBLISHER: Independent Publications Limited, Plot 82/84, Kanjokya Street, P. O. Box 3304, Kampala, Uganda
Tel: +256-312-637-391/ 2/ 3/ 4 | Fax: +256-312-637-396 E-mail: editor@independent.co.ug | advertising@independent.co.ug
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2 August. 02 - 08 2019
 inbox

“I do not know what awaits me but

I have an abundance mentality
I always look at things from the
positive perspective. I came to
this ministry when it did not have
money but I am leaving it at a
cruise range.” Pius Bigirimana, former
PS, Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social
Uganda moves to genetically modified mosquitoes to wipe out the malaria-causing breed while opening Dev’t while handing over
the Insectary fertility on July 29, at Uganda Virus Research Institute in Entebbe, Dr Jonathan Kayondo
(L), entomologist explains that fertility is meant for insectarium where research on genetically modified
mosquitoes will be conducted as a way of fighting malaria in Africa, the research will inform a plan to use
and will be added to the current methods used in the prevention and control of Malaria, other than use of
mosquito nets and medicines.   INDEPENDENT /ALFRED OCHWO
A Biography of retired
politician, Jaberi Bidandi
Ssali (C) is soon out,
Moses P’ado Wagira
(R) is in final stages of
book titled The Perilous
Voyage of a Patriot,
Jaberi Bidandi Ssali,
on July 26, group
of professors from “Gen. Kayihura did a good job as far
Makerere University, as I am concerned. When you meet
Nkumba University, a police officer on the streets, he is
Uganda Christian
University gathered at excited and full of confidence.” Lt Gen.
Kiwatule Recreation
Centre to evaluate
Henry Tumukunde on former Police boss
the book before it its
out.   INDEPENDENT /
ALFRED OCHWO

Miss Uganda 2019/2020

crown, Oliver Nakakande
(seated), beat 21 other
contestants, she takes over
the Miss Uganda duties
from her predecessor,
Quiin Abenakyo at grand
finale held on July 26, at
Sheraton Kampala Hotel,
Elizabeth Bagaya emerged “Amnesty is given to people who confess
as the first runner up while their sins. We have lost two men and
Mariam Nyamate came up an officer to illegal fishermen.”Bright
as the second runner up.
The ceremony was graced Rwamirama, Minister of State for Veterans on
by Miss World, Vanessa Speaker Kadaga’s plea for fishermen
Ponce De Leon

Students of Mbale SS who Residents of Bududa Worth of goods seized by

50 were admitted after choking
on teargas fired by Police
50, 000 who will get a
cholera vaccine
Shs736m CID and Office of the DPP
after an import dispute

August. 02 - 08 2019 3
week
19 Generals retired from the UPDF in phased retirement process
President Yoweri Museveni,
the Commander-in-Chief,
presided over a ceremony at
State House Entebbe where
19 Generals were retired
from the Uganda People’s
Defence Forces (UPDF). The
Generals include Gen. Joram
Mugume, Maj. Gen. Nathan
Mugisha, Maj. Gen. Willis
Byaruhanga, Maj. Gen. Sam
Turyagenda, Maj. Gen. Eng.
Timothy Mutebile Sabiiti.
The rest were 14 Brigadiers;
George Gyagenda Kibirango,
Mathias Sewankambo,
John Baptist Mulindwa,
David Kaboyo, John Mary
Kaganda. The others are
Dr. Kenneth Ocen Bwot,
John Mugogo Tumwebaze,
Charles Wacha Angulo,
Ramdhan Kyamulesire.
Completing the list are
Adolf Serwada, Sam Kakuru,
John Charles Anywar,
Emmanuel Musinguzi and
Francis Ochoka Ongom.
Museveni later hosted
them to a dinner after the
ceremony where they were
also awarded certificates of
merit. Prominently missing
on the list were Gen. Ivan
Koreta and Gen. David Sejusa
who have always clamoured for
retirement, he was promoted
to General last year. Sejusa
meanwhile sued the UPDF
for refusing to grant him
retirement saying he had been
constructively retired from the
army since he had not been
getting a salary for years.
Sh5.7trn released
for first quarter
The Permanent Secretary and
Secretary to the Treasury, Keith
Muhakanizi, released Shs5.7tril-
lion for the first quarter of FY
2019/2020 with a warning to
accounting officers to prioritise
timely payment of service pro-
viders and avoid the accumu-
lation of arrears. “There should
be a display of the payrolls for
salaries and monthly pension on
government institutions’ notice-
boards every month,” he said.
The money represents 28.7 per
cent of the approved budget and
excludes expenditure on exter-
nal debt and debt on Karuma
and Isimba hydro-power proj-
ects. Muhakanizi said the min-
istry of finance releases salaries,
wages, and gratuity on time for
accounting officers. Muhakanizi
said that accounting officers are
accumulating arrears through
cancellation of Local Purchase
Orders (LPOs) and issuance of
new ones for other activities. He
added that companies are col-
lapsing because of loans which
is a result of accounting officers
not paying service providers.

Bigirimana sent to Electoral reforms bills spark controversy

fix Judiciary mess The electoral reforms polling date. The reforms are
tabled by the Attorney contained in the Presidential
Pius Bigirimana is has deployed him General William Elections Amendment Bill
fast becoming a Mr as Secretary to the Byaruhanga have sparked 2019, The Parliamentary
Fix it in the work- Judiciary where controversy with many Elections Amendment
ings of government. Bigirimana is tasked concluding that they Bill 2019, The Electoral
When the infamous to fix the fraud are aimed at barring Commission Amendment
corruption scandal that has rocked the independents from registered political party. Bill 2019 and the Political
broke in 2012 in the judiciary where contesting and also targeting Use of phones and cameras Parties Amendment Bill
Office of the Prime money was fraud- pressure groups like People is not allowed within 2019. The government
Minister, President ulently deposited Power, a movement headed precincts of a polling station. has been under pressure
Museveni hailed on the accounts of by politician Bobi Wine. Another proposed measure from opposition parties,
The proposed reforms bar causing controversy is one parliament, Supreme Court
him as a whis- judicial officers in
independent presidential that says police and army and the general public
tleblower. Soon after the last few weeks.
candidates from forming officers should vote five to table electoral reforms
he was transferred The scandal saw his
any alliance with any days ahead of the official before the 2021 elections.
to the ministry of predecessor, Kagole
Gender, Labour Kivumbi, sent on
and Social Develop- forced leave amidst
ment. While there cries of unfair treat- Fate of detained 40 Rwandans unknown
he was in charge ment. Chief Justice In a swoop on a church church is yet to announce tions between Rwanda and
of the Youth Liveli- Bart Katureebe has in Kibuye, a Kampala sub- holding charges. Reports say Uganda just three weeks
hood Project where decried the little urb, Chieftaincy of Military it was the second raid of the after President Museveni
millions of shillings monies availed to Intelligence (CMI) detained Pentecostal church in three and his Rwandan counter-
money was dis- the judiciary but 40 people who were identi- months. CMI operatives part agreed to a peaceful
bursed to over 300 now he has to deal fied as Rwandans. They are picked up the suspects in approach when they were
youth groups across with another prob- suspecting of being involved two police pick up vehicles, hosted at a security summit
the country to boost lem of corruption in espionage activities two Costas and two Noah in Angola by President João
income generat- in his docket in the although the police, which vehicles. The scene is anoth- Lourenço.
ing projects. Now last one year of his took part in the raid on the er episode in the hostile rela-
President Museveni tenure.

4 August. 02 - 08 2019
 week
Supreme Court overrules Tumukunde stirs up Kampala Lord mayoral race
MPs on salary increment Retired Lt. Gen. Henry Kampala is an important
MPs had gotten used to increasing their Tumukunde is shoring up sub area of Uganda. “I
salary and perks as and when they wished. his bid to be Lord Mayor of am mobilising voters to
In the last two years, they have voted to Kampala with appearances change the leadership in
increase their sitting allowance, burial at several functions in the Kampala.” He added It
expense, fuel, OTT tax exemption and every city and by doing rounds is the face of Uganda and
imaginable allowance to the chagrin of the of interviews in the media. centre of influence”. He also
Ugandan public. As a message to the MPs, Most recently a minister bragged about his record
the Supreme Court in a landmark judgment of security, Tumukunde saying he ended the LRA
ruled that MPs cannot unilaterally increase has served in a number Assembly delegate in 1994. war when he was UPDF
their remuneration without involvement of of positions in the NRM Many people were surprised Fourth division commander
the Executive. In a unanimous decision, a governments including as by his interest in the position based in Gulu. The race
coram of seven judges of the Supreme Court head of Internal Security of mayor for Kampala but for Mayor has attracted
upheld a 2016 Constitutional Court verdict Organisation (ISO) where the former minister has singer Jose Chamelone,
that declared Section 5 of the Parliament he earned notoriety dug in and says he is ready Kawempe North MP Latif
(Remuneration of Members of Parliament) for persecuting regime to unseat Erias Lukwago. Sebaggala and incumbent
Act “unconstitutional.” Led by Chief Justice opponents. He was also In an interview with New Erias Lukwago is expected
Bart Katureebe, the court ruled “It is evi- elected as a Constituent Vision, Tumukunde said to stand again.
dent that if Section 5 of the Act is left on our
statute books, it is bound to be used by Par-
liament to violate the Constitution.” Other dfcu presents commodity trade opportunities
justices on the panel included Stella Arach-
Amoko, Rubby Opio-Aweri, Faith Mwond- dfcu bank is well posi- trading companies doing on July 25, the dialogue
ha, Paul Mugamba, Augustine Nshimye and tioned to support commod- business in the developing aimed at stimulating growth
Jotham Tumwesigye. The judges ruled that ity traders in mining value market. They have solutions through commodity trade
MPs can increase their pay only through a in the commodities market including stock finance, from a regional and global
substantive Bill or Motion introduced by and its value chains, accord- pre-export finance and perspective. It was held in
the Executive that constitutionally is the one ing to Mathias Katamba, warehouse receipt financ- partnership with Rabobank
financial authority in charge of revenues the bank’s chief executive ing. Katamba said this at and brought together at least
and expenditure in the country. MPs react- officer. He said that dfcu’s a dialogue organised by 100 commodity traders and
ed with dismay on the ruling. President structured commodity the bank involving com- other key stakeholders in the
Museveni has also criticised MPs on their finance is designed for modity traders. Held at agriculture value chain.
increase of salary. In 2011, Wilson Mwesi- commodity producers and the Kampala Serena Hotel
gye, a concerned citizen petitioned the Con-
stitutional Court to challenge decisions of
the Parliamentary Commission to increase Former deputy Katikkiro, Kaaya Kavuma, dies at 82
lawmakers’ pay based solely on Section 5
of the impugned Act and Article 85 of the Buganda Kingdom’s and also served as its
Constitution. The Parliamentary Commis- former Deputy Katikkiro MD. By the time he died,
sion, which is responsible for welfare and Godfrey Kaaya Kavuma he was serving as the
recruitment at Parliament, and the Attorney died aged 82. chairman of the Buganda
General, the government chief legal advi- Kavuma died of kidney Kingdom-linked radio.
sor, were the respondents in the initial case failure at International Kaaya Kavuma served as
determined by the Constitutional Court. The Hospital Kampala (IHK). Deputy Katikkiro under
latter court ruled in favour of Mwesigye but He was credited for the Katikkiro Mulwanyamuli
Parliament appealed to the Supreme Court. establishment of CBS Ssemwogerere.

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August. 02 - 08 2019 5
week
NWSC headquarters in Bugolobi, Kampala. AFD is funding a number of its projects.
AFD’s 20 years of improving water services and sanitation in Uganda
Since 1999, the French
Development Agency (AFD)
has conducted many projects
in the water and sanitation
sector with Uganda. As a result,
500,000 additional persons have
had access to drinking water
in Kampala as per 2018. AFD
has financed the project for
Drinking water supply in the
rural towns of the country’s
south-central region. From
boreholes to standpipes, nine
fully equipped distribution
networks were installed
with the aim of increasing
distribution and reducing the
cost of access. An AFD grant was
allocated to the public facilities
for sanitation and supply in
6 August. 02 - 08 2019
the deprived neighborhoods
of Kampala. Some thirty
neighborhoods in the east
of the city were equipped
with small-scale sanitation
infrastructure and supplied
with drinking water. AFD is
also contributing to WaSAf:
an international project on the
monitoring and the protection
of continental surface water
systems used for the production
of drinking water in three
African countries. In Uganda,
this project is implemented
by a consortium including
(Makerere University and the
National Fisheries Resources
Research Institute (NaFIRRI) in
Uganda) and French research
teams working in the field of
human and environmental
sciences and stakeholders
involved in the water sector,
from the management of natural
water resources to the drinking
water supply (Department of
Water Resources Management
in Ministry of Water and
Environment as well as NWSC
in Uganda). AFD’s support to
Water and Sanitation in Uganda
will continue in the future with
the Lake Victoria WATSAN II
Project whose focus is to provide
improved water supply services
to the population living in the
Greater Kampala Metropolitan
Area through improved water
and sanitation infrastructure.
Barclays unveils
SME academy
Barclays Bank Uganda, a sub-
sidiary of Absa Group Limited
has announced the launch of
the Absa Small and Medium
Enterprises (SME) Academy, a
pioneering program providing
capacity building, training and
professional support to new and
existing SMEs in the country.
Speaking at the launch event
in Kampala on July 30, Nazim
Mahmood, the incoming man-
aging director for the bank said
that the academy aims at help-
ing SMEs grow their businesses
by developing sound financial
management and corporate
governance structures, solutions
for enhancing performance and
awareness of the local environ-
ment in which they operate. As
part of the launch, a scholarship
was granted to 70 SMEs to a
three-month training program
tailored for local small busi-
ness proprietors and directors.
Emmanuel Katongole a member
of the board of directors for
Barclays urged SMEs to have
the desire, drive, determination,
dedication and discipline to be
able to succeed. The Deputy
Governor of Bank of Uganda
Louis Kasekende applauded
the bank for supporting SMEs
which he said are a catalyst to
driving social economic transfor-
mation.  Government data indi-
cates there is a total of 160, 000
SMEs in the country, contribut-
ing 20% to GDP and employing
2.5million people.
Humour Did you know?
Social media is linked to
teen depression

Ever since the world was plunged into

the digital age, much has been made about
the effect of “screen time” on the mental
health of teenagers. However, according to
Government has finally tabled the proposed electoral reforms to several laws before Parliament. new research, that debate is more complex
than it first appears. While overindulging in
social media and television was shown to be
linked to significant increases in depressive
symptoms among teens, video gaming
and computer use were found to have no
association with negative mental health.
These findings come from a
comprehensive new study by the University
of Montreal and are reported in JAMA
Pediatrics. The researchers gathered 3,826
adolescents – 47 percent of whom were
girls. Over the course of four years, the
team tracked their digital media use and
seven symptoms of depression, including
loneliness, sadness, and hopelessness.
Of all the forms of digital media, spending
an above-average amount of time on
social media was found to be the most
harmful. The study demonstrated that if
teens reported increases in social media
use, as well as television viewing, their
LT Gen Henry Tumukunde has expressed interest to contest for Lord Mayor of Kampala in 2021. depression symptoms increased over the
same year. On the other hand, time spent
playing video games showed virtually no
association with depression. The study
authors proposed three hypotheses that
could explain this trend and proceeded to
further investigate them. First, there was
“Upward Social Comparison”, the idea that
social media can harm people’s self-esteem
as they are bombarded with highlight reels
of other people’s lives. Second, there was
“Reinforcing Spirals”, which suggests people
seek out information that’s consistent with
their own views, creating an “echo chamber”
effect. “Social media and television are
forms of media that frequently expose
adolescents to images of others operating
in more prosperous situations, such as
other adolescents with perfect bodies and a
more exciting or rich lifestyle,” lead author
Elroy Boers, a post-doctoral researcher at
the University of Montreal’s Department of
Police have lowered the academic qualifications for recruitment of constables. Psychiatry, said in a statement.

August. 02 - 08 2019

Inbox
Letters are
welcome !
The Editor welcomes short and
concise letters from our esteemed
readers on topical issues. Please
send them to:
The Editor, The Independent
Publications Ltd,
P.O Box 3304,
Plot 82/84 Kanjokya St,
Kamwokya.
Kampala,Uganda.
Email: editor@independent.co.ug
Electoral reforms
to fight opposition
Refer to: “Government finally
tables electoral reforms” (The
Independent Online July 26). I
predict these reforms will end
up fighting opposition as these
guys know how to plan. But
what I know is that You can
fool someone most of the time
but you cannot fool him all the
time…
Douglas Bamutungire
Our nation’s
threatened middle
Refer to: “Our nation’s
threatened middle: The
challenges of being independent
in Uganda’s increasingly
polarised and toxic debates”
(The Independent July 19).
Nicely said Mwenda. I keep
trying to explain you to many
conspiracy theorists. You are
more like the original court
jester (please research the role
and historical importance of
such before you criticise me)
than a “yes” or “hatchet” man.
It is a lonely road being an
independent thinker in this
world.
James
8 August. 02 - 08 2019
Follow us on Twitter @
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www.facebook.com/TheIndependentMagazineUganda
Boris: Africans have started to wake up
Refer to: “Boris Johnson on
Uganda” (The Independent
Online July 25). I feel so sorry
that our fellow brother and
sister and the land Africa is still
abused by the outsiders. But I
also feel very optimistic these
days that the young generation
of African are learned well
enough and have started to
Boris Johnson is wrong
Refer to: “Boris Johnson on
Uganda” (The Independent
Online July 25). In Uganda, the
colonial government tampered
with the land tenure. They
failed to streamline land owner-
ship in Uganda and land is key
for development. Up to now
the UK government still holds
everything concerning land in
Uganda. Boundaries are still
a problem. Boundaries issues
No development under Museveni
Refer to: “Our nation’s threat-
ened middle: The challenges of
being independent in Uganda’s
increasingly polarised and
toxic debates” (The Indepen-
dent July 19).” I appreciate the
economic achievements of the
NRM even though I disagree
with the mercenary way it has
handed our economy to multi-
national capital. Achievements?
Either Mwenda thinks we are
gullible or it is to the gullible he
makes some statements. Either
Mwenda is so big-headed some
facts cannot penetrate or he
stubbornly hangs on to wrong
facts. NRM has mortgaged the
country by eating debs that are
impossible to pay and impover-
ished the people so abjectly that
wake up to solve their problems
as soon as possible. To achieve
those things, African unity is the
most important and we should
try beware also the outsiders are
there simply not to help us but
to destroy us. We need to edu-
cate ourselves well.
Eno Zizu
alone in Acholi and Lango
consume the would-be devel-
opment budget for the area. A
road that would cost Shs100
billion ends up costing Shs300
billion in the names of compen-
sation caused by colonial poor
planning. The laws we follow
are all UK. Even our parliament
looks exactly like the UK.
Dickson Niwagaba
desperadoes are being seen first
time in Uganda and people do
not know what to make of it.
I have time and again told
Mwenda that long before he was
born up to shortly after, Tooro
district (alone) exported Cop-
per(Kilembe) coffee (Bwamba),
Salt (Katwe) and tea (Mwenge)
What is it exporting now?
Busoga smelted Copper,
made world-class cotton fabrics
(NYTIL) and many other indus-
tries in Jinja alone. What is there
to export now? Tororo itself
had Uganda Cement Industry
(belonging to UDC) TICAF,
EATRO, UMA, JUTE factory
on Nagongera Road all fully
functioning with employees,
football teams that could whip
News analysis Health Business
Torture: Is IGP Ochola’s Nsenene named De-risking investment
latest order a joke? top superfood in agriculture sector
Issue No. 582 July. 26 - August 01 2019
Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8
Bad news
over LDUs
Political risk behind them
www.independent.co.ug
Boris Johnson
brutally honest
on Uganda
Refer to: “Boris Johnson on
Uganda” (The Independent
Online July 25). Boris is brutally
honest. More than aid, we need
tourists to come visit ‘The Pearl
of Africa’. The effect shall be a
trickle down from foreign cur-
rency due to linkages tourism
has along the supply/value chain
from hotels to farmers. Many
tourists in the process directly
contribute to social services in
communities they have visited.
For example the village walk
in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
National Park, home to the
endangered mountain gorillas,
offers visits to the a school and
hospital constructed with sup-
port from tourists. Bravo Boris.
Tony Ofungi
the present-day Cranes and
other facilities. What is there to
show now? If there is, who owns
them? Uganda Airforce of the
60s to 70s had fighters, bombers
and transports. Uganda Police
Airwing used to take us in their
helicopter in Jinja Show for
three shillings. What has NRM
developed? Of course some old
men who have sold their souls
to Museveni also say things are
better than they ever were so
they continue to fill their bot-
tomless tummies. Where is Pro-
duce Marketing Board? Uganda
will never recover with NRM
in power. The only impact Bun-
yoro oil will produce is pollution
and poverty.
Rwasubutare

The dangers to our liberty
By Andrew M. Mwenda
Why we should be wary of the influence of new
communication technologies in the hands of extremists
I
n 1948 George Orwell published his
novel, 1984. It is a classic statement of the
danger to individual liberty posed by
increasing technological sophistication,
especially in the hands of the state. The novel
is set in a country with an all-powerful state,
otherwise called Big Brother, characterised
by a state-controlled economy with few
monopolistic producers and controlled
labour. Yet this is not what made Big Brother
all-powerful. Two factors did.
The first was technology’s perfection
of state-power. According to Orwell, the
growth and spread of television would
make it easy for a self-perpetuating elite
to manipulate, condition, and monitor the
masses without explicit resort to using
terror. So, every citizen (or at least every
citizen important enough to be worth
watching) could be kept for 24 hours a day
under the watchful eye of the police and
being indoctrinated by official propaganda.
This created a real possibility of enforcing
complete uniformity of opinion.
The second factor supporting the rule of
Big Brother was the threat of perpetual war.
Orwell’s book is set in a world of three giant
powers with unstable frontiers – Oceania,
Eurasia and Eastasia. The possession of
nuclear weapons made it impossible for any
of these powers to be attacked and defeated
by another. However, for purposes of
domestic control, each one of these powers
needed to create the illusion that they were
permanently at war with one another.
This assumed threat to national security
is the crux of Orwell’s message: the danger
of slipping into totalitarianism did not
simply arise from new technologies of
manipulation, control and surveillance.
Rather it arose from these technologies
being pressed into the service of “national
security”. Using the power of television,
for example, people would be conditioned
to believe that their nation is at war on a
large number of fronts – wars without any
apparent end. America’s “war on terror”
today mirrors this.
Orwell wrote in the early 20th century
when all-powerful states symbolised by
Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Soviet
Russia emerged in Europe. The state was
so overwhelmingly powerful it became
totalitarian. Most 20th Century thinking on
democracy, freedom and individual liberty
The Last Word
was a response to this. Yet today, we are
confronted with a much more complex
problem.
First, the state and its national security
complex is no longer the only actor in
mass surveillance. Giant IT companies like
Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon, etc.
have developed powerful technologies not
only to keep us under surveillance but also
to condition and control what we read,
eat and wear and think. While there are
many benefits we derive as consumers, the
market has joined the state in the lexicon of
surveillance, manipulation and control.
Second, the spread of mass communication
technologies has empowered citizens to
communicate easily and effectively without
recourse to traditional media who have
historically been gatekeepers. It has made
it possible for ordinary people to expose
corruption and resist tyranny. Every
citizen with a phone has a publishing and
broadcasting house from whence they
can challenge authority and place their
demands on the national political agenda.
The tendency is to uncritically embrace this
development.
For instance, these technologies have
strengthened extremely intolerant groups
hostile to liberal democratic values. They use
social media to bully and psychologically
terrorise their critics. Across the world,
intolerant, fascist, racial, tribal and religious
bigots are growing strong. They are most
reflected in the raise of politicians like
Donald Trump. John Stuart Mill saw this
danger in the 19th century, warning, in his
famous essay, On Liberty, that the threat to
liberty was not just from the state but also
from majorities willing to use the weight
of numbers to suppress and regiment
minorities.
Third, the challenge faced by most poor
countries is not the presence of a strong
state but the lack of an effective one. In
many of these countries, the state is too
weak to perform its most basic function of
ensuring law and order and the protection of
individual life and property. The growth of
new technologies of communication make it
ever more difficult for such states to control
the passions of the masses especially when
radicalised. This allows majorities to hold
the state hostage and suppress minorities.
One of the leading liberal thinkers of the
August. 02 - 08 2019
opinion
20th Century, Karl Popper, was critical of
the myth, which attributes to “the voice
of the people” a kind of final authority
and unlimited wisdom. In the chapter on
“Public Opinion and Liberal Principles,”
in his book `Conjectures and Refutations’,
Popper is critical of our blind and naïve faith
in the ultimate common-sense rightness
of the “man in the street.” He says that the
avoidance of the plural is telling since people
are rarely univocal on any issue. There are
as many opinions in as many streets as the
people who live in the city.
Popper’s greatest contribution was the
recognition that public opinion is very
powerful. It can change governments, even
despotic ones. So he cautioned that liberals
“ought to regard any such power with
some degree of suspicion. “Owing to its
anonymity,” Popper wrote, “public opinion
is an irresponsible form of power, and
therefore particularly dangerous from the
liberal point of view.”
He went on: “The remedy in one direction
is obvious: by minimising the power of the
state the danger of the influence of public
opinion, exerted through the agency of
the state, will be reduced. But this does
not secure the freedom of the individual’s
behaviour and thought from the direct
pressure of public opinion. Here the
individual needs the powerful protection
of the state. These conflicting requirements
can be at least met by a certain kind of
tradition…”
Popper argues that it is easy to see the
state as a constant danger, an evil, though
a necessary one. But this is because for the
state to fulfil its functions, it must have
more power than any single private citizen
or public corporation. He argues that even
though people may design institutions
to minimise the risk of the powers of the
state being misused, that risk can never be
completely eliminated. Therefore, people
have to continue to pay for the protection
of the state not only in taxes but also in
the form of humiliations suffered – for
example at the hands of bullying officials.
Since the danger of abuse of state power
cannot be eliminated, Popper argued, the
only thing we can hope for is not to pay
too heavily for it.
amwenda@independent.co.ug
9
cover story

Regulate
Regulate
Regulate
What does Museveni want and
can new tough laws deliver it?

By Julius Businge & Isaac Khisa

10 August. 02 - 08 2019

R
egulate. Regulate. Regulate.
Taxi ownership, regulate. Cof-
fee and sugarcane growing
regulate. Cesspool emptying,
regulate. Belonging to polit-
ical party, regulate. Quitting
political party, regulate.
In the past few months, the government
has come up with proposed law after pro-
posed law aimed at regulating one facet or
the other of social, economic, and political
life. The question is why is government so
bent on tight regulation now? Where has it
been all this time? What is to be the likely
outcome of this heightened regulation
regime?
Some experts think that the government
is doing the right thing.
Sabiti Makara, a lecturer at the depart-
ment of political science at Makerere Uni-
versity told The Independent that the new
regulation is good. He spoke specifically
about the government move to regulate
the taxi business.
“I once owned taxis,” he said, “It is a
terrible business. You are at the mercy of
a driver and the conductor, who on most
cases do not pay.”
He says that with the new government
proposed arrangement, transport sector
investors would realise good returns on
their investment. But he also has fears of
government control and wants the busi-
ness left strictly in the hands of the private
sector even as taxis will be required by law
to operate under Saving Cooperative and
Credit Organisations (SACCOS), partner-
ships, or any other form of association.
Ezra Munyambonera, an economist
at the Economic Policy Research Centre,
Makerere University, also supported the
proposed regulations on taxis.
“Currently, there is no order in the city
and other towns. There is also robbery in
those taxis,” he said.
Munyambonera dismisses fears that
organising taxis in form of associations
will eliminate individual tax owners in
business.
“Individuals will simply buy their taxis
and register them with an organisation,
Sacco, company and so on of their choice,”
he said.
He added that taxis in any form of asso-
ciation will strengthen their bargaining
power with the government as well place
them in a better position to seek for bank
loans for investments.
But what about the recently tabled titbits
of proposed electoral law reforms in Par-
liament; are they also good? No way says
opposition politician Wilfred Niwagaba
who is the MP for Ndorwa County (East).
Niwagaba, who is also the Attorney
General in the opposition shadow cabinet,
says the laws are aimed at helping Presi-
dent Yoweri Museveni to prolong his stay
in power and adds that the situation can
erupt any time like “we have seen this
happening in Sudan, Tunisia etc”.
Talk of popular protest is a common
line in opposition circles and it is always
scoffed at by those in the ruling party.
One of the longest serving National
August. 02 - 08 2019
cover story
Resistance Movement (NRM) leaders, Maj.
Gen Matayo Kyaligonza, told The Inde-
pendent in an interview, that all that the
government is doing is to keep the peace
and businesses running.
“You will never know all what the gov-
ernment is doing,” he said.
He said Museveni’s government
remains strong and those saying the
regime is collapsing are merely speculat-
ing to create fear and inconvenience those
running the government.
“Let them talk,” Kyaligonza, who is
currently the ambassador of Uganda to
Burundi, said, “Having gone through
wars, you cannot ask people to go to war
again- they are fed up.”
Instead, he said, anyone defying the
new regulations and inconveniencing peo-
ple in business will be arrested and han-
dled in accordance with the laws.
He added that the current regime
remains strong in terms of security, the
economy compared to past regimes of the
1960s and 1970s.
“Ugandans are intelligent enough to
compare what happened in the 1960s and
what is happening now,” he said.
Asked to comment specifically on
whether Uganda could experience what
is in Sudan and what happened in Libya,
Tinusia, Kyaligonza said: “Those who are
saying that are dreaming. I think in those
countries citizens were fed up with the
system.”
He added: “When we went to the bush
we had an upper hand...people sympa-
11
cover story
thized with us and supported us.”
Today, in Uganda, he said that the cost
of living is normal and there are no signs
that opposition forces can remove this
regime.
“When we came here there was no
soap...now you can see by yourself,” he
said.
He, however, agreed with critics of the
regime, that like any other country in the
world, there are challenges related to cor-
ruption, unemployment, poverty in Ugan-
da but the government is aware of them
and is not sleeping.
He advised the opposition and critics of
the regime to mobilise the masses to resist
individuals involved in corruption and
other unwanted acts instead of inciting
them to go to war.
The new laws
Uganda has recently passed laws and
proposed bills that some critics and mem-
bers of the public have termed as ‘repres-
sive’ and brought to only benefit President
Museveni who wants to contest for the 6th
term come 2021.
12 August. 02 - 08 2019
“Why is the government squeezing
us so hard in anything we try to do for a
living?” asked Geoffrey Egesa, one of the
owners of a 14-seater taxi operating in
Kampala.
Egesa’s frustration is in line with a July
17 move by the Minister of Works and
Transport, Monica Ntege Azuba to table
a bill in Parliament seeking to force taxi
operators countrywide to belong to some
form of an organisation/association to be
granted a public service vehicle licence.
The proposed bill dubbed ‘Traffic and
Road Safety Act 1998 (Amendment), 2019’
is facing resistance from several other taxi
owners and drivers.
“The government has reached a point
where it wants to get blood out of the
stone,” Egesa said.
The taxi operators’ protest is just one
sign of how the government’s recent plans
to come up with numerous laws is going
to make life much harder for the popu-
lation, which is already grappling with
high levels of unemployment, poverty and
other problems.
With low levels of industrial growth and
limited government efforts to create more
jobs in state institutions, the stakeholders
in the taxi business, fear they would be
out of work, a scenario that would lead to
further widening of income inequality and
increase in crime.
Over the past three decades, since the
end of the civil war in 1986, with the com-
ing into power of President Museveni,
the country has followed the advice of the
west and opened up its economy for trade,
while keeping inflation and public debt in
control.
While it has been praised for its efforts
towards restoring peace and stability and
growing the economy, unemployment and
poverty have remained largely problemat-
ic to handle.
Now with new laws coming into action,
experts warn, the situation could soon
worsen and put Museveni’s government
at risk.
The proposed Traffic and Road Safety
Act 1998 (Amendment) Bill, 2019, seeks
to ensure that taxi operators countrywide
belong to a company, registered associa-
tions, partnerships or Savings and Credit

Cooperative Societies so as to be given a
public service vehicle (PSV) licence.
The taxi operator will also be required to
give a six month notice to the government
prior to making a decision to quit the busi-
ness or be fined between Shs600,000-Shs-
6million.
The bill also forbids a person to engage
in the repair, trade, manufacture, deal in
new, second hand or reconditioned motor
vehicles, trailers or engineering plant with-
out having an approved place of business
or in possession of a licence issued by gov-
ernment.
Failure to adhere to the law grants that
individual a fine of Shs2million or a one-
year imprisonment.
Among the other recently proposed
laws are; the Sugar Bill 2016 and National
Coffee Bill 2018 – which are targeting sec-
tors that employ a substantial number of
the population.
The proposed Sugar Bill 2016 seeks to
limit establishment of new sugar process-
ing firms in the already existing ones with-
in a radius of 25 kilometres.
It also seeks to force sugarcane farmers
or out growers supply their cane to the
sugar processing firm within their zone, a
move that would place farmers, majority
of whom already live in poverty, at the
mercy of the sugar milers.
The National Coffee Bill 2018 on the
other hand, which the government has
also introduced to parliament seeks to
regulate all on-farm and off-farm activi-
ties in the coffee value chain, repealing the
existing – Uganda Coffee Development
Authority Act, 1991 – that only looked at
issues of off-farm activities.
The government, through the Uganda
Coffee Development Authority, intends
to regulate the coffee value chain by reg-
istering all coffee farmers, coffee nursery
operators and coffee value chain actors
countrywide.
The Bill will also give mandate to
UCDA to carry out land evaluation to
determine whether or not it is suitable for
coffee growing as well provide extension
services to coffee farmers, a step that crit-
ics say is ‘already dead on arrival.’
The bill proposes a 2-year jail term or
Shs960,000 fine for a farmer who fails to
take good care of their coffee plantation,
poorly stored wet cherries, operates un
registered coffee nursery, or harvests or
found in possession of immature cherries.
Social unrest fears
Critics say the government’s slew of
legislations which it claims would regu-
late, organise the targeted sectors, might
lead to social unrest, income inequality
and increase in outright crime.
The fears are not unfounded. Polit-
ical experts often see a link between
unwanted government laws, policies, and
regulations and civil protests. They say
the connection is stronger in cases where
leaders that overstay in power use them to
suffocate the population.
They say that the people that feel unfair-
ly treated with these laws can easily be
mobilised to behave in a way that could
fail a regime.
Richard Ssewakiryanga, the executive
director of the NGO Forum – an umbrella
organisation of civil society organisations
told The Independent on July 26 that the
government should be finding new ways
of attracting people to do business not
merely coming up with more legislation.
“These proposed laws are simply going
to create tension in various sectors, lead-
ing to reduced productivity and business
expansion,” he said, “We have hundreds
of laws here, most of them not implement-
ed.”
Ssewakiryanga said the government
needs to only come up with incentives that
will foster productivity and encourage
streamlining various sectors voluntarily
without necessarily using laws.
Some commentators have said the slew
of regulations reflects the frantic moves of
August. 02 - 08 2019
cover story
a failing government.
Hussein Kyanjo, the former Member
of Parliament for Makindye East con-
stituency, told The Independent in an
interview that there is “political anger”
among Museveni’s critics. Coupled with
the many problems people are facing,
the anger might plunge the country into
chaos.
Kyanjo says that Uganda’s situation is
not different from the recent one in the
neighboring Sudan and Zimbabwe that led
to the overthrow of President Omar Bashir
who ruled from 1989 – 2019 and Robert
Mugabe [who ruled] from 1987 – 2017.
“They are small things that spark pro-
tests that result into collapse of regimes,”
Kyanjo said.
“What happened in the Arab countries
may not necessarily happen here but I am
sure something will happen here soon and
it will not be good,” Kyanjo told The Inde-
pendent on July 27.
He listed the current problems that the
country is facing as high levels of unem-
ployment, poverty, corruption, underper-
forming of key government development
projects, failing private sector companies,
growing urban crime and murder cases,
election rigging, failing government insti-
tutions, tribal conflicts, and torturing of
opposition politicians which he said are
clear signs of a failing regime.
Good or bad timing?
The latest `State of Uganda Population
Report 2018’ released by the National
Population Council in November 2018 also
shows that Uganda has about 19 million
people of working age out of a total popu-
lation of 41 million people. The report says
that the country has one of the highest
unemployment rates standing at 9.2% and
poverty levels standing at 21.7%.
This is bad news because the most
affected persons are the youth who can
easily become a source of social unrest.
Kyanjo says currently Parliament has
enacted laws that are not bringing any-
thing new to benefit Ugandans but only
help one person – President Museveni to
keep in power.
“What we are seeing now is extreme
fatigue by the government,” Kyanjo said
when asked to point at the good things the
current regime is doing.
He pointed at the Public Order Manage-
ment Act, the Computer Misuse Act, the
removal of article 102 (b) in the constitu-
tion.
To make the situation even worse, Kyan-
jo said that there are divisions within the
ruling party evidenced by increasing num-
ber of Members of Parliament joining oppo-
sition pressure groups like People Power
headed by Kyadondo East Member of Par-
liament Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine).
13
news analysis
Minister of State for Finance David Bahati (R) appearing before the select parliamentary committee on the payment of claims by the Uganda South Sudan traders.
South Sudan billions
excite Uganda traders
But fight erupts as `Super 10’ run off
with compensation monies
By Ian Katusiime
M
uhammad Abdullah Besimira
first went to South Sudan in 2007
on a job with his company, BMA
Constructions and Fabrications
Ltd. He says he got a deal to construct gov-
ernment buildings and ministries in Jonglei
State in the Greater Upper Nile Province.
At the time, South Sudan was still part of
Sudan.
By 2010 Besimira’s company had accu-
mulated payment arrears pending with the
government but he kept slogging away,
hoping he would be paid. At the time, many
Ugandan business people were in the same
spot. They had payment pending from the
South Sudan government.
But then in 2011 South Sudan broke away
from Sudan and in 2013 civil war broke out
between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir
and those loyal to his former deputy Riek
Machar. Besimira and most of the business
people fled back to Uganda.
“After the war, I was called back by the
State Minister of Finance (South Sudan),”
Besimira says. He resumed work and con-
14 August. 02 - 08 2019
tinued demanding payment. But he says
he was always told the money the central
government would send money to Jonglei
would not be enough to enable him to be
paid. Then in 2016 war erupted again. Besi-
mira says he and thousands of other Ugan-
dan traders were evacuated in trucks by
Ugandan Army soldiers.
“That time, we were just picked and you
could not leave with anything,” he says.
He never returned to Sudan. Instead, he
and other Uganda business people have
resorted to seeking compensation for money
they lost.
He is part of an organisation called the
Joint Action Redemption of Ugandan Trad-
ers in South Sudan. Its members did a range
of services from construction to petty trade
in South Sudan. This group includes those
who were injured during the clashes and
those who lost their loved ones.
Formed in 2008, it says the government of
South Sudan owes them over $200 million
(Approx.Shs740 billion). But in a major twist,
they are now not asking for the money from
the government of South Sudan but from the
government of Uganda.
The arrangement is a result of an agree-
ment signed on December 22, 2016 between
the governments of Uganda and South
Sudan. In the agreement, the government
of Uganda agreed to pay a group of Ugan-
da traders, now called the Super 10, US$41
million (Approx.Shs150 billion) that South
Sudan agreed to reimburse. It was also
agreed that a joint verification team consist-
ing of officials from both Uganda and South
Sudan would be formed to verify or confirm
all other claims for subsequent settlement.
Parliament, as required by law, adopted
the agreement on April 03, 2018. But it added
an addendum to the agreement that includ-
ed another “additional verified 23 Uganda
-South Sudan traders”. It also added that the
joint verification exercise by the government
of South Sudan and Uganda “continues until
all claims are conclusively handled”. That
appeared to have left the door open for new
claimants to enter and might explain the
many lists of claimants.
The matter became heated after Parlia-
ment in May approved payment of Shs947
billion to 82 Ugandan companies that sup-
plied goods and services to South Sudan.
Apparently, the government of South Sudan
has approved payment of Shs778 billion to
40 companies and Shs169 billion to another
42 companies.

The super 10 and the rest
It is a complicated process with many
twists and turns and allegations of corrup-
tion. It appears there are business people
who deserve payment but are not paid and
others that do not deserve payment but
are paid. It has sparked a faceoff between
the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry
of Trade, the Office of the Prime Minister
(OPM), and Parliament. There is even talk
of the `Super 10’, a list of claimants that gets
paid over and over.
The ‘Super Ten’ is a group of companies
run by well-connected businesspeople who
have received compensation in two batches.
It includes Rubya Investments, Kibungo
Enterprises, Aponye (U) Limited, Afro Kai
Ltd, Swift Commodities Establishment Ltd,
Sunrise Commodities, Ms Sophie Omari,
Apo General Agencies, Ropani International
and K.K Transporters.
Some reports indicate that some of the
companies share directors while others; like
Swift Commodities Ltd are reportedly out of try of Finance, which never got back to us.
business.
Apollo Nyegamehe, commonly
known as Aponye, who is the leader of
the group told The Independent that their
demands are legitimate.
According to him, their claims stem
from grain supplies they made to the
government of South Sudan. Unlike
some of the other claimants, they were
dealing directly with the top brass of the
southern part of Sudan led by then vice
president Salva Kiir.
“We got paid $14.8 million (Approx.
Shs55 billion) in December 2011 and we
received another Shs40 billion (Approx.
$10 million) in April 2019,” Nyegamehe
says.
Meanwhile others like Besimira keep
waiting.
“We have made endless trips to the min-
istries of Finance and Trade of Uganda in
search of compensation but all in vain,” Besi- that they zeroed on 38 companies that were
mira told The Independent.
He says the government of South Sudan
owes his company US$279,445 (Approx.Shs1 their claims and she now blames the Min-
billion).
On February 27, 2017 he submitted com-
pensation claim documents to both ministry
of Trade and Finance. Since then he has
been on a rollercoaster trying to get a penny.
In October 2018, he and fellow traders met said, “Ernst and Young is working for who?
Trade minister Amelia Kyambadde but the
meeting bore no fruit in spite of her promis-
ing the lot that all would be well by February
this year.
“They keep saying verification,” he says,
“When they talk about verification, they are
sending us back five years,” Besimira says of
the process.
“They are asking us for too many doc-
uments, some banks like Liberty Bank in
South Sudan closed and we have already
spent way too much in the process of gather- verify claims. But his insistence is opposed
ing all these documents.”
Some of the claims for compensation go
back over 10 years, many lack proper doc-
umentation and the claimants are in many
groups and their lists keeps changing. The
list that had the Super 10 had 33 claimants
in total. But an initial list, compiled in 2011
by the Ministry of Trade had 84 claims. And
the latest list, compiled by the Parliamentary
Select Committee and officials of the South
Sudan government has 38 companies. Then
the South Sudan government approved 82
companies.
The Minister of Trade, Industry and
Co-operatives, Amelia Kyambadde, fueled
speculation of corruption when she told the
verification select committee led by Kyank-
wanzi District Woman MP, Ann Maria
Nankabirwa, that her ministry verified 36
businesses and not the 23 traders that the
Ministry of Finance submitted to Parliament.
“The list we have is what we verified; if
anyone has a different list, then they manip-
ulated it. We submitted the list to the Minis-
Keith Muhakanizi Ann Maria Nankabirwa
It is Finance that submitted the list to Parlia-
ment, so they should account for the list they
submitted,” Kyambadde said.
But Nankabirwa told The Independent
entitled to be compensated. Her committee
travelled to South Sudan and Kenya to verify
istry of Finance; especially Muhakanizi, for
failing to pay the traders.
“Our traders have suffered. They have
gone to the bank and borrowed money,
others have mortgaged their assets,” she
Ministry of Finance has taken these people
in circles for ten years.”
To verify or not
Faced with the accusations of corruption
and many contradicting compensation
claims, the Secretary to the Treasury, Keith
Muhakanizi who must authorise the pay-
ment, is demanding verification.
He is specifically pushing for Ernst and
Young; the international accounting firm, to
by almost everyone, including Minister of
August. 02 - 08 2019
news analysis
State for Finance David Bahati, some of the
traders and MPs.
When The Independent asked Muhakan-
izi why he is insistent on Ernst and Young
doing the verification when a select parlia-
mentary committee formed on March 6 had
verified the claims of traders, he said “they
did a good job on verification of domestic
arrears”.
But some MPs and the Speaker of Parlia-
ment, Rebecca Kadaga, say the Ministry of
Finance should not be insisting on re-veri-
fication of compensation claimants when,
in their view, this exercise was considered
closed after a joint committee of parliament
and officials from the government of South
Sudan carried out verification.
In a plenary session, Kadaga asked Min-
ister Bahati: “How long are Ugandans going
to suffer because of our inefficiency and cor-
ruption? When shall they be paid,” Kadaga
asked in a recent plenary session.
She said parliament budgeted for the com-
pensation money based on the verification
it did.
“So what is he looking for?” she asked
Bahati, “We cannot go on like this.”
Kadaga was at the time referring to
Muhakanizi’s deputy, Patrick Ocailap,
who put out an advert in the newspapers
announcing verification of traders’ claims
when Muhakanizi was on sick leave early
this year.
Kadaga insisted on the traders being
paid as soon as possible because parlia-
ment appropriated Shs76 billion but it has
proved difficult to get it from the coffers
of the Ministry of Finance.
But Bahati has been accused of pursu-
ing personal interest. He reportedly has
three companies; Kaimat Enterprises,
Jan Jang Company Limited, Nile Site Com-
pany seeking compensation from South
Sudan. On March 23 he was asked by the
parliament’s Select Committee handling the
compensation to refute the allegation but he
did not.
“Even if I owned a company in South
Sudan, I wouldn’t accept to be part of the
on-going compensation process,” he told the
committee, “So I would really request mad-
am chair that those who are crying for me
should leave me.”
Rashid Manafwa, the chairman of the
Joint Action Redemption group says the con-
tentious issue of verification started when
Amelia Kyambadde, Minister of Trade,
commissioned a Trade Arbitration Dispute
Committee in August 2011. The seven mem-
ber team was headed by businessman Omar
Kassim who passed on in 2017.
Then the committee received 84 claims
and according to some minutes seen by The
Independent, the claims had clear documen-
tation in form of contracts and other relevant
support documents. But from the time of the
Kassim committee, the traders have dealt
with roadblock after roadblock.
15
news analysis
Dr. Stella Nyanzi appears before court on charges of offensive communication and cyber harassment.  INDEPENDENT/ ALFRED OCHWO
Misusing computer misuse law
Kabuleta saga evokes different views from
Uganda’s online community, experts
By Ronald Musoke
W
hat exactly do Police mean by
disturbance of peace and quiet
of the president? And what ex-
actly entails legitimate commu-
nication? These questions once again came
to the fore following the most recent arrest
of former Sports journalist-turned pastor,
Joseph Kabuleta, on the evening of July 12 in
Kampala.
Kabuleta who regularly writes on his
Facebook page under the title “Joseph
Kabuleta Weekly Rant Returns,’ had on July
8 posted another “rant” titled “Mafia Empire
and the Transition” where he detailed plans
to have President Museveni’s son and senior
presidential advisor on special operations,
Lt. Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, take over
leadership of Uganda.
Kabuleta said Muhoozi is already being
sent on foreign missions on behalf of his
father and is meeting ambassadors and dig-
nitaries, and tweeting about it.”
“May be the God father is planning to go
into semi-retirement after rigging the 2021
elections and take on an advisory role as his
son runs the family business called Uganda
Ltd.”
“Oh may be, just maybe, the transition
happens within NRM and the country
adopts a Parliamentary system in which the
party with the most elected legislators take
the presidency.”
Kabuleta then concluded: “Whatever
16 August. 02 - 08 2019
their plans, I know for sure that the reality
will be different. The Mafia Empire is crum-
bling and Uganda will return to Ugandans.”
Kabuleta was arrested and taken to the
Special Investigations Unit in Kireka on the
eastern outskirts of Kampala where he was
held for four days before being charged with
the offence of offensive communication con-
trary to section 25 of the Computer Misuse
Act of 2011.
It states that any person who willfully and
repeatedly uses electronic communication
to disturb or attempt to disturb the peace,
quiet or right of privacy of any person with
no purpose of legitimate communication
whether or not a conversation ensues com-
mits a misdemeanor and is liable on con-
viction to a fine not exceeding 24 currency
points or imprisonment not exceeding one
year or both.
The Computer Misuse Act, 2011, pre-
scribes liability for offences related to com-
puters. Such offences could, for instance,
relate to child pornography, cyber harass-
ment, offensive communications, and cyber
stalking.
Supporters of the Computer Misuse Act,
2011, one of three cyber laws that were
enacted by Parliament in 2011 to protect
Uganda’s online community say the law is
actually good and is based on international
best practices such as the Budapest Conven-
tion on Cyber crime.
Government officials say the offence of
“offensive communication” was introduced
in the Computer Misuse Act to restrict or
veto “hecklers” in online environments who
have no legitimate purpose for their commu-
nication.
“If such offences are removed from the
Act, such behaviour will go on untamed
considering the increase of electronic com-
munication in Uganda,” noted one official
from the National Information Technology
Authority-Uganda (NITA-U), an autono-
mous government agency that coordinates
and regulates information technology in the
country.
The NITA-U officer said it is because of
such a law that under a recent global index
which measures the preparedness of coun-
tries to prevent cyber threats and manage
cyber incidents, Uganda received “global
recognition.”
But legal and human rights experts find
this provision in the law controversial. Anne
Tendo, a legal consultant at Cromwel Co.
Ltd told The Independent on July 22 that
even though she understands that freedom
of speech and expression is not an absolute
right, Article 25 of the Computer Misuse Act,
2011 infringes upon Ugandans’ rights.
Tendo told The Independent that Section
25 of the Computer Misuse Act contravenes
some international standards such as fair
comment. She said President Museve-
ni’s insistence during the July 18 national
address that the police should ignore the
charge of annoying the president and
instead charge people for telling lies cannot

hold in Uganda because the country does
not have any law on sedition.
Tendo said Uganda’s courts need to move
quickly and interpret what “disturbance of
peace and quiet” actually means. She also
wants the courts to define what amounts to
“legitimate communication.”
She added: “Kabuleta was charged as
the original publisher of this content but
how about those who have been sharing his
posts?”
Tendo said under the Computer Misuse
Act, people who re-broadcast or share
Kabuleta’s weekly rants are liable to being
charged with the same offence. She finds this
quite logistically problematic.
Tendo told The Independent that in her
research on similar laws in Kenya, South
Africa and India, countries which share the
same jurisprudence, this law left out this
provision.
“I don’t want to believe that this was an
omission on their part but probably they
interpreted it as a provision that could inhib-
it freedom of speech and expression.”
For Juliet Nanfuka, the research and
communications officer at the Collaboration
on International ICT Policy for East and
Southern Africa (CIPESA), it is the selective
application of this law that she is concerned
about.
“We see that when it is about criticism of
the state or the powers that be, the laws are
used but not so much when it is about other
individuals,” she said, “It is like the state is
telling citizens not to be critical, otherwise,
they will get arrested,” Nanfuka told The
Independent on July 22.
She added: “We don’t see as much effort
by the state when we see women being
attacked online.”
Nanfuka says a culture which promotes
self censorship is detrimental to democratic
growth. She says criticism is good for gov-
ernment, especially if it is on issues that citi-
zens know could be done better.
A 2016 research titled, “Analyzed Cyber
laws of Uganda,” by Unwanted Witness
and Civil Rights Defenders noted that many
citizens view the internet as one of the
remaining independent platforms where a
decent and sound debate can take place and
where ideas can be shared without political
interference.
“That is why the government introduced
in 2013 social media guidelines to structure
dialogue between government officials and
the citizens,” says Nanfuka.
She told The Independent that rather than
the government suppressing citizens, there is
need to see more voices online because that
is where the actual social issues are increas-
ingly being discussed.
A recent report from CIPESA noted that
the East African region is experiencing a
rise in restrictions of civic space which have
mainly manifested through enactment
of retrogressive legislation targeting civic
activism and civil society organizations,
violent crackdown on demonstrations and
the arrest, threat to arrest and intimidation
of journalists. CIPESA noted that civic space
has a direct impact on the democratic cre-
dentials of a country.
“Shrinking civic space muffles citizens’
voices and threatens civil society’s very exis-
tence while also challenging citizens’ collec-
tive power for sustainable development as
people to determine their own futures.”
In one of its recommendations, CIPESA
says governments should cultivate the will
for justice and ensure that crimes and vio-
lations committed against their citizens are
condemned and the perpetrators punished.
CIPESA also urged the governments to
desist from the practice of circumventing
enacted laws to clampdown on critical voic-
es and freedom of expression spaces.
Hours after regaining his freedom on July
16, Kabuleta appeared on local broadcaster
NTV’s prime time news segment ‘News
Night’ and recounted his ordeal to the
nation.
Kabuleta told NTV that his so-called
weekly rants were intellectual in nature
and did not necessitate the torture he went
through.
“If I were somebody exhibiting violent
tendencies, if I was caught with a gun, if I
was throwing stones on the street, then that
would be the way to handle it,” he said, “But
if I am handling things intellectually through
discourse, I expect them to come along the
same lines.”
Kabuleta insists his weekly rants are about
expression, discourse and conversation
because that is what Facebook is all about.
“I have written on religion, individuals,
sports, governance in those rants and I write
because I am a Ugandan and I have a right
to comment about how I am governed as
long as I am not talking about people who
are not in public offices.”
“As long as they are in public office, they
are not infallible; they are not God and even
God and His son, Jesus Christ, get criti-
cized,” Kabuleta said.
How Computer Misuse Act has been
used to clampdown on social media
critics
The Computer Misuse Act, 2011 has been
used to clampdown on social media critics
and over a dozen Ugandans have been
arrested for allegedly offending President
Museveni over the last three years with Dr.
Stella Nyanzi topping that list.
Nyanzi who until recently was a fellow
at the Makerere Institute of Social Research
in Makerere University has over the last
eight months been on remand owing to her
Facebook posts written in explicit language
criticizing President Museveni and his
family.
In 2016, Dr. Stella Nyanzi was arrested
August. 02 - 08 2019
news analysis
after she published a post on her Facebook
page insulting President Museveni. She
was arrested again on Nov. 2, last year, for
insulting President Museveni’s deceased
mother. In both instances, Nyanzi is facing
charges relating to offensive communication
and cyber harassment.
In December 2016, one Swaibu Nsamba
Gwogyolonga was arrested on charges
of offensive communication against
President Museveni. Nsamba allegedly
wrote on his Facebook wall noting how he
will “announce and mourn” the death of
President Museveni when he dies.
The post was accompanied with a
photoshopped image showing how
Museveni would look after his demise.
Interestingly, Nsamba said the charges
against him infringed on his freedom of
expression.
In June 2015, Robert Shaka was arrested
and remanded to Luzira Prison after being
charged with offensive communication
contrary to Section 25 of the Computer
Misuse Act. According to the charge sheet,
the state alleged that Shaka, disguised as
Tom Voltaire Okwalinga (TVO) between
2011 and 2015 in Kampala, willfully using
a computer with no purpose of legitimate
communication, disturbed the right to
privacy of President Museveni by posting
statements regarding his health condition on
Facebook.
Last year, Mukono Municipality MP,
Betty Nambooze was arrested and detained
on charges under the Computer Misuse Act
for her alleged social media comments prior
to and after the shooting to death of Arua
Municipality MP Ibrahim Abiriga and his
brother.
In October, last year, one Susan Namata
and her unidentified friend appeared before
the Buganda Road Magistrate Court for
allegedly recording a video threatening to
hit President Museveni with their genitals.
Namata was charged with the offence of
offensive communication and cyber harass-
ment towards the person of the president.
She was remanded but later granted bail.
On New Year’s Day, police in Gomba Dis-
trict arrested Joseph Kasumba, 19, a resident
of Kanoni town council for allegedly abusing
the president who was travelling from Kasa-
ka in southern Uganda where he had just
attended a New Year’s church service.
When his convoy reached Kanoni town,
President Museveni’s security reportedly
ordered one of the civilian drivers to move
his vehicle from the road to allow the pres-
idential motorcade to pass. Instead a group
of young men allegedly led by Kasumba
started exchanging words with the soldiers,
referring to Museveni pejoratively as “Bos-
co.”
In February, city socialite, Shanita Namuy-
imba (Bad Black) was interrogated by the
police CID for allegedly abusing and defam-
ing President Museveni on social media.
17
news analysis
Bobi Wine unveils ‘red army’
But what future does he offer?
By Agather Atuhaire
W
hen the People Power leader
Robert Kyagulanyi commonly
known as Bobi Wine named his
coordinating team at his home
in MagereWakiso district on July 24, many
were surprised to see prominent faces of
people who are staunch members of other
parties. The pressure group named at least
24 current MPs in its ranks.
People Power is not a registered political
party and the rush by party stalwarts;
including from the ruling National
Resistance Movement (NRM), to be listed
among its leadership has caused many
questions. Why would an MP from a
well-established party or base in case of
independent MPs, rush to join an undefined
entity? What is the secret behind the Bobi
Wine phenomenon?
Watching them, renowned political
analyst Frederick Golooba-Mutebi, arrived
at an interesting conclusion. Instead of
concentrating on the present he focused
on the future. According to him, there are
myriad forces pushing these politicians to
defect to People Power formally. But there
is a likely dilemma that might complicate
matters for those concerned and for their
18 August. 02 - 08 2019
parties because People Power might not
offer them an institutional home after the
elections.
“That might force them to abandon Bobi
Wine and return to their parties,” he told The
Independent.
According to some analysts, by piling a
multi-coloured group of political leaders
into an amorphous vehicle and promising
to drive them to political success, Bobi Wine
is using the same formula as his political
mentor; Kizza Besigye.
“He doesn’t believe in structured politics,”
one analyst said, “He knows his followers
don’t subscribe to a particular political
philosophy. All they want is change, good or
bad, directed or not.”
This group believes voters still follow
individual leaders not parties. And like
Besigye, Bobi Wine wants to create his own
following in parliament regardless of their
background and political affiliations.
A Bobi Wine supporter told The
Independent that “parties are so limiting and
some party leaderships are so rigid and
gullible that even when it’s obvious that
things won’t work, they insist on them.
Questions about Bobi Wine
But questions about whether Bobi Wine
can get the endorsement to become the joint
single opposition presidential candidate in
2021 persist. And what are MPs who belong
to other parties expected to do when Bobi
Wine runs for President in 2021 as he has
already said he will, especially if their parties
have candidates running?
Some analysts spot a negative tendency
in the People Power phenomenon, saying it
will eventually create confusion and further
division within the opposition. According
to this view; the politicians jumping on the
Bobi Wine wagon are using Bobi Wine as
their donkey; riding on his popularity to win
the next election but ultimately jumping off
as soon as they reach their destinations.
“These MPs are also stuck,” one analyst
explained, “They can’t wish Bobi away.
They have to stand with him in order to be
elected or re- elected. No MP who wishes to
return to parliament will stand with Mao for
example.”
Some observers say these people are not
with Bobi Wine because they want him to
be President but because they seek to take
advantage of his limelight to achieve their
individual goals.
Bobi Wine’s mentor KizzaBesigye was
the first to make similar comments a year
ago. He said as Bobi Wine plans to run for

President, it would be a mistake to rely on
the crowds around him.
“The only mistake he can make is to
think that he will go into a presidential
election and people will elect him to remove
Museveni. I know there are people trying
to urge him to stand. They tell him you
have support here and there, others want
to ride on his popularity to become MPs or
councilors…” Besigye said in an interview
with NBS Television in July last year.
Back then, Bobi Wine’s supporters
accused him of attempting to rain on Bobi
Wine’s party.
Now, sources say, many of those around
Bobi Wine might, in fact, not stick with him
up to the end. One analyst predicted that by
campaign time in 2020, up to 40% of People
Power politicians will have ditched Bobi
Wine.
“These people don’t care about who
becomes President,” he said, “They care
about their own political careers. They will
stand with Bobi as long as they believe he
will give them political capital to become
MPs or councilors or whatever else they
aspire to be. Many of them are looking for a
way to parliament or to earn a living. Those
whose constituencies don’t subscribe to Bobi
will eventually fall off.”
Then of course, there is the question
of what Bobi Wine would do with the
presidency, if he wins it. It is a sign of his
chances that this is now being debated
seriously. Many people, including People
Power diehards, openly discuss Bobi Wine’s
inexperience. They say he is an amateur who
cannot govern if elected.
MPs standing with Bobi Wine
 Francis Zaake
 Mathias Mpuuga
 Sewungu Gonzaga
 Florence Namayanja
 Muwanga Kivumbi
 Patrick Nsamba
 Kalwanga David
 Lutamaguzi Ssemakula
 Winnie Kiiza
 Robert Centenary
 Agnes Nabulindo
 John Baptist Nambeshe )
 Barnabas Tinkasimire
 Mbwatekamwa Gaffa
 Susan Amero
 Kasiano Wadri
 James Acidri
 Oguzu Lee
 Lucy Akello
 Gilbert Olanya
 Adome Bildard
 Jonathan Odur
 Medard Ssegona
 Latif Ssebaggala
 Angelina Osege
Only cowards need experience
But Mathias Mpuuga, the Democratic
Party (DP) stalwart who wears the red cap
of People Power instead of the white and
green of his party says talk of Bobi Wine as
inexperienced is rubbish.
“There is no presidential school. Hon.
Kyagulanyi is an MP which is the biggest
national platform. The reason dictators
have got fertile ground and ruled us forever
is because cowards believe they need
experience.”
But Mpuuga agrees that the likelihood
of People Power breeding confusion in the
opposition is real.
“We would have loved to avoid that but
Ugandans out of their desperation will
settle for where there is a higher possibility
for change,” he says, “I would like to invite
party leaders to understand our decision
and tone down and concentrate on matters
that will unite us as the opposition. What is
best for this country right now is change and
leaders must cede ground.”
For now, however, People Power appears
determined to have its crowd captivated by
the present. Its spokesperson, Joel Ssenyoyi,
has a well-rehearsed answer to anyone
asking about how they expected the MPs in
the People Power ranks who have known
political party connections to behave. Does
that not cause confusion? Not at all, he says.
“People power is a movement, not
a political party. It is a platform for all
Ugandans interested in change to come
together regardless of their political
affiliation. We are not in conflict with the
parties. Our conflict is with President
Museveni and his system of governance that
August. 02 - 08 2019
news analysis
has ruined our country. Our coordinators
are to rally and mobilise more Ugandans
interested in change. Our coordinators still
belong to their parties, for those that do have
parties.”
And many leading politicians are happy
to be listed in People Power ranks. They
come from all parties. From NRM,Bobi Wine
had Buyaga West MP Barnabas Tinkasimire,
who even fought in court to remain in NRM
when it tried to expel him and his other
colleagues, John Baptist Nambeshe, Mbwa
Tekamwa Gafa, among others. From the
DP, diehards MuwangaKivumbi, Florence
Namayanja and Mathias Mpuuga now don
the red caps of People power.
Taking the position is more intriguing
for some than others. Take former Leader
of Opposition in Parliament (LoP) Winnie
Kiiza who is the Kasese District Woman
MP and former Opposition Chief Whip
in parliament, KassianoWadri who was
recently elected Arua municipality.
This duo was perhaps the most surprising
People Power pick because, although they
both fell out with their party, the Forum
for Democratic Change (FDC) after its
November 2017 party presidential elections,
they were expected to be in the Alliance
for National Transformation (ANT) of
MugishaMuntu. It was generally thought
they had not switched because the law
does not allow MPs to officially leave the
platforms on which they were elected to
parliament until the last year of the term.
The duo supported Muntu when he
was battling to retain his seat as FDC party
president. When Muntu lost to current FDC
President Patrick Amuriat, he punished
Kiiza by kicking her out of the LoP position
and Wadri by denying him the FDC party
flag in the Arua municipality by-election.
Wadri ran as an Independent and won with
support from Bobi Wine.
While some have argued that Bobi Wine
paid a heavy price for Wadri’s election (Bobi
Wine’s driver was killed in the campaign
and he and Wadri were jailed and tortured
together), Wadri and Muntu have come a
long way.
In fact, during the same election, Muntu
discarded the principles he is well known
for and supported Wadri against the FDC
official candidate Bruce Musema. It was the
first time Muntu was openly supporting an
independent candidate against the party
candidate even when it was not the first
time he was disagreeing with the party’s
choice of candidate. In Bugiri Municipality
for instance, while Muntu told colleagues
in FDC that they needed to back JEEMA’s
AsumanBasalirwa reasoning that it would
benefit the bigger opposition bloc, he did not
step there to campaign for Basalirwa.
So Wadri and Kiiza’s jumping into
the People Power red-army led to a fit of
questioning in Muntu’s Alliance camp.
“Is ANT sharing people with People
19
news analysis
Power or what? People like Hon. Winnie,
Centenary, etc, did they leave?” one member
asked.
It was until Muntu shared a message on
the Alliance WhatsApp group that quiet
was restored. Muntu called for calm and
restraint.
“We welcome the initiative of the
People Power in unveiling their national
coordination team,” read the message from
Muntu. “It is important that all pro-change
forces continue building their capabilities to
enable us to oust the regime.
As we have indicated before, as the
Alliance, we will continue working closely
with all the pro-change forces which are
comfortable and willing to walk side by
side with us to propel the effort for regime
change.
We are comfortable sharing resources
financial as well as human where necessary
to bring about change. We will coordinate
closely in regard to the details of how that
will be conducted in the short as well as the
medium and long term.
To all our party members, let there be no
controversies over instances where there are
colleagues who cut across The Alliance and
People Power. I strongly propose that no
one of the Alliance leaders or spokespersons
makes any negative or controversial
statements over the matter. Please exercise
maximum restraint in regard to that issue. It
is not a problem at all as will be realised over
a period of time.”
These words of reassurance were also said
at the conference where the announcement
was made at Bobi Wine’s home. Many of the
members present introduced themselves as
members of their respective parties.
“Multiparty democracy has principles,”
said Wadri at the conference. “People Power
has come to empower all political parties
and not to break them. We are coming
up with something new because we can’t
behave normally in an abnormal situation.
Multipartism can’t be `killed’ by what you
20 August. 02 - 08 2019
see here. We are all here for a common cause.
This is a consortium; we are here to foster a
common goal.”
But many are not that sure. Wadri has
continued to be bombarded with questions
to clarify his position on the ANT platform.
“I wish to inform you that PeoplePower is
not a political party,” Wadri said in response
to one of the members.“It is a pressure
group that has been cultivating avenues to
work with existing and registered political
parties to work towards forming an alliance
or coalition in the coming general elections.
This has been widely talked about in the
DP reunion meetings in which my principal
of ANT has been involved. I remember I
equally attended a similar meeting with him
in Jinja, Kakindu stadium. Therefore I am
not out of my party ANT in associating with
People Power as a pressure group.”
Some of the MPs listed in the People
Power ranks who sense the discomfort it
might create have denounced it. They claim
they were listed without their consent.
Nothing usual there; politicians often deny.
It was all about political calculation and
posturing.
For example, sources told The Independent
that the announcement in the media took
Winnie Kiiza by surprise. She reportedly
called Bobi Wine and told him she was not
comfortable being on a list that looked like
a campaign team. But she was apparently
advised that snubbing People Power could
be risky as she aspires to retain her Kasese
seat. She is already being bashed by the FDC
and having People Power as enemy number
two would be a mistake.
Bobi Wine denounced
But some refused to be part of the Bobi
Wine team to avoid the confusion. The Soroti
Municipality Speaker Isaac Elakuna refused
a position on the team saying he is a staunch
member of FDC.
“Dear friends, I have read my name being
circulated on social media as one of the
people power coordinators in Teso… this is
all good gestures but I want to categorically
make it clear that I am a staunch member
of FDC and I do not have any intentions of
changing my political affiliation.”
But some like Masaka Municipality MP
Mathias Mpuga of the DP are not apologetic
for abandoning their political parties.
“The reason we have chosen People
Power is to identify with Ugandans. My
voters in Masaka fully support my decision,”
he says.
He says the motivation to join the People
Power group is a higher call of duty to
defend the nation’s failing democracy.
Parties, he says, are dysfunctional and
have failed to move the struggle forward.
“Talking about my party DP in particular,”
he adds, “it has become difficult for Mao to
move the party forward. The environment
in which the parties are supposed to
function isn’t conducive and this has bred
frustration.”
“Parties haven’t reached certain areas.
DP hasn’t reached Karamoja for example;
I haven’t heard DP in Mbale or in Paliisa.
The DP message doesn’t resonate with the
electorate because they don’t know it but
they know People Power. We need to reach
all these people without any limiting factors.
I am therefore more preoccupied with
change than with my party.”
Mpuuga says Ugandans are very
frustrated and it became clear that there was
a need for a platform that cuts across parties.
“Ugandans need a motivation beyond
parties and it has always been the case. In
2001, DP, even though it was in abeyance
due to the legal regime, supported Kizza
Besigye, in 2006 , when DP had an official
Presidential Candidate –Ssebaana Kizito,
many of its members supported Besigye
because he represented an opportunity for
regime change. The desperation for change
will always compel people to support
individuals if they think the parties cannot
do much.”

Workers harvesting from a commercial farm in Ethiopia
Commercial farming in Africa
The models and their pros and cons
By Ruth Hall, Dzodzi Tsikata & Ian Scoones
C
olonialism brought large-scale
farming to Africa, promising
modernisation and jobs – but
often dispossessing people
and exploiting workers. Now, after
several decades of independence, and
with investor interest growing, African
governments are once again promoting
large plantations and estates. But
the new corporate interest in African
agriculture has been criticised as a
“land grab”.
Small-scale farmers, on family
land, are still the mainstay of African
farming, producing 90% of its food.
Their future is increasingly uncertain as
the large-scale colonial model returns.
To make way for big farms, local
people have lost their land. Promises of
jobs and other benefits have been slow
to materialise, if at all.
The search is on for alternatives to
big plantations and estates that can
bring in private investment without
dispossessing local people – and
preferably also support people’s
livelihoods by creating jobs and
strengthening local economies.
Two possible models stand out.
Contract farming is often touted as
an “inclusive business model” that
links smallholders into commercial
value chains. In these arrangements,
smallholder farmers produce cash crops
on their own land, as ‘outgrowers’, on
contract to agroprocessing companies.
Then there is growth in a new class
of “middle farmers”. These are often
educated business people and civil
servants who are investing money
earned elsewhere into medium-scale
commercial farms which they own and
operate themselves.
So what are the real choices and
trade-offs between large plantations or
estates; contract farming by outgrowers;
or individual medium-scale commercial
August. 02 - 08 2019
news analysis
farmers?
These different models formed the
focus of our three-year study in Ghana,
Kenya and Zambia. Evidence suggests
that each model has different strengths.
For policy makers, deciding which kind
of farming to promote depends on what
they want to achieve.
Plantations are ‘enclaves’
Our cases confirm the characterisation
of large plantations as being “enclaves”
with few linkages into local economies.
They buy farming inputs from far
afield, usually from overseas, and in
turn send their produce into global
markets, bypassing local intermediaries.
Plantations are large, self-contained
agribusinesses that rely on hired
labour and are vertically-integrated
into processing chains (often with
on-farm processing). They’re usually
associated with one major crop. In
Africa, these started with colonial
concessions, especially in major cash
21
 news analysis
crops such as coffee, tea, rubber, cotton
and sugarcane. Some of these later
became state farms after independence
while others were dismantled and land
returned to local farmers.
Many plantations do create jobs,
especially if they have on-site
processing. Plantations may also
support local farmers if they process
crops that local smallholders are
already growing. For example, we
found an oil palm plantation in Ghana
that buys from local smallholders,
giving them access to processing
facilities and international value chains
they would otherwise not reach.
But, typically, plantations have
limited connections into the local
economy beyond the wages they pay.
Where production is mechanised, they
create few jobs, as we found in Zambia:
the Zambeef grain estate employs few
people, and most of these are migrants
whose wages don’t go into the local
economy. And the jobs that are created
are invariably of poor quality.
The main story is that plantations
take up land and yet often don’t give
back to the local economy. In the cases
we researched, all the plantations
led to local people losing their land.
For instance, the establishment and
later expansion of the 10,000-hectare
Zambeef estate led to forced removals
of people from their cropping fields and
grazing lands.
There are some benefits from
plantations and estates. But, given more
than a century of bad experience, it may
be time to concede they seldom – if ever
– live up to their promises.
Contract farming brings benefits
for some
Contract farming has a long history
in Africa, dating back to colonial times.
As with plantations, these arrangements
were largely for the major cash crops,
including cocoa, cotton, tobacco and
sugarcane.
Contract farmers are smallholders
who enter into contracts with
companies that buy and process
their crops. Sometimes members of
outgrowers’ households might also
get jobs on larger “nucleus” estates
run by the companies. Whether or not
they benefit, or get mired in debt and
dependence, depends entirely on the
terms of these contracts. Our study
looked at contract farming in Ghana’s
tropical fruit export sector, in French
bean production in Kenya and in
sugarcane farming in Zambia.
Contract farming has been hailed
by some as the “win-win” solution,
enabling commercial investment for
22 August. 02 - 08 2019
global markets without dispossessing
local farmers. Farmers farm on their
own land, using their own family
labour, while also accessing commercial
value chains – rather than being
displaced by large farms. But we found
that this is not necessarily the case.
Crucially, there are different kinds
of arrangements that determine who
benefits.
In Kenya, contract farmers are poorer
than most farmers around them. For
them, farming on contract provides a
crucial livelihood, especially for poor
women, who cultivate French beans for
the European market and combine this
with seasonal jobs on big farms.
In one Zambian block scheme all
outgrowers gave up their land to
Illovo, a South African company that
grows sugarcane. The company pays
them dividends. Here, the landowners,
typically the old patriarchs, benefit from
cash incomes. Young people lose out:
they neither inherit the land nor control
the cash incomes.
Contract farming clearly provides
one effective avenue for smallholders to
commercialise. It means, though, that
smallholders take on both the risks and
the benefits of connecting to commercial
value chains.
We studied
areas where
medium-
scale
farms were
dominating:
mango
farmers in
Ghana, coffee
farmers
in Kenya
and grains
farmers in
Zambia
Medium-scale farming: a
promising option
Between the large plantations and the
small contract farmers is another model:
medium-scale commercial farms owned
by individuals or small companies.
We studied areas where medium-scale
farms were dominating: mango farmers
in Ghana, coffee farmers in Kenya and
grains farmers in Zambia. While this
kind of medium-scale farming also has
colonial origins, the past two decades
have seen massive growth in new
“middle farmers”. Many of them are
male, wealthy, middle-aged or retired,
often from professional positions.
The medium -scale commercial
farming model has a lot to offer. We
found that they create more jobs and
stimulate rural economies more than
either big plantations or smallholder
contract farmers. Yet cumulatively,
such farms may threaten to dispossess
smallholders, just as the big colonial
and more recent plantations and estates
have done.
The push behind the explosion of
the “middle farmers” in the countries
we studied has been investment by the
educated and (relatively) wealthy. In
Ghana in particular, we found, their
expansion has displaced smallholders.
Cumulatively, even modest-sized farms
have led to substantial dispossession
and reduced access to land.
Their informal employment patterns
mean poor working conditions and
few permanent jobs. But, unlike the
plantations, these farms are well
connected with the local economy.
Building on social networks, these
“middle farmers” often buy inputs and
services from local businesses. At least
some of their produce is sold into local
markets.
Winners and losers
While policy choices are of course
political, they can and should be
informed by research about the
implications of these different pathways
of agricultural commercialisation.
What is clear from our research is that
different kinds of commercial farming
will have different effects on the
economy. It’s not just about efficiency.
Ultimately, it’s about who wins and
who loses.
Ruth Hall is Professor, Institute for
Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies,
University of the Western Cape,, Dzodzi
Tsikata is Associate Professor, University
of Ghana, and Ian Scoones is Professorial
Fellow, Institute of Development Studies,
University of Sussex.
Can Uganda Airlines
commence flights
this month?
Analysts say carrier will struggle to
compete at fair rates and service
U
By Independent Team
ganda’s national flag car-
rier, Uganda Airlines, has
again announced that it
will commence commercial
flights at the end of this
month.
The airline officials say the carrier
received an operating licence, commonly
known as Air Operator Certificate (AOC),
from the Civil Aviation Authority on July
26 and it is ready to fly although it was
scheduled to start commercial flights in
July.
Jennifer Bamuturaki, the Commercial
Director, Uganda Airlines confirmed that
the carrier is now looking at commencing
commercial flights on Aug. 28, using the
recently acquired two CRJ aircraft with a
Lessons Uganda Airlines can learn from Ethiopian Airlines
Hire professionals
Experts in matters aviation say an airline
eyeing to make profits need to hire profes-
sionals, and not politicians. They cite, for
instance, the current Ethiopian Airlines CEO
Tewolde Gebremariam, who began work-
ing for the Airlines’ cargo traffic handling
department in 1985 and worked his way up
the ladder gradually.
No complementary tickets
There should be no complementary tickets
to civil servants just like it is with the Ethio-
pian Airlines. This is in stark contrast with
sitting capacity of 76 passengers.
“Now that we have received the
AOC…we are starting another process
with the International Air Transport
Association (IATA) to operationalise
our two letter code that has been on the
test mode, with all our reservations and
accounting systems,” she said. “Once that
is done, then, we will start our normal
advertising (for flight bookings).
IATA is the industry association for
international airlines. It has a member-
ship of 290 airlines, and is charged with
global commercial standards for the air
transport industry.
Bamuturaki said the carrier will in the
first phase start with flights to Nairobi,
Dar es Salaam, Mogadishu, Kilimanjaro,
Mombasa, Bujumbura and Juba.
The airline will add more destinations
the South African Airlines where politicians
get free air tickets even after they have left
the civil service. Similarly, there is need to
hire the standard number of staff needed on
any flight and not merely creating jobs to the
many people.
No reliance on government loans
For an airline to operate profitably, the
government needs to make up its mind if it
is merely a strategic asset or simply doing
business. Airlines such as Kenya Airways,
South African Airways always anticipate
government loans in their operations. This is
not the case with Ethiopian Airlines.
August. 02 - 08 2019
including Kigali, Goma, Lusaka, Johan-
nesburg, Harare and Bangui in the second
phase following delivery of the third and
fourth CRJ aircraft later in the year.
Uganda Airlines also plans to fly the
A330-800neos from the French aeronau-
tics manufacturer, Airbus, for long-haul
flights. These include; London, Bangkok,
Guangzhou, Dubai, Tel Aviv and New
Delhi. It is still not clear when Uganda
Airlines will commence flights to these
destinations.
But as plans to return Uganda Airlines
to the air continue apace, some analysts
remain sceptical about whether this is the
right time to get back into business. This
comes at a time the aviation industry has
become so competitive and most national
carriers have to rely on their governments
to fund operations.
These, among others include; Kenya
Airways, RwandAir, South African Air-
ways, Air Zimbabwe, Air Namibia, Air
Botswana and Air India.
Uganda’s plan to revive the national
carrier gained momentum on Dec. 31,
2016, when President Yoweri Museveni
said in his New Year message that the
government had finalized plans to revive
the carrier in a bid to ease travel in and
out of the country and reduce the local
travelers’ expenditure on foreign airlines
estimated to be around US$420 million
per annum.
Started nearly four decades ago, Ugan-
da Airlines was liquidated by Museveni’s
government in 2001 due to mismanage-
ment and accumulated debt.
Seek for infrastructure and skills in-
house
Ethiopian Airlines has Africa’s largest
aviation training academy. It trains over
4,000 pilots, marketers and flight-attendants
annually.It also owns the largest cargo
terminal in Africa, the largest technical
maintenance facility, and plans to expand
its catering facility to 80,000 meals per
day, again making it the largest in Africa.
The airline set itself a target of flying
to 90 destinations by 2025 globally, but
Gebremariam announced recently that they
already serve 100 destinations. 
23
business
Tourists take photos at the first of 16 viewing spots of the Victoria Falls
Cruising on the Zambezi
Lessons aplenty for Uganda from Zimbabwe’s water tourism
By Ronald Musoke
O
n a sunny late afternoon, Victor
Madzimbamuto, 50, our boat cap-
tain welcomes us aboard Dighani
Tours, a mid-sized vessel that is in
effect a floating bar for patrons as they cruise
on the Zimbabwean section of River Zam-
bezi in southern Africa.
I am aboard the boat alongside dozens of
other patrons from various countries who
have just arrived for the inaugural Africa
Wildlife Economy Summit in the Zimbabwe-
an resort town of Victoria Falls on June 23.
Madzimbamuto asks us to sit comfort-
ably at the tables set out on the boat as he
introduces his crew shortly before we begin
our two-hour sunset cruise on the Zambezi.
Shortly, we are served juice, soda, wine, beer
and gin accompanied by sizzling sticks of
meat, sausages, saucers of nuts, potato chips
and more drinks.
I am seated at the same table as Dr.
Akankwasah Barirega, the commissioner
for wildlife conservation in the Ministry of
Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities in Uganda
and other delegates from other countries
around the world.
On this expansive placid section of the
Zambezi, there are dozens more tourist-lad-
en boats crisscrossing the river as they watch
hippos bask in the evening sun.
Madzimbamuto attempts to give us
24 August. 02 - 08 2019
Visitors read up on Dr. David Livingstone at Victoria Falls
details about the Zambezi and its place in
the Zimbabwean economy but the camara-
derie and the conversations going on among
the patrons drown his voice.
The visitors are busy taking in scenes of
the fluttering birds either side of the river’s
banks. There are many clicks and beeps on
their cameras as they take vantage points
to shoot photos of bullish male hippos that
are menacingly opening their huge mouths
to scare away the humans on the vessels.
We also chance upon an elephant couple’s
romantic affair in the water and this sends
the patrons into frenzy.
This section of the Zambezi is quite busy.
Ronnie Kembo, a dimunitive traditional
dancer wearing Rastafarian hair says there
are about 20 companies doing boat cruises
on the Zambezi River and that is from Mon-
day to Sunday.
Madzimbamuto, our captain says he
works five days a week and takes two days
off. He starts at 10:00am and works up to
4:00pm. On the boat, patrons can be served
breakfast, lunch and even dinner.
He told The Independent that he has done
this job for the last 18 years. “I find meeting
people from different backgrounds quite
exciting,” Madzimbamuto told The Inde-
pendent as he struggled steering the boat to
avoid hitting a hippo underneath.
“Helicopter tours” are a recent addition
for the visitors’ experience. The buzzing
sound of the helicopters overhead is constant
throughout our cruise. Kembo says these
are quite popular with tourists who want to
have an eagle’s eye view of the Victoria Falls.
For a 15 minute tour, a tourist parts with
at least US $ 100 and every tour takes four
people.
At this point, we are 2.5km away from the
UNESCO world heritage site as we can see
the misty sprays of the Victoria Falls. But
Madzimbamuto says big boats like our own,
Dighani Tours, cannot go so near the falls as
it would be a struggle coming back.
We enter the international waters of Zam-
bia as more drinks flow and more platters
of meat are served. It has been about two
hours since we set off. Our captain even-
tually takes a detour and gets back to the
dockyard just below the Elephant Hills
Hotel—the venue of our summit. Kembo
tells The Independent that the Chobe River on
the Zimbabwe-Botswana border, has similar
business booming.
My mind, however, cannot stop flashing
back to Uganda. We have similar water bod-
ies yet we cannot replicate what Zimbabwe
has perfected.
The Zambezi, the fourth longest river in
Africa after the Nile, the Congo and Niger
Rivers, is known by many in southern Africa
as the “River of Life” as it drains seven coun-
tries and supports millions of people.
From its source found in Zambia’s north-

Tourists enjoy a sunset boat cruise on the River Zambezi
west closer to the DR Congo-Zambia border,
the river starts its 2700km languid journey
flowing through Zambia, Angola, Namibia
and Botswana where it meets the Chobe
River.
At this point, the river forms a border with
Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia.
It then takes a turn along the border of Zam-
bia and Zimbabwe and meanders for about
80km down towards the Victoria Falls—one
of the seven natural wonders of the world.
Victoria Falls’ spiritual showers
This section above the falls is where tour
operators run several exciting activities
including kayaking, canoe trips, and river
cruises. The Zambezi River’s charm has
attracted tourists from all over the world and
provides great opportunities for game view-
ing and various water sports.
This region is known as the tourism cap-
ital of Zimbabwe and this was emphasized
by Zimbabwean government officials at the
summit.
When the summit began under the theme:
“Communities for Conservation: Harnessing
conservation, tourism and supporting gov-
ernments,” Prisca Mupfumira, Zimbabwe’s
Minister of Environment, Tourism and
Hospitality told the delegates they are actu-
ally in the national park—the Victoria Falls
National Park.
Zimbabwean President, Emmerson
Mnangagwa, also reminded the delegates
how they are not far away from the Victoria
Falls.
“The Victoria Falls has a local name; it is
called Mosi oa Tunya or ‘the smoke that thun-
ders’ but we call it the Victoria Falls because
we did not market it at the time Dr. Living-
stone visited us and showed him the falls.”
The Victoria Falls Bridge was built in 1905 to link Zambia
with Zimbabwe  INDEPENDENT PHOTOS/RONALD MUSOKE
He (Dr. Livingstone) named it after the
Queen of England and for purposes of tour-
ism; we continue to call it Victoria Falls.”
“I invite you to find some time off your
busy schedule to tour the nearby majestic
Victoria Falls but as you get showered by
the rainbow showers at the Victoria Falls,
my sincere advice is that don’t get umbrellas
because that spray is spiritual; we guarantee
that by the time you reach your cars, you
will be dry.”
And so we heeded to the president’s call
after the summit. We were welcomed at the
falls by a cultural troupe and curio shop-
keepers and young men renting umbrellas
and blue and yellow waterproof overcoats
complete with hoods. My group of seven
settled for the yellow overcoats.
Before going past the gate, we were asked
to pay US$ 30 each as we are not nationals of
the Southern African Development Coopera-
tion (SADC) bloc who pay US$10 less but for
the once-in-a-lifetime experience of Victoria
Falls, it is a negligible fee.
Usually it helps to start at the information
centre which has details on how the falls
were formed millions of years ago but the
urge to see the world’s famous falls was too
much to bear. We rushed through the rain-
forest canopy walking along a clear cobble-
stone pathway to the first Viewpoint.
At this point, on the western banks of the
Zambezi is the imposing Dr. David Living-
stone’s life-size memorial bronze statue. He
has relentlessly gazed in the direction of the
majestic waterfalls since 1934.
As a first time visitor, this is the spot
where you are guaranteed your first expe-
rience of the Zambezi as it plunges over the
towering first gorge. From here you can then
make your way eastwards stopping at each
August. 02 - 08 2019
business
of the 16 viewing spots.
Though it is neither the tallest nor the lon-
gest waterfall in the world, at 355ft high and
over a mile wide, and with an average flow
of 33,000 cubic feet of water per second, it is
certainly impressive.
Tour guides say the best time to see Vic-
toria Falls is from May to September where
one can see the spray from the falls at least
20km away. At the time of our visit, they
were not quite as spectacular as they usually
are in the rainy season. Still, we were awed
by the water gushing down a huge dizzy-
ing deep gorge displaying rainbows in the
process.
We were drenched, sprayed and envel-
oped by the overhead showers of the water-
falls. For some in our group who had made-
up for the worldly selfies, things became
tricky as the make-up got washed off along
the trail. But true to President Mnangagwa’s
promise, by the time we reached the Victo-
ria Falls Bridge, which is the last point, we
were all dry. On this trail, it is advisable that
you wear, water-friendly closed-toed shoes
and a waterproof poncho or raincoat as you
are guaranteed to get soaked at some point
along the 16 viewing points.
By the time we wound up our tour at the
gigantic Victoria Falls Bridge, I was not in
doubt why Victoria Falls is Zimbabwe’s cash
cow. This is even so given Zimbabwe’s cur-
rent economic crisis.
With Zimbabwe’s economy on the brink,
tourists have been bringing in the desperate-
ly needed revenue, with the sector already
contributing around 10% to GDP. Last year,
there were at least 1.8 million tourist arrivals
recorded by the Zimbabwe Tourism Author-
ity. Converted into tourism receipts, this is
quite significant revenue.
25
business
Accountants tip government
on economic growth
NPA boss says the country has undergone
structural change but not structural transformation
By Julius Businge
P
atronella Namubiru,
the associate director in
charge of tax at the audit
firm, Deloitte Uganda,
spoke passionately about the
prospects of Uganda’s economy
at the 7th CPA Economic Forum
held at the Imperial Resort
Beach Hotel, Entebbe on July 17-
19. She said the government and
the private sector must harness
key growth sectors of agriculture
and agro-industry, tourism, oil
and gas and minerals; promote
high capital development,
strengthen public sector invest-
ments, improve governance and
sustain security so as to create
opportunities for further growth
of the economy.
She said developing a financ-
ing framework anchored on
both effective domestic revenue
and a responsive debt manage-
ment would support govern-
ment business and private sector
growth.
She said there is need for
action when it comes to recap-
italisation of Uganda Develop-
ment Bank to enable businesses
access affordable credit.
The government has in the
previous financial years recap-
italised UDB with the intention
of giving low-interest loans to
manufacturers and those in the
agriculture sector.
President Yoweri Museveni
has always said the move to
invest an additional Shs500 bil-
lion over a period of time in the
bank is to speed up government
efforts to modernise agriculture
and boost growth of the coun-
try’s manufacturing sector.
The Capital Markets Author-
ity needs to establish a centre
to facilitate access to long term
domestic and foreign capital on
the stock exchange, Namubiru
said, adding that there is need
26 August. 02 - 08 2019
NPA’s Muvawala giving a keynote speech at the forum
for the government to also sup-
port farmers through linking
them to entrepreneurs along the
value chain.
She said commercialising agri-
culture through the use of mod-
ern farming practices, advanced
agricultural inputs and technol-
ogy, post-harvest storage and
enhancing market access will
lead to growth of the sector.
Uganda’s agriculture sector
employs more than 70% of the
population and contributes 24%
to the GDP yet it has been grow-
ing at average of 3% over the last
five years.
Namubiru said there is also
need for a legal and regulatory
framework for the operation of
private equity funds to attract
more investment into Uganda’s
private sector.
This call comes at a time the
private sector in Uganda is fac-
ing dozens of challenges relating
to access to affordable capital
where commercial bank interest
rates remain high at 22%.
The other challenges relate
to limited access to good mar-
kets, skilled labour, corporate
governance, corruption and
unmanageable bureaucracies in
government.
What more should be done?
Namubiru said there has to
be proper implementation of
agency banking, bancassurance,
Islamic banking and enhanced
access to credit reference bureau
services to support key sectors of
the economy.
She, however, said that part
of the solutions to the challenges
the private sector face is to lever-
age on the available technology
to support work processes to
be more efficient, especially on
issues around information shar-
ing and flexible work arrange-
ments enabled by technology.
No structural transformation
While delivering a keynote
address at the forum that attract-
ed approx. 500 accountants,
Joseph Muvawala, the executive
director at the National Planning
Authority said Uganda has
undergone structural change but
not structural transformation.
He said this is because there
has been a shift from agriculture
to services in terms of contribu-
tion to the GDP but “this has
not been followed by the shift in
terms of labour force from agri-
culture to industry or service.”
Muvawala said that industry
which is contributing 19% to the
economy (GDP) and is critical
for causing transformation is not
doing enough as services con-
tinue to contribute highly at 54%
but taking up a small section of
Uganda’s labour force.
He said productivity levels
are not growing either especially
in agriculture as the sector’s
structural transformation is still
an ongoing process that should
be emphasised for significance
gains.
“Structural transformation
can be done through targeting
the majority of the people in
the agriculture sector through
the agro-industralisation
strategy,” he said, adding “If
done efficiently, this will lead
to the desired transformation
levels and significant levels of
socio-economic empowerment.”
Derick Nkajja (CPA) and chief
executive officer of the Institute
of Certified Public Accountants
of Uganda (ICPAU) said the
government should increase the
national budget allocation for
flagship economic activities like
agriculture given that the coun-
try is endowed with favourable
climate and abundant natural
resources.
“Agriculture is perceived to
possess the potential to drive
majority of Ugandans out of
poverty as many can easily be
absorbed in it,” Nkajja said.
He said government also
needs to increase funding for
value addition and incubation
projects. For instance, he said
that the Presidential Initiative on
Banana Industrial Development
project should be replicated for
other crops like sorghum, millet
and peanut.
 Executive Style
Regulate artisanal mining
How significant was the
conference at this point in
W
time?
e brought to-
gether around
200 small scale
miners, civil so-
ciety actors, and government
officials, politicians. Over
90% of mining in Uganda
is done by artisanal and
small-scale miners estimat-
ed to be more than 390,000
country-wide. It is also es-
timated that the sub-sector
sustains close to two million
Ugandans across its various
value chains. However, the
sub-sector remains largely
informal. The conference
was held with the thinking
that it would come up with
possible solutions to the
challenges facing the sector.
So what challenges have
you identified in the
sub-sector and what are the
probable solutions?
For years, the government
has been seeking for foreign
investors without looking into
the issues of artisanal and small
scale miners as well. The gov-
ernment’s focus has been on oil
and gas due to its huge sums of
revenue inflow. Despite the fact
that the mining sub-sector also
contributes to revenue inflow
into the economy, foreigners
have taken over most of the
minerals and are locking out
locals. Yet, most of the revenue
generated by these foreign
investors is repatriated. We are
trying to have discussions on
how these miners can have their
areas gazetted as one step to
ensure that the sub- sector bene-
fits locals. The nature of work of
artisanal miners remains largely
informal; characterised by min-
eral smuggling, high health and
safety risks, conflict among min-
eral operators, loss of revenue
to both central and local gov-
ernments, among others. This
informality therefore, makes it
difficult for those who ventured
Personally, I have object-
ed the formation of the
company. I think there is
excitement at policy level
following the formation of
the National Oil Company
for the oil and gas sub-sec-
tor. The government thinks
that the dynamics play-
ing out in the oil and gas
sub-sector and the mineral
sub-sector are the same yet
that is not true. Chile, for
instance, is the only coun-
try that I know of that has
successfully run a company
because of its enormous
reserves and the discipline
it has when it comes to
managing their resources.
The Africa Centre for Energy and Mineral Policy Our economy here has a
(ACEMP) organised the first ever Uganda national lot of fiscal indiscipline that
conference and exhibition on artisanal and small-scale makes it difficult to sustain
this company.
mining and quarrying in Kampala on July 25-26. The
Independent’s Julius Businge spoke to Don Binyina Has politics infiltrated the
Bwesigye, the ACEMP’s executive director on the mineral sub-sector as some
significance of the event to the economy. observers say?
The biggest challenge
that we have is that a sec-
in it to access sustainable mar- What opportunities does the tion of our legislators and the
kets and affordable finance to looming Mining and Minerals highly connected individuals
grow their operations. As such, Bill bring to the sub-sector? have actually taken up the min-
we have planned to have this I am very positive that the ing sub-sector and the regulators
conference annually to enable new bill introduces some excit- seem to fear to do their job. We
miners interact with the policy ing developments that would appeal to the government to
makers, markets, downstream drive the sub-sector forward, if regulate the sub-sector to benefit
product consumers and capital well followed. The third Nation- all the players.
financiers. al Development Plan (NDPIII)
has separated oil and gas from How about the issues of arti-
What strategic minerals should mining and that means mining sans degrading the environ-
the government focus on in will be given special attention ment?
your view? by the government, and its That is true. The big contrib-
Tin is an important mineral contribution to the GDP will go utor to the environmental deg-
given its importance in the beyond the 10%. The policy in radation is this group because
technology sector development. place currently recognises arti- it is not properly regulated and
Cooper and cobalt, too, are sanal miners and we are happy monitored. We hope the situa-
being sought globally because that the government has come tion will change once they are
of the shift from fossil fuels to up to recognise these artisanal brought within the regulatory
electricity. Aggregates like sand miners. With proper regulation framework.
and stones are at the heart of our we believe that threats of evic-
development – power dams, tion of artisanal miners will be Your last word for this inter-
roads, construction. The miner- avoided. view…
als that the government needs This conference will be
to focus on are gold, nickel, iron The bill proposes the formation an annual event. We believe
ore, zinc, phosphates, uranium, of an independent company to that together with other
limestone, marble graphite and aid government to monitor the interventions, it will sort out
salt. sub-sector closely...does this some of the problems the sector
make sense to you? is currently facing.
August. 02 - 08 2019 27
business
TECH BEVERAGE

Tecno Spark 3 named Nile Breweries Limited tax contribution up 2%

smartphone of the year

T N
ecno Spark 3, a smartphone model
by TECNO, has been awarded as
the smartphone brand of the year
at the 2019 edition of the Africa In-
formation Technology & Telecoms Awards
(AITTA).
AITTA recognises customer service,
innovation and excellence in Africa Tele-
com and Information Technology industry.
The reputable awards now in its third
year has been acclaimed as one of the most
prestigious and biggest platform recognis-
ing excellence and innovation in the Afri-
can telecoms and technology industry.
Tecno spark 3 was awarded as the phone
of the year as a result of its cutting edge
ile Breweries Limited tax remit-
tances to government grew by
approx. 2% in the FY2018/19. The
company said on July 25 notice
that the taxman recorded a collection of
Shs394bn in the year which reaffirms its
position as one of the leading revenue con-
tributors in Uganda.
Last year, NBL was recognised and
awarded a plaque for its role as the leading
revenue contributors in Uganda by URA.
Silagi Kanyesigye, the assistant commis-
ACCOUNTING
EY appoints new partner
sioner for large taxpayer office at the URA
says NBL plays a critical role in Uganda’s
economy not only as one of the top three
revenue contributors but also as an employ-
er and user of home grown raw materials.
NBL buys an average of 18,000 tonnes
of barley and 10,000 tonnes of sorghum
annually, paying in excess of Shs40 bil-
lion to farmers. On average, it produces
179,353HL of beer from its plants in
Jinja and Mbarara and currently holds a
57% market share.

features as well as its outing market outing
positive reception of the Tecno brand loy-
als and customers. This is the only smart-
phone recognized by AITTA this year.
As one of the most remarkable devices
to “light up” the photos, Spark 3 have been
upgraded by AI technology to furthermore
advanced the camera features to be avail-
able in Africa, middle-east and Southeast
Asia market. Starting their business from
the Africa market in 2006, Tecno has been
Africa’s leading smartphone brand and
was the first dual-SIM handset supplier to
the African continent.
H
adijah Nannyomo has been ap-
pointed Partner at Ernst & Young
(EY) Africa. She started work last
month.
Nannyomo moved to Ernst & Young Ken-
ya in 2012 to develop Customs and Excise
service offerings in the East African region.
She has worked and served Ernst &
Young clients in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwan-
da, South Africa, South Sudan, Nigeria and
Ghana while executing assignments in all
areas of tax majoring in Indirect taxes. Nan-
nyomo joined EY Uganda in December 2005
as a senior tax advisor. She is considered a
key technical training resource and facili-
tator at several internal and external EY as
well as industry/corporate events. Prior to
joining EY she worked with Uganda Reve-
nue Authority as a Revenue Officer.
Hadijah holds a Master’s Degree in Eco-
nomic Policy and Planning and a Bachelor’s
Degree in Statistics both from Makerere
University. She is a Fellow of the Association
of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA)
of UK and a member of the Institute of Certi-
fied Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU).

INSURANCE AVIATION

Orient Bank unveils medical and life insurance cover Air India returns to Nairobi

only its customers but also
their dependants.
“While the healthcare
system in Uganda has
improved over the years,
it has also become more
expensive given the rising
cost of living. The purpose
of the Medilife insurance
cover is to lessen the bur-
den on our customers who
have people they care for,
(L-R) Prudential East Africa MD, Arjun Mallik, IAA General enabling them to save more
Manager, Herbert Mukoza, IRA CEO, Ibrahim Kaddunabbi Lubega while ensuring that their
and Orient Bank, MD Julius Kakeeto, unveil medilife, a medical dependants have access to
and life insurance cover. the best medical facilities in
I
ndia’s national carrier, Air India,
will begin services on Mum-
bai-Nairobi routes from Septem-
ber 27, a step that will tighten
competition with including Kenya
Airways that is already serving the
route.
India’s Civil Aviation Minister,
Hardeep Singh Puri said on twitter
that the carrier will operate four times
a week.
“I am delighted to announce that on
the occasion of World Tourism Day on
27th Sept 2019, @airindiain will begin
a direct Mumbai-Nairobi flight (4 days
a week) to improve air connectivity

U
ganda’s lender,
Orient Bank, has
unveiled a com-
bined Medical
and Life Insurance cover
dubbed MediLife, a first
of its kind in the market,
in partnership with the
world’s oldest, largest and
strongest insurance compa-
ny, Prudential and the In-
ternational Air Ambulance
(IAA).
Orient Bank Limited
Managing Director, Julius
Kakeeto, said the move is
aimed at providing afford-
able health solutions to not
the country,” he said.
Arjun Mallik, the man-
aging director for Pruden-
tial East Africa said: “We
are pleased to partner with
Orient Bank and IAA on
this product, MediLife
because this partnership is
a reinforcement of our man-
tle: ‘Let’s face life together’.
between India & Kenya,” he said.
Puri said the carrier will also launch
its operation on Delhi-Chennai-Bali
route from October 27. Air India
stopped flying to Nairobi via Dar es
Salaam but pulled out in 2010 citing
high operational costs.
Currently, the carrier serves 94
domestic and international destina-
tions across four continents.

28 August. 02 - 08 2019
 business

BAT revenue grows

17% to 86.2bn
BY Isaac Khisa during the same period

C
igarette firm,
British American
Tobacco Uganda
Ltd, has recorded
a 17% growth in revenue
to 86.2bn during the
six months ending
June.30 citing improved
distribution and portfolio
transformation.
However, the firm also
Uganda held a China expo at UMA show grounds, this is the first in Uganda paid more than Shs50.2bn
but the third in a series of China-Africa expositions having held the first two in in excise duty, value added
Kenya and Ethiopia in November and December 2018 respectively, the forum
provides opportunity to showcase many products and economic development tax and corporation tax to
concepts including symposia and other concurrent events designed to the government as revenue
enhance networking and information exchange between Chinese and Ugandan in line with the current anti-
enterprises.   INDEPENDENT /ALFRED OCHWO tobacco law. Last year, BATU
paid more than Shs40.4bn in
taxes to government.
Parliament passed the
Tobacco Control Act, 2015
to limit tobacco smoking
especially in public places
as a measure to mitigate the
spread of tobacco related
diseases.
The firm’s cost of
operations increased from
Shs 24.4bn in 2018 to Shs
28.8bn in 2019 and so is
profit before tax from
Airtel Uganda gives back to schools, on July 30 Emmanuel College Kazo, St Shs8.9bn to Shs 9.7bn
Julian High, St Mary’s Academy Nabweru, Lubiri High and St Andrew Kawala
received goal posts, balls and nets as part of Kampala region schools, the
exercise will continue to other regions country wide, the tournament will
see talented boys and girls between the ages of 13 and 17, an opportunity to
compete against fellow youth from across the country with hopes of being
scouted to join the local league.   INDEPENDENT /ALFRED OCHWO
under review, reflecting the
impact of higher profit from
operations, offset by finance
lease costs recognised in line
with the revised accounting
standards.
Similarly, net profit
increased marginally from
Shs 6.1bn to Shs 6.73bn.
Nicholas Ecimu, the
company secretary, on
behalf of the Board of
Directors, said despite
this performance, the high
incidence of illicit trade
in cigarettes remains a
key challenge, denying
government an estimated
Shs 30bn annually.
“We continue to work
closely with the relevant
government agencies
to tackle the illicit trade
in cigarettes he said.
Consequently, earnings per
share increased by 9% to
Shs 137. Last year, BATU
recorded Shs 13.7bn as net
profit and filed Shs 90.5 as
taxes to the government.
This represents an increase
from Shs 81bn in 2017 and
Shs 73bn in 2016.

Weekly share price movement (July 29)

Security July 29 July.23 Movement
BATU 30,000 30000 00
BOBU 128 128 00
CENT 1,165 1,171 0.5
QCL 149 150 0.7
DFCU 650 650 00
EABL 7,143 7,111 0.5
EBL 1,446 1,447 0.1
JHL 13,183 13,113 0.5
KA 152 175 13.1
KCB 1,421 1,415 0.4
NIC 12 13 7.6
NMG 1,681 1,719 2.2
The Youth Livelihood Program-YLP has contributed 21 - 24.7 per cent in NVL 329 329 00
access to financial services in the proportion of youth owning bank accounts, SBU 29 29 00
while releasing the impact evaluation for youth funds and Social Economic
UCHM 12 12 00
Empowerment at Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development on July 25.
Minister Janet Mukwaya (R) while releasing YLP evaluation report, revealed that UCL 14 13 7.6
more businesses had been registered, access to financial services increased and UMEME 299 300 0.3
asset accumulation improved in the last four years.  INDEPENDENT /ALFRED OCHWO ALSI -- -- --

August. 02 - 08 2019 29
Blood pressure
Both numbers may predict heart disease
By Agencies
THERE ARE FIVE MAIN BLOOD PRESSURE RANGES

A
ccording to new research, both
high systolic and high diastolic
(According to the American Heart Association)
blood pressure can lead to heart
attack and stroke.
Heart disease and stroke are the PRE- HIGH HIGH HYPER-
NORMAL HYPER BLOOD BLOOD TENSIVE
leading causes of death worldwide. In TESNSIN PRESSURE PRESSURE CRISIS
Uganda, one in three adults suffers from ( HYPERTENSION ( HYPERTENSION ( EMERGENCY
high blood pressure and 13% suffer STAGE 1 ) STAGE 2 ) STAGE 2 )

from heart disease, according to World

Health Organisation figures released
in 2012. According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
nearly one-quarter of deaths due to
cardiovascular disease are preventable.
Blood pressure readings are critical for
analysing and monitoring blood pressure.
These tests record blood pressure using
two measurements: systolic and diastolic
blood pressure. Understanding these
numbers is key to controlling blood
pressure.
The systolic pressure shows how much
pressure the blood places on the arteries
when the heart beats, while the diastolic
blood pressure shows the pressure while
the heart is resting between beats. The
American Heart Association (AHA)
advise that blood pressure numbers
below 120/80 millimeters of mercury (mm
Hg) are normal.
When readings range from 120–129
mm Hg systolic and less than 80 mm Hg
diastolic, the person has elevated blood
pressure. Hypertension occurs when
blood pressure is consistently over 130
mm Hg systolic or more than 80 mm Hg
diastolic.
Which number is more important?
When doctors evaluate the risk of high
blood pressure, they usually pay more
attention to systolic blood pressure,
which they consider a major risk factor
for cardiovascular disease in older adults.
Decades of research have indicated that
high systolic blood pressure is more likely
than diastolic pressure to predict heart
disease, but now, a new study finds that
both numbers in blood pressure readings
have a strong association with heart
attack and stroke risk.
Researchers at Kaiser Permanente, a
healthcare company in Oakland, CA,
120 120 - 139 140 - 159
80 -AND/OR-
80 -90
mmHg
(OR LESS) mmHg
New research suggests that both blood pressure readings are equally important.
carried out the study, which appears in
the New England Journal of Medicine.
The research involved more than 36
million blood pressure readings from 1.3
million people. The results challenged
previous findings and showed the
importance of both systolic and diastolic
blood pressure.
“This research brings a large amount
of data to bear on a basic question,
and it gives such a clear answer,” says
Kaiser Permanente stroke specialist Dr.
Alexander C. Flint, who is the lead author
of the study.
The study’s senior author is Dr.
Deepak L. Bhatt, executive director of
Interventional Cardiovascular Services
at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and
professor of medicine at Harvard Medical
School — both in Boston, MA.
Large amounts of data reveal the
answer
Dr. Flint explains that previous
research has influenced cardiology
guidelines, which have focused primarily
on systolic pressure to predict the risk of
heart disease. Some experts even argue
that it might be possible to ignore the
diastolic number.
The new study is the largest of its kind.
The findings confirmed that systolic
160+ 180+
-AND/OR- -AND/OR- -AND/OR-
90 -99 100+ 110+
mmHg mmHg mmHg
pressure has a greater effect, but they
also demonstrated that both systolic and
diastolic pressure can predict the risk of
heart attack or stroke.
The researchers analysed the effects
of systolic and diastolic hypertension
on a variety of adverse outcomes, such
as “myocardial infarction, ischemic
stroke, or hemorrhagic stroke,” over 8
years and found that both components
independently predicted heart attack and
stroke.
The recently updated American College
of Cardiology and AHA guidelines now
recommend more closely monitoring
people at increased risk of high blood
pressure. The findings of the new
study that both systolic and diastolic
hypertension have an effect at the lower
threshold of 130/80 mm Hg support this
change.
The National Institutes of Health’s
Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention
Trial (SPRINT) has also produced
similar results.
“This analysis, using a very
large amount of longitudinal data,
convincingly demonstrates that both
are important, and it shows that in
people who are otherwise generally
healthy, lower blood pressure numbers
are better.”

30 August. 02 - 08 2019

Daily nut eating improves
sexual function in men
It depends on a complex interaction
between nerve cells and blood vessels
By Agencies
M
en participating in a clinical trial
who added two handfuls of nuts
a day to their regular diet re-
ported improvements in sexual
function.
The 14-week trial compared a group of
men who added a daily dose of certain
nuts to a Western style diet with an equiv-
alent group of men who ate the same diet
but without nuts. The daily dose of nuts
comprised 60 grams (g) — the equivalent
of about two handfuls — of almonds, hazel-
nuts, and walnuts. The investigators, who
hail from research centers in Spain, believe
that this is the first study to show that eating
nuts can benefit sexual function.
They report their findings in a paper that
features in the journal `Nutrients’.
A 2018 analysis of the trial data had
already reported that daily consumption
of these nuts appeared to improve sperm
quality. The recent analysis uses the same
trial data but focuses on the effect of nut
consumption on sexual and erectile function.
The findings suggest that adding nuts to a
Western style diet can improve orgasm qual-
ity and sexual desire.
The researchers used two sources of
data to assess changes in erectile function:
participant responses to questionnaires and
biomarkers in blood samples.
Erectile dysfunction and risk factors
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is the
inability to get an erection and
keep it long enough to have
satisfactory sexual inter-
course. The condition is more
likely to affect older men
than younger men.
According to the Nation-
al Institute of Diabetes
and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases, which is one of
the National Institutes of
Health (NIH), ED is com-
mon in the United States,
where it affects about 30
million men. The authors
note that although there has
been progress in ED research,
the findings on primary pre-
vention are largely preliminary.
Lifestyle factors that can raise the risk for
ED include smoking, insufficient physical
activity, stress, consuming too much alcohol,
carrying too much weight, and having an
unhealthful diet.
A daily dose of nuts could help keep off
the weight that people tend to gain as they
enter adulthood, research suggests.
These factors can influence erectile func-
tion through their effects on the biology of
blood vessels and nerves. To have and main-
tain an erection, it is necessary to have an
adequate supply of blood.
An erection depends on a complex inter-
action between nerve cells and blood vessels.
The process also requires the presence of
nitric oxide (NO), a compound that helps
muscle tissue in the penis produce and relax
an erection.
The effect of diet
Some studies have linked the Mediterra-
nean diet, as well as diets that share some of
its features, to a lower risk of ED and sexual
dysfunction.
These studies have also linked such diets
to improvements in endothelial function.
The endothelium in the walls of blood ves-
sels helps maintain a balance between dila-
tion and contraction. The authors highlight
research findings that suggest that eating
nuts can benefit endothelial function.
They also refer to a recent study, which
showed that eating pistachios can
improve
erec-
tile
August. 02 - 08 2019
health
function. They suggest that this could be
because pistachios, like other nuts, contain
“several antioxidants and arginine, a pre-
cursor of [NO], a powerful compound that
increases vasodilatation.”
The data for the new study came from 83
healthy males aged between 18 and 35 years.
All of the men were following a Western
style diet, which, in contrast to the Mediter-
ranean diet, is low in fruits and vegetables
and high in animal fats.
The researchers randomly assigned 43
of the men to the nut-enriched group and
the remaining 40 to the control group. Both
groups continued with their Western style
diet. However, those in the nut-enriched
group also consumed 60 g a day of mixed
nuts while the control group members did
not supplement their diet with nuts.
Self-report and biomarker measures
The participants filled in a standard ques-
tionnaire about erectile and sexual function
at both the start and the end of the 14-week
trial. They also gave blood and sperm
samples at these times. In the samples, the
researchers measured the levels of NO and
the molecule E-selectin as “surrogated mark-
ers of erectile endothelial function.”
Compared with those in the control
group, the participants who added nuts to
their diet showed significant increases in
two measures of erectile and sexual function:
orgasmic function and sexual desire.
However, between the two groups, there
were no significant differences in how much
the scores on erectile function, intercourse
satisfaction, and overall satisfaction had
changed by the end of the study.
In addition, the before and after levels of
the two markers of erectile endothelial func-
tion — NO and E-selectin — did not sig-
nificantly differ between the two groups.
The authors conclude: “Including
nuts in a regular diet significantly
improved auto-reported orgasmic
function and sexual desire.”
They call for further, large-scale
studies to confirm their findings and
discover the mechanisms that explain
why eating nuts might benefit sexual
function.
A grant from the International Nut and Dried
Fruit Council helped finance the study.
31
comment
By Hassan Shire
What next for Sudan?
Even after agreeing on transitional power-sharing to
end the political deadlock, country should be monitored
O
n 17 July 2019, the Transitional
Military Council (TMC) and the
Forces of Freedom and Change
(FFC) alliance finally agreed on the
specificities of a transitional power-sharing
body to end the political deadlock in Sudan
since the ousting of Omar al-Bashir in April
2019.
The agreement establishes a Sovereign
Council of 11 members – five from the FFC,
five appointed by the TMC, and one civilian
member, appointed upon agreement of both
the FFC and the TMC.
In three years Sudan should transition to
a civilian-led regime. In the meantime, the
TMC will lead the country for 21 months,
after which FFC will take charge for 18
months, followed by elections. However, the
constitutional declaration that sets out the
finer details of the deal, including terms of
the transitional period, is yet to be finalised.
Nonetheless, this deal theoretically marks a
new era for Sudan, bringing a ray of hope to
its people.
The deal should recognise the role of
women in the December 2018 uprising and
ongoing peaceful revolution, and allow for
their political participation and empower-
ment. Women bore the brunt of al-Bashir’s
30-year dictatorship that used religion as a
smokescreen to entrench the oppression of
critical voices and stifle civil society, while
marginalising and oppressing women.
In Khartoum, as well as in the rural areas
of Sudan, women took to the streets along-
side men, facing brutality from security
forces. They were arrested, tortured, humil-
iated, and sexually assaulted for speaking
truth to power and demanding their rights.
The Sudan Doctors Committee documented
70 cases of rape. The actual figure might be
higher.
Despite the challenges, women continue
to speak out against the human rights vio-
lations and atrocities committed. Their role
should be acknowledged, and at least 50
percent of the seats in the new transitional
government should be allotted to them.
They led the movement and must continue
to lead until a democratically elected civilian
government takes power.
Additionally, affirmative action should
be implemented in favour of marginalised
women with regard to employment and
positions within government institutions.
Systemic issues affecting women should be
32 August. 02 - 08 2019
addressed, including laws and institutions
that enable their oppression and gender ste-
reotypes entrenched in societal structures.
Social change is a long process, but a pre-
condition for Sudanese women’s liberation is
the dismantling of oppressive structures and
the public recognition of women as equal
citizens who are free to make decisions –
political, socio-economic, family-related, and
over their own body and private life.
Prior to signing the deal, the military nego-
tiated immunity from prosecution although
there is no mention of whether immunity
will be granted. The deal only promises a
national investigation into the violence, but
does not give details on what this investiga-
tion will look like. However, with the former
regime still in power it is difficult to foresee
an impartial and transparent process that
will ensure full accountability for the atroci-
ties committed.
I call for an international inquiry into these
atrocities and gross violations of human
rights. This will allow for an independent,
impartial, thorough, transparent, and
effective process where perpetrators will
be brought to book whatever their rank or
social standing. Additionally, the investiga-
tion should extend beyond Khartoum, and
look into the violations committed across
the country since the revolution began in
December 2018.
It should address the chain of command
and patterns of violations – many of which
date back decades and have been used in
previous instances of repression, in Khar-
toum and elsewhere. This is especially
important as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)
of General Hemedti have included ex- “Jan-
jaweed” – the militias that inflicted so much
suffering on Darfuris and other Sudanese.
Away from the deal, I reiterate calls made
to the international community, including
the United Nations Human Rights Council
(the Council), to stand ready to act in the
event that the deal does not live up to its
promise, by convening a special session or
setting up an inquiry into the violence com-
mitted. As the world’s premier human rights
body, the Council is responsible for the
global protection of human rights. Its deaf-
ening silence at the peak of Sudan’s crisis,
particularly following the 3 June massacre of
hundreds of protestors in Khartoum, was a
betrayal of the Sudanese people.
By remaining silent, it condoned the atroc-
ities committed and validated the sidelining
of human rights from the mediation process.
The United Nations Security Council
(UNSC) has a key role to play in ensuring
sustained stability in Sudan. As the body
responsible for maintaining international
peace and security, it should expand tar-
geted sanctions to individuals responsible
for the violence as part of a comprehensive
strategy to support the transition process
and protect human rights.
As per resolution 2455/2019, the UNSC
intends to establish clear, well identified,
and measurable benchmarks that will guide
its review measures on the Government of
Sudan. At a minimum, these benchmarks
should include concrete steps towards
ensuring perpetrators of human rights
violations are held accountable. The UNSC
should also demand the immediate demo-
bilisation of RSF forces under international
supervision.
Furthermore, it should ensure the long-
term existence of UNAMID (the joint
UN-African Union (AU) force in Darfur) by
permanently freezing drawdown plans.
International response strengthens inter-
ventions at the regional level, which are
crucial. The AU’s decision to suspend Sudan
until the effective establishment of a civil-
ian-led government was commendable,
affirming the concrete notion of African solu-
tions to African problems. African Heads of
state should now refuse to endorse Sudan’s
application to be on the list of four African
candidates for membership in the Human
Rights Council for 2020-2022. The next
Council election will take place at the UN
General Assembly in October, and all four
candidates (whoever they end up being) are
likely to be elected.
The AU and its organs, including the
African Commission on Human and Peo-
ples’ Rights, should continue to monitor
the situation in Sudan and implementa-
tion of the power-sharing deal. Respect
for human rights must be central to this
peace process.
Hassan Shire is the executive director of the East
and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders
Project (DefendDefenders)

By Cissy Kagaba
Supreme Court ruling on MP salaries
Hopefully it will reactivate the stalled process to get a
salary review commission which has been long overdue
W
e are pleased with the deci-
sion of the Supreme Court
to uphold the 2016 ruling
of the Constitutional Court
decision that impugned Section 5 of
the Parliament (Remuneration of Mem-
bers) Act, 1981. This section, together
with Article 85 of the Constitution of
Uganda, 1995, (as amended) had made
becoming a Parliamentarian a form of
extractive leadership .
The first order of every new Parlia-
ment from as far back has always been
to discuss their pay and determine the
value of a few allowances here and
there and then a plan to pay off the
debts incurred in the quest to become a
parliamentarian. While this is not true
for all MPs, it is known that becoming
a member of the August House is an
expensive venture and whoever has
tried and succeeded, or failed, has been
left a few million shillings poorer. That
is money that is often times recouped
from emoluments and other avenues.
We hope this decision will make Par-
liament a little less attractive to join
especially by those who join to make a
quick buck. We also hope that this will
reactivate the stalled process to get a
salary review commission; a process
has been long overdue.
However, despite the Court decision
one has to be mindful of the prac-
ticability of the ruling considering
that some members of the Executive
are also members of Parliament. I am
not saying they are going to do the
unthinkable in regards to exploiting
the provision of having Cabinet gen-
erate a substantive Bill or Motion, but
then again, what stops them from har-
boring a thought or two? The analogy
of a hyena collecting taxes from the
market may come into play.
Every time the emoluments for
Members of Parliament have been
discussed, the House is united; ruling,
independent, opposition MPs, front
and backbenchers alike. So it will not
come as a surprise if this provision was
exploited to reward the MPs for a vote
about to go down, or also as a threat
for one in which people voted wrongly,
after all, the Executive must first give
the blessing before Parliament pro-
ceeds.
Not a long while back, Members
of Parliament were reported in the
media as having asked that the tax-
payer foot their Bill for the Over The
Top (OTT) , a tax they passed so as to
restrict the number of people accessing
social media. The same MPs had
increased their allowances and those
for the Parliamentary staff by 39%
and 15% respectively a few months
ago to, among other things, cover
the increasing cost of living and the
increasing prices at the fuel pump.
There is nothing wrong with
matching up to the increasing cost of
living, but are the ordinary Ugandans,
MPs had
increased their
allowances and
those for the
Parliamentary
staff by 39% and
15% respectively
a few months ago
to, among other
things, cover the
increasing cost
of living and the
increasing prices
at the fuel pump
August. 02 - 08 2019
comment
the tax payers living in a different
economy from the one the MPs are
living in? Why should MPs get a match
up when the rest are left poorer?
Our Honorable MPs have always
been creative at coming up with a
litany of excuses to cushion their lives
and line their pockets with cash at the
expense of the tax payer and we are
certain they will come up with an inge-
nious plan to ensure the status quo is
maintained.
Our appeal is steps ought to be taken
to ensure that MPs do not come up
with means to charge extra costs on
the Consolidated Fund as stipulated
in Article 93 of the Constitution of
Uganda as a means to make up for
what could have been lost by their
inability to determine their next pay.
We also call upon the Executive to put
in place mechanisms to have a salary
review conducted for all those who
draw emoluments from the consoli-
dated fund such that those intending
to go to Parliament know what they are
getting into.
This transparency will possibly aid
the MPs more as their voters will learn
that the MPs are not as wealthy as
they are believed to be and possibly
have them stop looking at the MPs as
the solvers of all the problems in the
constituency. What we yearn for as
citizens is “Constructive Leadership”; a
leadership that seeks to gather and put
public resources to the pursuit of the
common good of all people
Cissy Kagaba is the executive director of
the Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda
33
comment
By Simon Usherwood
Boris Johnson as PM
What first speech suggests is in store for Britain from
genuine Leaver, rather than someone with doubtful loyalties
B
oris Johnson’s speech outside
Number 10 Downing Street
– his first as prime minister
of the United Kingdom – was
always going to be noteworthy.
At last, a genuine Leaver at the head
of government, rather than someone
whose loyalties to the cause of Brexit
were always in doubt. At last, an
opportunity to break the political
gridlock that has plagued Westminster
ever since Theresa May brought
back the controversial Withdrawal
Agreement at the end of 2018. At last,
someone with a forceful and boosterish
style to make everyone feel better
about things.
And yet, for all that, it was a speech
that was longer on emotion than
substance. Johnson’s central pitch was
that the UK has been underestimated
by others and that the “gloomsters”
have been too dominant.
To demonstrate the boldness of
his new approach, he announced a
slew of domestic initiatives – on the
police, health, education – all clearly
intended to show that this would not
be a government solely obsessed with
Brexit.
Yet Brexit remains at the very heart
of this administration, so particular
attention should be paid to his words
on this.
The headline statement was clearly
that the UK will leave the EU on
October 31, “no ifs, no buts”. But
beyond that there was very little
indeed.
The ambition is still to conclude a
deal with the EU, but without the
backstop for Northern Ireland, which
would then open the door to a “new
partnership”. If the EU doesn’t want to
negotiate, then the UK should be ready
to commit to a no-deal exit, with extra
support from the government and with
the help of the £39 billion that Johnson
would no longer give the European
Union.
Presented like this, it sounds simple:
play ball, or we walk away and you get
34 August. 02 - 08 2019
to foot the bill.
But Johnson offered no good reason
for the EU to play ball. There was no
suggestion that he had an alternative
model for the Withdrawal Agreement,
which is widely understood in policy-
making circles as the only possibility
for its renegotiation.
There was no acknowledgement
that in the event of no deal, the EU’s
initial focus will be on securing the
content of the Withdrawal Agreement
– on finances, citizen rights and the
Irish backstop – by other means. Any
new partnership would be entirely
conditional upon resolving these issues
first.
And there was only an indirect
acknowledgement that while £39
billion is a large sum of money, it
would be dwarfed by the costs to the
economy of disrupted trade in the
wake of no deal, and the costs to the
UK’s reputation as a negotiator of
If the EU doesn’t
want to negotiate,
then the UK
should be ready
to commit to a
no-deal exit, with
extra support from
the government
and with the help
of the £39 billion
that Johnson
would no longer
give the European
Union
international deals. That money has
been long accepted by the government
as an outstanding liability from
EU membership and to try to agree
differently now would only reinforce
the impression of third countries that
the UK should be handled with some
care – and suspicion.
In short, past the verbiage and the
can-do-ness of it all, there was no
strong sense that Johnson is about
to make a successful early move
to resolve Brexit. And that matters
because there is the harsh reality of his
situation.
Johnson’s election to Tory party
leader and thus to the office of prime
minister does not give him any more
votes in the Commons than May had
when she stepped down. His elevation
does not remove or address the deep
division in public and political debate
between Leavers and Remainers.
His installation in the job that he has
long desired does not mean that there
is a new consensus on the purpose of
Brexit, or on the kind of society that
the UK should be. In short, just as
May was sharply constrained by her
position, so too will be Johnson. If his
speech was to be a balm, then it will
have to contend with the practicalities
of power.
Trouble ahead
The most immediate of these is the
Cabinet reshuffle. But even with many
posts to be filled, there was not enough
to give to everyone who has jumped
on the Johnson bandwagon in the past
month: disappointment is inevitable,
and so will be sown the first seeds of
discontent.
While Johnson settles into his new
role, he is likely to find very quickly
that gloomsters might not be cheery,
but that doesn’t mean they are wrong.
Simon Usherwood is Reader in Politics,
University of Surrey
Source:theconversation

By Harold Acemah
Day man landed on the moon
Remembering and contrasting events of 50 years ago in
America as witnessed by a university student in Uganda
J
uly 20, 1969 will always remain alive
in my memory as a momentous day
on which President John Fitzgerald
Kennedy’s dream of landing a human
on the moon was fulfilled. On that day, the
Apollo 11 spaceflight successfully landed
humans on the moon at exactly 20:17
Greenwich Mean time (GMT). The crew
was commanded by American astronaut
Neil Armstrong who, six hours 39 minutes
later, at 02:56 on July 21, 1969 became the
first person to set foot on the moon from the
Apollo Lunar Module Eagle. Module pilot
Buzz Aldrin followed him 19 minutes later.
What a day it was for me and millions
of Ugandans who were glued on that day
to Uganda Television (UTV) and Radio
Uganda, both of which carried the event
live.
In 1969, I was a final-year undergraduate
student at the former University of East
Africa, Makerere College and can vividly
remember what transpired on that great
and historic day for humankind as a whole.
According to an article published in
The Washington Post, despite uncertainty
about the moon project, “it benefited
from a clearly defined goal.” In May
1961, President John F. Kennedy asked
America’s National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) to put a man on the
moon and bring him safely back to earth
before the decade was out.
Then in September 1962, Kennedy gave
his famous “We choose to go to the moon”
speech at Rice University in Houston
in which he said, inter alia, that the U.S.
“chooses to do these things in space not
because they are easy, but because they are
hard.”
The cost of sending a man to the moon
was a staggering US$20 billion. The moon
is on average 384,400 kilometres from
earth (its orbit around Earth is elliptical.
At perigee — its closest approach — the
moon comes as close as 363,104 kilometers.
At apogee — the farthest away it gets —
the moon is 405,696 km from Earth) Up
to 400,000 workers were involved in the
project led by Werner von Braun, a German
prisoner of war who was forcibly taken to
USA after World War II. He designed the
huge Saturn V rocket which launched the
Apollo 11 spacecraft on a three-day flight to
the moon. What an amazing story!
The fairytale like story of a man landing
on the moon for the first time in human
civilization was aptly summarised by
American historian Douglas Brinkley in
a book titled, “American Moonshot: John
F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race.”
He writes, it “takes a rare combination of
leadership, luck, timing and public will
to pull off something as sensational as
Kennedy’s Apollo moonshot”.
In a nutshell, the secret of Apollo’s
spectacular success was leadership, luck,
timing, availability of resources and political
will. These are sadly lacking in Uganda
and most African countries, especially
leadership.
Good, effective, inspirational and selfless
leadership, such as the type exemplified by
John Kennedy, cannot be achieved by the
barrel of the gun or bought with trillions of
shillings stolen from wananchi or obtained
by rigging elections or by manipulating
a docile, naive and functionally ignorant
population. If it were possible, many bogus
and mediocre African leaders would be
superstars.
The Apollo 11 story illustrates the
The cost of
sending a man
to the moon was
a staggering
US$20 billion.
The moon is on
average 384,400
kilometres from
earth (its orbit
around Earth is
elliptical
August. 02 - 08 2019
comment
importance of science and technology in
national development and the need for
government to invest substantially in the
sector, instead of paying lip service, as
the sole candidate has regularly done to
hoodwink wananchi. The colossal amount
of money the government of Uganda
squanders annually on the military, regime
survival, and infrastructure would be much
better spent on promoting and teaching
science subjects at Uganda’s schools, tertiary
institutions and universities.
Launching moonwalk the dance
Our celebrations to mark the momentous
occasion continued from campus to a
popular joint for Makerere University
students at Wandegeya called Capital Bar
& Restaurant which did roaring business
on that day. To crown it all, I and my
friends took a taxi at the midnight hour to
Mengo to dance the night away at one of
Kampala’s popular nightclubs of the 1960s,
incongruously named New Life Club.
Little did we know that the resident
band of the club, Viperes Jazz Band, led
by Kaumba Raphael, would release and
showcase the band’s latest rumba and
soukous compositions to commemorate
moon landing and, in addition, launch a
new dance for the occasion appropriately
called “moonwalk” which was ably
demonstrated by a Congolese dancer
nicknamed, “Souziman Apollo 11.”
On a personal note, July 20, 1969 brings
to mind many pleasant memories of
friends, classmates and fellow citizens,
many of whom have sadly passed on
and are, I hope, with the Lord in heaven,
including, Albert Yobo, Edward Keronega,
Allan Opidi, Amos Etima, E S Atieno-
Odhiambo, Daudi Taliwaku, Franco
Nyalwopol and George Obwona. I take
this opportunity to pay tribute to all of
them, but above all thank God for their
lives and for their abiding friendship. May
their souls rest in eternal peace!
Harold Acemah is a retired diplomat who served
at several levels in Uganda’s Foreign Service
35
comment
By Jeremy Farrar
Trust as a tool of health-care
To prevent the Ebola outbreak from escalating in
DRC, the relevant actors must win back trust
D
octors and nurses have tradi-
tionally been among the most
trusted people in society.
According to the Wellcome
Global Monitor, the largest-ever survey
of public attitudes toward science and
health; that remains true: more than
70% of survey participants reported
that they trust scientists, doctors, and
nurses. But their responses also indi-
cate that there is no room for compla-
cency.
Half of the 149,000 respondents, rep-
resenting over 140 countries, reported
that they know little or nothing about
science, and almost one in five don’t
think that it benefits them personally.
This lack of engagement with science
raises serious – even life-threatening –
risks.
Consider attitudes toward vaccines.
Globally, the vast majority of people
recognise that vaccines are safe,
effective, and important. But in some
wealthy countries, the share of people
who trust vaccines is plummeting. In
France, for example, 33% of people do
not believe that vaccines are safe and
effective.
The impact of vaccines depends
on herd immunity: the protection of
communities, including people who
cannot be immunised for reasons like
illness or age, by vaccinating most of
their members. While most children in
France still receive the measles vaccine,
there are areas where immunisation
rates have fallen below the herd-immu-
nity threshold of around 95%.
The results have been devastating.
The number of measles cases reported
in France increased sixfold in 2018:
three people died, and many more
were left with life-altering health prob-
lems. Falling immunisation rates in
some areas of the United States and
the Philippines also produced measles
epidemics in those countries in 2018
and 2019.
Education undoubtedly plays a role
in shaping attitudes toward vaccines,
but so do myriad personal, social, reli-
gious, and cultural factors – and, most
fundamentally, trust. In fact, trust in
science and health care is linked to
36 August. 02 - 08 2019
trust in government and other national
institutions. When confidence in one
is lost, confidence in the rest tends to
suffer as well. And when faith in all of
these spheres is depleted, the conse-
quences are typically disastrous.
The Democratic Republic of the
Congo is a case in point. Decades
of war, insecurity, and neglect have
decimated trust in institutions across
the east of the country. So, when an
Ebola epidemic broke out last August,
those charged with implementing the
response – including government offi-
cials, international health agencies, and
even local community health workers –
were met with deep suspicion and even
hostility. Treatment centers have been
attacked, leaving health workers dead
and injured. Meanwhile, the epidemic’s
death toll has continued to rise.
To prevent the Ebola outbreak from
escalating further, the relevant actors
– from health workers to government
officials – must re-engage with the
affected communities and win back
their trust. Fortunately, as neighboring
Rwanda has proven, this is entirely
possible.
In 1994, Rwanda endured a brutal
genocide, in which an estimated
800,000 people were killed in the space
To prevent the
Ebola outbreak
from escalating
further, the relevant
actors – from
health workers
to government
officials – must
re-engage with
the affected
communities and
win back their trust
of only 100 days. This harrowing expe-
rience left behind destroyed property,
a failed state, and a traumatised popu-
lation with little faith in local or inter-
national institutions. National basic
immunization coverage was less than
30%.
But, in the ensuing years, government
and international partners engaged
actively with local communities, in
order to rebuild trust. Their efforts
worked: Wellcome Global Monitor
shows that 99% of people in Rwanda
now recognise that vaccines are effec-
tive and important, and 97% have con-
fidence in their health system overall
– more than in any other country.
This has enabled significant prog-
ress on health. Basic immunisation
coverage is now up to 95%. In 2010,
Rwanda became the first country in
Africa to introduce a program focused
on reducing the risk of cervical cancer
– the most common cancer in Rwandan
women – by providing the vaccine
against human papillomavirus (HPV).
The government aims to eliminate cer-
vical cancer deaths within the next few
decades.
Public-health outcomes like that
cannot be achieved without trust. No
matter how exciting the treatment, how
clever the delivery method, or how
robust the science, there will be no
impact unless the local community is
open to it.
A single survey cannot explain why
people feel the way they do, let alone
offer a foolproof strategy for govern-
ments, international institutions, and
health-care professionals seeking to win
people’s trust. But, as the world faces
profound science-related challenges –
from climate change to antimicrobial
resistance – policymakers, practitioners,
and civic leaders would do well to learn
as much as possible from the Well-
come Global Monitor’s unprecedented,
unique, and invaluable data.
Jeremy Farrar is Director of the Wellcome
Trust.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.
 ART | BOOKS | SOCIETY | TRAVEL | CULTURE
Embodiments of reason
Six artists revolutionising materiality and collaboration
M
By Dominic Muwanguzi
ateriality in art is often
evoked by artists as a re-
sponse to how different
objects in the community
can be used to produce
art. In the recent joint
exhibition by Dr. Lilian Nabulime (Uganda)
and Maria Brinch (Norway), the artists ven-
tured into experimenting on how creative
they can be working with different media
and react to diverse themes of everyday life.
Nabulime did her signature sculptures
constructed from hardwood, root stumps
and copper/ aluminum plates collected
from her immediate community and given
a new life. She uses them to figuratively
push messages on critical themes like HIV,
womanhood, and contemporary human
behaviours. Nabulime’s art is primarily a
result of networking with her immediate
community often the (young) women
struggling with HIV prevention through
behaviourism and cultural taboos like con-
versations around sex. In certain instance,
through such dialogue, the women, mostly
her students, have helped produce the figu-
rines. Brinch’s installations were fabricated
from textiles bought from a bazaar market
in Kampala. She used them to communicate
the varied emotions layered within an indi-
vidual. Brinch’s installations are inspired by
working with communities in Myanmar;
especially women. Through reaching out
to such communities, she’s able to construct
tapestries that are evocative of the varied improved strength or appearance. As the
emotions- although often muted- of the pub- artist produces another layer for the artwork,
lic. It was an amazing diversity in approach, another layer is inevitably concealed. That
with figurative messages layering each art- mirrors us human beings - we conceal a lot;
work. Visitors were wowed. emotions and more.
While Nabulime’s pieces were brisk and Nabulime and Brinch are bound by a
colossal, and filled with emotion, Brinch’s common objective: championing visibility
sculptures were subtler, very much muted, of women artists. Their exhibition is a prod-
with messages is concealed within the fabric uct of an ongoing project-cum-revolution
through the technique of folding the textile. dubbed Tuwaye (Let’s Talk) that works
These metaphorically convey the idea of towards creating safe spaces for female
concealment that we encounter in our every- artists and artistic explorations aimed at neu-
day. And the material provides enormous tralising tensions around female interaction,
possibilities. discussion, and creativity.
Her technique involves painting, It comprises six art practitioners- includ-
photography, and ing artists and curator- namely Sheila
printing on the textile Nakitende, Stacey Gillian, Martha Kazungu,
to breathe nuance into Maria Brinch, Hellen Nabukenya and San-
the work through dra Ssuubi. It is an ambitious move staged
distinct texture in a space oozing with patriarchal because it
and multiplicity. houses limousines of former heads of State
This quality was like Kabaka Sir. Frederick Muteesa II, and
most seen in former presidents Idi- Amin Dada and Mil-
her laminated ton Obote. There is also the stone figurine of
prints of textiles the head of Milton Obote and the towering
hanging on a line. monument of King George. The exhibition
Lamination, in the curator said it is “a sign of emerging influ-
literally context, ence and presence of women in male dom-
is the process of inated spaces.”The six artists combine to
manufacturing revolutionise the position of female artists in
a material in the region and globally.
multiple layers The exhibition is curated by Martha Kazu-
so that the ngu, Independent curator and co-founder of
composite Tuwaye Revolution. The exhibit is showing
material in the basement of the Uganda Museum,
achieves located on Kira Road, Kampala
August. 02 - 08 2019 37
Donald Trump
prediction on
Boris Johnson
After U.S. President
Donald Trump had
spoken on July 26 with
Boris Johnson for the
first time since Johnson
became Prime Minister of
Britain, he told reporters
they would have a ‘great
relationship’.
Downing Street said
they agreed that Brexit
offers an unparalleled
opportunity to
strengthen the economic
partnership between
the UK and United
States. Boris Johnson
has promised to ‘deliver
Brexit’ on Oct. 31.
“They ended by
looking forward to
seeing each other at the
G7 Summit in Biarritz
next month.” The two
clearly did not discuss
Mr Johnson’s remarks
in 2015 when, as Mayor
of London, he said Mr
Trump’s comments about
the capital city betray a
‘stupefying ignorance’
that make him unfit for
the office of President.
Meghan and Harry give neighbours
rules on how to treat royals
Prince Harry and Meghan
Markle’s neighbours have been
advised on how to treat the royal
couple. The couple’s neighbours
living around Frogmore Cottage
have been told never to ask to
see baby Archie or post anything
through the five-bedroom cot-
tage’s letterbox. It is reported
other “rules” include: Don’t
approach the couple or instigate
conversation if you see them,
Do say ‘Good Morning’ or some
other pleasantry if they speak
to you, Don’t stroke their dogs,
even if they come over to you,
Don’t offer to walk their dogs,
Don’t offer to babysit Archie.
However, a resident told The
Sun: “It would be funny if it
wasn’t so over the top.”
House has grave in sitting room
From the Nhan gave
outside, birth to a
the famous daughter
“Tomb Vil- she named
la” in the
Vietnamese
Tran Thi
Kim Lien
province of
Ben Tre looks
who grew
up poor,
like an ordi- but became
nary household, but middle of the living rich. She built the
step foot through the room sounds like the house but in 2000, as
front door and you’ll plot of a horror mov- a dying wish, said she
notice that instead ie, but for the inhabi- should be buried in it.
of the usual dining tants of the so-called “I never got to live in
table there is a creepy Tomb Villa of Tan a mansion, so when I
marble tomb com- Thac Commune it’s die, please bury me in
plete with a shrine to everyday life. Its story this one,” the woman
the person buried in began on January reportedly asked her
it. Living in a house 28,1960, when local mother.
with a tomb in the woman Dang Thi
Can you eat
expired chocolate?
Bryn Kirk, a course facilitator
at the Chocolate University
Online, says if chocolate has
gone through various tempera-
ture changes, there is a high
chance that it may no longer be
safe to eat. Keep in mind that
temperature change allows the
growth of bacteria. Even if you
cannot see it, it’s there.
The next thing you should
consider is the flavor. If it is
milk chocolate, there is a high
chance that it’s already too late
to consume as it will taste ran-
cid. On the other hand, dark
chocolate may still be good to
eat but intensity of the chocolate
flavor will no longer be as high
as before.
Ivanka Trump
plays basketball in
soaring stilettos
Playing sports is hard
enough when you’re wearing
gym clothes and sneakers, but
Ivanka Trump played basket-
ball in high heels during a July
19 trip to Des Moines, Iowa.
The 37-year-old first daugh-
ter teamed the heels with a
black dress that boasted asym-
metric white button detailing
and a high neckline.

Woman gives birth one day after discovering her pregnancy

A 46-year-old women who thought she
could not have children became a first time
mother just one day after discovering she
was pregnant. Monica Thompson, a wid-
ow from Las Vegas, US, gave birth to son
Jayden Anthony Willie Edwin Ratliff earlier
this year. Little Jayden was born prema-
turely at seven and a half months. She had
spent 16 years trying for children with her
late husband Kevin Thompson, who died in
2016 – but the couple never managed to con-
ceive. When Thompson met partner Jason
Ratliff through a dating app in 2017, she had
already put her hopes of having children
aside. She was rushed to hospital with nau-
sea and cramping but she didn’t suspect she
could be soon to give birth. They asked her
if there was any way she could be pregnant
and she I said, ‘No way’. But tests showed
she was pregnant and in less than 24 hours
later, Thompson went into labour.

38 August. 02 - 08 2019
 What vehicle exhaust
smoke colour means
By Motoring Guru
T
he gas coming out of the exhaust
pipe of your vehicle should be co-
lourless. That means the vehicle en-
gine is behaving normally i.e. burn-
ing fuel and cooling as it should. Always
look behind via the driving mirrors while
driving. If you can see smoke in the mirror,
suspect a problem. You should not be seeing
any smoke. But do not worry if the smoke
is slightly light blue. That too indicates the
engine is normal. However, there are three
main exhaust fume colours that you should
worry about: Blue/gray smoke, black smoke,
and white smoke.
Blue/Gray Smoke
Blue/gray exhaust smoke is an indication
of oil burning in the combustion chamber.
These are possible symptoms and causes:
 Valve Seals: Leaking valve seals will
cause blue/gray exhaust smoke.
 Valve Guides: Excessive clearance
between the valve stem and the valve
guide allows oil to leak past the gap into
the cylinder.
 Piston Rings: Worn or damaged piston
rings will cause blow-by, resulting in
blue/gray smoke.
 Worn Cylinder Walls: Worn cylinder
walls cause blow-by, resulting in blue/
gray smoke.
Black Smoke:
Black exhaust smoke is an indication of
a rich fuel condition. These are possible
causes:
 Fuel Injectors: A leaking or dripping fuel
injector will cause a rich fuel condition.
 Fuel Pressure Regulator: A stuck closed
fuel pressure regulator will cause a rich
fuel condition.
 Fuel Return: A restricted fuel return line
will cause a rich fuel condition.
White/Gray Smoke:
White exhaust smoke is an indication that
August. 02 - 08 2019
coolant is burning in the combustion cham-
ber. These are possible causes:
 Cylinder Head: A crack in the cylinder
head (around the coolant jacket) will
cause coolant to enter the combustion
chamber.
 Engine Block: A crack in the deck of an
engine block near the coolant jacket will
cause coolant to enter the combustion
chamber.
 Head Gasket: A damaged or blown
head gasket will cause coolant to enter
the combustion chamber resulting in
white/gray smoke coming from the
tailpipe.
The most common form of smoke from
an exhaust is not actually smoke at all.
When a cold engine is started, it soon begins
to heat up, and a byproduct of this is water
vapour. This creates condensation within
the exhaust system, which then turns into
steam as the water vapour is heated up by
the rising temperatures in the engine and
exhaust that follow.
39
global comment
By Nic Cheeseman
Democracy in Africa
Success stories that have defied the odds in states is
that did not enjoy a single one of its `pre-conditions’
W
hen I first said that I was going
to write a book about the history
of democracy in Africa, quite a
few people responded with a
joke. That will be one of the world’s shortest
books, up there with the compendium of
great English cooking, they would say.
But, it turned out that there was a lot to talk
about: Africa’s past reveals more fragments
of democracy than you would think. And, its
present has a number of important things to
teach the world about the conditions under
which democracy can be built.
The poor quality of elections in many
sub-Saharan African countries, combined
with a tendency for the media to focus on
controversy, means that Africa is often
depicted as a bastion of authoritarianism.
But, it actually has some of the most remark-
able and important stories of democratic
struggle. Countries such as Benin, Botswana,
Ghana, Namibia, Mauritius, Senegal and
South Africa have not only become beacons
of political rights and civil liberties, they
have done so against the greatest of obsta-
cles. These experiences teach us important
lessons about where democracy can work,
and why. Political scientists like to talk about
the conditions necessary for countries to
build a strong and stable democracy. These
lists are fiercely fought over, but there are
a number of factors that most researchers
would agree are probably important.
A cohesive national identity is likely to
make it easier to maintain national unity,
while wealth and economic success have
been found to promote political stability. A
strong national infrastructure, underpinned
by respect for the rule of law, means that the
government is likely to be effective without
being abusive. And, a vibrant middle class
and powerful civil society are usually seen
as important to promote accountability and
responsive government.
What is remarkable about the democrati-
sation of African states is that most did not
enjoy a single one of these “pre-conditions”.
With the exception of South Africa, all of
Africa’s democracies entered multiparty pol-
itics with low GDP per capita and high levels
of unemployment. This was compounded
by weak and underdeveloped states that had
been designed – both in the colonial era and
during the authoritarian rule of the 1980s
– to exploit resources rather than empower
citizens. In states like Ghana, this was com-
pounded by a history of military rule, which
40 August. 02 - 08 2019
heightened the risk of further coups.
Almost all of these states also featured civil
societies that were fragile and fragmented,
despite the strength of religious organisa-
tions. At the same time, in the early 1990s,
the middle class was small. More often than
not, it was also economically dependent on
the government. It was thus poorly placed to
fight against corruption or democratic back-
sliding. These were not the only challenges
that African states faced. With the exception
of Botswana, they are all diverse multi-ethnic
societies in which the question of national
identity has been problematic. In Ghana
and Mauritius for instance, ethnic identities
have historically played a role in structuring
political networks. This increased the tension
around elections.
Worse still, under colonial rule and during
apartheid, white regimes sought to entrench
racial divisions and hostilities in Namibia
and South Africa, creating a particularly dif-
ficult environment.
Against this backdrop, all of these states
might have been expected to collapse into
some form of authoritarian regime by now.
Given this context, their success should be
celebrated and studied for what it tells us
about how democracy can be built even in
the most challenging of contexts.
It is striking that, with the exception of
Benin and possibly Senegal, these democ-
racies have grown stronger during a period
in which the world is supposed to be back-
sliding on democracy.
While Europe is convulsed by Brexit and
the rise of right-wing populists, and Donald
Trump is doing his best to undermine Amer-
ica’s reputation for political checks and bal-
ances, Africa’s most democratic states have
proved to be remarkably resilient.
Ghana has experienced numerous trans-
fers of power and, in 2016, the first ever
defeat of a sitting president. Namibia has
consolidated its position as a “free” political
system with robust respect for civil liberties,
according to Freedom House.
South Africa suffered politically and eco-
nomically during the presidency of Jacob
Zuma, but now has the chance to bounce
back after the governing African National
Congress (ANC) voted to pursue reform
under President Cyril Ramaphosa.
For their part, Botswana and Mauritius
– the continent’s oldest democracies – con-
tinue to combine respect for political rights
with prudent economic policies.
Praising Africa’s democratic success stories
does not, of course, mean that we should
overlook its failures. A number of countries
have taken steps backwards in recent years,
including Tanzania and Uganda. Author-
itarian leaders also remain entrenched in
Cameroon, Chad, Eritrea , and many more.
But it is important to recognise that there is
much more to Africa than authoritarianism.
In the absence of the conventional building
blocks of democracy, we need to look else-
where to explain these success stories. Some
might be tempted to think that the role of
the global community has been critical in
keeping governments on the straight and
narrow. But in reality, democracy is built
from within, as the fact that aid-dependent
countries such as Uganda and Rwanda have
remained firmly authoritarian shows only
too well. We should, therefore, give greater
credit to the politicians and people of Afri-
ca’s democratic states. African presidents
are often lambasted for being corrupt and
self-serving. But, in a number of countries,
they have shown considerable restraint,
establishing institutions capable of checking
their power.
In Ghana, cohesive relationships among
the political elite have underpinned a
growing consensus on the value of democ-
racy. In South Africa, inclusive leadership
played a critical role in overcoming racial
divisions and building trust in the new
post-apartheid political system since 1994. In
Namibia, successive presidents have refused
to use the electoral dominance of the gov-
erning party to remove the opposition.
The role played by African citizens also
deserves greater recognition. It was their
willingness to take to the streets that forced
democratic openings in the late 1980s. The
same has been true in recent years, with
mass action challenging authoritarian
regimes in Burkina Faso and Sudan.
Despite economic challenges and dem-
ocratic difficulties, high levels of public
support for democracy in Africa mean that
leaders understand the costs of backsliding.
At a time when people are questioning the
value of democracy in many Western states,
many African populations who have lived
under one-party, one-man, or military rule
are prepared to fight to prevent their return.
This should serve both as an important
lesson and a source of inspiration.
Nic Cheeseman is Professor of Democracy,
University of Birmingham
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