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China’s ‘Plan B’ Drug resistance: Antibiotic Cement prices Financial literacy

for African debt use in animal health plunge gets boost

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Behind ADF attacks

Links with Islamist militant groups
UPDF on high alert

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INBOX

Issue No. 548 Nov 23 - 29 2018

News analysis Business Health Arts Motoring

Cover story
Inside fresh ADF attacks
UPDF on high alert, deploys at the border

4 The Week
30 Comments
Uganda storms second
AFCON in three years Central bank under attack:
Central-bank independence
is often fetishised but
9 The Last Word
a central bank without
Role of trust in prosperity: political support suffers
Why many Ugandans are stuck
in poverty and unemployment
32 Health
even in the face of opportunities
Drug resistance: Does
antibiotic use in animals
14 Analysis affect human health?
China’s ‘Plan B’ for African debt:
Analysts fear move will accumulate
more debt for African countries
35 Arts & Culture
27 Business
Afrika’s identity of pride:
Cement prices plunge: New study shows Matt Kayem wants Africans
the industry is expected to register to flaunt global domination
growth in the next five years in art, fashion, music

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2 Nov 23 - 29 2018
 Offline

L-R: Eritrea's President

Isaias Afwerki,
Ethiopia's Prime
Minister Abiy Ahmed
and Somalia's President
Mohamed Abdullahi at
the opening of a local
hospital in Bahir Dar “They arrested me, beat me to near
death, threw me at Lubaga hospital
gate and then they decide that I answer
charges that should be against them,
the perpetrators. Other than witch-
hunt, such action is persecution.”Francis
Zaake on police summons

Moroccan guards on
duty for the launch of
Africa’s fastest train,
which will halve travelling
time between Casablanca
and Tangiers.

“I wanted to arrest those striking

doctors but people in the Cabinet
said that was not a good decision.”
President Museveni

Tanzanian soldiers
from the UN’s
stabilisation mission
go out on patrol in an
area where the Allied
Democratic Forces,
a Ugandan Islamist
rebel group, has killed “Sixty percent of factories involved
hundreds of people in plastics which are non-recyclable,
over the past four are owned by politicians. That is why
years. At least seven we have to pass a law to have those
UN peacekeepers and
12 Congolese soldiers who cannot recycle get out of this
were killed in the business.”Wilfred Niwagaba, Ndorwa East
latest clashes with MP on recently passed environment bill
militias.

Issues the petitioners and Shops whose merchandise Officials appointed

8 government side agreed on age
limit case in Supreme Court
60 was confiscated by UNBS due
to counterfeit products
200 to probe wealth of
BOU staff

Nov 23 - 29 2018 3
week
Uganda storms second AFCON in three years
Namboole stadium was a scene of jubila-
tion and ecstasy as the Uganda Cranes qual-
ified for their second Africa Cup of Nations
(AFCON) in three years after beating Cape
Verde 1-0 on Nov.17. Patrick Kaddu’s sec-
ond half strike ensured Uganda qualified
for Cameroon 2019 with a game to spare- a
first for the Cranes. It was an impressive
qualification campaign for Uganda who
could even top the table standings with a
record 16 points when they beat Tanzania.
“I’m very happy for my boys, their commit-
ment. We are a family. I also want to thank
the fans and the federation. It’s been a col-
lective effort,” said coach Sebastien Desabre
who started roughly with a series of losses
when he was appointed in January. Uganda
qualified for AFCON for the first time in
39 years in 2017 but went on without a win
in their group games. The team now looks
determined to make a mark come next year.
No salary raise for you,
Museveni reassures doctors
President Museveni reiterated his
stand on the clamour for a pay rise
by doctors by saying the country has
urgent investment and infrastructure
needs. “I don’t need any convincing
about the need to increase doctors’
salaries. The country needs investment
infrastructure,” the President told doctors
at a dinner held for the Uganda Medical
Association. Museveni said Uganda
has only 7000 doctors, which is a small
number. The President said he is an
expert on improvisation citing how he
started a guerilla war without guns but
ended up victorious. A doctor who goes
on strike is not a doctor. He is an enemy
of the people. How can you go on strike
and you leave people to die in hospitals?”
he wondered. Museveni said he
contemplated arresting striking doctors
at one point. However doctors were not
pleased with the President’s remarks.

KCCA unveils traffic 3000 citizens consulted so far in national dialogue

control centre Justice James Ogoola, consultative meeting
the convener of the with members of the
Kampala Capital City Authority has national dialogue is Inter Religious Council
unveiled a pilot traffic control centre determined to have of Uganda (IRCU) and
that is set to monitor the performance the event take place. the Elders Forum at
of the traffic network in the city. The dialogue has now State House. Speaker
While addressing journalists at her been postponed and of Parliament Rebecca
office, KCCA outgoing executive will take place from Kadaga, Prime Minister
director, Jennifer Musisi explained Nov. 21 to Dec. 18 to Ruhakana Rugunda,
that the traffic control centre will grant stakeholders secretary general
monitor the radio communications of adequate time to study of the NRM Justine
field activities for the traffic wardens, its agenda. In the 3000 citizens in the Kasule Lumumba, and
ambulances, enforcement staff and meantime, Ogoola, the sub regions of Teso, Government Chief
security personnel. The junctions chairman of the Elders Busoga, Acholi, Elgon, Whip Ruth Nankabirwa
include; Kabira 1, Kabira 2, Kira Road Forum of Uganda, Rwenzori, West Nile attended the meeting.
police station, Fairway junction, Bwaise said his team has been among others. Last Sheikh Shaban Mubajje,
junction, Junjju junction, Makerere consulting and so far, week, President chairman of IRCU also
Main Gate and Gaddafi Road. they have consulted Museveni had a attended the meeting.

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New app to boost market women

A new app will boost the
fortunes of market women who
operate in areas like Nakawa,
Kalerwe, Ntinda and Nakasero.
The app is meant to eliminate
the role of middlemen who
have emerged in these markets
by doing shopping for buyers
and negotiating on their behalf
and in the long run eating into
the profits of the hardwork-
ing market women. Institute
for Social Transformation, a
development organization, has
teamed up with UN Women,
the UN agency for women
empowerment, to create an app
that will connect customers
directly to the market women.
The app set to be launched in
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be made between the market Publications ltd not later than Friday 16th November
and the customer. “There will be 2018. This should not exceed 2mbs.
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ket where one of these women
will be able to pick up as many Additional details about the position can be found
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Rakai school inferno haunts nation

An inferno that claimed the lives of 11
students and injured over 50 at St Bernard’s
secondary school Mannya two weeks ago
has left a nation reeling and evoking sad
memories of past school fires like the one
that claimed nearly 20 at Budo Junior School
in 2008. The fire at Mannya has also left
authorities trading blame on what could
have been done to avert the tragedy. John
Baptist Kimbowa, an education official in
Rakai said his department is understaffed
and ill-equipped to deal with the over
150 primary schools and 22 secondary
schools in the district. Police in Rakai says
it recommended safety measures which
are yet to be implemented at the school.
Meanwhile the ministry of Education and
Sports is in plans to send psychiatrists
to Rakai district to counsel students and
community members living around St
Bernard’s secondary school Mannya. This
is due to the Post Traumatic Stress Disor-
der (PTSD) that follows such disasters.

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Week
Lusanja residents
petition Speaker
Disgruntled 200
residents of Lusanja in
Wakiso District marched
to Parliament and
petitioned the Speaker
Rebecca Kadaga over
demolition of their
houses on orders of
businessman Medard
Kiconco. Residents
demanded the Speaker
to take action against
the businessman whom
they say has bought
off the army, police
to persistently threaten
them from reclaiming
their land. Kiconco is
said to have bought the
estimated nine acres
of land on which the
evictees had stayed
for about five years.
He intends to put up a
factory.
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6 Nov 23 - 29 2018
Theresa May vows not to quit
Embattled British Prime
Minister Theresa May is sol-
diering on with her Brexit
plan and has vowed not to
step down after a string of
resignations rocked her cabi-
net last week. There is sharp
division in her government on
the terms of the U.K.’s draft
agreement with the European
Union. May delivered a state-
ment to the House of Com-
mons days after and argued
that her deal with the EU was
Kenya Cancer experts call for home grown solutions
Kenya Cancer experts are
calling on increased uptake
and use of locally conducted
research to best understand
causes of cancer, help improve
care for patients and ultimately
reduce the cancer burden in the
country. At the international
cancer conference organized
by Kenya Society of Haematol-
ogy and Oncology (KESHO)
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the only option that delivered
the key priorities demanded
by voters in the divisive
2016 referendum. Before
themed “Integrating Research
and Practice”, experts advo-
cated for home-grown solutions
driven by cancer research and
best practice. They are also
calling for increased access to
information among patients
and clinicians’ alertness to aid
in early detection of cancer
cases. Dr Sitna Mwanzi, Chair,
Kenya Society of Haematology
her address to Parliament,
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab
resigned in protest over the
document, saying he could
not support the terms. Raab is
one of a group of Brexit-sup-
porting ministers who cam-
paigned for the U.K. to leave
the EU in 2016. There is belief
that May’s deal will be voted
down by parliament, and that
the UK would then have to
return to EU negotiators and
request further concessions.
and Oncology said that over
the years African countries
have heavily relied on cancer
research conducted in the
European world to treat their
patients locally some of which
is sometimes not applicable due
to the social-economic status,
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Humour Did you know?

The world record for

the longest flight by a
chicken is 13 seconds.
Makerere University researcher Stella Nyanzi declined bail Yup - 13 seconds. They
to teach inmates at Luzira prison how to use Facebook.
don’t do sustained flight
very well. The domestic
chicken, in particular,
isn’t very good at
sustained flight. These
birds are usually fatter
than wild chickens
- which can make a
flight over a fence and
to a roost if they need
to. Wild chickens can
typically get up into
trees by flight if they
must, since this is
FDC has threatened to pull out of the national dialogue if President Museveni presides over the meeting. where they naturally
make their roosts.
The chicken that
we all know and
love is typically the
domesticated kind,
meaning they can’t
really fly all on their
own. They have been
bred - since humans
have been able to
selectively breed - to
be fatter and produce
bigger eggs, for our
The Government is not pleased with donors who are benefits. Not the
sending their money for refugees through NGOs.
chicken’s.
Nov 23 - 29 2018 7
Tania Tatenda Aaron competes for Zimbabwe at the Miss International Beauty Pageant final in Japan’s capital, Tokyo

Role of trust in prosperity
By Andrew M. Mwenda
Why many Ugandans are stuck in poverty and
unemployment even in the face of opportunities
I
have lately been arguing in this column
that one of the most important drivers
of prosperity is human capital. The
better the human capital the higher the
chances for an individual or nation to be-
come prosperous. Economists use average
number of years spent in school by a given
population as a proxy for levels of human
capital development. I see human capital
much more broadly to include possession
of marketable skills, labour productivity,
shared mentalities such as work ethics and
most importantly, trust within the society.
A series of discussions with my friend,
Muawiya Mukasa, recently brought this
point vividly home. He owns a com-
pany registered in Uganda and Dubai. It
recruits people from Uganda and takes
them to the Middle Eastern nations of
United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan and
Saudi Arabia. His company has part-
nered with companies in those countries
which link these Ugandans to jobs as
security guards, hotel attendants and
domestic servants in those countries. So
Mukasa’s company and its partners in
the Middle East earn a commission for
their work.
According to Mukasa, there is a lot of
demand for Ugandans in the Middle
East. He can take 2,000 Ugandans per
month. This would create 24,000 jobs per
year for many of our unemployed youths
on Kampala’s streets and angry on social
media. These youths would earn Uganda
foreign exchange since the average nom-
inal salary for security guards in Dubai is
$700 plus accommodation and transport.
And Mukasa’s is one of tens of compa-
nies in Uganda that do this work.
Only last month, Mukasa’s company
and its partners from Dubai came to
Kampala on a recruitment exercise. They
interviewed 500 Ugandans of whom 200
passed the interviews and, therefore,
qualified for jobs in Dubai. However,
these youths have to pay about $1,000 for
their visa, air ticket plus other costs. Only
50 out of 200 candidates who qualified
could raise the money.
Notice that the 150 who cannot be
taken are not lacking money but finan-
cial intermediation. They do not need
to have the $1,000 in advance. Their job/
salary provides future streams of income
from which they can pay for the fees for
processing their travel to Dubai. Many
The Last Word
individuals and firms can loan them that
money if they are assured of being paid
back. For example, each of these candi-
dates can get a loan of $1,000 payable at a
rate of $100 per month for one year. That
would amount to $1,200 in a year – a 20%
rate of return on capital for the lender.
I have actually helped a few young
people with this kind of loan, and all
of them have paid me back with this
interest. So why do banks and other
money lenders not rush to this opportu-
nity, which from my experience works?
The issue is trust! Lenders do not have a
guarantee that these borrowers will pay
back. In fact, as Mukasa told me, Ugan-
dans have “lugezigezi.” When they reach
Dubai, they can change their mind and
refuse to pay back. The law in Dubai pro-
tects such behaviour. How?
Ideally, candidates can enter an agree-
ment with their employer to deduct
the $100 per month from their salary to
repay the loan. This would allow banks
and other money lenders to issue the
loans. However, to avoid “exploitation”
or “abuse” of workers (in fact because
of complaints from Uganda’s veritable
parliament) the government of Dubai
passed a law prohibiting employers from
deducting money from their employees’
salaries even if it is with the consent of
the employee.
The Dubai law came to protect
Ugandan workers from being abused
and exploited by employers, which was
good. But soon it became an opportunity
for Ugandans to shack their responsi-
bility to pay back loans, by appealing
to the government of Dubai. The few
who made these complaints spoilt for
the many that would be willing to have
their wages deducted. The challenge is to
find a way to assure capital holders that
their loans would be repaid with interest
within agreed time.
One way to solve this is to insist that
successful candidates bring collateral.
This can be in form of land. But people
can forge titles or mortgage family land
in dispute. This means the lender must
establish an elaborate mechanism to
verify the authenticity of titles, establish
the actual land size (using land sur-
veyors) and value the land (by hiring
property valuers). This becomes even
more cumbersome because the bor-
Opinion
rowers are poor, don’t have titles and
their land is in slums or villages making
selling it in the event of default, a dif-
ficult task.
All this creates high transaction costs,
which includes building an expansive
and tedious bureaucracy in which few
are willing to invest. But how come I
have succeeded in the very few cases
when I have tried? The young people I
have helped were mentees whom I had
known personally and a relationship of
trust evolved between us. I also know
their parents who were grateful I helped.
This web of social ties creates a bond
of trust few would be willing to break,
except at the cost of embarrassing their
families (how can you betray someone
who helped you).
Thus, outside of these close personal
and family relationships that creates
micro pockets of trust, we do not have
institutions that can do this on a large
scale. In societies where trust is macro
or where there are well developed insti-
tutions to cushion lenders in the event
of default, so many of the unemployed
youths would be getting jobs abroad
and sending home remittances that not
only increase household income but also
earn the nation large amounts of foreign
exchange.
This lack of trust within our societies
also makes it difficult for our people to
do joint ventures, build successful busi-
ness partnerships or erect impersonal
businesses where the managers are not
family members. It explains why the only
large impersonal businesses are multina-
tional corporations. The other large and
successful businesses are Indian capital
where community trust is higher among
its members.
Yet trust is often ignored in academic
and journalistic debates. Perhaps this is
because it is difficult to measure – for
example in the way we can measure
years spent in school, timeliness of
reporting for work (work ethics) and
labour productivity (output per unit
labour input). I guess the difficulty in
measuring trust prevents academics
from making it a central fulcrum of their
analysis of the drivers of prosperity.
amwenda@independent.co.ug
Nov 23 - 29 2018 9
cover story

Behind ADF attacks

UPDF deploys at Uganda-DR Congo border

By Independent Reporter
A spate of attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) has sparked fears
the rebel group could soon attack Uganda after many years of operating in
eastern DR Congo. Founded in Uganda by a group of Islamic clerics who
sought to create an Islamic state, the rebel group last had a major attack on
Ugandan soil in the 90s but has been blamed for a spate of murders of high
profile public officials between 2010 and 2018.

10 Nov 23 - 29 2018
F
ounded in Uganda by a group
of Islamic clerics who sought to
create an Islamic state, the rebel
group last had a major attack
on Ugandan soil in the 90s but
has been blamed for several
murders of high profile public officials be-
tween 2010 and 2018.
Now, reports about their recruitment
efforts and attacks in the eastern DR Con-
go’s Beni area, which is located only about
90 kilometres from the Ugandan border,
have raised major concerns both locally and
internationally. These reports come hardly a
year after the Ugandan military carried out
strikes against the group’s territory in DR
Congo in what they said was intended to
prevent an attack on Uganda.
Brig. Richard Karemire, the Spokesper-
son for the Uganda People’s Defence Forces
(UPDF) told The Independent that the
Ugandan military is deployed at the bor-
der working with the Local Defence Units
(LDUs) to ensure that the country’s border,
people and their property are safe from any
potential attacks from the ADF.
“We are on high alert,” Brig. Karemire
told The Independent.
“It is unfortunate that civilians and UN
peacekeepers are being killed. The ADF is
clearly a regional menace, which needs to
be dealt with by a robust regional mecha-
nism.”
Karemire said that the International
Conference on the Great Lakes Region
(ICGLR), a regional grouping of 12 states,
had resolved to establish a joint follow up
mechanism, which involved setting up a
joint command centre where officers from
member states would gather intelligence
together and carry out other activities to
neutralize such threats.
However, he noted, while Uganda pro-
vided the centre in Kasese, other member
states never deployed officers to the centre.
“When attacks like these happen,” Brig.
Karemire said, “You begin to think that if
we had operationalized this facility, these
sorts of things would be nipped in the bud.”
Karemire noted that the ADF is able to
carry out these attacks because they have
continued to recruit, have arms, and have
been acquiring more by attacking the bases
of the Congolese military.
In December last year, the UPDF
launched an attack on the ADF. At the time,
Karemire explained that the UPDF attacked
ADF bases in DR Congo using fighter jets
after shared intelligence between Uganda
and the DR Congo confirmed that the ADF
were planning to conduct hostile activities
against Uganda. The army spokesperson
explained that it was a preemptive move.
During those strikes, the UPDF reported
that they had killed 100 ADF insurgents and
destroyed eight camps of the rebel outfit.
The strikes came just days after the
ADF had killed 15 UN peacekeepers and
An ADF training center at Mwalika camp in 2011  (Photo: UN Group of Experts, 2011)
Brig. Richard Karemire
wounded over 50 others.
According to UPDF intelligence, the
attack on the UN base was diversionary.
The ADF’s real intention was to infiltrate
and attack Uganda, UPDF officials noted.
Asked whether the UPDF was planning
another onslaught in light of the recent
developments, Karemire said: “DRC col-
leagues assured us that they had capacity to
conduct ground operations and eliminate
the threat,” Brig. Karemire said.
However, observers say the ADF has
been overrunning the Congolese army, kill-
ing civilians and abducting others, all the
while growing from strength to strength.
In the most recent attack, the ADF is
reported to have killed another seven UN
peacekeepers—six from Malawi and one
from Tanzania. This followed an intense
exchange of fire between the UN forces and
the Congelese military (FARDC). The joint
cover story
military operation is in part intended to rout
rebel forces out of Beni, the regional capital
and the largest city in the area, which hap-
pens to be the most affected by the current
Ebola outbreak. It is also the main base for
efforts to fight the disease. The joint opera-
tion was meant to clear Beni of the rebel
attacks and allow efforts to fight the disease.
A series of rebel attacks on civilian and
medical personnel have in the recent past
forced suspension of the efforts by different
groups in the region to fight the disease.
200 deaths have been registered since the
outbreak was declared Aug. 1 in what offi-
cials say is the worst Ebola outbreak in the
country’s history.
According to Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN
peacekeeping chief, the UN and Congolese
troops faced two separate attacks by ADF
fighters on Nov.16.
Lacroix explained that joint force repelled
the first attack successfully but then the
rebels re-organised and in the second attack
killed peacekeepers.
Estimates indicate that after suffering a
number of setbacks that brought down its
numbers to slightly over 100, the ADF has
in the last few years grown them again to
about 500 fighters.
This resurgence of ADF is a surprise to
many who hoped that the group would be
weakened and thrown into disarray follow-
ing the April 2015, arrest of their command-
er, Jamil Mukulu by Tanzanian authorities.
The Tanzanian authorities later extradited
Mukulu to Uganda where he and 37 oth-
ers are facing charges of terrorism, crimes
against humanity, aiding and abetting ter-
rorism, murder, attempted murder, among
others.
Nov 23 - 29 2018 11
cover story
ADF rebel leader Jamil Mukulu is escorted by prison wardens following his arrest in Tanzania.   COURTESY /PHOTO
ADF, which was founded in Uganda
in the early 90’s has been accused of the
murder of 80 students of Kichwamba Tech-
nical Institute in 1998 and the killing of 38
civilians in Bundibugyo district of western
Uganda.
The Ugandan army only forced the
group to move all of its bases into the Con-
go in 2000 after their combined operations
had led to the death of up to a 1,000 people
since 1996, estimates indicate.
Over the years, the group has been
blamed for a series of murders. On June 6,
for instance, while appearing before parlia-
ment, President Yoweri Museveni blamed
the ADF for the murder of former Assistant
Inspector General of Police Andrew Felix
Kawesi who was murdered on March 17
last year, that of seven Muslim clerics, assas-
sinated in various parts of the country since
2012, the murder of Major Muhammed Kig-
gundu, a former ADF commander turned
government collaborator.
He also blamed ADF for the murder of
Joan Kagezi, who at the time of her murder
in 2015, was the lead prosecutor in the trial
of suspects who were later convicted for
bombing Kampala in 2010.
The president also blamed the ADF for
the death of Susan Magara, who was kid-
napped for weeks and later killed.
The President’s revelations, while doubt-
ed by many, were not surprising because
over the years, his security chiefs including
12 Nov 23 - 29 2018
former police chief, Gen. Kale Kayihura had
previously blamed all these murders on the
same rebel outfit.
President Museveni also said the DR
Congo government and the United Nations
were responsible for the survival of the
ADF. A recent report on the ADF by the
Congo Research Group notes that currently,
there are two main groups of the ADF, one
in southern Beni territory, based in the flood
plain of the Semuliki river around Mwa-
lika village; and the other in the so-called
“Triangle of Death”, to the east of the Beni-
Eringeti road. According to the report, there
has been significant fragmentation within
the group, with some factions no longer
answering to ADF command.
Several ex-combatants, the report notes,
the Mwalika camp is the transit point for
new recruits and is an important relay point
for supplies coming from Uganda and local
markets there. Since the arrest of Mukulu,
the report notes, Musa Seka Baluku leads
the group. “Hood Lukwago remains army
commander, and almost all of the senior
officers named by a defector in 2018 with
close knowledge of the senior command,
and corroborated by Ugandan intelligence
officers, were listed four year ago as senior
ADF leaders, although they have been shuf-
fled between positions,” the report adds.
Over the years, the report notes, the
ADF has always maintained ties within the
Ugandan Muslim diaspora. It adds that
Jamil Mukulu used to travel to the United
Kingdom on a British passport, lived in
Nairobi, and maintained financial interests
in Tanzania.
According to two defectors, the report
adds, members of the Muslim community
in the United Kingdom sent money and
facilitated recruitment for the ADF.
“UN investigators have discovered, for
example, evidence of Western Union trans-
fers during 2013 and 2014 from people in
the United Kingdom to ADF agents in east-
ern Congo totaling at least $14,970.84,” the
report reads in part.
Links with Islamist groups
The report also notes that while the
Ugandan government has accused the
ADF of being behind the assassinations of
Muslim clerics, a former ADF commander
who had been integrated into the Ugandan
army, as well as a senior prosecutor and
police commander, there is no evidence
confirming these.
The report adds that although govern-
ment implicated the group in the July 2010
bombing of several restaurants in Kampala
that killed 65 people, there was no evidence
to confirm that claim, and US investigators
at the time expressed skepticism. However,
it shows that the arrest of Waleed Ahmed
Zein, a Kenyan national and ISIS financial
facilitator, and him being placed under US
sanctions is the first material evidence of
 Inside  the  ADF  rebellion:







 



 #




"

cover story
links between the ADF and
global jihadist networks.
Q 
 
 
 

 
Zein was arrested in July
2018 on terrorism financing External Logistics – Reports to
charges and was sanctioned by Sheikh Musa Baluku 
 
 






 
the US government in Septem- Amir  of  ADF  aka  MTM
ber 2018. Kenyan police alleged
Court Martial/Judges
that he was responsible for
moving over $150,000 through
a network linked to ISIS, which
spanned numerous countries,
including the Congo.
Apparently, Ugandan offi- Lukwago Hood – Q Wasswa Kadala Muhammad Butambala Recoiless Mama Sarah
cials claim that Zein was in %

  


  


  


 

# 
 


 
touch with the ADF, and one 

ADF defector told CRG that a Military Wing
man by that name had sent her
money in Kampala.
Sources close to the US gov-
ernment also confirmed that
Zein had sent money to the Kayiira Muhammad Dr. Amisi Kasadha Elias Segujja Ibrahim Muzanganda
ADF. 

  Head  of  Training     






Head  of  Armoury
and  Finances and  Medical 


 "
Escalation of violence
The CRG report also makes
a connection between the links
with other militant extremist
groups and the rebel group’s
recent violent streak. Amigo Kibirige Kajaju Kibuye Richard Mugisha – Q Katungi







 


 


It shows that while the rebel $

 
outfit has always used violence
against civilians as a military
strategy specifically to; carry
out recruitment, to undermine
the legitimacy of the Ugandan
and Congolese governments, Abdu Shakur Kitongole Toyo Abdallah Jaberi Ansa Werasson


 

 

 "
and to punish the local popula-
tion for collaborating with their
enemies. It is only recently, that
it has used violence on a large
scale against local Congolese
communities who it previously Nasser Abdu Hamid Diiru Katembo Oketch Kiswiriri Kabila Abdalla
relied on for its economic activi- "%



 " 

 


ties and intelligence, among
others.
Apparently, this began to
change slowly in 2010, the
report notes, when the Con-
golese army and the FARDC Braida Benjamin Kisokeranio Muhammad Lumisa
launched Operation Ruwenzori 


" '

'
Doctor  
against the ADF. and  Supplies $

 
On February 2013, the Con-
golese army took over the main ADF structure: Source CRG report  




  31
southern ADF camp in Mwa-
lika but most ADF simply relo-
cated to another, nearby camp.
The report also shows that on
April 12 the FARDC launched
its most ambitious operation
into the heart of the ADF-
controlled area in an attempt to
take control of their headquar-
ters in Madina.
This offensive, however,
stalled and MONUSCO had to
deploy its attack helicopters to
support an FARDC regiment
that was trapped in the forest.
Since May 2018 there have been
no large-scale FARDC opera-
tions. Since then, the report
shows, there has been an uptick
in violence. On March 27, 2018,
suspected ADF members pen-
etrated into the town of Beni,
killing 11 people; while on May
20, they attacked Mangboko
village just north of Beni, killing
ten. On September 22, 2018, the
ADF raided the eastern part
of Beni city, killing at least 15
civilians and four Congolese
soldiers, wounding others and employed by the movement,
looting and burning11 houses. from a war against the Ugan-
“Before, the army and the dan government to a broader
ADF coexisted very well,” the struggle for Islam.
report quotes a 19 year old who “Before, the ADF attacked
escaped in 2013 after spend- Uganda,” a combatant who
ing six years with the ADF as defected in 2016 is quoted in
saying, “Since the government the report, “It was a political
launched operations against struggle, they killed civilians
ADF in 2010, they have become within that context. Now, they
aggressive.” kill the Congolese who they
The group also notes that used to live with.”
videos by the ADF appear to
illustrate a shift in the rhetoric
Nov 23 - 29 2018 13
news analysis

The Kampala-Entebbe Expressway was built using a Chinese loan.   COURTESY PHOTO

By Ronald Musoke
China’s ‘Plan B’
A
frica could further sink into

for African debt

more debt if China goes ahead
with plans to sell the continent’s
debt to investors, starting next
year, observers fear.
Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation
(HKMC), a leading Chinese banking
conglomerate, reports indicate, Analysts fear move will accumulate
is negotiating with the Chinese
government to buy and repackage an
assortment of African infrastructure debt
more debt for African countries
into securities, which will then be sold to
investors. mainland China and overseas joining as recently.
Apparently, the move is aimed at partners to buy Africa’s infrastructure “I am happy that the HKMC is now
“allowing the Chinese government to debt. considering a new line of business of
generate more money it can loan out to “This initiative we believe will help buying infrastructure loans for the
finance more infrastructure projects on recycle commercial banks’ capital to purpose of securitization,” Wong said,
the continent.” be redeployed into other Greenfield “This is because new capital standards for
The arrangement, still being infrastructure projects, besides enabling banks do not make it attractive for them
formulated, could see more than 90 wider capital markets participation in to hold onto loans on a long term basis,
firms including project developers or infrastructure development under the even though the projects at the brownfield
operators, commercial and investment Road and Belt initiative,” HKMC Greater stage are operating smoothly.”
banks, amongst others from Hong Kong, China chief executive, Helen Wong, said But observers of the China-Africa

14 Nov 23 - 29 2018

engagement say that while for Chinese
financiers, this development offers several
opportunities to make more money from
the continent, this approach could also
prove to be a “poisoned chalice” as it
could push African countries into more
debt.
China has over the last decade become
the single largest bilateral financier of
infrastructure in Africa surpassing the
African Development Bank (ADB), the
European Commission, the European
Investment Bank, the International
Finance Corporation, the World Bank and
the G8 countries combined.
News of fanciful superhighways and
suspended bridges being launched, huge
hydro electric power dams and even
new cities sprouting out in countries like
Senegal and Angola is not uncommon
these days, thanks to hassle-free looking
loans from Beijing.
Choking on Chinese debt
There is no official Chinese data on
loans to African countries but, according
to latest data from the China-Africa
Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins
University which has been collecting,
cleaning and analyzing data on
African loans since 2007, the Chinese
government, banks and contractors have
extended US$ 143 billion in loans to
African governments over the period.
Angola tops the list having received US$
42.8 billion.
The East African countries are not far
off behind. They are said to owe China
a combined US $29.42 billion as at April,
2018, in infrastructure loans with Ethiopia
leading the region with US$ 13.73 billion
debt to Beijing, followed by Kenya at US$
9.8 billion while Uganda owes US$2.96
billion and Tanzania (US$ 2.34 billion).
Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan
owe US$289 million, US$99 million and
US$182 million, respectively.
The Johns-Hopkins University research
project notes that Ethiopia has invested
the bulk of its funds in the transport
sector (US$ 4.37 billion), which was used
for both the Addis Ababa light railway
project and the Addis-Djibouti 700km
railway followed by communication at
US$3.16 billion and power projects at
US$2.54 billion while close to US$ 2.02
billion has gone into kick-starting its
special industrial zones.
The Kenyan government, on the other
hand, has taken a US$597 million loan
for power projects, including the US$135
million for the 55MW solar power
plant in the northern town of Garissa.
While South Sudan has received US$
158 million for its transport sector to
date, and a further US$ 24 million for its
energy projects.
Uganda’s energy sector, on the other
hand, has received the highest funding
from Beijing, at US$1.92 billion, while
its transport sector has absorbed US$
762 million. The Export-Import Bank
of China has funded the US$1.4 billion
Karuma and provided another US$483
million for Isimba—two hydroelectric
power dams on River Nile, which are
currently under construction.
China gave Uganda another US$350
million to construct the Entebbe-
Kampala Expressway, now in use. In
eastern Uganda, Guangzhou Dongsong
Energy Group Ltd opened in October, a
polymetallic industrial complex expected
to cost up to US$ 620 million when it is
fully complete next year.
China’s second look at its Chinese loan
portfolio with Africa comes at a time
when many observers are having doubts
about the sustainability of Chinese debt
to Africa.
Some African countries are said to be
spending almost 80% of their revenues
to service these loans, which analysts
say are becoming a burden especially
given that their impact is yet to be felt in
news analysis
economic growth terms.
Top executives from China’s main
project insurer, China Export and Credit
Insurance Corporation or Sinosure,
recently stopped short of saying some
infrastructure projects on the continent
may after all, not be that viable.
This was after a top executive noted
that the firm had already incurred
losses of more than US$ 1 billion on the
Ethiopian-Djibouti railway alone.
Wang Wen, Sinosure’s principal
economist recently told a forum on the
Belt and Road infrastructure financing
in Hong Kong that the planning behind
many of China’s major infrastructure
projects abroad has been “downright
inadequate” leading to huge financial
losses.
For instance, the Ethiopian
government has already asked for the
restructuring of the US$ 4 billion debt of
the Addis Ababa-Djibouti cargo railway,
which was opened with fanfare recently.
“Chinese developers and financiers of
projects in developing nations need to
step up their risk management to avoid
disaster. We can see the mistake of the
Addis-Djibouti Railway line, which has
cost Sinosure a US$ 1 billion loss,” said
Wang.
Ramathan Goobi, an economics
lecturer at Makerere University Business
School in Kampala told The Independent
on Nov.16 that China has perhaps
realized that the pace at which they were
giving loans to African governments was
unsustainable.
“They were perhaps too excited that
they were taking over from the West
in terms of tapping into this lucrative
region,” Goobi said, “So the scramble for
Africa made them throw caution to the
wind.”
Patrick Tumwebaze, the executive
director of Uganda Debt Network also
told The Independent on Nov. 16 that
China could be having a change of heart
because many African countries are
already defaulting on their Chinese debt
obligations.
For Julius Mukunda, the executive
director of the Civil Society Budget
Advocacy Group (CSBAG), it is very
obvious what China is trying to do.
Mukunda said already observers
in the international financial system
have been cautioning China saying the
infrastructure loans are not working and
that China is likely to lose out on billions
of dollars.
FOCAC turns into debt relief summit
In September, this year, as dozens of
African heads of state flew into Beijing
for this year’s Forum on China-Africa
Cooperation, many of them had one
thing on their mind: asking the Chinese
Nov 23 - 29 2018 15
news analysis
government to restructure their debts.
The Ethiopian government was
reportedly the first country to ask for
an extension of the repayment terms
of its 700km Djibouti Ethiopia railway,
following its underuse, thanks to
power shortage. In the same month,
Botswana also asked for reprieve from
China. President Mokgweetsi Masisi
said Botswana had requested for debt
relief to China and got a debt and interest
cancellation of US$ 7.2 million.
The Kenyan government also asked
Beijing to consider providing half of the
US$ 3.8 billion for the second phase of the
Naivasha-Kisumu standard gauge railway
as a grant and the other half as a loan. But
Zambia denied reports that it was in talks
with Chinese companies for a debt-to-
public-utility swap.
Fortunately for Ethiopia, the Chinese
government agreed to extend the maturity
period and now, instead of paying the loan
over the next 10 years, it will be paid over
the next 30 years.
Reality check for China
Analysts say the continent’s debt problem
could worsen, especially given the obscure
nature in which they are signed.
Tim Jones, an economist at the Jubilee
Debt Campaign in Nairobi told The East
African in October, this year, that Africa’s
debt problem is worsening and many
lenders bear responsibility, not just China.
“We need new rules to make all lenders
publicly disclose loans to governments at
the time they are given,” Jones said,“We
also need to see these lenders made to
restructure and reduce debts.”
Deborah Brautigam, the director at the
Johns Hopkins University’s China-Africa
Research Initiative has been quoted as
saying the risk for the African borrowers
relates to the projects’ profitability.
“It’s always important to look at whether
these projects will generate enough
economic activity to repay these loans, as
opposed to being seen as merely ribbon-
cutting opportunities,” Brautigam said.
In October, Sierra Leone cancelled a
16 Nov 23 - 29 2018
President Museveni President Xi Jinping
planned US$ 400 million Chinese-funded
project for a new airport just outside the
capital, Freetown according to a BBC report.
The project was agreed and former
President Ernest Bai Koroma signed the
loan agreement with China before he lost
the election in March, this year.
Aviation minister, Kabineh Kallon said
the project, which was due to have been
completed in 2022, was not necessary
arguing that Sierra Leone’s current
international airport would be renovated
instead.
In fact economists on the continent say
African countries are increasingly getting
trapped in debt due to the Chinese’s
previous unwillingness to pay more
attention to the types of projects they lend
to.
“Most of this debt was acquired
to invest in high cost infrastructure
projects like the standard gauge railway,
Ezra Munyambonera, head of the
macroeconomics department at the
Economic Policy Research Centre at
Makerere University told The East African in
September.
Mukunda does not appear optimistic
about China’s new arrangement. He says
countries that have borrowed money from
China might have to worry more because
the company buying this debt may not be
as lenient as the Chinese government.
“These companies are like brokers; they
might come and want to sell off some of
these assets to the highest bidder.”
Goobi also doubts whether China will
succeed with their debt to equity swap
scheme. He notes that on a continent
infamous for poor corporate governance
and lack of competitiveness, private
investors may not be as enthusiastic in
buying this debt.
For Dr. Fred Muhumuza,a Makerere
University based economist, China
might be going in this direction because
it still wants to maintain its strong
political relations with Africa.
“Already China is struggling with the
perception that it is deliberately miring
African countries with debt; that it is
lending to Africa with the intention of
grabbing their resources,” Muhumuza
told The Independent on Nov. 13.
“China feels it might not be able to
enforce the loan repayment yet it still
wants to maintain its diplomatic clout on
the continent. They are getting concerned
that the money they are lending might not
be recouped as they had expected.”
Muhumuza told The Independent that
the talk that infrastructure often leads to
development is also recursive— that after
you have developed—your development
can help you upgrade your infrastructure.
“So you don’t begin with first class
infrastructure, thinking that it will spur
development, you begin with moderate
infrastructure.”
“For us, we began with expensive
first class superhighways but these are
not bringing us the desired benefits. We
could have chosen to begin with the old
tarmac we used to do and we could have
chosen to pave others with murram and
as the economy improves, we upgrade.”
“But we also stole the money; the
corruption aspect in these infrastructure
projects cannot be ignored.
“The loans for these infrastructure
projects have been way too expensive.
We could have done most of these
projects with a quarter or a third of
the cost we borrowed from China,”
Muhumuza said.
*terms and conditions apply
AfricellUG @AfricellUG

Protestors lit fire in the streets of Lira in riots against Police and Asian traders.
Behind clashes in Lira
Alleged abuse by Asians, police
corruption blamed for rising tensions
By Ian Katusiime
T
he death of Dickens Okello, an
11-year-old boy, on Nov. 12 in the
northeastern district of Lira appears
to have ignited tensions between
Ugandans and the Asian community in the
area.
Observers say the death, which sparked
the recent clashes, was the tipping point of
tensions that have been simmering for years
due to alleged abuse meted out on Ugan-
dans by their Asian employers.
The situation has been compounded by
alleged mismanagement of reported cases
by Police, locals say.
According to Charles Angiro Gutomoi,
the MP for Erute North, Okello met two
Indians in a vehicle who tried to lure him
with sweets as he returned home from
school.
Gutomoi says Okello snubbed their offer
but what followed after has not been clearly
established. Some accounts indicate that
it was a case of attempted kidnap as the
two Indians chased after the boy when he
turned down their sweets.
Other accounts note that the boy’s leg
was broken, that he was hit with a blunt
object before he was strangled.
Police Spokesperson Emilian Kayima
told The Independent that the two Indians are
going to be charged with murder.
Gutomoi says residents in Lira felt
that the post mortem report done at Lira
Regional Referral Hospital, which indicated
that Okello died of a “heart attack” was
fabricated. The post mortem report angered
the local community. “The communities
of Kole and Lira were not satisfied with the
results of the post mortem,” Gutomoi told
The Independent. “The parents and friends of
the pupil said that he had never complained
about getting sick.”
Jonathan Odur, MP for Erute County
South, said the post mortem result was
bad enough but what worsened matters
was when the police attempted to impose
itself on the burial programme of Okello
on Nov.17. “Mourners objected and police
responded with bullets. This led to clashes.
One person died and the locals attacked
Asian shops,” Odur told The Independent.
History of abuse
Odur says locals in Lira are not happy
with Asians about a number of events going
back in time. “There are grave crimes com-
mitted by the Asian community. The police
and the justice system are not able to pros-
ecute the culprits,” he adds.
He narrates an incident in 2013 when an
Asian boss at a company called Mt. Meru
returned to the company factory at 9pm
and abused employees. “He assembled all
the local staff in one corner and he urinated
on them,” Odur says, “This matter was
reported to Lira Central Police Station but
the case was mismanaged.”
Another incident, Odur says, happened
about three or four years ago, when a
number of girls working at Asian owned
supermarkets were allegedly gang-raped
and sodomized. “Police opted to protect the
Asians,” he says.
He narrates more incidents. “This year a
17 year old girl working at TipTop bakery
was assaulted by two Asian bosses. They
forced half a kilogramme of pepper powder
in her anus.” Odur says he raised the mat-
ter on the floor of parliament but adds that
Speaker Kadaga mismanaged it.
“One of the people in Lira police tried
to follow up the case but instead a murder
news analysis
case was fabricated against him,” he tells
The Independent. The legislator believes the
post mortem report of Okello was doctored
due to the compromised nature of the
police.
Odur says the only solution will be the
security forces in Lira giving way for an
independent investigation to get to the bot-
tom of the issues causing animosity in Lira.
Asians in petty trade
There is also concern about the intrusion
of Asians into the hawking business that
should be ordinarily done by locals. They
are reportedly vending sodas, other items
and doing business on bicycles which locals
in Lira feel should be left for them.
Amelia Kyambadde, Minister for Trade
and Industry, visited Lira last year to
address the issue but no resolution was
reached. Odur says the Lira community
needs to sit down with government to agree
on what foreign investors can and cannot
do as they do business.
Police spokesperson Emilian Kayima
says political actors are culpable for the skir-
mishes in Lira for behaving like mobs.
“If there is any case that was misman-
aged, let us identify it but not jump to con-
clusions,” he says, “Let there be some level
of responsibility. If there were cases which
were mismanaged, who are the people that
were involved?”
Kayima says the police will deal with the
individual officers who were involved in
the cases if they are found.
In the last few weeks, there have been
reports of gangs attacking Chinese busi-
nesses and there are plans by the govern-
ment to have the Uganda Peoples Defence
Forces (UPDF) protect the business prem-
ises of Chinese.
Nov 23 - 29 2018 17
NEWS ANALYSIS
A WFP staff gives a refugee her food ration in the southern Uganda settlement of Nakivale.   WFP PHOTO
Germany gives Shs64 billion
to refugee host communities
Kitty part of Shs296 billion grant Germany will give to Uganda
By Ronald Musoke
R
efugee hosting communities in
northern Uganda will benefit from
some €15 million (Shs64 billion)
from Germany according to a
new bilateral development cooperation
agreement signed on Nov.16 in Kampala.
The news is a major relief to the Uganda
government which is struggling to deal
with an influx of refugees in the country—
the majority of whom are South Sudanese.
A statement from the German embassy
indicated that the €15 million is part of the
€36.2 million geared towards agriculture
and rural development. Over all, Germany
is giving a total of €69.5 million (Shs
296.33 billion) to Uganda in development
cooperation over the next two years.
Uganda and Germany have also agreed
to focus on renewable energy as well as
other initiatives meant to strengthen public
finance management systems, governance
and civil society as well as technical and
vocational training for the Ugandan youth.
At the centre of the new cooperation
arrangement is Uganda’s second
National Development Plan currently
under implementation and the so-called
“Marshall-Plan for Africa” which is the
18 Nov 23 - 29 2018
new strategy for the German Development
Cooperation.  supported off-grid power projects thanks to
Patrick Ocailap, the deputy secretary
to the treasury signed on behalf of
Uganda while Niels Breyer, the director
for East Africa at the Federal Ministry of
Development Cooperation signed on behalf
of Germany.
According to the new deal, Germany
hopes to rejuvenate Uganda’s agricultural
sector which does not only employ most
of Uganda’s labour force but also has
the potential to boost the country’s food
security.
Although in the past, focus of German
cooperation has been on water and
sanitation, funds will also be rechanneled
into water for production to address the
growing pressure on water resources to
address climate change.
Germany will also invest in 40 solar-
powered mini-grids in rural areas to bring
electricity to marginalized villages which
are quite far away from the national grid.
These mini-grids will serve families and
small scale industries with reliable access to
electricity for private and productive use.
According to the new agreement, up to
€23.2 million will go into these new projects.
Germany has in the past successfully
the GetFit programme, which uses public
funds to boost decentralization of renewable
power generation.
The new focus of Germany’s
development cooperation with Uganda
in the energy sector is in line with the
sentiments German ambassador Dr.
Albrecht Conze shared with The Independent
in an interview, early this year.
When The Independent asked him about
the focus of his new role as German
ambassador to Uganda, Dr. Conze
emphasized the need for the installation of
more solar power plants in the countryside.
“Solar power plants should be installed in
other places because Uganda has abundant
sun,” he said.
Germany has also set aside about €
10 million (with another €10.1 million
subject to German Parliament approval)
for anti-corruption, public finance reform,
governance, human rights and civil society
activities.
Germany’s bilateral programmes in
Uganda are implemented by German
International Cooperation (GIZ) and KfW –
the German Development Bank.

By Gard Benda
NEMA shouldn’t approve
Tilenga Project ESIA as it is
O
n Nov. 12, hundreds of people
turned up at the headquarters of
Buliisa and Nwoya districts to
participate in the public hearing
for the Tilenga Project Environment and
Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) study
done by AECOM Uganda Ltd on behalf of
the Tilenga Project partners.
The Tilenga project involves the develop-
ment of six oil fields in the Albertine Graben
by the oil companies—Total E&P, Tullow
Oil and CNOOC. These oil fields are located
within the Murchison Falls National Park.
The main objective of the ESIA study is
to establish the likely environmental chal-
lenges paused by the project and propose
concrete mitigation strategies prior to the
undertaking of the project.
Some of the key aspects include ensuring
net gain in biodiversity and ecosystems
preservation amidst oil extraction, health
and safety of the communities directly and
indirectly related to the project area, general
environment and social impacts as well as
beneficial and or social cost benefit analysis
considerations. This is why both the ESIA
and the public hearing are critical.
The National Environment Management
Authority (NEMA) is required by law to
oversee this process (EIA regulations of
1998 particularly regulations 18, 19, 20 and
22 (2)). Unfortunately, NEMA failed to
observe this.
That observation notwithstanding, my
main focus is the content of the ESIA
report. The sole reason for my focus is
because the NEMA Executive Director is
obliged to make a decision to approve or
do otherwise upon satisfactory determina-
tion that there are no threats of significant
negative impacts posed by the project and
that sufficient mitigation measures to deal
with the impacts have been proposed. The
NEMA Executive Director takes a decision
considering full satisfaction that key critical
aspects provided under regulation 24 have
been met.
These include; the validity of the predic-
tions made in the environmental impact
statement, analysis of the economic and
social cultural impacts of the project, the
comments made by different stakeholders
including project affected communities, the
report of the presiding officer at a public
hearing where applicable and any other
issues considered crucial in particular cir-
cumstances. I and colleagues from CSOs
have been keenly following the process and
analysed the text and content of the ESIA
report and we call on NEMA not to rush to
approve the report as it is but rather reflect
more on various options provided under
the EIA regulations.
Some of these include the requirement
that the project could be re-designed
including directing that different tech-
nology or an alternative site be chosen,
referring back the project or part thereof to
the developer where there is insufficient
information for further study or submis-
sion of additional information as may be
required to enable the Executive Director
make a decision.
We need the Tilenga project so we cannot
afford to suggest that NEMA rejects it.
What we are saying that there are out-
standing issues that need to be addressed
first before any approvals can be granted.
These are the outstanding issues.
First, the ESIA study does not provide
concrete sufficient strategies and plans to
support the Tilenga Project. For example, it
suggests that different strategies and plans
will be developed and implemented such as
community impact management strategy,
biodiversity and ecosystem services man-
agement plan, oil spill contingency plan
, resettlement action plan (RAP), cultural
heritage and archeology management plan,
livelihood restoration plan, chemical man-
agement plan, etc.
All these tools should have been devel-
oped and appended on the ESIA so that
one is able to read them and assess if they
really address the potential impacts of the
project. These are the most important and
are the gist of the report. But, as it is, one has
nothing to refer to in evaluating the likely
impact of the project.
Second the report does provide for
benchmarks for the valuation of ecosystem
services lost due to disturbances given the
fact that the project is to be implemented
within the Murchison Falls Protection Area
(MFPA). This area covers the Murchison
Falls—Albert Delta Wetland System Ramsar
site along the Victoria Nile and Murchison
Falls National Park (MFNP) which is the
largest and the second-most visited national
park in Uganda and it is ecologically vital
for Uganda’s unique animal and plant spe-
cies. The ESIA needed to do more analysis
on the value of the ecosystem services lost
and provide alternative options for the
equivalent and corresponding mitigation
measures.
comment
Thirdly the ESIA study does not pro-
vide an elaborate analysis about the
transboundary relations regarding the
potential impacts of the project on the
diplomatic relations and subsequent likely
consequences that may arise from harsh
responses by the Nile River Basin Riparian
States. Considering the risks related to
the possibility of an oil spill and the likely
impact on water volumes, more needs to
be done. Otherwise, we risk tensions with
other countries.
Apart from this, the ESIA does not pro-
vide analysis on the implication of the
project on existing cross border agreements
and treaties such as the Ngurdoto Agree-
ment on the use of Lake Albert resources
and the role of the joint boundary com-
mission. Risk analysis in regard to trans-
boundary disputes and possible proposals
on dispute management should clearly be
highlighted.
The ESIA also lacks clarity on benefits for
the communities. While it provides high-
lights of the benefits of the project, there
is no clear information on how much the
communities will benefit. For example the
communities have been getting 20% from
tourism but the report does not indicate
whether they will continue to benefit in the
same manner or in a better way.
Limited conflict analysis in the report
is prevalent and no proposals on mecha-
nisms to address grievances. The report,
for instance, provides for minimal flaring
during normal operations as one of the miti-
gation measures for emissions yet world
over flaring is prohibited.
The ESIA does not bring out strongly
issues of corporate accountability for irre-
sponsible operations. There is, for instance,
no clear mitigation plan for contingencies
and in case of the pipeline leakage. It also
lacks alternative analysis specifically the
alternative options regarding the different
modes of resettlement and compensation.
Finally, tracking the waste disposal man-
agement process is inadequate and does not
capture the role of other critical stakeholders
such the involvement of local governments.
With these reasons, I implore NEMA not to
rush and approve the ESIA as it is, because
it requires a little more scrutiny.
Gard Benda is the Chairperson of Publish What
You Pay – Uganda and Executive Director of
World Voices Uganda
Nov 23 - 29 2018 19
interview

We are totally in favour of national

dialogue, says Belgian ambassador
This year, Uganda and Belgium are celebrating 20 years of cooperation. Hugo Verbist, the Belgian
Ambassador to Uganda, talked to The Independent’s Ronald Musoke about the bilateral cooperation.

This year, Belgium and Uganda are We have made a lot of effort. Last
celebrating 20 years of bilateral relations. year we had a very big and important

W
What has been the focus? trade delegation come to Uganda.
e are talking about the 20 We are very proud that at least
years since we opened our two contracts ensued from
embassy in Kampala. Before the visit; in solar energy
then, our embassy was in and agribusiness (milk
Nairobi. Our cooperation dates back to the coolers). Still, we think
independence days or even much earlier trade between the two
than that. For example, a company like countries has room for
Sabena (now Brussels Airlines) is an airline improvement and we
that has flown to Entebbe since before have to work further
Uganda’s independence, and has never on it.
stopped.Our cooperation with Uganda
has tended to focus on the social sectors Over the last decade,
(education and health). In education, we Uganda has imported
have concentrated our efforts on teacher US$421.5 million worth
training. We have not only refurbished the of goods and exported
national teacher colleges but also improved goods worth US$ 290.8
the management and curriculum of these million to Belgium.
colleges. We also have a component on What explains Uganda’s
skills development because we notice trade deficit with
that quite a lot of Ugandan students go to Belgium?
university and when they finish, they don’t The deficit between
find jobs, yet at the same time, some key Uganda and Belgium is
sectors in the economy sometimes struggle partly because Uganda
to find the right people. So we are trying mainly exports coffee, tea,
to bridge that gap. In the health sector, we fish which are unprocessed
have developed the results-based financing products while Belgium brings in
concept whereby financing is based more mainly pharmaceutical products and
on output than input, meaning that the machinery. But the gap is becoming
better the output of the public or private smaller and it can be solved by creating
institution is, the more financing they get. more value in Uganda itself, and Belgian
This is aimed at stimulating efficiency in investments in the country can help. We
the management of the institution. also give on average about €16 million in
development aid every year. So over the
Any particular reason why Belgium last 10 years, that is about €160 million.
focuses on these two programmes in
Uganda? What explains the growing Belgian
I think one important way to alleviate investors’ interest in Uganda?
poverty in a country like Uganda is to I think the Belgian investors feel that
make sure that the population is well Uganda has a lot of potential. You
educated. You might have many resources have a climate which is good
like minerals but the most important for agriculture. Uganda
capital a country can have is its people. But also has a pool
we also have many NGOs in agriculture of young,
trying to add value to agricultural products talented
before export and we also have very good and
university exchange programmes working
on value chains in the agricultural sector.
These are all small pieces of the puzzle
geared towards alleviating poverty.

Have you been promoting trade

between Belgium and Uganda?

20 Nov 23 - 29 2018

motivated people with whom investors
are keen to work. Uganda is still not yet
industrialized and this means that there
is a lot of potential for investors to come
here and industrialise. The risks might be
higher because of political fragility of the
region but Uganda’s potential makes it
quite attractive for Belgian investors.
What particular challenges do Belgian
investors face while doing business in
Uganda?
I think the most important one is
actually not a secret: the level of corruption
in this country remains quite high. You
have some rankings such as Transparency
International’s Perceived Corruption
Index which ranks Uganda 151out of 180
countries—that is really not good. You
have indexes about the Ease of Doing
Business (by the World Bank), in which
Uganda ranks equally low, which is not
only because of corruption but also about
too much bureaucracy when it comes to
setting up a company. At the beginning of
the 10th Parliament after the 2016 election,
President Museveni talked about (Kisanja)
Hakuna Mchezo—saying that something
needs to be done about this corruption in
his new term—but maybe we don’t see
enough progress.
There appears to be a standoff between
the opposition politicians and the
government since last year’s hotly
contested debate over the removal of an
article on the presidential age limit from
Uganda’s Constitution. What do you
make of this political stalemate?
As far as the change of the constitution is
concerned, this is something that I am not
going to comment about. It is the freedom
of any country to change its constitution
according to the rules which exist. The
foreign policy of any country is based
on a few principles and ours is based on
two; the rule of law and the importance
of dialogue. I don’t know if you know
this but Belgium is a small European
country of 10 million people. We
have three regions and three
communities
and we
We laud
Uganda and
Sudan for
taking the
effort to help
broker the
peace deal in
South Sudan
speak three languages (Dutch, French
and German). Because of this structure,
we sometimes have disagreements about
national issues which sometimes cause
conflicts yet since Belgium’s founding
in 1830, the number of Belgians who
have died in the streets because of
disagreements is very small. People have
always thought that Belgium could split
but that has never happened because we
always keep the channels of dialogue
open. We always look at what unites us
more than what divides us. So we have
learned that it is always good to have a
sense of compromise and a willingness to
talk and dialogue.
Indeed, some observers have suggested
that Uganda probably needs an honest
national dialogue to fix this situation.
What’s your take?
We are in favour of an honest national
dialogue in this country. At the end of the
day, I still believe that everyone in Uganda
wants the best for the country even though
there might be different views about how
to achieve this. So we are totally in favour
of such a dialogue.
You also happen to be Belgium’s
ambassador to South Sudan. How happy
are you with recent developments there?
There was a lot of hope the moment
South Sudan became independent but
then, at the end of 2013, hell broke loose.
So the only way forward is to strive
for peace, and every effort to reach
this has to be commended. The
fact that most of the involved
parties have signed the
agreement makes us hopeful.
We, of course, laud Uganda
and Sudan for taking the
effort to help broker the
peace deal in South Sudan.
interview
How does Belgium reconcile the need
for peace with the need for punishment
of the perpetrators of war crimes and
atrocities in South Sudan?
I think one does not exclude the other.
I don’t think there can be real peace until
those who have committed atrocities are
made accountable for their actions. So
accountability is important, not only in
South Sudan but everywhere in the world.
Looking at the big refugee crisis in
the Great Lakes region, it appears that
this region is always on fire in terms
of political conflict. What explains the
eternal conflict in this region?
That is not an easy question. Let me first
of all commend Uganda for its response
towards refugees. If you look at the current
trends in the world, Uganda’s welcoming
approach towards refugees is quite unique
and we should never forget that. Of
course Belgium and other countries have
helped Uganda in its refugee response,
both in the short term with humanitarian
aid and with skills development in the
long term, but the most important thing
is actually to address the root causes of
those conflicts.This is something we have
to put emphasis on in our six-monthly
dialogues with President Museveni
because we do believe that it is not the EU
that will solve problems in the region but
the political leaders in the region. This is
one of the important reasons why we have
good relations with Uganda—not only
because of our development cooperation
programme but also because we always
have considered Uganda a very good and
reliable partner of Belgium and the EU
when it comes to brokering peace in the
region.
Going forward, what will be the focus of
the Uganda-Belgium cooperation?
Uganda will remain one of our key
development partners. I suspect we are
not going to leave the education and
health sectors since we have developed a
lot of expertise in these sectors. But we are
also looking at ways of how we can put
more emphasis on agriculture since we
have a lot of Belgian NGOs and private
companies active in this sector.
You have been living and working in
Uganda over the last three years. Tell us
about your impressions?
My family and I have enjoyed our stay
in Uganda very much. We think Uganda
is a very beautiful country with a perfect
climate. Ugandans are extremely nice
and welcoming to foreigners— not only
to expatriates but also to refugees. Of
course in Kampala, you have problems
of pollution and traffic but overall, we are
very happy to stay here.
Nov 23 - 29 2018 21
feature
A copy of the international prototype kilogram.
By Kevin Pimbblet
H
ow much is a kilogram? 1,000
grams. 2.20462 pounds. Or 0.0685
slugs based on the old Imperial
gravitational system. But where
does this amount actually come from and
how can everyone be sure they are using
the same measurement?
Since 1889, countries who are members
of the General Conference on Weights and
Measures have agreed to use a standard
block of metal – kept near Paris – to define
the kilogram. Although the modern block is
stored in a highly controlled environment,
its weight can change by tiny amounts as
wear and tear causes it to lose mass and
dirt causes it to increase. To address this
problem, scientists around the world have
spent nearly two decades discussing how
the kilogram could instead be defined
in relation to constant measurements of
nature. And now they have finally reached
a decision.
The first kilogram (originally called a
grave) was defined in 1793 by a commission
of the French Academy of Sciences, who
wanted a better standard than the fixed
amounts of grain that had traditionally
been used. The commission decided that
the new measure would be the mass of one
cubic decimetre of distilled water at 4℃ (the
temperature at which water has its highest
density under standard conditions). This
had the advantage in that most properly
equipped labs would be able to reproduce
this standard. Subsequently, a prototype of
22 Nov 23 - 29 2018
The weight is over!
One kilogram is being redefined
– a physicist explains
this mass was cast in brass.
Unfortunately, this definition of
mass depended upon another variable
measurement, the metre. At this point, the
metre was only provisionally defined as
part of the distance from the North Pole to
the equator. Once the value of the metre and
the temperature of water at its densest were
more accurately defined, the kilogram also
had to be replaced. And a new prototype
was cast in platinum to represent this mass.
Eventually, this was replaced with the
international prototype kilogram (IKP) used
today, cast from a mixture of platinum and
iridium to make it very hard and prevent
it reacting with oxygen. The IPK and six
copies are kept by the International Bureau
of Weights and Measures in the Pavillon de
Breteuil, Saint-Cloud, near Paris in France to
act as a reference to measure against. Copies
of the IPK are transported across the world
to ensure all participating countries use the
same standard.
But even the modern IPK can gradually
change in mass. Radically, the answer from
the International Bureau of Weights and
Measures is to overhaul the definitions of a
kilogram, as well as all the other basic units
of measurement used in science (known as
SI units, from the French for international
system).
Instead of measuring the kilogram
against a block stored in a vault, we
can define it based on precise values of
constants of nature. Agreeing a definition
has taken a long time because we needed
to be able to measure these constants to
exacting standards with an uncertainty
of 30 parts per billion (meaning the
measurements are accurate to 0.00000003 of
a unit).
Scientists have actually already done this
for time and length. A second is no longer
a fraction of the time it takes the Earth to
revolve, which can change as the globe
speeds up or slows down. Instead, a second
is now defined by the time it takes for a
certain amount of energy to be released
as radiation from atoms of Caesium-133.
Specifically, one second equals 9,192,631,770
transitions in the hyperfine ground state
levels of Caesium-133. This is the same no
matter when or where it is measured.
Scientists were then able to redefine the

metre in relation to the second and another
natural constant, the speed of light in a
vacuum (c), which scientists have calculated
as 299,792,458 metres per second. So one
metre is now the length travelled by light in
1/c seconds.
The new definition of the kilogram
uses a measurement from another fixed
value from nature, Planck’s constant (h),
which will be defined as 6.62607015×10−34
joule seconds. Planck’s constant can be
found by dividing the amount of energy a
particle of light or “photon” carries by its
electromagnetic frequency.
The constant is usually measured in
joule seconds but this can also be expressed
as kilogram square metres per second.
We know what a second and a metre is
from the other definitions. So by adding
these measurements, along with an exact
knowledge of Planck’s constant, we can
get a new, very precise definition of the
kilogram.
Other units
Part of the reason creating the new
definition has taken so long is because
scientists have had to create very precise
devices to measure Planck’s constant with
a high enough degree of accuracy. The
method has also been controversial because
it will break the link that the kilogram has
to other base SI units, particularly the mole,
which measures the amount of a substance
in terms of the number of particles it’s
made from. Some scientists have proposed
alternative methods as a result.
But following a symbolic vote, the new
definition of the kilogram will be used
by the International Bureau of Weights
and Measures and national measurement
institutes around the world, along with new
feature
definitions of the remaining base SI units,
the mole, the kelvin (temperature), the
ampere (current) and the candela (luminous
intensity).
For most people, everyday life will carry
on as normal despite the redefinitions.
One standard bag of sugar will contain
as much sugar as it ever did. But some of
these changes, for example to the kelvin,
will mean practical advantages for scientists
making very precise measurements. And
to answer the question “how much is
a kilogram”, we will no longer have to
compare blocks of platinum or worry about
scratching them.
Kevin Pimbblet is a Senior Lecturer in Physics,
University of Hull
Source:theconversation
Nov 23 - 29 2018 23
Cement prices plunge
New study shows the industry is expected
to register growth in the next five years
B
By Julius Businge
uyers of cement have a reason
to smile as cement prices fall
citing oversupply. A 50kg bag
of cement was trading at an
average Shs 28,000 by press
time compared with Shs
38,000 nearly six months ago, representing
a 25% drop.
However, factory prices stand at around
Shs 24,500 per bag. In separate interviews
with The Independent, the country’s larg-
est cement producers – Hima and Tororo
– said cement prices are expected to remain
stable amidst a surge in construction activi-
ties.
Nicolas George, the country CEO at
Hima Cement, a member of the Swiss-
based Lafarge Holcim Group, said the
increase in production capacity boosted by
expansion of old plants and the opening of
new plants in the eastern part of the coun-
try is the main reason behind the falling
prices.
Hima Cement, for instance, doubled its
cement production capacity to two million
tonnes annually, with the launch of a new
plant in Tororo in May this year.
Its longtime rival, Tororo Cement, also
increased its production capacity from
1.9million tonnes to 3million tonnes per
24 Nov 23 - 29 2018
annum during the same period whereas
Kenya’s Simba Cement started its cement
production in the same location last August
with the production of 750, 000 tonnes per
annum expandable to 1.5million tonnes
next year.
This is happening three years after Kam-
pala Cement started production at its plant
at Namataba, along Jinja-Kampala highway
with the capacity of one million tonnes per
annum. “We are now capable of supplying
enough cement to the market,” George said,
adding that they are engaging government
to see that the 10% import duty on clinker, a
key raw material in production of cement is
removed so as to drive down prices further.
He added that the cement firm will
continue to engage government on issues
regarding power stability and tax so that
they are able to produce at capacities that
match demand without destabilising prices.
The cement industry production cur-
rently stands at nearly 7million tonnes per
annum compared to the 2.4million tonnes
demanded annually on the local market.
The country’s cement companies also serve
the markets of DRC, South Sudan and
Rwanda. B.M Gagrani, the executive direc-
tor for Tororo Cement told The Indepen-
dent that prices will remain relatively stable
going forward citing increase in the variety
of cement reaching the Ugandan market.
Wrong timing for expansions?
The new development comes at the time
cement manufacturers in the region are
going through turbulent times, with profits
falling and some going into loss territory,
as a result of stiff competition from cheap
imports, high power costs and low demand
in the housing and construction sectors.
Bamburi, which also owns Hima Cement
Ltd in Uganda and part of the LafargeHol-
cim Group, saw its net profit for 2017 drop
by $39 million to $19.7 million due to lower
sales in the Kenyan market, blamed on the
prolonged election cycle, tightened liquid-
ity occasioned by the interest rate capping
law, drought and delayed infrastructure
projects. Its revenues dropped by six per
cent to $359 million compared with $383
million in 2016.
Bamburi said its turnover decreased
following lower sales in Kenya due to the
contracted market. Uganda’s sales were
broadly flat in both domestic and export
markets, the company said in a statement
in April.
The Kenya-based ARM Cement, produc-
ers of the Rhino brand, lead the sector in
loss making, posting a loss of $35 million in
2017, becoming one of the regional cement
firms to have sunk deep in the red, hav-
ing posted a loss of $28 million in 2016 and

$28.9 million in 2015.
But a new study shows that the region’s
cement industry is expected to register growth
in the next five years amidst a drop in prices.
The latest study by The International Mar-
ket Analysis Research and Consulting dubbed
“East Africa Cement Market: Industry Trends,
Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast
2018-2023” shows that the region’s cement
market is expected to increase from 14.4mil-
lion tonnes in 2017 to 22.2million tonnes by
2023 owing to a fast-growing population and
rising disposable incomes, growing construc-
tion of residential and commercial high-rise
building structures that will translate into a
healthy cement demand in the region.
The report states that the investments made
by the regional governments in public infra-
structure such as the expansion of Entebbe
International Airport, redesigning of Malaba-
Kampala railway route into a standard gauge
line, and the upcoming construction of Bukasa
port are expected to support the industry.
Also, factors such as increasing urbanisation
and continuous private and public construc-
tion works have created a huge demand for
cement in East Africa. For instance, Rwanda is
investing in the development of roads, rail and
water transport facilities which will result in a
significant demand for cement in the region.
Going forward
Gagrani of Tororo Cement said sector play-
ers are embracing new technology to be able
to improve efficiency and meet consumer
demands.
Narendra Raval, the chairperson of Simba
Cement Uganda Ltd, said during the official
opening of the new cement plant in the coun-
try that they aim to drive down the prices of
cement in the country down to Shs 25,000 per
50kg bag so as to support construction activi-
ties. His promise was based on the sharp rise
in prices that the country recorded in April this
year fueling anger among consumers.
Sector players attributed the surge in
prices to power cuts that affected production,
increased local demand from various infra-
structure projects, high demand by the export
market to neighboring countries of Rwanda
and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Cement producers also said there were
delays by the revenue authorities at the bor-
ders to clear trucks of clinker used in cement
making.
Players also said the 10% import duty levied
on clinker and high fuel prices too had contrib-
uted to increased production costs and prices.
Hadija Nakakande, the spokesperson at
the ministry of trade told The Independent
that the new players like Simba and Kampala
Cement have a led to a surge in production
capacity and that the new development would
support growth of the construction sector.
She also revealed the trade ministry is in
talks with the finance ministry on how to
resolve the 10% tax on clinker.
Financial literacy
gets boost
Poor money management skills
blamed for the biting poverty
By The Independent
T
eaching financial literacy to adult
populations has got a lift with the
unveiling of an online platform
that will make financial education
more interesting.
SIMU Plus has partnered with Uganda
Telecom for a roll-out of the M-Learn-
ing platform that teaches youths and
adults a number of skills ranging from
financial literacy to improving agricul-
tural production.
The platform can be accessed by anyone
with a simple mobile phone without internet
connection, and gives voice and interactive
lessons with tests and responses.
The new innovation was unveiled
at the Masaka Micro Finance Develop-
ment and Cooperative Trust Limited
(MAMIDECOT) head offices in Nyendo,
Masaka Municipality. MAMIDECOT is
a cooperative organization that gives out
development loans.
SIMU Plus Executive Director, Uzairu
Nanseera, said one can subscribe for
the m-Learning service by dialing
213 enabling them to access lessons
through interactive voice messages.
A lesson takes four minutes with a pro-
vision of repeating the same lesson for
free where a need for clarification arises until
all 50 lessons that constitute the course are
finished and a certificate is awarded. Each
lesson costs Shs500 that is deducted from the
airtime with no additional cost.
Nanseera said the design of the plat-
form makes it convenient even for busy
people as a learner has freedom to choose
when to take lessons.
He said new packages about agricul-
ture are to be availed soon driven by the
need to rejuvenate the region’s agricul-
tural productivity.
“It’s universal as any kind of phone
can subscribe for it and courses are in
various local languages, this has attracted
many users,” he said.
This development comes as multiple
reports indicate that a big number of
the local population live in poverty due
to poor money management skills and
below-par financial planning for business.
It also coincides with a number of
programs that the government has put
business
in place such as Bank of Uganda’s Finan-
cial Literacy Information Sharing Group
(FLISG), which aims at bridging the finan-
cial literacy gap, especially on the part of
borrowers.
Last July, Uganda Revenue Authority
and the ministry of Gender, Labour and
Social Development held a financial liter-
acy seminar for 18 to 30-year-olds as part
of the government’s ‘Skilling Uganda’
initiative.
Cissy Nalugooti, the first learner
to complete the financial literacy
course under this platform said the new
course has boosted her financial manage-
ment skills and savings. She encourages
all her fellow members to subscribe to
SIMU+ to enjoy the same benefits.
Masaka Municipality Mayor, Godfrey
Kayemba Afaayo, hailed SIMU+ for
the innovation saying it would enable
people utilize time that would have been
wasted on social media platforms to
grow wealth. He called for urgency in
operationalizing the agricultural pack-
age as technical information about it will
be relevant to people of greater Masaka
to resume this activity on which steady
development of this region rested.
Juliet Mayanja, the Masaka District
Assistant Chief Administrative Officer,
lauded SIMU Plus’ innovation, calling for
a partnership with district technical teams
to teach proper financial management
skills to Uganda Women Entrepreneur-
ship Fund and the Youth Livelihood Pro-
gram. She said the two groups are facing
challenges with making returns due to
lack of skills in financial management.
With its founder, Frank Bierens, Simu
Plus disrupts and democratises adult edu-
cation and changes the way young adults
in Sub Saharan Africa gain skills and edu-
cate themselves, including the illiterates
and semi-literates.
Courses are voice based and acces-
sible by all mobile phones, including the
most basic ones. Lessons are offered in
multiple local languages with interactive
voice response ‐interaction for engage-
ment and progress tracking, and are
aimed at increasing people’s chances of
getting a job, improve farming outcomes,
and making money in the informal sec-
tor and health.
Nov 23 - 29 2018 25
Executive Style

Uganda’s banking
sector looks brighter
The country’s banking industry recorded a sluggish
profit growth in 2017 but it projects a positive
outlook ahead. Fabian Kasi, the managing director
of Centenary Bank spoke to The Independent’s
Isaac Khisa about the industry’s growth prospects.

As head of one of the country’s Generally speaking, the

biggest banks in this country, you industry exercised some caution
certainly follow sector performance in lending due the high default
so keenly. What is the outlook for the rates suffered in 2016; however,

O
banking industry? 2017 saw some improvement on
verall, I envisage the banking this front.
sector to flourish and this This had a negative impact
will be supported by the on our bank’s profitability as
government infrastructure well as the heavy investments
agenda that will see the creation of in Information Technology
new businesses and new jobs that will infrastructure. We have started
translate into businesses for Banks. realising the benefits of the new
So, the future looks positive for the IT platforms we have put in place
Banking industry. and the strategy is to leverage on
this technology to deliver excellent
Since the beginning of this year, the customer service, which will in turn
Central Bank has lowered the Central
Bank Rate to the lowest level ever but
commercial banks are yet to follow
suit. What explains this situation?
It is important to note that interest
rates charged by commercial banks are
determined by other factors besides
the CRB. One of them is regarding
the cost incurred by banks to borrow
funds and make them available
for borrowing customers. If banks
borrow funds at a high cost, they may
charge high interest. The other is the
operating costs that banks incur when
providing services to customers such
as overheads, utilities, third parties,
among others. Lastly, the risk involved
in lending to customers also comes
into play especially where recovery is
involved. I think commercial banks
have responded well to the Central
Bank call of lowering interest
rates as way of boosting private
sector lending.

Last year, your institution

registered a Shs.9.9bn
reduction in net profit to
Shs100.3bn. What came
into your mind? What
strategies have you
taken to reverse that
trend?

26 Nov 23 - 29 2018
translate into more revenue.
It is nearly coming to a decade since
you were appointed as MD for
Centenary Bank. What would you say
are your remarkable achievements?
I am happy to note that the success
the bank has recorded over the years
has not been as a result of one man.
It has been based on the team and
institutional effort. As a leader, my
role is to steer the ship to the right
direction and with the help of my
management team and the board of
directors.
Together with the team, we have
managed to move the bottom line
profit from double a digit, which was
ranging around of Shs 30 billion to
3-digit profitability of above Shs 100
billion. This is remarkable and it has
been mainly attributed to the robust
balance growth which crossed a
trillion shilling mark during my time
in office.
With 73 branches and 176 ATMs,
Centenary Bank currently has one of
the biggest branch and ATM networks
in Uganda and the bank boasts of a
customer base of close to 1.6 million
customers, about 25 per cent of the
market share.
In terms of the volumes of loans, we
are giving out Shs1.3 trillion which
is 11 per cent of the total amount of
money the banking public sector is
giving out in loans to people. Finally,
in terms of deposits, we have
mobilized about Shs1.7
trillion, which is 12
per cent of the total
market out there.
We have
managed
to leverage
technology in
order to serve
our customers
better. This year
the bank rolled
out the new
CenteVisa Debit
card to give our
customers more
payment options
and increased
access to their
fund world over.
We continue with
a drive to promote
financial inclusion
and this has been
boosted by introducing
Agent Banking services.
Finally, in terms
of deposits, we
have mobilized
about Shs1.7
trillion, which
is 12 per cent of
the total market
out there
In a bid to enhance financial
inclusion that so far has a huge gap,
you unveiled Cente Mobile Loan.
How is this product performing?
This product is performing fairly
well. Customers are borrowing funds
in big numbers on a daily basis to
cater for their emergency needs since
this is what the product was designed
to address.
A section of the economic experts
have argued that the financial
institution’s move to venture into
micro-loans is to simply make the
population poorer because the
interest rates are quite high compared
with the usual loans. What is
comment on this?
Micro loans have played a key role
in transforming the lives of the people
at the bottom of the pyramid, and
this evident. For example, looking at
the testimonies given by most of the
micro finance customers, they have
managed to improve their businesses,
homes and farms for those engaged in
agriculture.
Our bank in particular has
thousands of repeat customers, those
who borrow the second, third and in
some cases a fourth or more times. If
the bank was making them poor, they
would not return to borrow.
I think micro-finance has instead
made it easy for all people at all
levels to access financial services and
improve their well-being. It should be
noted that customers sometime need
some skills in order to invest wisely
the money they are loaned, this way
they will appreciate the benefits of the
loans. We always offer free financial
literacy services to our customers to
help them make better investment and
business decisions.
You manage one of the largest
indigenous commercial bank in this
country and this requires a lot of time
and skills. How do you ensure work-
life balance?
I diarise all my annual activities
including things that may be
considered small. With this, I try to
strike a balance between work and
my personal life, since am able to
keep track of all activities. Secondly, I
find time to work out so that I remain
healthy and alert.
What advice would you give to
someone looking at becoming a
managing director or CEO in a
business entity?
It is important to prepare for the
role and one way to achieve this is
through continuous learning. You
also need to develop good leadership
skills. As a CEO, you will be managing
people from different backgrounds
with different mind-sets, skills,
behaviours, attitudes, among others.
Therefore, you need the skills to be
able create a convergence that allows
for synergy of all individuals into one
team and make them achieve the goals
of the organisation.
What is your management
philosophy?
All-inclusive decision making in
a conducive environment, although
sometimes instructive management
may be applied where the situation
demands so.
Lastly, most often, banks are good
indicators of the performance of the
economy. What is your assessment of
the performance of the economy?
The economy is performing as per
plan. An average growth rate of about
5 per cent looks good compared to
growth rate of the Sub-Sahara Africa.
I think the economy will achieve
some of its targets as set in National
Development Plan1, despite of the
delays in implementing some of the
government infrastructure projects
like the Standard Gauge Railway,
Dams, roads, and the Oil Pipeline.
The only teething issues now are the
depreciating shilling and increasing
fuel prices that might negatively affect
the achievement of the targets set.
Nov 23 - 29 2018 27
Business
CSR
CocaCola sinks Shs150m in MTN Marathon
Officials display a Shs150m dummy cheque.
Insurance
Insurance firm Minet urges
on cyber management
I
nsurance broker, Minet limited, has
launched an awareness campaign on
cyber risk insurance themed ‘cyber risk
awareness and management’. While
launching the campaign in Kampala on
Nov.14, Maurice Amogola, the company’s
CEO said that it aims at sensitising its clients
and interested parties on emerging risks
and how to manage them. “Cyber risk has
become a leading issue for many organisa-
tions due to the exponential internet growth
and spread of ICT infrastructure,” he said.
He said that dealing with the risks in this
trade would reduce the US$42million that
Uganda loses annually to cybercrime.
Entrepreneurship
dfcu supports women entrepreneurs
O
n Nov. 16, dfcu bank in
partnership with Uganda
Investment Authority and
Monitor Publications awarded 10
women entrepreneurs who participated in
the Rising Woman Expo at Hotel Africana
which featured over 100 women led
businesses. The expo was the peak of the
initiative that was launched in July 2018 to
recognise, celebrate and promote a culture
of mentorship among women in business
in Uganda dubbed ‘rising woman’. Three
women entrepreneurs were awarded with
cash prizes of up to Shs30million and an
all-expense paid study tour trip to Nairobi
after emerging victorious in a highly
competitive proposal writing competition.
Krystal Ice Limited emerged the overall
winner and received Shs15million cash
prize that was handed over by the bank’s
CEO, Juma Kisaame and other officials.
Meanwhile, on Nov.13, the bank announced
it had supported over 700 private sector
28 Nov 23 - 29 2018
Dairy
Fresh Dairy launches
T
en days to the 2018 MTN new product
U
Marathon, CocaCola Beverages
sing its new fully automated yo-
Africa announced it was
ghurt plant worth US$1.4million,
contributing Shs150million Fresh Dairy has unveiled its new
to enable the organisers achieve the yoghurt pouch as part of its strat-
objectives of the event. Speaking at egy to satisfy the constantly changing needs
the handover of the dummy cheque of customers while increasing market share
in Namanve to MTN officials, Simon both in Uganda and beyond. Officials say
Kaheru, the public affairs and the newly re-branded Fresh Dairy Pouch Yo-
communications director, said their ghurt comes in five flavors to include Straw-
contribution was meant to support berry, Vanilla, Mango, Plain and the latest
healthy lives. The money raised from addition – mixed berries. It comes in 400gms
the marathon will fund maternal health. at a recommended retail price of Shs1, 900.
CSR
UEGCL sinks Shs870m in Kamuli’s technical institute
U
ganda UEGCL’s CEO, Eng.
Electricity Harrison Mutikanga
Generation said that the facility will
Company equip skills to students
Limited has through in line with efforts
a local contractor of creating jobs and
started construction of ensuring socio-economic
Lwanyama Technical transformation. Rebecca
Institute in Kamuli Kadaga, the speaker
district as part of the of Parliament (chief
community development guest) urged parents
action plan for the Harrison Mutikanga and students not to
160MW Isimba shun the facility once
hydropower dam. construction of a two- completed and launched.
Launched on Nov.16, roomed classroom block, She asked UEGCL to
the works will last six two tutor houses and a avail equipment for the
months and will involve five-stance VIP latrine. institute once completed.
Telecom
Telecoms cut mobile
money Tax
T
elecom firms, Airtel and MTN
quickly responded to President
Museveni’s move on mobile money
tax by cutting the charge from 1% to
0.5% applicable on withdrawal transactions
only, officials said on Nov.17. This followed
the President’s ascension to the Excise
Duty (Amendment) (No.2) Bill, 2018 which
provides for the amendment of the mobile
money tax of 1% on all transactions to
Kisaame (R) and other officials congratulate Krystal 0.5% on withdrawals. Commenting on the
Ice Limited upon winning the competition. amendment, V.G. Somasekhar, the Airtel
Uganda MD said: “We welcome this change
in revising the tax to 0.5% applicable only
members in acquiring knowledge and skills on withdrawals; Airtel pledges to continue
regarding oil and gas activities through providing reliable and affordable telecom-
its Business Accelerator Programme. “We munications solutions, while maintaining
are making it possible for local companies compliance to the regulatory procedures
to access financing on terms which meet of Uganda.” MTN officials said in a notice
requirements of both local content service that the reduction will will further promote
providers and the bank,” Kisaame said. business, trade and commerce especially
within the informal sectors of the economy
 Business

Ladies among winners for

Formula One Grand Prix
By Ian Katusiime is currently pursuing

T
racy Akello
and Rachael
Kemigisha will
have a memorable
experience as they watch
the Formula One Grand
Prix live in Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates.
The two are the
first ladies among the
lucky eight Ugandans
who have always been
selected to watch the
(L-R) Total Uganda Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Coordinator, Olivia luxurious final race held
Nahwera, Lubes and Specialities Manager, Hosea Nkojo, receives an award at the Yas Marina Circuit,
for the Best Cooking Gas in Uganda from Amelia Kyambadde, Minister of now third year in a row.
Trade, Industry and Cooperatives during the Customer Choice Awards at the The latest winners join
Kampala Serena Hotel recently.   Courtesy Photo
Raymond Twinemanzi
Tumubweinee, Moses
Mugumya, Kenneth
Onyango, Abasi Balinda
and two representatives
from Biyinzika Poultry
International for the
2018 Formula One grand
finale slated for Nov. 25.
City Tyres Marketing
Manager, Herbert
Bashaasha, said one of
Biyinzika’s representative
was picked to replace
an earlier winner,
David Masua. Masua
further studies in the UK.
He said the winners
will watch the
qualification race a day
before the finale and
will also have a Desert
Safari as part of their
experience as part of
reward to its customers.
City Tyres’ Director,
Salman Ahmed,
and Italian Deputy
Ambassador, Lorenza
Gambacorta, picked
some of the winners in
the event held at the City
Tyres head offices in
Industrial Area, Kampala
on Nov. 16.
Gambacorta said she is
now referred to as a ‘tyre
queen’ in diplomatic
circles because of her
frequent appearance at
the draw.
Pirelli East African
Area Manager, Giovanni
Tolasi lauded City
Tyres for holding a
successful campaign and
also commended the
authorised distributors of
Pirelli Tyres in Uganda
for their work ethics.

Some of the winners of the 10km women category pose with their cheques
together with the Uganda Athletics Federation officials during the MTN Mbarara
on Nov 18, 2018. The run attracted tracts 1,500 participants.   Courtesy photo

Weekly share price movement (Nov 19, 2018)

Security Nov 19 Oct. 26 Movement
BATU 30,000 30000 00
BOBU 139 140 0.7
CENT 1,015 918 10.5
QCL 255 253 0.8
DFCU 845 849 0.5
EABL 6,017 6,644 9.4
EBL 1,422 1,438 1.1
JHL 15,225 15,850 3.9
KA 349 426 18.0
KCB 1,413 1,484 4.8
NIC 15 16 6.3
NMG 2,519 2,579 2.3
NVL 340 350 2.8
City Tyres marketing manager Herbert Bashaasha and Italian deputy SBU 32 33 3.0
ambassador Lorenza Gambacorta at the draw at City Tyres offices UCHM 23 24 4.1
in Industrial Area. This was the third season of the City Tyres Pirelli UCL 20 23 13.0
Promotion.   Courtesy photo UMEME 340 347 2.0
ALSI -- -- --

Nov 23 - 29 2018 29
COMMENT
By Eswar Prasad
Central bank under attack
Central-bank independence is often fetishised but
a central bank without political support suffers
I
ndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
government has launched an all-out
political assault on the Reserve Bank of
India, and the barrage of criticism is al-
ready taking a toll on the institution. This is
an alarming development for India, because
the RBI’s credibility and effectiveness have
contributed substantially to macroeconomic
and financial stability, thereby helping to
sustain rapid GDP growth in recent years.
One key criticism leveled against the
RBI is not unique to India: the cen-
tral bank, the government claims, is
impeding growth by raising interest
rates in the name of a misguided fear of
excessive inflation and financial insta-
bility. U.S. President Donald Trump has
leveled similar complaints at the Federal
Reserve, claiming that interest-rate hikes
are dampening economic growth and the
U.S. stock market.
But the threat such attacks pose to the
RBI dwarf those faced by the Fed, not
least because, unlike the Fed, the RBI has
no statutory independence. Making mat-
ters worse, the Modi government has,
for the first time ever, invoked Section 7
of the RBI Act, which allows it to issue
directions directly to the central bank
governor on matters of public interest.
The Modi government’s willingness
to go to such lengths suggests that more
than interest rates are at stake. The gov-
ernment is particularly unhappy with
RBI measures to clean up India’s banks,
many of which are burdened by a large
volume of non-performing assets, and
prevent risks from building up in other
parts of the financial system. These mea-
sures are squeezing state-owned banks’
ability to lend to politically connected
clients.
Of course, government ministers
can’t come right out and say that. So,
instead, the Modi administration – and,
in particular, Arun Jaitley, the finance
minister – has taken the RBI to task for
not preventing the accumulation of non-
performing assets in the banking system
after the credit spigots were opened to
help cope with the global financial crisis.
The government has also accused
the RBI of subverting due process by
30 Nov 23 - 29 2018
keeping it in the dark about monetary-
policy moves. This criticism is disin-
genuous at best. At worst, it could bring
to a grinding halt much-needed banking-
sector reforms aimed at, among other
things, ensuring productive, rather than
politically motivated, lending. Such an
outcome would heighten financial risk
and jeopardise the economy’s growth
potential.
So far, RBI Governor Urjit Patel has
refused to give in to the government’s
demands. It helps the RBI’s stature and
independence that Patel and his lieuten-
ants, like their predecessors, are expe-
rienced at navigating the RBI through
economic and political minefields. But if
the government continues to attack the
RBI on multiple fronts, effective mon-
etary policymaking could become impos-
sible. And if those attacks include forcing
Patel out, the blow to the RBI – the only
well-respected technocratic institution in
India’s mostly dysfunctional bureaucracy
– would be severe.
Central-bank independence is often
fetishised nowadays. But if a central
bank pursues objectives that have no
RBI Governor
Urjit Patel
has refused
to give
in to the
government’s
demands
political support, its legitimacy should
(and will) suffer. Nonetheless, the loss of
operational independence – the ability to
act without interference in pursuit of its
stated objectives, developed in consulta-
tion with political authorities – can also
be fatal to a central bank’s credibility.
Consider recent events in Turkey.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s
public attacks on the central bank’s
independence caused the Turkish lira to
plummet. By the time the central bank
prevailed over Erdoğan’s dictums and
raised interest rates, it was too late; its
credibility had been shattered.
Modi’s government has a strong
interest in ensuring that the RBI does not
suffer a similar fate. After all, the central
bank’s credibility has been essential to
enable the implementation of policies
that have provided the government with
room to maneuver in a difficult domestic
and external environment.
For one thing, the RBI has prevented
the rupee from falling further, thereby
averting the risk of a vicious circle of
capital outflows and currency deprecia-
tion. Moreover, the RBI’s commitment
to price stability has translated into low
interest rates, keeping the government’s
debt-financing costs in check. More
broadly, the RBI’s monetary policy and
supervisory authority have made it one
of the most potent tools for keeping the
economy on a stable, high-growth path.
With national elections approaching,
India’s government cannot afford to sac-
rifice these benefits, especially at a time
of rising skepticism about its ability to
maintain fiscal discipline and implement
difficult reforms. Modi and Jaitley need
to recognise this and start speaking up
for, not against, the RBI.
Eswar Prasad is a professor at Cornell
University and a senior fellow at the
Brookings Institution.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2018.

By Joseph Were
Museveni’s move on Bududa
Why giving cash to victims of landslide was right but
attempt to relocate mountain village residents is wrong
D
o you still remember Bukalasi?
Don’t worry if you don’t. It is the
place in Bududa district where a
river burst its banks, triggering
mudslides that killed 40 people and dis-
placed hundreds a long, long time ago, on
Oct. 11, this year.
And forgetting such events is easy. That
is why it was refreshing to see State House
Comptroller, Lucy Nakyobe Mbonye,
hand wads of money to Bukalasi victims a
month later on Nov.09. President Yoweri
Museveni had not forgotten a pledge he
made when visited.
But it is interesting that where many
responders to disasters tend to give
material things like tents, blankets, cups
and plates, blankets, clothing and food,
Museveni gave them cash; Shs5 million
each to 60 families that lost a loved one and
Shs2 million each to 60 people that sus-
tained injuries.
Giving cash instead of materials as
immediate aid to disaster survivors makes
more sense for a number of reasons; quite
often the needs of victims have not been
assessed and the risk of delivering non-
essential materials is high. Cash is easy to
organise and deliver and is useful in most
situations. In this case, Nakyobe, delivered
about Shs420 million; money that can fit in
a small case, be carried by one person from
Kampala to Bududa, and easily handed
to intended recipients. It is also easier to
account for.
Now imagine that Nakyobe had opted
to convert the money into food, clothing,
and shelter. The posho, beans, and blan-
kets would have had to be procured. That
wastes time and more money. Then the
procured items have to be delivered, taking
even more money. Actually, since Bududa
is hilly and roads and bridges had been
washed away, the materials would have
had to be delivered by helicopter. Finally,
Bududa is fertile and people do not need
posho and beans. Therefore, Museveni’s
offer of cash was the best decision.
Still, should Nakyobe have handed wads
of money to two very young girls in their
primary school uniforms? Did they even
know how to count Shs5 million? My blood
went cold when I saw the adults lurking
like hyenas in the background. I could
not bear the pain of thinking what would
happen immediately Nakyobe left.
Nakyobe is no fool. She was possibly
thinking what I was thinking. So you could
argue that Museveni giving money is not
natural human beneficence and benevo-
lence. That it is government’s duty to pro-
mote, as John Stuart Mill said, the greatest
possible balance of beneficial consequences
for all its citizens in Bududa. And that
Nakyobe was merely completing the cha-
rade.
In that case, it could become a very expen-
sive charade because landslides and rolling
boulders are a constant threat here. Exces-
sive rain, thin soil cover, cultivation along
steep slopes and river banks, and cutting
down trees contribute to yearly or even
monthly mudslides.
When Mary Goretti Kimono Kitutu, who
I assume is the current Minister of State
for the Environment and a daughter of the
soil of Bugisu in 2010 wrote her PhD thesis
titled `Landslide occurrences in the hilly
areas of Bududa District in eastern Uganda
and their causes’, she listed several between
1997 and 2004. She wrote of 48 people killed
in 1997 and tens of thousands displaced and
landless. But that was before the big ones;
Nametsi (2010) and Bukalasi (2018). Before
these, the biggest killer mudslides in the
area were from 1970 that left 60 dead.
So, with such frequency, even giving a
mere Shs2 million here and Shs5 million
there after each disaster eventually becomes
unsustainable. That is why modern disaster
response strategies revolves around giving
victims confidence to rebuild their lives
in the long term rather than aiding them
immediately.
This is because, according to Michelle
Annette Meyer, who is an Associate
Executive Director, Hazard Reduction and
Recovery Center at Texas A&M Univer-
sity, USA, post-disaster needs get bigger
later; especially among people like those
in Bududa who were poor before disaster
struck.
That is what Museveni should have con-
sidered. After all, just a few days earlier, on
Oct.30, he had published an essay titled:
`On the confusion surrounding the youth
programmes’ in which he touted a booklet
he has written on creating long-term pros-
perity entitled: `From Obwiiriza (Grass
Thatch) to Amatafaari (Permanent Build-
ings)’ . That is what Bududa needs.
People in Bududa lead a tough life in inac-
COMMENT
cessible places, without social services. Only
48% of homes have a pit latrine. Strangely
Bududa is also one of the unusual places
on earth where men sometimes outnumber
women. The residents start sex activity early
in life – around 16 years – and have many
children. So that the biggest portion of the
population, about 20%, are children aged
between zero and four years. At approxi-
mately 70 sq km, Bukalasi sub-county is
the biggest sub-county. It is also one of the
more populated with about 13,000 people.
With about 35% of them poor, the area has
the highest incidence of poverty in Bududa.
But Bududa can be aided to become rich.
It can become a tourist heaven with its cool
high altitude, numerous tributaries of River
Manafwa, beautiful volcanic cones, and the
dominant Mt. Elgon to the east promising
sightings of mountain monkeys, birds, and
delicious kamalewa (bamboo shoots).
Unfortunately, so far, the popular plan is
to relocate Bududa residents. This will fail
for a number of reasons. First, nobody will
allow the land they vacate to remain unoc-
cupied and unused. The demand for land
in this area is very high as it has one of the
highest population densities in Uganda. Up
to 40% of the district’s 274,000 square kilo-
meter land area is already covered by the
Mt.Elgon National Park and encroachment
is high. With a population of 165,886 people
according to 2010 statistics, the balance
holds up 916 people per square km. The
national average is 175 people per square
km. Every inch of land is treasured.
Finally, as Daniel P. Aldrich, professor of
Public Policy and Director of the Security
and Resilience Program at Northeastern
University writes; the best defences against
disaster are social networks - the hori-
zontal and vertical ties that connect people,
encourage them to help each other, and
knock on the doors of elderly people and
carry them out of danger. Relocation will
destroy all that.
So instead of pushing for relocation, the
Bududa population should be guided to
become disaster resilient; including on
deciding where to build and the type of
houses, early warning systems, disasters
response drills, and disaster kits. To rein-
force this, they could be encouraged to
mark anniversaries of the disasters so that
they do not forget.
Nov 23 - 29 2018 31
Drug resistance
Does antibiotic use in animals affect human health?
A
By Ana Sandoiu researchers caution.
ntibiotic resistance is a global
public health crisis and the
use of antibiotics in animals
and its consequences for
human health, were recently
discussed at the London
Microbiome Meeting.
According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), antibiotic
resistance is responsible for 25,000 annual
deaths in the European Union and 23,000
annual deaths in the U.S. As many as 2
million U.S. individuals develop a drug-
resistant infection each year.
By the year 2050, some researchers
predict that antibiotic resistance will cause
10 million deaths every year, surpassing
cancer as the leading cause of mortality
worldwide.
Some of the factors that have led to
this crisis include the overprescription of
antibiotics, poor sanitation and hygiene
practices in hospitals, and insufficient
laboratory tests that can detect an infection
quickly and accurately.
An additional factor that may contribute
to drug resistance in humans is the overuse
of antibiotics in farming and agriculture.
Using antibiotics in animals may raise the
risk of transmitting drug-resistant bacteria
to humans either by direct infection or
by transferring “resistance genes from
agriculture into human pathogens,”
32 Nov 23 - 29 2018
So, how are antibiotics currently being
used in animals, and what might be the
implications for human health? At the
London Microbiome Meeting, which
took place in the United Kingdom, Nicola
Evans — a doctoral researcher in structural
biology at King’s College London — shared
some of her insights on these issues. In her
presentation, Evans drew from the work
she conducted at the U.K. Parliament.
Global use of antibiotics in animals
On a global scale, the U.S. and China
are the largest users of antibiotics for food
production. According to the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA), 80 percent
of the total antibiotic use in the U.S. is in
agriculture, with pigs and poultry receiving
five to 10 times more antibiotics than cows
and sheep.
Why are antibiotics used so widely in
these animals, however? One answer comes
from the demands of the meat industry,
which place a strain on the animals’ health.
Farming animals for meat is a particularly
intense process, with pig sows, for instance,
not being given enough time to recover
in-between births. This compromises their
immune system.
Also, pigs and chickens live in confined,
crowded spaces, which increases their stress
and the risk of disease transmission.
Additionally, antibiotics are sometimes
used to make the animals grow faster. In
humans, studies have shown that antibiotics
raise the risk of weight gain and obesity, as
they wipe out beneficial gut bacteria that
help regulate weight.
In animals, however, this phenomenon
has been seen as a positive, with several
countries still using antibiotics as growth
promoters.
Until a year ago, U.S. farmers used
antibiotics as growth promoters, but the
practice has since been banned. China and
the E.U. have also outlawed this practice,
but many other countries continue to use
antibiotics to promote growth in animals,
Evans explained.
Finally, the prophylactic, or preventive,
use of antibiotics also adds to the problem.
Many farms give chicks antibiotics as soon
as they are born, regardless of whether they
are ill or not.
Antibiotics and the animal
microbiome
The weaning practices that take place in
farms influence the animals’ microbiome
and create a false need for antibiotics. As
Evans explained in her talk, piglets are
taken away from their mothers too early
— that is, before they have had a chance
to develop a strong immune system or a
healthy, fully matured gastrointestinal tract.
For example, piglets would naturally
wean when they are around 3–4 months
of age. In the U.S., however, piglets are

weaned when they are 17–28 days old.
Evans explained that not having access
to the natural antibodies present in the
mothers’ milk impacts the animals’ immune
system. “Abrupt” weaning has also been
found to raise the risk of gastrointestinal
disease in calves and lambs.
In turn, these diseases call for the use of
antibiotics, sometimes prophylactically.
For instance, piglets, calves, and lambs can
have post-weaning diarrhea and associated
infections, so farmers give them antibiotics
to prevent such infections.
Also, Evans explained in her talk, a pig’s
microbiome “is colonised at birth and
subsequently modified during the suckling
period” and the weaning period. During
this time, the gut microbiome diversifies.
However, research has shown that abrupt
weaning, which involves a drastic change
in diet and environment, can cause a loss
of microbial diversity and an imbalance
between beneficial and harmful bacteria in
the gut.
Furthermore, genomic studies cited
by Evans have found a dramatic increase
in Escherichia coli in the pigs’ small
intestines after receiving antibiotics. E. coli
is responsible for half of all piglet deaths
worldwide.
An animal’s environment also plays a
critical role in developing a diverse and
healthy microbiome. Past studies, for
example, found that a pig’s microbiome can
be influenced by something as simple as the
presence of straw.
Having straw in the environment led to
a different ratio of gut bacteria in pigs, and
straw has been associated with a lower risk
of developing porcine reproductive and
respiratory syndrome.
Separated from their mother and with
no outdoor access, chicks cannot develop a
healthy immune system and microbiome.
As Evans noted in her talk, the poultry
microbiome is even more affected by
intensive farming practices than that of the
pig.
The main reason for this is that in birds,
the early gut colonisation occurs during
the development of the egg in the mother’s
oviduct. The chicks absorb microorganisms
from the mother at this stage, as well as
through the pores of the eggs during
brooding.
Once the chicks have hatched, they
continue to enrich their microbiome by
exposure to feces. However, in modern
farming systems, the eggs are taken away
from the mother and cleaned on the surface,
which removes the beneficial bacteria.
Also, when the eggs hatch, the chicks do
not get access to an outdoor space where
they would have access to feces and other
sources of beneficial bacteria. They also do
not interact with adult chickens.
Finally, the crowded conditions that
chickens often live in can cause heat stress.
This, in turn, is a fertile ground for the
development of E. coli and Salmonella
infections. This is yet another example of
how the environment can affect the birds’
microbiome.
Implications for human health
So, what does this use of antibiotics in
animals mean for human health?
“The most important thing to consider,”
Evans said, “is that any single time
antibiotics are used, whether in animals
or humans, you risk selecting for drug-
resistant bacteria. We need to safeguard
(antibiotics) for the use in both animals and
humans, to ensure they can be used for the
treatment of infection in the future.”
There are a few main ways in which
antibiotics in animals can affect humans,
Evans explained. Firstly, direct contact
between animals and humans can cause
disease. “For example,” said the researcher,
“farmers are at risk of being colonised
by the Livestock-Associated MRSA
(LA-MRSA).”
“LA-MRSA isn’t as dangerous as
(Hospital-Associated)-MRSA,” she
explained, “as it is adapted for animals and
does not spread as easily from person to
person. However, there is a risk that bacteria
could change and adapt to humans,” Evans
cautioned.
80
percent of the total
antibiotic use in the
U.S. is in agriculture,
with pigs and poultry
receiving five to 10
times more antibiotics
than cows and sheep
health
She went on to quote a Danish study that
found that 40 percent of commercially sold
pork meat contained methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
A review of existing studies on the pork
production chain found that “the slaughter
process plays a decisive role in MRSA
transmission from farm to fork.”
A second way in which animal antibiotic
use can affect humans is through the
consumption of antibiotic residues in meat,
which then “provide a selection pressure
in favour of (antibiotic-resistant) bugs in
humans,” Evans explained.
However, “the risk (of) this is considered
to be very low in the E.U. and America,” she
continued.
“In these areas, there is something called
a withdrawal period, (in which) antibiotic
treatment of an animal is stopped so that
antibiotics can clear the system before the
animal is culled for meat or milked.”
This applies to both organic and
nonorganic farming practices, Evans noted.
After the withdrawal period, she said,
“[t]he levels of antibiotic in the food are
considered to be several hundred times
below the levels (that) should affect bacteria
in any way.”
Finally, the antibiotic-resistant bacteria
present in meat may transfer antimicrobial
resistance into human bacteria. However,
the risk of this occurring is very low due to
high cooking temperatures.
Also, “because of the withdrawal
period,” Evans said, “it is very unlikely that
antibiotic residues in meat would affect the
(human) microbiome.”
Overall, the researcher told Medical
News Today, “I think that all use of
antibiotics poses a risk to human health,
and that reducing unnecessary antibiotic
use in animals should be part of the overall
solution. “
“Antibiotics are needed (...) to safeguard
animal health and welfare, but should only
be used when the animals are sick and not
used for growth promoters or to prevent
animals getting sick in the first place.
However, animal use shouldn’t detract
from the fact that the vast majority of
antibiotic resistance in humans is caused by
overuse in humans.”
“Current evidence indicates that there
is no direct impact of antibiotic residues
in meat on human health, but the risk of
generating antibiotic-resistant bacteria in
animals poses a potential risk to humans.
However, human antibiotic use is far more
damaging in both respects.”
Nicola Evans is a doctoral researcher in
structural biology at King’s College London
Source: Medicalnewstoday
Nov 23 - 29 2018 33
health

Six surprising drug interactions

you should know about
By Philip Crilly

A
s populations across the world
grow older, more and more people
are using a combination of drugs
to treat multiple conditions. This
can lead to interactions and side effects that
we all need to be aware of.
Not only can drugs interact with each
other, they can also interact with food and
drink, as well as popular herbal remedies.
Here are some of the most noteworthy to
give you an overview of the combinations
to be wary of.
 Statins and grapefruit juice
Many people are prescribed drugs from
the statin family to prevent heart attacks
and strokes. Statins are the mainstay of cho-
lesterol management but are not free from
drug and food interactions. One particularly
important interaction to note is that of cer-
tain statins with grapefruit juice.
People who have been told that they
have high cholesterol often make lifestyle
changes, which may involve increasing the
amount of fruit and vegetables in their diet.
Although this is encouraged, it’s important
to be aware that grapefruit juice can slow
down the breakdown of statins in the body,
thereby increasing their presence in the
blood, resulting in more side effects.
 Warfarin and green leafy vegetables
Warfarin, a drug used to prevent and
treat blood clots, is commonly prescribed
in the UK. People taking warfarin need to
go for regular blood tests to make sure that
they are taking the right dose to treat their
particular condition. An interaction of note
with this drug is that with vitamin K.
Supplements and foods that contain vita-
min K, such as green leafy vegetables and
green tea, can reduce the effect of warfarin
by speeding up its removal from the body,
meaning that those taking it may suffer seri-
ous consequences, including an increased
risk of strokes or deep vein thrombosis.
You should let your prescriber know if you
are making any changes to your diet so
that your dose of warfarin can be adjusted
accordingly.
 Antidepressants and ibuprofen
Taking a class of antidepressants called
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
(SSRIs), such as citalopram, alongside
anti-inflammatory painkillers, such as
ibuprofen, can increase the risk of internal
bleeding. This is usually associated with the
stomach and symptoms can include dark
stools, stomach cramps, feeling tired, blood
in vomit and feeling faint or dizzy.
This side effect can be avoided by taking
a stomach protecting drug, such as lanso-
prazole. It’s important to note, however,
that certain other stomach protecting drugs
may also interact with antidepressants, so
it’s important to choose wisely.
 Metronidazole and alcohol
Metronidazole is a commonly prescribed
antibiotic, particularly for dental infec-
tions. Although your pharmacist often may
encourage you not to drink alcohol while
taking prescribed medication, this advice is
particularly important with metronidazole.
Drinking alcohol while on metronidazole
can lead to severe nausea and vomiting. Not
only should you avoid alcohol while taking
metronidazole, you should wait for at least
two days after your course has finished.
This is to make sure that all of the drug has
left your body.
 St John’s Wort and the contraceptive pill
St John’s Wort is a popular herbal rem-
edy, used to treat the symptoms of mild
depression. Some people assume that
because it is a herbal remedy, it must be
harmless. Quite the opposite.
St John’s Wort is an example of an
enzyme inducer, a substance that speeds
up the breakdown of another substance. By
encouraging the breakdown of the other
drug at a faster rate than normal, this means
that the other drug becomes less effective.
While St John’s Wort can have this effect
on many drugs, one of particular note is the
contraceptive pill. St John’s Wort decreases
the effectiveness of the pill, increasing the
chance that the person taking the pill will
become pregnant.
The interaction is so severe that the UK’s
Medicines and Healthcare products Regula-
tory Agency has advised that the combina-
tion of St John’s Wort and the combined
hormonal contraceptive pill should be
avoided altogether.
 Calcium supplements and other medi-
cations
As we get older, our bones become weak-
er, so many people are prescribed calcium
and vitamin D supplements to strengthen
their bones and prevent fractures. While
these products benefit many, it is important
to understand that they may affect how the
body absorbs other drugs. These include
drugs to prevent malaria, certain antibiot-
ics and those used to treat an underactive
thyroid.
For most drugs, this interaction can be
overcome by leaving time between taking
the calcium product and the other drug. A
gap of between two and six hours between
taking calcium and other drugs is usually
enough. It is very important that if you are
taking any of the drugs mentioned in this
article that you do not stop taking any of
them until you have consulted with your
doctor. Any sudden changes to medication
may have more severe consequences than
any of the interactions listed in this article.
Philip Crilly is a Pharmacy Teaching Fellow
and PhD student (Digital health), Kingston
University
Source:theconversation

34 Nov 23 - 29 2018
 ART | BOOKS | SOCIETY | TRAVEL | CULTURE
Afrika’s identity of pride
Matt Kayem wants Africans to flaunt
global domination in art, fashion, music
U
By Dominic Muwanguzi
gandan multi-
talented artist
Matt Kayem
is never
shy to court
controversy
with his subjects, technique,
and medium; be it painting,
ceramics, photography,
graffiti or sculpture. So his
followers expected nothing
less from his solo exhibit,
`Cool Afrika’, showing at
Design Hub Kampala.
This time he explores the
hard subject of “Africa’s
coolness”. He is heavily
political; projecting the
continent as a critical space
for human civilisation and a
reservoir of natural wealth.
He has no place for its ironies
like poverty, disease, illiteracy
and self-pity. Instead he
speaks of Africa’s renaissance
through his Afro-centrism.
He describes a pursuit of a
reversed identity for Africa
and positions himself in the
centre of this conversation.
He places his image
as a central subject in his
drawings and is undaunted
by subjective criticism or
conclusions about his art.
He presents himself as a
contemporary revolutionary
for Africa, in the mold of the
fighters for independence like
Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice
Lumumba and Cheikh Anta
Diop. He dresses the part, in
traditional garb like barkcloth,
wears an overgrown
beard- perhaps, a symbol of
defiance, adorns a talisman
around his chest and leans
over a pile of books with a
candle burning to illustrate his
avowed intelligence. He is a
true African chief commanding
respect, love, and admiration
from his followers.
For him, cool in his artistic
vocabulary, means an ideal
and desirable place. He
co-opts key figures or locales
in Africa’s renaissance; like
Mansa Musa- the ancient
wealthy West African Emperor
and the Nile River in his artistic
expedition. He also idolises
influential contemporary black
figures (African- Americans) in
his art like Kanye West, Nick
Minaj and 50 Cents as a tool to
connect the young people with
his message.
He uses Africa’s nature
through geometrical designs
to conjure aspects like rhythm
and culture in the way black
people live, work, and mark
ceremonies like death. Each is
influenced by a specific tempo.
So the works on show have
diverse patterns that give them
unique vibrancy and energy.
Kayem believes Africa is
Nov 23 - 29 2018
an island filled with potential
and possibilities despite the
occasional prejudices pegged
on it by the neo-colonial-
minded through Christianity
and the modernisation
crusade.
The political overtones
in his art are bold and
uncompromising. He says
his works are a “combat
to the negative framed
representation” and his
mission “to reconnect our lost
brothers to the motherland and
vice-versa.”
Matt Kayem’s Cool Afrika
is a rejoinder to the ongoing
conversation of Africa’s might
in the new era of globalisation.
With an already biased
identity of poverty, illiteracy
and diseases, cut out for the
continent by the west, it is
sometimes hard for black
people living on the continent
to feel proud of their identity.
These paintings refute
such prejudices and
pronounce Africa as a
desirable destination with
insurmountable wealth,
beautiful people, and
intellectual prowess that
cannot be found anywhere
else. The artist invites his
audience to take pride in their
Africa identity that can be
found at the apex of global
pop culture today in fashion,
music, and the Cool Afrika
ideology.
Matt Kayem is a multi-
media artist whose artistic
practice includes Painting,
illustration, Photography
and Graffiti. Cool Afrika is
Matt Kayem’s second Solo
exhibition showing at Design
Hub Kampala, 5th Street
Industrial Area.
35
 Zuckerberg ditches IPhones Pizza place pays you Shs2m if you can finish their biggest
in tiff with Apple CEO
Don’t expect Mark Zuckerberg to buy
his friends and family new iPhones this
holiday season. Apple CEO Tim Cook
earlier this year “infuriated” the Facebook
chief, who ordered his management team
to use only Android phones. The tech beef
started after Facebook was hit by the Cam-
bridge Analytica data leak, when up to 87
million users had their profiles unknow-
ingly accessed by the political firm. Cook,
when asked by CNBC what advice he’d
give to Zuckerberg on handling the crisis,
shot back: “We’re not going to traffic in
your personal life”. Publicly, Zuckerberg
fired back at Cook in early April, calling
Cook’s comments “glib.” Soon after, NTK
Network, a site connected to a Republican
opposition research firm working for
Facebook, published several stories criti-
cal of Apple, according to the Times. One
story blasted Cook for being “hypocriti-
cal,” the Times reported, since Apple also
collects data from its users.
Pinhead’s Pizza, a popular pizza place in
Dublin, Ireland, is offering fans of the Italian
delicacy the chance to fill their bellies and
their pockets at the same time. Anyone who
can finish their 32-inch pizza and down two
milkshakes in under 32 minutes is guar-
anteed a prize of 500 euros (Approx.Shs2
million). They pizza, which has been on the
menu since 2015 is called `The Notorious
Pizza’ and no one has been able to finish
one, although over 100 have tried.
95-year-old takes a nap, wakes up at his own funeral
Budh Ram, a 95-year old resident of water over him, something unexpected
Bhaktanwalan Ki Dhani, first fainted happened – the “dead man” miraculous-
after complaining of chest pain. When ly came back to life. “He started breath-
his family found him, they called a pri- ing and sat on the bed soon after,” Balu
vate doctor, who, after inspecting the said. “When questioned by relatives,
95-year-old’s body, declared him dead. he said he had suffered chest pain and
The man’s family and relatives contacted decided to sleep it off. It is nothing but
a priest to perform his last rites, and start- a miracle”. Some think the only miracle
ed to give Budh’s body a customary last here is that the doctor who pronounced
bath. But when they started pouring cold Budh dead got his medical license.

Japan’s cyber security minister admits he has never used a computer Your nose shrinks
A Japanese minister in
charge of cyber security has
a response to an opposition
question in a lower house ses-
when you lie
Spanish scientists at the
provoked astonishment by sion, local media reported. He University of Granada recently
admitting he has never used a also appeared confused by the investigated the so-called ‘Pinoc-
computer in his professional question when asked about chio effect’ and found that our
life, and appearing confused whether USB drives were in noses don’t grow when we tell
by the concept of a USB drive. use at Japanese nuclear facili- a lie as claimed, but actually
Yoshitaka Sakurada, 68, is the ties. His comments were met shrink a bit. Dr Emilio Gómez
deputy chief of the govern- with incredulity by opposition Milán and his team developed
ment’s cyber security strategy lawmakers. “It’s unbelievable a lie detector test that used ther-
office and also the minister admitted he doesn’t use com- that someone who has not mography to tell if people were
in charge of the Olympic and puters. “Since the age of 25, I touched computers is responsi- lying, and found that whenever
Paralympic Games that Tokyo have instructed my employees ble for cyber security policies,” participants in their research
will host in 2020. In parliament and secretaries, so I don’t use said opposition lawmaker were being untruthful, the
on Wednesday however, he computers myself,” he said in Masato Imai. temperature of the tip of their
nose dropped up to 1.2 degrees
Celsius, while the temperature
China unveils disturbingly realistic AI news anchors of their forehead increased up
to 1.5C. Scientist also found that
China’s state news agency Xinhua Internet Conference are anything to go drop in temperature at nose
unveiled two very realistic looking by, the future of human news anchors level actually caused it to slightly
AI news anchors that can “tirelessly” looks very bleak. The newest additions shrink, although the difference is
report the news 24 hours a day, 365 to Xinhua’s team of broadcasters not undetected by the human eye.
days a year, from anywhere in the only look disturbingly realistic, but
world. they can also move their mouths to
We’ve known that robots and arti- match the audio, blink, nod their head
ficial intelligence were coming for our in emphasis, or raise their eyebrows.
jobs, but somehow I never thought But their most important quality is that
news anchors would be among the first they can work 24/7, both on the agen-
to be replaced. However, if the two AI cy’s website and on social media plat-
broadcasters who made their debut forms, greatly “reducing news produc-
recently during China’s annual World tion costs and improving efficiency”.

36 Nov 23 - 29 2018
 5 best cars for your
long holiday trips
By Motoring Guru
F
uel pump prices look set to be any-
thing but friendly this holiday sea-
son. So if you are planning to drive a
few extra kilometres with children,
friends, family or other loved ones to some
interesting destination, we have tips on
some cars you could pick – mainly for their
fuel efficiency on the highway.
This means these cars a designed to give
you at least 12km per litre of petrol. That
means the 260km distance from Kampala
to Mbarara on the highway should swallow
just 21 litres or approximately Shs100,000 at
current prices. A Toyota Corolla is designed
to give at least 13km/L.
But many things could affect this calcula-
tion; including the condition of your vehicle
(age, maintenance, tyre pressure), your driv-
ing style (speed, acceleration, windows up/
down, AC, load, night/day), weather (rain),
traffic, and of course changes in cost of fuel.
Therefore, apart from choosing the right
car model, you will do well to check these
aspects too. Anyway, back to the five best
choices fuel-wise for your hols driving.
Toyota Camry
The Toyota Camry’s refined 4-cylinder
touts an American Environmental Protec-
0783 614601/ 0753 614601
tion Agency-rated 15km/L hwy. But you
will definitely have no trouble clearing
13km/L hwy.
Subaru Outback
There’s a reason why so many drivers
interested in an efficient, competent family
car choose the Subaru Outback. The Out-
back has a fuel-saving powertrain, which
teams up a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine and
a miserly continuously variable automatic
transmission to return 14km/L hwy.
The Largest 7 Seater 4x4 In Uganda
Mercedes Benz GLS
sales@spearmotors.co.ug
Honda Accord
The Honda Accord is a midsize sedan
with impressive gas mileage. Virtually every
Accord offers excellent fuel economy, with
some 4-cylinder versions reaching as high as
15km/L hwy.
Jeep Cherokee
If you have any memories of the Jeep
Cherokee being a boxy, gas-guzzling, truck-
like SUV, you’ll have to forget them right
about now. The latest Cherokee is none of
those things, offering sleek styling and an
impressive array of technology, making
it one of the most advanced compact
crossovers on the market. It also boasts
excellent fuel economy, with 4-cylinder
versions touting 12km/L hwy. While those
numbers aren’t as good as some compact-
crossover rivals, the Cherokee is larger than
some rival compact crossovers, touting a
roomier interior and more cargo space than
most competitors.
Honda CR-V
The newer Honda CR-Vs are bona fide
top family cars; roomy inside, large cargo
area, and good fuel economy of 14km/L hwy
for the front-wheel drive models or 12km/L
hwy with optional all-wheel drive.
Only available at Spear Motors Limited
www.spearmotors.co.ug
Nov 23 - 29 2018 37
Profile
Vaolah Amumpaire on running
an online hardware store
By Agnes E Nantaba
V
aolah Amumpaire is a marketeer
and the brain behind Wena-
hardware.com, a multi vendor
e-commerce platform for building
and construction materials. She says she
got to establish an online hardware store
from disappointments caused by dishonest
people who fail to building and construc-
tion materials as agreed for their colleagues
and relatives working in foreign countries.
She points at news stories of people who
trust their friends or relatives to build on
their behalf but end up swindled.
Amumpaire came up with the idea of an
online hardware store to enable Ugandans
abroad buy building materials directly and
have them delivered to their construction
site in Uganda. She says although the plat-
form may not completely rule out the cases
of deception, it reduces the possibility and
saves them resources, time, and money.
Wenahardware.com users buy directly
from the various vendors on the site and the
materials are delivered on the construction
site. She says, “It is not only a buying plat-
form but also provides industry prices to all
those constructing”.
Amumpaire says she decided to incorpo-
rate `Wena’, a South African word for ‘you’
into her business names because her vision
is to create ‘your hardware’ not limit her
non-physical store to Uganda but spread
out to the entire continent. The plan is to roll
out the platform in Kenya and later Nigeria
and Rwanda.
She says, “Those are very aggressive mar-
kets so we want to test some of the deepest
waters before expanding to every African
country” Clients simply logs into the plat-
form, scrolls through the different products
available to know the prices, make, quality
and size or quantity. When the client places
an order, however, it goes to Wenahard-
ware staff and not the vendor.
“The order comes in and we confirm it
using the contact,” she says. The company
offers various payment modes; includ-
ing prepayment and cash on delivery but
before offloading the goods.
Wenahardware staff verify the products
from different physical hardware stores
for authenticity prior to being listed on the
online store. Amumpaire has a background
in marketing and is the focal person in the
company operations.
She says, “The marketing background
makes me flexible and push-on because
marketing requires patience and persis-
38 Nov 23 - 29 2018
tence”. To Amumpaire, it is a good chal- practiced marketing in different sectors
lenge although sometimes the team is over- something she says exposed her to com-
whelmed with the inquiries and orders. plexities in business management.
“We always learn something new, chal- “Training in marketing gave me the
lenge ourselves and push on believing that exposure and a firm foundation,” she says.
you offer a solution at just a click of the
mouse,” she says.
She says the items are described in detail
on the platform by make, size, and manu-
facturing company to create a feeling
of being in a physical shop. She says
some physical hardware stores ini-
tially saw the platform not as an
opportunity but a threat to their
businesses.
“We are not competitors to
physical hardware stores but
we are helping to generate
more traffic to their stores,”
says Amumpaire, “We help
owners of physical hard-
ware shops to see beyond
their physical locality.”
Amumpaire is the first
born in a family of five born
and raised in Igara East,
Bushenyi district. She spent
the early years of school at
International Window School
before crossing over to Mary
Hill Mbarara and bouncing
back to Bweranyangi Girls’
School. Her entrepreneurship
and leadership instincts developed
right after the murder of her father
while she was in high school. This pushed
her to take on the available opportunity as
a second year student pursuing a bachelor’s
degree in International Business at Maker-
ere University Business School. She is also
certified with the Chartered Institute of
Marketing. For the passion to do mar-
keting, she took on post graduate
studies in Sales and Digital
Marketing in
Dublin.
She
 Q&A

Vaolah Amumpaire’s Liteside

Any three things that unbearable with me. greatest love of your patience; they are
we don’t know about life? people with different

I
you? What is your greatest My immediate expectations but still
am an aggressive extravagance? family, my fiancée for tolerate me.
person. I am I am not an being too patient with
passionate and extravagant person. me, friends and team at Who are your favorite
when I choose to Wena. writers?
do something, I give What is the greatest Richard Charles
it my all. It’s not easy thing you have ever When and where were Branson is a writer,
to change my mind on done? you happiest? entrepreneur, leader
something especially Wenahardware.com Having my first and great marketer.
where I am passionate is the greatest because wena media interview His writings are
and believe in. Some it’s beyond me and on TV took me by life experiences and
of my peers say that influences lives. surprise and was business inspiration
once I am involved mind-blowing. I was stories.
in something, it gets What is your current also very happy on my
done. state of mind? graduation. Who is your hero of
I am happy though fiction?
What is your idea of overwhelmed with Which talent would I like scripts by
perfect happiness? work. you most like to have? Kendrick brothers and
It’s about I am not a great one of them is War
challenging yourself What does being public speaker and room.
with a task and getting powerful mean to you? would love to be one.
it done. Being powerful is the Which historical
ability to influence in If you could change figure do you most
What is your greatest an issue at hand. one thing about identify with?
fear? yourself, what would Warren Buffet is a
I am an open minded On what occasion do it be? great business man.
person. May be what you lie? Not any insecurities Richard Branson stands
freaks me out is a Often times, I tell lies that I know about. out for me.
customer having a to get things done or in
bad experience with search of information Where would you Who are your heroes
us because it has a about something. most like to live? in real life?
multiplier effect. Uganda is a land of My mother, Elizabeth
What do you most opportunities. Kyomuhangi is a very
What is the trait dislike about your patient woman.
you most deplore in appearance? What is your most
yourself? Everything I have is treasured possession? What is your greatest
Sometimes the almost like a trademark Nothing as long as regret?
people around me say and I don’t want to I am connected on I have learnt to live
that I am too pushy change my brand. mobile. with certain things
because I want to get because I realized that
things done. Which living person What do you regard I can only do so much
do you most despise? as the lowest depth of to change something
What is the trait you I don’t despise misery? about them.
most deplore in people. The point where
others? you can’t have or find How would you like
People who What is the quality money that you need. I to die?
are too slow you most like in a wish everyone at least In my sleep at very
at adoption woman? had the basics of life. old age
and it gets Patience is very key.
What is your favorite What is your motto?
What is the quality occupation? Nothing comes easy,
you most like in a I am a passionate play your part and
man? marketer. pray hard to God.
Patient and slow to
anger. What do you most
value in your friends?
What or who is the Tolerance and

Nov 23 - 29 2018 39
Global comment
By Mugo Kibati and Gilles Vermot Desroches
Electrifying Africa’s labour
One-fifth of the 25 million new jobs AfDB targets
for youth in Africa could come from off-grid solar
A
frica is on the verge of
an unemployment crisis
portending profound
economic, political, and social
ramifications. But the crisis can be
averted, and one of the solutions may
be as simple as turning on the lights.
Every year, some 13 million young
people look for work in Africa, but
only about three million of them find
jobs. The continent’s youth population
is projected to double by 2050, to 840
million, and yet Africa’s schools and
universities are not producing enough
graduates with the technical skills to
succeed in the workplace of tomorrow.
Although the African Development
Bank (AfDB) hopes to create 25 million
new jobs within a decade through its
Jobs for Youth in Africa initiative, it
is not immediately clear where those
opportunities will come from.
But one industry is poised to fill
the jobs gap: the renewable energy
industry.
This industry – and especially small-
scale power generation like rooftop
solar panels and green mini-grids
– has the potential to power African
employment growth. In fact, we
calculate that up to one-fifth of the
AfDB’s jobs commitment could be met
by economic activity linked to the off-
grid solar industry alone – through
direct and indirect employment.
Worldwide, job growth in the
renewables industry is booming, while
employment in traditional power
generation is shrinking (primarily
owing to the closure of coal plants).
African countries should expect a
similar trend as they work to achieve
universal electricity access. To meet
this goal, the AfDB estimates that
roughly 40% of the continent’s new
connections – 75 million households
– will need to come from off-grid
solutions.
While investment in decentralised
renewables in Africa is increasing,
more than 600 million people in
Sub-Saharan Africa still lack access
to electricity. Connecting these
customers, most of whom live in rural
areas, will require a huge number of
40 Nov 23 - 29 2018
skilled workers and entrepreneurs.
Although off-grid energy demand
has the potential to create more than
4.5 million jobs globally, according to
the International Renewable Energy
Agency, only about 76,000 renewable-
energy jobs have been created in all of
Africa, less than 1% of the 10.3 million
globally.
If managed and supported properly,
Africa’s renewables revolution could
create jobs far beyond the energy
sector itself. Once Africa’s consumers
have access to electricity, they will
want home appliances and other
goods, which will generate demand
for new services and create even more
opportunities for skilled workers.
Moreover, electrification can help
stimulate growth in small- and
medium-sized enterprises, which
suffer disproportionately when
power is expensive or unreliable.
With half of all African businesses
owning or sharing a generator and
citing electricity as a major constraint,
decentralised renewables could keep
Africa’s SMEs productive and their
workers employed. Off-grid solutions
would also enable the launch of new
Worldwide, job
growth in the
renewables
industry is
booming, while
employment
in traditional
power
generation is
shrinking
businesses, especially in agriculture,
and shorten their path to profitability.
Expanded access to renewable energy
would benefit African countries in
many other ways, too, such as by
reducing poverty, improving gender
equality, enhancing sanitation, and
limiting greenhouse-gas emissions.
As former United Nations Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon often said,
affordable and clean energy “will be
essential” to meeting nearly all of the
objectives set by the UN Sustainable
Development Goals.
But achieving universal access will
require a trained workforce, and at
the moment, Africa suffers from a
dearth of capable human capital.
Energy companies like ours – M-KOPA
has over 800 full-time employees,
for example – are already finding it
difficult to hire “job-ready” talent for
the renewables sector.
In nearly every region, African
countries have been slow to ensure that
the next generation of energy workers
is ready; capacity building has been an
afterthought. This must change, and
quickly. Africa’s clean-energy future
will require many skilled technicians,
and governments need to start training
them now. Public-private partnerships,
like Schneider Electric’s Access to
Energy program, have trained many
electricians globally, but only a fraction
have been in Africa.
Two years ago, Akinwumi A.
Adesina, the AfDB’s president,
lamented that many African countries
were “essentially training our youths
for the jobs of yesterday, not the jobs
of the future.” Now is the time to
reverse this pattern. With dedicated
support from governments, industry,
civil society, and multilateral agencies,
decentralized renewables can do more
than illuminate a continent; they can
also put it to work.
Mugo Kibati is Chairman of M-KOPA
Solar. Gilles Vermot Desroches is Senior
Vice President for Sustainability at
Schneider Electric.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2018.
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