News analysis Health Business

Sex talk Human babies born Fight over sugarcane

with kids using artificial womb business

Issue No. 581 July. 19 - 25 2019 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8

Police
brutality
Besigye, Muntu,
Mao teams react

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July. 19 - 25 2019 1
inbox

Issue No. 581 July. 19 - 25 2019

News analysis Business Health Arts Motoring

Cover story
Police brutality
Besigye, Muntu, Mao teams react

5 The Week
30 Comments
Controversy surrounds South Sudan
compensation to traders An African Monetary Fund :
Failure by an adequate number
of states signing and ratifying the
9 The Last Word
African Monetary Fund treaty is an
Our nation’s threatened middle: embarrassment
The challenges of being independent
in Uganda’s increasingly polarised
32 Health
and toxic debates
Human babies born
14 Analysis using artificial womb:
Scientists say `it could
High cost of HIV misdiagnosis: Retesting people to be possible in a decade’
confirm HIV positive results might appear costly but is
cheaper than treating people wrongly diagnosed
35 Arts & Culture
27 Business
Journey to Venus:
Fight over sugarcane business: Exhibition takes different
President Museveni supports look at love,beauty
exports to Kenya

STRATEGY & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Andrew M. Mwenda WRITERS:Ronald Musoke, Ian Katusiime,
MANAGING EDITOR: Joseph Were Patricia Akankwatsa, Julius Businge.
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2 July. 19 - 25 2019
 inbox

“While Christians go to Rome,

Muslims to Mecca, I come to
Tanzania as my pilgrimage. I am
happy to be here. I have a lot of
historical attachments to this
place.” President Yoweri Museveni on
visit to Tanzania
National Water and Sewerage Corporation, School Water and Sanitation Club partnered with Kitabu Buk
project in donation of 4500 textbooks worth shs300 million to SWAS schools, NWSC Dr Sliver Mugisha
(2nd L) hands over a dummy chegue to SWAS school’s representatives at the end of convection
ceremony held on July 12, in Kyambogo Cricket ground, the convection is to encourage youth to learn
more about water and Sanitation.  INDEPENDENT ALFRED OCHWO

Airtel Uganda
launches 8th Rising
Stars tournament,
Airtel have sponsored
talented boys and
girls between the
ages of 13 and 17 “There have been cases of indiscipline,
in an opportunity lack of customer care, poor training
to compete against
fellow youth from and poor supervision by members of
across the country PSOs [private security organisations].
with hopes of being
scouted to join All the PSOs will be vetted and the
the local league, report sent to the IGP to take action,”
football clubs all Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga
over the world and
the Uganda national
team.   INDEPENDENT /
ALFRED OCHWO

Speaker Rebecca Kadaga

(in Gomesi) launches the
tree planting initiative
towards climate change
mitigation in the Lake
Victoria catchment
area of the new Katosi
National Water and
Sewerage Corporation “There is now a deliberate campaign
water treatment plant. aimed at discrediting Chameleone’s
The campaign is aimed at
improving water catchment decision to join DP after the other players
protection and management failed to court him to their side.” DP
as a way to guarantee and
preserve Lake Victoria President General Norbert Mao
water.   INDEPENDENT /ALFRED
OCHWO

Teachers in Serere African Bishops who will Free land titles

256 district who have gone
unpaid for three years
400 mark 50 years of their
association as prelates
1000 offered by the
gov’t in Adjumani

July. 19 - 25 2019 3
week

Tanzania- Uganda pipeline project in high gear
Cooperation for the East
Africa Crude Oil Pipeline
(EACOP) project seems to
be in high gear as Tanzania
offered land to Uganda to
set up a liaison office for the
multibillion project. This
was followed up by a visit
from President Museveni at
the country home of Presi-
dent John Pombe Magufuli’s
in Chato, Tanzania. Musev-
eni was returning from a
security summit in Angola
also attended by Rwandan
President Paul Kagame and
DRC’s Felix Tshisekedi. The
offer of land from Tanzania
to Uganda comes ahead of
another meeting between
the two leaders in Septem-
ber at the third Uganda
Tanzania Joint Permanent
Commission in September
in Dar-es-Salaam. In Dar,
Museveni and Magufuli
will discuss the progress
of several infrastructure
projects. Land for fuel tanks
for the pipeline has also
been secured by Tanzania.
During his brief stay in
Chato, Museveni checked
on Magufuli’s ailing moth-
er. The two leaders have
enjoyed cordial relations
since Magufuli became pres-
ident in November 2015.
All set for Commonwealth
parliamentary meet
Preparations are in high gear for the 64th
Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference
which Uganda will host in September. It will
be held under the theme ‘Adaption, engage-
ment, and evolution of parliaments in a
rapidly changing Commonwealth. ’Speaker
of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga also Com-
monwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)
President Designate 2018-2019, while brief-
ing journalists said Ugandans should posi-
tions themselves to earn from the various
guests who will be in Uganda for the week
long summit. Kadaga urged tour operators
to step up their game, hotels to improve
their services and other stakeholders to tap
into the immense opportunities offered by
the high level conference. Over 1000 dele-
gates are expected from 54 nations. Climate
change, youth unemployment, innovations
in parliament and the role of lawmakers in
facilitating people with disabilities are some
of the issues to be discussed. The conference
will be held at the Munyonyo Common-
wealth Resort.

Security firms Another China firm hogs expressway project in Mpigi

under review
Inspector General of
Police Martins Okoth-
Ochola has reportedly
ordered for the revocation
of the licences of over
40 private security firms
issued by the Police. This
is due to failure to meet
the required standards that
govern private security
organisations. This was
triggered by the shooting
of a 26 year-old-man by
a private security guard
at a shopping mart in
Namugongo. Police say the
companies whose licences
were cancelled had
violated all the statutory
standards set by the
Internal Affairs ministry.
The cry out over USD 150 million that
the dominance of were signed on Dec.
Chinese firm is not 29, 2016. CCECC
about to end as istasked to construct
another Chinese the expressway in a
firm; China Civil period of 36 months
Engineering in a joint venture
Construction with China Railway
Corporation 19th Group. UNRA
(CCECC) bagged did not give any
a contract for the indication of whether
Busega Mpigi a Uganda firm was
Expressway at subcontracted to do
Shs547billion. The any part of the project
project is 23km as stipulated by PPDA
road with four rules which state that
lanes is part of the Kampala and Kibuye-Busega Expressway 30% of any procurement project
Masaka Highway and is meant at Busega. The civil works for must be done by a Ugandan firm
to decongest traffic between Busega-Mpigi Expressway are if there are foreign companies
Busega and Mpigi. It is linked financed through two loans involved. UNRA says 64% of the
to the Kampala-Mityana road, from the African Development right of way is available for the
the Northern Bypass and Bank (AfDB) and African contractor to commence works.
Kampala-Entebbe Expressway Development Fund (ADF) worth

Museveni critic Kabuleta charged with offensive communication

Journalist turned preacher
Joseph Kabuleta has been a
vocal critic of President Musev-
eni in the recent past saying he
should step down after ruling
Uganda for thirty three years.
His latest criticism of Museveni
in a Facebook post got him into
trouble when he was whisked
away by unidentified men
while at a restaurant in Lugogo,
Kampala. Police spokesperson
Fred Enanga said Kabuleta is
being held for calling Museveni
a thief, a liar and a gambler
and that he will be charged
for offensive communication
under the Computer Misuse
Act. There has been a show
of support from the public for
Kabuleta who is reportedly
being detained at the Special
Investigations Unit in Kireka, a
suburb outside Kampala. Police
denied access to his lawyers
and some of the flock at his
church.

4 July. 19 - 25 2019

Church of Uganda installs first female Provost Rev. Canon Dr. Rebecca Nyegenye
The Archbishop of Church of
Uganda, Most Rev Stanley Ntag-
ali installed the first female Pro-
vost of All Saints Church Naka-
sero, Rev. Canon Dr. Rebecca
Nyegenye. The well attended
event was characterized by
merrymaking given its symbolic
significance in the role of wom-
en in the church. In his message,
Ntagali said,” We thank God for
week
calling Nyegenye Captain David Serun- cated people in many ways but
and bringing her joji as Assistant Pro- our God is even more sophis-
to us and I thank vost. The Archbishop ticated”, he said. As part of the
you the members centered his sermon symbolic ceremony, he gave
for supporting on the importance of both the Provost and her assis-
her. God calls us servant leadership tant a bible and prayer book.
to serve in differ- which he termed as a They also received anointing oil,
ent positions for calling from God. “To Diocesan canons, policies and
a great purpose”. be called to ministry is keys to the church, with a call to
The Archbishop tough these days, we keep it open to everyone.
also installed Rev are handling sophisti-

Controversy surrounds South Sudan compensation to traders ICT companies urged to

Disputes have emerged Reports say Uganda tabled
over how much money was $41m while South Sudan
allocated for compensating
traders who lost tonnes
of money for supply of
goods and services before
war broke out in South
Sudan in 2013. President
Museveni has directed the
Attorney General to probe
claims of the varying sums
of money presented by the
government of Uganda
and that of South Sudan.
Barclays MD Rakesh Jha leaves for personal business  that provide these services to government
After five years at the
helm of Barclays Bank
Uganda as Managing
Director, Rakesh Jha left
his job to do personal busi-
ness, the bank said on July
15. During his tenure, the
bank was seen to be at the
forefront of introducing the
latest banking technology
and products for customers,
most notably CashSend, a
pioneer product introduced
to enable customers send
money to non-bank custom-
cash which infuriated the
other 23 firms. Meanwhile
claimed it was $47m.
Museveni got reports that
some ministry of finance
officials got kickbacks
from the compensation of
varying figures which put
the compensation process
in disarray. Parliament
also heard recently that
out of the 33 companies
that were supposed to
be paid, only 10 received
ers using the banks intelli-
gent ATMs.  The bank says
that its internet banking
platform has significantly
been enhanced with Mobile
Wallet, Bill Payments and
funds transfers internation-
ally and to local banks; pre-
paid cards were also intro-
duced, among many other
innovative solutions. The
Board appointed Mian Naz-
im Mahmood as Interim
MD with immediate effect
while the appointment
certify with NITA-U
Parliament halted Finance
Ministry Permanent Sec-
retary Keith Muhakanizi
who wanted to hire a pri-
vate firm to verify compen-
sation claims. Parliament
ordered that hiring a firm
would hinder earlier on
agreed plans to use a joint
verification team between
Kampala and Juba to verify
the claims.
for Rakesh’s permanent
successor was underway.
Over the coming weeks,
the bank said Jha will work
closely with Nazim Mah-
mood to ensure a smooth
handover.  Nazim brings
deep financial services
experience, having recent-
ly served as Retail and
Business Banking Director
at Barclays Uganda from
August 2013 to January
2018 and other banks where
he has served world over.  jobs and performance of the economy.
Service providers in the information
communication technology business have
been told to certify their operations with the
National Information Technology Authority
of Uganda (NITA-U) to get business from
government and the private sector.   Fred-
erick Kitoogo, the NITA-U director of Plan-
ning, Research and Development told ICT
players in Kampala on July 11 that they are
engaging the Uganda Bankers Association,
insurance companies and telecom firms to
ensure they only deal with certified compa-
nies. To ensure that this happens, he said,
NITA-U plans to do audits on companies
– a process that would expose shoddy deal-
ers. Certification helps companies to boost
their image and trust amongst their clients.
“It means they have good processes and
are using the best international standards,”
Kitoogo said. He said that certification for
start-ups only costs Shs70, 000 and the pro-
cess takes only 21 days to complete. Albert
Mucunguzi, the Information Communi-
cation Technology Association of Uganda
Board Chairperson said that through the
association, they will continue to engage the
government on areas that require new poli-
cies and legal frameworks to support inno-
vations which are ingredients for creation of

AfricellUG @AfricellUG

Dial *133*2# *terms and conditions apply |

Regulated by Uganda Communications Commission

for more bundles

July. 19 - 25 2019 5
week
AFD aids KCCA’s climate change strategy
Donor funded solar panelled lights along Kiira Road
Recently, the acting Executive Director of
Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA),
Eng. Andrew Kitaka, addressed the press
to give an account of the last eight years
of the KCCA’s activities. One issue Kita-
ka addressed was a project termed as the
‘Kampala Climate Change Project which
the French Development Agency (AFD) has
supported. Kitaka said the project is part of
6 July. 19 - 25 2019
an on-going climate change strategy that will
ensure that the areas of Nakasero, Kololo,
Makerere and Mulago have well-planned
housing and public facilities, trees, safe
walkways and easy access to public trans-
port. A climate change strategy can also be
called a climate change adaption policy.
It is a framework for managing future
climate risk, prioritising and coordinat-
ing action, while offering the potential of
reducing future economic, environmental
and social costs. KCCA is one of the stake-
holders of the National Climate Change
Policy (NCCP) adopted in 2015. Reasons
behind forming the strategy include the
need to reduce the country’s vulnerabil-
ity to climate change impact, the need to
address extreme weather challenges such
as, unpredictable rainfall patterns, floods,
and also to provide guidance for how
Uganda can develop sustainably while
reducing carbon emissions. “KCCA proj-
ects have over the years, and currently,
continued to attract international finan-
ciers and development partners,” said Eng
Kitaka, before recognising the support
from AFD and the French Global Environ-
ment Facility (FFEM). Since 1995, AFD
has offered technical and financial support
to KCCA, to aid in the climate adaption
efforts in the city. Together AFD and
KCCA have so far managed to; train tech-
nical staff to carry out energy audits and
by conducting the energy audits, they have
also began implementation of energy effi-
ciency projects and preparation for climate
change response like solar street lighting.
Humour Did you know?
You can’t scream while
sleeping

If you’re prone to nightmares, then

you know what it’s like to try to scream
in your sleep: No matter how bad your
Joseph Kabuleta a journalist turned preached was arrested for brain’s conjurings are, it’s as if your
alleged offensive communication against President Mueveni. jaw has been wired shut. It’s undoubt-
edly a terrible feeling, but the question
remains: Why does it happen?
As unnerving as this experience may
be, experts say that this is actually your
body’s way of preventing you from act-
ing out your dreams. Only people who
suffer from a condition known as sleep
or night terrors are able to act out their
dreams. They sleepwalk, scream, or
even hit someone while still asleep.
“Typically we have the urge to
scream or shout when we’re going
through a bad dream or a nightmare.
Scream(ing), in this case, represents
our built-up anger or fear. The inabil-
ity to scream, as well as run or punch
someone in your dream, appears
because your brain areas that control
motor neurons are switched off during
sleep,” explains Julie Lambert, a certi-
fied sleep expert from Happy Sleepy
Management of Aulogo FM in Adjumani district has sacked a Head. “Motor neurons are responsible
journalist over planning to host political activist Kizza Besigye.
for any muscle contractions. Since your
pharynx and tongue, which are used
to make a scream, are muscles too,
you cannot scream when asleep.” The
inability to scream may be able to even
continue into consciousness. Some peo-
ple suffer from sleep paralysis—a fairly
common condition during which a
person continues to be unable to move
or speak for a brief period of time upon
waking up.
If you’re a rather loquacious sleeper,
then you’re probably wondering how
it’s possible that you can talk in your
sleep but can’t scream. Well, the reason
for this distinction is that the two activ-
ities take place during difference sleep
stages. In other words, sleep-talking
does not generally happen when you
are in the REM sleep cycle—the same
cycle during which nightmares tend to
take place.
Reports indicate bail bribes are received by court officials who take at least shs150,000 from suspects for bail.

July. 19 - 25 2019
 News analysis Health Business
Education is no HIV eliminated Africa’s historic
longer about a job from DNA free trade deal

Issue No. 580 July. 12 - 18 2019

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

Fighting new
crime wave
Experts react to Museveni strategy

Inbox
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Kampala,Uganda.
Email: editor@independent.co.ug
EU can’t take all Africans
Refer to: “EU killing African immigrants” (The
Independent July 05). There are 1.3 billion Africans.
All want to move out. Reason; Chinese and Russians
have moved in. Africans need to take back their land
and work and grow their own food. Europeans did
for centuries.
R. Ftanceschi
Africans should stay home
Refer to: “EU killing African immi-
grants” (The Independent July 05). What
on Earth gives you the right to invade
illegally another country and have the guts
to insist on being admitted? It’s not a right!
Stay home and fix your problems.
Stratos

Uganda’s budget EU not killing African

dilemma
Refer to: “Uganda’s budget
dilemma” (The Independent
July 05). From the general
view of the article, looks like
Mwenda is suggesting that
we should do what the USA
did if we are to be better off.
But what worked for USA
will not work for us; especial-
ly after looking at the policies
the U.S. and EU have dictated
upon us through the World
Bank, IMF and US Treasury
from 1989 regarding “neo-lib-
eralism” (Read about the
Washington Consensus)
So Mwenda, we know from
experience after all these
years of privatisation and
promotion of foreign direct
investment that the USA
way has created more pov-
erty rather than alleviated it.
We need a new way. A way
designed by African or Ugan-
dan scholars. People who
know us and our societies.
Ugandan scholars are very
smart and given the opportu-
nity they will deliver. We do
not seek to have skyscrapers;
we seek to live happy and
fulfilling lives (socio-econom-
ic transformation). If the sky-
scrapers comes as a result of
this, then that’s fine.
immigrants
Refer to: “EU killing
African immigrants” (The
Independent July 05). In
May 2015, I visited Italy to
attend the Milan Expo 2015.
On arrival at Milan Central
Train Station, I was shocked
with what I saw; hundreds
of Africans sleeping at the
station, on the streets and
all over. Surely our brothers
have caused a social
catastrophe to Italy. I was
approached by one guy who
was begging that I buy him
food. He was from Nigeria,
so he told me. I asked him if
life was better on the streets
of Milan than what he had
left home in his country
and the answer was rather
vague. He told me he was
running away from torture,
corruption, insecurity, name
it. But what shocked me
most was his revelation that
he and his family had spent
US$5,000 (Approx. Shs18
million) to get him to Italy.
Surely, fellow Africans
what do you expect the
Europeans to do?
Daniel Wilson
World Bank; leave UPE alone
Refer to: “World Bank should rethink call to
scrap PLE” (The Independent July 05). Thanks
for your genuine opinion, Katusabe-Ssemwezi.
You are spot-on about World Bank not having
serious interventions on PLE improvements rather
condemning it altogether by recommending
scrapping. These people are sadists and want us to
go into ruin like they did in early 90s when they
said government cannot do business so privatise
and sale off all parastatals. Shame on the WB; if
they have nothing tangible to recommend let them
keep quiet otherwise leave PLE alone. PLE has had
graduates from universities allover Uganda despite
challenges. True, there may be challenges which WB
should be highlighting with suggestions to solutions
that can better PLE.
Charles Muhigirwa
PLE constables good for police
Refer to: “Police lower entry qualifications for
constables” (The Independent online July 12).
Regarding the police recruitment of constables, even
Primary level and Uganda Certificate of education
(UCE) certificate holders can work better than those
with higher education. Those with lower education
will know that they have nowhere else to apply for
a job. Therefore, I request the police to leave the
lower positions for PLE and UCE certificate people.
They need a chance to work. Some of the lower
qualified people are more intelligent than those
with diplomas.
Innocent Muhereza

Kimla

8 July. 19 - 25 2019

Our nation’s threatened middle
By Andrew M. Mwenda
The challenges of being independent in Uganda’s
increasingly polarised and toxic debates
I
n March of this year, President Yoweri
Museveni invited me to speak to
National Resistance Movement (NRM)
Members of Parliament (MPs) then on
a retreat in Kyankwanzi. The day before I
could travel there, one of the key organising
persons called me. He said many MPs were
bitterly protesting that an “enemy” has been
invited to speak to them. He advised me to
keep away.
That same evening, I received calls
from many friends among NRM MPs
all of whom told me that there was
resistance to my invitation. Leading the
charge was Minister for Security, Gen.
Elly Tumwine who, I was informed, had
mobilised a large number of MPs to his
cause. I was thinking of not showing up
when State House called me late in the
night to confirm the time I intended to
arrive. They also told me the President
wanted to be personally present during
my presentation. I understood this call
to have been instigated by the strong
resistance to my invitation.
Apparently, Museveni had been told
of the resistance to my invitation and
had overruled the objections. During the
meeting, it was Museveni who introduced
me to the MPs and invited me to speak.
The great communicator he is, he began
by saying that he had invited “a friend”
who acts like the proverbial snake with
two heads (ekirumira habiri – which bites
both sides). “When he bites us,” he said
with a beaming smile in his characteristic
humor, “we feel the pain deeply. But
when he bites our enemies (I would have
called them opponents), they too feel his
sting deeply to our pleasure.”
It was a very brief but effective
introduction, lasting a little less than
five minutes. By the time I rose to speak,
the audience had changed. But it was
also an interesting moment for me
since many opposition activists claim
I am a spokesperson of the NRM. The
party’s MPs see me as an enemy. This
experience improved my understanding
of Museveni. He is a much more liberal
minded politician than many of his
colleagues in the NRM and critics in
the opposition in spite of his occasional
dictatorial tactics.
The crux of my presentation (Fortune
favors the bold) was not to praise NRM
The Last Word
but to challenge it. However, in the
preamble I highlighted where Uganda
was in 1986 and the journey it has
made since, which I argued, has been
remarkable by all measures. Then I
went straight to the main issue. I think
our country needs to get bolder and
more imaginative in its policy-making
and implementation. I said two things
are critical for our future: first we need
increased share of local participation
in the economy, something NRM has
neglected at great cost. Second, we need
to add value to the goods we export i.e.
take manufacturing seriously. The NRM
has been poor on these two issues even
though Museveni personally has spoken
loudest about value addition.
I was pleased that NRM MPs listened
attentively and applauded my criticism
including Gen. Tumwine. This sets
NRM, but most especially Museveni
personally, apart from a large cross
section of Uganda’s chattering elites;
especially the two dominant cults in the
opposition: the radical extremists of the
Forum for Democratic Change (FDC)
led by Dr. Kizza Besigye and its bastard
child, People Power led by Hon. Robert
Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine.
I have grown increasingly alienated
from and, therefore, hostile to these two
cults. I find their behavior a threat to
the liberal democratic ideals for which
they claim to fight. For them one has to
agree with them in a fanatical, uncritical
and unthinking way to be their ally.
Any criticism of their actions or policies
(actually a lack of them), however mild
and well intentioned, is tantamount to
betrayal of country and selling of one’s
soul that is deserving of destruction
by physical assault or character
assassination. They subject critics to
online insults, abuses, false accusations,
blackmail and worse.
And so it was that on Friday July 12, I
tweeted criticism of the arrest of journalist
Joseph Kabuleta by the police defending
his right to free speech. Kabuleta posts
things that are blatantly false and in
bad taste. His tweet against Lt. Gen.
Muhoozi Keinerugaba was even worse
because it was filled with lies, ignorance
and excessively personal, abusive and
an abuse of free speech. I met him that
opinion
evening and spent hours explaining my
strong disagreement to him.
The radical extremists, rather than see
this as an alliance of values, came out
attacking me, claiming either my account
had been hacked or I was a spy sent to
mislead them. Anyone who has read my
articles or listened to me would know
that I hold strong liberal democratic
convictions – not just in words, but also in
deeds. The Independent newsmagazine,
which I own and manage, runs
weekly criticisms of me. My Twitter
and Facebook accounts are filled with
criticism of me by these radical extremists
whom I can easily block but I don’t.
I have only blocked those who make
insults, which add no value to the debate.
Beyond my values lies my self-interest:
I make a living from the existence of at
environment of free expression selling
news and opinions. I have 13 criminal
charges against me relating to free speech.
I am in court challenging laws against
free speech. For the radical extremists
the issue is not the defense of a principle
but the defense of a person. If someone
defended the right of a powerful minister
like Sam Kutesa to a fair hearing, that
means such a person is a supporter of
Museveni and is paid to do so. Only
when one defends such a right for
Besigye or Kyagulanyi do they see value
in it. They cannot understand why, while
I strongly disagree with what Kabuleta
posted against Muhoozi (who is also
a close personal friend to me) I would
defend his right to say it.
I am fiercely independent. I applaud
Besigye’s courage and tenacity in his
political struggle even though I disagree
with his embrace of radical extremism.
I defend the right of Kyagulanyi to
free speech even though I find his
pronouncements empty headed. I
appreciate the economic achievements
of the NRM even though I disagree with
the mercenary way it has handed our
economy to multinational capital. The
inability of many opposition activists to
appreciate this exposes them as intolerant
of divergent views and therefore a threat
to the little democracy we have
amwenda@independent.co.ug
July. 19 - 25 2019 9
cover story
Police
brutality on
opposition
Besigye, Muntu,
Mao teams react
U
By Independent Team
ganda’s
newest party,
the Alliance
for National
Transformation
(ANT) likes to
be known as the quiet, peace-
loving party. It is an image the
mirrors the personality of its
two most prominent leaders;
its founder, Maj. Gen.(Rtd)
Mugisha Muntu and one of
the main coordinators, former
Serere District woman MP,
Alice Alaso.
But on July 05 they got a
rude shock. Police blocked
their party leaders in western
Uganda from holding a
consultative party in Mbarara.
Unlike opposition political
activity that police routinely
blocks, the Alliance meeting
was to be in a closed space;
the Uncle Speed Gardens in in
Kakoba Division of Mbarara
Municipality.
Police crackdowns on
opposition party meetings are
not unusual but this caught the
Alliance leaders by surprise
because just days earlier, on
June 19, members of the party
had met at the same venue and
elected their leaders without
police interference.
The Alliance leaders might
have felt special because that
same day, June 19, Police in
10 July. 19 - 25 2019
Mbarara fired teargas and
bullets to disperse jubilating
crowds that had gathered to
welcome Kyadondo East MP,
Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi
Wine.
Accompanied by
Mityana Municipality MP,
Francis Zaake and Bugiri
Municipality’s Asuman
Basalirwa, Bobi Wine had
stopped over in Mbarara town
on his way back from the
burial of Buhweju County MP
Francis Mwijukye’s father in
Buhweju.
Also, when Muntu launched
the party at a grand gala
on May 22 in Kampala, the
police hailed his commitment
to avoiding politics of
confrontation in utterances
interpreted to mean there
would be no clampdown on
the Alliance activities.
Now, the police clampdown
on Muntu supporters has
been interpreted as a sign Police violently arresting a protestor at a rally
that no opposition group will
be allowed to carry out any Zachary Olum, a political because members are able to
political organisation – however analyst, says the repression reach new people and compare
peaceful it might be. of opposition “has been what the government is saying
Meanwhile, President Yoweri our disease in Uganda for a to what they are saying,”
Museveni continues to address longtime.” Zachary Olum said, “It’s a
massive rallies and other events He told The Independent that chance to express alternative
where he is endorsed as the the government does not want views.”
preferred candidate in the opposition leaders to hold “This is a chance to put
2021 presidential election. The political rallies because it is everyone in one place and tell
question is why the opposition “a struggle for the soul of the then what is right and what has
cannot be allowed to organise population”. gone wrong or what you would
at all. “Rallies are important do right,” says Sabiiti Makara,

a lecturer of political science at
Makerere University. He sees
the government’s blocking
of opposition political rallies
as intended to deny them an
important tool for mobilising
support.
Despite all the gains from
open-air rallies, Alice Alaso, the
Deputy Coordinator for Finance
and Administration of The
Alliance told The Independent
that they have avoided rallies to
avoid run-ins with the police.
“We want to avoid big
meetings because we don’t
want showdowns with the
Police,” Alaso said.
As a result, the party
has chosen to quietly build
structures. It has done that in
Ankole and Busoga regions
by working below the radar
and meeting in quiet places
like hotels. But the Mbarara
crackdown shows that might
also not be possible now.
Following the crackdown, the
coordinator for the Alliance’s
Kigezi sub-region which covers
Mbarara, Daniel Kafureka, said
they were surprised because
the same police had given the
party the required clearance.
Daniel Bukare, the Alliance
Youth League national
spokesperson told Uganda
Radio Network (URN) the
same thing. But the Rwizi
Region Police Spokesperson,
Samson Kasasira insisted the
party was blocked because the
organisers had not fulfilled all
the requirements.
Until now it is the Forum
for Democratic Change (FDC)
party which has borne the
brunt of police brutality. The
FDC leaders have since March
seen their rallies and meetings
blocked by police in Kasese,
Lira, Kalangala, Amolatar,
Hoima, Rukungiri, Adjumani,
Moyo and more. Bullets
and teargas have been fired
and FDC leaders and their
supporters arrested.
The FDC president, Patrick
Oboi Amuria, and former
president, Kizza Besigye
were leading a nationwide
mobilisation tour under the
theme, “Strengthening FDC to
consolidate our achievements
and enhance party cohesion.”
Although FDC has vowed
to defy police interference
in its activities and prefers
big rally-style events that
are preceded by processions
through town and marked by
flowery speeches and shows
of strength, these have been
blocked almost everywhere.
A few have succeeded when
police was overpowered.
At all times, when the
police block opposition party
mobilisation activities, they cite
the Public Order Management
Act (POMA). The police insist
they must give permission
for any political activity
although the courts have ruled
that interpretation of POMA
is incorrect. The courts have
ruled that police interference is
unlawful because opposition
party leaders holding rallies
do not break any laws with or
without police permission.
“According to the Political
Party Act, political parties’
main activity is mobilisation,
recruitment and engagement
of their activities with their
members and the general
July. 19 - 25 2019
cover story
public. But how is this going
to be done with the police
curtailing assemblies?” says
Tadeo Kawuki, the head of
publicity at Uganda Young
Democrats (UYD), the youth
wing of the Democratic Party
(DP).
“The police are curtailing
freedom of association and
assemblies of political parties
which has greatly affected their
work. It is worrying ahead
of the 2021 elections yet the
president is doing campaigns in
the name of Operation Wealth
Creation,” he says.
“The problem is President
Museveni,” says Lubega
Medard Ssegona, the MP
for Busiiro County East and
Shadow Minister for Justice.
Lubega says Museveni is
mobilising but he does not want
others to mobilise.
“You attempt to hold an
internal rally, the police
disperse you, you hold an open-
air rally, police disperses you,”
he says.
Ssegona told The Independent
on July 15 that being blocked
from moblising is likely
to continue the lackluster
performance of Uganda’s
political parties.
Police crackdown to
intensify
Despite the protests, the
police crackdown is likely to
intensify in 2020 as opposition
parties launch activities ahead
of the 2021 general elections.
Already, it appears, the
Grand old Party of Uganda,
the Democratic Party (DP) has
a slew of activities lined up for
end of year.
DP President General
Norbert Mao says even if police
continues to interfere with their
activities, they are not backing
down.
“DP has never had it easy.
It has never operated in a
democracy. We are used to
having our leaders killed,
arrested. That has been the
history of DP but we are ready
to pay the price in order to fight
for the rule of democracy and
constitutionalism”, Mao says.
The DP will be celebrating
65 years of existence in October
this year. Mao says that the
11
cover story
Police arrest Kiiza Besigye
party will also move into new offices and
re-launch the UYD and the DP Women’s
League.
In the last two months the party’s most
remarkable activity has been its unveiling
of superstar musician Jose Chameleone as
its flag-bearer for the Kampala Capital City
mayoral elections in 2021.
Patrick Wakida, a political commentator
who is an FDC stalwart and executive
director of the polling agency; Research
World International, told The Independent
on July 15 that the continued dispersal of
political parties’ rallies makes it difficult for
these parties to demonstrate to the people
that they have popular support on the
ground. It is a ploy to keep parties weak in
the eyes of the general public and be seen as
incapable of dislodging the ruling party.
“It is a way that has been designed by
Museveni for him to occupy Uganda’s
political space while the others are waiting
for the official campaign period,” he
says, ““It will not be any different from
the previous election and yet winning an
election is a function of convincing people
that you have the capability to win.”
Political parties are normally ordered
to wait for the Electoral Commission to
gazette three months before the election for
12 July. 19 - 25 2019
them to mobilise.
But Wakida says in properly functioning
democracies, the role of a sitting
government is to grow all political parties
but this has not happened in Uganda.
“Where political parties should be
funded by individuals, instead these
individuals fear to be associated with
these political parties because they will be
victimised.”
The Alliance strategy
It is not clear how parties that preach
peaceful politics like The Alliance which is
not known as a party to dive deep into the
rough and tumble of political activities, will
operate in the hostile environment.
The party deputy spokesperson,
Sulaiman Kakaire, says The Alliance prefers
a quiet form of politics which reflects the
personality of the party founder, Gen.
Muntu who is National Coordinator of The
Alliance.
At the party launch, Muntu exhorted the
party leaders to “Work hard and let your
success speak for you”.
Kakaire told The Independent that they
have adopted a structured mobilisation
strategy of working through lower level
coordinators who have been mobilising and
also leading the process of recruitment of
members. For this, they have divided the
country in 21 sub-regions.
According to Kakaire, the Alliance ad
hoc sub regional committee and district
coordinators are to mobilise opinion
leaders, professionals, business people,
teachers, engineers, healthcare workers,
civil society and others before the top brass
arrive to further market the party and its
values. The coordinators usually meet these
influential people say about 50 of them and
talk to them about the ideology of party.
The Alliance style is not to have Muntu
perched on top of a car speaking to people
rally style, Kakaire says.
“We are not doing it for the media,” he
says.
But according to analysts, Muntu’s
party might pay heavily for their quiet
politics. According to the analysts, rallies
are important for parties to energise
supporters, criticise the government,
communicate party positions, and persuade
undecided voters. This effect gets bigger
when the events are broadcast and people
outside those immediately gathered in a
physical space are influenced.
Voters applaud and cheer the right
candidate and right message and laugh to

show support and jeer to show displeasure.
Smart candidates pick the cues and perfect
their pitch. Amidst the campaign songs and
campaign speeches, the voters get a chance
to weigh the candidates’ potential to win.
Political rallies are tools of recruitment
and Museveni is using them already.
Without a rally, therefore, the opposition
candidates may have already lost.
Funding challenges
According to this view, when the public
stopped seeing as much opposition party
activity as expected, word spread that
opposition leaders; especially Kizza Besigye
have been beaten. Then speculation grew
that donors were not giving opposition
leaders money and that opposition parties
do not have money. Being branded broke is
a near fatal label in a money-based political
environment. So the opposition parties are
anxious to shrug it off.
Harold Kaija the Deputy Secretary
General of FDC says the party has been
busy but not covered in the news.
“We are not silent but perhaps are facing
a media blackout,” he told The Independent,
“We have been involved in a lot of activities
which maybe the media has not taken
interest in. We were in Adjumani for
example and police interfered with us. We
are not silent.”
Harold Kaija Mugisha Muntu
He also disputed rumors that they are
short of funds.
“There is that assumption that we
have had donors who give us billions
which is not true,” he said, “We have
never depended on donor funds.”
The no-money-in-FDC talk has
partially been spawned by widely
circulated disputes between the party
and one of its donor funders; the
Interparty Organisation for Dialogue
(IPOD). The donor has claimed publicly
that FDC contravened procurement
rules, inflating prices and filed forged
receipts to account for money. The sums
involved are quite small and the FDC has
attempted to swat them away.
“Those credit queries we had are
the same other parties had. IPOD was
trying to use this as blackmail because of
boycotting their meetings”, Kaija says.
Frank Rusa the Executive Secretary
of IPOD and country representative
of Netherland Institute for Multiparty
Democracy (NIMD) says what happened
with FDC was a misunderstanding which
is being rectified.
“We normally give some funds and
implement programmes to support
political parties with funding from the
Democratic Governance Facility (DGF).
Each political party has to make a
proposal and make some procurement.
FDC had a problem with their
procurement,” he told The Independent.
“I don’t know how that letter we
wrote to them leaked to the media. They
rectified the issue and we are looking into
it. We have not blocked them, it is just
procedure,” he said.
A recent study on political party
financing in Uganda by Friedrich Ebert
Stiftung (FES), A German NGO, noted
that there is a widespread perception
that financing difficulties represent
a significant barrier to the effective
operation of political parties in Uganda.
Almost two-thirds of respondents
(61%) either agreed or agreed strongly
cover story
that political parties in Uganda are weak
because they lack financial resources. An
even higher proportion (70%) said that
political parties would perform their roles
more effectively if they had sufficient
resources.
There is a widespread feeling that
political parties are suffering from a lack
of financial resources which hampers
their ability to perform their democratic
role.
When members of the IPOD held their
summit in March this year, they resolved
to increase funding of political parties
with representation in Parliament from
Shs10bn to Shs35bn with effect from this
financial year.
IPOD Chairperson Norbert Mao said
the parties agreed during the summit
held on March 20 that at least 15% of
the funding from the government be
allocated to the IPOD Secretariat to
intensify the quest for dialogue amongst
political players in the country. But
Museveni controls this money since it
comes from the government coffers.
In any case, the FDC spokesperson,
Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, announced
the party is set to resume nationwide
mobilisation – in other words another
round of battles with the security forces.
On the other hand, Alice Alaso says the
Alliance is training its leaders.
“Initially we wanted to release our
leadership team to go out and mobilise
but we thought they were not ready and
we decided to train the team. We also had
to come up with guidelines so they do
not just go out “to talk and talk.” In other
words, the Alliance is continuing with its
quiet and peace-loving politics.
Farther afield, however, there is also a
growing fear that the brutality of security
forces can force political party activity
underground.
“There are people who may not be able
to bear the kind of situation at hand- if you
push people so hard,” says Zachary Olum.
According to him, young people who do
not see a future for themselves may be
tempted to go the underground route if the
repression continues.
But he adds: “Going underground
catches up with you. It is bad for the
population and bad for the government.
I don’t want it to happen. I am always
for dialogue, people should engage each
other”.
Makara agrees: “Whereas there is
denial of freedom of thought, expression
and assembly, it should not lead to
underground organization or movement.
“Going underground is not an
alternative. Parties must organise openly
and freely. This is where people from other
parties can attend and gauge your ideas.”
July. 19 - 25 2019 13
news analysis
High cost of HIV misdiagnosis
Retesting people to confirm HIV positive results might appear
costly but is cheaper than treating people wrongly diagnosed
By Julian E. Sabiiti
I
t is well-known that an HIV-positive
diagnosis can have detrimental
results on people affected. A person
diagnosed as HIV positive can
undergo depression, withdraw from the
public and make the wrong decisions in
their personal life. But what if the HIV-
positive result is a misdiagnosis?
Under the current World Health
Organization (WHO) `Treat All’
guidelines on HIV treatment,
misdiagnosis might imply unnecessary
use of antiretroviral treatment (ART) for
the rest of this person’s life.
Musa Okello from Lira in northern
Uganda knows that first hand. The
30-year old was misdiagnosed in May
and was immediately started on ART.
He says when his body reacted badly to
14 July. 19 - 25 2019
the medication; he sought confirmatory
tests at Lira Regional Hospital, the AIDS
Information Centre, and Marie Stoppes
which all turned out to be negative.
He says the ART poisoned his body
and he is now suing MBN-Clinical
Laboratories; a private medical facility
in Lira town for Shs165 million in
compensation.
Another case involves Godfrey Ntaro
who dragged The Surgery; a high
end clinic in Kampala over false HIV
diagnosis. Ntaro wants the clinic to
pay him Shs1 billion because, he says,
wrong results from the clinic cost him a
job. He says he was wrongly started on
ART until subsequent tests at Ebenezer
Clinical Laboratory and the Joint Clinical
Research Center turned out HIV negative.
In another famous case, Balikuddembe
Mukasa sued The Aids Support
Organization (TASO) for misdiagnosis.
Mukasa says he wants TASO to
compensate him for the mental anguish,
stress, and ridicule that he suffered
before retests at Uganda Cares, Uganda
Research Unit on AIDS, and the Joint
Clinical Research Center found he was
HIV-negative.
These cases show another unseen cost
of HIV misdiagnosis – cases start popping
up in courts.
Far less known, however, is the effect of
HIV misdiagnosis on the health sector.
Misdiagnosis can undermine the trust
of the public in HIV results given which
will then lower the numbers of people
testing for HIV.
It can also have serious cost implication
on the government because of all the
people being initiated on antiretroviral
treatment (ART) despite not being sick.

Although it has not occurred yet,
issuing an HIV-positive misdiagnosis in a
government facility can also have serious
cost implication on the government
because of settlement of the lawsuits that
might arise based on the misdiagnosis.
Rush to start ART
It appears focus on HIV-positive
misdiagnosis has increased since the
World Health Organization (WHO)
introduced the `Treat All’ guidelines on
HIV treatment.
The treat-all policy has been in force
since 2016 when WHO issued the
consolidated guidelines on the use of
antiretroviral drugs for treating and
preventing HIV infection.
The new policy recommendations
on HIV treatment and care included
the 90-90-90 targets which have seen
countries like Uganda in a rush to enroll
all HIV-positive people on ART.
According to Dr. Joshua Musinguzi,
the Program Manager of the AIDS
program at Ministry of Health, out of an
estimated 1.3 million living with HIV in
Uganda, 1.2 million are receiving ARTs.
That is a 92% rate; well above the WHO
recommendation of 90%. But could the
rush to get every HIV-positive person
on ART be leading to ignoring another
key recommendation; re-testing all HIV-
positive persons before confirming the
diagnosis?
The Minister of Health, Dr. Jane
Ruth Aceng, told The Independent that
Uganda has observed the retesting policy
recommended by WHO since the 90s.
According to her, after the initial test
turns out to be positive, a second test
is done by a different person, using a
different tester, for confirmation. In case
the first two tests show different results,
a third test; the Bioline test, is further
carried out.
Dr. Musinguzi also told The Independent
that for the sake of quality assurance,
the Uganda Virus Research Institute
certifies both individuals and Health
Facilities before they can start providing
HTS (HIV Testing Services). Because of
these precautions taken, cases of wrong
positive diagnoses have become very rare
in Uganda.
However, Musinguzi and the
minister might be focusing more on the
government facilities and less on what
goes on in private clinics.
As the cases popping up in court
show, there appears to be HIV-positive
misdiagnosis going on because of failure
to retest.
New international study
The cases popping up are similar to
results of a new international study
released recently.
Published by the Public Library of
Science (PLOS) on July 01, the study
aimed to show how failure to retest could
be causing unnecessary high medical
costs.
The study authors, who are associated
with Division of Global HIV & TB,
Center for Global Health, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention in the
United States, arrived at this conclusion
after comparing the cost of retesting for
verification of an HIV positive result and
the cost of antiretroviral treatment (ART)
for misdiagnosed cases in the absence of
retesting.
Their findings showed that choosing
not to retest for verification could be
leading to an estimated unnecessary cost
of $717 million in HIV treatment across
Africa. This cost could become a saving if
retesting is done.
The
government
spends an
average of
$150 million
per year
(Approx.
Shs550
billion UGX) on
antiretroviral
treatment
(ART)
The study was carried out using data
collected from 50 countries within Africa. A
cost analysis of HIV retesting for verification
after initial diagnosis was done with
two scenarios taken into consideration:
implementing retesting for verification of all
initially HIV-positive diagnosed cases prior
to ART initiation and no retesting.
In terms of ART costs, only costs
incurred for those misdiagnosed as
HIV-positive were considered because
the cost of ART would be the same in
both scenarios considered. Also, costs
considered were facility based because
although initial diagnosis may happen
in the community, retesting should
ideally be done by a different person
from the one that administered the
initial test.
news analysis
Over the ten-year horizon, the
estimated number of misdiagnoses in
the absence of retesting for verification
was 156,117 for Lower Income Countries.
The study assumed a 75% reduction
in misdiagnosis while retesting for
verification, putting the estimated
number of misdiagnosed cases with
retesting for verification at 39,029 for
LICs, over the same period.
In the case of Uganda, the government
pays an average of $21 million per
year (Approx. Shs78 billion) to buy
HIV testing kits (with each test costing
less than a dollar). Meanwhile, the
government spends an average of $150
million per year (Approx. Shs550 billion
UGX) on antiretroviral treatment (ART).
Most of this is from the Global Fund. This
does not include the estimated costs on
the time of staff of the health facilities and
the cost of subsequent tests such as viral
load monitoring. The cost could go higher
if the additional costs are included.
A lot of self-testing goes on too but
when a positive result is returned,
patients typically go into health facilities
for confirmatory tests. Those who do not
are encouraged to go to registered health
facilities immediately for retesting to
avoid the adverse outcomes of starting
taking ARTs based on a wrong test result.
The WHO first recommended retesting
for verification of new diagnoses in 1997,
but newer guidelines re-emphasized the
`Treat All’ guidelines.
Where there’s low adoption of the
retesting strategy, according to the study,
reasons may include: lack of knowledge
about the retesting recommendation,
providers’ reliance on other clinical
assessments as required under previous
ART guidelines that were indicative of
HIV infection, lack of data about the
magnitude of misdiagnosis, concerns of
the additional costs and resources needed
to implement retesting for verification
or suspicions that the operational
requirements of re-testing could be an
impediment to rapid ART initiation.
Retesting for verification, however,
applies only to persons not on ART
because HIV diagnostic tests validated
for use on persons taking ART are not
available and once persons are on ART,
rapid tests may give false negative results
due to waning of antibodies
The authors recommended that
countries review their data, consider
the long term financial, personal and
societal costs associated with not
retesting for verification, and include
retesting for verification as an integral
quality assurance component in the
development or revision of their `Treat
All’ plans.
July. 19 - 25 2019 15
news analysis
Women MPs need men
Why they have joined forces with
men to make their voices heard
By Dr. Hannah Muzee & Joyce B. Mbongo Épse
Endeley
U
ganda’s female parliamentarians
are challenging the country’s
male-centric political system.
They are doing so by collabo-
rating with, among others, fellow male
parliamentarians.
Changing the patriarchal nature of
Uganda’s political system, which has sys-
tematically excluded women from mean-
ingful participation, is a daunting task.
But Uganda’s women MPs have scored
a number of victories, including the suc-
cessful introduction of gender-sensitive
laws and policies. These were achieved
through collaboration with other wom-
en’s groups and working with fellow
male parliamentarians.
We studied the workings of the Uganda
Women Parliamentary Association, one
of the essential components of Uganda’s
women’s movement. The association is a
women’s caucus that admits male legisla-
tors as allies.
Our research examined how women
parliamentarians enhanced their voices
in Uganda’s Parliament, and how collab-
orations with nongovernmental wom-
en’s organisations and male legislators
furthered that cause. We interviewed 14
long-serving members of the Ugandan
parliament, and the women’s association
– 10 women and four men.
Members of the association attributed
their successes to caucusing as well as
developing a collective women’s voice.
They also argued that partnerships with
male legislators were essential to their
success.
A turning tide
Women in Uganda’s Parliament have
had to fight hard for their voices to be
heard. This is because the marginalisation
of female legislators goes back decades.
Under the oppressive regimes of former
presidents Milton Obote as well as Idi
Amin all power became vest in the presi-
dent. This weighed heavily on the politi-
cal representation of women in Uganda’s
political structures.
The tide appeared to turn in 1986 when
the National Resistance Movement came
to power. Later, the promulgation of the
1995 constitution also gave women hope
for political equality. Initially, the consti-
16 July. 19 - 25 2019
Women legislators in Uganda are working with
their male counterparts to get their voices heard.
tution was referred to as the most gen-
der-sensitive in Uganda’s history. This
was thanks to a robust affirmative action
policy.
Three decades later the policy is criti-
cised for its tokenism .
While the number of women mem-
bers of parliament increased under the
National Resistance Movement, they were
denied any real power. Women gained in
numerical representation but struggled
to match this with impact. An example
is the events leading up to the passing of
the 1998 Land Act. Efforts by women leg-
islators to introduce a clause that would
allow spouses to co-own property was
dismissed and subsequently deleted from
the final document. These and other chal-
lenges led to the formation of the Uganda
Women Parliamentary Association.
Amplifying women’s voices
The association’s activities range from
lobbying and advocacy to networking,
training, and capacity building. The aim
is to give women members of parliament
space to discuss issues and share experi-
ences from different areas such as politics,
economics, science and technology.
To enhance women’s voices and pass
pro-woman legislation, members of the
association have to actively seek collabo-
ration with male legislators. This includes
allowing male legislators to move their
bills on the floor of the house as a means
to gain broad consensus.
Some of the women parliamentarians
we interviewed acknowledged that one
of their main roles was to mobilise and
lobby the male legislators. Through col-
laboration with male legislators, women
parliamentarians where able to gain sup-
port for legislation such as the Domestic
Violence Bill , the Children’s (Amend-
ment) Bill, and the bill against female
genital mutilation.
To gain support against some of these
detrimental patriarchal practices, women
needed to work with men legislators to
convince their counterparts about the
benefits of criminalising such acts.
All the women parliamentarians we
interviewed acknowledged that collabo-
ration with male legislators was necessary
because there were so few women in
Parliament. Men hold 65.3% of all parlia-
mentary seats.
The approach of the Uganda Women
Parliamentary Association draws from
the feminist theory of Bell Hooks a fem-
inist author, professor and social activist
who has called for a resurgence of male
feminist thought. Men must also be com-
mitted to the fight against sexism and
patriarchal privilege.
A voice in itself
Our case study shows the power of
convincing men to see the value in sup-
porting pro-woman legislation. This is
a voice in itself – not just the ability to
speak and be heard, but also to influence
decisions. Further observation revealed
that women’s voices were also enhanced
by the type (formal) and post-graduate
level of education that women held.
So while some may argue that women
collaborating with men is a new dimen-
sion of male supremacy. The truth is that
in a world made up of men and women,
significant progress won’t be made with-
out collaboration.
Dr. Hannah Muzee, Governance and
Regional Integration, Université de Yaoundé
II & Joyce B. Mbongo Épse Endeley, Professor
of Agricultural Extension Education and
Gender Studies, University of Buea
Source: theconversation

Sex talk with kids
Why having it early and often is good for them
By Veronica I. Johnson & Guy Ray
Backlund
P
arents may be uncom-
fortable initiating “the
sex talk,” but whether
they want to or not, par-
ents teach their kids about sex
and sexuality. Kids learn early
what a sexual relationship looks
like.
Broaching the topic of sex
can be awkward. Parents may
not know how to approach the
topic in an age-appropriate way,
they may be uncomfortable with
their own sexuality or they may
fear “planting information” in
childrens’ minds.
Parental influence is essential
to sexual understanding, yet
parents’ approaches, attitudes
and beliefs in teaching their
children are still tentative. The
way a parent touches a child, the
language a parent uses to talk
about sexuality, the way parents
express their own sexuality and
the way parents handle chil-
dren’s questions all influence a
child’s sexual development.
We are researchers of inti-
mate relationship education.
We recently learned through
surveying college students that
very few learned about sex from
their parents, but those who did
reported a more positive learn-
ing experience than from any
other source, such as peers, the
media and religious education.
The facts of modern life
Children are exposed to
advertising when they’re as
young as six months old – even
babies recognise business logos.
Researcher and media activist
Jean Kilbourne, internationally
recognised for her work on the
image of women in advertising,
has said that “Nowhere is sex
more trivialised than in pornog-
raphy, media and advertising.”
Distorted images leave youth
with unrealistic expectations
about normal relationships.
Long before the social media
age, a 2000 study found that
teenagers see 143 incidents of
Maintaining an open, honest relationship with your children is key.
sexual behavior on network
television at prime time each
week; few represented safe and
healthy sexual relationships.
The media tend to glamorise,
degrade and exploit sexuality
and intimate relationships.
Media also model promiscuity
and objectification of women
and characterise aggressive
behaviors as normal in intimate
relationships. Violence and
abuse are the chilling but logical
result of female objectification.
While there is no consensus
as to a critical level of commu-
nication, we do know that some
accurate, reliable information
about sex reduces risky behav-
iors. If parents are uncomfort-
able dealing with sexual issues,
those messages are passed to
their children. Parents who can
talk with their children about
sex can positively influence their
children’s sexual behaviors.
Can’t someone else do this
for me?
Sex education in schools may
provide children with informa-
tion about sex, but parents’ opin-
ions are sometimes at odds with
what teachers present; some
advocate for abstinence-only
education, while others might
prefer comprehensive sex
education. The National Edu-
cation Association developed
the National Sexual Health
Standards for sex education in
schools, including age-appropri-
ate suggestions for curricula.
Children often receive con-
tradictory information between
their secular and religious edu-
cations, leaving them to question
what to believe about sex and
sometimes confusing them
more. Open and honest com-
munication about sex in families
can help kids make sense of the
mixed messages.
Parents remain the primary
influences on sexual develop-
ment in childhood, with siblings
and sex education as close fol-
lowers. During late childhood, a
more powerful force – peer rela-
tionships – takes over parental
influences that are vague or too
late in delivery.
Even if parents don’t feel com-
petent in their delivery of sexual
information, children receive
and incorporate parental guid-
ance with greater confidence
than that from any other source.
Engaging in difficult con-
versations establishes trust and
primes children to approach
parents with future life challeng-
es. Information about sex is best
received from parents regardless
of the possibly inadequate deliv-
ery. Parents are strong rivals
of other information sources.
Teaching about sex early and
often contributes to a healthy
sexual self-esteem. Parents may
instill a realistic understanding
of healthy intimate relationships.
Getting started
So how do you do it? There
July. 19 - 25 2019
news analysis
is no perfect way to start the
conversation, but we suggest a
few ways here that may inspire
parents to initiate conversations
about sex, and through trial and
error, develop creative ways of
continuing the conversations,
early and often.
 Several age-appropriate
books are available that teach
about reproduction in all life
forms – “It’s Not the Stork,”
“How to Talk to Your Kids
About Sex” and “Amazing
You!: Getting Smart About
Your Body Parts”.
 Watch TV with children.
Movies can provide oppor-
tunities to ask questions and
spark conversation with kids
about healthy relationships
and sexuality in the context
of relatable characters.
 Demonstrate openness and
honesty about values and
encourage curiosity.
 Allow conversation to
emerge around sexuality at
home – other people having
children, animals reproduc-
ing or anatomically correct
names for body parts.
 Access sex education mate-
rials such as the National
Sexual Health Standards.
The goal is to support chil-
dren in developing healthy
intimate relationships. Seek
support in dealing with con-
cerns about sex and sexuality.
Break the cycle of silence that is
commonplace in many homes
around sex and sexuality. Par-
ents are in a position to advo-
cate for sexual health by com-
municating about sex with their
children, early and often.
Veronica I. Johnson is Associate
Professor, Counselor Education,
The University of Montana &
Guy Ray Backlund is Associate
Professor, New Mexico State
University
Source:thecoversation
17
obituary
Mukwano (in wheelchair) with his son Alykhan Karmali (L) and another manager
Amirali Karmali
aka Mukwano dies
Business mogul defied Idi Amin to
build nation’s biggest conglomerate
By Ian Katusiime
F
rom cooking oil to laundry soap,
from plastics to drinking water,
few people living in Uganda can
claim not to have used a product
manufactured by Amirali Karmali aka
Mukwano, a Ugandan businessman of
Asian origin who died on July 10 and
believed to be in his eighties.
Rising from a truck driver to being
at the helm of the Mukwano Group of
Companies, Mukwano lived a full life
having gone through all the probable
stages of business cycles with a leg
in nearly every part of the Ugandan
economy, stretching his business empire
across the entire East African region
and beyond.
His Mukwano conglomerate has
18 July. 19 - 25 2019
interests in agriculture, logistics,
beverages, property development and
banking. Given the name Mukwano
(meaning friend) by those he dealt with
in his early years, the businessman was
literally a household name in Uganda.
Some estimates put his fortune at
$1bn (Shs3.7trillion) but by any account
it is difficult to put his fortune to any
figure due to the far-flung business
enterprise he leaves behind.
Mukwano was born in Gomba district
according to reports. His father, one of
the pioneer Indian investors in Uganda
set foot in Kampala in 1910 and set up
a trading company. Mukwano later
ventured out on his own- moving
around Uganda in search of business
opportunities.
Information on his childhood is
scanty but wherever he lived, Mukwano
touched those around him through
charity, generosity and kindness. He
lived in areas of Mpigi, Fort Portal and
Kampala where he spread his business
touch.
They say fortune favours the brave
and it could only be bravery behind
Mukwano’s decision to stay in Uganda
after then President Idi Amin decreed in
1972, that Indians should leave Uganda.
As fellow Indians packed everything
in search of a new life, Mukwano
then about to start his entrepreneurial
journey defied the Ugandan dictator at
the risk of his life.
The budding businessman spent
some time in Fort Portal and became a
truck driver which he used to transport
produce from places like Mombasa to
Kampala and as far as Rwanda, DR
Congo and Sudan. He did this while
keeping a very low profile.
His bravery was also witnessed
through his decision to establish contact
with Indians who were outside Uganda.
However this got him into trouble as
Amin’s Intelligence operatives got wind
of it and detained him briefly.
Mukwano had a months’ hiatus in
Nairobi, Kenya until the fall of Amin.
It was in the 1980s when he set up
the first general merchandise shop in
Kampala that laid the foundation of the

Mukwano enterprise he was known for.
Today the Mukwano Group is one
of the top tax payers in Uganda and
employs over 7000 staff in its various
divisions.
Patrick Bitature, a renowned
businessman who was mentored by
Mukwano says the old man abhorred
luxury and had humility as his driving
factor. Bitature says Mukwano more
than gave him a hand up when he paid
for him fees to study in the UK.
After establishing his business,
Mukwano decided that diversification
was going to be his winning formula.
Whether it is cooking oils or
soaps, he made sure that there were
several products as a way of giving
customers a wide range of options.
Under cooking oils, Mukwano made
Sunseed, Mukwano vegetable oil all
which have proved popular. For soaps
and detergents, the company made
Mukwano Star White, Mukwano Bright
Soap among others.
In 1995, Mukwano passed the baton
to his son, Alykhan Karmali who took
over operations of the Mukwano Group
as Managing Director.
Move to Fort Portal
Mukwano has strong connections
to Fort Portal town in Kabarole
district in western Uganda. Due to his
business acumen, he identified another
business opportunity here in growing
and packaging tea. Under Rwenzori
Commodities Limited, Mukwano had a
tea estate sitting on 2790 hectares.
This resulted into the growth of
Buzirasagama, Hiima, Munobwa and
Kigumba Tea factories which employed
thousands.
Doreen Bamanyisa, a resident of
Fort Portal says the town has benefited
a lot from Mukwano’s generosity.
“After the 1933 earth quake, he worked
closely with Virika Church and made
a donation for the construction of a
private wing at Virika Hospital.”
“He bought land where several
Rwandan refugees were resettled after
the Rwandan genocide,” she adds.
Bamanyisa also tells The Independent
that Mukwano constructed a mosque
for Batooro in Mpanga area after
disagreements emerged between the
latter and Indians living that side.
The two groups previously shared the
mosque.
Mukwano was said to have a love for
the serenity and beauty of Fort Portal
where he spent the better part of his
later years. According to his grandson,
Mukwano died of heart failure. Mukwano
is survived by children Alykhan Karmaili
and Rukhshana Karmali.
Mukwano’s
management style
It should be a model for
Ugandan businesses
By Ian Katusiime
U
gandan
businesses
are said
to suffer
from the founder’s
syndrome; a situation
where a business
operates primarily
according to the
personality of its
founder. It gets worse Waswa Balunywa
when the founder
dies.
However experts say majority of
businesses and companies owned by
Ugandans can learn a thing or two
from the empire called Mukwano
Industries Uganda Limited established by
businessman Amirali Karmali popularly
known as Mukwano who died this July.
Known for lying low and letting his
businesses flourish, Mukwano succeeded
in having his companies growing bigger
brands than his personality. Moments after
news of his demise broke, worker after
worker described him as a father figure, his
longtime employees who were not much
younger referred to him as a brother.
One of his grandsons said Mukwano’s
humility could be seen through his simple
dress code. He said the old man owned
about four shirts and three trousers
and that was it. A stark contrast to the
archetypal businessman in Uganda who
cruises swanky cars and is always dressed
in sharp suits.
The lifestyle of Mukwano was also a
lesson to borrow for many businesspeople
in Uganda who are said to confuse
sales for income and thus in the end
deplete business cash flow in pursuit of
ostentation.
By the time Mukwano died, his son
Alykhan Karmali was already in charge of
the business having spent close to twenty
five years as the MD of Mukwano Group.
“Mukwano Group of companies is one
of the most successful (family) businesses
in Uganda today,” said Gideon Badagawa,
the Executive Director, Private Sector
Foundation Uganda (PSFU). Badagawa
said because of Mukwano’s urge to grow
obituary
and sustain
businesses, the
businessman
was able to
evolve into
a “trader,
manufacturer,
industrialist
and a
philanthropist
through the
times.”
Gideon Badagawa Prof. Waswa
Balunywa,
the Principal
of Makerere University Business School
(MUBS) told The Independent the country
has lost a great businessman and a great
part of this economy. “He lived a real life
of working hard to improve others.”
Balunywa says Mukwano was not just
about making money and producing
goods and services. “He lived the ideal life
of a businessman of solving problems in
society.” Balunywa says Mukwano helped
clear 80% of the bill when MUBS was
planning to construct a mosque of over
Shs1 billion.
He says even if a profit eventually went
to him, he sought to help others as his main
goal. Balunywa says Mukwano’s humility
is also a lesson to many businesspeople.
Businessman and journalist Andrew
Mwenda says, from the story of Mukwano,
Ugandans who intend to join the business
world should know that the circumstances
of one’s birth do not matter but “discipline,
dedication and entrepreneurial ability”.
Mwenda also said Mukwano’s story
demonstrates that one does not need
higher education to succeed in life or
business for that matter. “He started from
nothing, he didn’t even have money.” He
added that Mukwano started business at a
time when Indians were being persecuted
by the government then.
By the 2000s, Mukwano Industries had
cemented itself as a leading manufacturer
of high quality and affordable Fast
Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGS).
The group’s model of diversification had
seen subsidiaries produce animal feeds, a
plastics division and a range of personal
care products.
July. 19 - 25 2019 19
Fight over sugarcane business
President Museveni
supports exports to Kenya
O
By Isaac Khisa
n June 11, President Yoweri
Museveni held a closed
door meeting with the sug-
arcane farmers in Busoga
sub-region at the Jinja state
lodge a head of his planned
Operation Wealth Creation campaign.
Among those who attended the meeting
included the Minister in charge of Presi-
dency, Esther Mbayo, and Issa Badhugo, the
chairperson of Busoga Sugarcane Out-Growers
Association, who headed a delegation of 28
farmers.
Sources privy to the meeting said Musev-
eni agreed with the farmers that the excess
cane supplies can be exported so that farm-
ers do not incur losses and that it does not
hurt local millers.
Michael Mugabira, the coordinator for
Uganda Sugarcane Growers Association
confirmed to The Independent on June.15 that
the two parties agreed that excess cane be
exported to the neighbouring Kenya.
“We are currently cutting the cane and
expect our first sugarcane consignment
to Kenya in a few days, to come” he said,
adding that cane production has been on the
upward trend since 2017 when prices shoot
up.
Mugabira said the sugarcane farmers are
20 July. 19 - 25 2019
also waiting for a response from Uganda
Revenue Authority over their request to
grant them a temporary customer’s exit and
entry point along Busia-Malaba border to
facilitate quick export owed to perishability
of the crop.
The farmers wrote to the URA Commis-
sioner General, Doris Akol, and copied in the
trade ministry on July 03, according to docu-
ments that The Independent has seen.
Similarly, Badhugo said Museveni prom-
ised to consult cabinet prior to making a
final decision on cane exports.
Reports indicate that on average, the six
sugar milling companies in Busoga have
installed capacity of crushing between 1,000
to 7,000 tonnes of sugarcane daily.
However, cane production is in excess of
500,000 tonnes annually.
This development comes three weeks
since Busoga Sugarcane Out growers Associ-
ation signed an agreement with West Kenya
Sugar Company Limited’s Olepito Unit
located in Busia, Kenya, to supply it with at
least 600 tonnes of cane per day for an initial
three months.
In the agreement, a copy that The Inde-
pendent has seen, also shows that the sugar
firm will purchase mature cane at Ksh4,055
(Shs143,000) per tonne payable within two-
three days upon delivery.
This is far higher than the offering from
local sugar producers who have since low-
ered their price from Shs128, 000 Shs120, 000
per tonne.
The sugar company will also deduct 1%
as administrative cost, currently, Ksh40 (Shs
1,400) per tonne to facilitate operations of the
Busoga Sugar Cane Out growers Associa-
tion. The Association will also not sign a con-
tract with another Kenyan sugar producer.
The decision to export raw cane comes in
the wake of delayed cane harvests beyond
the recommended 18-month maturity peri-
od and drying up in the gardens.
This new step, however, places the sugar
millers especially those in Busoga sub-region
including Kakira and the Sugar Corporation
of Uganda Limited (SCOUL) in an awkward
position.
The millers have previously claimed that
there was inadequate cane to enable them
mill enough sugar to meet the growing
demand for the product locally and within
the East African region.
For that, the sugar millers have been push-
ing the government to pass the Sugar Cane
Zoning Bill 2016 that seeks to limit establish-
ment of new sugar processing firms in the
already existing ones within a radius of 25
kilometres.
The proposed law also seeks to force sug-
ar cane farmers or out-growers to supply
their cane to the sugar processing firm with-
in their zone, a proposal that the farmers
vehemently opposed.
Though Parliament had in November last
year passed the proposed law, Museveni
refused to assent it into law.

Good jump! URA
surpasses target
Commissioner General Doris Akol
outlines plans for the FY 2019/2020
By Julius Businge
U
ganda’s tax collection grew
at an impressive 14.9% above
target to Shs16.6trillion in the
last Financial Year, the fastest
pace recorded in the last five years.
Results released on July 15 shows
that the Uganda Revenue Authority
(URA) executives have a reason to
smile having bounced back from a
revenue collection deficit of Shs606bn
recorded in the FY2017/2018 to a
surplus of Shs258bn in FY2018/2019.
URA last recorded a huge surplus in
revenue collections in the FY2014/15
when it recorded a Shs139bn surplus.
Doris Akol, the commissioner
general at the URA told journalists that
the good performance was supported
by positive economic growth reported
at 6.1% in FY2017/2018 against a
He, instead, returned it to Parliament
arguing that certain clauses, specifically sug-
arcane zoning had been omitted.
However, in his tour to Busoga sub-re-
gion, President Museveni did not give his
position to the farmers with regard to the
proposed law.
Instead, he said sugarcane prices will con-
tinue going down and that “there is nothing
government can do.”
He also said sugarcane milers need to
grow their own cane, a view that contradicts
the government’s usual position that local
farmers need to become out growers for
agro-processing firms to boost their incomes.
“I have always told Madhvani (Kakira
Sugar Limited managing director) to grow
his own sugarcane and leave these out grow-
ers,” he said during a press briefing at the
Jinja state lodge.
He said that Busoga residents need to
reduce on the subsistence farming and adopt
commercialised farming of coffee, fruits, and
other food for their families. They should
also grow pasture for animals; do poultry for
eggs and fish farming.
He said sugarcane should be grown by an
individual with at least six acres of land.
“Sugarcane takes 18 months (almost two
projection of 6%.
Both domestic and international
taxes performed well. Domestic
taxes net collections during the year
were Shs9.7trillion, registering a
performance of 102% and Shs265.59
billion above the target.
The major tax heads that recorded
gross surpluses during the year were
majorly direct taxes that include;
corporation tax that registered a
surplus of Shs331billion mainly
attributed to the transport, storage
and communication sub sector as
well as the financial intermediaries
and PAYE that registered a surplus
of Shs148billion mainly attributed
to the public sector that performed
at 127% of target. The tax body
saw major revenue contributing
sectors registering positive growth
during the year including mining
years) to be ready, and if it is grown on small
acreage, one earns about Shs2million. When
you deduct costs you are left with Shs1m.
But with 10 acres or more, the returns are
much bigger,” he reportedly said.
Jim Kabeho, the chairperson of the Ugan-
da Sugar Manufacturers Association told The
Independent in an interview on July 15 that
they are comfortable with nay decision that
farmers will take and that the farmers have a
right to sell their cane anywhere.
Sugar firms operational
He said there shouldn’t be complaints
related to milling going forward as factories
that have been on maintenance are now
operational.
“The factories are now into operation and
within the shortest time possible, there will
be no more excess cane supplies,” he said.
On the other hand, the Minister of Trade,
Industry and Cooperatives, Amelia Kyam-
badde, said she is opposed to exports for
unprocessed raw materials like sugarcane as
the move would hamper industrial growth.
Kyambadde, who met legislators on July
03, said Uganda’s industrial policy encour-
ages value addition on products produced
locally.
July. 19 - 25 2019
business
and quarrying (17.6%), trade and
repairs (6.6%), construction (5.7%),
manufacturing (4.4%), financial and
insurance activities (8.3%) and public
administration (10.6%).
On the other hand, the net
international trade tax collections
during the year were Shs6.8trillion
registering a performance of 100% and
Shs0.34 billion above the target.
Akol said the major tax heads
under customs that registered good
performance during the financial year
were; import duty that performed
at 100.71% of the target and VAT on
imports performed at 102.62%.
In terms of import volumes,
Uganda’s dry cargo – this excludes
fuel –import volumes in local currency
grew by 28.54% during the FY2018/19
compared to 16.30% last financial year
FY2017/18.
The growth in import volumes led to
the growth in goods that attract VAT
on imports by 8.17%, goods that attract
import duty by 1.62%.
The major import items that
registered increase in tax yield during
the FY2018/19 compared to last year
include; worn clothing reported at
Shs42billion, cigarettes Shs29billion,
motor vehicles Shs28billion, foot wear
Shs27billion. Performance in these
areas enhanced international trade
tax revenue collections which led to a
surplus of Shs8.91billion.
She argued that although Busoga sub
region has recorded excess sugarcane in the
last two months, the local sugar millers can
process all the mature sugarcane.     
She said the excess cane supply was
caused by the suspension of sugarcane pro-
cessing by Sugar Corporation of Uganda
Limited (SCOUL) and Kakira Sugar Works
as they carried out annual routine mainte-
nance of their machinery.
She also said Mayuge Sugar, Kamuli
Sugar and G.M Sugar Ltd factories reported
machine breakdowns, leaving farmers with
an option of exporting their sugarcane to
Kenya.
Uganda’s sugar industry that started way
back in the 1920s, now boasts of nearly 20
licensed companies majority of which are
located in the south-eastern Busoga region.
The annual sugar production had
increased from 140,000 in the 1960s to
240,000 tonnes in 2008 and 400.5 tonnes in
2014, it dropped to 365 metric tonnes in 2017,
according to data from the ministry of trade.
Local consumption of raw sugar stands at
around 350,000 tonnes per annum, accord-
ing to USMA. The rest of it goes to the neigh-
boring markets.
21
business
Doris Akol (right) presenting the full year revenue collection report at URA headquarters in Kampala on July 15.
New tax measures
Akol said that the proposed tax
policy measures for the year that
were majorly under income tax, local
excise duty, VAT, customs-non-tax
revenue, customs and excise-customs,
performed well.
Some of the popular measures
introduced under the local excise duty
included a levy of Shs200 on Over
the Top services (social media access)
and levy of 1% on mobile money
transactions – that later reduced by
half. Total net revenue collected from
these measures was Shs779billion.
Future prospects
Akol said the new target of
Shs20.3trillion for the new Financial
Year will depend on the performance of
the economy, changes in the proposed
tax measures by the government
in addition to compliance levels by
taxpayers.
“We have an issue with those that
comply and fall off; those that file and
don’t pay and others that do not pay at
all,” she said.
In order to deal with this scenario,
she said the URA supports an
ongoing multi-sectoral approach being
22 July. 19 - 25 2019
implemented by the government to
deal with businesses in the steel sub-
sector that have reportedly been under
declaring their performances.
She also noted that telecom
companies are progressively becoming
more compliant after the government
started to monitor most of their
transactions.
As the New Year goes by, Akol
said they will continue with the
implementation of the current URA
Corporate Plan 2016/17-2019/20 that
is premised on three major areas
of cultivating a taxpaying culture
through provision of reliable services,
leadership development and building
strategic partnerships.
Akol said they will focus on the
implementation of digital tax stamps,
electronic physical devices, taxpayer
education and facilitation, establishing
an integrated government to foster
domestic revenue mobilisation
efforts, leveraging data on revenue
intelligence, improved border
management, improved staff capacity
and productivity, strengthening
science investigations and legal service
function. URA’s good performance
and plan for the new year comes as the
World Bank report titled ‘improving
taxation to finance Uganda’s
development’ published in May 2018,
suggest that up to 5% of GDP is lost
annually in tax leakages yet Uganda’s
tax system is one of the most modern
in the region.
“Tax avoidance and evasion,
partly resulting from generous tax
exemptions to investors, weak tax
administration, and a large informal
sector pose challenges to increasing
revenues,” the report reads in part.
The report further notes that Uganda
could widen its tax base by tapping
into areas that are outside the tax net;
applying tax instruments correctly
and fairly; improving efficiency,
transparency and accountability in tax
administration; and delivering better
public services.
“Making more people and firms pay
their taxes rests on improving delivery
of public services, and requires
government to close loopholes and
stop discretionary tax exemptions.
Citizens are more likely to pay tax if
they see public services improve,”said
Christina Malmberg Calvo, World
Bank Country Manager for Uganda in
the report.

Uganda softens stance on
investing in National Parks
New investors commit Shs228bn to build
lodges in the country’s conservancies
By Ronald Musoke
T
he Ugandan
government is
expected to sign
several concession
agreements with new
investors next month
seeking to build top of the
range lodging facilities in
five national parks.
The new development
is a signal that the gov-
ernment has softened its
stance on the conservative
concession agreements,
which spelt out that such A lodging property Elewana Collection recently built in Kenya’s Loisaba Conservancy.   COURTESY PHOTO
facilities, be located at least
100km apart or 50km radius.
The investors have already
committed Shs228bn (US$60mil- property in Murchison Falls
lion) to build high-end low-im-
pact properties in the national
parks, according to information
available to The Independent.
“The new high-end lodges
will be built by Africa’s leading
responsible tourism operators,”
the country representative of
Space for Giants in Uganda,
Justus Karuhanga, told The Inde-
pendent on the sidelines of the
just concluded Africa Wildlife
Economy Summit in Victoria
Falls, Zimbabwe, last month.
Space for Giants is a conserva-
tion agency that has partnered
with the government to unlock
investments in the country’s
conservancies.
Some of the investors that
have shown interest in investing
in the country’s national parks
include; Great Plains targeting
Kidepo and Kibale National
Parks, Elewana Collection
eyeing investments in Kidepo,
Murchison Falls and Queen
Elizabeth National Parks, and
the Serena Group that wants
to build lodges in Murchison
and Queen Elizabeth National
Parks—conservancies that are
popular with foreign tourists.
Nanjing, a Chinese outfit is
also interested in building a
National Park. The Independent
understands the government
is seeking for an investor to set
up facilities in the country’s tier-
two conservation areas (wildlife
reserves) including Katonga and
Tooro-Semliki wildlife reserves.
Karuhanga told The Indepen-
dent that the investors had been
chosen following a rigorous
evaluation process by the Min-
istry of Tourism, Wildlife and
Antiquities and the Uganda
Wildlife Authority.
He said the new investments
will improve the country’s
image in the tourism sector both
on the continent and beyond.
“Uganda has been known as
a three-star tourism destination
and now what we are doing is
attract five-star accommodation
facilities,” he said. This devel-
opment comes at a time when
Uganda’s tourism sector is on
the rise. Last year, the sector
attracted more than 1.5mil-
lion tourists bringing in about
US$1.4bn. In October 2017,
Uganda hosted a conservation
investment conference where
several multi-national and
investment companies showed
interest in investing in the coun-
try’s tourism sector.
However, out of the 20 inves-
tors that showed interest in
investing in the sector, the num-
ber was cut to nine following
government’s evaluation of the
proposals.
Karuhanga said if investments international investment to
continue over the next two
years, Uganda’s earnings from
the sector could easily double.
His optimism comes in the wake benefits.
of renewed interest in Africa’s
wildlife-based tourism which
drives up to 8.5% of GDP on
the continent providing up to
24 million jobs. According to a
working paper presented at the
conference by Space for Giants,
a Nairobi-based conservation
non-profit, national parks and
state-owned conservation areas
could significantly multiply the
revenue they pump into African
economies.
The paper titled, “Building a
Wildlife Economy: Developing
Nature—Based Tourism in
African state protected Areas,”
notes that spending on tourism,
hospitality and recreation could
double to more than US$ 260bn
by 2030.
The paper also notes that
bringing new private-sector
July. 19 - 25 2019
business
investments to under-
funded protected
areas to capitalize on
surging interest in
nature-based tourism
would help fund
conservation without
draining state financ-
es, while driving
sustainable local and
national develop-
ment.
“Some protected
areas receive only one
in every ten dollars
they need, as govern-
ments grapple with
financial shortfalls
amid competing priorities like
health, education, and infra-
structure development,” the
paper notes in part.
The paper sets out a pio-
neering toolkit that in seven
simple steps can guide protected
area authorities to attract new
fund national parks while also
conserving the environment
and providing socio-economic
The paper was co-authored by
Space for Giants and Conserva-
tion Capital, a conservation busi-
ness and finance advisory firm.
The UN Environment and Space
for Giants funded the report.
Dr. Lauren Evans, Space for
Giants’ director of conservation
science said, “Africa’s unique
diversity of wildlife and habitat
has the potential to radically
transform the continent’s econ-
omy.
“At present, few state protect-
ed areas are meeting their poten-
tial as engines for growth. This
presents a major opportunity
for governments. Cared for and
sustainably developed, these are
national assets that can provide
significant financial and social
returns now and long into the
future,” he said.
23
interview

‘Wildlife-based
tourism can transform
African economies’
Doreen Robinson, the head of the Wildlife Unit at the UN Environment Programme was one of the co-organizers
of the first ever Africa Wildlife Economy Summit held recently in the Zimbabwean town of Victoria Falls. She spoke
to The Independent’s Ronald Musoke about what the conveners hoped to achieve from the meeting.

What are your ‘take homes’ from this There were no specific policies that

I
summit?
must say I was surprised by the
turn up at the summit. We knew
that people wanted to come and talk
about this topic but the sheer number
and diversity of folks who came was
pleasantly surprising and it really speaks
to the fact that these are important issues
that people want to collaborate on but
also there are some voices that have not
been fully heard. The thing I felt more
strongly about during the meeting is that
the voice of the communities came out
very clearly in the form of declaration for
a new deal for communities and wildlife.
The voice of the private sector also came
out very strongly. There is capital out
there (and) there is need for partnership.
The private sector want to invest in this
economy but some things need to happen
to make that investment feasible. This
is in terms of creating the right policies,
an enabling environment and creating
trusting partnerships and transparency.
From the government side, the fact that
we had four sitting heads of state and
two ministers representing their heads of
state and actively engaged in the summit
is unprecedented. The summit spoke of
the commitment and the understanding
of the issues about wildlife economy –
who benefits, who pays, the cost of living
with wildlife and how do increase the
benefits flowing down to the people on the
ground. These are the issues that came out
very clearly but the point of the summit
was to convene people, raise issues and
start bringing the dialogues that are
desperate across the entire continent and
then change the agenda. I think we have
the mandate to go forward and change the
agenda and start finding better and more
tangible solutions for the continent.
came out of this summit and that is partly
because we are trying to bring together
different worlds. We often have folks
talking about agriculture, economy and
many other different things and then
we have wildlife over here. What we are
trying to say is that wildlife should be
at the centre of economies and now
we have to bring these different
worlds together. The point of
this summit was therefore to
raise the issues, to understand
where the links are with other
sectors. Moving forward, our
plan is to look at the existing
policy mechanisms such as
Convention on International
Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora ( CITES) and then
tie them to agriculture,
investment, and
infrastructure. Our plan
is to take the messages
from the summit, take the
call to action and then
weave it into those
processes.

What are some of the policy

recommendations that the summit
came up with following the two days of
deliberation?

24 July. 19 - 25 2019

What is the potential of the wildlife
economy in Africa?
The potential is quite enormous; and
it is even more enormous if you embrace
the full concept of the wildlife economy.
The wildlife economy is not just about
tourism; it is not just about natural
products, it includes consumptive
and non-consumptive use of wildlife
products. The wildlife economy is
part of all the resources that flow from
other parts of the world; from countries
that are willing to give their resources
to protect this global good. For me, a
rethinking of that economy; making it
more efficient and more transparent
and putting people at the centre of
it, has enormous potential to drive
transformational development in Africa.
How do you explain the differences in
opinion between southern Africa and
the rest of the continent in regards to
utilization of wildlife resources?
There are indeed different paradigms
of how to manage wildlife around
the world and it is important to have
those different perspectives because the
context around wildlife conservation is
different in every country. However,
what we are trying to do is to create
a forum for learning and sharing and
exchanging ideas on the continent in
constructive ways. It does not mean
that you have to adopt somebody else’s
paradigm but there may be something
in there that can be useful. There is, for
instance, a big wildlife economy in East
Africa but it does not look the same
as other parts of the continent. So the
starting point for East Africa is to look
at what you are already trading in, how
your wildlife populations are doing and
looking at different systems to make
sure you are capturing the maximum
benefits. I do think there were lessons
and experiences coming out on how
to increase those benefits. So you have
to know where you are but also not be
afraid to look at other regions, even if it
is not the same paradigm, to see what
has worked there and how you
bring it back home. There are
three pillars that we have been
trying to push in regards to
the wildlife economy. These
have to go together and
these include ecological and
environmental dimensions
where you have to protect
your wildlife asset. If you
don’t protect your plants
and animals, you will
not have a sustainable
economy. The second
is economics; you
have to have viable
economic investments; you have to have
transparent transactions if you choose
a consumptive route and there must be
systems in place but also there must be
an enabling environment for investors
to come in. The third bit of it is social.
There is a lot packed in that social word
but sustainability has to be respectful
of the local culture and inclusive of
communities who are being asked to be
stewards of wildlife but bear the costs.
Wildlife
trade can be
sustainable
but you have
to look at the
economic
and
ecological
elements
of the
business
In many sub-Saharan African countries
where wildlife-based tourism is
‘thriving,’ the issue of human-wildlife
conflict keeps coming up and it
certainly did at this summit. How best
should this challenge be handled?
There are two issues that came out
of the summit; the first is that there is
human-wildlife conflict and it is not
just competition for resources; it is life
and death in some cases. So, we have
to find ways to deal with that but also
to make sure those communities that
live in the midst of wildlife are part of
finding solutions. What came out very
strongly from the communities at the
summit is that they are not helpless.
But they need help and that part of the
help should come from the government
and other players that were here (the
civil society). The message of human-
wildlife conflict came through very
strongly and there is knowledge of how
to deal with that but the other point that
came out is the need for platforms for
communities to be involved in decision
making; right from the village level
to the international level. I think there
interview
was not enough time to come up with
all these solutions but, again, this was
the beginning of a process to convene
folks to find solutions. But it is good
the Presidents (Emerson Mnangagwa
of Zimbabwe, Mokgweetsi EK Masisi of
Botswana, Hage Geingob of Namibia,
and Edgar Lungu of Zambia) were in
the room when that mandate was given
by the communities. We now look
forward, certainly at the UN, to helping
governments form policies to take action
on those issues.
What did you make of President
Emmerson Mnangagwa’s displeasure
with the international process (CITES)
that he says seems to punish southern
Africa countries that have done a good
job of growing wildlife populations
that have gone extinct elsewhere yet
they cannot utilize them to boost the
local economies?
My take and that of the United
Nations is that every member state has
an opinion and we actually encourage
member states to share those opinions
with us so that we can figure out how
to be supportive of those perspectives. I
think he made strong points and he was
actually heard by the delegates. I think
the next step is to look at existing policy
platforms, how to use those platforms
smartly and how to engage and work
with other member states to ensure that
Zimbabwe is able to protect its wildlife.
Let us assume Zimbabwe and other
southern Africa states get their wish
at the upcoming CITES COP 19 in
Geneva, Switzerland. How sustainable
would the sale of wildlife products be
in the long run?
I think wildlife trade can be
sustainable but you have to look at the
economic and ecological elements of
the business. In terms of any particular
species or any particular proposal, I
think the CITES process is robust and
there is good science out there that if
it is woven together in the dialogue,
then trade could be sustainable. But
you also have to look at the specifics of
the actual trade. Someone said there is
no one size fits all and that is very true.
We saw that there are commodities and
value chains where the species are doing
very well and the people are benefiting
immensely. So, it is important to look
at the lessons of the things that have
worked and why they have worked and
then look at where it has not worked and
why they have not worked to make sure
that as we move forward in looking at
different options for Africa and African
communities, we can build on what we
already know.
July. 19 - 25 2019 25
 Executive Style
Yield Uganda bridging financial gap
What is the brief over-
T
view of the Fund?
he Fund was set
up in January 2017
by the European
Union, through
the International Fund for
Agricultural Development
and the National Social
Security Fund with an ini-
tial €12million investment.
It is a partnership between
public and private inves-
tors that offer innovative
and tailored financial
solutions, using equity,
semi-equity and debt to
small and medium-sized en-
terprises having the potential
to generate both strong finan-
cial returns and significant
social impact. Deloitte Uganda
and Pearl Capital Partners
Uganda established the Fund,
currently managed by PCP
Uganda, with the mandate
to make investments in the
range of €250,000 to €2 million
(approx. Shs1bn to Shs8.5bn).
New funding partners, Open
Society Foundations and FCA
Investments have joined the
Fund with new financing to
the tune of Shs34billion.
How has the fund impacted
Uganda’s economy since its
inception?
Mobilising investments for
the agro industrialisation of
Uganda has been the main
reason for the creation of the
Fund. The EU is aiming at
attracting capital into Uganda
to foster development in agri-
culture, trade and industriali-
sation. By early July, the Fund
had made investments of over
Shs8bn in SESACO limited,
an agro-processing company
specialising in soya products,
Central Coffee Farmers Asso-
ciation (CECOFA), Chemiphar
Uganda Limited, an analytical
laboratory providing testing
and inspection services to
small businesses and Raintree
Farms Limited.
26 July. 19 - 25 2019
You seem to be targeting a
limited number of clientele?
The Fund targets agricul-
ture-related businesses across
all value chains including sup-
ply of agricultural inputs, pro-
duction and agro-processing
within all sub-sectors, post-har-
vest storage and distribution,
but also peripheral activities
such as transportation, com-
munications and certification.
It seeks to support businesses
with a clear competitive advan-
tage and ambitious local man-
agement. It targets to improve
over 100,000 rural households/
livelihoods through improving
access to markets for their pro-
duce, higher quality agricultur-
al inputs and services creating
jobs. It also aims at ensuring
food security while generating
income, foreign exchange and
new export opportunities.
Why would you target agri-
culture and not other sectors
of the economy?
Agriculture plays a vital
role for economic growth and
sustainable development.
Investment in the sector is an
effective instrument to allevi-
ate poverty and enhance food
security. Evidence suggests
that gross domestic product
growth originating from agri-
culture is twice as effective
in reducing poverty as GDP
growth linked to the non-agri-
cultural sectors, yet the sector
is still underfunded.
Yield Uganda Investment
Fund was unveiled in
January 2017 to support
companies engaged
in agribusiness with
financial solutions.
The Independent’s
Julius Businge spoke
to Edward Isingoma
Matsiko, the managing
partner for Pearl Capital
Partners, the managers
of the Fund.
How does one access this
funding?
The money is not received
by the individual farmer. It
is accessed by the company
where the farmer belongs. It
is not just loans. We also have
flexible repayment structures
with payments based on sea-
sonality, extended repayment
periods and more. We under-
stand what agri-businesses
go through. Our interest rates
depend on the risk profile of
the company/borrower. The
rates on loans that we provide
range between 10-16%. We
look out for companies with
high growth potential. We deal
with those businesses that are
having good models, those
well structured in terms of cor-
porate governance and busi-
nesses that have engagement
with smallholder farmers. We
also look for businesses that
have social benefits in terms
of jobs for youth, women and
related opportunities. Overall,
60% of the investment is for
equity category and 40% for
debt.
How sustainable is this mod-
el?
Our Fund provides the sup-
port that is good for sustain-
ability purposes. For instance,
equity funding supports ben-
eficiaries to acquire long term
capital needs and to do expan-
sion. Once they achieve certain
levels of growth, they can then
stand on their own without
necessarily seeking sup-
port from out. At the end
of the programme, there
will be impact and studies
conducted to ascertain the
Fund’s success.
What specific challenges
are you facing with these
companies?
The management teams
are weak. They need
support. The corporate
governance structures are
also very weak…we are
just getting them up. Some
companies that have been
around for 30 years have never
had boards. Many of them
have had to recruit new people
to support their business. Some
of them have bad structured
capital from the commercial
banks. Some of them have no
standards certifications. We are
trying to help them improve in
those areas.
Committed Ugandans contin-
ue to invest heavily into agri-
culture – a sector you dearly
support – but access to mar-
kets beyond Uganda remains
a big deadlock. How is the
Fund supporting in this area?
From the European Union
perspective we try to link
these beneficiaries with other
programmes that we have
with European countries. We
encourage Ugandan compa-
nies to comply with the stan-
dards to be able to benefit from
these markets. We have agreed
to commit 25-30% of the capital
to startups. Even one of the
current investees is a compa-
ny that has just done its first
export to the US.
What is the future of the Fund
in Uganda in the coming few
years?
Funds like ours have a
timeline. After the 10 years of
this Fund, we will have other
Funds to spread beyond the
agriculture sector.

CSR
Airtel’s 2019 soccer tournament targets 60 districts
S
ixty districts are set to host
the 2019 Airtel rising Stars
tournament inter-district
championship games in
a bid to extend the tournament
closer to the local communities.
This move would also give
schools, teachers, parents and all
football lovers an opportunity
to support their local players as
they participate in the tourna-
ment. The announcement was
made on July 10 in the Northern his dribbling skills at the launch of the
district of Gulu as the company
launched the eighth season of the
Airtel Rising Stars initiative. The
annual youth grassroots foot-
ball program nurtures football
talent and provides Ugandan
youth with the opportunity to
evolve and acquire new football
techniques that will turn them
into distinguished soccer talents.
Unlike previous years, this partic- 17. “It is only with such unwaver-
ular launch event was just one of
the 14 launch events happening
concurrently in different districts
TRADE
Over $US40bn trade deals expected at IATF2020 in Kigali
T
he organisers of the Sec-
ond Intra-African Trade
Fair (IATF2020) expect it
to surpass the achieve-
ments of the inaugural trade fair
held in Cairo in 2018 by attract-
ing 10,000 participants and gen-
erating intra-African trade and
investment deals worth more
than $40 billion.
Prof. Benedict Oramah, Pres-
ident of the African Export-Im-
port, who was speaking on
PAYMENTS
Mastercard partners with UN agency
M
astercard is partner-
ing with the United
States African Devel-
opment Foundation
and the International Center
for Tropical Agriculture on two
public-private partnerships that
will extend the reach of the Mas-
tercard Farmers Network (MFN)
to millions of smallholder farm-
ers in Africa.
Under this partnership, the
key partners will be providing
Airtel MD V.G. Somasekhar demonstrating
tournament in Gulu town
across Uganda. Other launches
happened at Airtel Money branch
shops in Kampala, Jinja, Luwero,
Soroti, Lira, Masindi, Arua, Igan-
ga, Hoima, Mbarara, Ntungamo
and Masaka districts. The ini-
tiative targets talented boys and
girls between the ages of 13 and
ing commitment that we can em-
power Uganda’s large population
of youth with skills outside of the
July.06 at the formal launch of
IATF2020 during the African
Continental Free Trade Area
(AfCFTA) Business Forum 2019
held on the sidelines of the 12th
Extraordinary Summit of Afri-
can Union (AU) Heads of State
in Niamey, said the trade fair,
scheduled for Kigali from Sep-
tember1-7, 2020, would attract
more than 1,100 exhibitors from
over 55 countries.
“Working with our esteemed
support to further roll out the
MFN platform across Uganda
making transacting much safer
and simpler for many more
stakeholders in the agricultural
value chain – the farmer, the
buyer and the agent. The MFN
solution helps to connect small-
scale farmers with potential
buyers, integrates their business-
es with payment systems, and
enables them to build a digital
transaction record that can be
classroom,” V.G. Somasekhar, the
company’s MD said. As part of
this year’s tournament, the com-
pany shall handover goal posts,
soccer nets and balls to 40 schools
countrywide as a way of keeping
the game’s talent alive even after
the tournament. In addition, the
national and regional winners
will enjoy an increase in their cash
prizes this year. National winners
will get Shs7million up from Shs-
5million while the national run-
ners up will get Shs5million up
from Shs3million. Regional win-
ners will pocket Shs1.5million up
from Shs1million and runners up
will receive Shs1million up from
Shs500, 000. Other prizes include
certificates, medals, trophies,
golden boot, phones and more.
“It is only with such unwavering
commitment that we can empow-
er Uganda’s large population of
youth with skills outside of the
classroom,” Somasekhar said.
partners, we will exceed the
achievements of 2018,” he
said, describing IATF2018 as a
resounding success, not in the
colourful displays exhibited, but
in the showcasing of diversity of
tradable goods by about 1,100
exhibitors from 45 countries and
in the execution of deals worth
about $32 billion. ATF2020 is
being organized by Afrexim-
bank in collaboration with the
African Union.
Officials from partnering entities address journalists at Serena Hotel
used to access formal credit
from banks and other financial
institutions.  The announcement
was made at the MFN Partner
Summit in Kampala on July 10
where officials from the three
entities said the platform has
already gone live in Uganda,
Tanzania and India, with more
July. 19 - 25 2019
business
MANAGEMENT
UBL’s new MD
speaks out
T
he Uganda
Breweries Limited
new Managing
Director Alvin
Mbugua is working to
maintain and grow the
company’s performance
basing on what his
predecessor and other
managing directors left
behind. Speaking to
the media for the first
time at the company’s
headquarters in Luzira
on July 11, Mbugua
said UBL’s continuity
is important because it
is a big and influential
company that continues
to support Uganda’s
economy through job
creation and tax payments.
“My leadership will be
of purpose and focus
on people and profits,”
he said. The company’s
Board Chairman Japheth
Kato said the outgoing
MD Mark Ocitti left
behind a strong company
working with 17, 000
farmers who supply
inputs to the company
that controls slightly over
50% market of the beer
industry and has 28, 000
retail outlets across the
country. Ocitti would
later take over as new
role of MD at Serengeti
Breweries Limited – which
is under the same group
– East African Breweries
Limited.
than 250,000 farmers on the
platform. 
Through this partnership
CIAT aims to grow their impact
from over 200,000 farmers in
East Africa to over one million
farmers in their different African
countries of operations by 2020.
27
business

NWSC, private company

to plant 18,000 trees

N
ational Water and
Sewerage Corporation
together with a private
company (Sogea Sa-
tom) has started a tree planting
activity with a target of 18, 000
trees.
This is part of its corporate
social responsibility activities
aimed at protecting the envi-
ronment. The Corporation’s
Managing Director Silver
Mugisha said at the launch in
Katosi, Mukono on July 11 that
Stanbic Bank Chief Executive Officer Patrick Mweheire poses for a photo the trees are to be planted in the
with students from Holy Cross Lake View SS who emerged winners in the Lake Victoria catchment area of
4th edition of the National Schools Championship for 2019
Katosi to offset the carbon emis-
sions generated by the water
treatment plant. Mugisha said
the water treatment plant that is
yet to be constructed will boost
water supply in Kampala.
He said the water plant will
have an intake of 240 million
litres of water per day but will
initially work with 160 million
litres. “As you know we have
been having dry zones but
when this project is completed
we shall be assured of constant
water supply,” Mugisha said.
He added that the tree planting
project is aimed at ensuring sus-
tainability of the eco-system by
Uganda Breweries through its Pilsner Lager have put Shs68 million towards
sponsorship of football tournament dubbed Pilsner super 8.   INDEPENDENT/
ALFRED OCHWO
avoiding water pollution. This
activity is part of the “Kampala
Water Lake Victoria Water and
Sanitation Project whose objec-
tive is to improve water supply
services in the Greater Kampala
Metropolitan Area –Kampala,
Wakiso, Mukono and the sur-
roundings areas. The Speaker
of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga,
who was the chief guest, urged
the water body to support
schools to plant trees as a way of
mitigating the negative impact
of climate change. Kadaga
urged other government agen-
cies and institutions to emulate
what NWSC is doing so as
to protect the environment.
She also said that the ministry
of finance should financially
support tree planting activities
undertaken by the likes of
NWSC. She also said that Parlia-
ment will institute a committee
to deal with climate change
issue – a role it will play in close
partnership with other govern-
ment agencies and leadership at
local government level.
Reporting by Alfred Ochwo &
Julius Businge

Weekly share price movement (July 01)

Security July 01 June 10 Movement
BATU 30,000 30000 00
BOBU 128 128 00
CENT 1,169 1,225 4.5
QCL 160 170 5.8
DFCU 650 670 2.9
EABL 7,211 7,593 5.0
EBL 1,390 1,474 5.6
JHL 14,432 14,666 1.6
KA 142 132 7.5
KCB 1,377 1,470 6.3
NIC 13 14 7.1
Fred Mukasa Mbidde (with microphone), a member of the East African Legislative NMG 1,745 2,023 13.7
Assembly said he will soon go to court if the Rwanda Uganda border business NVL 330 330 00
issues are not resolved. This was during a Southern and East African Trade
SBU 29 29 00
Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI) workshop held on July 11 at
Hotel Africana.  INDEPENDENT ALFRED OCHWO UCHM 18 18 00
UCL 15 15 00
UMEME 300 300 00
ALSI -- -- --

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By Danny Bradlow & William N Kring
An African Monetary Fund
Failure by member states to sign and ratify the
African Monetary Fund treaty is an embarrassment
A
frican Union (AU) leaders gathered
in Niger on 7 July for an Extraordi-
nary Summit to discuss the African
Continental Free Trade Area. The
meeting was at a critical moment for the
continent. Many African countries are expe-
riencing uneven growth and rising debt. All
face an uncertain global environment and
need the boost that closer and more dynamic
continental trade relations could deliver.
In our view the AU leaders should have
used their meeting to reinvigorate their
efforts to create an African Monetary Fund.
This would be used to encourage African
states to engage more actively in regional
trade by offering them financial support for
managing the risks associated with closer
regional integration and expanded intra-re-
gional trade.
Over the past 10 years, most regions have
developed regional arrangements that can
supplement the help that the IMF provides
to countries facing balance of payments
problems. Ten years ago, US$100 billion
was available through these regional funds.
Today more than US$900 billion is avail-
able through these arrangements. Africa
is currently the most prominent gap in the
evolving global financial safety net.
The African leaders signed a treaty to
establish this fund in 2014. Unfortunately,
progress to set it up has stalled. So far the
treaty has been signed, but not ratified, by
eleven AU member countries. Fifteen must
sign and ratify the statutes for the fund to
become operational. Once operational, it
will have a capital subscription of up to
US $22.64 billion and the ability to provide
member countries with loans equivalent to
two times their contributions to the Fund’s
capital.
Managing the ripple effects
The free trade area offers states new
growth and employment opportunities. But
by increasing economic linkages between
African states, it could also increase the risk
that economic problems in one country can
spill over and have a strongly negative effect
on growth, trade, investment and employ-
ment in others. For example, both positive
and negative developments in the U.S.
economy will have a powerful impact on
Canada and Mexico.
To help mitigate these effects, participants
in other regional trade arrangements have
established regional financial arrangements.
These provide financial support to their
members to manage balance of payments
crises.
The evidence suggests that when states
have access to this type of financial sup-
port they are less likely to take actions that
impede intra-regional trade flows. For
example, the Latin American Reserve Fund,
which provides its members with financial
support during balance of payments crises,
has helped the recipient countries to main-
tain their intra-regional trade arrangements.
This, in turn, has reduced the risk that the
recipient’s problems would cause a crisis in
its neighbours.
The failure of an adequate number of states
to sign and ratify the African Monetary Fund
treaty is an embarrassing challenge to the
credibility of the AU’s efforts to promote
a more integrated, dynamic, sustainable
and equitable African economy. These
efforts have been going on for more than 40
years. Steps along the way have included
the former Organisation of African Unity’s
Lagos Plan of Action for Economic Develop-
ment of Africa signed in 1980 and the Abuja
Treaty signed in 1991.
In a policy brief published by the Centre
for Human Rights at the University of Pre-
toria and the Global Development Policy
Center at Boston University, we propose
three concrete steps to jumpstart the push for
the fund.
Action plan
First, the creation of the fund must be
explicitly linked to the success of the free
trade area. The AU leaders can do this by
making the case that, just as has happened
in other regions, the presence of a regional
financial arrangement will support the
efforts to boost intra-regional trade in Africa.
It will help participating countries mitigate
the balance of payments challenges that
greater regional integration may cause.
Moreover, the fund, by quickly providing
its members with financial support, can
offer them more time to negotiate a larger
support package with richer institutions,
such as the IMF. In this regard, it should be
noted that eight of the AU member countries
(Cape Verde, Comores, Djibouti, Eritrea,
Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, Sey-
comment
chelles, and Somalia) will be able to borrow
more resources from the AMF than the IMF.
Second, one AU member state should
become the champion for the fund. This
country would become the first country
to sign and ratify the fund treaty. It would
lobby other AU member countries to ratify
the African Monetary Fund. It would advo-
cate for the AU to reconstitute the steering
committee created in the treaty and provide
it with adequate resources. Since Cameroon
is the designated host country for the AMF’s
headquarters, it has an incentive to be a
champion for the institution.
Finally, the steering committee should
develop a plan for overcoming the substan-
tial resource constraints in the region. This
will require balancing the fund’s need for
sufficient resources to be credible with the
limited ability of some states to contribute.
This could be addressed by negotiating an
arrangement in which richer regional coun-
tries and institutions contribute a dispropor-
tionate share of their capital contributions
up-front.
These additional contributions will be
reimbursed as poorer countries make their
capital contributions. It’s important to note
that the AMF Board of Governors has the
authority to extend the period for a country
to make its contribution for up to eight years.
To further incentivise small to medium sized
member countries to contribute capital,
they should be allowed to treat their capital
contributions as part of their international
reserves. Such an arrangement is not unprec-
edented and was used effectively in South
America. These measures would make an
implementation plan more feasible.
Africa has tried valiantly for decades to
overcome the substantial challenges hin-
dering the development of robust intra-re-
gional trade. The free trade area agreement
is the most recent of these efforts. The
credibility of the continent’s leaders and
institutions will be influenced by its success
or failure. The establishment of the African
Monetary Fund would demonstrate the con-
tinent’s determination to promote intra-re-
gional trade and development.
Danny Bradlow is SARCHI Professor of
International Development Law and African
Economic Relations, University of Pretoria and
William N Kring is Assistant Director, Global
Development Policy Center, Boston University
July. 19 - 25 2019 29
comment
By Ian Buruma
Mass protest in a dictatorship
What might work against a democratic government
would not even get off the ground in a dictatorship
H
ong Kong is not Beijing. And July
1, 2019, is not June 4, 1989. First of
all, in 1989, the violence in China
came almost entirely from the side
of the government; the weeks of demonstra-
tions in Beijing and other cities had remained
remarkably peaceful throughout. This was
mostly true in Hong Kong as well, until a
small number of young protesters lost their
cool and ransacked the Legislative Council
chamber with crowbars and hammers.
The massive demonstrations in Hong
Kong in recent weeks were triggered by
a proposed law authorising extradition
from the city to mainland China. But that
Bill was suspended indefinitely after ear-
lier protests. Since then, the continuing
demonstrations have been driven by
fury against the tightening constraints
imposed by the Communist Party of
China (CPC).
The Tiananmen Square protests in 1989
began as a petition to the CPC to curb
official corruption and allow more civic
freedoms – freedoms that Hong Kong
people already enjoyed, even under colo-
nial rule. The Chinese government prom-
ised that these freedoms would be pre-
served in Hong Kong after the handover
from Britain on July 1, 1997. That promise
is now in doubt.
Despite these differences, there are
important similarities between 1989 and
today. Like the Tiananmen demonstra-
tions, the mass protests in Hong Kong
lack clear leadership. This is deliberate.
Protests movements are not political par-
ties with their own hierarchies. Indeed,
they are usually opposed to the very idea
of hierarchy. Partly as a consequence of
this, tactical splits among the protesters
are difficult to control.
In June 1989, when it became clear that
the Chinese government was not going to
respond to the protesters’ demands, and
a violent crackdown seemed increasingly
likely, some activists counseled caution
and suggested that students go home and
live to fight another day. Others believed
that they should do or die. If the author-
ities chose bloody violence, so be it; that
would only expose the murderous basis
of an illegitimate regime.
The latter view prevailed, despite frantic
arguments from older dissidents, who
30 July. 19 - 25 2019
had more experience with anti-govern-
ment protest, and had often suffered the
harsh consequences. They sympathised
with the students, but were convinced
that carrying on the mass protests to the
bitter end would provoke greater repres-
sion. They turned out to be right.
It is hard enough for street protests to
have any effect in a democracy. There
were huge demonstrations in the U.S.
against the Vietnam War in the 1960s,
but it took years before the government
finally abandoned that brutal and point-
less conflict. Occupy Wall Street in 2011,
when young and old protested against
economic inequality in the US, was heart-
warming, but the gap between rich and
poor is even wider now.
Public opinion, however, does matter
in a liberal democracy. It can take some
time, but in the end a democratic gov-
ernment must listen to its citizens, if only
to get reelected. But what might work
against a democratic government would
not even get off the ground in a dictator-
ship.
For example, in Mahatma Gandhi’s day,
India was a colony, not a democracy,
but the ultimate authority in the British
Empire was a democratically elected gov-
ernment in London, which had to take
public opinion into account. That is why
Gandhi’s protests had some effect. But
he was so convinced that his non-violent
methods were the only way to combat
oppressive authority that he urged
Europeans to engage in similar peaceful
resistance against Hitler. This was not a
practical suggestion.
Hong Kong was never a democracy.
But, as a crown colony until July 1997, it
had some of the benefits of democratic
rule, such as a relatively free press and
a robust independent judiciary. In some
ways, Hong Kong has not changed much
since the handover, the anniversary of
which was celebrated by Hong Kong offi-
cials even as protesters where crashing
through the doors of the legislature. It is
still a semi-autonomous colony, but this
time the imperial power is a dictatorship,
which sets little store by press freedom or
independent judges, let alone public pro-
tests. One of the most desperate gestures
of the people who occupied the legisla-
tive chamber in Hong Kong was raising
the flag of the old British crown colony.
It was the greatest insult they could
have thrown in the face of the People’s
Republic: better to be a colony controlled
by foreigners than to be ruled by a Chi-
nese government that claims legitimacy
on the basis of nationalism and ethnic
pride.
The main question for Hong Kong’s
people is whether methods that can be
effective in a democracy can also work
in a dictatorship, even from a position
of relative and fast-shrinking autonomy.
There are clearly limits to how far any
Hong Kong government can be pushed
to accommodate public opinion. Men and
women who are elected, on the narrowest
of franchises, to govern Hong Kong are
already pre-selected by the Chinese gov-
ernment. And the wishes of the imperial
power cannot be thwarted any more than
they could under the British.
There is, however, one small chance
that Hong Kong citizens could make a
difference. Public opinion cannot remove
a communist government by electing
another one. But the PRC does aspire to
a certain degree of respectability in the
world. Sending tanks to crush protests in
Hong Kong would make China look very
bad – though this does not mean that the
government would not do so, if it saw no
other way.
Demonstrations in Hong Kong have
already forced Chief Executive Carrie
Lam to suspend an unpopular law. But
protest can be effective only if it remains
peaceful. Most people in China, even
those who are not especially fond of the
current regime, are terrified of violence
and disorder, of which the Chinese have
seen too much in the last hundred years.
If mass protest in Hong Kong turns into
chaos, there would be little sympathy in
China for the demonstrators, and the CPC
authorities would find it much easier to
crack down with maximum force.
Ian Buruma is the author, most recently, of
`A Tokyo Romance: A Memoir’.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.

By Herman Wasserman, Audrey Gadzekpo & Chris Paterson
Donor-funded journalism
It is on the rise in Africa and needs closer scrutiny
A
n enormous and increasing portion
of the foreign development aid
coming into Africa annually is for
media development. Foreign aid
funds diverse projects, ranging from inves-
tigative journalism in Nigeria, to stories on
Chinese building projects in Kenya, or health
reporting in South Africa.
The news media landscape and journalism
practices – on the continent as well as glob-
ally – have undergone massive change in
recent times. This, coupled with the collapse
of familiar business models, and the lim-
ited potential for genuinely independent
“watchdog” journalism, the relationship
between external influences on local cultures
and practices of journalism needs to be reas-
sessed.
A report last year, by the American Centre
for International Media Assistance, con-
cluded that about US$600 million a year is
spent on media development in Africa by
state and private funders. This may exceed
a billion dollars if the opaque amount China
spends on media operations and training
globally is included. Much of this is focused
on Africa.
But how does this aid influence
journalism in Africa?
Our recent international study examined
the impact of foreign development aid on
media systems in seven African countries.
These were Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tan-
zania, Senegal, South Africa and Sudan. A
separate report focused on Latin America.
We witnessed parallel and intensifying
debates among media workers in devel-
oping countries who accept (or depend on)
foreign funding. Funders themselves are also
increasingly reflecting on their objectives
and how they measure success. And, the
role of foundations in funding journalism is
coming under increasing scrutiny.
Much of the media aid industry still holds
the view that media workers and institutions
in the South should emulate their counter-
parts in the North. But, our study took a
different approach. We asked to what extent
a flow of foreign money has affected the
ability of developing regions to foster a crit-
ical and independent media sector.
Journalists who took part in our project
worried that the foreign assistance or travel
they have received may limit the stories they
can tell, or influence the way they tell them.
On the other hand, they often feared that
without foreign financial support, critical
journalism in their countries would vanish.
The colonial powers of Britain, France,
and Portugal still cast a long shadow over
Africa’s media. More recently, however,
African media has been shaped by the U.S.
and China. Many foreign interventions are
small like the funding of a single investiga-
tive news story, for example. But some are
massive.
Since the end of the Second World War in
1945, foreign aid has been directed at dis-
seminating a model of journalism practice
and education that aligns with the interests
of wealthy, Northern donor nations. Chi-
nese involvement in Africa has led to ques-
tions being asked about the assumptions
underpinning Western media funding and
training.
Because Chinese media are based on a
very different model, their initiatives have
caused anxiety among journalists and com-
mentators steeped in the liberal-democratic
tradition. This tradition emphasises the
“watchdog” role of journalism.
Chinese media, on the other hand,
adopt a more persuasive and positive
tone and favour official perspectives. This,
while taking a critical view of the history
of Western involvement in Africa. This
approach is sometimes called “constructive
journalism”. It promises to present Africa
in a more positive light than the stereotypes
that have historically characterised Western
Media
producers
and users in
developing
countries
need to be
more vigilant
about
foreign
media
support
comment
coverage.
The establishment of Chinese media out-
lets such as China Global Television Net-
work, the wire service Xinhua and China
Radio International in Africa have been seen
as part of China’s strategy to increase its visi-
bility overseas.
Simultaneously, the cultural diplomacy
component of media aid has seen African
journalists receive offers for paid travel to
Europe, North America, and especially to
China.
We know little about how these exchanges
– and other forms of foreign investment by
corporate or religious institutions – affect
African media and the stories they tell.
The fear is that the Chinese model, because
of the government’s control over the media,
is dangerous to introduce in African coun-
tries where press freedom has often come
under attack.
But fears about a major shift may be over-
blown or premature given that research
has shown that the influence of Chinese
media on journalists and audiences in Africa
remains minimal.
For its part, Western aid has resulted in
an Anglo-American culture of journalism
education which has proved impractical to
implement in countries with illiberal political
regimes.
Should under-resourced African journalists
accept any foreign funding?
This is a difficult question. There are risks
that come from shunning aid. This includes
missed opportunities to develop African
media or report independently on local
power brokers.
On the other hand, aid can be used to
coerce journalists to change their norms and
practices unduly.
Media producers and users in developing
countries need to be more vigilant about
foreign media support. And they need
to evaluate it. For citizens in countries
that provide such aid, the challenge is to
scrutinise the efforts made in their name.
Herman Wasserman is professor of Media
Studies and Director of the Centre for
Film and Media Studies, University of
Cape Town, Audrey Gadzekpo is professor
in the Department of Communication
Studies, University of Ghana, and Chris
Paterson is Senior Lecturer in International
Communication, University of Leeds
July. 19 - 25 2019 31
comment
By Peter Nyanzi
Flaws in passed Tenant Bill
Why claims by the landlords that the law is `skewed
towards tenants’ were expected but laughable
T
he arguments and counterarguments
against the recently-passed Land-
lords and Tenants Bill 2018 notwith-
standing, it will be a positive step in
the right direction when signed into law by
President Yoweri Museveni.
It is indeed dispiriting that for decades
Uganda did not have a law regulating
this vital industry. It had resulted into
stunting the industry, blatant exploitation
of the poor and the inevitable widening of
the chasm between the ‘haves’ and ‘have
nots.’ It is the government’s duty and
mandate to protect the vulnerable poor
from the exploitation of the powerful.
Claims by the landlords that the law is
“skewed towards tenants” were expected
but laughable. It’s akin to the airlines
and commercial banks complaining that
the laws that regulate them are skewed
towards the customers. That’s exactly
what such laws are supposed to do – to
protect the public interest.
Universally, laws that regulate the
housing industry are tough on landlords.
Indeed, our new law is not as tough as
those in other developed jurisdictions.
In Australia for instance, their recent-
ly-amended Residential Tenancies Act
of 1997 is based on the nine ‘Occupancy
Principles,’ which create enforceable legal
rights for tenants.
They include stringent fitness for human
habitation rules, knowing the landlord,
putting the tenancy agreement in writing,
reasonable notice before increasing rent
or terminating the agreement, and reso-
lution of disagreements using reasonable
dispute resolution mechanisms, among
others.
One of the weaknesses of proposed
new law is that it is vague on the issue
of ‘fitness for human habitation’ as at it
merely makes a passing reference to the
Public Health Act and Building Control
Act, 2013.
Whose mandate is it to enforce Section 6
of the proposed law and for determining
that premises are fit for human habitation
and that the requisite facilities and ame-
nities are in place? In some other juris-
dictions, it is mandatory for the landlord
to produce a valid certificate of fitness
for habitation before signing a tenancy
32 July. 19 - 25 2019
agreement.
I strongly think that the passed Bill
should have catered for a regulatory body
to take care of such issues. Some jurisdic-
tions, for example Australia, have catered
for a tribunal specifically mandated to
handle housing-related disputes. Where
does the tenant go for redress should the
landlord fail to fulfill the duty, say, to
keep the rented premises in repair?
Another weakness in the Bill is that its
framers made the assumption that the
issues that affect residential tenants and
those that beset commercial tenants are
the same. They are not and so these two
categories should have been dealt with
separately.
What we note now is that it’s mainly the
landlords of commercial properties who
are most uncomfortable with the pro-
posed law. Yet, it is obvious that there are
many people who are both tenants and
landlords at the same time. For example,
a businessman could be renting his busi-
ness premises on Nasser Road in the
Central Business District of Kampala City
while at the same he/she also has rental
property in another area.
Also, the proposed new law is relatively
Additionally,
the law
should have
recognised
the role of
local leaders
such as Local
Councils in
the arbitration
process
weak in as much as it mainly deals with
only the financial aspects of the tenant –
landlord relationship. Aspects of the right
to compensation arising from loss due to
the landlord’s negligence are not catered
for. What happens if a tenant incurs loss
(say loss of life or property) because of
the landlord’s negligent acts?
Additionally, the law should have rec-
ognised the role of local leaders such as
Local Councils in the arbitration process.
It is also silent on the issue of brokers,
who are quite a menace to both tenants
and landlords too.
The banning of paying rent in foreign
currency has generated the most contro-
versy. But given that the government is
the biggest tenant with a rent bill that
runs into billions of Shillings per month,
it makes lots of sense to the taxpayer to
curtail the demand by landlords to have
rent paid in dollars. This is because Gov-
ernment Ministries, Departments and
Agencies make their budgets in Uganda
Shillings, which means that if they are
to pay rent in dollars, they have to go to
the open market and exchange billions of
Shillings into millions of dollars, which
automatically weakens the local currency.
This eventually has a negative effect on
our few exporters as they will get fewer
dollars from their hard-earned shillings.
However, the law should allow tenants
who make their budgets in dollars (say
foreign Embassies and international
organisations) to pay their rent in dollars
if they so wish.
Finally, the proposed law should
not exist in isolation of the National
Housing Policy, which the government
launched a few years ago. It should be
cognisant of the fact that the housing
industry makes a great contribution to
the national economy in terms of job cre-
ation, revenue generation and industrial-
ization, among others.
The writer is a journalist
petersnyz@gmail.com

By Jeff Gable
Africa: the least understood continent
Focusing on challenges risks missing the broader positive,
narrative of rising competitiveness, booming economies
A
pril 2019’s IPO on the NYSE of
Africa’s first tech unicorn Jumia,
focused the world’s attention on
the continent’s vibrant consumer
sector. The commercial testing of drone-
based deliveries for critical health supplies
that have been rolled out in Rwanda, Ghana
and in other parts of the continent showcase
examples of how Africa’s traditional chal-
lenge of poor infrastructure is encouraging
interest in leap-frog technologies. Similarly,
in Kenya, mobile money M-pesa was first
launched in 2007 and now has become the
preferred payment system for tens of mil-
lions of users across markets on the conti-
nent and beyond.
This is not the first time that the conti-
nent’s promise has featured prominently in
global awareness. The Economist magazine
with its 2011 cover of `Africa Rising’ helped
to succinctly message a change in fortune
for the world’s least understood continent. It
helped propel a narrative of market oppor-
tunity and human development at a time
that multinationals were still smarting from
the immediate aftermath of the global finan-
cial crisis. The idea that Africa had not only
survived the coordinated global downturn
much better than most, but that the conti-
nent had actually represented the second
fasted growing economy globally over the
preceding 5, 10 and 20 years caught many by
surprise.
As compared to the 2011 headline, the
last five years have been less comfortable
for the continent. Africa’s PPP-weighted
growth slowed to an average of 3.1%, below
the global average, implying that the eco-
nomic convergence gains of the earlier two
decades were slipping away. These head-
lines understate the underlying resilience
of the African economic story, however. At
the IMF’s recent Spring Meetings, one of the
clear messages that came from the firm’s
updated World Economic Outlook was that
of Africa’s 54 economies, 35 were projected
to grow at least as fast as the global average
in 2019, 22% were expected to grow at 5% or
more, and six African countries are projected
to be in the global top ten – including four of
the top five.
Why then the apparent focus on some
continental headlines that have focused
on Africa’s macro challenges rather than
exciting successes? In part this is down to
the impact of generally weaker commodity
prices. In the 2000s commodity prices had
largely gone one way, and this helped pull
many of Africa’s resource-intensive econ-
omies along with it. Notwithstanding the
country-specific success stories where new
resource finds are currently being commer-
cialised, the underlying tone for commodity
exporters has been more difficult as the
economies find themselves with fewer fis-
cal levers to pull and less helpful terms of
trade as economic support. For example,
oil exporters in Sub Saharan Africa are pro-
jected to grow at an average rate of 2.2% this
year, which whilst up from the 0.5% growth
of two years ago is still well below the 4.3%
growth for 2019 projected for oil-importers
in the region.
Similarly, the economic headlines around
Africa have also been “unfairly” influenced
by broader challenges in some of the con-
tinent’s largest economies. Representing
together about a third of Africa’s GDP at
market prices, Africa’s two largest econo-
mies, South Africa and Nigeria, both aver-
aged economic growth of barely 1% over the
last four years, whilst the rest of Africa grew
at an average of 4.4%. For South Africa the
story has been one of very weak business
and consumer confidence as the ruling party
was seen to have lost its way on both eco
Fresh from
elections, hope for
a firmer economic
recovery rests
with President
Ramaphosa’s
ability to make
clear and pubic
progress on the
fight against
corruption
comment
nomic policy and moral authority under its
previous leadership. Fresh from elections,
hope for a firmer economic recovery rests
with President Ramaphosa’s ability to make
clear and pubic progress on the fight against
corruption and to engage a more reform-
ist economic policy agenda. Nigeria, the
continent’s most populous nation, has also
struggled for the last half-decade as efforts
to tackle corruption, improve the security
of its citizens, and diversify its economy
away from oil have yet to produce tangible
economic benefits. Absa’s own forecasts
suggest that the recovery for both economies
will be slow.
A focus on the recent challenges of these
two countries risks missing the broader, and
broadly positive, narrative. Africa’s young
and growing population is not only gener-
ating consumer markets that increasingly
draw the attention of global and regional
brands, it will also help provide the global
workforce tomorrow as population growth
slows (and in some cases reverses) not only
in the rich west, but also in China and others.
Despite the critical challenge of climate
change, many parts of Africa may hold the
key to helping feed the world, as the region
has attractive options for bringing more
agriculture land under commercial cultiva-
tion, for using better technology and skill
to increase yields. Beyond agriculture, key
natural resources, not only in energy and
tradition bulk and precious metals – but
also in many of those materials that are at
the center of a low carbon battery-led econ-
omy – are in abundance in Africa. African
policies themselves, like the ratification of
the African Continental Free Trade Area, can
help build larger regional markets and build
efficiencies. China’s growing engagement
with Africa, through huge initiatives like
Belt and Road, can aid the continent’s global
competiveness and interconnectivity.
Is it any wonder then that over 2019-
2023, half of the world’s ten fastest grow-
ing economies are projected to be African
or that, over the next five years, Africa’s
domestic economy is projected to balloon
from $2.4 trillion currently (market prices)
to well over $3 trillion?
Jeff Gable is Absa Chief Economist
July. 19 - 25 2019 33
comment
By Deus Mukalazi
Law to regulate independents
The proposed law is retrogressive as it seeks to
curtail people’s fundamental rights and freedoms
A
t its summit, held at the Protea
Hotel, Entebbe, in May 2019, the
Inter Party Organisation for Dia-
logue (IPOD) adopted a resolution
to bar independents from contesting if they
lose party primaries. The reasoning behind
the proposal is that independents are a
threat to multi party democracy. Specifi-
cally, the resolution seeks to make it law
that whoever wishes to stand on an inde-
pendent ticket must relinquish party mem-
bership and make their decision known ex-
plicitly at least a year before nomination for
general elections. And that once one subjects
him or herself to a party primary election,
and is defeated, they should not contest on
an independent ticket.
To further show their seriousness
regarding the resolution, a cross section of
IPOD members paid a courtesy call to the
Speaker of Parliament on June 25, 2009,
and this same proposal was one of the
key updates they presented to her. They
requested the Speaker to give it priority
when it is presented in the house. The
Speaker promised she will wait for the law
from cabinet. It was also reported in the
media, the all powerful Central Executive
Committee (CEC) of the ruling NRM, had
passed a resolution to the same effect in
early July. There is no doubt it will be one
of the resolutions at an extraordinary IPOD
Summit leaders’ meeting scheduled for July
20, 2019.
Strong and democratic political parties
are not only a constitutional requirement in
Uganda, but are a prerequisite in multiparty
dispensations since they are the locus of
much of the political work. It is, therefore, a
noble cause for anyone to want to see multi
parties thrive and discipline maintained.
Political party members must adhere to
party rules and guidelines. It is, therefore, in
order for political parties to want to main-
tain order in this regard. Be that as it may, it
is important for us to remember that some
rights are inherent and we should not hide
behind the excuse of strengthening polit-
ical parties to curtail people’s fundamental
rights and freedoms.
The proposed law is problematic as it
seeks to treat the symptoms and not the
causes of independents. NRM is the only
political party that conducts adult suffrage
primaries to determine candidates that
34 July. 19 - 25 2019
stand on the party ticket. Other political
parties largely hold “selections” and their
methods of determining party flag bearers
leaves a lot to be desired. For the NRM, if
the petitions that follow the primaries are
anything to go by, it is evident that the pri-
maries are marred with irregularities. Focus
should be put on plugging the holes when it
comes to these candidate selection methods
instead of legislating against independents.
Legislating against independents presents
constitutional challenges. Whereas there
is nothing that can stop a society from
legislating against anything, literally, a
democratically progressive society like ours
should desist from such tendencies. We
must always be reminded that the holocaust
in Germany was legal and everything that
Hitler did was legal. It is, therefore, not
enough to try and use the law to justify ret-
rogressive laws. Laws can be unjust.
A look at our 1995 Constitution suggests
that such a law would be against its spirit.
Sovereignty of the people of Uganda is
unequivocally stated in Article 1. The people
shall express their will and consent on who
shall govern them and how they should
be governed, through regular, free and fair
elections of their representatives or refer-
enda. National Objective and Democratic
Principle (ii), all the people of Uganda shall
have access to leadership positions at all
levels, subject to the constitution. Article
The 1995
Constitution
was based on
the views of the
people, views
which were
collected by the
Constitutional
Commission
29(1)(e) grants every Ugandan a right to
freedom of association which shall include
freedom to join political and other civic
organisations. The constitution under
Article 71 (1)(c) demands that internal
organisation of a political party shall con-
form to the democratic principles enshrined
in the constitution.
In view of the above constitutional provi-
sions, legislating to have Ugandans abide by
whatever comes out of party primaries is an
infringement on their right to associate and
is a direct violation of one’s right to associate
and belong to a political organisation. One
should feel free to leave any political organ-
isation or association at any time without
restrictions should they have enough reason
to believe that the organisation doesn’t serve
their aspirations anymore. It should not
matter whether this is before or after an elec-
tion. And once one has left, they should not
be punished for exercising their right like
the proposed law seeks to do.
The Supreme Court in the case of Sseki-
kubo and Ors v The Attorney General
in 2015, found the argument of gagging
MPs who did not agree with the party on
grounds of weakening multi party politics
lacking. The 1995 Constitution was based on
the views of the people, views which were
collected by the Constitutional Commis-
sion, analyzed and presented in the Report
of the Constitutional Commission with
recommendations. One of the complaints
of the people was “lack of accountability
of members of Parliament in a multiparty
legislature…”
The effect of the intended legislation is to
strengthen allegiance of members of Par-
liament to political parties rather than the
people which is against the intention of the
framers of the constitution. Under Article 78,
composition of parliament is by members
directly elected to represent constituencies
and not parties. The threat of independents
is good for the internal democracy of polit-
ical parties which is crucial for national
democracy. Parties should focus on being
fair and transparent to manage the threat of
independents rather than resorting to “gag-
ging” them.
Mukalazi Deus is a Research Associate-
Democracy and Rule of Law, Great Lakes
Institute for Strategic Studies (GLISS)
 ART | BOOKS | SOCIETY | TRAVEL | CULTURE
Journey to Venus
Exhibition takes different look at love,beauty
V
By Dominic Muwanguzi
enus is a planet, like earth, in
the solar system. It is named
after the Roman goddess of
love and beauty and its name
suggests love and beauty as
inspired by the ancient my-
thologies. But anyone visiting Bangladeshi
artist Hasan Morshed’s solo exhibition at the
Makerere Art Gallery in Kampala dubbed
`Journey to Venus’ should do well to recall
the 19th century science fiction novel by the
same name. This is partly because Morshed
paints surrealistic almost sci-fi like images of
human figures and nature- flora and fauna.
He also draws on cultural and religious
motifs to paint fantastic bulls- a religious
deity among the Hindu who inhabit Ban-
gladesh, Indian dhows and the earthy hues
symbolic of the eastern Asian landscape.
His use of water colour and ink suggests
his oriental cultural influences and practices.
Besides the figurative representation, aes-
thetically the medium communicates trans-
parency and reflection in the painting. As
such, the images in the compositions appear
double- layered, offering multiple meaning.
Art lovers in Kampala who are familiar
with the water colour and ink works of
Ahmed Abushariaa (from Sudan but very
hot on the Kampala art scene during the last
part of the 1990s) will love Morshed’s work.
Abushariaa was renowned for his figurative-
ly painted landscapes that evoked the Islam-
ic artistic tradition of calligraphy in his work.
The work of Abushariaa and other Suda-
nese artists popularized water colour among
local artists who embraced it for experi-
mental purposes and to break from the
traditional media of oil paint. After many
years of such influence, Morshed’s work not
only relives such memory of cross-cultural
influences, but more critically might inspire
the present generation of artists to embrace
working with water colour, local culture,
and nature. It would fit neatly with the pop-
ular narrative about nature conservation.
Morshed’s art is influenced by conser-
vation partly because of his cultural origin.
Bangladesh values its cultural past and
reflects it in contemporary architecture, fash-
ion and food. Most of it is unique.
Additionally, Morshed previously worked
at the Nagenda International Academy of
Art and Design in Entebbe which has spaces
sprawling with nature often juxtaposed with
the artworks of both students and lecturers.
It is this combination of diverse experiences
and references that gives Morshed’s work
that special quality.
The exhibition has been showing at the
Makerere Art gallery, located within the
premises of Margaret Trowel School of
Industrial and Fine Art.
July. 19 - 25 2019 35
 Human babies born
T
By Agencies

he idea of babies not needing

a human womb seemed like

using artificial womb

the stuff of science fiction
nightmares not long ago.
Ectogenesis, the term given
to pregnancy conducted
outside the uterus, has become a big topic in
medicine, psychology and ethics but there
has been no ‘Dolly the sheep’ moment… for
now at least.
But just as cloning before it, the idea
is possible in principle and has been
demonstrated by ‘birth in a bag’ lambs
brought to term, at least in part, without a
live womb.
The most prominent experiment kept
lamb foetuses in a ‘biobag’ that looked
similar to a regular plastic bag for four
weeks between the 23rd and 27th week of
their development.
It provided a nutrient-rich blood supply
and amniotic fluid and is seen as another
step towards ‘birth in the bag’ technology.
There are two very different applications
of these sorts of devices:
Artificial womb technology (AWT)
substitutes for a real womb right from the
start so the foetus never needs to be inside a
Scientists say `it could
be possible in a decade’
human and works as if the baby is still yet to
be ‘born’.
Neonatal intensive care (NIC) – like
in the lamb experiment – is a more well
understood replacement for an incubator.
It works to improve survival rates in
premature births and works ‘after’ the baby
is medically seen to have been born.
The law in the UK, and 11 other countries,
bans human embryos developing outside
the body for more than 14 days.
That time is said to be the moment when
the ‘primitive streak’ is likely to develop as
a guide for where the spine will grow or,
as Ali Brivanlou, a professor at Rockefeller
University, puts it: ‘It’s that moment where
you separate your head away from your
butt.’ But experimentation in this field has
been going on with goats and mice since
the 1980s. The term ‘ectogenesis’ has been
around since the 1920s.
With surrogacy growing in awareness,
particularly with Kim Kardashian choosing
a surrogate for her third and fourth children,
what’s the difference between contracting a
person to carry your baby and contracting a
machine?
And what happens if not needing the
parents for the process is actually good for
the baby?

36 July. 19 - 25 2019

“There are limits to how far we can control
pregnant women,” Dr Anna Smajdor,
associate professor of practical philosophy at
the University of Oslo, tells Metro.co.uk.
Premature lamb in the biobag
“If the foetus were in an artificial womb,
it would become possible to access it and
control the environment without restricting
a woman’s autonomy. So in some ways
there could actually be benefits for the foetus
itself.’
There are clear ethical concerns over
growing a baby with a machine rather than
a human. IVF and surrogacy – not without
their own controversies – still require a
human.
The idea of NIC is a lot less problematic to
ethicists than AWT, as a human still has to be
directly involved in NIC but it raises a lot of
questions around abortion.
Severe impairments currently are
regularly found in babies born before 28
weeks and informs a lot of the current legal
dates around terminating pregnancies.
There are those who wish to use external
pregnancies to end the abortion debate,
potentially allowing or even forcing those
requesting an abortion to transfer their
foetus to an artificial womb.
Full ectogenesis would mean that a baby
Most future
folk will find
pregnancy
– especially
the delivery
of an infant
through a
birth canal
– messy
and risky
is ‘viable’ from the point of conception so
means abortion regulations could change
across the world.
Secondly, and perhaps more shockingly,
removing the womb from the whole foetal
process might actually change how humans
evolve.
“We know that the constraints of the
human uterus and pelvis have acted as a
brake on the size of the human brain and
skull,” Dr Smajdor says.
“If freed from the need to be `born’ in the
normal way, we might open the way for a
new evolutionary trajectory.”
This new ‘evolutionary trajectory’ still
seems distant though.
With no baby of any species being fully
brought to term without a live womb for
now, how distant a prospect is this sort of
technology?
“We’re in the process of interacting with
the (US Food And Drug Administration)
FDA, so it’s not impossible that we could be
doing a clinical trial one to two years from
now,’ said Dr Alan Flake, of the Children’s
Hospital of Philadelphia which carried out
the research using the biobag and the lambs.
And he’s not the only one who’s
optimistic with timings:
“It seems probable that we are only
several years away from testing on human
subjects,” social ethics and policy academic
Elizabeth Chloe Romanis wrote in the BMJ’s
Journal Of Medical Ethics.
There have been embryos kept alive in a
Petri dish for 13 days (and only ended then
because of the 14-day legal rule).
Dr Carlo Bulletti, associate professor at
Yale University’s obstetrics, gynecology, and
reproductive science department, thinks that
a fully functioning artificial womb could be
a real thing within the next 10 years. And
while only a design project, students from
Artex Product Design Arnhem have even
designed what that womb might look like.
health
Instead of a mother feeling her baby
kick or going through the whole journey of
carrying a child, they would instead look on
at their baby growing without them.
Does this mean that the mother/child
bond will be severed for good?
“Many arguments have been made about
the necessity of gestation and childbirth for
bonding,” Dr Smajdor says.
“Although it may be true that the physical
closeness between mother and baby facilitate
bonding, it is certainly not true that it is
necessary for bonding. If it were, fathers
would have no claim to be bonded with
their children.
“Not just this, but it is becoming
increasingly clear that traumatic births
actually impede maternal bonding, rather
than the other way round.”
So could not having to carry a baby help
with the special relationship?
“With developments in technology,
increasingly, parents describe the moments
of special bonding as being when they see
the first scans,” Dr Smajdor says.
“So this seems to imply that it is a
visual connection that is regarded as being
important rather than the physical one per
se. Ectogenesis could actually facilitate this
kind of visual bonding.”
Each year, around 300,000 women die
from pregnancy or complications shortly
afterwards. In the UK, 8.8 women die during
pregnancy or shortly afterwards for every
100,000 women who gave birth.
“Most future folk will find pregnancy –
especially the delivery of an infant through a
birth canal – messy and risky,” technologist
and author Matt Chessen wrote in Wired.
“Creating a baby inside another human
being is hazardous. The child’s health is
dependent on the mother’s physical security
as she navigates the world, and the foetus is
susceptible to infections, poor nutrition and
other threats.”
But how does it change what
parenthood means forever? Does
ectogenesis even the balance between
men and women or remove men from the
process entirely?
“Ectogenesis would definitely be a
challenge for our current conceptions of
parenthood,” Dr Smajdor says.
“We already see this to some degree,
that with new reproductive technologies,
concepts of parenthood are fragmenting.
“Perhaps there is no such thing as
“real” parenthood. People value different
aspects of parenthood according to their
subjective values, so maybe this is what
we need to embrace and accept.”
There’s a further controversy in what
happens when artificial gametes (lab-
created eggs and semen) are introduced
to the process.
July. 19 - 25 2019 37

Kryptos; the coded
CIA sculpture
The CIA headquarters in
Langley is home to lots of
mysteries, but one in particular
has captured the attention of
professional code breakers and
puzzle enthusiasts for the last
three decades.
Kryptos, a coded sculpture
created by American artist
Jim Sanborn has remained
unsolved ever since it was
originally installed at the CIA
headquarters in November
of 1990. The agency’s code
breakers as well as other
professional puzzle solvers
around the world have been
struggling to unravel the
secrets of the 1,800 characters
carved into the 12-foot block of
copper, and although they’ve
succeeded in cracking three of
the coded messages created by
Sanborn, the fourth and final
one remains unsolved. Experts
have tried every technique in
the book, transposition, binary,
polyalphabetic substitution,
even Morse code, but so far no
one has been able to decipher
the 97-character-long fourth part
of the Kryptos Sculpture.
Man almost buried alive after wrongful hospital declaration
A 20-year-old man in Luc-
know, India, was almost buried
alive after the private hospital
he was admitted to wrongfully
pronounced him dead. Moham-
mad Furqan was involved in
an accident and was taken to
a hospital for treatment. He
was in critical condition and
after his family exhausted their
38 July. 19 - 25 2019
Trump wants US presidential term limits removed
On July 11, U.S. President
Donald Trump once again
‘joked’ about remaining Presi-
dent of the United States beyond
a second term – and said he
wants to stay until 2033. In a
series of tweets, the president,
73, while hitting at `fake media’
said: ‘When I ultimately leave
office in six years, or maybe 10
or 14 (just kidding), they will
quickly go out of business for
lack of credibility, or approval,
from the public.”
Businessman wants to tow
Antarctica icebergs to Gulf
An Emirati entrepreneur and
inventor Abdulla Alshehi has
been working on an ambitious
project that involves towing a
giant iceberg all the way from
Antarctica to the Arabian Gulf
in order to provide fresh drink-
ing water for the United Arab
Emirates. Because of its arid
climate, the UAE depends on
desalinated water, which is not
only expensive to obtain but
savings paying for his medical
bills, doctors declared him dead.
Furqan’s devastated relatives
immediately started making
preparations for his funeral,
but after his body was brought
home by an ambulance, his
older brother was shocked to
see that he still moved his limbs.
He notified the other members
In May, Trump made a very
similar remark after receiving
an award for helping wounded
veterans. Addressing the gen-
eral who gave it to him, he said:
“This will find a permanent
place, at least for six years, in the
Oval Office. Is that okay? ‘I was
going to joke, General, and say
at least for 10 or 14 years, but
we would cause bedlam if I said
that, so we’ll say six.” In March
2018, he spoke enviously of
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s
very harmful to the environ-
ment. Now Alshehi wants to
tow a 2km x 500 metre iceberg
from Antarctica and use modern
technology to tow it 5,500 miles
to the Arabian Gulf. The floating
block of ice would not only pro-
vide drinking water for millions
of people, but also determine
positive weather changes in
the region, including attracting
more rain to the region.
of the family and after mak-
ing sure that he wasn’t seeing
things, they took him to another
hospital where doctors con-
firmed he was still alive. “We
have taken cognizance of the
incident and the matter will be
thoroughly probed,” Lucknow
Chief Medical Officer Narendra
Agarwal said.
success at repealing presiden-
tial term limits in his country.
Trump said: “He’s now presi-
dent for life. President for life.
No, he’s great. And look, he
was able to do that. I think it’s
great. ‘Maybe we’ll have to give
that a shot someday”. The 22nd
Amendment of the US Consti-
tution prohibits anyone serving
more than two consecutive, four
year terms as President of the
United States.
Mayor disguises as
disabled person to
test public servants
After receiving a number of
complaints from disabled and
other socially disadvantaged
people about the treatment
they received from social
workers, Carlos Tena, the
mayor of Cuauhtémoc, a town
in Mexico’s Chihuahua state,
didn’t know who to believe, the
alleged victims or his co-work-
ers. So Tena spent two months
putting together a believable
disguise and then visited public
servants at both the Mayor’s
Office and Social Services pos-
ing as a disabled man in need of
help. He asked for a free meal,
which disabled and poor citi-
zens are entitled to according to
law, but was ignored and even
discriminated against. Tena also
visited his own office asking
to speak to the Secretary of the
City Council, but was rudely
told off. Tena was convinced
that the complaints he had been
receiving were justified, so he
got out of the wheelchair and
took off his disguise, leaving
City Hall staff in a state of shock.
Toyota’s electrification plans
To fast-track development and launch of battery-powered cars
By Agencies
T
oyota says it will launch at least 10
new pure-electric vehicles from 2020
onwards, in a bid to sell 5.5 million
electrified vehicles by 2025.
Originally, Toyota said come 2030 half of
its global sales would be electrified vehicles,
running either a pure-electric or hybrid
powertrain, but now the Japanese car-maker
has brought forward that estimate to five
years earlier in 2025.
That’s because Toyota says buyers’ sud-
den appetite for low- or zero-emission vehi-
cles has already increased.
Breaking down that 5.5 million num-
ber. In 2025, the world’s second largest
car-maker says a million will be pure-elec-
tric or hydrogen fuel-cell-powered with the
remaining 4.5 million hybrids.
As well as the revelation over the num-
ber of electrified vehicles, Toyota also
announced it will introduce its next-gener-
ation solid-state batteries in a new vehicle
some time in Q3 of 2020.
The solid-state battery-powered car will
be unveiled at an event ahead of the Japa-
nese Olympic Games.
Toyota has been slow to introduce electric
cars but says from next year, it will intro-
duce a pure-electric version of its C-HR for
the Chinese market, followed shortly after
by a two-seat city car in Japan that will have
a 60km/h top speed and a range of 100km.
More Kei-car-style electric cars and
scooters, but Toyota has also confirmed
it will introduce at least six variants of a
global model that includes the first fruits of
recently announced collaborations with both
Subaru and Suzuki that will be based on an
electric version of the TNGA platform.
These include a compact SUV, currently
being developed with Suzuki and a larger
SUV from the Subaru collaboration.
Toyota will also offer its own mid-size
SUV, a larger SUV, sedan and minivan that
could also be developed with its partners.
To illustrate some of the vehicles that are
coming Toyota has released an image that’s
said to show real clay models of some of the
cars it plans to introduce.
Like the car-maker’s current internal
combustion TNGA platform, the e-TNGA
has been designed to create front, rear or
all-wheel drive with room for packaging
electric motors on the front or rear axles.
The battery cells, meanwhile, are pack-
aged between the axles beneath the floor.
As well as unveiling its plans, Toyota also
issued a warning that all its plans could be
disrupted by a lack of battery supply. To
help alleviate those concerns, Toyota says it
has recently entered a new supply deal with
Chinese company CATL.
July. 19 - 25 2019 39
global comment
By Paulo Gomes
Going beyond African GDP
Why investors who write off the continent based
on simplistic, incomplete GDP data will lose out
G
ross domestic product has been
the ultimate measure of an econ-
omy’s welfare for over 80 years.
But, as the world’s economies
become increasingly complex and technol-
ogy-focused, economists are increasingly
questioning GDP’s usefulness as a gauge of
an economy’s health, with some arguing for
a radically new approach. Africa’s experi-
ence shows why such an approach is badly
needed.
Africa has long suffered as a result of
GDP’s shortcomings. In January, the
global credit-ratings agency Fitch Solu-
tions forecast that while Africa’s GDP
growth will average 4.5% annually over
the next decade, its average GDP per
capita will stagnate. But such bleak pro-
jections are misleading – and threaten to
drive away investors.
The first problem with GDP projections
for Africa is that they are based on scarce
data. The majority of the continent’s
national statistics services are underde-
veloped. They lack sufficient funding and
independence to acquire comprehensive
data and calculate benchmark economic
indicators. In other words, official GDP
figures may be very wrong.
Consider Nigeria, which in 2014 over-
hauled its GDP data for the first time
in over two decades. Such “rebasing” –
needed to capture structural changes to
the economy – should take place every
five years or so. But Nigeria’s national
statistical agency had lacked the funding,
data, and political will to rebase regu-
larly. When it finally did, GDP skyrock-
eted to $510 billion, nearly double the
previous estimate of $270 billion. With
that, Nigeria overtook South Africa as the
continent’s largest economy.
The fact that much of economic activity
in Africa occurs in the informal sector
further undermines the reliability of
GDP statistics. In Sub-Saharan Africa,
the informal economy accounts for two-
thirds of all employment; in cities such as
Kampala and Dakar, that figure reaches
or even exceeds 80%. In Nigeria, the
informal sector represents 50-65% of total
economic output. A metric that fails to
measure so much economic activity can’t
possibly be a sound basis for investment
decisions.
40 July. 19 - 25 2019
Even if country- and continent-level
GDP averages were more reliable, they
would amount to a cumbersome guide
for investors, especially given how large
and diverse Africa is. In fact, African
countries with vastly different GDPs may
share more – and more important – fea-
tures than countries with similar GDPs.
For example, Namibia’s diversified
economy has more in common with
South Africa, a country with nearly 30
times the GDP, than it does with Senegal,
a country of similar economic size when
measured by GDP. Nigeria’s GDP is far
larger than Chad’s, yet their economies
are often compared to each other because
of the dynamics of their oil sectors. Such
structural commonalities provide more
nuanced insights for investors than
ungainly GDP averages ever could.
But perhaps the best way to gain an
appropriately nuanced understanding of
African economies’ health and prospects
is by focusing on their cities – the conti-
nent’s main engines of economic develop-
ment. While 60% of Africans still live in
rural areas, the continent is undergoing
rapid urbanisation. In the next 15 years,
the world’s ten fastest-growing cities will
all be in Africa. The economic output of
Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, is larger than
that of Kenya, one of the continent’s most
One global
packaged-food
manufacturer
has focused its
Africa strategy
on 15 cities that
collectively
represent about
25% of the
total growth in
packaged-food
sales
promising economies.
Already, some multinationals are
using city-based models to guide their
African investment strategies. They
know that dismal national GDP aver-
ages can obscure pockets of increasingly
prosperous consumers who are eager to
purchase high-quality goods and services
from abroad. So, when determining a
market’s viability, they often focus on
cities, considering diverse indicators like
mobile-phone penetration, electricity
usage, and Internet bandwidth.
One global packaged-food manufac-
turer, for example, has focused its Africa
strategy on 15 cities that collectively
represent about 25% of the total growth
in packaged-food sales expected across
Africa in the next five years. More
broadly, foreign direct investment has
been flowing primarily toward Africa’s
four main megacities: Cairo, Johannes-
burg, Nairobi, and Lagos.
Of course, whether at the city or country
level, comprehensive and reliable data are
needed to provide a strong foundation for
investment strategies. Private companies
– including African tech startups – can
take advantage of new technologies to
help deliver this. For example, Terragon,
a Nigerian data analytics firm, pulls data
on mobile-phone usage and matches it
against data provided by its business
clients to produce insights about African
consumers.
Investors who seize such opportunities
to gain an accurate and nuanced picture
of Africa’s economic performance and
prospects could reap vast rewards. Those
who write off the entire continent based
on simplistic and incomplete GDP data
will lose out.
Paulo Gomes, a former executive director at
the World Bank Group and principal adviser
in Guinea Bissau’s Ministry of Finance, is the
Founder of Constelor Investment and a co-
founder of New African Capital Partners.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.
www.project-syndicate.org
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