News analysis Health Business

Why NRM fears HIV treatment Fights at

Independent MPs breakthrough Posta Uganda

Issue No. 569 April. 26 - May 02 2019 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8

Money fuels
fights within
Opposition
Why Mao, Besigye, Bobi Wine
cannot work together

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April. 26 - May 02 2019 1
INBOX

Issue No. 569 April. 26 - May 02 2019

News analysis Business Health Arts Motoring

Cover story
Money fuels fights within Opposition
Why Mao, Besigye, Bobi Wine cannot work together

5 The Week
30 Comments
Extinction Rebellion Disruption and arrests
can bring social change We don’t need a bigger
particle collider: When new
experiments cost billions of
9 The Last Word
dollars and take decades, we
Is Uganda’s debt sustainable?:How need to be more scrupulous
Prof Hyuha Mukwanason’s response
to my article fails to move beyond
32 Health
abstract theoretical arguments
HIV treatment breakthrough:
New experimental injection
14 Analysis could revolutionise treatment
Why NRM fears Independent MPs: Numbers show
if not checked, 30% MPs to be Independent

35 Arts & Culture

27 Business Benon Lutaaya dies at 34: In
2016 he founded The Project;
Fights at Posta Uganda :MD accused of recruiting
an NGO for uplifting female
relatives, forging financial statements and failing to artistes in South Africa
comply with government’s development plan

STRATEGY & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Andrew M. Mwenda WRITERS:Ronald Musoke, Flavia Nassaka, Ian Katusiime,
MANAGING EDITOR: Joseph Were Agnes Nantaba, Julius Businge.
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PUBLISHER: Independent Publications Limited, Plot 82/84, Kanjokya Street, P. O. Box 3304, Kampala, Uganda
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2 April. 26 - May 02 2019

 Offline

“We are members of the IPOD and we have

been informed about the forthcoming
summit next month. If we continue to be
treated the way we have been treated, we
shall boycott the summit”-FDC president,
Patrick Amuriat.

South African icons of the struggle, Winnie Mandela (C), Jacob Zuma (L) and Cyril Ramaphosa.
The country marked events of April 1994 when black South Africans voted for the first time.

London, England: “Most of us in the public service think

Extinction if we get a salary increment we shall
Rebellion climate
change activists perform better. I want to assure you that
lie on the floor higher salaries without efficient services
as they perform will not change anything”-Inspector General
a mass ‘die in’
in the main hall of Government, Irene Mulyagonja.
of the Natural
History Museum.

Montreux,
Switzerland:
People in “An officer must be a priest who knows
cosplay pose
on the shores the gospel of the army. You are not a
of Lake Geneva follower but a leader. The army means
during the thinking critically, having conviction and
Polymanga pop
culture festival understanding the mission and foundation
for which the UPDF was created. The kind
of love you must have for Uganda should
not be an emotional love. It is not like
getting a fever or headache” President of
Uganda, Yoweri Museveni.

number of people who

number of people number of jobs expected
100 3000 160,000
were cleared for the
age limit verdict who failed primary to be created in the oil
teacher exams and gas sector

April. 26 - May 02 2019 3

week
Extinction Rebellion protestors in Oxford Circus, London.   FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA/EPA
Extinction Rebellion
Disruption and arrests
can bring social change
By Alexander Hensby
E
xtinction Rebellion burst onto
everybody’s screens with
disruptions and mass arrests
across the UK and around the
world, in protest against government
inaction on climate change. Radical
disruptions have been at the heart of
Extinction Rebellion’s activism since it
was founded in 2018 – from January’s
disruption of London Fashion Week,
to the infamous naked protest in
Parliament – but the scale of the most
recent actions has finally succeeded
in forcing mainstream news cycles
to start giving the politics of climate
change the attention it deserves.
4 April. 26 - May 02 2019
One could argue that Extinction
Rebellion’s week of action was
fortunately timed – the extension
of Article 50 to October has created
something of a news vacuum
while everyone takes a momentary
breather from Brexit. Nevertheless,
activists would rightly claim that
climate change is the bigger looming
catastrophe.
In October 2018, the UN’s climate
agency published grave projections of
the enormity of the challenge ahead if
we are to limit the most catastrophic
consequences of climate change.
For both Extinction Rebellion and
the Fridays for Future school strike
movement, the piecemeal response
of nations at the UN’s annual climate
change conference two months later
made it clear that there is no more
time to lose.
The aim, then, is to force the issue.
Through their blockades of iconic
central London sites, Extinction
Rebellion is keeping climate change
at the forefront of the public and
politicians’ lips, making the seemingly
abstract problem facing all of us feel
real. And rather than just warning
of this climate emergency, it offers a
vision of an alternative future, where
a Citizens Assembly takes the lead in
reducing UK emissions to net zero.
Perhaps inevitably, Extinction
Rebellion’s actions have been met
 Week
with a familiar backlash from some This was evident in the Global Justice on the scale of 1,000 arrests. Such an
political commentators – witness Movement of the 2000s, as the desire arbitrary target is problematic, as it
Adam Boulton’s sneering performance to recreate the euphoria of Seattle may encourage activists to take more
on Sky News, and David Blunkett’s resulted in tactical “summit hopping” risk in pursuit of a goal that is by no
indignant authoritarianism in the with diminishing returns. means guaranteed.
Daily Mail. But while activists say State agencies also learn quickly Even if one is critical of the politics
they regret the disruption caused to how to police repeated mobilisations seemingly behind many “aggravated
working people, they consider their more ruthlessly and extremely – trespass” charges, a criminal
actions a necessary evil in order to although Extinction Rebellion’s record can be extremely costly and
change the conversation. “trademark” repertoire, the tactical discriminating for many younger
Older activists will surely point use of mass arrests, so far appears to activists, especially people of colour.
to the impact and legacy of 1999’s be combating this threat effectively. This contrasts with the relative risks
Battle of Seattle, when the Global Police have powers to disperse posed to seasoned activists whose
Justice Movement successfully closed protesters, but the sheer number of job, lifestyle, or privilege allows them
down the World Trade Organisation’s people now willing to be arrested to ride the consequences. It is crucial
annual meeting. Not only was this shifts the balance of power between that Extinction Rebellion fulfils a
extremely empowering for those the public and the state. For example, duty of care to support those who are
involved, it crucially helped make
resistance to a largely abstract
neoliberal governance structure seem
concrete and real.
Much like the Occupy
demonstrations seven years ago,
Extinction Rebellion’s latest eye-
catching protests have been friendly
and open, laden with artistic
performances, talks, and human
connection. This good-natured spirit
has so far meant that the movement
has gained significant traction not
only on the airwaves, but on the
streets too.
Extinction Rebellion’s efforts are
aimed at building momentum, and
they are based in political science
– their website highlights a figure
that it takes just 3.5% of a nation’s
population engaged in sustained
nonviolent resistance to topple a
dictatorship. In the UK, that’s less
than 2.5m people. Their clear demands
and principles give the movement
a clarity and focus that the Occupy
movement may have lacked, and
they are growing week by week –
Extinction Rebellion says that 50,000
people have joined the movement A theatre group perform on Waterloo Bridge during protests.  ANDY RAINE/EPA

since the protests started.

However, contemporary mainstream
news cycles are fast and fickle, and
the movement will have to act quickly
and carefully to maximise use of their
new-found public platform.
Danger of diminishing returns
It’s extremely important that the
movement’s purpose does not become
overshadowed by its tactics. Extinction
Rebellion have ransacked the
playbook of direct action repertoires
– blocking roads, using fake blood,
recreating funeral marches, and
surprise nakedness. While these
have so far been successful in
bringing the movement’s name and
cause to the fore, using such tactics
ad nauseum can quickly lose the
public’s imagination and support.
police have so far been unable to clear
any of the four sites in central London,
as spates of arrests were closely
followed by new wave of protesters
arriving to entrench control. The
city’s police stations do not have the
capacity to hold hundreds of arrested
protesters for long periods of time,
and court costs will discourage officers
from pursuing charges, limiting the
punitive power of the state.
At the same time, Extinction
Rebellion’s tactics risk fetishising the
act of being arrested as a symbol of
participants’ commitment to the cause.
The movement’s co-founder, Roger
Hallam, recently told the BBC that in
order to achieve its goal of “getting in
the room with government”, it may
need to create a law and order crisis
prepared to put their bodies on the
line, but with more than 900 arrested
already, its an expensive, high-risk
game should multiple criminal charges
be brought.
But for now, Extinction Rebellion
activists will consider recent events as
a runaway success. They have gained
visibility, traction, and have at least
temporarily steered media attention
away from Brexit. Most importantly,
they have put climate change squarely
in the middle of public conversation.
Let’s hope it stays there.
Alexander Hensby is a Lecturer in
Sociology, University of Kent

April. 26 - May 02 2019 5

Week
Police find body of missing IHK doctor, arrest several suspects in murder
Catherine Agaba, a doctor
at International Hospital
Kampala (IHK) was killed
and dumped in a septic
tank of an apartment in
Muyenga, a residential
suburb in Kampala.
Agaba had gone missing
days before her body was
discovered in the septic
tank in another case of a
Dial *133*2#
for more bundles
6 April. 26 - May 02 2019
tragic killing of a young
woman after the women
murders of Entebbe and
the kidnap and killing of
Susan Magara, a 28-year
old accountant. It is not yet
established what could have
led to the murder of Agaba
but a security guard who
reportedly confessed to the
murder of the doctor is in
police custody. Police have
launched investigations
into the matter. The public
has reacted with fury at
the murder of Agaba and
lashed out at security forces
especially the police who
have been key in arresting
opposition politicians and
blocking concerts of MP
cum musician Bobi Wine.
AfricellUG @AfricellUG
*terms and conditions apply |
Regulated by Uganda Communications Commission
Humour Did you know?
Fastest way to
multiply numbers

Multiplying 2 x 2 is easy. But

multiplying two numbers with more than
In the space of two weeks, police have raided radio stations in Kabale, Jinja and a billion digits each — that takes some
Mubende districts to stop live talk shows where Dr Besigye was being hosted. serious computation. The multiplication
technique taught in grade school may
be simple, but for really big numbers,
it’s too slow to be useful. Now, two
mathematicians say that they’ve found
the fastest way yet to multiply extremely
large figures.
The duo claim to have achieved an
ultimate speed limit for multiplication,
first suggested nearly 50 years ago. That
feat, described online March 18 at the
document archive HAL, has not yet
passed the gauntlet of peer review. But
if the technique holds up to scrutiny, it
could prove to be the fastest possible
way of multiplying whole numbers, or
integers.
When making calculations with
exorbitantly large numbers, the most
important measure of speed is how
quickly the number of operations needed
The Supreme Court has upheld the Constitutional Court decision which allowed the — and hence the time required to do the
removal of the Presidential age limit from the constitution of Uganda calculation — grows as you multiply
longer and longer strings of digits. That
growth is expressed in terms of n, defined
as the number of digits in the numbers
being multiplied. For the new technique,
the number of operations required is
proportional to n times the logarithm of n,
expressed as O(n log n) in mathematical
lingo. That means that, if you double
the number of digits, the number of
operations required will increase a bit
faster, more than doubling the time the
calculation takes.
But, unlike simpler methods of
multiplication, the time needed doesn’t
quadruple, or otherwise rapidly blow
up, as the number of digits creeps
up, report Harvey and Joris van der
Hoeven of the French national research
agency CNRS and École Polytechnique
in Palaiseau. That slower growth rate
On 21 April , Easter Sunday, three churches across Sri Lanka and three luxury hotels in the makes products of bigger numbers
commercial capital Colombo were targeted in a series of coordinated terrorist suicide bombings more manageable to calculate.

April. 26 - May 02 2019 7


Inbox
Letters are
welcome !
The Editor welcomes short and
concise letters from our esteemed
readers on topical issues. Please
send them to:
The Editor, The Independent
Publications Ltd,
P.O Box 3304,
Plot 82/84 Kanjokya St,
Kamwokya.
Kampala,Uganda.
Email: editor@independent.co.ug
Lubowa Hospital will die
Refer to: “Our country’s misguided
priorities” (The Independent April 12).
The reason that hospital should be aban-
doned wherever the project has reached is
because it will die a stillborn death. There
are many reasons that will kill it.
 Every poor and middle-class person
hates it.
 Extortion by service providers and
public utilities will be high on agenda.
The transformer has blown a fuse,
the water pump has exploded, the
air ambulance has broken, and more.
These will haemorrhage the hospital
even if you guard it with SFC elite sol-
diers. Moreover opposition big-wigs
will avoid it.
 The hospital has started on a very bad
leg of ill-omen. From MPs to ordinary
people who have zero chance of being
beneficiaries to medics themselves
and all and sundry, this hospital is
unpopular except for the likes of
Mwenda, subcontractors and others.
Even the neighbourhood will gain
zero benefit from the hospital.
 The running costs will be prohibitive
through over-billing and other opu-
lent unnecessary consultation. Then
the government (in its always broke
status) will default on paying accumu-
lated bills. Suppliers and the investors
will fail to deliver the anticipated ser-
vices leading to its dilapidation. Then
suits and counter-suits will follow and
the next thing you know, bedbugs will
be reported in the beddings.
Rwasubutare
8 April. 26 - May 02 2019
Follow us on Twitter @
http://twitter.com/#!/ugandatalks
Follow us on Facebook @
www.facebook.com/TheIndependentMagazineUganda
Mwenda misguided on proposed Lubowa Hospital
Refer to: “Our country’s
misguided priorities” (The
Independent April 12).
Hmmm, so now it’s “the
elites made me do it”. This
is fiction. Notably absent
from the guilty elites is the
leadership of the Ugandan
medical profession and the
Ministry of Health. They
were not consulted, and
when they heard about
the contract (after it was
signed) they were not
in favour. The Ministry
of Health makes a list of
priorities every year dur-
ing the budget process.
The Lubowa hospital, or
anything resembling it, has
Kabaka should
walk the talk
Refer to: “Kabaka Mutebi
decries poverty levels” (The Inde-
pendent Online April 20). The
Kabaka, his cabinet, and all his
local and community leaders need
to lead by example to eradicate the
vices he mentions. Who of Bugan-
da leaders has a model farm or
factory to inculcate working into
youths and eradicate poverty? The
Buganda Land Board is involved
in stealing people’s lands; includ-
ing kingdom land, leave alone
making peasants landless through
`Kyapa Kumeeza’ leasing land to
bona-fide owners! The kingdom is
encouraging laziness by begging
from the subjects instead of using
other forms of earning money like
tourism of Buganda rich history
and regalia. So the Kabaka should
walk the talk and blame himself
and his cabinet for failing to bring
prosperity to central Buganda and
Uganda as a whole.
Charles Muhigirwa
News analysis Health Business
How Sudan’s protesters Baby with DNA from Behind African Alliance’s move
forced al-Bashir out three people born to quit brokerage business
Issue No. 568 April. 19 - 25 2019
Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8
`It cannot happen
here’
How accurate are claims by
Ugandans on Bashir coup?
www.independent.co.ug
never been on that list. A lot logic is just plain wrong.
of things on that list have Government officers are not
gone unfunded, including capitalists managing their
the equipping of the exist- own money to maximize
ing specialist hospitals with their own returns. They are
basic supplies and equip- employees, and diverting a
ment. There has never been; portion of the money they
in any forum, a group of are managing into a per-
individuals, elite or masses, sonal account is not capital-
agitating for the creation of ism at work. It is a crime.
a super-duper world class Successful governments,
hospital in Uganda at gov- like successful companies,
ernment expense. There has lean heavily on employees
been a loud and persistent
agitation for the existing
who do such things. A
self-serving leadership is
hospitals to be properly not a national “misguided
equipped with basic sup- priority”.
plies, and for health work-
ers to get a living wage. Sserukeera
On capitalism, Mwenda’s
Excitement within
opposition will cost them
I have never seen hate for those who sup-
port a political leaders like I see toward the
supporters of popular musician and oppo-
sition Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagu-
lanyi aka Bobi Wine. The leader of the
Democratic Party, Norbert Mao has recent-
ly been calling on people to publicly harass
supporters of fellow opposition leader,
Kizza Besigye of the Forum for Democratic
Change (FDC). Bobi wine has also been
calling on his supporters to harass those in
Besigye’s camp. At Hotel Africana recently,
he uttered true though harsh statements
against Besigye. Bobi Wine also called us;
Museveni supporters, deplorable. Is this
what the opposition has become; parties of
haters? Do even their leaders condone such
behaviors? Please tell me it isn’t so! Yet I see
few opposition leaders calling to end the
behavior that causes such strife and divi-
sion. Some elderly people tell me that there
used to be time when those of differing
political beliefs and opinions could have a
civil conversation. Today, many of us don’t
even attempt to understand one another.
Michael Woira

Is Uganda’s debt sustainable?
By Andrew M. Mwenda
How Prof Hyuha Mukwanason’s response to my article
fails to move beyond abstract theoretical arguments
P
rof Hyuha Mukwanason wrote in
Daily Monitor of April 13 a 4,214
words-long article responding to
my article published in The New
Vision of January 21 (2,400 words). In his
response, he purported to demonstrate
that Uganda’s debt is unsustainable. Yet
nowhere in that long article does he make
any effort to meet this promise. Instead he
went into a host of irrelevant theoretical
abstractions about debt generally that have
little or no relevance to Uganda’s actual
debt situation, ironically the very issue he
was criticising me for.
For instance, he does not bother to state
Uganda’s debt stock, its tax revenues,
foreign exchange earnings or even the
annual cost of servicing these debts. He also
makes no reference to the debt burden (the
ratio of debt service to revenue) – the very
elements that are fundamental to explaining
whether a country’s debt is sustainable.
He does not refer to the purposes for
which the country is accumulating debt
(such as investments in transport and
energy infrastructure) and whether they
have potential to give the country future
productivity gains from whence it can
generate tax revenues and export earnings
to meet her debt service obligations.
I got the sense that Hyuha went to his
notes, which he took as a student or a
lecturer, and just copied and pasted them
for an article perhaps to show-off that he
knows the economics of debt. This is why
his article made a lot of abstract theoretical
arguments common in textbooks but had
nothing concrete about Uganda’s debt.
Yet as an academic who claims to have
studied and “published two graduate
level textbooks” on the economics of debt,
readers should be looking up to him for
a concrete (as opposed to an academic or
classroom) analysis of our debt situation.
Public debt is not a static figure. On any
given day, week or month, government
signs new loans and services others. To be
accurate one has to pick a date and say on
this day, Uganda’s debt was this or that.
As of end of June 2018, Uganda’s total
public debt was $10.5 billion or Shs 41.3
trillion. Of this foreign debt was $7.2 billion
(68%), domestic debt $3.3 billion (or Shs
12.4 trillion) – 32%. Domestic debt interest
The Last Word
payments were Shs 2.0 trillion per year
while foreign debt service was $209m (Shs
800 billion) per year.
Ability to service this debt depends on
government revenue and on the credit
worthiness of a country – which allows
it to borrow new loans to pay old ones.
Government of Uganda collects tax and
non-tax revenues and also gets grants (a
part of foreign aid) all of which it uses
(or help it) pay local debt. It also uses her
revenues to buy foreign exchange to pay
foreign currency denominated debt. Shs2
trillion domestic debt service is expensive
and has many negative consequences on
private sector growth but it is only 11% of
domestic revenue (domestic revenue is Shs
18 trillion). Is this unsustainable? If yes, how
and why?
Hyuha knows or should know that a
country cannot default on local-currency
denominated debt because it can always
print the money and pay its creditors. Of
course there is a cost here: if government
prints money not backed by an appropriate
level of output, it will cause inflation. But
that depends on how much inflation a
country is willing to tolerate and the effects
of this on the cost of future borrowings.
William Easterly and Michael Bruno (both
economists at the world bank when they
did this study) have shown that below 40%,
inflation is not very harmful to economic
growth. There are many arguments about
inflation here that will divert my argument,
so let me reserve them for another day.
So this leaves the issue of Uganda’s debt
sustainability on the foreign debt, which
is $7.2 billion. Although this is more than
double domestic debt, its service is $209m
(Shs800 billion). This is because it is given
on highly concessionary terms, a factor that
Hyuha dismisses. Ideally, foreign currency
denominated debt can be worrisome
because a country needs to earn the foreign
exchange to pay it back. Uganda earns $7.0
billion in export of goods and services.
So foreign debt service here is only 3% of
export earnings, 4.44% of domestic revenue.
Is this unsustainable?
For a historical perspective, in 1990,
average debt service in Sub Sahara Africa
was 50% of export earnings. Some countries
debt service obligations exceeded their
Opinion
export earnings. IMF and other donors
were always rescheduling these debts for
countries in this region continually but our
countries could not pay. By 1989, more than
100 loans had been rescheduled without
making our countries solvent.
One cannot analyse debt sustainability
without looking at a nation’s financial assets
i.e. its net debt (total debt minus financial
assets). If a country has a lot of foreign
exchange reserves or a sizeable sovereign
wealth fund, it means it has money it can
draw to pay its debt obligations. Uganda
has $3 billion in foreign exchange reserves,
which makes our net debt $7.5 billion.
Finally we come to the issue of the debt
burden, which is the ratio of debt service to
revenue. The higher the percentage of debt
service to public revenues, the greater is the
debt burden. Uganda’s total debt service
is Shs 2.8 trillion which is 15% of revenue!
Given that Uganda also gets grants from
donors, this reduces her debt burden. Of
course one can say that donations cannot be
part of such a calculation. But that would
be a technical argument. As long as one has
generous benefactors willing to pick some
of his/her bills, their debt burden would be
low.
Finally, Hyuha’s arguments are not
without merit. There are many cases
of mismanagement of foreign loans,
corruption, delays, etc. some of which
Hyuha quotes from an IMF assessment.
Indeed, in my article I mention some. While
it is important to point out such weaknesses,
it does not vitiate the fundamentals.
I am aware that many Ugandans
are frustrated with President Yoweri
Museveni’s long and corrupt rule. This has
led many of our intellectuals to imagine that
things must be going badly for our country.
This is partly correct. However, in many
cases this is often not true! Absolute success,
more than absolute failure, is what drives
these frustrations. The problem with very
many Ugandans could be with the relative
success. When they look at those around
them who are doing well, they feel left
behind even when their own circumstances
have improved in absolute terms.
amwenda@independent.co.ug
April. 26 - May 02 2019 9
cover story

Money fuels
fights within
Opposition
Why Mao, Besigye, Bobi Wine
cannot work together
By Ian Katusiime

10 April. 26 - May 02 2019


O
By Ian Katusiime
f all declared candidates
for the 2021 presidential
election, Norbert Mao
appears to be crafting the
most interesting strategy so
far. The President General
of the Democratic Party (DP) has for over
two years been engaged in reunification
work within his party. In the latest move,
Mao on April 04 in Kampala announced
the formation of a new political structure
called the DP Bloc.
The DP Bloc has four strands; the
mainstream DP of Mao, the Peoples
Development Party (PDP) of perennial
presidential candidate Abed Bwanika,
the Social Democratic party (SDP) of
another DP-break-away maverick, Michael
Mabikke , and the still
unregistered Truth for
Justice Party of London-
based former presidential
candidate Samuel Lubega.
Although this DP Bloc
is being sold as a united
front, a closer looks
exposes it as an effort by
the four main players to
manage a very delicate
power struggle within the
DP.
Mao is the driver,
has the most political
clout, and has already
announced that he will
run for president in 2021.
But it is clear that the other Bobi Wine
three; Bwanika, Mabikke,
and Lubega are determined to ensure that
he treats them as equals. And he might
–as long as they do not threaten his plans
for the presidential election. So suspicion
is rife because Bwanika, Mabikke, and
Lubega are all ambitious men.
It would not be surprising if Bwanika,
Mabikke, and Lubega insist on the DP
Bloc fielding one joint candidate elected
from among the “four principals”. If that
happens, Mao will lose. At the heart of all
successful political alliances is the personal
chemistry between the leaders involved
and Mao is an outsider ethnically in the DP
Bloc. But if Bwanika, Mabikke, and Lubega
try to push him out, the DP Bloc will break
and Mao will run as a DP candidate. In
that case, Bwanika too could run as a PDP
candidate. He is weak and does not stand
a decent chance but that does not matter to
him. His strategy is built around the idea
that he also runs.
In the last presidential election, Bwanika
got 0.9% of the vote. It was too low but a
40% improvement on the 0.65% that he
managed in 2011. He had won his highest
ever tally in a general election in 2006
when he scooped 0.95% of the vote. In
actual numbers, only 65,874 people voted
for him out of 6.9 million who voted.
Mao on the other hand got 1.86% of
the vote in the 2011 presidential race.
It was low and inconsequential but it
placed him third, behind the big two of
Uganda’s political arena; President Yoweri
Museveni of NRM and Kizza Besigye;
the freewheeling Forum for Democratic
Change (FDC) stalwart. Samuel Lubega
who ran in the same election got 0.41% of
the vote.
So, when the four unveiled their DP
coalition, it raised many questions. What
is the plan behind it? Secondly, do they
expect other players to take four political
minnows more seriously, simply because
they have formed a Bloc?
Ibrahim Ssemuju Nganda; the
spokesperson of Uganda’s biggest
Mugisha Muntu
opposition party; FDC has already
dismissed them.
“We are battling to cut down a strong
mvule tree and all they bring on the table
are razor blades,” he told journalists.
But Medard Lubega Sseggona, MP for
Busiro County East under DP, says their
strategy is different.
“It is about strategy and the candidates.”
He adds, “We have taken our lessons.
We are not going to fold our hands. If we
do not unite, how shall we get rid of the
dictatorship?”
On whether the coalition can get
the voter numbers, Ssegona is cryptic:
“Bashir had just won an election. Even
the Museveni who gets millions today
struggled to get 100,000 votes in 1980.”
Lubega too was unfazed by Ssemuju’s
scoffing. According to him, Ssemuju and
his ilk are living in the past.
“The political landscape has shifted,” he
said on a radio talk show. The implication
is that FDC is no longer as powerful as it
has been. Apparently, FDC’s militaristic
former president has been replaced by
political debutante Robert Sentamu
Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine as the leader of
cover story
the opposition radical fringe. And, in an
interview with The Independent, Bwanika
was quick to claim the Kyadondo East MP.
“Bobi Wine is part of us. We will help
those who are with People Power with
structures which will help them to stand in
various positions,” he said.
The significant portions reveal parts of
the DP Bloc strategy. It is not about the
presidency only, apparently. They are also
pushing a strategy whereby opposition
parties agree not to field candidates against
each other in the parliamentary and lower
elections. The decision on which party
will field a candidate will depend on
strength of the party in the constituency.
But this DP Bloc decision has already been
criticised because those pushing it are seen
to be weak politically and yet they claim to
be stronger than candidates from the FDC
Kizza Besigye
in Buganda, the heart of opposition. But
that is also just a tiny part of the strategy.
According to some analysts, the DP bloc
of Mao, Bwanika, Mabikke, and Lubega
is designed to court western donors, their
money and support.
Targeting donor money
Donors routinely fund political parties
during elections under the Deepening
Democracy Programme (DDP), a
joint purse funded by some European
countries; the British, Swedes, Danes,
and Dutch. Under the Political Parties
and Organisations Act, 2005, donors can
only give Shs400 million a year max to a
political party. That is not a lot of money.
But other money flows in indirectly
through equipment and trainings. It
also keeps opposition leaders politically
relevant.
Other players; like the United States
Agency for International Development
(USAID) and its embassy also bring in
money from the National Democratic
Institute (NDI) and the International
Republican Institute (IRI). This funded
Olara Otunnu, the Uganda Peoples
April. 26 - May 02 2019 11
cover story
Congress (UPC) presidential candidate in
in 2011.
For a party to receive money, however,
it must undergo and pass certain critical
eligibility tests. Is it registered by the
Electoral Commission? Are its financial
systems in order? What about its other
structures? How much money does it raise
from membership? The donors do citizen
surveys, analyse proportions of votes
won by parties and independents, and
test internal democracy which is based on
whether or not a party has held a national
delegates conferences, for example. The role
of women, party branches at district level.
Previously, three opposition parties have
got donor money; FDC, the UPC and the
Peoples Progressive Party (PPP). These
are the ones that got the so-called “direct
funding”.
But even others in the mix got something
under the “indirect funding”. The DP,
Justice Forum (JEEMA), NRM and SDP
were in this group. This group is not given
cash but they are given material assistance,
equipment, and training. The best place to
be is in the “direct funding” group. Mao’s
cleaning house in DP appears to be an effort
to present a decent face to donors.
But the donors also love to fund alliances.
This is mainly for two reasons; first,
donors are motivated by the success of
opposition coalitions elsewhere to remove
incumbents. In 2000, opposition parties in
Senegal formed Sopi (or “Change”) alliance,
defeated an incumbent and ended 40 years
of one-party dominance. In 2002, Kenya’s
opposition grouped under the National
Rainbow Coalition (NARC) and kicked out
KANU which had governed Kenya since
1963. But this came after they individually
first garnered over 60% of the vote in 1992
and 1997 elections. Pre-electoral opposition
coalitions have changed governments
in Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali,
Mauritius, Nigeria, and The Gambia. So
donors are convinced that since Ugandan
parties are small and weak, they only
stand a chance if they are united under one
platform.
The second reason is organisational; the
donors find it is easier to monitor finance
to one entity rather than chase ten tiny
groups. So political parties like to present
themselves, in name if not in reality, as
blocs, forums, alliances and so on. Their
names reflect that. There is Mao’s DP Bloc,
Besigye’s Forum for Democratic Change,
and Mugisha Muntu’s Alliance for
National Transformation (ANT).
The donors, of course, also have agendas
they push through the grant receiving
organisations and it is easier to push the
agenda through one body. In 2011, the
donors funded the Inter Party Cooperation
(IPC). Its mission, pushed vigorously by
Otunnu with America’s backing, was to
ensure parties boycott the election – to
12 April. 26 - May 02 2019
Why coalitions
fail in Uganda
By Ian Katusiime
I
n Uganda either the coalitions have frag-
mented and eventually fallen apart or
the numbers just do not add up. In 1996,
when the first semblance of democratic
elections were held in more than ten years,
there was a first attempt at a coalition when
the DP and UPC, under a loose federation
of the Inter-Party Forces for Cooperation
(IPFC) backed the candidacy of Paul Kawa-
nga Ssemogerere.
Although some people were surprised
that the two parties had put their bitter
rivalry from the 1980 elections aside, they
never gave the candidacy of ‘Semo’ as he
was known, a chance since the Museveni
government was still widely popular. Not
surprisingly, Museveni romped to victory
with 75%, his highest margin to date.
With Uganda still firmly under the Move-
ment single party dispensation, the idea of
a coalition did not seem to have any impact.
In the 2001 election, elements within UPC
and DP came together to back ‘Reform
Agenda’ a pressure group with strong asso-
ciation to Besigye. The pact did not mean
much because either parties had candidates;
Aggrey Awori and Francis Bwengye respec-
tively attached to them, running in the same
election.
The 2006 elections were a different propo-
sition since Uganda had adopted multiparty
politics in 2005 and parties had no time for
loose pacts since each was testing out its
own strength after the “opening up of politi-
cal space.”
As early as 2008, the Inter Party Coop-
eration (IPC) was taking shape. It brought
together FDC, UPC, DP, SDP and the Con-
servative Party (CP) but by 2010 had begun
to collapse over disagreements ranging from
the credibility of the Electoral Commission
embarrass Museveni. When that failed,
Otunnu quit the IPC coalition and failed to
even vote for himself.
In 2016, it was The Democratic Alliance
(TDA) and former Prime Minister Amama
Mbabazi was its anointed candidate to
challenge Museveni. When Kizza Besigye
refused to fall into line and it became
obvious that the opposition could not
front one joint candidate, TDA collapsed.
Amama Mbabazi went on to score a paltry
136, 519 votes against Besigye’s 3,508, 687
votes.
The DP Bloc must, therefore, be seen as
and who would be its joint candidate. DP
and UPC pulled out months to the election
leaving FDC with lightweights JEMMA, CP
and the SDP. In the end, FDC had to exit an
empty coalition and went it alone.
In 2015 as opposition flirted with the idea
of a single candidate again, almost the same
problems surfaced. Mbabazi was seen as an
untested and untrustworthy outsider but
more critically, neither he nor Besigye were
willing to step down for the other.
Weak political parties
Henry Muguzi, the executive director of
the Alliance for Election Campaign Finance
Monitoring (ACFIM), an NGO that advo-
cates for increased transparency in political
party financing, says the failures of coali-
tions are rooted in the failure of political
parties themselves.
“Most of these parties are major Kampala
bubbles and they do not exist outside Kam-
pala,” he explains. “It is only the NRM that
is able to field candidates outside of this.”
Muguzi says because of this, many elec-
toral constituencies exist only on paper and
this affects a process of forming a coalition.
“These parties operate where there is media
and where they are seen.”
He adds, “For as long as they do not
establish a firm grip at the grassroots level,
they will remain weak.”
Frank Rusa, Country Representative
of Netherlands Institute for Multiparty
Democracy (NIMD), an organisation influ-
ential in the national dialogue process,
says the lack of issue-based engagements
in Uganda’s body politic cannot be ruled
out for the failure of coalitions. “It is mostly
about who should be the flag-bearer and not
about the issues therein. Everybody wants
to be a leader, who should be the face?”
ground one for the eventuality of a donor-
backed alliance joint candidate negotiation.
In that setting, small players always insist
on being treated as equals and the biggies
like FDC play along –hoping to win their
vote. So the DP Bloc of minnows Mao,
Mabikke, Bwanika and Lubega might end
up more powerful than FDC.
Besigye, Bobi Wine stuck
In an interview with The Independent,
however, Bwanika insisted that their intent
is on the democratic gains that can be
made from the alliance.

Kizza Besigye speaking at a rally
“Our objective is to win together,
build electoral power and bring all our
individual processes together,” he says.
“Secondly is to govern together where
we position ourselves and distribute
candidates from the presidency, to MPs
and councilors,” he adds. Bwanika states
the third goal of the bloc is to have a
unified policy platform.
Bwanika explains that the DP Bloc is
working on a formal agreement under
which People Power of Bobi Wine will be
incorporated. When that happens, which
appears inevitable given Bobi Wine is
schmoozing with donors, it could cause
even more challenges for the DP Bloc and
possibly make a break-up inevitable.
Part of the reason for such fear is that
Bobi Wine has already declared his
intention to run for president in 2021.
That puts him on a direct collision course
with Norbert Mao under the DP Bloc.
On paper, Mao is Bobi Wine’s senior
in politics. Mao is a former Makerere
University students’ guild president who
has been in national politics since the
1990s.
Bobi Wine is a ghetto raised kid, who
gained prominence through notoriety
and music. He only joined politics in 2017.
But in any fight for leadership, especially
within the DP Bloc, Bobi Wine will easily
thrash Mao. As already seen, leadership
fights within coalitions are usually
resolved based on personal relationships
between the players. Bobi Wine is a perfect
ethnic fit with Bwanika, Lubega, and
Mabikke. They will also easily accept his
leadership because Bobi wine currently has
the political momentum. The Bwanikas
also do not have much to lose as they do
not have the same clout as Mao outside the
party.
But Bobi Wine’s strength is also his
weakest point. He cannot join a coalition
unless he is guaranteed of two things; first
he must lead the coalition, and secondly,
he must be the joint presidential candidate
of the coalition. That cannot happen with
Mao in the DP Bloc. If Bobi Wine defeats
Mao in a vote of the DP Bloc, Mao will
reject it and run as a DP candidate. Then
Bobi Wine will also have to run as an
independent People Power candidate.
The FDC stalwart Kizza Besigye faces
the same dilemma as Bobi Wine. He too
has since 2001 boxed himself into a corner
as the alpha male. He must dominate any
coalition that he joins. He cannot join a
coalition unless he is the joint presidential
candidate of the coalition. And it has little
to do with personal choice. His supporters
and fellow leaders in the organisation
expect that. It happened with the
Interparty Coalition (IPC) in 2011 and TDA
in 2016.
This time Mao, Bobi Wine, Bwanika,
Lubega, and Mabikke have all been calling
cover story
on Besigye not to run for a fifth time. They
claim Besigye’s message of “votes cannot
remove Museveni” confuses voters. But
the real reason is their fear of Besigye
dominating them. It is obvious that the
best chance for the opposition is if all stand
behind Besigye as their single candidate.
But they cannot. Besigye has also
repeatedly brushed such calls aside, saying
no one asked him to join the struggle he is
involved in. FDC deputy secretary general,
Harold Kaija, says the idea of a coalition
clearly does not fit anywhere in their
defiance strategy.
“We have been at this for a very long
time,” he told The Independent in an
interview recently, “Our colleagues expect
to go register, vote and wait to be declared.
It cannot work.”
Kaija says this attitude by those in the
coalition is the reason FDC cannot join
them. He poured more scorn on some of
the coalition leaders.
“We believe teams should be organising
internally. Some of those in the coalition
are regime apologists,” he said.
Therefore, Besigye and Bobi Wine
appear destined to run as independents in
the 2021 elections. And donors do not like
that. They see them as spoilers. Mugisha
Muntu’s ANT party remains an unknown
quantity. That is how Mao’s coalition of
minnows presents the most interesting
strategy in 2021.
April. 26 - May 02 2019 13
news analysis

Why NRM fears

Independent MPs
Numbers show if not checked,
30% MPs to be Independent
By Haggai Matsiko

14 April. 26 - May 02 2019


Comparative percentage growth of Parliamentary membership for NRM,FDC,and INDEPENDENT between 2006-2016
30
25
20
15
Percentage Growth
10
5
0
2006-2011
-5
-10
F
inally, President Yoweri
Museveni’s ruling
NRM party and the
four opposition parties
represented in parliaments
have something they agree
on; aspiring Independent MPs must be
failed at the next election in 2021. They
accuse independents of opportunism.
“You have politicians who benefit
from the branding and goodwill of the
party and then turn around to fight it,”
Democratic Party President, Norbert
Mao told The Independent.
But the real reason behind the NRM
and opposition party’s move appears to
be fear and desire to control.
“Some Independents have become
extremely disruptive,” Mao says, “All
they do is fight the party. This is a
legitimate concern. And if you have a
problem you find a solution.”
The solution Mao and his fellow
party leaders appear to have agreed
on is to kick independents out of the
parties and block their emergency at
election time.
To deal with the Independent
candidates, the political parties have
worked with the Electoral Commission
and came up with the Regulation of
Independent Candidates Bill, 2019.
The National Consultative Forum
(NCF), a platform that brings together
all political parties registered by the
(EC), adopted the Bill on April 17 at a
retreat at a Hotel in Entebbe following
a week’s deliberations.
Specifically, the Bill seeks to spell
out the circumstances under which
2006-2011
2011-2016 2011-2016
NRM FDC
Independents participate in elections.
At the centre of the law is a provision
that a person is only eligible to stand as
an independent candidate for election
if they are not a member of a registered
political party. In case, they have been
members of a political party, they must
have ceased to be a member of that
political party for at least eight months
before the date of the election.
This clause is aimed at preventing
situations where after losing party
primaries, contenders jump out of the
party and contest as independents in
many cases even defeating party flag
bearers.
If the move works as envisaged,
it will give political parties more
control on the selection process of
parliamentary election candidates and
also ensure they tow the party line
while in parliament.
Reagan Okumu Cecilia Ogwal
news analysis
2006-2011 2011-2016
INDEPENDENT
Independent MPs react
Not surprisingly, current
Independent MPs do not like the move.
Legislator Cecilia Ogwal sees it
as part of the growing intolerance
within political parties. She says, as a
politician who championed the push
for the return of multi-party politics,
she understands how important having
rules of engagement is. But at the same
time, she told The Independent, it is
important for parties to leave an option
where independents participate in
elections.
She used her personal story to
explain why. Towards the 1996
elections, Ogwal fell out with her party
then—the Uganda Peoples Congress
(UPC) after defying a directive issued
by then party leader, Milton Obote, for
members to boycott local council and
parliamentary elections.
She successfully contested for the
Lira Municipality seat and won. Then
after successfully championing the
return of multi-party politics in 2005,
she found herself in trouble with the
party again. By this time Milton Obote
was dead and his wife Miria Obote
and son Jimmy Akena were seeking to
capture control of the party.
Miria became party President and
Jimmy Akena targeted Ogwal’s Lira
Municipality seat. As part of the ploy,
Ogwal was blocked from participating
in UPC party primaries and eventually
lost the Lira Municipality seat to
Akena.
A few months later, however, she
April. 26 - May 02 2019 15
news analysis
won the Woman MP seat for newly
created Dokolo District.
“If the option of contending as an
Independent was not exist available,
I would have been denied an
opportunity of serving my people who
clearly still needed me to represent
them,” she says.
Ogwal says that her troubles had
nothing to do with the masses but
the fact that a group within the party
targeted her and a group of other UPC
leaders, during the big storm that
rocked UPC before and after the death
of Obote. Indeed, around that time UPC
lost several senior leaders to both the
ruling NRM and FDC.
When she later joined the FDC,
Ogwal says she saw colleagues
encountering similar problems as she
had encountered in UPC.
She cites the cases of Kitgum
Municipality MP Beatrice Onywar and
Aswa County MP Reagan Okumu as
some of the contradictions that have
caused problems for political parties.
Ahead of the 2016 elections, Anywar
was gunning for Kitgum Municipality
but apparently, FDC handpicked Denis
Onekalit as FDC flag bearer.
“There were no primaries. Worst of all
my nomination papers, which had been
signed by FDC members, were stolen
at the last minute when I was seeing
Dr Kizza Besigye at a hotel in Kitgum,”
Anywar told The Observer in July 2016,
“I had to go back to the EC and pick
other forms with a day to nomination. I
am independent against my own wish Bobi Wine (R) campaigns for Kasiano Wadri (L) in Arua Municipality.
because my party messed me up.”
Meanwhile, Reagan Okumu, then
the FDC Vice Chairman for northern Independents are becoming a real threat fell to 34 MPs or 9% in 2011 and up 36
Uganda was in 2016 forced to contest as and one they must deal with now. MPs or 8.4% in 2016.
an independent after Gulu High Court Between 2006 and 2011, therefore,
in December 2015 declared Christopher Numbers show Independents FDC’s growth fell by 8.1% and grew by
Acire to be the rightfully nominated strength a miserly 5.8% between 2011 and 2016.
FDC flagbearer for Aswa County. The Independents, meanwhile, have
Okumu won the election as an A look at the numbers confirms the been on the roll. They were only 37
Independent but is still recognised as an fear that parties have of the growing (11%) in 2006, grew to 43 (11.4%) in 2011
executive member of FDC. This, critics presence of Independents in parliament. and then to 66 (15%) in 2016.
have pointed out, contradicts the party Since the return of multiparty In terms of growth, therefore, the
constitution. politics in 2005, Uganda has had three Independents grew by 16% between
But Ogwal says cases like these parliamentary elections—2006, 2011 and 2006 and 2011 and in the last election,
explain why you have enlarging 2016. by a staggering 53%. If they were to
numbers of Independent legislators in In 2006, the ruling party had 206 MPs maintain that streak, they could grow
parliament. out of a total of 319 MPs, it grew the by a whopping 90% in 2021. If we were
“People are treated unfairly by number to 263 MPs out of 375 MPs in to extrapolate, there is no doubt, which
parties,” Ogwal told The Independent, 2011, and 293 out of 426 MPs in 2016. would bring their numbers to 125
“That is partly why they lose primaries In terms of control, the NRM party MPs or 30% of parliament. With that,
but win the general elections. This controlled 64% of parliament in 2006, the Independents can start calling the
is the experience we have been then 70% in 2011 and 68% in 2016. In shots.
witnessing. That is why for as long as terms of growth, however, these figures It is not clear whether political
we do not have true internal democracy mean that the party grew its control by parties have made these calculations.
with in parties, we should not take 28% between 2006 and 2011 and then by But even if they have not, the analysis
away the option for people to run as a measly 11% between 2011 and 2016. of growth of strength offers a window
Independents.” The second biggest party, the Forum into why both the ruling NRM and
But for both the leaders of the for Democratic Change (FDC) had 37 other political parties are in panic
opposition and the ruling party, MPs or 11% of parliament in 2006, this mode over independents.

16 April. 26 - May 02 2019


The People Power wave
Combine these numbers with
the so-called Bobi Wine wave –
phenomenon behind parvenu
legislator, Kyagulanyi Sentamu aka
Bobi Wine’s easy defeat of candidates
fronted by bother the ruling NRM and
FDC in the Kyadondo East by-election
in 2018. He ran as an independent.
Despite being new on the political
scene and appearing unprepared
without any established party backing,
Bobi Wine won easily with 78% of the
vote.
Bobi Wine also worked with a small
group of Independents and some
opposition MPs in a bid that almost
failed the ruling party from lifting
amending the constitution to remove
the 75-year age limit. The ruling party
had to fall back on the military to
beat the MPs into submission before
the constitution could be amended. It
now appears Museveni does not want
groups of MPs he cannot control.
And in a few months, Bobi Wine, the
Independent with no party structures
no huge wards of cash has become a
kingmaker of sorts. He ensured that
candidates he supported in subsequent
elections won.
Thanks to Bobi Wine’s support,
Independent candidate Kassiano
Wadri swept the Arua Municipality
by-election beating both NRM’s Sarah
Tiperu and FDC’s Bruce Musema.
Both FDC and NRM had thrown
their all behind their candidates.
Museveni and Besigye campaigned for
their respective candidates. They lost.
In the Arua Municipality by-election,
NRM was looking to retain the seat
that was previously occupied by a
party stalwart, Ibrahim Abiriga, who
had just been murdered.
Wadri and FDC’s Bruce Musema’s
votes combined were slightly above
7000. On the other hand, NRM’s
Tiperu and the other five party leaning
independents had over 9000 votes
combined.
“NRM lost because of internal
dynamics,” NRM’s Ofwono Opondo
lamented blaming the loss on messed
up party primaries, which he claims
divided the ruling party’s support
and gave chance to an independent
candidate.
Indeed, during the 2016 elections,
Museveni struggled with several
NRM-leaning independents who were
challenging party flag bearers.
In another by election, riding on
Bobi Wine’s support and mobilisation
skills, Asuman Basalirwa beat NRM’s
Francis Oketcho and FDC’s Eunice
Namatende in Bugiri Municipality.
Armed only with his `people power’
slogan and popularity as an artist,
Bobi Wine has disrupted the political
landscape in Uganda.
People Power candidates have since
won student guild presidential races
at Makerere, Nkumba, Kyambogo and
Mbarara universities.
And ahead of the 2021 elections,
Bobi Wine is seen as the most popular
contender against President Yoweri
Museveni.
The existing tensions between his
camp and that of Kizza Besigye, who
has until recently been the defacto
leader of opposition in Uganda having
challenged President Museveni for four
times in vain speaks volumes of Bobi
Wine’s political clout as much does the
fact that other opposition leaders like
Mao and former FDC Mugisha Muntu’s
efforts to quote the youthful legislator.
As Bobi Wine’s popularity soars and
Independents continue to eat into the
share of political parties, it makes sense
that the parties are fighting back. But
since the muddy party primaries will
inevitably results in fallouts as some
aspirants are either locked out of the
race or feel cheated at the ballot, it
news analysis
remains what form the Independents
– who are provided for in the national
constitutional order - will take by 2021.
Mao says that no one should interfere
with people’s constitutional right to
participate in elections but at the same
time, people should not attempt to eat
their cake and have it.
“If a party doesn’t meet your needs
the best option is to leave it but not to
stay in it and keep fighting it,” Mao
says, “That doesn’t foster constitutional
development.”
He says the Political Parties Act
provides for the establishment of
regulations on how to participate as an
Independent and that is what the NFC
has been trying to put in place with
that law.
“They have looked at how other
countries have done it,” he says.
Mao says that in the process of
finding out what works, the NFC
looked at what other countries have
done.
In Zimbabwe, they completely
abolished independents. In Kenya, for
one to become an Independent, they
should not have associated with a
political party for a period of time.
But others are viewing the motive of
the law suspiciously. Crispin Kaheru,
the coordinator Citizens’ Coalition
for Electoral Democracy in Uganda
(CCEDU) told The Independent that
while on the face of it, the law appears
intended to strengthen multi-party
politics in the country, it could be aimed
at curbing the growing strength of
independents in parliament.
“Creating certainty is important
for multi-party politics and to that I
think establishing a legal framework
that regulates the participation of
Independents is legitimate. But,
under the circumstances, this
law appears aimed at targeting
individual independents. In bringing
an independent law, one senses a
temptation to target the legitimate
independents.”
He says that if the political parties
were only looking at preventing political
opportunism, they would start by
establishing strict guidelines envisioned
by the Political Parties Code of Conduct
that has for years been gathering dust in
parliament.
He says the law to regulate
independent candidates appears part of
the big plan for the establish parties to
consolidate their privileged position in
the politics of the day.
“It is a contentious issue,” Mao says,
“But people should put their cards on
the table and debate it in good faith.”
April. 26 - May 02 2019 17
news analysis

Sudan can avoid past mistakes

By drawing lessons from its history it can ensure negotiation
of settlements of the country’s broader conflicts

By Willow Berridge 1964, which ushered out Sudan’s first Protesters continue their sit in outside

A
military coup d’etat in Sudan
has ended Omar al-Bashir’s
30-year rule.
This is the sixth coup the
country’s military have led since inde-
pendence in 1956. The military were
pressured into the coup by the coun-
try’s third major civilian uprising. His-
torically, the two most famous upris-
ings were the October Revolution of
military regime, and the April Intifada
of 1985, which ousted the second.
As in the 1985 uprising, the military
maintain that they are siding with a
popular uprising. A Transitional Mili-
tary Council has been formed and its
leadership maintains that it’s commit-
ted to bringing back a civil state and
multi-party democracy.
But there’s still considerable skepti-
cism towards the new military leaders.
army headquarters, which originally
began when they demanded the army
support the movement against al-
Bashir. They now fear the army may
use force to break it up.
The continuing protests have forced
the Transitional Military Council to
change its leader once already. And
there are worrying signs that the
transition to civilian rule will not be
smooth.

18 April. 26 - May 02 2019


There is a real risk that a trend
which emerged during the last two
transitional periods of 1964 - 1965 and
1985 - 1986 will be repeated. On both
occasions key rebel groups didn’t par-
ticipate in the negotiations. This meant
that negotiated settlements of the coun-
try’s broader conflicts were doomed
from the get go.
The other danger is the military’s
future role. Key here will be the rela-
tionship between the new military tran-
sition council and the civilian leaders
of the Intifada.
Sudan has seen this movie play out
before. In 1985, Siwar al-Dahab became
chairman of a transitional military
council after he had ousted President
Gaafar Nimeiry in a coup. After elec-
tions, he surrendered power to prime
minister Sadiq al-Mahdi.
Siwar al-Dahab, relatively unam-
bitious but politically conservative,
played on divides between the politi-
cal parties and the professionals, and
between left-leaning and Islamist-
leaning factions in the professional
movement. The result was that the Inti-
fada failed to achieve a number of its
aspirations for more meaningful social
transformation.
It’s crucial that the professionals
and other political forces do not allow
the same issues that divided them in
1985 to divide them today. This could
play into the hands of the factions in
the military that want to maintain the
authoritarian system which awarded
the majority of the government’s bud-
get to the security sector.
The principal players
Events since al-Bashir was forced out
suggest there’s still a lot left to play for.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Awad
Ibn Auf was named as al-Bashir’s
replacement. But he was forced to step
down after just one day as protesters
regarded him as too close to al-Bashir’s
regime.
General Abdel-Fattah Burhan then
took over the military council, immedi-
ately promising to “uproot” al-Bashir’s
regime. He also promised to hand over
power to civilians after a two year tran-
sition period.
Burhan, a soldier by profession, has
never previously taken any political
positions. His role in the army included
responsibility for Sudan’s operations
alongside the Saudi led coalition in
Yemen. He also has close ties to the
Transitional Military Council’s new
deputy leader Mohammad Hamdan
aka Himeidti, who helped him remove
al-Bashir from power.
Himeidti is the commander of
the Rapid Support Forces, a private
military force which was partially inte-
grated into the military and security
services. The unit is regarded by many
as a re-branded version of the Janja-
weed militias of which Himeidti was
himself a part. These perpetrated mass
atrocities during the government’s
counter-insurgency against the rebel
movement in Darfur from 2003.
How the leaders of the Darfur rebel
factions react to Himeidti’s involve-
ment will be crucial to the viability of
any transitional government Burhan
leads.
Equally important is who comes out
on top in the current contest over key
ministerial posts.
Control of ministries
The Transitional Military Council
has demanded that it’s represented in
both the interior and defence minis-
tries.
Care needs to be taken on these
appointments. Whoever controls
news analysis
these ministries will be in a position
to determine the fate of the deeply
entrenched, and highly corrupt, mili-
tary and security complex established
by al-Bashir and his Islamist allies.
It’s also crucial that any new tech-
nocratic cabinet is not seen as being
biased towards one political group or
set of interests.
Historically there has been a great
deal of crossover between prominent
professional unions and the political
parties. Particularly with regards to
lawyers, doctors and university lectur-
ers who played a prominent role in the
forerunner of today’s Sudan Profes-
sional Association.
In 1964, many of the professionals
who participated in the first transi-
tional cabinet were members or sym-
pathisers of the Sudan Communist
Party. In 1985, a good number of them
sympathised to a greater or lesser
extent with political Islam.
During the uprising, the Sudan Pro-
fessional Association has been good
at not making its affiliations clear.
But as it becomes more public – and
members engage in talks and join tran-
sitional bodies – there will inevitably
be considerable speculation as to its
sympathies.
Representation of marginalised
groups
The new cabinet should also take
two other issues on board: women’s
representation and regional represen-
tation.
Previous transitional cabinets have
been very male dominated. This needs
to change, particularly given the
enormous presence of women on the
streets during this uprising.
Regional representation is also key.
There’s a real risk that the trend from
the last two transitional periods con-
tinues. Then, political forces based
in the riverine north negotiated the
transition to democracy and rebels
did not participate in the interim gov-
ernments. This meant that the war in
the periphery continued, as did the
regional inequalities that fed it.
Then it was the southern-based
rebels that were sidelined during the
transitional process. Now it could be
those who have taken up arms in the
West of the country.
It’s crucial that both east, west and
the new south – and particularly the
groups targeted by the regime’s lethal
counter-insurgencies – are given fair
representation.
Willow Berridge is a Lecturer in History,
Newcastle University
April. 26 - May 02 2019 19
Fights at Posta Uganda
MD accused of recruiting relatives, forging financial statements
and failing to comply with government’s development plan
T
By Isaac Khisa
he Managing Director for
Uganda Posta Limited,
James Arinaitwe, is caught
up in a fight to secure a
‘third term’ following the
expiry of his contract last
month, The Independent can exclusively
reveal.
With the decline in the company’s
financial performance, intimidation,
nepotism and non-alignment of the
entity’s strategic plan to the National
Development Plan, the anxiety that the
MD is shown exit is high.
The fight has deepened in the past
two weeks following reports that there
is a plan to renew his contract for
20 April. 26 - May 02 2019
another five years.
Leading the fight are employees,
who in their various capacities, have
petitioned the head of the Anti-
Corruption Unit at State House,
Lt. Col Edith Nakalema and the
Inspector General of Government,
Irene Mulyagonja over Arinaitwe’s
bad leadership and the company’s
dwindling performance.
Established in 1998 to offer mail-
related services such as acceptance
of letters and parcels; provision of post
office boxes; and sale of postage stamps,
packaging, and stationery, UPL is supposed
to provide postal services, and harness
the benefits from its vast resources
or asset base and diversification
opportunities at its disposal to run
sustainable operations countrywide.
But sources familiar with its
operations and various investigations
reveal that the company could, instead
be heading nowhere but towards its
end.
To make matters worse, the term of
the Board of Directors that is supposed
to play an oversight role at the
government owned company expired
in March 2018.
In addition, the second five-year
term for the current managing director
expired on March 31, 2019, creating a
power vacuum in the cash strapped
entity.
In the midst of this confusion, the
Solicitor General, in a letter dated
April 04 to the Permanent Secretary

for Information, Communication and
Technology and National Guidance,
Vincent Bagiire, and Managing
Director, said there is need to appoint
the members of the Board for UPL
that will eventually appoint the next
managing director.
But as the company awaits the new
MD to be appointed, The Independent
has learnt that emotions are high at the
company headquarter and majority
employees do not want the current
MD’s contract renewed.
“We as UPL employees feel that it is
time we lay down our tools,” one of the
employees who preferred anonymity
said.
“Imagine I can’t even communicate
on my phone freely because my boss
(Arinaitwe) seems to be tracking our
conversations.”
A section of employees, for instance,
accuse Arinaitwe of influencing
recruitment of his family members
into the company at the time of
restructuring.
So far, he has influenced the
recruitment of at least 12 of his family
members involving his children, nieces,
nephews and cousins, according to
documents that The Independent has
seen.
The other area of concern that The
Independent has established is that in
December 2016, the management of the
Post Bus handed over its operations to
another company, Fort Express. The
arrangement was that Fort Express pay
Shs80 million per month to the agency
from the 10 buses.
But a few months into the operation,
the company failed to meet its
obligation leading to accumulation of
debts worth Shs700million.
Though the contract was terminated
and buses reverted to UPL, the vehicles
were once again given to the same
operators, this time under a different
name – Double K Professional Drivers.
“The same company is still failing
to meet the agreed terms while
(Arinaitwe) continuing to receive the
share from the operator,” the sources
said.
Multiple sources that spoke to The
Independent said Arinaitwe is fond of
coming up with financial statements
that do not reflect actual operations,
picture of the organisation.
“To make matters worse, he
(Arinaitwe) intimidates everyone in
our offices and whoever disagrees with
him is shown the exit or transferred
to another branch” the sources said,
adding that so far more than 100
employees have left the company
during his tenure.
MD speaks out
However, Arinaitwe said he is not
surprised with the allegations. He, for
instance, said UPL operates an open
contract that is subject to renewal
meaning that a good employee will
always be rewarded with another
contract.
He said although his contract expired
and is yet to be issued with another
appointment or termination letter, he is
still the substantive managing director
for UPL by virtue of conduct.
He also denied allegations of hiring his
relatives to work for the company.
“The company has a human resource
department that does recruitment… and
Multiple
sources that
spoke to The
Independent
said Arinaitwe
is fond of
coming up
with financial
statements
that do not
reflect actual
operations,
picture of the
organisation
I do not participate in the exercise,” he
said.
With regard to financial performance,
Arinaitwe said the company has been
performing well and that the Auditor
General has always accorded the
financial statements as a true reflection of
the company operations.
However, the Auditor General’s
reports for the past four years reveal
that the company is not doing well as
expected.
For instance, the Auditor General’s
report for 2015 shows that UPL
generated Shs18.98bn but incurred
Shs18.45bn as expenditure during the
business
year under review. This left the company
with merely Shs528.2million as profit.
In 2016, the company recorded a
Shs1bn net profit. However, in 2017, the
company recorded a 540% drop in profits
to Shs 4.45bn loss.
In addition, the Auditor General’s
report for 2018 shows that UPL had an
outstanding tax payment of Shs4.3bn. Of
these, Shs1bn relates to unpaid Pay As
You Earn (PAYE) and Shs 3.28bn relates
to unpaid value added tax (VAT).
The Auditor General, John Muwanga,
noted that during the financial year
under review, 21 members of staff left
the organisation as a result of expiry
of contracts, dismissals and transfer of
services and these were not replaced,
leading to staffing shortfalls within the
company.
He said the high staff turnover affects
company operations and achievement
of company objectives as a result of man
power gaps.
“I have advised management to
devise a strategy of retaining staff in the
company and also ensure that vacant
positions are filled for efficient and
effective service delivery,” Muwanga
said.
Muwanga also pointed out that
though the entity obtained a certificate of
compliance issued by National Planning
Authority confirming that its budget
is aligned to the strategic plan and the
NDP, UPL was instead issued with a
certificate of non-compliance by the NPA
due to failure to align the time horizon of
the Strategic Plan (2013/2014 – 2017/2018)
and the NDP II (2015/16 – 2019/20).
Furthermore, the Strategic Plan (2013-
2018) expired at end of financial year
2017-2018 and had not been replaced,
Muwanga said.
Arinaitwe, however, is not new to
controversies. In 2013, the Ministry
of Finance, Planning and Economic
Development wanted him out on claims
that his first five-year term did not yield
the expected results. He was accused
of mismanagement, fraud and poor
corporate governance.
Government’s view
Commenting on the fights at UPL,
Bagiire said he is indeed aware of the
issues and that the government plans to
make pronouncements soon.
He said the ministry made its
submission to the cabinet regarding
constituting a new board at the UPL
so as it can proceed to appoint a new
managing director.
“We have also heard of recruitment
of relatives in the company but a gain
that is the matter that is required to be
reported to the IGG for investigations,”
he said.
April. 26 - May 02 2019 21
business
Digital tax stamps: A waste
of tax payer’s money?
Studies show new initiative will
merely benefit the contracted firm
By Patricia Akankwatsa
O
n April 12, the Uganda Revenue
Authority announced that it had
rolled out digital stamps to com-
bat illicit trade and seal revenue
leakages. This move follows Kenya and
Tanzania that have already done so.
Clare Musiime Bakanga, the change
leader digital tracking solutions at URA said
the taxman plans to start with cigarettes
in May and thereafter spirits,
beers and wines in July. She
said soda and water are set to
be included into the initiative
in August and September this
year, respectively.
“URA is working with the
Uganda National Bureau of
Standards (UNBS), to ensure
they minimize revenue leak-
ages, combat illicit trade and
money laundering and be able
to trace the whereabouts of the
product,” she said.
URA has already contracted
a Swiss Company, SICPA, to
install and run the Digital Tax
Stamps system at a cost yet to
be disclosed.
Digital tax stamps are
tamper-proof physical paper
stamps with security features
and codes that are applied to
goods or their packaging to prevent coun-
terfeiting. The stamps enable traders and
manufacturers track the product’s move-
ment and government to monitor compli-
ance of the product and stamp.
But the current situation both at the
UNBS and URA shows that the initiative is
already dead from its inception, and instead
government is likely to incur costs with
minimum or no returns.
First, the initiative is targeting formal
manufacturers who already have clear and
audited production and distribution pro-
cesses for tax purposes, signaling the digital
tax stamp company will add limited value
into the tax collection measures.
Secondly, UNBS has a limited number of
staff for not only covering the entire country
but also for doing many things. Currently,
22 April. 26 - May 02 2019
UNBS covers only 17 entry points out of
about 165 borders, leaving most of the bor-
ders with no manpower and an avenue for
smugglers.
This is further compounded by the fact
that UNBS staff serve as public officers with
their appointment letters stating that they
need to work for 40 hours a week yet people
in the private sector potentially work 24
hours a day for the entire week. To make
the situation even worse, UNBS is charged
with the responsibility to fight counterfeits
that has already overwhelmed the institu-
tion given its limited human resource capac-
ity and expertise.
In the region, Kenya and Tanzania imple-
mented digital stamps in 2016 and 2018,
respectively, for various products including
wines, spirits, tobacco, and beer to seal tax
leakages.
However, data from Kenya Revenue
Authority for July-December 2017 showed
that tax collected from sale of beer,
cigarettes and spirits – the main revenue
streams – declined by 16.3%, 16% and
11.2%, respectively, compared to 2016,
amidst, the availability of digital stamps.
A study carried out in New York City
in 2015 by public health researchers found
that licensed tobacco retailers throughout
the city were selling a substantial number of
cigarette packs carrying either counterfeit or
out-of-state tax stamps.
Illegal cigarette sales were more pervasive
in independent stores, as opposed to chain
stores, according to the study published in
the BMJ journal Tobacco Control.
“Our research found that illegal cigarettes
are regularly available over the counter in
New York City,” said study author Diana
Silver, associate professor of public health at
NYU’s Steinhardt School
of Culture, Education,
and Human Develop-
ment and College of
Global Public Health.
“Taxes on packs sold
with counterfeit or out-
of-state tax stamps are
not being recouped by
the city and the state.”
John Njiraini, the Com-
missioner General at the
KRA told his guests dur-
ing the 2018 Tax Stamp
Forum in Nairobi that
while tax stamp technol-
ogy is now well devel-
oped, its effectiveness
especially in combating
tax evasion, depends to
a large measure on the
extent to which, such
technology is infused
into other tax compliance processes.
“There is need therefore to look at tax
stamp systems not in isolation but as part
of the holistic process of addressing tax
compliance, and hence as part of the wider
technology infrastructure built to support
tax compliance,” he wrote for the Standard
newspaper, a Kenyan-based daily.
He said the present practice where tax
stamp systems are developed as stand-
alone platforms, may not in the long run
effectively deliver the kind of holistic solu-
tions required for tax administration. After
all, he said, detecting evasion of excise taxes
without having commensurate interven-
tions to address other tax streams equally
affected is not only narrow minded but also
possibly as well self-defeating.

The Hilton Hotel brand is renowned for quality and high standards
Hilton Hotel enters
Ugandan market
New player expected to boost local tourism industry
By Ronald Musoke
G
lobal hotel brand, Hilton, will
soon enter the Ugandan market,
boosting the country’s fast grow-
ing hospitality industry. The com-
pany’s representatives on March 22 signed
a hotel management agreement with TWED
Property Development Company to man-
age a 23-storey property.
The construction of a 244-guest room
property on 1200 sq metres in the upscale
Nakasero suburb in central Kampala is
already underway. The complex will com-
prise several high-end meeting and confer-
encing facilities including a ballroom for up
to 500 guests, a 518-car park, spa and fitness
centre and outdoor swimming pool.
It will also have multiple restaurants
offering a wide range of dining outlets to
include a destination sports bar and a sky
bar with city, golf course and lake views.
Guests will be able to choose between
upscale guest rooms and a range of suites,
including a Presidential Suite.
Founded in 1919 by Conrad Hilton, the
Hilton hotel brand is one of the biggest and
most luxurious hotel chains in the world,
operating over 4,000 hotel facilities in over
113 countries. However, many of these
properties are franchised to independent
operators and companies.
Its brand portfolio is said to be the highest
performing and most-diverse in the indus-
try with 12 brands, over 715,000 hotel rooms
and a workforce of over 155,000 worldwide.
In Africa, the hotel chain operates 43
hotels and is embarking on an exciting
period of growth, with plans to double its
portfolio of hotels on the continent during
the next five years, including entering new
markets such as Botswana, Ghana, Swa-
ziland, Uganda, Malawi and Rwanda. So
far, development of 53 properties is in the
pipeline.
“Uganda is a country very close to my
heart, so I am very proud to have been able
to be personally present at the unveiling of
this fantastic hotel,” said Patrick Fitzgibbon,
Hilton’s Senior Vice President in charge of
development for Europe, Middle East and
Africa during the unveiling of the plan.
This development comes as the hotel
chain managers plan to open its 96 guest
room Hilton Garden Inn Kampala in the
coming months.
“This is a landmark year for Hilton in
Uganda as we prepare to welcome guests
for the very first time at our upcoming Hil-
ton Garden Inn Kampala, so no better time
for us to be signaling our commitment to
the market than by partnering with TWED
to bring our flagship Hilton Hotels &
Resorts brand to the country.”
“We couldn’t be happier to be entering
the field alongside Hilton, an operator with
a strong commitment to the market and 100
years of industry expertise,” said Dr Dan
Twebaze, the managing director, TWED
Property Development Company.
The Hilton Hotel brand could have
entered the country’s hotel industry much
earlier through the management of AYA
Property, now known as Pearl of Africa
Hotel. Instead, the South African based Sov-
ereign Hotels was granted the management
contract.
Tourism industry executives told The
Independent that Hilton’s investment in
Uganda is a plus for the tourism industry as
business
it will attract a number of tourists who have
been yearning for their services.
“Hilton opens Uganda to a different
segment of clientele. It is a very positive
development for Uganda in terms of inter-
national reputation and quality,” said Lilly
Ajarova, the executive director at the Ugan-
da Tourism Board.
Amos Wekesa, the executive director of
Great Lakes Safaris, one of the leading local
tourist agencies told The Independent on
April 19 that Hilton’s entry into the country
is good news for Uganda.
“When you have a brand like Hilton
which has millions of people as its per-
manent clientele, it exposes the country to
spenders who only prefer to stay in hotels
like Hilton because of the standards it
stands for,” Wekesa said, “That shows that
Uganda’s hospitality market is maturing.”
He said there is need for Uganda to
encourage more international hotels to
invest in the country because once they
have a stake in the economy, they pick
interest in protecting the country’s image
in case of bad publicity.
Meanwhile, Marriott International
announced recently that Uganda is among
several countries where it expects to add
nearly 20 properties under its Middle East
and Africa portfolio this year.
This follows the acquisition of two
properties previously owned by the South
Africa-based Protea Hospitality Hold-
ing, where it has been operating as Protea
Hotel for the past five years. Marriott man-
agement said they plan to open two more
properties in Kampala – Hotel Naguru and
Naguru Skyz.
April. 26 - May 02 2019 23
business
Customers transacting business inside a mobile money shop in Kampala. The World Bank says mobile money
has especially provided a safe method for low-income rural-based people to send money and save income
Going digital could boost Sub-
Saharan Africa’s economies
But only a small proportion of the region’s
population is hooked to the internet
By Ronald Musoke
S
ub-Saharan African economies are
sluggishly growing owing to global
uncertainty, poor management of
debt, inflation as well as political
and regulatory uncertainty, according to the
latest World Bank’s bi-annual analysis of
the state of African economies.
Most of the economies in the sub-region
also remain fragile but, embracing the
‘digital economy’ fundamentals could help
uplift their fortunes, senior World Bank
officials said.
“The digital economy will create more
jobs, encourage entrepreneurship for youth,
raise productivity of farmers, bring more
women into the labour force, and create
new markets—all of which boosts growth,”
the World Bank report known as ‘Africa’s
Pulse’ released on April 08, reads in part.
“This is a game changer for Africa,”
said Albert Zeufack, the World Bank Chief
Economist for Africa. Zeufack said digital
transformation could increase growth by
nearly two percentage points per year in
sub-Saharan Africa alone.
The transition to a digital economy
would not only provide a platform to boost
agricultural productivity and modernize
24 April. 26 - May 02 2019
the rural economy but would also serve as a
tool that accelerates the process of structural
transformation from agriculture to digital-
enhanced, manufacturing and/or informa-
tion and communication technology (ICT)
based services.
The latest report downgraded economic
growth in sub-Saharan Africa to 2.3% for
2018, down from 2.5% in 2017, thanks to a
population boom that is growing faster than
the economies. The World Bank said this
scenario has played out for the fourth con-
secutive year and, although regional growth
is expected to rebound to 2.8% in 2019, it
will have remained below 3% since 2015.
Mediocre economic performance
The World Bank said several countries
in the sub-region had recorded mixed eco-
nomic growths during the period under
review, citing a slowdown in economic
activity in advanced economies, emerging
markets and developing economies and,
global uncertainty related to trade disputes
between the United States and China.
In Nigeria, for instance, growth reached
1.9% in 2018, up from 0.8% in 2017,
reflecting a modest pick-up in the non-oil
economy. South Africa, on the other hand,
came out of recession in the third quarter of
2018, but growth was subdued at 0.8% over
the year, as policy uncertainty held back
investment. Angola, the region’s third larg-
est economy, remained in recession, with
growth falling sharply as oil production
remained weak.
But growth picked up in some resource-
intensive-countries like the Democratic
Republic of Congo and Niger, as stronger
mining production and commodity prices
boosted activity alongside a rebound in
agricultural production and public invest-
ment in infrastructure.
In other countries such as Liberia and
Zambia, growth was subdued, as high
inflation and high debt levels continued to
weigh on investor sentiment.
Interestingly, non-resource intensive
economies such as Kenya, Rwanda, and
Uganda in eastern Africa as well as Benin
and Ivory Coast in West Africa recorded
solid economic growth in 2018.
Fragile economies
Still, the World Bank says fragility in sev-
eral countries is costing the entire continent
over half a percentage point of growth per
year which actually translates into 2.6 per-
centage points over five years.
Fragility has not only kept African coun-

tries from creating jobs and reducing pov-
erty as quickly as possible, it has also come
at a cost in terms of social cohesion and
the social contract between citizens and the
governments.
The World Bank says this is not just an
economic issue. In order to escape this situ-
ation, the World Bank says most economies
need to emulate Ethiopia and Rwanda, two
of the fastest growing economies on the
continent. “There are lessons to be learned
from these countries. They improved their
policy environment, strengthened their
institutions, and strengthened state capacity
to deliver services to their people.”
Go digital
Going forward, the World Bank says sub-
Saharan African economies could benefit
from the digital economy, a move that could
unlock new pathways for inclusive growth,
innovation, job creation, service delivery,
and poverty reduction in Africa.
Digital technologies could, for instance,
help ease information asymmetry problems
and improve communication by reducing
search costs and potentially improve market
efficiency.
Mobile phones, for example, could help
reduce informational barriers for consum-
ers, producers, and traders and facilitate
learning about prices while other mobile
applications may also help farmers, traders,
and firms to identify potential buyers (sup-
pliers) for their products in an expanded
geographic area.
World Bank says low-income individu-
als—especially those living in remote, rural
areas—have restricted access to formal
financial institutions and they tend to resort
to costly self-insurance mechanisms to share
risks, and mobile money provides a safe
method for individuals to deposit savings—
especially for more immediate needs.
Mobile phone– based applications can
also be used as a teaching tool in classrooms
or as substitute teachers, which in the pro-
cess can boost the acquisition of educational
skills by school-age children and adults.
However, in order for this to happen,
Africa needs to implement reforms and
promote investments in the digital economy
to accelerate growth—and possibly, leap-
frog the traditional growth model—while
building core infrastructure, systems, and
competencies.
Digital handicaps
It, however, remains to be seen how a
region that only has 27% of its 2.3bn popu-
lation hooked to the internet, few citizens
with digital Identity Cards, few businesses
adopting digital technologies and only
few governments investing strategically in
developing digital infrastructure, services,
skills and entrepreneurship can be trans-
formed by the digital economy.
Still, the World Bank insists that the
strong entrepreneurial mindset in Africa
and the growing number of digital entre-
preneurial intermediaries, can translate this
potential into vibrant or comprehensive
digital entrepreneurial ecosystem with com-
mercial digital hubs that can generate talent
to compete at the global level.
But the World Bank warns that the digital
economy requires a strong analogue foun-
dation, consisting of regulations that create
a vibrant business climate and let firms
leverage digital technologies to compete
and innovate, skills that allow workers,
entrepreneurs and government officials to
seize opportunities in the digital world, and
accountable institutions that use the internet
to empower citizens.
This is something Juliet Nanfuka, the
research and communication officer at the
Collaboration on International ICT Policy
for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA)
agrees with.
She told The Independent on April 18 that
much as the Uganda government has put
in place enabling infrastructure (national
broadband backbone) the actual cost of
accessing internet by individuals might be
Digital applications have
encouraged the growth of
micro, small and medium sized
enterprises through access to
ICT-enabled financial services
and marketing
undoing some of these gains.
ICT experts say there are perhaps few
African countries where the evolution of the
digital economy has been more apparent
than Uganda over the last 20 years.
Last year, a United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
e-commerce assessment report of Uganda
noted how digital applications have encour-
aged the growth of micro, small and medi-
um sized enterprises through access to ICT-
enabled financial services and marketing.
A quarterly communications market
report by the Uganda Communications
Commission (UCC) for December, 2017,
noted how Uganda had 18.8 million
internet subscriptions representing a 48%
penetration rate. The bulk of internet access
(77%), the report noted, is via mobile whose
penetration rate stands at 65 connections
per 100 inhabitants.
There were also 23 million mobile money
subscribers in the country of 38 million
people and there were more than 340 mil-
lion transactions during the period under
review, totaling Shs 18.1 trillion (US$ 4.7bn).
But in an unprecedented development,
beginning July 1, 2018, social media and
mobile money users were directed to pay
a tax of Shs 200 (US$0.05) per day to access
various social media platforms including
Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and LinkedIn
business
while mobile money users were initially
taxed 1% on deposits and withdrawals on
top of a revised excise duty of 15% up from
10% on transfers.
President Yoweri Museveni supported
the move saying the tax would rein in on
social media users who use the platforms
for peddling gossip and lies. Critics said
the move threatened to derail the gains that
have been registered over the years.
Nanfuka said more progressive policies
and taxation models that directly affect
citizens need to be reviewed. The digital
economy should be looked at in terms of
local content, affordability, inclusion, and
accessibility of digital platforms.
For Dr Fred Muhumuza, an economics
lecturer at Makerere University, the digital
economy should be part of the menu not a
cure-all for the woes of economies in sub-
Saharan Africa because of the nature of the
economies, its people and the political and
regulatory environment in these countries.
Muhumuza told The Independent on April
19 that because most of the policies in coun-
tries like Uganda are politically motivated,
it might be hard for people to tap into the
digital economy like South Korea and other
Southeast Asian countries have done.
“But even in trying to do so, we cannot
copy and paste policies from other regions
of the world; we need to support our own
innovations, strengthen our infrastructure
and lower the costs of access to these and
many other technologies.”
He, for instance, says Uganda’s access to
electricity would markedly improve if, for
instance, there was deliberate support from
the government for people to access solar
energy technologies.
“We need to interpret these technologies,
domesticate them as well as allow innova-
tions that are locally generated and promote
them,” he told The Independent.
But that is not all.
UNCTAD says the absence of relevant
data on the ICT sector, such as e-commerce
statistics is impacting on the capacity of
states to make informed policy and imple-
mentation decisions.
“Governments need to design policies
and regulations to significantly increase
broadband deployment (especially to rural
areas to bridge the urban-rural divide) and
investment in the tech sector through pub-
lic-private partnership extending tax incen-
tives for infrastructure investment to private
businesses,” UNCTAD said in its report.
“There is also a pressing need to integrate
a gender perspective in all relevant poli-
cies and strategies and to make a concerted
effort to mainstream women empower-
ment in strategies, policies, and budgets
addressing issues of gender equality, as well
as focusing on accessibility, affordability,
safety and digital skills in Africa.”
April. 26 - May 02 2019 25
 Executive Style
No real development in Africa
without regional integration
In the recently released
World Economic Situa-
tion and Prospects for 2018
report, Africa’s economic
growth for 2019 is pro-
jected at 3.4%, a marginal
increase of 0.9% from 2018.
What do countries need to
do to accelerate economic
L
growth?
ow productivity is a
problem. There must
be higher uptakes in
innovations and new
technologies to propel pro-
ductivity in the agriculture
and small-scale enterprises.
Agricultural modernization
in most countries is low, as
it is still rudimentary, not
capitalized and not commer-
cialized. This means we have a
huge potential there. The conti-
nent’s economies are vulnerable
to the volatility of commodity
prices in the global market.
That’s why diversification is the
solution. Africa must diversify
its agricultural products, and
add value to its primary com-
modities and exports to avoid
exporting its jobs to the rest of
the world.
In 2003 African leaders met in
Maputo, Mozambique, and
agreed to invest at least 10% of
their national budgets in agri-
culture. Only a few countries
have met that commitment.
Why is this so?
Fifteen years after the Mapu-
to Declaration, only seven coun-
tries—Burkina Faso, Ethiopia,
Niger, Mali, Malawi, Senegal
and Zambia—have consistently
met this target. In fact, countries
like Malawi even went beyond
the target, achieving as high as
21% in 2013 compared to the
average of 3.1% for sub-Saharan
Africa. Several factors account
for underinvestment in agricul-
ture in Africa. The implementa-
tion of the Structural Adjust-
ment Programme in Africa
reduced agriculture financing;
low international funding of
26 April. 26 - May 02 2019
agriculture weakens policy
space for agricultural spending;
low political will to accelerate
input subsidies, expand exten-
sion workers, research and rural
infrastructure, and high lending
rates limit small-scale farmers’
access to finance. Land reform
is key to address fragmentation
and maximize the benefits of
economies of scale in land use.
African governments must be
given policy space to invest in
agriculture and agribusinesses
to propel economic diversifica-
tion.
Land distribution negatively
affects women yet there are
more women than men en-
gaged in agriculture. What can
countries do to remedy the
situation?
We must abrogate all laws
that are obstacles to women
engaging and being integrated
in the formal economy. Women
need affirmative action to be
relieved of some cultural duties
so they can have time to further
their education to compete in
the economy. Real financial
investment in a deliberate
way to systematically support
women’s education is impor-
tant. Political empowerment is
very important, too. We have
seen countries like Rwanda and
Ethiopia moving in this direc-
UN’s Assistant
Secretary-General
Ahunna Eziakonwa
is the new Director of
the Regional Bureau
for Africa of the United
Nations Development
Programme (UNDP).
She spoke to Africa
Renewal’s Kingsley
Ighobor on issues
pertaining Africa’s
socio-economic
development.
tion. This must cut across public
and private sectors. UNDP’s
Gender Equality Seal stan-
dardization exercise, which has
been launched in countries like
Uganda, is geared to promote
gender equality in workplaces.
What unique attributes do
women bring to the table?
Well, when you ask some
of the African presidents who
have appointed women, they
say, “Women are less corrupt,
and you get more accountabil-
ity in the use of resources when
you employ a woman.” Plus,
women are the ones who are
basically managing the lives of
their families in many countries.
Currently 52 countries have
signed the framework agree-
ment for the African Continen-
tal Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),
but only 22 countries have
ratified the agreement. What
could Africa derive from a free
trade area?
I don’t see the future of devel-
opment in Africa without suc-
cessful regional integration. It’s
probably one of the most sig-
nificant steps that the continent
has taken to address its market
paradox. Even though Africa’s
population is over 1.2 billion
and it is expected to reach 2.5
billion by 2050, our markets
are small and fragmented
and don’t stand a chance
to compete internationally
unless they have the collec-
tiveness. So Africa trading
with Africa will increase our
competitiveness in terms of
global trade.
What is the UN doing to
encourage holdout coun-
tries to join AfCFTA?
The UN, led by the
Economic Commission of
Africa, supports the free
trade area. UNDP firmly
believes holdout countries
need to get more informa-
tion on how this will affect
them so that they can make
informed decisions on how to
be fully engaged in the process.
Tell us about UNDP’s work in
Africa currently.
UNDP is in every single Afri-
can country. We see ourselves
as a companion for countries
in their development journeys.
We support communities to
build better livelihood oppor-
tunities, and we support the
youth in entrepreneurship and
work with countries to de-risk
the investment climate. Over
the past five years, our efforts
to increase access to electricity
have reached 3.35 million Afri-
cans in 3,472 communities.
Can you name one or two
countries where you have re-
corded outstanding successes?
Many success stories come
to mind, such as Enterprise
Uganda, established by UNDP
more than 20 years ago. It’s
now an independent body with
a capacity to help institutions to
grow into enterprises. In Ethio-
pia, UNDP helped establish
the country’s first commodities
exchange, which has grown
into a multimillion-birr [Ethio-
pian currency] enterprise, and
the Ghana Stock Exchange is
one of the highest-performing
in Africa.
 Business
RETAIL INVESTMENT

Shoprite widens payment New UIA board starts work

U
option for customers ganda is Morrison

S
targeting to Rwakakaba,
outh African retail chain, create a mil- Fred Opolot,
Shoprite, has widened payment lion jobs per Maima
option for its customers with the annum in the coming Obombasa,
introduction of Mobile Money years through cre- Gertrude
Payment. Previously, customers had ation of a conducive Lutaaya,
to always pay for products in cash and business environ- Godfrey
credit cards. ment, according to Byamukama
junior finance minister for good investment environ- and Joshua Mutabi, a
Christopher Ssali, the Senior Manager,
investment, Evelyn Anite. ment,” she said while representative of the trade
Mobile Financial Services Products at
“Our target is one mil- unveiling the new board ministry.
MTN Uganda said “more people are now of the Uganda Investment
embracing cashless payments as a result lion jobs per year and a Started in 1991, the UIA
total of 25 industrial parks. Authority. is a semi-autonomous
of convenience.” The seven member
Shoprite Uganda has retail branches in We expect you to not only government agency that
license a 100 companies board that will serve three drives national economic
Lugogo Mall, Clock Tower, Village Mall, years, will be chaired by
Acacia Mall and Victoria Mall. Across weekly, but also facili- growth and development
tate them to succeed by Emely Kugonza. Other in partnership with the
Africa, the retail chain has operations in board members are;
15 countries, operating 2, 700 outlets. providing them with a private sector.

BANKING
CSR

MultiChoice Africa to develop young film makers Afrexibank records

$275.9million profit

M P
ultiChoice Af-
rica in partnership
with its flagship
initiative Multi-
Choice Talent Factory (MTF)
and the New York Film Acad-
emy College of Visual & Per-
forming Arts is developing the
continent’s creative industry
through training and skills de-
velopment as well foster new
and original programing.
The training that started in
January this year involves a
series of ‘best in class’ work-
shops in various cities to
TRANSPORT
Uber riders can now tip their drivers
increase MultiChoice Talent
Factory’s purpose of upskill-
ing film and TV creatives. The
training covers cinematogra-
phy, audio, and storytelling.
“This groundbreaking
collaboration speaks to our
commitment to partnering
with industry experts such as
the New York Film Academy
to promote and protect the
growth of Africa’s creative
industries,” MTF Director,
Cheryl Uys-Allie, said.
“The New York Film Acad-
emy is honored to be a part of
the enrichment, development,
and fostering of storytellers
across Africa, a continent
steeped in a rich history of
dynamic, creative and pas-
sionate visual and performing
artists,” said Jim Miller, NYFA.
The New York Film Acade-
my prides itself in developing
students through a “learning
by doing” approach, blending
a mixture of traditional film
school instruction with course-
work and practical experience,
where students learn to make
films by actually making films.
an-African multilateral
lender, African Export-
Import Bank has released
its abridged audited
financial statements for the year
ended 31 December 2018, show-
ing strong financial and opera-
tional performance, with total
comprehensive income for the
year amounting to $285.4 million.
The total comprehensive
income reflects a solid growth
of 24 % compared to the prior
year performance of $229.8 mil-
lion and was achieved mainly
due to higher net income in 2018
amounting to $ 275.9 million
compared to $220.5 million in
2017.

U
ber riders
are now
able to tip
drivers
at the end of a trip,
thanks to a new tip-
ping feature. The
company said in a
statement that the
feature will enable
Uber riders to do
more than just rate
drivers but show their
appreciation through
tips for excellent service.
All tips from riders will go
directly to drivers and Uber
will not deduct any service fees
from the tips. Alon Lits, Gen-
eral Manager for Uber in Sub
Saharan Africa said the new
feature is in response to the
feedback received from driver-
partners.
“With this feature,
Uber is providing an ave-
nue that will enable those
driver-partners that often
go above and beyond
for riders and eaters get
recognised and rewarded.
This could be the driver
that waits for riders to
safely enter their home,”
he said.
The new feature will
be 100% optional and
riders will be given optional
tip values as well as an option
to customise an amount for
their driver.
The results, released in Cairo,
show that the Bank’s total assets
grew by 13 % from $11.91 billion
as at 31 December 2017 to $13.42
billion as at 31 December 2018,
with that result explained mainly
by the solid growth in net loans
and advances which went up
30.3 per cent.
Commenting on the results,
Bank President Prof. Benedict
Oramah said the performance
was a reflection of the strength of
Afreximbank’s underlying busi-
ness and restated commitment to
“driving our strategic objectives,
to strong orderly growth in assets
and earnings.”

April. 26 - May 02 2019 27

Business

DTB sign up SWIFT

speedy service
By The Independent secure financial messaging

D
iamond Trust Bank
Group has become
first East African
bank to go live on
SWIFT’s global payments
innovation (gpi) service.
This is a rapid cross-
border payments service that
includes real-time payments
tracking and transparency on
transaction fees and foreign
exchange rates.
“Reducing friction in cross-
Kaddunabbi Ibrahim Lubega, the chief executive officer at the IRA (in a border payments is a priority
suit) visits some of the stalls during the CBS PEWOSA trade fair at the for us and our clients. As
Muteesa II Memorial grounds at Wankulukuku.   COURTESY PHOTO the first East African bank to
go live on global payments
innovation, we are now offer-
ing our corporate customers
faster, more transparent and
traceable cross-border pay-
ments,” said Suraj Shah, head
of centralised operations at
Diamond Trust Bank.
“SWIFT global payments
innovation addresses some
of the biggest challenges
around cross-border pay-
ments and makes the process
simpler for all parties.”
SWIFT is a global member
owned cooperative and the
Vivo Energy Managing Director, Gilbert Assi (R) and Markh Investments world’s leading provider of
Ltd MD Maria Namusoke fuel a truck to mark the official opening of the
new state of the art fuel and lubricants management system at Markh
Investments premises on April 18. The system is designed to help
customers with big fleets reduce their operating costs, save time and
improve productivity.   COURTESY PHOTO.
services.
The service is already car-
rying over $300 billion a day
in 148 currencies across more
than 1,100 country corridors.
More than $40 trillion was
transferred over the service
in 2018.
Diamond Trust is active in
Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania,
and Uganda. Around 40% of
SWIFT global payments are
credited to end-beneficiaries
within five minutes. Half
are credited within 30 min-
utes; three quarters within
six hours; and almost 100%
within 24 hours.
Denis Kruger, Head of
sub-Sahara Africa, SWIFT
said, “I am delighted that
Diamond Trust Bank is live
on gpi and will be able to
extend the benefits to its cus-
tomers.”
“We are very proud of
the value that gpi delivers
to the financial industry by
tackling the frictions, costs
and delays associated with
cross-border payments. We
look forward to seeing other
banks in East Africa follow
suit,” he added.

Weekly share price movement (April 05)

Security April 05 March 29 Movement
BATU 30,000 30000 00
BOBU 130 130 00
CENT 1,178 1,182 0.3
QCL 180 190 5.2
DFCU 670 670 00
EABL 7,758 7,610 1.9
EBL 1603 1,487 7.8
JHL 15,045 15,202 1.0
KA 180 185 2.7
KCB 1,656. 1,619 2.2
NIC 14 13 38
NMG 2,297 2,214 3.7
NVL 334 334 00
President Yoweri Museveni (in a hut) and First Lady Janet Museveni SBU 30 30 00
inspects the first two Bombardier CRJ900 jets at the Entebbe International UCHM 19 22 00
Airport on April 23. The aircrafts are expected to form the back bone of UCL 16 16 00
the Uganda Airlines regional flights.  COURTESY PHOTO UMEME 297 298 0.3
ALSI -- -- --

28 April. 26 - May 02 2019


By Henning Melber
A century of international civil service
Why an idea conceptualised a 100 years ago at the
League of Nations still matters to the aspirations today
T
his year marks a century since a
formal international civil service
was introduced into the world. The
first time this particular breed of
professionals came into existence was at the
signing of the Versailles Peace Conference
during 1919 and the subsequent establish-
ment of the League of Nations in January
1920.
The United Nations (UN) will mark the
occasion later this month when it dis-
cusses the challenges of multilateralism
committed to a rules-based world order.
For global governance, an international
civil service matters. Simply because it
would be impossible to promote and
maintain a rules-based world order
without it.
An autonomous civil service is crucial
for operations within the global gover-
nance system – an idea conceptualised a
100 years ago at the League of Nations.
Already then, international civil servants
were expected to be loyal to the aspira-
tions of the international community and
to remain neutral and independent of
any authority outside their organisation.
Eric Drummond, a British diplomat
involved in the drafting of the League of
Nations Covenant and the first Secretary
General of the League of Nations (1919-
1933), played a crucial and pioneering
role in conceptualising an independent
international civil service. But it was Dag
Hammarskjöld, the UN’s second Secre-
tary General (1953-1961), who elaborated
the concept. He set lasting standards that
survive to this day.
An independent civil service was a
huge part of Hammarskjöld’s arsenal. As
his numerous statements and speeches
document, his terms in office were
guided by strong and coherent ethics
concerning the independence of the
international civil service.
At the core of his ethics were integ-
rity, loyalty to the principles of the UN
Charter, independence from any national
or regional interests and the courage to
uphold these values.
In my new book I pay tribute to Ham-
marskjöld’s commitment to these princi-
ples as they applied to self-determination
on the African continent.
The main focus is on the interpretation
and implementation of the principles
adopted by the UN member states
through his diplomacy during the Cold
War era. I present arguments and evi-
dence why frameworks for governance,
their interpretation and implementation
matter.
The UN and decolonisation
Decolonisation on the African con-
tinent gained momentum during the
1950s. The UN became an important
forum for the growing demands for self-
determination. As Secretary General,
Hammarskjöld played a prominent role
as events unfolded. These culminated in
the Congo crisis of 1960/61. Faced with
the secession of the Katanga province
and Belgian destabilisation threats soon
after independence, the Congolese gov-
ernment requested the UN to intervene.
This resulted in one of the biggest UN
interventions ever.
Hammarskjöld’s role in the process is at
the centre of the analysis. It examines the
scope and limitations his office provided
under the existing unequal power rela-
tions of the post-World-War-II order.
His support for the struggles for
national sovereignty shows that indi-
viduals and their running of office do
matter. This is true even though the
policy of big powers imposes limitations
on them.
When Hammarskjöld and 15 others in
his company died in a plane crash near
the Northern Rhodesian mining town of
Ndola in the night of September 17/18,
1961, the adjacent white settler-minority
regimes were visibly relieved. And
despite the world-wide recognition and
appraisal, the secret services of all big
powers had closely followed his attempts
to bring the Katanga province back into
the Congolese territory.
Reassessing Hammarskjöld’s anti-
hegemonic stance suggests that there
were more than enough parties satisfied
that he could not bring his mission to the
planned end. After all, the secessionist
Katanga province was under firm control
of Belgian and other Western mining
companies. It was the biggest supplier
of uranium for the US nuclear arms race.
As a mineral-rich resource of global
relevance it was of highest geo-strategic
interest.
comment
The hitherto unclarified causes for the
plane crash remain a matter of renewed
investigations. These were triggered by
the book of Susan Williams, Who Killed
Hammarskjöld?.
Why global leadership matters
My book argues that despite all the
limitations, values matter for a global
governance body seeking to solve – or at
least contain – conflicts through multilat-
eral diplomacy. It highlights the battles
over the power of definition by different
interest groups in the era of decolonisa-
tion and the East-West conflict as well
as the potential role and influence of an
individual in charge of the UN Secre-
tariat.
It recognises Hammarskjöld as an out-
standing international civil servant, who
believed in the spirit and word of the
UN Charter and the virtues of a service
guided by loyalty to its values and prin-
ciples.
Individual leadership is important. But
I also emphasise the limitations such
an office and its incumbent have. The
study also critically reflects on some of
the failures and flaws during Hammar-
skjöld’s time as Secretary General. After
all, while he set the bar very high and
remains widely respected, he was far
from unfailing.
Nevertheless, I argue, his term ended
with his integrity intact. This was evident
from the fact that towards the end of his
time in office he was portrayed through
a lens of suspicion and mistrust in the
West and open calls for resignation in
the East. Revealingly so, the newly inde-
pendent states remained to a large extent
supportive. For them he was “their” Sec-
retary General.
A hundred years after the creation of an
international civil service, Hammarskjöld
deserves to be remembered for leading
by example.
Henning Melber is Extraordinary Professor,
Department of Political Sciences, University
of Pretoria
Source: The Conversation
April. 26 - May 02 2019 29
comment
By Sabine Hossenfelder
We don’t need a bigger particle collider
When new experiments cost billions of dollars and
take decades, we need to be more scrupulous
B
etween Lake Geneva and the
Swiss Jura, more than 100 meters
(328 feet) below the surface, lies a
circular tunnel, 27 kilometers (17
miles) in circumference, containing super-
conducting magnets that accelerate protons
almost to the speed of light. At four loca-
tions in the tunnel, the protons are made
to collide. Particle physicists observe these
collisions, in an effort to learn what matter is
made of and what holds it together.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), oper-
ated by the European Organisation for
Nuclear Research (CERN), is the largest par-
ticle collider ever built and was the source
of grand hopes when it was launched in
2008. Some predicted it would find the par-
ticles that comprise “dark matter,” which
astrophysicists believe constitutes 85% of
all matter in the universe. Others expected
the LHC to deliver evidence of new natural
symmetries or additional dimensions of
space, or to help explain “dark energy”
(which supposedly causes the observed
accelerated expansion of the universe).
None of this has happened. The LHC did
enable the discovery of one new elementary
particle, the Higgs boson – the last missing
particle predicted (in the 1960s) in the Stan-
dard Model of particle physics. But that was
in 2012, and no new particles have been
found since. Would building another, larger
collider change that?
Proponents of a new collider say that a
larger collider could measure more pre-
cisely the properties of already-known
particles, and, because it would reach
slightly higher collision-energies than the
LHC, it could bring forth new discoveries.
But physicists currently have no reason to
believe that a larger collider would produce
evidence of anything that is not already in
the Standard Model. Discovering any addi-
tional new particles might require energies
a billion times higher than what the next
collider would produce.
Moreover, particle accelerators are very
expensive. The colliders (both linear and
circular) for which physicists in China and
Japan and at CERN have put forward pro-
posals would cost some $10-20 billion each,
and take 20-30 years to build. While certain
technological advances could bring down
30 April. 26 - May 02 2019
costs, these have not yet occurred.
Of course, high costs may be justified if
there were a good chance that the invest-
ment would yield major benefits to society.
And past research in the foundations of
physics has undoubtedly benefited human-
kind massively. In the last century, research
breakthroughs have enabled the devel-
opment of all modern electronic devices
(transistors, microchips, lasers, LEDs,
digital cameras, and soon maybe quantum
computers) and medical imaging methods
(X-rays, ultrasound, spectroscopy, magnetic
resonance, positron emission tomography,
and electron tunnel microscopes).
But there is no reason to believe that a
larger collider would pay off. The problem
is not that physicists do not have more
foundational work to do. Their most robust
theories still confront unsolved problems,
and further progress could result in new
advances, especially in quantum theory (the
basis of modern computer technology). The
problem, instead, lies in their approach.
Physics has changed, but the methods of
particle physicists have not: they still rely on
serendipitous discoveries. That works when
exploratory experiments are diverse and
There are
research
areas
that are
currently
more likely
to yield
actual
results at a
lower cost
numerous. But when new experiments cost
billions of dollars and take decades to pre-
pare, as they do now, we need to be more
scrupulous in our investments. Otherwise,
budgets can quickly be drained by costly
experiments that deliver null results, such
as observations that confirm existing theo-
ries, rather than support new hypotheses.
In the last 40 years, this is exactly what has
been happening. The LHC confirmed one
reliable prediction: the Higgs boson. That’s
it. And when it comes to effects that the
Standard Model does not predict, the LHC
is only the most recent in a long series of
particle-physics experiments – including all
previous experiments carried out since the
Standard Model was completed in the 1970s
– that have produced null results. Far from
providing evidence of unified forces or new
symmetries or particles, these endeavors
taught physicists to invent particles that are
more difficult to measure.
Yes, null results are also results. They
can rule out hypotheses. But if you need
to develop a new theory, they are not very
useful. A null result identifies a dead end,
of which there can be a huge number. To
make progress in understanding the foun-
dations of physics, we need results that
point to a path forward. A larger collider
probably will not provide that.
There are research areas that are currently
more likely to yield actual results at a lower
cost, such as astrophysical studies of dark
matter and experiments probing the quanti-
sation of gravity. These are the areas physi-
cists should focus on right now.
If technological breakthroughs make col-
liders more affordable, or other experiments
deliver reasons to think that a larger collider
will show physicists new particles, it might
be worth building one. But that could be 20,
50, or 100 years from now. Until then, we
should invest in more promising research.
Sabine Hossenfelder is a research fellow
at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced
Studies. She is the author of `Lost in Math:
How Beauty Leads Physics Astray’.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.

By Michael Aboneka
Genuine electoral reforms needed
The Supreme Court in 2016 noted the need for electoral
reforms and made a number of recommendations
U
ganda will go to polls again in
2021 which is barely two years
from now. The electioneering year
will start next year (2020) as the
Electoral Commission and some Political
Parties have already launched their road-
maps towards the 2021 elections.
I have observed and participated in
Uganda’s elections for some time and
one thing remains common, the rush to
put things in order towards election time.
We always want to do things last minute;
including forming new constituencies
that were not earlier planned for days
towards elections so that some political
rewards can be made.
For all the elections we have held, a
number of observers have released obser-
vations and made recommendations and
then packed their bags and left us prom-
ising to come back again to do the same
thing in a another election.
There have been processes for devel-
opment of reforms that go deep to the
electoral democracy and Uganda and
it is unfortunate that these proposals
are deliberately ignored for reasons
unknown to us. Prior to 2016 elections,
there were proposed reforms from
various actors. The most profound was
the Citizens’ Compact on Free and Fair
Elections which was birthed out of the
National Citizen Consultations on Free
and Fair Elections-the first of its kind.
The Citizens Compact contains a number
of great proposals but they have all been
shelved.
After the Elections, the National Con-
sultative Forum started the process
of harmonising all the proposals for
consideration before the 2021 elections.
A number of proposals were made by
the various political parties and up to
now, no one knows where this process
ended. There have been several processes
and events but with similar outcomes;
shelving of ideas and waiting for the next
election.
In the Election Petition no.1 of 2016, the
Supreme Court observed the need for
electoral reforms and made a number of
recommendations such as revising the
number of days from 30 to 60 in which
to file an election petition, amendment
of rules to use oral evidence in such peti-
tions, use of technology in voting, an
electoral law to provide for sanctions
against any State organ or officer who
violates the Constitutional duty to allo-
cate to candidates equal time and space
on state owned media, amendment of the
Presidential Elections Act to bar giving
of donations during election time, pro-
hibition of public servants in campaigns,
all electoral reforms must be worked on
within two years of the tenure of the Par-
liament among others.
The Attorney General was ordered to
furnish Court with updates on the prog-
ress made in addressing the above within
two years. Game Changers (an Activist
Group) in their petition reminded the
Attorney General of the fast approaching
deadline (August 2018). But up to now,
there has not been any communication on
the same by the Attorney General known
to the public and if this is the case, would
the Attorney General be in contempt of
Court?
In addition, Parliament was occupied
with lifting the age limit and extending
their own tenure while ignoring the
many shelved electoral reforms.
A Constitutional Review Commission
was put in place to review the constitu-
tion in a bid to promote a democratic
country. The Commission was received
with mixed feelings as its composi-
tion was heavily contested because of
The Attorney
General was
ordered to
furnish Court
with updates
on the progress
made in
addressing the
above within
two years
comment
the failure to represent all categories of
people; especially the youth.
The Commission since its appointment
in November 2018 has not started work
because it requires about Shs13 Billion
to kick start the work. Even if this is
secured, it will take almost two years
for it to do a thorough review involving
wide public consultation and another
one year to have the proposals debated
and subsequently passed.
With reference to the 2021 elections
road map, Presidential and Parliamen-
tary candidates will be nominated in
August 2020-next year and if we are a
serious country that respects the inter-
national and regional charters to elec-
tions and democracy such as the African
Charter on Democracy, Elections and
Governance (ACDEG) and the people
of Uganda, we should by now have
concluded the preliminaries for electoral
reforms.
Further, the Minister of Justice and
Constitutional Affairs has on various
occasions decried the lack of funds to
support the process of reviewing elec-
toral reforms. This song is now almost
three years old and we are still looking
on; pretending to be a democracy. Fur-
ther, there has been a call to appoint
more judges. But the response has been
that the government lacks funds. What
this means consequently is that we may
have a situation where election petitions
are delayed; thereby denying justice
simply because of shortage of human
resource. It is now clear that the reforms
have not been given priority yet we want
to participate in the coming elections.
It seems that without the reforms, the
next elections will not be free and fair
right from the start. To have them in this
manner will be pretending that we are a
democracy. If we believe in elections and
democracy as a country, we then need to
stop pretending about it and take these
reforms seriously. They affect not only
the outcome of the elections but the pro-
cess as well which is equally crucial.
Michael Aboneka is a Partner at Thomas &
Michael Advocates
April. 26 - May 02 2019 31
Kenyan hospital opens
human milk bank
Kenya’s first human milk bank has opened at Pumwani Maternity Hospital. Moina Spooner, from The Conversation
Africa, spoke to the team spearheading APHRC’s research efforts in the establishment of Kenya’s first milk bank.
How long has it taken to open? What were
T
the biggest obstacles?
he process of establishment of hu-
man milk banking in Kenya started
in 2016. It was spearheaded by the
NGO PATH, in partnership with
APHRC and Kenya’s Ministry of Health,
among other partners. It was rolled out in
two phases.
During phase one we assessed people’s
perceptions and acceptability of using
donated human milk. We also looked at
how feasible it would be to set a bank up.
The results were encouraging. About 90%
of participants were positive about it, 80%
would donate their breast milk, and about
60% indicated that they would allow their
children to be fed with donated human
milk.
A committee was also set-up to provide
oversight and guidance on human milk
bank work in Kenya. They were sent to
South Africa to learn more about the human
milk banking process. Finally, local strate-
gies were developed.
We are now in phase two of the project:
32 April. 26 - May 02 2019
the establishment of a pilot human milk
bank in Pumwani Maternity Hospital. This
includes the launch of a research project
which examines its feasibility, effectiveness,
acceptability and aims to estimate the cost
of establishing an actual human milk bank
in Kenya.
There have been challenges. Being a new
concept, there have been some logistical
challenges, for instance some of the equip-
ment wasn’t locally available so it took lon-
ger to get it all done and installed.
There have also been concerns by some
community members and health workers
over the safety and quality of the donor
human milk.
However, we’ve had support from the
government which has been critical in
addressing the logistical challenges. Advo-
cacy and communication activities are
also being rolled out to create awareness
on human milk banking and address any
concerns.
What is a milk bank and how does it
work?
Human milk banks are facilities that
systematically collect, pasteurise, test,
store, and distribute donated breast milk.
An effective system has many operational
processes to ensure it provides safe, high
quality donor milk. They start with screen-
ing and recruiting donors who must be
healthy mothers with surplus milk beyond
the needs of their own child’s. Donors must
undergo health checks including tests that
screen for HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B
and C. Diseases could be passed to children
through breastmilk.
Donors must then express milk in
hygienic conditions, after which the milk is
pasteurised. This involves heating the milk
in a water bath at 62.5°c for 30 minutes fol-
lowed by rapid cooling.
At the bank, the milk is frozen and stored
at -20c. When needed, it’s thawed to room
temperature and issued to children who
don’t have access to their own mothers’
milk. A prescription by a qualified health
professional is needed for this.
Why are they needed?
Although breastfeeding is the most
natural and best way to feed infants, many

HIV treatment breakthrough
New experimental injection could revolutionise treatment
By Agencies
S
cientists have developed a new
therapy for HIV/AIDS that they say
could lead to longer periods of pill-
free treatment and even eventually,
perhaps, to what experts call a “functional
cure”.
Researchers at Taiwan-based United
BioPharma report encouraging results with
a single injection that seems to check HIV as
well as daily pill regimens.
A report on their study published in a the
New England Journal of Medicine this April
says the results add to a growing number of
studies suggesting that patients may be able
to take pill holidays without putting their
health at risk.
Currently, patients have to take combina-
tions of medications keep the virus under
control and not damaging their immune
systems, which could lead to more serious,
fatal outcomes.
“Therefore, the patients’ greatest struggle
is contending with the daily regimen of
pills, unappreciated long-term toxicity
and stigma. These can impact a patient’s
quality of life,” said says Chang-Yi Wang,
chief scientific officer and chairperson of the
company and lead author of the study.
The patients must also adhere to a strict
medication regime. Missing a dose of the
pills, they are warned, can give the virus the
chance to develop resistance to the drugs
and lead to a surge in new copies of HIV
that flood the body.
Wang said there are several benefits to
antibody drugs.
“One, antibodies have long half-lives and
can be administered with less a frequent
babies may lack access to their mother’s
milk. This could’ve happened for many
reasons – maybe the mother is sick, hasn’t
got enough breast milk or is dead.
From our formative research, 44% of
newborns in urban health facilities were
separated from their mothers for varying
periods of time. This ranged from less than
an hour to more than 6 hours and even days
after birth. Of these infants, only 14% were
fed on mother’s own milk during separa-
tion. 36% of the newborns weren’t fed on
anything during this period and an addi-
tional 23% were fed on formula or cow’s
milk.
When breastfeeding is not an option, the
World Health Organisation (WHO) recom-
mends donated human milk as a lifesav-
ing alternative. Particularly for babies that
dosing schedule, such as ... weekly, semi-
monthly or even monthly,” Wang said.
“Two, biological protein drugs have lower
toxicities to the liver, kidneys, etc. And
three, certain antibody drugs, such as UB-
421, can exhibit beneficial immunomodula-
tory effects that cannot be achieved by small
molecule drugs.”
The HIV knock-out
The new therapy involves an injectable
monoclonal antibody called UB-421 which
promises to keep the virus in the patient’s
blood stream below-detectable levels. The
UB-421 anti-body is designed to stick to the
same site on immune cells that HIV uses to
infect cells; the idea is that UB-421 would
compete with HIV and occupy more of
these sites, preventing the virus from enter-
ing and infecting new cells.
In fact, UB-421 binds to immune cells
with 50 to 100 times greater affinity than
HIV does and can even knock HIV out
of the entry site when the virus is already
there. “We were able to use this antibody
to maintain durable viral remission using a
single agent instead of a cocktail of drugs,”
says Chang-Yi Wang, chief scientific officer
and chairperson of the company and lead
author of the study. “Such a durable main-
were born early, have low birth weight, are
orphaned, malnourished or are severely ill.
Evidence paints a very strong picture in
favour of donated human milk over infant
formula. It’s more effective in reducing the
risk of disease and infections – like inflam-
matory bowel disease, leukemia and respi-
ratory tract infections – in newborn babies
and is better tolerated by babies that are
born prematurely.
In the US and Brazil, the use of donated
human milk was reported to reduce the
length of hospital stay for sick infants and
save on the cost of health care.
Given the benefits of using donated
human milk over infant formula, the WHO
has called for the global scale-up of human
milk banks. These are expected to increase
access to safe donor human milk.
health
tenance is unprecedented, and it opens up
a host of potential new treatment options
for patients with resistance-prone HIV
infection.”
The study is a first step toward making
it possible for patients to move away from
daily pill treatments and rely on longer term
control of the virus.
The researchers plan to study UB-421
next in people who have been recently
diagnosed with HIV but are not yet taking
medications; they will see if the shot can
control the virus for up to six months.
Wang is hopeful that the results will be
positive. Already, further analysis of the
data from the current study suggest that
longer remissions may be feasible.
Not only did the antibody UB-421 block
HIV from infecting new cells, but it also
seemed to modify the study participants’
immune cells in ways that made them
better able to fight off the virus. UB-421
seemed to activate certain immune cells to
better recognize and destroy HIV, including
the hard-to-reach reservoirs where the virus
tends to hide from immune cells.
“We think [UB-421] could be a great
agent in future studies for activating T cells
to do many things, including cleaning the
body of virus,” she says.
If the immune system can be retrained
to better ward off HIV, that could lead to
longer and longer periods of pill-free treat-
ment and even eventually, perhaps, to what
experts call a functional cure for HIV —
should UB-421 allow patients go years with
undetectable HIV levels without needing
pills or repeated antibody injections.
“We don’t know exactly what passively
transferring antibodies is doing,” says Dr.
Is this the first of many?
Although WHO recommends that the
milk banks be set up, Kenya is just the
second, after South Africa, to establish a
human milk bank in sub-Saharan Africa –
even though it is a pilot.
We hope that human milk banking will
be scaled up in Kenya and the rest of sub-
Saharan Africa, using the evidence we gen-
erate from our research.
Elizabeth Kimani-Murage is a Research
Scientist at the African Population and Health
Research Center and Adjunct Assistant
Professor, Brown University. Milka Wanjohi,
Taddese Zerfu, Esther Anono and Eva Kamande
from the African Population and Health
Research Center contributed to the writing of
this article.
April. 26 - May 02 2019 33
health
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute
on Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which par-
tially supported the study. “But there is some-
thing going on to induce at least partially — not
perfectly — better immune responses than the
body naturally makes against the virus.”
Fauci notes that UB-421 works by mimicking
the door on immune cells that HIV uses to enter
and infect. Fauci and other researchers are also
studying antibodies, called broadly neutralizing
antibodies, that bind to HIV itself and prevent it
from infecting cells. It’s likely that an effective,
long-acting and pill-free treatment for HIV may
involve a combination of agents like UB-421 and
broadly neutralizing antibodies, says Fauci, so
that HIV is both crippled and prevented from
entering cells. “Something like that could be a
knock-out punch,” he says.
Details of study
In the nonrandomized, open-label, phase 2
clinical study conducted in Taiwan, 29 volun-
teers with well-controlled HIV were asked to
discontinue their normal regimens of daily oral
ART pills at the time of their first injection or
one week later, depending on their ART regi-
men.
Fourteen study participants received regular
weekly infusions of UB-421, while 15 received
higher-dose infusions but once every two
weeks. At the end of the 8- or 16-week treatment
period, all volunteers restarted their previous
ART regimen and were evaluated in follow-
up visits up to eight weeks later. Apart from a
single participant who discontinued the study
because of a mild skin rash, volunteers in both
groups maintained HIV suppression (plasma
HIV RNA levels under 20 copies/mL) through-
out the treatment period in the absence of ART.
This indicates that the injections — in both dos-
es and frequencies — were effectively control-
ling HIV from replicating further and spreading
infection. Previous experimental infusions of
broadly neutralising antibodies (bNAbs) have
suppressed HIV for about two weeks by target-
ing proteins on the virus itself, but the rapid
mutation rate of HIV induces antibody-resistant
strains that render the treatment ineffective.
UB-421 theoretically avoids this possibility by
blocking a stable human protein that HIV uses
to infect T cells. Indeed, resistance to UB-421
was not seen in this study. Because the small
study did not include a comparator group
receiving a placebo infusion, further studies
have been planned in Taiwan and Thailand to
evaluate the safety and efficacy of UB-421 as a
treatment for HIV. In a related study, scientists
at the National Institute of Allergy and Infec-
tious Diseases (NIAID) are currently evaluating
the safety of regular infusions of two highly po-
tent bNAbs that may prevent the development
of resistant HIV strains by targeting two distinct
areas of the virus. Last year, researchers at the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Dis-
eases found that short-term ATI did not increase
the HIV reservoir size or cause irreversible
damage to the immune system, supporting its
use to determine the efficacy of ART-free novel
therapeutics on virologic suppression.
34 April. 26 - May 02 2019
HIV used to
cure ‘bubble
boy’ disease
By Agencies
U
.S. scientists say they
used HIV to make a gene
therapy that cured eight
infants of severe combined
immunodeficiency (SCID) or “bubble
boy” disease.
Results of the research, developed
at a Tennessee hospital, were
published in the New England Journal
of Medicine.
The babies, born with little to no
immune protection, now have fully
functional immune systems.
Untreated babies with this disorder
have to live in completely sterile
conditions
and tend
to die as
infants.
The gene
therapy
involved
collecting
the babies’
bone
marrow
and
correcting
the genetic defect in their DNA soon
after their birth.
The “correct” gene - used to fix the
defect - was inserted into an altered
version of one of HIV, the virus that
causes AIDS.
Researchers said most of the babies
were discharged from the hospital
within one month.
Dr Ewelina Mamcarz of St Jude,
an author of the study, said in a
statement: “These patients are
toddlers now, who are responding
to vaccinations and have immune
systems to make all immune cells they
need for protection from infections
as they explore the world and live
normal lives.”
“This is a first for patients with
SCID-X1,” she added, referring to the
most common type of SCID.
The patients were treated at St
Jude Children’s Research Hospital
in Memphis and at UCSF Benioff
Children’s Hospital in San Francisco.
What is this syndrome?
The case of David Vetter is perhaps
the most famous case of severe
combined immunodeficiency (SCID),
a disease that made it impossible for
him to engage with the world outside
a plastic chamber.
Nicknamed “Bubble Boy”, Vetter
was born in 1971 with the disease and
died at the age of 12 after a failed bone
marrow transplant.
Within 20 seconds of his birth at the
Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston,
he was placed in a plastic isolation
chamber, where he lived until the age
of six when he
was given a
special plastic
suit designed
by Nasa, the
US space
agency.
His parents
had already
lost one child
to the disease
before he was
born.
What are other treatment
options?
Currently, the best treatment for
SCID-XI is a bone marrow transplant
with a tissue-matched sibling donor.
But according to St Jude, more than
80% of these patients lack such donors
and must rely on blood stem cells
from other donors.
This process is less likely to cure the
bubble boy disease, and is more likely
to cause serious side effects as a result
of treatment.
Previous advancements in gene
therapy provided alternatives to a
bone marrow transplant, but these
treatments sometimes involved
chemotherapy and had implications
for a range of other diseases,
including blood disorders, sickle
cell anaemia and thalassaemia, and
metabolic syndrome.
 ART | BOOKS | SOCIETY | TRAVEL | CULTURE
Benon Lutaaya dies at 34
In 2016 he founded The Project; an NGO
for uplifting female artistes in South Africa
B
By Dominic Muwanguzi
enon Lutaaya passed on in
Johannesburg Hospital on
April 14. His career spanned
only nine years but he had
already made his mark. He
donated over one million
South African Rand (Approx. Shs270 mil-
lion) to children’s charity and arts causes
and in 2015 co-sponsored the prestigious
Reinhold Cassirer Award that supports tal-
ented young visual artists.
His greatest achievement, however, could
be the NGO he set up in Johannesburg in
2016 to offer female artists a space where
they could do their art fulltime. He called
it The Project Space, located in two places;
August House and Victoria Yards in the
centre of Johannesburg. Artists like Ugan-
da’s Stacey Gillian Abe benefited from it.
He had sale-out shows, wide global artis-
tic recognition, and a long list of waiting
clients. His work was bought by collectors
from South Africa, Europe, and Canada. He
will be remembered as a rising star with a
passion for pushing the limits.
“I enjoy coming up with something new
and unique. I love to surprise myself. When
people see my work though, I would like
them to enjoy each piece for its color har-
mony, pleasing visual appeal and the ability
to connect and communicate” he once said.
He painted with emotion and dug deep
below the surface. His art explored the core;
the hidden and obscure, the important. He
gained popularity for his paper collage
portraits; often done using found paper and
other recyclable material he picked off the
street. Through layering, recycling, shred-
ding and painting, the artist responded to
the notion of manipulation and reapplica-
tion of objects. One reviewer described how
“life, beauty, and character all come vivid in
Lutaaya’s often powerful, colorful and pro-
vocative paintings”.
His images were abstract and he loved
to paint children and helped vulnerable
children in real life. Children, for him, were
symbols of vulnerability, abuse, rape, dis-
placement as refugees, and exploitation as
child soldiers or street-children.
He based on his personal story to portray
the flitting nature of life for the poor, mar-
ginalised, and discriminated. In his collage
paintings, the child is always alone. He
dwelt a lot on their survival.
So when he was selected to be an Interna-
tional Artist in residence at the Bag Factory
Artists’ Studios in Newtown, Johannesburg
in 2011, he focused on achieving the most
out of it for the vulnerable. He had gradu-
ated as a teacher with a Bachelor of Fine
Art from Kyambogo University in 2009 and
was just two years old into his professional
career but quickly gained recognition in
South Africa.
He was a selected artist for the Thupelo
International Artists Workshop 2012, won
the Ithuba Arts Fund grant in September
2011 in Johannesburg, and was selected
amongst the only 12 artists on the African
continent whose artworks and profiles
featured in the DSTV/Multichoice Calen-
dar for 2012. He was featured in many art
magazines and media including, Collagista
magazine in France, Casscan Foundation
community newspaper in the UK, African
Elegancy magazine in Kampala, BBC TV
world service, SABC3, and Summit TV.
He was awarded numerous accolades;
including the Citizen Influencer Brand
award at SA Brand Summit 2018, African
Youth Ambassadorial Award, Frankfurt,
Germany and Bright Young Things by Art
Africa Magazine. He has been associated
with Charity; funding many children initia-
tives across South Africa.
April. 26 - May 02 2019 35
Man gives up `rich’ life to live on the street
Simon Lee graduated from university
with a degree in chemistry and, until 1997,
had a steady office job. But one day he
decided he did not need the stress of a
white-collar job, so he quit. He got another
job tutoring children but quit in 2004 and
2006 started living on the street in Hong
Kong.
“To me, it’s liberating. I don’t pay rent, I
don’t have to buy a house, I can sleep any-
where. Street sleeping solved a lot of my
problems,” the 52-year old Simon Lee told
journalists, “I’m low maintenance, I don’t
use money, so I don’t have to make money.
I don’t chase fame or material things.” He
says Hong Kong has so many rich and
wasteful people that there is always some-
thing someone else has discarded that he
can use.
“If you want to be happy, instead of
being like a human and carrying around the
burden of pride and dignity, be like an ani-
mal instead,” the 52-year-old believes.

You can hire Notre Dame Altar cross survives

someone to
“eat for you” –
in China
A new type of online
service allows people to
hire others to eat or drink
their favorite treats,
either to cure their bore-
dom or satisfy their crav-
ing without the calories
that usually come with it.
So, if you love eating and
drinking for free and are
looking to make some
pocket change, there’s a
job in China with your
name on it. All you have
to do is to show whoever
hires you video evidence
of you eating or drinking
the said treats. They will
pay you between 2 yuan
(Shs1000) and 9 yuan
(Shs5000) plus the cost of
the food. It’s not exactly
a get-rich quick kind
of job, but there are
quite a lot of people
willing to do it for the
free eats alone.
devastating fire
A cross that somehow
remained intact after the dev-
astating fire at Notre Dame
Cathedral has become a sym-
bol of hope for France. The
crucifix at the altar of the cathe-
dral in Paris stood tall despite
the blaze which ravaged the
building on April 08. The ‘mir-
acle’ cross was captured on
camera by the first photogra-
phers amid harrowing images
from within the fire-ravaged
cathedral. A smouldering pile
of what appeared to be the
charred remains of the roof
and spire lay smoking in front
of the altar, while the cross that
escaped destruction glowed
from within the gloom.
‘World’s smallest baby
boy’ goes home
The world’s smallest baby boy,
who was born in October in Japan
weighing as much as an apple, is
now ready for the outside world,
his doctor said April 12. Ryusuke
Sekiya was delivered via emergen-
cy Caesarean section, after 24 weeks
and five days of pregnancy as his
mother Toshiko experienced hyper-
tension. At 258 grams he was even
lighter than the previous record
holder, another Japanese boy who
weighed just 268 grams. Ryusuke
was kept in a neonatal intensive
care unit and fed via tubes. Doc-
tors used cotton swabs to apply
his mother’s milk to his mouth.
Nearly seven months later, the boy
has grown 13 times in weight, and
weighed three kilogrammes when
he was released from Nagano Chil-
dren’s Hospital.

Largest ever blue Woman gives birth to ‘drunk’ baby

diamond unveiled
The Botswana state-owned
Okavango Diamond Company,
which markets gemstones,
announced the find on April
10 in Gaborone. It said the
20-carat gemstone is the largest
ever blue diamond found in
Botswana. It has estimated the
stone was formed between 500
million and 3 billion years ago.
A 35-year-old woman has given birth to a baby girl
with enough alcohol in its system than would be consid-
ered a severe state of intoxication for an adult, causing
possible problems with heart function and breathing.
The mother, who doctors say was intoxicated during
the birth, had been drinking at home but she was unable
to tell them how much she had drunk. Neonatologist
Natalia Grigorieva said that the baby girl weighed in
at 2.5 kg and looked fine, but she added: “it’s hard to
say what will happen next.” The incident happened in
Lithuania and the mother is facing charges. The baby
will stay in hospital until the alcohol leaves its system.

36 April. 26 - May 02 2019

 Protect your car from the sun
Direct heat from the sun can hurt your car
outside, inside, and in engine
By Motoring Guru
T
he weather has been hot. Tempera-
tures in Kampala have averaged 80°
F. It is forecast to get cooler in the
coming weeks. Still, you must re-
member that the sun and heat can damage
your vehicle inside and out.
Some tests have shown that on a hot day,
the interior of a can be heated in excess of
145° F. Interior surfaces exposed to direct
sunlight have recorded temperatures in
excess of 195°F. Remember water boils at
212°F. So we are talking serious heating
here.
Now imagine what that does to your
dashboard and seats. That is before we talk
of the car’s body colour and engine.
Some of the trouble from direct sunlight
hitting your car for long daily includes
dashboard drying and cracking. Leather
seats too will crack and tear and the exterior
paint will fade and crack. In case you use
the AC because of the high temperatures,
remember such and high accessory loads
can cause the battery to wear out and fail
quicker. Finally the hot pavement can lead
to underinflation of your tyres. That is a
bad combination that may lead to a
blowout. Even the best tyres can
lose about one pound of air
pressure a month.
So what can you do about the heat a hurt-
ing your car outside, inside, and in engine?
Inside protection
 Park in the shade. It is the easiest form
of protection.
 If it’s safe to do so, open the windows
a crack to help lower the interior tem-
perature and equalise the air pressure.
 Use a windshield sun protector or visor.
It’s a way to keep your car cool and pre-
vent sun damage.
 Install seat covers. They not only protect
leather and fabric seats, but they also
help keep them cool.
 Protect leather seats with a conditioner.
To help avoid cracks or tears, keep seats
clean, and apply leather conditioner
often.
Outside protection
 Wash and dry car often. It helps
remove dirt and dust particles that
can cause micro scratches and dull
your car’s finish.
 Wax your car. A layer of wax between
your car’s finish and the sun’s ultravio-
let rays is a great way to help protect it.
 Check tire pressure. Make sure you fol-
low your vehicle’s manufacturer recom-
mended tyre pressure.
Engine protection
 Check cooling system. Check belts and
antifreeze/coolant and change regularly.
 Top up fluids: Overheating greatly
increases when fluid levels are below
recommended levels. Regularly check
motor oil, transmission fluid, power
steering fluid, and brake fluid.
 Check Battery. The vehicle’s battery and
complete charging system must func-
tion properly.
 Check air conditioning. If interior tem-
perature isn’t cool enough, the refriger-
ant charge level in the air conditioning
system may be low or there may be a
more serious problem.
April. 26 - May 02 2019 37
Jessica Nanyunja: On
her vision for pot water
Pot water in a way revives the glory of our cultures
By Agnes E Nantaba relatives liked pot water. So she thought

J
of marketing pot water on a commer-
essica Nanyunja is the brain behind cial scale.
Harmony Nutri Foods Limited with It was easy because she already
its flagship brand of Harmony pot had the banana juice making fac-
water. It is a darling amongst many tory. Her only challenge was find-
Ugandans who have yearned to rekindle ing the pots. In 2017, she made
their love for pot-smoked water. Many the first sales of pot water worth
decades ago, most Ugandans used clay Shs300, 000. She redesigned the
products; including kitchenware and pots water bottles in the shape of pot
to store and cool water. and the business has grown. She
“Pot water in a way revives the glory makes up to 8000 liters of pot water
of our cultures,” says Nanyunja,“It brings per day. It currently brings in 80%
in a new concept of traditionally flavored of her company income.
drinking water.” Nanyunja is the last born and only
Having mastered the art of food busi- girl in a family of three. Her father
ness during university time at Kyambogo died when she was only three years
where she pursued a bachelor’s degree in old. Her mother took to entrepreneur-
Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Nanyun- ship and hard work to fend for the little
ja immediately ventured into processing souls.
and packaging of banana fruit juice in the Nanyunja went to Trinity College Nab-
brand of ‘Harmony Omubisi’. bingo and Mengo Senior School before
But the business stalled as she went joining Kyambogo University. She is
for further studies in Belgium. Her married. She looks forward to
mother, Gwokyalya Harriet Ssali could opening the first nutrition
not manage on her own. The initial plan supermarket.
was to restart the business when she
returned upon completing her Master’s
degree programme. But then she got an
opportunity to pursue a PhD in Biosci-
ence Engineering which took another
four years. Nanyunja is proud that she
graduated with a PhD in 2015 from Ghent
University in Belgium before clocking 30
years. She also has a high understanding
of food, nutrition and rural development.
Many would expect a graduate of PhD to
consider taking an academic journey of
imparting knowledge and skills but she
chose another path.
“Teaching isn’t my passion,” she says,
“I had already made up my mind to
return home and start-up something.”
She secured a grant from Belgium to
reawaken her banana juice business and
in 2016 focused on giving it the natural
taste of locally produced Omubisi but
with the professional touch of a food tech-
nologist.
Her family did not like the business.
They said it devalued her qualifications.
She also faced several environmental
shocks. But she stuck to her passion.
However, Nanyunja noticed that her

38 April. 26 - May 02 2019


Jessica Nanyunja’s Liteside
Any three things that we
I
don’t know about you?
m a visionary; my
greatest joy is to have
an idea and bring it to
life. I am a big dreamer
and very hardworking. I
also believe that I am a kind
person. Being a Christian
has tamed me so much.
What is your idea of
perfect happiness?
Peace of mind and living
my blue print. I am one
person who believes that
we are here for a short time
and the earlier we do what
we ought to do in life, the
better.
What is your greatest fear?
Poverty; I have
experienced a life of plenty,
scarcity and plenty again so
I don’t wish to fall back to
poverty.
What is the trait you most
deplore in yourself?
I am very emotional, so
I easily let go of anything
that compromises my
peace of mind. This is at
times not good because
some conditions in life
require persistence and
resilience.
What is the trait you
most deplore in
others?
Dishonesty; you
would rather tell me
the bitter truth and I
find a way of dealing
with it that an open
lie to save a situation
for a short time.
Which living person
do you most admire?
I admire my mother;
she is very confident
because even when she
became a widow at a
very young age of 27, she
made a decision to focus
on raising us with the best.
She is also a very loving
and open minded person.
For my career prospects, I
admire Aliko Dangote for
being an industrialist who
pushes for Africa to shine.
He has demonstrated that it
is possible in Africa.
What is your greatest
extravagance?
For the love of reading, I
spend a lot on books.
What is the greatest thing
you have ever done?
Creating a brand in
the market and being
appreciated. It is something
that I never dreamt of.
What is your current state
of mind?
I am happy
What do you consider the
most overrated virtue?
Often times, we overrate
failure on the side of
government and yet we also
have a role to play within
our means. Uganda gives a
naturing environment that
creates the opportunity to
try out ideas and thrive.
What does being powerful
mean to you?
Having authority and
capacity to do whatever
you want in your own
terms.
On what occasion do you
lie?
I like it straight.
What do you most dislike
about your appearance?
Weight is taking a toll on
me but I know what to do.
Which living person do
you most despise?
I despise people who are
arrogant and proud because
at the end of the day, what
you have accumulated
doesn’t concern people but
what good they can learn
from you.
What is the quality you
most like in a woman?
Knowledge and belief in
who she is; it’s from within
to the outside. A woman
should also be able to
balance many roles without
losing the focus.
What is the quality you
most like in a man?
Loving and ready to
sacrifice at a bigger cost.
What or who is the greatest
love of your life?
My mother, husband and
siblings; I however find
a hard rock between my
mother and husband.
When and where were you
happiest?
When I graduated with a
PhD in 2015, it was a dream
come true. When I met my
husband for the first time
in 2008; I have never felt
loved and assured of love
like whenever I meet him.
In December 2016, I was
happy seeing Harmony
Nutri Foods factory
stand after a period of
construction.
Which talent would you
most like to have?
I would love to improve
my negotiation skills.
Where would you most
like to live?
I love Nigeria because
most of its people think big
and try to execute the ideas.
What is your most
treasured possession?
I value my brand and
would wish that even after
I am gone, somebody takes
on the mantle.
April. 26 - May 02 2019
Q&A
news analysis
What do you regard as the
lowest depth of misery?
Being judged wrongly
and paying dearly for it
is the worst injustice any
human being can be made
to face.
What is your favorite
occupation?
Innovation and creativity
is my passion.
What do you most value in
your friends?
There must be something
that connects us.
Who are your favorite
writers?
Brian Tracy teaches me
a lot about setting goals,
being myself and achieving
excellence. I also love to
read Stephen Covey; he
reminds me that whatever
happens is my concern and
that nobody can take away
anything from me if I don’t
permit it. From him, I have
learnt that I can achieve
anything I want.
Which historical figure do
you most identify with?
James Mulwana (RIP)
built a fountain of wealth
from just a vision to
something great. He started
the idea from the visionary
part. He proves the power
of vision and following it
through.
What is your greatest
regret?
I don’t dwell on regrets.
How would you like to
die?
After clocking 80 years, I
can sleep away.
What is your motto?
You don’t have to be
great to start but to be
great, you must start.
39
Global comment
By Walter Ochieng
Will free trade make Africans sick?
Governments should first consider ways to compensate
countries for health services used by foreigners
E
arlier this month, The Gambia be-
came the 22nd country to ratify the
agreement establishing the African
Continental Free Trade Area (Af-
CFTA). The agreement is expected to enter
into force soon; once 22 countries have
deposited their ratification documents with
the African Union (19 have so far).
By removing trade barriers and allowing
the free movement of goods, services, and
people across Africa, the AfCFTA could
help to increase combined consumer and
business spending on the continent to $6.7
trillion by 2030. But the new trade bloc’s
possible impact on the health of over one
billion Africans has barely been discussed.
That is an alarming oversight.
The African Union views the AfCFTA as
an important step toward integrating the
continent and promoting regional trade.
Given the experience of other free-trade
blocs, however, the pact raises concerns
about the weakening of government-
funded public-health systems, increasingly
unequal access to care, a medical brain
drain, higher drug prices, increased con-
sumption of unhealthy products, and the
spread of diseases. African governments
should act immediately to assess these
threats and counter the AfCFTA’s potential
negative health implications.
As is true of other trade pacts, the AfCFTA
free-movement rules will allow people to
access government-funded health services
in any member country. This will increase
the number of foreign patients seeking
treatment in countries with relatively strong
health-care systems, such as Kenya and
Uganda. But citizens of these destination
countries will feel the pinch as underfi-
nanced medical services are stretched even
further. And because no country wants to
subsidise its neighbours’ health systems,
political tensions could rise, too.
The new free-trade area is also expected
to drive growth in private health care,
including medical tourism. For example,
as demand for cancer treatment soars,
visa-free travel will enable people in the
15 African countries without radiotherapy
services to seek care elsewhere.
But there is a downside to this growth.
Private health services and medical tourism
induce clinicians to migrate from poorer to
40 April. 26 - May 02 2019
richer countries, and from public to private
health care. This results in weaker, under-
staffed public-health systems, especially in
poorer countries. Moreover, influxes of for-
eign clinicians will irk local medical profes-
sionals by increasing competition for jobs.
There are also worries that big pharma-
ceutical companies will push for restric-
tions on imports of generic drugs into the
AfCFTA, as happened in Guatemala after
the Central America Free Trade Agreement
took effect. Such restrictions push up the
cost of these drugs and hurt the poor the
most.
Free movement of people also increases
the risk that diseases will spread across
borders, especially given weak disease-
surveillance systems and the instability of
some African countries. The continuing
Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic
of Congo is a pressing concern. Other dan-
gerous infectious diseases, such as cholera,
may also spread farther and faster.
Rates of chronic disease could increase,
too. Epidemiologists have noted increases
in obesity, diabetes, and heart disease fol-
lowing other trade deals. In several Pacific
island countries, for example, consumption
of processed foods and sugared beverages
Free
movement of
people also
increases
the risk that
diseases will
spread across
borders
rose after import taxes on those products
were removed. Similarly, tobacco and
alcohol consumption could increase if
large multinational companies use existing
rules to compel countries to lift advertising
restrictions on these goods.
African governments should learn from
the experience of other trading blocs, and
act now to protect the poor from the unin-
tended health consequences of open trade
policies. AfCFTA countries should also seek
legal exemptions that uphold legitimate
government policies protecting public
welfare, such as those designed to reduce
tobacco use.
To alleviate the strain that foreign patients
put on countries’ public-health budgets,
governments should consider introducing
an African health insurance card similar to
the one used in the European Union. Such
a system would compensate host countries
for the government-provided health ser-
vices used by foreigners.
Furthermore, African countries should
develop policies on medical tourism that
cover long-term medical visas and enable
cross-border use of health insurance. And
rather than increasing entry barriers, profes-
sional groups should lobby for standardised
medical exams across the continent to weed
out quacks and improve the quality of
care. Finally, extra investments are needed
in border health services and emergency-
response centers to protect against the
spread of diseases.
African countries should lobby for these
measures now, before the AfCFTA enters
into effect, because renegotiating trade
deals once they are implemented is difficult.
Moreover, trade blocs are vulnerable to col-
lapse if governments don’t address impor-
tant issues beforehand.
The AfCFTA could yield enormous eco-
nomic benefits for Africa. But its possible
negative impact on Africans’ health should
not be ignored.
Walter Ochieng, a doctor and health economist,
is an Aspen New Voices Fellow who has worked
in government, humanitarian, and non-profit
health services in several African countries.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.
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