News analysis Health Business

Anti-immigrant hate Vegetarian Why Uganda Clays

crime in South Africa heart health recorded Shs722m loss

Issue No. 589 Sept. 13 - 19 2019 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8

Museveni cornered
on oil money
Will he flee or
fight oil firms?

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Sept. 13 - 19 2019 1
inbox

Issue No. 589 Sept. 13 - 19 2019

News analysis Business Health Arts Motoring

Cover story
Museveni cornered on Shs 446 bn oil money
Will he flee or fight oil firms?

5 The Week
30 Comments
No clue yet one year after
Muhammad Kirumira murder Uganda needs wider pension
reforms: They must make pensions
affordable and sustainable, and
9 The Last Word
improve scope, coverage, and
Uganda’s height of folly: How compliance of contributors
gross absurdities and misguided
corruption fears have killed
32 Health
Uganda’s oil industry
Vegetarian heart
14 Analysis health: Study identifies
benefits and risks
Anti-immigrant hate
crime in South Africa: What
research reveals about its driver
35 Arts & Culture
27 Business
When science,
Why Uganda Clays recorded Shs722million art interplay: Waswad pokes
loss: Performance was dented by routine factory into human behavior
maintenance and spikes in operating costs

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2 Sept. 13 - 19 2019
 inbox

“I was the army commander from

1989 to 1998 and many officers
and men who served in the UPDF
within that period accord me
respect.” Gen. Mugisha Muntu on why
officers keep saluting him
Proscovia Ayebare (C), a cancer survivor for 16 years, narrate her situation during the 2nd
Uganda Conference on Cancer and Palliative Care at the Kampala Serena Hotel on Sept.05.
The Conference was organized by the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) and the Palliative Care
Association of Uganda (PCAU).  INDEPENDENT/ALFRED OCHWO

Graduands from Victorial

University cut a cake
in celebration for their
graduation at Speke
Resort Munyonyo on
Sept.06. 50 students
were awarded with “We amended laws to support oil
certificates, diplomas and pipeline. Uganda will be leading
degrees from various
disciplines.   INDEPENDENT/ economy in Africa according to
ALFRED OCHWO assessments. Why should bureaucrats
delay you? May be you are so polite.
200,000 people will be employed by
pipeline.” President John Magufuli to
Ugandan counterpart Museveni

State Minister for

Microfinance, Haruna
Kasolo Kyeyune (in suite)
and Bweyogerere Division
NRM supporters show
their support to President
Yoweri Museveni on Sept
3. Kyeyune promised to
give them Shs30million
to each group of
Bweyogerere Division
“There is no society that is totally
Development Project for crime free. The duty of the state is to
small scale businesses.  reduce crime and that is what we are
INDEPENDENT/ALFRED
OCHWO doing.”Minister for Internal Affairs Jeje
Odongo on recent murders

New graduates Students who Money gov’t

50 from Victoria
University
1800 have got loans
for study
Shs150bn will release for
teachers’ payrise

Sept. 13 - 19 2019 3
week

Uganda buys new cancer

machine at Shs14bn
The government of Uganda has bought
a new cancer linear accelerator machine for
treatment of different types of cancer. Also
known as LINAC, the machine is used to
deliver external beam radiation treatments
to cancer patients. Speaking at the second
Uganda conference on cancer and palliative
care at Serena Hotel, Dr Victoria Walusansa,
the deputy director of Uganda Cancer Insti- Clues in Entebbe Expressway double shooting
tute (UCI), said the machine will reduce the
queues at the facility. The machine has been The killing of two people in the wee hours maternal family later carried the day. Ntey-
procured from an American company and of Friday morning Sept. 6 at the Kampala ireho is reported to be related to the First
will efficiently radiate deeper tumours with Entebbe Expressway most likely was a crime Family through his late mother who was a
minimal damage to surrounding tissues. For of passion, according to several reports. The cousin to President Museveni. Media reports
long, UCI has been using the radiotherapy victims were identified as Joshua Nteyireho say that Nteyireho had told close family
machine known as Cobalt 60 which uses and Merina Tumukunde who were shot members that he had received death threats
high energy to treat patients. This is the sec- dead as they were driving in a Land Cruiser. and had told them to avoid contacting him
Police is still conducting investigations on directly so as not to put them in danger. The
ond cancer machine the government is buy-
the killings. Meanwhile a dispute emerged Entebbe Expressway has been a danger zone
ing after the breakdown of the first one in
on where to bury Nteyireho, the 37-year-old since its opening last year with car robberies
2016. India donated a radiotherapy machine
businessman from Bushenyi although his taking place severally.
one which is being installed at UCI.

Judicial officers start weekly physical exercises

Courts will close by
4pm on Fridays every
week to enable judicial
officers perform physical
exercises for better mental
and body health. Judges,
magistrates, registrars and
all top management of the
judiciary will be in involved
in three hour work outs in
front of the courts, runs in
the city, said the Principal
Judge Yorokamu Bamwine.
The weekly exercise is an
initiative of Secretary to the
Judiciary Pius Bigirimana.
He told media that he
introduced similar efforts
when he was the ministry
of gender as permanent
secretary. Judicial officers
welcomed Bigirimana’s
initiative saying they have
lost many magistrates
and judges to high blood
pressure and other non-
communicable diseases.

Oil money will be for building more infrastructure- Museveni

While attending the Uganda Tanzania
business forum at the Julius Nyerere
International Convention Centre in dar-
es-Salaam, President Yoweri Museveni
said proceeds from oil should be used to
create durable capacity for the Uganda
economy such as building power
dams, irrigation systems, railways and
scientific innovations. “Therefore the
use of revenues from the exhaustible
resources should only be used to create
the durable base of the economy. The
exhaustible should give birth to the
durable,” Museveni said. He urged the
rest of the EAC member states; Kenya,
Tanzania, Burundi, South Sudan, and
Rwanda to do the same. The Forum was
organised under the theme ‘Promoting
bilateral trade and investment for growth
and sustainable development’ and
was aimed at boosting bilateral trade
between Tanzania and Uganda. The two
countries have been dealt a blow in their
infrastructure plans after Total SA, the
French oil giant, pulled out of a deal to
construct a 1410km pipeline from Hoima
to the Tanzanian port of Tanga.

35% of Yaka metres cheat consumers- UNBS

Do you feel cheated by your
Yaka metre when it comes to your
electricity consumption rate? You
are probably right and research
by Uganda National Bureau of
Standards (UNBS) indicates that
35% of electricity metres used by
industrialists and 15% by domestic
users are inaccurate. UNBS
conducted the research during the
2017/2018 financial year and during
the study, 144,471 metres were
surveyed. Umeme, the electricity
distribution company, says there
are other power distributors in
spite of it being responsible for 95%
of the national grid. He named
other distributors as Kilembe
Investments Ltd, Bundibugyo
Energy Cooperative Society, West
Nile Rural Electrification Company
among others. Stephen Illungole, the
Umeme PRO said all Umeme metres
are subject to UNBS verification and
certification prior to importation.
He added that Umeme carries out
regular audits of Yaka metres.

4 Sept. 13 - 19 2019
 week

Middle East bosses charged with human trafficking MP Niwagaba to

Entebbe Chief Magis-
trate’s court charged and
remanded two senior
managers of Middle East
Consultants, a labour export
company, with four counts
of human trafficking. The
mangers are Benon Kuny-
wana and Godfrey Kyalim-
pa, and are also charged
with forgery of documents
and signatures from the
ministry of Gender Labour
and Social Development
contrary to Section 349 of
the Penal Code. The accused
are said to have forged sig-
natures of Lawrence Egulu,
an officer in the ministry of
Gender Labour and Social
Development to enable 50
people to travel out of the
country. Prosecution alleges table Constitutional
that Kunywana and Kyalim-
pa violated the Prevention
Amendment Bill
of Trafficking in Persons Act
2009 when they tried to traf- Ndorwa East MP
fic 50 people out of the coun- Wilfried Niwagaba
try. The managers denied was granted
the charges and applied for leave to table
bail. The two are remanded the Constitution
at Kigo Prison. Amendment Bill,
2019 after the
government delayed
several times to
debate a motion on
its Bills. Niwagaba
first sought leave
to table a Private Niwagaba a go
Members Bill back ahead. The tenth
in January. The parliament has
Prime Minister already granted MPs
Ruhakana Rugunda Michael Mawanda
and Justice Minister and Raphael
Kahinda Otafiire Magyezi leave to
protested the table bills to amend
decision by Deputy different articles
Speaker Jacob of the constitution.
Oulanyah to grant Niwagaba told
Niwagaba, also fellow legislators
Shadow Attorney that his Bill is aimed
General, leave. at protecting the
The several delays constitution and
and failure to meet restoring democracy
deadlines forced in Uganda.
Oulanya to give

No clue yet one year after Muhammad Kirumira murder

Police is yet to find a credible lead one
year later in connection with the murder of
one of their own, Muhammad Kirumira, a
maverick police officer who was outspoken
about the corruption and criminal elements
in police during the reign of former IGP Kale
Kayihura. About eight suspects were arrest-
ed by the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence
(CMI) and charged before court but police
is still on the lookout for who pulled the
trigger on Kirumira, who had announced
his resignation from the force. Kirumira was
shot dead with a female companion Resty
Mbabazi on September 8, 2018 as they drove
home in Bulenga, Mityana district. At the
time of his death, Kirumira was the District
Police Commander of Buyende district in
eastern Uganda. He had earlier made a
name as a commando officer when he was
Officer in Charge of Nansana Police Station
hunting down thieves and busting criminal
gangs in the Nansana neighbourhood. Kiru-
mira got into trouble when he criticised his
then boss Kayihura over his leadership style.

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Sept. 13 - 19 2019 5
week
Parliament condemns xenophobia in South Africa
The parliament of Uganda
joined the rest of other African
countries to condemn the
xenophobic attacks happening
in South Africa. Parliament
Speaker Rebecca Kadaga and
her deputy Jacob Oulanyah
described the xenophobic
attacks as savage with no
room in modern society. “Our
position is that many African
countries are stakeholders in
the liberation of South Africa
and the other countries. The
frontline states took a beating
for many years for supporting
South Africa [liberation
struggle] and harbouring the
combatants,” Ms Kadaga stated
at the end of a Commonwealth
Parliamentary Association
meeting in Zanzibar. “Although
Uganda does not share a border
with South Africa, the last seven
years before the liberation,
thousands of those combatants
were in Uganda at a place called
Kaweeweta (Nakaseke District)
and we saw them through,”
she added. The Speaker urged
6 Sept. 13 - 19 2019
South Africans to change their
attitude “to recognise that we
are all Africans and that we
are stakeholders in whatever
is happening and we should
not be looked at as foreigners.”
While presiding over the
House Oulanyah called for
quick intervention by the South
African government. “The
issue of migration is as old as
mankind, and people migrate
from one point to another for
many reasons, mainly two; in
search of opportunities and
security,” Oulanyah said. “If
their security is threatened, they
look for security elsewhere.
If the opportunities are
squeezed, they move elsewhere,
sometimes they find themselves
in foreign countries,”
Kadaga urges
Parliaments on IT
The Speaker of Parliament,
Rebecca Kadaga, has called on
Commonwealth Parliaments to
utilise the growing Information
and Communication Technol-
ogy (ICT) sector to ensure the
efficiency of their legislative
activities. Kadaga, also the
Commonwealth Parliamentary
Association (CPA) International
President says the theme of the
50th CPA Africa Region confer-
ence presents an opportunity
for countries to review the use
of ICT in their Parliaments with
a call to share experiences for
improved output. “We should
learn from each other with a
view of setting up or improving
existing laws, institutions and
resources for use of ICTs in
our legislatures,” said Kadaga.
She made the remarks while
addressing the opening cere-
mony of the CPA Africa Region
Conference held recently in Zan-
zibar under the theme, “E-Par-
liaments: Seamless Platform for
Facilitating Democracy”.
Humour Did you know?
Microplastics pose danger
in drinking water

Current wastewater treatment processes

may not effectively filter microplastic
The National Meteorological Department says it does not have the equipment to forecast weather patterns
contamination, according to new research.
This may cause potential issues for human
health and aquatic environments as the
accumulation of plastic continues to
increase globally.
To understand how microplastic
pollution breaks down and interacts with
water and wastewater treatment processes,
scientists measured the efficiency of current
wastewater treatment processes to remove
nano and microplastics measuring less
than 5 millimeters in size, publishing their
findings in `Water Research’. They found
that processes used to purify used water
may break down tiny pieces of plastic even
further, posing concern for the quality of
treated water.
“The presence of nano and microplastics
in water has become a major environmental
challenge. Due to their small size, nano
and microplastics can easily be ingested by
living organisms and travel along water
Uganda police seek FBI help the recent kidnap and murder of yet another woman and her driver
and wastewater treatment processes,”
said study author Judy Lee in a statement.
“In large quantities, they impact the
performance of water treatment processes
by clogging up filtration units and
increasing wear and tear on materials used
in the design of water treatment units.”
“A key challenge in their detection
resides in the relatively inadequate
analytical techniques available preventing
deep understanding of the fate of nano/
microplastics in water,” wrote the study
authors, adding that the occurrence of
such microscopic plastic pollution in water
and wastewater treatment plants pose “a
concern for the quality of the treated water.”
Microplastics come in all shapes and
sizes and are made of a variety of different
materials, making their detection in water
treatment systems particularly challenging.
Furthermore, different treatment processes
may affect plastics, whose chemical
The backlash across Africa to xenophobic violence against Africans in South Africa is spreading makeup varies greatly, in different ways.

Sept. 13 - 19 2019

Inbox
Letters are
welcome !
The Editor welcomes short and
concise letters from our esteemed
readers on topical issues. Please
send them to:
The Editor, The Independent
Publications Ltd,
P.O Box 3304,
Plot 82/84 Kanjokya St,
Kamwokya.
Kampala,Uganda.
Email: editor@independent.co.ug
Get rich first, great
health will follow
“Missing insights in our
healthcare: The lesson from
pictures of many newly born
babies packed on beds and
chairs at Kawempe Hospital”
(The Independent Aug.30).
It is interesting to note that
the health outcomes of our
system are similar to those
of Rwanda yet the Rwanda
government is known to
be so efficient. I do believe
that this also applies to our
personal lives where the elite
focus on becoming highly
educated, ignoring the
emphasis on embarking on a
deliberate basic opportunities
to enrich the economic
outcomes of themselves
and their families. Someone
has a PHD or a master’s
in business administration
but cannot be deliberate
to run a supermarket with
capital of Shs20 million.
We need to remember that
what is important is to
ensure that our countries are
rich first, and then we can
focus more on other moral
related endeavors. What is
happening now is that we are
focusing on what is not our
priority.
Ahmed Luttamaguzi
8 Sept. 13 - 19 2019
Bravo Museveni on transforming Africa
Refer: “Business key in trans-
forming Africa, Museveni tells
South Africa conference” (The
Independent online 04). Lead-
ers in most African countries
Great health piece, Mwenda
“Missing insights in our
healthcare: The lesson from pic-
tures of many newly born babies
packed on beds and chairs
at Kawempe Hospital” (The
Independent Aug.30). Excellent
piece. All Ugandans of all grades
need, as you rightly put it, total
mindset change and world out-
look of things rather than dwell
Reform security to ensure citizens’ safety
The security sector in
fragile and crisis times like
these, where our loved ones
are abducted and disappeared
by plain clothed men. A
comprehensive policy-
document that co-ordinates
the planning of all security
actors should be developed
and commitments therein
implemented. In the absence
of a coordinated response
framework, security issues
will be managed on an ad hoc
basis.
Engagements with the
public, professionalisation,
human resource development,
strengthening inter-
institutional co-ordination
and sector actors, especially in
the gatherings, utilisation of
intelligence data and services
is very important.
Today, we see UPDF
carrying out an operation,
military intervenes objecting,
and maybe a security minister
intervenes rejecting or/ and
accepting. There is need to
coordinate. Crime trends
have changed with the
Follow us on Twitter @
http://twitter.com/#!/ugandatalks
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www.facebook.com/TheIndependentMagazineUganda
are unpopular at home but are
respected worldwide. Bravo
President Yoweri Museveni for
the real elaboration on Africa
economies. We need a leader
on personal hatred because one
cannot reap positive results with
negative thoughts. Mwenda we
used to hate you with passion
for your guts when at Makerere
University in Lumumba Hall
between 1991- 1995 when, as
a student reporter of the Daily
Monitor, you openly and bla-
tantly attacked the government
increase cases of cybercrimes,
disappearing of citizens,
outright shooting of people
during broad day light etc.
However, the capacity of
the police and other security
actors is still dismissal to
handle and managing such
sophisticated cases. That
requires specialised skills,
knowledge, and a corrupt free
mind.
The Uganda Police Force
should invest in training and
retraining of law enforcement
agents to equip them with
modern investigation skills,
in a bid to avoid the use
of excessive force during
interrogation.
Lack of clear career paths
and meager salaries are
some of the factors driving
corruption and other
unprofessional tendencies
and security actors in Uganda.
We need urgent action to have
decent security system in
addressing the current threats
in Uganda.
Isabella Bwiire
News analysis Health Business
Why Museveni might Homosexuality not Rent in Kampala’s city
not sign new KCCA law Genetic, says study centre remain stable
Issue No. 588 Sept. 06 - 12 2019
Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8
Colours of violence
in 2021 elections
It’ll be bloody if
yellow, red clash
www.independent.co.ug
who is informed not one who
vaunts power.
Willy James Masaba
and other establishments. How-
ever, over time your analysis has
become great that you are so bal-
anced and I love your analysis
every day. This is very mature
analysis calls for applaud.
Thanks for this explanation.
Charles Muhigirwa
Reform not ban
holiday teaching
Refer to: “Teachers,
parents forcing learners
to attend holiday classes –
MOE” (The Independent
online Sept.08). The only
sane person here is Patrick
Kaboyo, the national sec-
retary of the Federation of
Non-State Education Insti-
tutions, who suggests that
teachers and schools should
keep learners busy with
small educational projects
that involve their surround-
ing instead of resorting
to coaching. You cannot
enforce the unenforceable.
Turn the problem around
and make it a Kumbaya like
YMCA activity that builds
the young brains during the
holidays. Education which
is largely useless in terms
of learning to deal with life
in Uganda is very compet-
itive because of the exams.
What do you expect the
teachers, pupils to do?
Pastor Kaks

Uganda’s height of folly
By Andrew M. Mwenda
How gross absurdities and misguided corruption
fears have killed Uganda’s oil industry
U
ganda has been trying to get oil
of out the ground for the last 12
years, having discovered reserves
in 2007. Last week Tullow ended
its proposed farm-down to CNOOC and
Total of 21.7% of its 33.3% shareholding in
the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) with
these two firms. Then Total announced
an indefinite suspension of the pipeline
project plus planned investment in the oil
production facilities. Both CNOOC and
Total have begun a massive lay off of staff by
about 70%. Tullow did this a long time ago.
As I write this article, Uganda’s prospects
for oil are remote. The deadline for first
oil has been shifting since 2011. Today we
are eight years behind the first target for
exporting oil. The prospect of oil can now be
projected beyond 2027 at best. Incidentally
the reason for these days is the extreme
care government of Uganda has taken to
avoid being accused of corruption and
mismanagement of oil revenues. The result
has been well-negotiated Production Sharing
Agreements (PSAs) combined with a level
of stubbornness that borders on absurdity
leading to no production.
In many ways government delays to
place its fingers on oil defies logic. Ideally
governments, especially in poor countries
that are under constant demand for revenue
to finance many spending demands would
forego many niceties to move towards
oil production. This is because oil would
bring revenue windfalls to finance both
investment in infrastructure (which Uganda
is doing on a massive scale right now) and
pay for patronage. For whatever reasons,
government of Uganda does not seem to be
in a hurry, which ideally should be a good
thing. However, when examined closely, it is
the most absurd thing one can do.
What is the dispute between oil companies
and government today? It began with
Tullow selling its 21.7% stake in the JVA
at $900 million to CNOOC and Total. It
bought the oil block (“the asset”) it is selling
from Heritage at $345m. It spent an extra
$272 million to develop it. The National
Petrolium Authority (who approves each
and every cost oil companies incur) and the
office of the Auditor General (who audits
government books) agree to it as a “past
The Last Word
cost”. This brings Tullow’s total past cost on
this asset to $617 million.
When Tullow sought to sell this to
CNOOC and Total at $900 million, it
anticipated paying Capital Gains Tax (CGT)
of $85 million. This was done by subtracting
past costs of $617 from the sale price of $900
million, leaving capital gain of $283 million.
In Uganda, CGT is 30% of extra value one
realises above the purchase price of an
asset when selling it. Assuming you buy a
house at Shs500 million and sell it at Shs800
million, the capital gain is Shs300 million.
So you pay 30% of Shs300 million as CGT.
But if, after buying the house, you spend
Shs200 million renovating it and then sell it
at Shs800 million, your total cost would have
been Shs700 million giving you a capital gain
of Shs100 million. So CGT would be 30% of
Shs100 million.
Uganda Revenue Authority refused to
recognise the $272 million past cost Tullow
had spent developing the oil field. It insisted
it would charge CGT on the difference
between $900 million (selling price) and
$345 million (buying price) i.e. on $555
million. This brought the CGT to $167
million. Tullow insisted it would pay only
$85 million, URA insisted on her position
as well. The impasse lasted more than a
year. Then CNOOC and Total, to end the
standoff and allow the investment in oil
to go ahead offered to pay the difference
between Tullow’s offer ($85 million) and
URA’s demand ($167 million), which came
to $82 million.
Then a new dispute occurred. Sometime
after Heritage’s sale to Tullow and Tullow’s
farm down to CNOOC and Total, Uganda
passed a crazy law saying that if one
buys oil assets, past costs would not be
transferred for tax deductibility purposes
when calculating profit (corporation) tax.
CNOOC and Total found this law bad. I am
going to explain why I agree with them and
it is counterproductive. They asked either
parliament repeals the law or the executive
gives them an exemption. President Yoweri
Museveni refused. It is on this dispute that
the negotiations hit a dead end.
Essentially this law is saying two absurd
things. First if Tullow doesn’t sell, it will
enjoy the tax deductibility. If it sells, the
Sept. 13 - 19 2019
opinion
buyer will not enjoy the same. This means
the law was made to discourage the buying
and selling to Uganda’s oil assets – which is
another way of saying that Uganda passed
a law to discourage investment in her oil
industry. This is even the more absurd
because industry practice is that it is small
firms that take the risk to come to our poor
countries to prospect for oil. When they
find it, they sell to big firms who then invest
in the development and production of oil
fields.
In passing a law discouraging the selling
of oil blocks, Uganda has essentially
blocked itself from a wide array of investors
interested in prospecting for her oil. No
wonder, mid this year when Uganda
auctioned new oil exploration licenses, no
small company with a good reputation for
skills and knowledge in exploration showed
up. I am informed that only three, most
probably briefcase companies from Nigeria
expressed interest in our mighty oil.
Secondly this law is absurd because it
essentially means that one’s investment cost
would be treated as revenue and therefore
taxed. I do not know of any investor, except
a fake one, who can accept this. All public
officials outside of URA that I have talked
to think Uganda’s position borders on
madness. They are not willing to express
their views on the matter for fear of being
accused of having been bribed by the oil
companies. The fear of corruption has led
to an incredible absurdity – bad policy wins
the day.
The reader should not think that the
dispute over the $185 million in taxes
is actually about a tax likely to be paid
tomorrow. This is a hypothetical tax – that
at some future date (it could even be ten
years from now) when CNOOC and Total
make a profit, this $617 million will not be
considered a cost when calculating their
profit tax. Essentially Uganda has blocked
an investment of anything between $15
and $20 billion, which would also make
our economy double in five years over a
hypothetical tax of $185 million realisable
ten years hence. If this is not the height of
stupidity, what is it?
amwenda@independent.co.ug
9
cover story

Museveni cornered on
Shs 446 bn oil money
Will he flee or fight
oil firms?
By Ronald Musoke

10 Sept. 13 - 19 2019 Tullow CEO Paul McDade (L), President Yoweri Museveni and Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne
P
resident Yoweri Museveni’s
plan to get Shs 446 billion from
Uganda’s Petroleum Fund to fi-
nance part of the budget deficit
this year may have been dashed
when Tullow Oil refused to
cough up Shs 600 billion in Capital Gains
Tax for the kitty with an offer to pay far less.
On Aug.29, Tullow Oil Plc announced that
its proposed farm-down to Total E&P Ugan-
da and China National Offshore Oil Corpo-
ration (CNOOC) had been terminated.
A week later, on Sept. 05, Paris-based
Total SA, the parent company of Total
E&P Uganda said it was suspending all its
planned activities on the U.S. $3.5 billion
crude oil export pipeline popularly known
as EACOP.
The question now is whether Tullow’s
farm-down termination, Total’s EACOP sus-
pension and the pain inflicted on local busi-
nesses and workers in the oil and gas sector
will convince Museveni to climb down and
accept their terms or stick to his demands.
Many local non-business players in Ugan-
da have backed Museveni’s tough stance in
the face of Tullow’s “arm-twisting” but the
Irish oil exploration firm was possibly hop-
ing on a repeat of past success in a similar
dispute.
Tullow won the tussle in a similar dis-
pute that erupted in 2012 when it farmed-
down 66% of its oilfields to Total E&P and
China National Offshore Oil Corporation
(CNOOC) for US$2.9 billion and the Ugan-
da Revenue Authority slapped a US$ 407
million Capital Gains Tax on it. Tullow end-
ed up paying just US$ 250 million.
The dispute is the same this time, but the
government reaction – with backing from
most Civil Society Organisations in the oil
and gas sector- might be different.
The CSOs noted that the oil companies
are aware that based on the many oil pro-
duction deadlines that the government
has been setting and failing to achieve and
based on the increasing national debt, gov-
ernment is in a desperate rush to commence
oil production to earn some money.
The companies, therefore, think that sus-
pending the EACOP activities and laying-off
of workers will increase government’s
desperation leading to the abandonment of
plans to collect the assessed tax to placate the
companies to resume operations.
James Muhindo, the national coordinator
of the Civil Society Coalition on Oil and
Gas told The Independent on Sept. 06 that the
oil companies’ recent pronouncements are
nothing but bullying tactics.
“Uganda is a sovereign country and any
company, domestic or foreign; operating
here must pay all the assessed taxes in accor-
dance with the laws of Uganda,” said Dick-
ens Kamugisha, the Chief Executive Officer
of the Africa Institute for Energy Governance
(AFIEGO), “The government’s demand for
taxes should not be compromised even if
it takes 100 years to start talking about oil
exploitation.”
“Uganda’s laws including the Income
Tax of 1997 provide that where a company
makes money off the sale of its business,
then that company must pay CGT,” he said,
“Tullow Oil must therefore pay the tax of
US$ 167 million and any other tax assessed
in accordance with the laws of Uganda.”
Bernard Sabiti, the senior partnerships
and engagement manager at Development
Initiatives told The Independent on Sept.06
that these are just games among the oil com-
panies to push the government to the wall so
they escape tax liability.
In the short term, Sabiti says, people are
going to get hurt, but President Museveni
should be commended for “putting his foot
down.”
“The government should not back down
because if they do, it’s going to be open sea-
son. Companies will come here and think
they are going to have it easy.
“The government which is usually incom-
petent must be commended for putting its
President Magufuli and President Museveni
foot down to get what belongs to the coun-
try,” Sabiti said, “Globalist companies are
now realizing that it is not going to be easy
to come to Uganda and rip the citizens off.”
Onesmus Mugyenyi, the deputy executive
director at the Advocates Coalition on Devel-
opment and Environment (ACODE) also
told The Independent on Sept.06 that Uganda
already set a precedent on the type of tax the
government is demanding from Tullow (the
case of Uganda and Heritage Oil and Gas).
“The circumstances surrounding this
transaction are the same but just like any
multi-national oil company, any scheme that
reduces tax obligations is something these
firms will always pursue because they want
to maximize profit for their shareholders.”
“I think what Tullow has been trying to do
is craft its instruments surrounding the farm
down in a manner that tries to avoid the
taxes but the government has been very clear
and at some point there was consensus that
Sept. 13 - 19 2019
cover story
the taxes have to be paid.”
Mugyenyi told The Independent that inter-
national oil companies are renowned for
being tough negotiators all over the world.
“They have shareholders and they want
to maximize profit. I think what Uganda has
done well is to invest in understanding the
industry, the economics and these transac-
tions and that is why the government contin-
ues to put its foot on the ground to get what
is owed to them.”
“Poor countries have no resources to the
level of resource rich countries like Nor-
way, so these companies have always taken
advantage of the situation to take as much as
they can,” said Sabiti.
Oil firms react
The oil companies meanwhile insist Ugan-
da’s oil project is still on schedule. However,
behind the scenes, they appreciate the diffi-
culty within which they have to work to pro-
duce oil by 2023—Uganda’s latest timeline
for first oil.
“Total together with its partners CNOOC
and Tullow will continue to focus its efforts
on progressing the development of the Lake
Albert oil resources and will work closely
with the Government of Uganda and the
Government of Tanzania to conclude the
negotiations on the remaining matters
required to reach FID,” Nathan Morgan,
Total E&P Uganda’s public affairs director
told The Independent in an email sent on
Sept.7.
“We believe that together with our Part-
ners CNOOC and Tullow and the Govern-
ments of Uganda and Tanzania, we will
succeed in starting the Development phase
of the project, paving the way for investment
and oil production in the country”
Morgan told The Independent that it is cru-
cial that key project documentation, such as
the host government agreements and share-
holders agreement for the EACOP project
are finalized and put in place in order to
reach the coveted Final Investment Decision.
11
cover story
An Oil rig in western Uganda during the exploration phase. The development phase of the sector has hit a bump.   FILE PHOTO.
Accusations that the oil companies are
playing money games emerged from the
smokescreen around why Tullow failed to
sign sale and purchase agreements (SPAs)
agreed with Total E&P and CNOOC way
back in January and instead allowed them
to expire on Aug.29. The SPAs had been
extended a few times in the past but that was
not possible this time.
Tullow, CNOOC and Total are equal joint
partners in a venture to develop the most
advanced section of Uganda’s oil fields in
western Uganda expected to yield up to
230,000 bpd at peak production with over 1.4
billion barrels of recoverable oil resources.
Under the expired SPAs, however, Tullow
which is an oil exploration company not
renowned for venturing into production
has sought to sell portions of its current 33%
holding to Total and CNOOC. The deal is
worth US$ 900 million. The trouble is Tullow
does not want to pay the URA assessed tax-
es; including Capital Gains Tax of US$ 167
million.
Behind the latest dispute
In January 2017 Tullow signed a sale and
purchase agreement with Total, agreeing
to transfer 21.57% of its 33.33% interests in
Exploration Areas 1, 1A and 2 in the Lake
Albert Development Project worth US $900
million (Shs3.2 trillion).
Tullow was expected to receive US$200
million (Shs720 billion) in cash—consisting
of US$100 million on completion of the
transaction and US$50 million at both Final
Investment Decision and first oil. The bal-
ance of US$700 million (Shs2.5 trillion) in
deferred consideration was meant to fund
Tullow’s share of the development and pipe-
line costs.
However, in February 2017, CNOOC
12 Sept. 13 - 19 2019
Uganda exercised its pre-emption rights to
acquire 50% of the interests being transferred
to Total.
Tullow in September 2017 notified the
government about the farm-down to Total
and CNOOC. Senior energy ministry offi-
cials say the government agreed to the farm-
down and slapped Tullow with a $167m
(Shs600b) capital gains tax.
Eng. Irene Muloni the Minister of Ener-
gy and Mineral Development told The
Independent last December that she gave a
conditional consent on Nov.21, 2018 for the
transaction to proceed subject to Tullow’s
payment of the tax obligations as assessed
by Uganda’s tax body.
Tullow disagreed. It argued that it was
not liable to pay Capital Gains Tax because
it was transferring shares to another investor
for re-investment in the project. The Uganda
Revenue Authority and government techno-
crats insist that Tullow must pay the capital
gains tax.
In mid-January 2019, President Yoweri
Museveni is believed to have met with the
chief executives of the oil companies in an
effort to end the standoff.
Apparently Total and CNOOC wanted to
move on to the next stage; the Final Invest-
ment Decision (FID) into production with
even bigger money at stake.
In a meeting with Museveni, Total’s Pouy-
anne is said to have agreed to pay US$82
million of the disputed US$167 million as a
loan to Tullow.
Tullow Oil Plc, Tullow Uganda Pty’s
parent company chief executive officer Paul
McDade also met the president around
the same time. After the meeting, McDade
indicated that Tullow would settle the tax
payments to Uganda’s treasury in phases
with a final figure partly tied to the oil field
project’s progress. The deal appeared closed.
But Tullow continued sounding frustrat-
ed.
“What we put together we thought was
in the best interest of all parties including the
government of Uganda,” Tullow CEO Paul
McDade told Bloomberg on June 26.
“We feel somewhat frustrated two-and-
half years later that the efforts on that farm-
down structure have been unsuccessful in
completing.”
Then Tullow on Aug.29 announced its
termination of its proposed farm-down to
Total E&P and CNOOC.
“Tullow has worked tirelessly over the last
two and a half years to complete this farm-
down which was structured to re-invest the
proceeds in Uganda,” McDade, said in a
statement on Aug. 29.
It said the agreed sale and purchase agree-
ments (SPAs) had expired and it had failed
to secure another extension of the SPAs from
Total and CNOOC. It is not clear why the
joint venture partners failed to conclude the
SPAs.
As Ugandans were mulling over the
implications of the oil companies’ failure to
conclude the farm-down, a week later, on
Sept. 05, Paris-based Total SA, the parent
company of Total E&P Uganda said it was
suspending all its planned activities on the
EACOP. Tullow and Total backed their dou-
ble cancellation with laying off staff in their
operation.
Apparently the Chinese firm, CNOOC
has remained quiet but it has also laid-off
staff in Uganda following the collapse of the
Tullow Oil deal. Several observers saw the
decision as a reaction to the collapse of the
Tullow deal.
The suspension of activities on the
EACOP attracted different reactions in the

country. Civil society organisations, majority
of which are based in the Albertine region on
Sept.6 asked the government not to bow to
pressure from the oil companies.
The CSOs that work together to promote
good governance in the oil and gas sector
noted that suspension of activities around
the pipeline project by Total may be a trick
by the oil companies to pressure the govern-
ment so that it does not collect the assessed
tax including the Capital Gains Tax of US$
167 million that Tullow Oil is required to
pay.
But much as the CSOs expressed their
support to the government, they observed
that Uganda’s oil sector is facing many
challenges because the government has
failed to be transparent.
“Why is it that every time the compa-
nies make profits and they are asked to
pay taxes, they insist on not paying? Is it
because bad PSAs were signed or our laws
are unclear?” a statement from civil society
said.
“Is it mere impunity on the part of the
companies or is there connivance between
oil companies and corrupt government
leaders to create disputes and when those
disputes are resolved, they get rewards for
arguing the cases?”
The CSOs recalled the 2010 dispute
between Heritage Oil and the government
over US$ 434 million Capital Gains Tax that
Heritage Oil was supposed to pay. This
dispute was only resolved through a costly
arbitration in London.
Even when Uganda won the case, the
long court battles depreciated the value of
the money that was won. When Tullow Oil
sold two thirds of its assets at US$ 2.9bn
to Total and CNOOC in 2012, another tax
dispute ensued.
Tullow did not want to pay the US$ 407
million Capital Gains Tax it was supposed
to. The company ended up committing to
pay less tax and out of pressure, the gov-
ernment accepted only US$ 250 million.
In 2016, extracts from the Panama Papers
revealed how Heritage Oil and Gas Ltd
attempted to avoid paying over US$ 400
million in Capital Gains Tax to the govern-
ment.
Realizing that they would be hit by a
big tax bill, Heritage Oil executives made
efforts to avoid it by moving it to the coun-
try where the company was registered
(Bahamas) to Mauritius, leaked emails
obtained by the International Consortium
of Investigative Journalists showed.
Mauritius has a double-tax agreement
with Uganda, meaning companies can pay
tax in only one of the two countries. Since
Mauritius does not impose any Capital
Gains Tax, charged on the sale of assets,this
meant Heritage would reduce its bill to
zero. An accountant acting on behalf of
Heritage said the move to Mauritius would
act as a “second line of defence” in efforts to
eliminate the potential tax charge imposed
by the Ugandan authorities.
“We are looking to re-domicile Heritage
Oil and Gas Ltd to Mauritius (primarily
due to the double tax agreement between
Uganda and Mauritius). Heritage is due
to complete the sale of an asset in Uganda
within the next 11 days,” the BBC reported.
“Due to tax reasons emanating from
Uganda, the directors have been advised
by tax accountants to re-domicile Heritage
to Mauritius from Bahamas before comple-
tion.” The re-domiciliation of Heritage had
tax avoidance manoeuvres written all over
it,” URA officials said at the time.
Costly Standoff
It is still unclear how the current stand-
off will be resolved.
Tullow, which has been active in Uganda
since 2004, says it intends to initiate a new
sales process to reduce its 33.33% operated
stake.
Total’s Exploration & Production Presi-
dent, Arnaud Breuillac, has said despite the
termination of this agreement, Total togeth-
er with its partners CNOOC and Tullow
will continue to focus all its efforts on
progressing the development of the Lake
Albert oil resources.
“The project is technically mature, and
we are committed to continuing to work
with the government of Uganda to address
the key outstanding issues required to
We thought
what we put
together was
in the best
interest of
all parties
including the
Government of
Uganda
reach an investment decision. A stable and
suitable legal and fiscal framework remains
a critical requirement for investors” he said
in a statement.
Uganda’s Energy Ministry has stressed
that Tullow must pay Capital Gains tax
before it can be allowed to sell part of its
stake to Total and CNOOC Uganda.
“Government’s position is that the
assessed tax should be paid in line with the
laws of Uganda and tax reliefs are treated
Sept. 13 - 19 2019
cover story
in accordance with the laws of Uganda,”
said the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary,
Robert Kasande, in a statement.
As the money games appear set to
resume, McDade and Total SA’s Patrick
Pouyanne are known for being fierce nego-
tiators, young and robust at age 56 com-
pared to 75-year old President Museveni
who prefers drawn-out discussions of nuts
and bolts.
Total and Tullow can afford to wait-out
Museveni – even for 20 years. They also
control the oil production and marketing
value chain.
But Museveni has shown something
McDade and Pouyanne possibly never con-
sidered they would encounter in African
leaders of a potential oil country; Museve-
ni’s indifference to promises of quick mon-
ey. Observers of the oil industry say this
could be partly because of lessons learned
elsewhere where poor decision making
around oil extraction has hurt more than
developed economies and Museveni has
surrounded himself with young techno-
crats schooled in oil matters in some of the
world’s best universities.
Museveni has shown he does not bear
bullies. In April he reportedly prematurely
ended a meeting with oil executives when
one of them attempted to threaten him
with a deal or no deal situation. Museveni
followed up that with cancellation of highly
anticipated meeting on June 05 between
him and oil company executives.
It could be different this time because
Museveni is being pushed by even Tanzani-
an President John Pombe Magufuli, whom
he respects as a friend.
Magufuli told hundreds of Tanzanian
and Ugandan business executives at the
second Tanzania-Uganda Business Forum
on Sept. 6 in Dar es Salam that Uganda
should be flexible in its Capital Gains Tax
demand.
With Museveni in attendance at the
Julius Nyerere International Convention
Centre, Magufuli cautioned his counterpart
saying that, “In business, things are sup-
posed to move.”
“You cannot get super profit; it is about
sharing and giving. You have to lose a little
so that you gain more,” he said, “I talk like
this because it (lack of movement) really
pains me.” Magufuli spoke of business
people that have already invested or got
jobs.
“For us eight districts will benefit from
this pipeline,” Magufuli said.
For Tullow, CNOOC, and Tullow, failure
to move on with the deal threatens over U.S
$3 billion they are estimated to have sunk in
the project already. Local Ugandan business
people have also invested heavily and borne
losses. Industry watchers say, despite dis-
agreements, this deal must be cut quickly.
13
news analysis

Anti-immigrant hate than two decades, this type of crime has

bedeviled the country. There is growing
frustration that so little has been done to

crime in South Africa

What research reveals about its drivers
By Steven Gordon
days. This has caused outrage across Africa.
stop it.
To combat anti-immigrant hate crime,
we need to understand its drivers. Scholars
at the Human Sciences Research Council
have recently made new discoveries about
the drivers of anti-immigrant hate crime in
South Africa.
We found that a significant share of the
general population hold anti-immigrant
views and blame foreign nationals for

S
enior research specialist, Human
Sciences Research Council
Mobs have attacked foreign-
owned businesses on the streets of
at least three South African cities in recent
There have even been retaliatory attacks.
The South African government, under
pressure to protect her large international
migrant community, quickly defused the
attacks.
Such attacks are not new. For more
many of the socio-economic challenges
facing South African society. Yet there is
little empirical evidence that immigrants
are driving problems like crime or
unemployment. But beliefs about the role
played by foreign nationals in the country

14 Sept. 13 - 19 2019

clearly influence how people think about
anti-immigrant hate crime. Anti-immigrant
statements by politicians also feed into the
problem.
Tracking anti-immigrant hate crime
Data from the South African Social
Attitudes Survey, conducted annually
since 2003, was used. The survey series
consists of nationally representative,
repeated cross-sectional surveys. It is
designed as a time series and is increasingly
providing a unique, long-term account of
the speed and direction of change of public
participation in anti-immigrant behaviour
in contemporary South Africa.
Using this data, researchers have found
that anti-immigrant hate crime is more
widespread than previously thought.
Beginning in 2015, the following item
was added in the survey questionnaire:
Have you taken part in violent action
to prevent immigrants from living or
working in your neighbourhood?
People may be disinclined to disclose
this type of potentially incriminating
information during face-to-face
interviews. But community research
suggests that the stigma attached to
participation in xenophobic activities
may not be as great as we may imagine.
Still, the reader should be aware of
this possible under-reporting of anti-
immigrant behaviour when reviewing
the survey’s results.
A minority of the South African
adult population reported that they
had participated in this form of anti-
immigrant aggression. The share of the
general public who admitted engaging
in violence fluctuated within a very
narrow band over the period 2015-2018.
This shows the willingness of survey
participants to respond to this question
varies by only a small margin between
the two periods. It also suggests a
linear relationship between behavioural
intention and attitudes.
The survey results demonstrate the
ugly reality of violent anti-immigrant
hate crime in South Africa. Although this
is an important and dangerous type of
prejudice, such crime is not the only form
that xenophobia may take. Other forms of
peaceful anti-immigrant discrimination
are also evident in South African society.
Research has shown that more peaceful
forms of anti-immigrant activities
are often the first step in a process of
escalation that leads to xenophobic
violence. Past participation in peaceful
anti-immigrant activity (such as
demonstrations) was found to be a major
determinant of this type of violence.
For this reason, we suggest in our
study, “policymakers should consider
non-violent anti-immigrant activities as
early warning signs of forthcoming anti-
immigrant hate crime”.
Sept. 13 - 19 2019
news analysis
Conclusion
One of the most troubling findings to have
emerged concerned possible participation in
anti-immigrant aggression among those who
had not taken part before. More than one in
ten adults living in South Africa reported in
the 2018 survey that they had not taken part
in violent action against foreign nationals –
but would be prepared to do so. This finding
is quite disturbing given that there may
be under-reporting of the propensity for
violent action. Anti-immigrant stereotypes
were shown to be a robust driver of this
kind of behavioural intention. This suggests
that anti-immigrant attitudes could have
a mobilising effect, spurring individuals
towards acts of violent xenophobia.
The results of this study show that
millions of ordinary South Africans are
prepared to engage in anti-immigrant
behaviour. So it is vital that the resources
dedicated to combating xenophobia be equal
to the size of the problem.
The South African government has a
national action plan to combat racism, racial
discrimination, xenophobia and related
intolerance. The progressive measures put
forward in the plan include immigrant
integration, better law enforcement, civic
education and increased immigrant access to
constitutionally entitled rights.
Recent research suggests that many of
these measures have a degree of public
support. The plan was approved in March
this year. If it’s to work, it requires adequate
resources and support from all sectors of
South African society.
Instead of focusing on short-term
solutions, civil society, foreign governments
and the general public must work with the
state to progressively implement this plan.
Steven Gordon is Senior research specialist,
Human Sciences Research Council
15
NEWS ANALYSIS

An AirBank by LifeBank Dispatch Rider carrying a 1m3 cylinder of oxygen to his dispatch bike for delivery

Start-ups shaping
future of Africa’s cities
Africa also needs urban innovation groups such as Uber
actively reimagining its emerging cities and their slums
By Jonathan Hursh & Emmanuel Adegboye urban, much more needs to be done to shape We define urban innovations as those

B
y the end of the century, it is esti-
mated that 13 of the world’s 20 larg-
est cities will be in Africa – and none
of them will be in the Americas,
China, or Europe.
More than half the world’s population
lives in cities and sub-Saharan Africa is
urbanising faster than anywhere else on the
planet. Sub-Saharan Africa has an average
urban growth rate of 4.1% a year, over dou-
ble the global average. Most of the growth
occurs in informal slums in which about half
of Africa’s urban population already lives.
While it is clear that Africa’s future is
the evolution of its cities, foster collaboration
among stakeholders and fund its urban
infrastructure. Globally, urban start-ups like
Uber and Airbnb are drawing in billions of
dollars in venture capital while organisations
like Sidewalk Labs, URBAN-X and Urban
Us are changing cities and helping to scale
urban innovations across North America.
Africa also needs urban innovation groups
actively reimagining its emerging cities
and their slums. We aim to establish urban
venture studios - CITYLabs - in Lagos and
Nairobi, and to launch a 2020 Africa Megaci-
ty Prize to catalyse the African urban innova-
tion ecosystem.
making cities better for the many, not just
the few. This could be in terms of service or
product innovations across different sectors,
productivity gains, and cost savings or rev-
enue-generation opportunities, as long as
they have a significant impact on the lives of
city dwellers across Africa. We are spotlight-
ing some companies that are already making
a significant impact and we have prioritized
companies that are considered high-poten-
tial, headquartered in Africa and with a pri-
mary focus on Africa.
Here are some of the start-ups shaping the
future of cities across the continent.

16 Sept. 13 - 19 2019
 NEWS ANALYSIS

Adetayo Bamiduro Co-founder/CEO of Max.ng explains his company operations during an interview with Reuters in Lagos, Nigeria May 6, 2019.

Max.ng
Max.ng is a motorcycle taxi service operat-
ing in three Nigerian cities. It has completed
over 1,000,000 rides and is one of Jumia’s
largest delivery partners in West Africa.
There are tremendous opportunities for
motorcycle taxi services in Africa due to inef-
ficiencies in mass transit and growing urban
populations. Their model provides safe and
affordable transportation by offering trained,
accountable drivers and the convenience of
booking rides through a mobile app. They
recently announced $7 million in funding
and are the only motorcycle taxi service
positioning themselves for Africa’s electric
vehicle future by investing in infrastructure
for solar charging stations. This could poten-
tially revolutionise urban mobility as they
plan to expand to 10 West African cities.

Twiga Foods
Food prices are over 30% higher in
sub-Saharan Africa than prices in the rest
of the world at comparable GDP levels per
capita. Much of this is due to inefficiencies in
supply chains and farming practices. Twiga
Foods is a digital marketplace that lets gro-
cers in cities order farm produce from small-
holder farmers in rural areas across Kenya
and have it delivered at competitive prices.
This eliminates the inefficiencies of sourcing
mostly perishable foods daily, while guaran-
teeing farmers consistent income and timely
payments. According to a recent report, Twi-
ga Foods is the largest domestic distributor
of food produce in Kenya, servicing 10,000
vendors in Nairobi and neighbouring coun-
ties through a network of 13,000 farmers.
mPharma
mPharma is eliminating inefficiencies in
the pharmaceuticals supply chain across
Africa. These inefficiencies lead to consum-
ers paying up to three times as much as
patients in western countries. After food,
medicines make up the largest family expen-
diture for most developing countries. This
leads to patients’ inability to buy the drugs
they need when they need them. mPharma
solves this by sourcing and procuring medi-
cines and stocking pharmacies across Africa
at no cost to the pharmacies. They negotiate
lower prices with the best manufacturers
and also provide flexible payment options
for patients. Currently operating in five Afri-
can countries, they manage inventory for a
network of over 200 pharmacies and serve
more than 40,000 patients each month.
LifeBank
Two-thirds of the world’s maternal deaths
per year occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Most
of these are preventable, and many are part-
ly due to a shortage of blood supplies. Life-
Bank was founded by Temie Giwa-Tubosun
to deliver much-needed medical products
such as blood, blood products, oxygen and
vaccines to hospitals across Africa. They
have partnered with Google to cut down
delivery time to less than 45 minutes using
Google Maps and, since 2016, have moved
over 12,000 units of blood to hospitals and
screening centres, thereby saving almost
5,000 lives.
Sendy
Sendy is a parcel delivery service that
operates across Kenya, Uganda and
Tanzania, and links more than 1,000
delivery drivers to customers. The service
is used by over 5,000 businesses and 50,000
individuals to make deliveries which are
insured and can be tracked in real-time
from a mobile app. This leads to greater
efficiency and reduced costs as it leverages a
network of otherwise informally employed
motorcycle, pickup, van and truck drivers.
It also recently launched a freight service for
domestic cargo transport.
This article is part of the World Economic Forum
on Africa
Jonathan Hursh is Founder and Executive
Producer, Utopia and Emmanuel Adegboye is
Managing partner, Utopia Lagos

Sept. 13 - 19 2019 17
news analysis
The power of solid waste
Uganda offers lessons in tapping it
By Shuaib Lwasa
I
n places where
municipalities
continuously fail to
collect and manage
waste, authorities tend to
concentrate their efforts in
a few areas. These are often
in a city’s wealthier sections.
Informal settlements remain
under-served or are not
served at all. And so, waste
accumulates.
Kampala, the capital
of Uganda, is home to
1.5 million residents. It is
growing at an annual rate
of 5.1%. The expansion of
cities like Kampala makes
service provision difficult;
infrastructure is poor and so
are the roads that connect
its neighbourhoods. About
87% of Kampala’s residents
live in informal houses; 78%
have access to electricity
in their houses and only
17% have piped water. An
estimated 1,300 tons per
day of waste are produced
in the city and about 50% is
collected and transported to
the landfill.
In this context, the absence
of waste management and
sanitation has led residents
to come up with solutions
to make usable products out
of organic waste materials.
One such innovation is
producing energy briquettes
from both organic and
human wastes, or fecal
sludge.
Innovations emerge from
the informal sector
Our research shows that
in cities such as Kampala,
many individuals benefit
economically from this
informal sector, which
also improves waste
management services and
addresses climate change.
18 Sept. 13 - 19 2019
Marketing energy briquettes. Shuaib Lwasa
Turning waste into a
reliable source of energy is
not new. Examples can be
found in India, Bangladesh,
Bolivia and many others.
The waste-to-energy method
is designed primarily as
climate change mitigation
to reduce emissions. But
it also has huge potential
to address employment
problems.
This type of economic
activity is not part of the
official urban economic
sector, yet it can greatly
contribute to the economy.
It requires innovation,
community and business
involvement and support
from researchers. A small
briquette-making business
with semi-mechanised
moulding machines would
require an estimated Shs15
million (about 3,700 euros)
to capitalise.
In Kampala, we
observed how this business
model is being used
to promote waste-to-
energy in impoverished
neighbourhoods to create
jobs and expand economic
opportunities.
Tapping a free resource
Making energy briquettes
from organic wastes is
not new; this has been in
production since the 1980s
in Kampala. But there’s
room for even more growth
if businesses of this nature
can grow to medium size.
This can help in recovering
uncollected waste materials
from other neighbourhoods.
In Kampala, organic
materials thrown away
by residents include food
waste, plant leaves and
stems, fecal sludge. This
material is collected by the
groups, dried to reduce
water, crushed and made
into a char. The char is then
mixed with a binder such
as sawdust, dirt or clay
with a little water and fed
into a moulding machine
that produces briquettes of
different sizes and types.
The briquettes are then
dried to reduce the moisture
and packed for sale.
Organic solid wastes
produce greenhouse gasses
when they decompose. So
businesses that reduce the
amount of waste going to
landfills can cumulatively
reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.
Booming “waste” labs in
the slums
We worked with NGOs
such as ACTogether
(affiliated to Slum Dwellers
International) to identify
informal settlements for
piloting the businesses.
We conducted a baseline
study on the nature and
quantities of organic
waste, flows, waste types
and major sources in the

neighbourhoods. This was followed
by consultations with 10 community
producing groups with an average of
15 members, both men and women,
about the possibilities of scaling up the
energy-briquette businesses.
We organised several meetings
and training workshops covering
topics of energy-briquette product
development, business-plan
development, branding and marketing
as well as skills in bookkeeping and
accounting. Community groups are at
different levels in briquette making.
Some were experienced and producing
as much as one ton per week, while
others were just starting out.
The different community producing
groups will be seeded for capital
acquisition of fabricating machines,
carbonising stoves, crushers and
seasoning racks. Established groups,
meanwhile, will require solar dryers,
product branding and marketing
drives.
The producing groups have
established laboratories in the slums
to test the different ingredients before
rolling the products out for sale. And
one of the key sales pitches is the
emissions reduction of the briquettes
compared to charcoal.
A strong organisation
There are also some groups that
collect and deliver the organic wastes
to the fabricating groups. Some take it
further, producing char that they sell
to the groups that make briquettes.
These back-end businesses are
evolving, including hiring youths to
collect organic wastes and transporting
them to the production units. Front-
end businesses involving community
members and youth groups are also
emerging, specialisation in producing
char that’s sold to fabricators.
The community groups are
establishing cooperatives for collective
marketing of the briquettes. The
cooperatives are working on quality
control and standardisation since
the groups produce briquettes
independently.
Briquette quality control involves
looking at the ingredients used, the
carbonisation, mixing ratios and
types of wastes used as a binder. The
binder determines the length of time
that a briquette will burn and thus
its calorific value – that is, the selling
quality in comparison to competitor
products such as charcoal.
Fecal sludge can provide jobs
More than 75% of the households
in Kampala use pit latrines and
only 13% are connected to the sewer
Solid waste in Mulago, Kampala, 2010. The
city’s residents have found ways to recycle
waste into energy.
Briquette machine. Shuaib Lwasa, Author provided
network. This implies that only a small
fraction of human waste is treated. An
innovation has evolved where small
businesses have been established to
collect and transport human waste to
treatment plants.
This emerging economic activity is
creating jobs, which are growing from
Sept. 13 - 19 2019
news analysis
a small to medium scale of operation.
Women and youth groups have
developed waste-collection businesses
that use the gulper technology to
empty pit latrines and transport
materials to sewerage treatment plants
using tricycles with small tanks.
Continuous monitoring of
greenhouse gas emissions from
production through use by households
is important. Our team has established
a protocol for tracking emissions
through periodic measurement at all
the piloting production units during
production and a few households who
are close by that use the briquettes for
cooking.
The branding will also include the
information on the greenhouse gas
emissions produced when briquettes
are burned, and how much is saved
to mitigate climate change. The
hope using this method is that users
will adopt the use of briquette as
individual responsibility toward
saving the planet from warming
further.
A reproducible initiative
The amount of greenhouse gases
generated by Kampala is negligible,
relatively speaking, at an estimated
200g per person and a total of 0.7
million tons of CO2 per year. But
producing energy briquettes from
solid organic waste is an innovation
that can be adopted in other cities that
are searching for alternative pathways
to sustainability.
We are also working with youth
groups that are interested in tapping
the energy from fecal sludge by
transforming it directly into energy
briquettes. This process is still in its
infancy compared to briquettes from
solid organic waste. But it is worth
looking at as we continue exploring
pathways to sustainability that are
inclusive, resilient and sustainable.
Created in 2007 to help accelerate and
share scientific knowledge on key societal
issues, the Axa Research Fund has been
supporting nearly 600 projects around the
world conducted by researchers from 54
countries. To learn more, visit the site of
the Axa Research Fund.
Shuaib Lwasa is a geographer, Makerere
University Kampala
19
OBITUARY

Robert Mugabe during his swearing-in ceremony in Harare, 2008

Robert Mugabe
dies at 95
He was as divisive in death as he was in life
By Roger Southall ernment and its Zimbabwe African National of elections to keep him and his cronies in

R
obert Mugabe, the former president
of Zimbabwe, has died. Mugabe
was 95, and had been struggling
with ill health for some time. The
country’s current President Emmerson
Mnangagwa announced Mugabe’s death on
Twitter on September 6:
The responses to Mnangagwa’s announce-
ment were immediate and widely varied.
Some hailed Mugabe as a liberation hero.
Others dismissed him as a “monster”. This
suggests that Mugabe will be as divisive a
figure in death as he was in life.
The official mantra of the Zimbabwe gov-
20 Sept. 13 - 19 2019
Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) will emphasise
his leadership of the struggle to overthrow
Ian Smith’s racist settler regime in what was
then Rhodesia. It will also extol his subse-
quent championing of the seizure of white-
owned farms and the return of land into
African hands.
In contrast, critics will highlight how –
after initially preaching racial reconciliation
after the liberation war in December 1979 –
Mugabe threw away the promise of the early
independence years. He did this in several
ways; among them a brutal clampdown on
political opposition in Matabeleland in the
1980s, and Zanu-PF’s systematic rigging
power.
They’ll also mention the massive corrup-
tion over which he presided and the econo-
my’s disastrous downward plunge during
his presidency.
Inevitably, the focus will primarily be
on his domestic record. Yet many of those
who will sing his praises as a hero of Afri-
can nationalism will be from elsewhere on
the continent. So where should we place
Mugabe among the pantheon of African
nationalists who led their countries to inde-
pendence?
Slide into despotism

Most African countries have been inde-
pendent of colonial rule for half a century
or more.
The early African nationalist leaders were
often regarded as gods at independence. Yet
they very quickly came to be perceived as
having feet of very heavy clay.
Nationalist leaders symbolised African
freedom and liberation. But few were to
prove genuinely tolerant of democracy and
diversity. One party rule, nominally in the
name of “the people”, became widespread.
In some cases, it was linked to interesting
experiments in one-party democracy, as
seen in Tanzania under Julius Nyerere and
Zambia under Kenneth Kaunda.
Even in these cases, intolerance and
authoritarianism eventually encroached.
Often, party rule was succeeded by military
coups.
In Zimbabwe’s case, Mugabe proved
unable to shift the country, as he had
wished, to one-partyism. However, this did
not prevent Zanu-PF becoming increasing-
ly intolerant over the years in response to
both economic crisis and rising opposition.
Successive elections were shamelessly per-
verted.
When, despite this, Zanu-PF lost control
of parliament in 2008, it responded by rig-
ging the presidential election in a campaign
of unforgivable brutality. Under Mugabe,
the potential for democracy was snuffed out
by a brutal despotism.
A wasted inheritance
Whether the economic policies they pur-
sued were ostensibly capitalist or socialist,
the early African nationalist leaders presid-
ed over rapid economic decline, following
an initial period of relative prosperity after
independence.
In retrospect, it’s widely recognised that
the challenges they faced were immense.
Most post-colonial economies were under-
developed and depended upon the export
of a small number of agricultural or mineral
commodities. From the 1970s, growth was
crowded out by the International Monetary
Fund demanding that mounting debts be
surmounted through the pursuit of structur-
al adjustment programmes. This hindered
spending on infrastructure as well as social
services and education and swelled political
discontent.
In contrast, Mugabe inherited a viable,
relatively broad-based economy that includ-
ed substantial industrial and prosperous
commercial agricultural sectors. Even
though these were largely white controlled,
there was far greater potential for develop-
ment than in most other post-colonial Afri-
can countries.
But, through massive corruption and
mismanagement, his government threw
that potential away. He also presided over
a disastrous downward spiral of the econo-
my, which saw both industry and commer-
cial agriculture collapse. The economy has
never recovered and remains in a state of
acute and persistent crisis today.
On the political front, the rule of some
leaders – like Milton Obote in Uganda and
Siad Barre in Somalia – created so much
conflict that coups and crises drove their
countries into civil war. Zimbabwe under
Mugabe was spared this fate – but perhaps
only because the political opposition in
Matabeleland in the 1980s was so brutalised
after up to 30 000 people were killed, that
they shrank from more conflict. Peace, then,
was merely the absence of outright war.
Some leaders, notably Ghana’s Kwame
Nkrumah and Julius Nyerere in Tanzania,
are still revered for their commitments to
national independence and African unity.
This is despite the fact that, domestically,
their records were marked by failure. By
1966, when Nkrumah was displaced by
a military coup, his one-party rule had
become politically corrupt and repressive.
Despite this, Nyerere always retained
his reputation for personal integrity and
commitment to African development. Both
Nkrumah’s and Nyerere’s ideas continue
to inspire younger generations of political
activists, while other post-independence
leaders’ names are largely forgotten.
Will Mugabe be similarly feted by later
generations? Will the enormous flaws of
his rule be forgotten amid celebrations of
his unique role in the liberation of southern
Africa as a whole?
A Greek tragedy
The problem for pan-Africanist historians
who rush to praise Mugabe is that they will
need to repudiate the contrary view of the
millions of Zimbabweans who have suffered
under his rule or have fled the country to
escape it. He contributed no political ideas
that have lasted. He inherited the benefits as
well as the costs of settler rule but reduced
his country to penury. He destroyed the best
of its institutional inheritance, notably an
efficient civil service, which could have been
put to good use for all.
The cynics would say that the reputation
of Patrice Lumumba, as an African revolu-
tionary and fighter for Congolese unity has
lasted because he was assassinated in 1961.
In other words, he had the historical good
fortune to die young, without the burden of
having made major and grievous mistakes.
In contrast, there are many who would
say that Mugabe simply lived too long, and
his life was one of Greek tragedy: his early
promise and virtue marked him out as
popular hero, but he died a monster whom
history will condemn.
Roger Southall is Professor of Sociology,
University of the Witwatersrand
Source:theconversation
Sept. 13 - 19 2019
OBITUARY
Famous Mugabe moments
Press Interviews
Mugabe had some dazzling
moments with foreign Journalists:
Journalist: Sir, don’t you think 89 years
would be a great time to retire as a
President?
Mugabe: Have you ever asked the
Queen this question or is it just for
African leaders?
Interviewer: Mr President, when are
you bidding the people of Zimbabwe
farewell?
Robert: Where are they going?
On African wealth
“African resources belong to Africa.
Others may come to assist as friends
and allies, but no longer as colonisers
or oppressors, no longer as racists.” -
According to Weekend Post, Mugabe
made this statement in 2015.
On dying
“I have died many times. That is where
I have beaten Christ. Christ died once
and resurrected once. I have died and
resurrected and I don’t know how
many times I will die and resurrect.”
- According to TimesLIVE, he said this
in 2012 on the occasion of his 88th
birthday.
On Stepping down as president
“My decision to resign is voluntary on
my part. It arises from concern for the
welfare of the people of Zimbabwe and
my desire to ensure a smooth, peaceful
and non-violent transfer of power that
underpins national security, peace and
stability.” - According to Sky News, this
was said in 2017.
On Whites
The only white man you can trust is a
dead white man.
21
NEWS ANALYSIS
Uganda tourism ranking
exposes best prospects
Country tops on natural resources, price competitiveness
By Independent Reporter
T
he latest Travel & Tourism (T&T)
Competitiveness Report 2019 shows
the challenges of implementing a
business strategy for Uganda’s tour-
ism sector.
The T&T Competitiveness Index (TTCI)
measures factors and policies that enable the
development and competitiveness of a coun-
try’s travel and tourism sector.
It ranks Uganda at position 112 on T&T
competiveness out of 140 countries sur-
veyed. That is 25 spots ahead of Burundi
which at 137 is the worst ranked in East Afri-
ca and 30 spots behind Kenya which is the
best ranked. Rwanda is at 107 and Tanzania
at 95.
This report is important for Uganda which
has been pushing hard to improve its T&T
sector competitiveness. The sector earned the
country US$1.3 billion in FY2018/19 from a
low US$498 billion ten years ago. It projected
to bring in US$2.7 billion annually in the
short-run. In 2018 the country recorded 1.6
million international tourist arrivals.
Uganda has recently launched a national
airline specifically to boost its travel and
tourism, pumped an extra Shs60 billion to fix
so-called tourism roads, and concentrated on
developing hotel infrastructure near nature
reserves, and rehabilitation of new and old
cultural and heritage sites.
To get the full picture of what the ranking
means starts by noting that the sub-Saharan
region where Uganda is located geograph-
ically scores the least on the T&T ranking.
Sub-Saharan Africa comprises 34 of the
ranked countries or just 24% but 16 of the 20
22 Sept. 13 - 19 2019
lowest ranked countries are from the region.
Yemen in the Middle East is the worst
ranked at 140 but Chad is right next at 139.
The ranking has four general cluster indi-
ces, broken into 14 pillars, namely: Enabling
Environment (Business Environment, Safety
and Security, Health and Hygiene, Human
Resource and Labour market, ICT Readi-
ness), Policy and Enabling Environment
(Prioritisation of T&T, International Open-
ness, Price Competitiveness, and Environ-
mental Sustainability) , Infrastructure (Air
transport, Ground and Port, Tourism Service
Infrastructure), and Natural and Cultural
Resources (Natural resources and Cultural
resources and business travel).
The top ranked countries on the index;
Spain, France, Germany, Japan, and USA are
not necessarily the best on any of the 14 pil-
lars. Instead, they score highly in each while
other countries score highly on one pillar but
are poor on another.
The leaders to benchmark on some of the
pillars are: enabling environment (Switzer-
land), Business Environment (Hong Kong),
Safety and Security (Finland), Health and
Hygiene (Austria), Human Resource and
Labour market (USA), ICT Readiness (Hong
Kong), Policy and Enabling Environment
(New Zealand) (Prioritisation of T&T (Mal-
ta), International Openness (New Zealand),
Price Competitiveness (Iran), and Environ-
mental Sustainability (Switzerland) , Infra-
structure (USA), Air transport (Canada),
Ground and Port (Hong Kong), Tourism
Service Infrastructure (Portugal)), and Natu-
ral resources (Mexico) and Cultural resourc-
es and business travel (China).
Uganda scores highly
Since each of the four clusters has a weight
of 25%, it means the Natural and Cultural
Resources cluster carries the most weight –
and Uganda scores very highly here.
This cluster covers number of World
Heritage natural sites, known species, total
protected areas, natural tourism, and attrac-
tiveness of natural assets. Based on these,
Uganda scores very highly at number 38
globally. Regionally, however, the score
is no so impressive since neighbouring
countries are equally, if not better, endowed
than Uganda. Tanzania is ranked number
12 globally followed by Kenya at 18. Only
Rwanda at 88 and Burundi at 124 lag behind
Uganda.
But Uganda has a bonus. It is among the
most competitive on price. Only eight Afri-
can countries are more competitive on price;
three of them in North Africa and five in
Sub-Saharan Africa. All of them do not have
natural resources equal to Uganda. Should
Uganda, therefore, strategise to compete on
price or on natural resources?
Kenya and Tanzania which have more
natural resources are a bit more costly to
visit. Kenya is ranked 90 globally and Tanza-
nia 65. So Uganda at 39 easily beats them on
price competiveness. But winning on price
could be a poisoned chalice. It might mean
attracting the cheapest travellers looking for
a bargain. In this case, Uganda could be pric-
ing it rich natural heritage cheaply.
Compare that with Kenya which sells
enjoyment of its natural resources for a pre-
mium. It is one of the most expensive places
to visit in Africa at rank 110 globally. Apart
from a few odd destinations, only Seychelles
 NEWS ANALYSIS
and Mauritius are more expen- and Western Africa comes
sive. Kenya’s strategy appears from better ground and port Uganda Rankings on T & T index
to make sense because the most infrastructure. However, it is
expensive destinations are the on natural resources where the
UK and Switzerland, which are sub-region outperforms the
among the world’s top 10 tour- global average. Natural Resources
ism and travel destinations. If This year, Eastern Africa Natural & Cultural resources Prize Competitneies
you have it, do not undersell it, lost competitiveness on seven Country Rank
Country Rank Country Rank
appears to be the logic here. pillars. The biggest declines Uganda 38
Then there are countries like came from cultural resources Tanzania 12 Tanzania 39 Uganda 39
Rwanda. It performs very poor- and business travel, health and Kenya 18 Kenya 42 Tanzania 65
ly on the natural resources but hygiene and tourist service Rwanda 88
Uganda 55 75
Burundi
is quite most expensive in the infrastructure. However, these Burundi 124
DRC 53 Seychelles 136
East African region, at rank 90 losses were offset by strong
just behind Kenya. Why? The growth on price competitive- Safety & Security South Africa 17 Mauritius 123
country has positioned itself ness and enhancements to air Rwanda 118 Rwanda 90
Country Rank
well in other areas. Take Safety and ground infrastructure.
Uganda 116 Burundi 131 Kenya 110
and Security. Rwanda is ranked Of the 10 economies ranked
Kenya 119
at number 31 globally and the in 2017, five decreased in
Tanzania 97
second most competitive Afri- competitiveness and all but International openiness
can country in this area after one dropped in ranking. For Nigeria 139 ICT Readings
Morocco. Mauritius follows example, Rwanda (107th) Rwanda 31
Country Rank Country Rank
Rwanda at a distant 46 rank. experienced the biggest decline,
Uganda is at 116, Kenya 119, dropping 10 places, due mainly Kenya 169 Tanzania 70
Tourism Service
and Tanzania at 97. to worsening health conditions Infrastructure Rwanda 110 Ethiopa 105
Rwanda also scores highly (112th to 129th) that were Tanzania 125 Rwanda 73
on Business Environment. It is caused primarily by a spike in Country Rank
Burundi 139 Uganda 82
ranked 35 globally. That is third malaria (118th to 140th). Tanzania 120
best position on the African Burundi (137th) is the low- Rwanda 122 Uganda 124 Kenya 85
continent. Only Mauritius and est-ranked economy in Eastern Uganda 124 Burundi 132
Botswana are more competitive. Africa but had the highest Burundi 140
Rwanda scores well on envi- percentage increase in com- Kenya 103 Human Resorce &
Prioritisation of T&T
ronmental sustainability; where petitiveness. Globally, it ranks Labour market
it is ranked globally at number last in terms of tourist service Country Rank Country Rank
Environment
38. That is the fourth best rank infrastructure and, in value Sustainability Kenya 79 Mauritius 5
in Sub-Saharan Africa. terms, lags behind the Eastern
Then Rwanda throws in Africa average in terms of T&T Country Rank Rwanda 86 Seychelles 9
median perform on Interna- prioritization (134th). Burundi’s Kenya 36 Seychelles 39 Tanzania 59
tional Openness (ranked 73), increased competitiveness came
Rwanda 38 Tanzania 125 Uganda 93
Human Resource (ranked 86), from improved T&T enabling
and Price Competitiveness. conditions and, in particular, Tanzania 50 Uganda 98 Rwanda 102
Even when it scores dismally on price competitiveness, where it Uganda 83 Burundi 104
other pillars of competitiveness, moved up seven places to 75th.
Brazil 93
Rwanda emerges as third most The highest-scoring country Business Environment
competitive country in the East in the sub region is Mauritius Country Rank
African region after Kenya and (54th), which is also the highest Ground & Port Infrastructure
Air Infrastructure
Mauritius 17
Tanzania. It is more competitive scorer in the entire Sub-Saharan
than Uganda and Burundi. Africa region. The country is Country Rank Country Rank Botswana 34
Sub-Saharan Africa’s top scorer Kenya 74 Uganda 113 South Africa 57
Regional performance when it comes to T&T prior- Rwanda 118 Tanzania 95 Uganda 95
Eastern Africa is a close sec- itization—where it ranks 5th
Burundi 131 Burundi 108 Rwanda 35
ond to Southern Africa in terms globally—due to government
of competitiveness but did focus on the industry including Uganda 127 Rwanda 63 Kenya 60
experience stagnation since the relatively high government Tanzania 94 Kenya 69 Tanzania 108
last edition of the report. expenditure (4th) in the sector.
Overall, Eastern Africa tops Regarding T&T GDP size,
Cultural Resources &
the broader Sub-Saharan Africa Eastern Africa is dominated by Health & Hygiene
Business Travel Infrastructure
average on nine pillars, ties on Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania,
three, and is the top-ranked sub with Ethiopia (122nd) the larg- Country Rank Country Rank Country Rank
region on seven. Compared est of the three. The country Uganda 81 Kenya 90 Tanzania 126
to the Sub-Saharan Africa has the sub region’s largest
Rwanda 121 Uganda 124 Rwanda 129
average, it maintains a minor population but lags behind
disadvantage regarding price Eastern Africa’s average on the Burundi 134 Tanzania 110 Burundi 119
competitiveness, which is still majority of the 14 TTCI pillars. Tanzania 112 Rwanda 106 Kenya 118
its highest-scoring pillar, and a Most notably, Ethiopia has an Kenya 84 Uganda 136
Burundi 134
larger gap on ICT readiness. underdeveloped overall T&T
Eastern Africa’s most signifi- infrastructure (128th).
cant advantages over Southern

Sept. 13 - 19 2019 23
Why Uganda Clays recorded
Shs722million loss
Performance was dented by routine factory
maintenance and spikes in operating costs
C
By Julius Businge
lay products maker, Uganda
Clays Limited, has recorded a
Shs722million loss. But com-
pany officials say the future is
bright.
Financial results released on
Sep.04 indicate that the loss in question was
for the period ended June 30, 2019.
It is partly attributed to reduced produc-
tion and increased operational cost.
The company’s cost of sales increased
from Shs8.6bn to Shs11.2bn. Last year, the
listed firm recorded a Shs1.2bn net profit
and another Shs14.4bn net profit was made
in 2017. It however recorded an increase in
total revenue from Shs14.4bn to Shs14.9bn
during the period under review.
This comes as competition in the clay
products for the building and construction
industry is increasing owed to entry of new
players and imports. George Inholo, the
managing director and Martin Kasekende,
the Chairman Board of Directors at UCL
said in a notice that the decline in profits was
attributed to a routine machine shutdown
at the Mbale based - Kamonkoli plant for
maintenance and a reduction in the firing
capacity occasioned by scarcity of the main
24 Sept. 13 - 19 2019
fuel source – coffee husks.
The firm’s increase in the overhead costs,
officials said, was attributed to legal costs
incurred in the pursuit of compensation
from Uganda National Roads Authority for
the compulsory acquisition of company land
at Kajjansi, and an increase in internet costs
following the connectivity and integration
of all the sales locations to the head office as
part of the implementation of the Enterprise
Resource Platform (ERP).
However, the company’s current assets
remained flat at Shs23.4bn in the first half of
2019 compared to the same figure recorded
in the same period last year.
On the other hand, liabilities reduced from
Shs4.6bn to Shs4.4bn during the same period
under review. The company’s share price
has largely remained unchanged at average
of Shs14 per share.
The firm remains strong
Amidst the loss for the first half of this
year, Inholo says the company remains
strong and determined to continue taking
lead in the clay products business.
He says they are using a production
approach that is largely market driven as
well as strengthening the distribution points
through dealers. The firm has recently
opened up distribution points in Arua, Lira,
Gulu, Hoima, Mbarara, Fort Portal, Kabale
and several others in Kampala Ntinda,
Lugogo, Bukasa areas in bid to get closer to
the customers.
More selling points are expected to be
opened in the due course, according to Inho-
lo. “With these outlets, our customers don’t
need to come to our manufacturing points,”
Inholo told The Independent in a recent
interview. He said the firm is working on
new products to match the changing tastes
and preferences for customers. Other areas
the company is working on to improve are
health and safety for staff.
The company also wants farmers to grow
more coffee to be able to get more coffee
husks used in the making of the products.
Key facts and figures
UCL has been in the business of man-
ufacturing quality baked clay building
products since 1950. It became publically
owned after listing on the Uganda Securities
Exchange in 2000. It uses hoffman kilns to
currently provide the building materials in
a brick –red color. It operates two factories
– Kajjansi which churns 300 tones of clay a
day and Kamonkoli which does 200 tons a
day. The company exports to South Sudan
and the Democratic Republic of Congo and
is exploring other new markets in the region.
The company’s total number of staff is 325.
It controls about 60% of the clay sector busi-
ness in Uganda. It also features among the
top 100 taxpayers in the country.

Pushing for a green
economy and clean energy
Africa is grappling with myriad environmental and climate challenges, from drought to loss of
biodiversity, cyclones and plastics pollution. Africa Renewal’s Zipporah Musau spoke with the
United Nations Environment Programme’s Deputy Executive Director, Joyce Msuya, on how
African countries can mitigate some of these challenges and the opportunities ahead.
What are some of the major environmental
challenges facing Africa today and how can
I
they be addressed?
would summarize the biggest environ-
mental challenges facing Africa today
in four categories. One is the impact of
climate change, considering that most
African economies still depend on the agri-
culture sector. The second is loss of biodiver-
sity because this impacts food security and
natural ecosystems. The third is energy, as
many African economies are growing fast
and require sufficient energy. Lastly, looking
at the demographic trends, there is a lot of
growth in urban areas with populations
moving to cities. This brings challenges, in-
cluding that of waste management.
Are there any opportunities?
There are exciting opportunities. After
the Paris Agreement, there was a global
commitment and political will to address
climate change. We are currently working
with African countries to help them develop
national plans in mitigation and adaptation.
On nature, next year there will be a big glob-
al meeting in China on the Convention on
Biological Diversity, offering African mem-
ber states the opportunity to shape the global
biodiversity agenda by sharing strategies
that are working well and can be replicated
elsewhere. Africa is endowed with many
hours of unobstructed sunlight; how can
we promote more usage of solar energy and
other renewables to fuel Africa’s economies?
UNEP has been pushing for a green econo-
my by promoting low carbon, resource ef-
ficient and socially inclusive policies. How
can African countries tap into this?
Push for cleaner sources of energy. We
are already seeing several developments
in this. If you follow what is happening
in South Africa, trying to move its heavy
manufacturing industrial sector from being
dependent on coal to cleaner energy…it is a
slow process. Transition from bad sources
of energy to renewables takes time. Then
we have banning deforestation and making
green economy plans. Countries like Ethio-
pia, Ghana and South Africa are moving in
this direction. It needs ministers of environ-
ment to work very closely with ministers
of finance to develop these plans. UNEP is
using its convening role to help member
states do this. UN Environment supports
and showcases science-informed policies
that have the potential to transform humani-
ty’s relationship with our environment.
What are some of the ways African coun-
tries can deal with the plastic menace?
Governments, citizens, the private sector
and civil society all have a role to play when
it comes to plastics. There are four ways
that African governments and citizens can
help with the menace. First is leadership
and political will to actually put in place
regulations to ban single-use plastics and
promote reuse of smart plastics. The second
is for the citizens to make smart choices,
children telling their parents ‘mama, papa,
please don’t buy plastics’. Consumer choices
can influence the environmental footprint
of plastics. Third, we need to celebrate and
advance homegrown advocacy such as the
“Flip Flopi,” an indigenous innovation from
Kenya where a boat has been made entirely
out of plastics found on beaches. It recently
sailed from Lamu to Zanzibar to raise aware-
ness.
Sept. 13 - 19 2019
business
Lastly, partnerships with the private sec-
tor. If you look at good examples of where
single-use plastics have been banned, there
have been engagements between govern-
ments and the private sector to encourage
them to find alternative and more sustain-
able ways to replace plastics bags.
Part of UNEP’s role is to promote the shar-
ing of these experiences. A number of coun-
tries in Africa, including my own, Tanzania,
and also Kenya, are looking at how they can
preserve the national parks to sustain the
tourism industry and people’s livelihoods.
And finally, we need to see how we can
address the plastic menace by introducing
more circularity into economies. This is
where capacity-building support for govern-
ments will be critical.
How is UNEP helping member states
in Africa to achieve SDGs and the 2030
Sustainable Development Agenda? In
particular, how is UNEP coordinating with
pan-African organisations such as the Afri-
can Union to address the effects of climate
change?
UN Environment supports and showcas-
es science-informed policies that have the
potential to transform humanity’s relation-
ship with our environment. We also host
global platforms – from the UN Environ-
ment Assembly to international financial
networks to multilateral environmental
agreements – that catalyze action. And we
advocate, working with citizens across the
world, to inspire change. However, we
cannot do it alone because the scale of the
challenge is huge but there are enormous
opportunities to make a difference and
so partnerships are critical. For political
advocacy we are engaging with the African
Union through our office in Addis Ababa.
We provide policy advice, technical assis-
tance and capacity building. We are working
with NEPAD and talking to the East African
Community to see how we can support the
sub-regional and regional initiatives. I was
in Cape Town, South Africa, earlier this year,
with other regional bodies, to learn how
countries develop green economic plans.
25
business
Workers at a factory
Fight over Minimum Wage Bill
The arguments for are as varied as
those against the minimum wage
By Patricia Akankwatsa
A
fresh fight is looming between
workers’ unions and representa-
tives in Parliament and the govern-
ment over new proposals to have a
minimum wage law.
President Yoweri Museveni returned the
proposed Minimum Wage Bill 2018 to Par-
liament on Aug.21 saying the new proposals
as contained in the Minimum Wage Bill 2018
are already covered in the existing law.This,
President Museveni said, was based on the
advice from the Attorney General, William
Byaruhanga.
However, the architect of the proposed
law, Arinaitwe Rwakajara, who also serves as
Workers’ Member of Parliament, says he
plans to re-table the Bill in Parliament.
He says the President was ill advised to
think that there exist laws that cater for the
minimum wage for the working population.
A minimum wage is the minimum sum
of money payable to a worker for work per-
formed or services rendered within a given
period to cover the minimum needs of the
worker, his or her family, in light of national
economic and social conditions, according to
the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Rwakajara says the Bill seeks to address the
gaps in the current Minimum Wage Advi-
sory Board Act by providing for an employ-
26 Sept. 13 - 19 2019
ee-employer led minimum wage determina-
tion based on various sectors.
“Currently, people cannot dictate what
they wish to be paid and therefore live at the
mercy of their employers. This is something
we intend to correct,” he said.
The proposed law which was passed by
Parliament in February this year seeks to
empower the Minister of Gender, Labour
and Social Development to appoint a Mini-
mum Wages Board to fix all minimum wag-
es for various sectors.
The Bill also intends to give mandate to
the labour minister to announce the mini-
mum wages annually for both public and
private sectors.
The idea of minimum wage legislation
was first pioneered in Australia and New
Zealand (then British Colonies) from whom
Great Britain adopted the minimum wage.
According to Matthew B. Hammond in
his paper, ’the Minimum Wage in Great
Britain and Australia,’ the motive behind
the establishment of the minimum wage in
British Australia was two-fold; to ‘prevent
strikes and lock outs’ and to halt the ‘pay-
ment by an employer to his workers of a
wage that is insufficient to purchase for them
the necessities of life.’
Currently, only Kenya and Tanzania have
minimum wage-related laws in the East Afri-
can region. However, in Uganda, the ques-
tion whether to fix a minimum wage for the
labour market remains unresolved for some
time now for fear that it will increase the cost
of production and hinder the country’s faster
economic growth and development.
Even a constitutional petition filed by the
Platform for Labour Action in 2006 to chal-
lenge ‘the current minimum wage’ as being
‘inconsistent with the Constitution’ was dis-
missed on technicalities.
Currently, the minimum wage stands at
Shs 6,000 that was set up in 1984.
The National Organisation of Trade
Unions (NOTU) chairperson, Wilson Usher
Owere, told The Independent in an interview
that there is need for the Bill to create harmo-
ny in the work environment.
“The minimum wage can help minimize
injustice and exploitation of workers,” he
said, adding that President was misled by
the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social
Development, Janat Mukwaya.
Owere said President Museveni must
heed to the directive of International Labour
Organisation to put in place a minimum
wage.
“What the old law provides is to reg-
ulate everything but the bill provides to
regulate sector by sector,” he said. “We
have a formal and informal sector, they
earn differently, so their minimum wage
has to be different too.”
 Executive Style
GoldStar eyes sector opportunities
Give a brief description of
GoldStar Insurance ser-
W
vices in Uganda?
e were incor-
porated in 1994
but started
business in 1996
when the industry was in its
infancy stage by then. Our
philosophy was to try to
change the industry and im-
prove its image. We focus on
providing excellent service
to our customers. We also
mainly focus on the corpo-
rate sector which includes
companies, NGOs and gov-
ernment parastatals. Our
company is well capitalized
and is meeting all industry
standards. We have trained
professional staff.
What are the various prod-
ucts that you offer on the
market?
We are in general insur-
ance services. We do fire,
engineering, motor, workers
compensation, fidelity guar-
antees and all other products
under general insurance. We
are prudent underwriters – if
the risk is not good, we do not
underwrite it – that is why we
are not doing medical insur-
ance at the moment. There are
other products that we do on
an accommodation basis – like
marine and customs bonds. We
also do travel insurance largely
for executive clients.
What makes your products
different from those offered by
other players?
It is a question of choice of our
clients. We get to know our cus-
tomers by carrying out careful
analysis of risks involved. It is
because of that that we are able
to make profits every year since
we started our business.
What is your overall contribu-
tion to the economy?
We have about 30 staff and
10 agents. We underwrite on
average between Shs25-28bn
per year. We pay corporation
tax amounting to Shs1bn a year.
In addition we pay PAYE, VAT
Azim Tharani, is the Managing Director for GoldStar
Insurance Company Limited. He spoke to The
Independent’s Julius Businge about industry opportunities
which pushes our overall tax
contribution to Shs5bn per year.
On average, our growth claims
amount to Shs6-7bn per year.
What is your comment on the
view that insurance market in
Uganda is saturated?
It is not saturated. It is a
question of how companies tap
into the market. On average,
annual premium income per
company is between US$1-2
million in this market which is
much lower than what other
countries like Kenya and Tan-
zania report. From that stand
point, one can argue that the
market is saturated. However,
when you look at the other side
of business, the penetration rate
of the industry is less than 1% of
GDP compared to Kenya which
is at 3%. Rwanda’s is also higher
than ours. As Uganda Insurers
Association, we are working to
increase penetration because we
believe there is a market. With
now bancassurance, penetration
is set to improve further.
There is a talk about the
planned national health insur-
ance scheme supporting boost-
ing penetration…
I don’t know how it is going
to be implemented with the
private sector. There are many
Health Membership Organisa-
tion’s like IAA, AAR offering
medical insurance and are reg-
ulated by IRA. There are certain
laws that are not enforced. For
instance, government law stip-
ulates that if you are a company
and you want to do business
in Uganda, all your insurance
should be done through locally
licensed insurance companies.
This is not entirely happening.
Also workers compensation
is mandatory on all employ-
ers but that has not fully been
implemented. Marina insurance
– most importers let their suppli-
ers arrange insurance products
from abroad instead of buying
it from us. But we are engaging
the government through the
regulator to have these policies
and laws implemented.
How are you contributing to
government’s high profile de-
velopment projects?
We have participated in
Karuma and Isimba hydropow-
er projects as well as Entebbe
Sept. 13 - 19 2019
Express Highway. We are
the insurers of the Airport
in Hoima. The oil and gas
sector is lucrative but has
potential risks. We have
formed a consortium called
Insurance Consortium for
Oil and Gas of Uganda
amongst ourselves (15
insurance companies) for
which I am the chairman.
This is aimed at helping
us pull resources together
to offer insurance services
to the sector. We have
informed all sector players
and the regulator is sup-
porting us on this.
What is your view on risk
based supervision that the
regulator is planning to
implement?
It is a good move because
it allows the regulator and
the players to ensure com-
panies do not underwrite
risks beyond their capital.
The minimum capital required
now is Shs4bn to set up an insur-
ance company for life and non-
life. Our capital is Shs10bn. We
have not stuck to the minimum
capital. The regulator has car-
ried out risk based supervision
calculation basing on type of
risks we underwrite, loss ratio
and re-insurance arrangements.
I am told GoldStar is one of the
three companies meeting the
requirement of Risk Based Cap-
ital. My personal view is that
if they want us to move to risk
based capital, the regulator must
allow the players to determine
the pricing of the products. The
government and the regulator
must have confidence in us and
appreciate the fact that we are
commercial enterprises. It is
possible for this move to cause
mergers and acquisitions.
Where do you want to see
GoldStar in the next 3-5 years?
We want to remain relevant in
the industry. For that to happen,
we will stick on the four pillars
of our business – strong financial
capital base, good re-insurance,
excellent service and use of pro-
fessional/qualified staff.
27
business
TECH BANKING

Experts call for new ‘alliance for digitalisation’ Stanbic PMI shows decline

N
ew digital services services or online market up digitalisation to reach in business activity

designed to boost
African agriculture
could reach 250
million farmers by 2030
but only with coordinated
efforts across the continent,
the African Green Revolu-
tion Forum heard.
 Investment into digital
innovations has so far been
piecemeal across sub-Saha-
ran Africa, achieving only
six per cent penetration,
according to a recent report
by the Technical Centre
for Agricultural and Rural
Cooperation (CTA) and Dal-
berg Advisors. But new tools
aimed at smallholder farm-
ers, such as mobile advisory
MANUFACTURING
Local manufacturers advised to manage their risk
platforms, could transform
food production across
Africa with the support and
guidance of a dedicated
alliance for digitalisation, the
authors of the report said.
 Presenting the findings
of the Digitalisation of
African Agriculture Report
2018-2019 at the African
Green Revolution Forum
(AGRF), Michael Hailu,
Director of CTA, said: “The
potential for digital tech-
nologies and innovations
to transform agriculture in
Africa is enormous but there
is currently no mechanism
to promote partnership and
channel investments to scale
millions of smallholder
farmers.”
 “An alliance for digital-
isation bringing together
governments, donors, inves-
tors, international bodies,
farmer organisations and
the agribusinesses should be
created to advance inclusive,
sustainable digitalisation for
agriculture across Africa.”
 Hailu delivered the
report to the AGRF, which
also recognised the growing
importance of digitalisa-
tion in agriculture with the
theme “Grow Digital: Lever-
aging digital transformation
to drive sustainable food
systems in Africa.”
T
he Stanbic Jibran Qureishi,
Purchase Regional Economist
Managers E.A. at Stanbic Bank
Index (PMI) commented: “The
for August posted a latest PMI reading
slight decline in its continues to anchor
headline registering our view that
57.5, down from domestic demand
the reading of 58.2 in Uganda has been
in July. However, performing well. In
the PMI still scored fact, despite the like-
above the average lihood that the Final
since the survey be- Investment Decision
gan in June 2016. (FID) on commercial
The survey, spon- oil production could
sored by Stanbic be postponed into
Bank and produced 2020, we doubt that
by IHS Markit, indi- economic growth
cates that improving will suffer just
demand led to a because of this post-
rise in new orders ponement.”
in August, the thir- He said the
ty-first in as many on-going public
months. As a result, investment in

U
gandan businesses
that do not plan
for future mishaps
may end up
paying a heavy price in the
course of their operations.
“From supply chain
to reputational risks,
internal and external fraud,
cybercrime and trade credit
risks to management of
millennial employees,
today’s manufacturer has
to set up a robust Risk
Management Program
to survive these complex
hurdles amidst a very
competitive environment,”
Maurice Amogola, the Chief
Executive Officer of Minet
Uganda said on Aug.30.
Amogola, who was
speaking during a meeting
for local businesses under
the theme ‘Building Resilient
Businesses; Understanding
how the smallest and most
negligible risks can be the
biggest disaster,’ aimed at
showing manufacturers
how to prepare for risks
and handle them to avoid
business activity infrastructure, in
financial losses. also increased. In addition to strong
Uganda Chamber of both cases, expan- domestic demand
Minerals and Petroleum sions were seen driven by the private
president, Elly Karuhanga, across the agricul- sector will continue
said manufacturers and ture, construction, to keep GDP growth
business people need to industry, services on a multi-year basis
always consult financial and wholesale and above the 6.0% level.
risk advisers to effectively retail sectors.
identify and manage
emerging risks in order to
maximize returns.
A 2019 survey conducted
by insurer, Aon, listed
economic slowdown
(slow recovery), damage
to reputation or brand,
accelerated rates of change
in market factors and
business interruption among
the top five risks facing
businesses.

ECONOMY

Africa’s CEOs see less economic growth-PWC

A
frican business leaders are less
optimistic about the strength of the
global economy and their organ-
isations’ ability to grow revenues
in both the short and medium term than
they were a year ago. A quarter of African
CEOs (25%) believe that the global economy
will decline over the next 12 months. These
are some of the key findings from the 7th
edition of PwC’s Africa Business Agenda
2019 report, launched at the biannual World
Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town on
Sept.04. The unease about global economic
growth is also dampening CEOs’ confidence
about their own companies’ outlook in the
short term, with 27% of CEOs stating they
are ‘very confident’ in their own companies’
prospects for revenue growth over the next
12 months.
Furthermore, only 39% are ‘very confi-
dent’ about their organisations’ growth pros-
pects over the next three years.
Dion Shango, CEO for PwC Africa, African
CEOs are less confident about the prospects
for the global economy than they were a
year ago. The results come from a survey of
83 CEOs across 19 African countries.

28 Sept. 13 - 19 2019
 business

Umeme to venture
into solar energy
By The Independent operation includes among oth-

E
lectricity distributor,
Umeme is contemplat-
ing venturing into solar
mini-grids and rooftop
panels to serve areas that are
yet to be connected to the na-
tional grid.
The firm plans to pilot the
first solar project in Kayunga
District, some 150 kilometres
North East of Kampala City.
However, no date has been set
NSSF Managing Director, Richard Byarugaba, commissions a lactating for the start of the project.
centre for the Fund’s staff at the Workers House in Kampala on Umeme’s Managing Direc-
Sept.06.   INDEPENDENT/ALFRED OCHWO tor, Selestino Babungi, said
during the public hearing for
the company’s licence renewal
on Sept.03 that they are com-
mitted to “delivering clean
energy to all consumers across
the country in the fastest pos-
sible way”. This development
comes as only approximately
20% of the population is con-
nected to the national grid,
with the remaining percentage
relying on fossil and wood fuel
for lighting and cooking. Ugan-
da has recently experienced a
surge in the development of
mini-grids across the country to
boost on the electricity access.
Among those already in
Makerere University AG Communication Manger, Dr Muhammad Kigundu
(R) speaks to the media about the upcoming 3rd Makerere Run to be held
on Sept 15. Looking on are; Matia Kabuye (C) AG director planning and
development and Gloria Nakyeyune, Fund Administrator at the Makerere
Endowment Fund.  INDEPENDENT/ALFRED OCHWO
ers; the 1.6 megawatt PV diesel
hybrid mini-grid by Kalangala
Infrastructure Services, Abso-
lute Energy Africa’s 230 kilo-
watt (kW) mini-grid in Kitobo
Island, a 64kW biomass gasifi-
cation project by Pamoja Ener-
gy Limited, Remergy Energy
A/S’ 5kW project in Kasese
District, a 27kW PV mini-grid
in Kyenjojo District.
World Bank studies suggests
that mini grids have the poten-
tial to provide electricity to as
many as 500 million people by
2030, with the right policies and
about $220 billion of invest-
ment to build around 210,000
mini grids.
The global bank said over
the past decade, mini grid costs
have declined significantly,
while the quality of service
has increased. The per kWh
cost of mini grid electricity is
expected to decrease by two
thirds by 2030. “Significantly
more mini grids will need
to be deployed in the top 20
electricity access deficit coun-
tries – from 10-50 mini grids
currently deployed each year
per country to over 1,600,”
the bank said in its study.

Weekly share price movement (Sep. 03)

Security Sep. 03 Aug.08 Movement
BATU 30,000 30000 00
BOBU 130 128 1.5
CENT 1,037 1,157 10.3
QCL 130 130 00
DFCU 650 650 00
EABL 6,985 7,243 3.5
EBL 1,422 1,446 00
JHL 13,177 13,261 0.6
KA 89 105 15.2
KCB 1,430 1,411 1.3
NIC 12 12 00
NMG 1,356 1,609 15.7
NVL 325 329 1.2
SBU 28 29 3.4
UCHM 10 12 16.6
Japanese Ambassador to Uganda, Kazuaki Kameda, speaks to the youths who UCL 14 14 00
had returned from trainings and studies in the Asian nation at Shangai restaurant UMEME 297 297 00
in Kampala on Sept 5.     INDEPENDENT/ALFRED OCHWO ALSI -- -- --

Sept. 13 - 19 2019 29
 Vegetarian
heart health
Study identifies benefits and risks

T
By Agencies
he authors of a large,
long term study conclude
that pescatarianism and
vegetarianism have an
association with a reduced
risk of ischemic heart
disease, but they note that vegetarians
have a slightly higher risk of stroke.
Over recent years, increasing
numbers of people have decided to
reduce the amount of meat in their
diet.
Vegetarians, vegans, and
pescatarians (people who eat fish but
not meat) are a growing demographic.
Following any one of these meat-free
diets is nothing new, but due to the
spike in popularity, researchers are
keen to understand the possible health
implications.
A recent study, which features in
`BMJ’, looks specifically at plant based
diets and their effect on the risk of
stroke and ischemic heart disease
(IHD).

30 Sept. 13 - 19 2019

IHD refers to any problems that
occur due to a narrowing of the arteries
to the heart. Without treatment, it can
lead to a heart attack.
What do we already know?
Earlier studies have concluded that
vegetarians have a lower risk of obesity
and IHD, but as a review of relevant
research explains, there is a need for
more long term studies involving
larger numbers of people.
As for stroke risk, only a few studies
have looked into the relationship
between a plant based diet and stroke
risk. According to the authors of
the current study, these “found no
significant differences in risk of total
stroke deaths between vegetarians and
non-vegetarians.”
The latest study aimed to fill in some
of these gaps. In all, the scientists took
data from 48,188 people whom they
followed for an average of 18.1 years.
The participants, who had an
average age of 45 years at the start of
the study, had no history of IHD or
stroke.
The researchers assigned each
participant to one of three groups:
Meat eaters: people who reported
eating meat
Fish eaters: those who ate fish but
no meat
Vegetarians and vegans: people
who did not eat meat or fish
The team combined vegans with
vegetarians for the main analysis due
to the small number of vegans in the
dataset.
Using food questionnaires, the
researchers could also assess overall
food intake and nutrient levels.
Aside from dietary information, they
collected information about factors
such as body mass index (BMI), height,
and blood pressure.
A double edged sword
During the 18.1 years of follow-up,
there were 2,820 cases of IHD and 1,072
cases of stroke.
After adjusting for sociodemographic
and lifestyle factors, the analysis
revealed both positive and negative
relationships between cardiovascular
health and reduced meat intake.
The rate of IHD among pescatarians
was 13% lower than that of meat eaters,
while vegetarians had a rate that was
22% lower. To put these numbers into
perspective, the authors explain:
“This difference was equivalent to 10
fewer cases of ischemic heart disease
(...) in vegetarians than in meat eaters
per 1,000 population over 10 years.”
According to the authors, this
positive association appears to be,
at least partly, due to lower rates of
hypertension and diabetes, as well
as lower BMI and cholesterol levels.
However, even after the scientists had
adjusted the data to account for these
factors, the effect was still “marginally
significant.”
Conversely, vegetarians had 20%
higher rates of stroke than meat eaters.
This difference is equivalent to three
more cases of stroke per 1,000 people
over 10 years. This association was
mostly due to hemorrhagic stroke
During the
18.1
years
of follow-up,
there were
2,820
cases of
IHD and
1,072
cases of stroke
rather than ischemic stroke.
No previous studies have shown
this type of relationship between
vegetarianism and stroke risk. The
authors believe that this might be
because earlier work reported stroke
mortality rather than incidence. Strokes
Sept. 13 - 19 2019
HEALTH
are only fatal in 10–20% of cases, so
many cases would not count toward
the reported total.
Why the scientists saw this increase
in stroke risk is up for debate. The
authors believe that it might be due
to lower levels of other circulating
nutrients in the blood of vegetarians.
These might include essential amino
acids and vitamins B-12 and D.
Strengths, limitations, and
further work
The study has a number of strengths;
first and foremost, the researchers
used a large sample size and a long
follow-up period. They also linked
participants to their medical records to
ensure the accurate collection of health
outcomes.
In addition, the researchers checked
the participants’ eating habits at two
time points that were years apart,
finding that adherence was good
overall.
However, there were certain
limitations. For instance, the
participants self-reported their diet,
which leaves room for error and
misreporting. Diet can also fluctuate
over days, weeks, and years.
Also, researchers did not have access
to the use of drugs, including statins,
among participants.
As the study is observational, it is
not possible to conclude that the effect
is causal. In other words, the changes
in risk could be due to other factors
that the scientists did not measure.
Lastly, because the participants
were predominantly European and
white, the findings may not be widely
applicable.
An editorial by Prof. Mark
A. Lawrence and Prof. Sarah A.
McNaughton from Deakin University
in Australia accompanies the paper.
In it, the authors call for caution,
explaining how the conclusions are
“based on results from just one study,
and the increase is modest relative to
meat eaters.”
They also explain that studies “have
reported mostly protective associations
between vegetarian diets and chronic
disease risk factors.”
These results are sure to open
debate and spark more research. That
vegetarianism protects against IHD is not
surprising given past findings. However,
the fact that giving up meat might slightly
increase stroke risk is unexpected. More
work is sure to follow.
Source: medical news today
31
HEALTH
Left-handedness is genetic
Scientists finally identify its genetic components
By Agencies
F
or the first time, scien-
tists have pinpointed
regions of human
DNA that closely
relate to whether people are
right- or left-handed. They
also linked these regions to
language-related features in
the brain.
Previously, scientists knew
that genes were responsible
for around 25% of hand\
edness.
However, before the emer-
gence of new research from
the University of Oxford, in
the United Kingdom, it was
not clear which genes were
involved.
A recent paper about the
new study appears in the
journal `Brain’.
The authors describe how
they found the DNA regions
after analysing the genomes
of around 400,000 UK Bio-
bank participants, including
more than 38,000 who said
that they were left-handed.
The study is the first to
relate specific areas of the
genome to handedness in the
general population.
“Around 90% of people
are right-handed,” says
first study author Dr. Akira
Wiberg, a Medical Research
Council fellow at the Uni-
versity of Oxford, “and this
has been the case for at least
10,000 years.”
Genetic regions linked to
brain development proteins
In their genetic analysis,
the researchers identified four
DNA regions that related
strongly to handedness.
Three of the regions are
either within or influence
genes that code for proteins
that are “involved in brain
development and patterning.”
These proteins have a
key role in making scaffold-
ing-like building blocks called
microtubules that guide the
construction of cells.
Comprising long-chained
molecules, microtubules
32 Sept. 13 - 19 2019
make up the cytoskeleton, or
the physical structure of cells
throughout the body, and can
assemble and disassemble
very quickly in response to
cell signals.
The genes that drive the
formation of the cytoskeleton
are also responsible for right
and left differences in growth
and development in animals.
This can appear, for example,
in snails whose shells can coil
either to the left or the right.
Microtubules also maintain
the transport infrastructure
that enzymes use to carry
cargo around different parts
of the cell.
In the case of nerve cells,
which can be as long as 3 feet,
microtubules may need to
cater for some large distances.
Links to language regions
in the brain
The researchers also stud-
ied detailed brain scans of
about 9,000 of the participants
whose DNA they had anal-
ysed.
They found that the left and
right side of the brain that
deals with language works
in a more coordinated way in
people who are left-handed.
The researchers suggest
that this finding raises ques-
tions for future research into
whether people who are
left-handed may be better at
carrying out verbal tasks.
Combining the imaging
and genetic results, the team
found that some of the genet-
ic effects related to handed-
ness linked to differences in
the brain’s white matter that
contains the cytoskeleton
that joins language regions
together.
“For the first time in
humans, we have been able to
establish that these handed-
ness-associated cytoskeletal
differences are actually visible
in the brain,” says co-senior
study author Gwenaëlle Dou-
aud, an associate professor
at the Wellcome Centre for
Integrative Neuroimaging at
the University of Oxford.
“We know from other ani-
mals,” Douaud continues,
“such as snails and frogs,
that these effects are caused
by very early genetically
guided events, so this raises
the tantalising possibility that
the hallmarks of the future
development of handedness
start appearing in the brain
in the womb.”
The team also found links
between the genetic regions
tied to left-handedness and
a very slightly reduced risk
of Parkinson’s disease and
a slightly increased risk of
schizophrenia.
The researchers empha-
size, however, that because
their findings have only
established links, they do not
mean that having these gene
variants actually drives lower
or higher risks of the condi-
tions. The findings are valu-
able in that they point to new
directions for genetic studies
of these diseases.
“Here, we have demon-
strated that left-handedness
is a consequence of the
developmental biology of the
brain, in part driven by the
complex interplay of many
genes”, says co-senior author
Dominic Furniss, a professor
in the Nuffield Department of
Orthopaedics, Rheumatology,
and Musculoskeletal Science
at the University of Oxford.
“It is part of the rich tapes-
try of what makes us human,”
he adds.
“Many researchers have
studied the biological basis of
handedness, but using large
datasets from UK Biobank
has allowed us to shed
considerably more light on
the processes leading to left-
handedness”.
Source: Medical news today

By Winnie Byanyima & Peter Kamalingin
Africa can rise by ending inequality
Despite having some of the fastest growing economies,
extreme poverty is once again rising in Africa
A
frica is ready to rise. This is what
we kept repeating as Africa’s gov-
ernment and business leaders met
in Cape Town between Sept 04 -06
at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Africa
Meeting.
Rarely have we felt such fiery poten-
tial on Africa’s horizon. Consider how
Africa’s best-educated generation ever is
coming of age – by 2025, half of our conti-
nent’s population will be under 25. These
young women and men are by far Afri-
ca’s best natural resource, more valuable
than all the gold, copper, oil and gas that
lies under African soil – though we have a
lot of that too!
Consider how Africa is readily seizing
renewable energy – the speed at which
off-grid solar is expanding is exhilarating,
for example. Consider how our people
are pioneering technologies to solve prob-
lems. Or indeed the opportunity of the
new Africa continental free trade area, set
to be the world’s largest.
This is reason to hope. And yet we must
sound caution. There is no avoiding one
inescapable truth: that Africa is not really
rising yet. Oxfam arrived in Cape Town
with new data that tells a story of:
A divided Africa – in which inequality
is spiraling. That is now home to the
world’s four most unequal countries.
An Africa for the ultra-rich. Where
three African billionaires – all men – now
hold more wealth than the poorest half
of Africa, or 650 million people on our
continent.
An Africa racing to the bottom. Despite
having some of the fastest growing econ-
omies on the planet – the latest World
Bank data shows us that extreme poverty
is once again rising in Africa. Hundreds
of millions more Africans are just a med-
ical bill or a crop failure away from falling
into extreme poverty.
Welcome to a Tale of Two Continents, an
Africa that’s tailored for the super-rich,
while hundreds of millions of people
are stuck in poverty without a chance of
a dignified future. Even the great new
opportunities of digital technologies and
continental trade risk being captured by
the old entrenched wealthy interests.
We can do far better. It’s a broken
and rigged economic system that must
change.
We can start by investing in public
services like health and education: the
clearest path to reducing inequality and
investing in Africa’s people, our most
important asset. Ethiopia is a standout
example here: Though a poor country,
Ethiopia has committed to social
spending and has raised its education
spending to 23% of the budget – the
sixth highest in the world. In a decade,
it brought 15 million more children into
school. That is leadership.
Mostly girls have benefited from this.
The opposite is true when education,
health and social protection system are
underfunded and of poor quality. In
Kenya, a boy from a rich family has a one
in three chance of continuing his studies
beyond secondary school. A girl from a
poor family has a one in 250 chance of
doing so. And when healthcare systems
fail, women and girls are left with the
task of caring for loved ones, diminishing
their opportunities.
This will get worse unless governments
rise to the challenge of a new continental
debt crisis. African and world leaders
must play their part in pushing for an
We can fund
Africa’s rise by
taxing the rich
so they pay
their fair share
– not squeezing
the poor
woman fruit-
seller through
indirect taxes
like VAT
Sept. 13 - 19 2019
COMMENT
early solution to restructure debt – one
that prevents a cascade of countries
falling into default and economic depres-
sion and carving down essential public
services. We’re already seeing spiraling
debt repayments putting social spending
at risk in countries from Angola to Ghana.
Yet let us be in no doubt: Africa has the
wealth to invest. We can fund Africa’s rise
by taxing the rich so they pay their fair
share – not squeezing the poor woman
fruit-seller through indirect taxes like
VAT. Challenging global tax rules would
also help tackle the theft of wealth from
the continent: Super-rich Africans are
holding 75% of their wealth in offshore
accounts, denying Africa $14 billion
annually in tax revenues.
A recent Oxfam and Tax Justice Net-
work Australia report exposed how one
foreign mining power was costing the
continent around $300 million in lost tax
revenue. That’s enough money to fund
malaria control – an essential part of
health programmes in the nine sub-Sa-
haran countries in which Australian
mines operate, almost seven times over.
With some imagination and courage,
African leaders can fight this crisis. We
can look to countries like Namibia, which
has reduced inequality since 1993 or
Sierra Leone which is increasing the min-
imum wage and personal income tax. Or
how South Africa ensures everyone over
60 years old receives a pension, except the
very richest. All can do more – but they
prove action is possible.
African political and business leaders
must feel the heat about the choices they
are making. They can stay on the path of
ever-spiraling inequality and poverty. Or
they can start building another path, to a
more prosperous, equal Africa built for
the many and not just for the few. Surely,
there is no other way.
Winnie Byanyima is Executive Director,
Oxfam International and Peter Kamalingin
is Pan-Africa program director, Oxfam
International
33
comment
By Munyambonera Ezra Francis, PhD
Uganda needs wider pension reforms
They must make pensions affordable and sustainable, and
improve scope, coverage, and compliance of contributors
D
espite Uganda’s growing popula-
tion and the consequent increase
in the working population age,
coverage of the pension sector re-
mains dismal. Uganda’s labour force stands
at about at 17.2 million, of which 15.6 million
are employed in both formal and informal
sector, and thus eligible to pension savings.
However, pension coverage is 1.97
million (including public service, the
National Social Security Fund and a
few voluntary occupational schemes)
– representing only 12.6 percent of the
estimated active labour force in Uganda.
Uganda’s pension sector has two pension
schemes, namely, a non-contributory
Public Service Pension Scheme (PSP) for
civil servants and the National Social
Security Fund (NSSF) for other formal
workers including government agen-
cies, non-government organisations and
formal private sector business firms with
five (5) or more workers.
Whereas a large number of the
employed population is excluded from
pension savings, it presents an old age
risk challenge to the government. This
problem is expounded with the propor-
tion of the active pension savers to the
total labour force at 6.6 percent, benefit
payment as percentage of GDP at 0.35
percent, and age dependent ratio of 103
percent.
With life expectancy at birth having
improved from 47 years to about 63 years
in the last ten years, and at retirement
improving from less than 10 years to
around 17 years, limited pension savings
during the working life of majority of
the young population creates a higher
social security problem to government.
Though there have been reforms in the
past, they have only been partial reforms.
They addressed structural problems and
payment mechanisms both in public pen-
sion schemes and national social security
schemes but did not address the coverage
and efficiency challenges that continue to
characterise the pension sector.
In order to increase scope and competi-
tiveness of Uganda’s pension sector, there
is need to implement wider reforms to
address challenges of governance, compe-
34 Sept. 13 - 19 2019
tiveness, sustainability and inclusiveness.
The ageing working population, both in
formal and informal sector, continues
to face a high risk on many fronts. The
non-contributory public pension scheme
has reached unsustainable level on a gov-
ernment budget with limited resources,
the NSSF which is limited to only formal
employers of five or more workers is
limited scope and coverage, and about
50 percent of eligible subscribers to NSSF
are non-compliant. The informal sector
remains excluded. A study by Economic
Policy Research Centre (2018) revealed
that wider pension sector reforms are
necessary to address the current sector
challenge.
There were policy reforms on pensions
in the mid-1990s. These included staff
retrenchment, monetising the pay as con-
solidated, revision of the benefit formula,
introducing the indexation of pensions to
salaries (as a result of the high inflation)
and applying it retrospectively to all
wage increases since 1988. This resulted
in a sharp increase in the stock of pen-
sion liabilities as pension arrears. Over
this period, there was an amendment of
the Pension Act of 1978, to recognise the
Does it make
sense when
the life
expectancy
is 63 years
and one
accesses
the pension
at 60?
services of persons who served under
the defunct East African Community;
and the decision by the High Command
of the UPDF to recognise the services of
persons who served in previous armies,
since independence. As a result of these
changes, the implied pension arrears
increased for retired civil servants and
this has continued to be a burden to the
budget, necessitating the urgent need for
further reforms
More current reform proposes started
in 2005. They address the persistent
challenges of governance, coverage,
efficiency, compliance, and affordability
across the different pension schemes.
The reforms resulted into the URBRA
Bill 2011 which established Uganda
Retirement Benefit Regulatory Authority
(URBRA) which currently is regulating
and supervising the voluntary pension
schemes and other informal sector occu-
pational pension schemes.
The EPRC study argues that the URBRA
Bill is limited in regulation and capacity
to supervise the entire pension sector;
including the public sector schemes.
Without an overarching law to cover
all the different kinds of the pensions
that currently exist in the country, it is
observed that the pension sector may not
be effective and efficient in mobilising
workers savings. The study recommends
that UBRA regulation and supervision
focuses specifically on voluntary schemes
and other informal sector schemes that
are emerging such as Kampala Capital
City Traders Association (KACITA),
among others.
Further revisions of the regulatory
framework of the pension sector is neces-
sary to achieve the objectives of the sector;
including increasing coverage, efficient
mobilisation and allocation of resources,
transparency, stability; and promotion
of sound investment decisions. The reg-
ulatory framework for pension funds
should also be cognisant of the distinctive
features of institutions that are involved
in managing the pension industry to
advance key social policy objectives, such
as the provision of retirement income.
Some of key reforms that have to be

implemented, as drawn from
the 2018 EPRC study, are
outlined below. These are con-
sistent with the wider reforms
being implemented in other
African countries.
Having a Universal Law.
Uganda needs Universal Law
to ensure efficient manage-
ment and supervision of the
different emerging schemes.
The current laws; NSSF Act,
1985, URBRA Act of 2011,
Public Pension Act 1946
amended in 1994 are limited
in regulatory requirements.
The study observes that
having an overarching law
that supersedes all these is
important for effective regu-
lation and supervision of the
entire pensions sector. It is
observed that in its current
form the URBRA could be
effective and efficient to
regulate only the voluntary
pension and other emerging
informal sector occupational
pension sector scheme. It is
argued that there are existing
technical and governance
limitations of URBRA to
effectively cover regulate and
supervise the entire pension
sector.
Amending the NSSF Act.
While there are suggestions of
liberalising the NSSF to open
up competition with private
investors, the EPRC research
findings show that this could
pose a high risk to the fund.
What is important is to make
NSSF more efficient in col-
lection of funds and improve
compliancy. The current
compliancy of 50 percent of
the 1 .5 million subscribers
limits the fund growth and
accumulation. For example,
the earlier suggestions of
mid-term access and of lib-
eralising the 5 percent of
workers contributions have
implications to adequacy and
sustainability of the pension
and pensioner savings, given
the uncertainties in Uganda’s
financial market. Amending
the NSSF law to cover the
currently excluded could be a
feasible policy option to allow
for increased coverage. Given
the importance of the NSSF as
a major source of government
borrowing and for long-term
social security implications
of retired workers, liberal-
ising NSSF would put the
savers fund to higher risk. For
example in the current regime
of liberalised capital account,
the savings could suffer
from heavy capital flight and
money laundering which
would eventually erode the
fund assets, creating financial
instability in the economy.
Further reforms within the
public pension scheme. A
combination of factors such as
Uganda’s increasing popula-
tion, ageing labour force, life
expectancy of 63, and the low
tax effort may threaten the
fiscal sustainability of public
pension; especially in the long
run. The key policy options
are to gradually convert the
non-contributory public pen-
sion (Defined-Benefit) scheme
to a contributory, defined
benefit scheme. In such a
scheme, government and
workers will contribute to the
scheme index on salaries and
guarantee annual payments to
the scheme based on the pro-
portions paid to the scheme by
workers to ensure adequate
pensions, especially for lower
salaried workers.
Introducing private sector
schemes. This could be man-
datory or voluntary. This is
important for the large and
growing informal sector in
Uganda; especially in retail
trade and transport services,
where individuals can join
together under an umbrella
organisation or other public
platforms like cooperatives
to save. In order to grow this
sector, government has to
create incentives to motivate
the savers.
Conclusions and Policy
Implications
Pension sector reform is a
recent shift in consolidation
of public pension schemes
as well as bringing on board
the informal sector schemes.
Recently this has been taking
place in most of Africa coun-
tries; including, Nigeria,
Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania,
among others.
The purpose is to address
old age social security through
increasing the participation of
the working population both
in public and private sector
to address the challenge of
old age social security risk.
These reforms are focusing
on making the public pension
schemes from non-contribu-
tory to contributory.
The reforms will make pen-
sions affordable and sustain-
able to government, improve
the scope and coverage of
NSSF schemes, and address
the compliance challenges
that have deterred growth
and accumulation of pension
Sept. 13 - 19 2019
comment
funds. They will also enable
informal sector and voluntary
schemes to operate in the
economy.
There are significant benefits
that come with having con-
tributory public pensions and
these include: accumulation of
public funds as reserve in the
economy, ensuring prompt
payments for gratuity and
pensions to the retirees, and
ensuring compensation to
pension arrears.
Introduction of informal
sector pension schemes creates
competition with the NSSF
and improves compliance.
A higher level of compliance
will give room for the NSSF
to introduce other incentives
like mid-term access, med-
ical insurance, mortgages
among others. Some of the
suggestions in the recent
Amendment Bill of NSSF of
tax exemption to the 5 per-
cent workers contribution,
tax exemption to NSSF fund
returns and taxing the pen-
sioner at exit and no tax at
60 years, should therefore be
scrutinised critically not to
violate the objectives social
security pensions as stipu-
lated by International Labour
Organisation Standards.
The intention of the public
pension is not to provide gov-
ernment with tax revenues,
but to ensure social security
for the retirees. Inconsistent
age adjustments from 55 to
60 with an incentive of no
taxation is violation of social
security principle. Does it
make sense when the life
expectancy is 63 years and
one accesses the pension at 60?
Who is benefiting in this game
theory? Any reforms in NSSF
have to consider minimum cri-
teria of access and investment
options to the benefit of savers
not the government. Govern-
ment can however leverage
the growing pension fund to
increase domestic borrowing
on long term basis; including
infrastructure bonds to substi-
tute the ever growing debt.
Munyambonera Ezra Francis,
PhD is a Senior Research Fellow
of Economic Policy Research
Centre, Kampala.
35
comment
By Julie Zollmann and Olga Morawczynski
Regulating Uber and others
Drivers say ride-hailing companies first attracted
them with high fares but they now want a raise
L
ast May, just before Uber’s $82.4 bil-
lion initial public offering, the compa-
ny’s drivers, together with those for
its fellow ride-hailing platform Lyft
(many drive for both), participated in an in-
ternational day of industrial action, holding
demonstrations in 24 cities – from London to
Melbourne to New York City – to demand
higher pay and better working conditions.
But grievances with ride-hailing companies
that charge riders low fares and extract hefty
commissions from drivers are not limited to
rich economies.
In July, driver associations in Nairobi,
Kenya, urged stoppages by those working
for digital-based ride-hailing services –
including Uber, the Estonian company Bolt
(formerly Taxify), and the locally owned
Little Cab – over precisely such complaints.
Although key players agreed to a set of pay-
ment principles last year, little changed in
practice.
The rise of platform labour – digitally
mediated service work – creates a policy
conundrum. On one hand, it benefits con-
sumers by providing low-cost on-demand
services, and can benefit workers by giving
them access to those consumers. In Kenya,
at least 6,000 people work as drivers for ride-
hailing platforms.
On the other hand, the quality of these
new work opportunities remains unclear.
While workers value the scheduling flexi-
bility often offered by platforms, prices are
set by opaque algorithms and corporate
strategies. Companies are not accountable to
their workers. It’s difficult to know precisely
how many drivers there are, let alone what
they are actually earning – though our early
research in Kenya suggests there is reason to
believe that it is not enough.
When ride-hailing companies first
emerged, they attracted drivers with high
fares. But, in an effort to increase ridership,
they slashed prices over time. Because the
additional rides were insufficient to offset
the drop in per-mile rates, drivers’ hourly
earnings plummeted.
This practice was apparent everywhere,
but it was particularly painful for drivers
in low-income markets, where, unlike in
the United States or Canada, they typically
acquire a vehicle specifically for the job,
using their savings or taking out loans. They
may also lease vehicles from car owners,
36 Sept. 13 - 19 2019
called “partners,” on fixed weekly terms.
As their earnings fell, drivers struggled to
cover their fixed costs. Forced to work longer
hours, some ended up in fatigue-related
accidents, according to both drivers and
local insurers. In response, Uber imposed
new limits on drivers: they could work for
no more than 12 hours at a time, with at least
a six-hour break in between.
For many drivers in Kenya, simply leaving
the industry is not an option, owing to out-
standing debts, depreciation of productive
assets, and a lack of alternative income-gen-
erating options in a country where only 16%
of workers have formal jobs. Desperate to
make ends meet, many have been forced
to maximise work hours by using multiple
apps. Our early research in Kenya suggests
that a typical driver in Kenya works 12-hour
days, six days per week.
Still, not all drivers support the strikes.
Some – particularly those who purchased
their own cars or have some offline clients
– are relatively satisfied with the platforms.
While they would prefer fairer rate-setting
practices, they say the frequent strikes are
not worth the lost revenue. These drivers
report feeling pessimistic that government
will intervene on their behalf. Some drivers
we interviewed believe that driver-associa-
tion leaders organise strikes for self-serving
reasons.
Our early
research
in Kenya
suggests that
a typical driver
in Kenya works
12-hour days,
six days per
week
But choosing not to participate in a strike
carries significant risks. During the May
strikes, participants used WhatsApp to
divide themselves into groups, with each
covering a geographic zone. Their job was
to intercept drivers who, in their view, were
undermining the cause. Sometimes, they
damaged the spoilers’ vehicles or confiscated
their mobile phones. As Benson, an early
entrant into the online taxi business, told us,
“Most drivers don’t work during strikes for
their own safety and that of their cars, not
because they are also striking.”
There is only one way to ensure that ride-
hailing platforms deliver for both riders and
drivers: better government regulation. To
this end, governments must first clarify who
has the relevant regulatory authority.
In Kenya, drivers are given permits by the
National Transport Safety Administration.
But platforms like Uber, which are regis-
tered as technology firms, are not under the
NTSA’s jurisdiction. The Cabinet Secretary
for Labour and Director General of the Com-
petition Authority of Kenya also stated that
intervening in platform pay was out of their
respective remits. This leaves drivers with
nowhere to turn when their interests are dis-
regarded, and puts platforms at risk of more
radical state intervention in the future.
Once a regulatory authority is designated,
it will need to design effective policies,
which requires data. As it stands, platforms
not only control pricing, but also hold troves
of rider and driver data, creating significant
information asymmetries between platforms
and drivers, and between platforms and
policymakers. Regulators should insist on
access to the information they need to make
sound policy judgments.
Platforms that claim to be marketplaces
should function more like competitive
markets, and less like monopolies. Strikes
can draw attention to the problem. But only
well-crafted regulations can fix it.
Julie Zollmann is a PhD candidate at The
Fletcher School at Tufts University. Olga
Morawczynski is Senior Program Manager at the
Mastercard Foundation.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.
 ART | BOOKS | SOCIETY | TRAVEL | CULTURE
When science,
art interplay
Waswad pokes into human behavior
W
By Dominic Muwanguzi
asswa Donald aka
Waswad is fascinated
by the environment as
a concept for his art;
initially approaching
it in a utopian manner:
the way he wants it to be rather than how
it is. This can best be seen in his earliest
art production, the `Elphania series’.
His approach evolved after he
participated in the Barclays L’Atelier
Competition and eventually emerged
second runner-up in the 2016 edition
that influenced him to look at the
environment in a more realistic way
rather than the ideal.
His art has since developed a
more realistic narrative – with an odd
twist; interrogating the subject of the
environment and human behavior within
the context of science and technology.
In his most recent solo exhibit
`To Live is To Become 2017’, he
created human cells-like images
as if under the microscope on his
canvases. Similarly, his sculptures
evoked images of extra-terrestrial
creatures roaming the planet.
It is his way of representing
symbolically how he perceives the
human impact on the environment
and vice-versa.
His work tackles the complex
subject of human evolution with
the rapid technological innovations that
have given birth to new phenomenon
like robots, genetically modified organs,
and body implants. The notions of the
transhumanism and Afro-futurism are
constants in his artwork. Waswad’s
main question is a black person like him,
should react to these fast changes.
Waswad, combines sculpture
and installation in his practice and
interestingly, the former is very much
visible in his drawings (clean-line
drawings). He builds his sculpture
by curving, assembling or
construction, and
installations by
Sept. 13 - 19 2019
re-assembling finished sculptures into
one artwork. He predominantly works
with organic material, specifically-
Mugavu - in his sculptures and
installations to respond to the subject
of human behaviourism within their
immediate surroundings and also to the
theme of evolution that runs through his
artwork.
The graduate of Art and Design
in Education from Kyambogo
University interplays science
and art. The notion motivates his
research and innovation. Research
in art is critical to influence the idea
of relevance and authenticity and
this is evident in the way he often
constructs functional artworks and the
manner in which he relentlessly taps
into local culture.
Waswad’s artworks ask complex
questions of human life and
its real relevance in these
contemporary times.
What is art? Through such
questioning, he inspires
critical conversations on his
art and constructs a vital
relationship between art,
artist and public.
Waswad has featured in
PIASA Auction 2017, KLA
ART 012 and showcased
his installations in different
spaces across the world.
37
Presidential candidate gives Americans cash each month
Susie Garza has since February been entrepreneur, is proposing to give $1,000 ideas spearheaded by a new mayor and
getting $500 (Approx. Shs1.8 million) in cash to every American each month. financed in part by the nonprofit led by
a month from a nonprofit in Stockton, Another candidate, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. The city
California. Garza is part of an experiment who is one of the top contenders for the chose 125 people who earned at or below
testing the impact of “universal basic Democratic nomination, has a proposal to the city’s median household income of
income,” an old idea getting new life thanks give up to $500 a month to working families. $46,033 (Approx. Shs167 million per year
to the 2020 presidential race. Democratic The Stockton Economic Empowerment or Shs 13 million per month).
presidential candidate Andrew Yang, a tech Demonstration, is a pilot program of their

America holds Can eating only

Ms Curvy con white bread, pork
Between Sept.05-07, New
York City, USA, hosted the- and French fries
CURVYcon; a three day event
that brings plus size brands,
blind you?
fashionistas, shopaholics, There’s a reason your mom
bloggers and YouTubers into spent years reminding you to
one space, to chat curvy, shop eat your vegetables. A teenage
curvy and embrace curvy. The boy, who subsisted on Pringles,
come together to embrace their French fries, processed pork
curves, do a little shopping, and white bread for years, went
and tackle topics like confi- blind due to his extremely poor
dence, fashion and style, health, diet, according to a case study
fitness, dating, body positivity published in the `Annals of
and everything in between. Internal Medicine’.
TheCurvycon was co-founded At 14-years-old, the teen, who
in 2015 by CeCe Olisa and was considered a “fussy eater,”
Chαstity Garner Valentine. told his family doctor that he
was feeling tired but had “no
Terrifying pedal-powered roller coaster visible signs of malnutrition”
and had a normal BMI and
Most roller coasters rely on coaster ride. That’s because it’s height. He was given vitamin
speed, tight turns and steep pedal-powered so it goes as B12 shots, told to eat a healthy
slopes to get riders’ adrena- fast as the rider can pedal. It diet, and was sent on his way. A
line levels up, but SkyCycle, a doesn’t have any steep slopes or year later, the teen returned to
pedal-powered coaster ride in spectacular drops either, but it the doctor’s office with hearing
the Japanese city of Okayama still manages to get your heart loss and vision problems, but
is proof that roller coasters can racing by constantly conveying doctors couldn’t pinpoint the
be even more terrifying at low an uneasy sense of danger and exact cause. His vision problems
speeds. Located on a green- uncertainty because of its flimsy got progressively worse. By
ery-covered hill at the Washu- carts and nothing but a loose 17 years old, he was suffering
zan Highland amusement park safety belt keeping riders from from blindness. Researchers at
in Okayama, SkyCycle is prob- falling to their doom. The University of Bristol believe
ably the world’s slowest roller the teen’s junk food diet led to
nutritional optic neuropathy
— a condition caused by a lack
Teacher making students wear cardboards not to cheating on exam of nutrients, which impairs the
normal functioning of nerve
A Mexican teacher caught attention for mak- on their heads went viral online. The cardboard fibers and leads to optic nerve
ing high-school students wear cardboard boxes boxes had cut-out eye holes that only allowed dysfunction.
on their heads to block their peripheral vision them to see in front without turning their heads.
and prevent them from copying on an exam. The students’ parents shared the photo on social
Luis Juárez Texis, the director of Campus 01 “El media and issued a public statement asking edu-
Sabinal” at the College of Bachelors, in the Mex- cational authorities in Mexico to dismiss Texis.
ican state of Tlaxcala, has been accused of acts of However, instead of condemning the teacher,
humiliation, physical, emotional and psychologi- most users congratulated him for finding an effec-
cal violence and breaking the basic human rights tive way to prevent cheating. “Excellent technique,
of his students, after a photo of him overseeing an congratulations to the teacher,” someone wrote.
exam where the students wore cardboard boxes

38 Sept. 13 - 19 2019
The new Land Rover Defender
Kenya gets first bite of 2019’s most hotly anticipated
By Motoring Guru
T
he first official images
of the new Land Rover
Defender emerged as
a leaked. Then there
was the official teaser video in
early September showing the
new Defender is driving 4000
miles from Kazakhstan to its
own unveiling in Germany.
The Defender’s design
remains loyal to tradition
and maintains its legend
off-roadworthiness. Many
elements evoke its past (rear-
mounted spare tyre and side-
hinged tailgate) but its design
has a contemporary spirit
(curved corners, exposed
structural elements and
flared wheelarches). It boasts
bumper-mounted winch,
chunky off-road tyres and
protective chequer plate on
the wings. It also sits higher,
suggesting the addition
of an aftermarket off-road
suspension kit.
It is surprisingly compact
and marginally the tallest of
the three variants. The 110
is aimed at couples, the self-
employed, and adventurers.
Its simple go-anywhere
nature appeals to everyone
while the Defender 90 targets
young, affluent fun seekers.
Under the bonnet of the 90
and 110 models, there will be
a choice of three petrol and
three diesel engines in 2020
and 2021 and all Defenders
will come as standard with an
autobox and all-wheel drive.
The interior of the 2020
Defender is more upmarket
than its past cousins in terms
of touchscreen infotainment
system, advanced
connectivity, over-the-air
updates.
The larger 110 variant can
take five, six, or seven seats,
while the 90 has a smaller
rear seating area, but can
seat six with the addition of a
small ‘jump seat’ between the
driver and front passenger.
This is made possible with the
relocation of the gearstick to
the dashboard. The floor is
covered with rubber for easy
cleaning.
Towing capacity, water-
crossing capabilities are all
improved. This Defender
range will comprise S, SE,
HSE and range-topping X
Sept. 13 - 19 2019
trim. Four accessory packs,
Explorer, Adventure, County
and Urban, will add extra
equipment according to the
vehicle’s intended use. The
new model has the Defender
nameplate in bold chrome
lettering across the leading
edge of its bonnet. The
Defender will feature in
‘No Time to Die’ - the latest
installment in the James
Bond film series currently
in production. It will also
feature in disaster preparation
and response programmes
worldwide over the next three
years as Land Rover renews
its 65-year old partnership
with the International
Federation of the Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC).
A prototype was given
to wildlife charity Tusk
Trust for field testing in
Kenya as part of its global
engineering development
programme. In the shots,
it is seen pulling loaded
trailers, carrying supplies
and tracking lions across the
Trust’s 14,000-hectare reserve
in Kenya.
39
global comment
By Mark Cliffe
What economists still need to learn
Macroeconomic experts have yet to come to terms
with the important lessons of the past decade
M
acroeconomics was one of the
casualties of the 2008 global
financial crisis. Conventional
macroeconomic models failed to
predict the calamity or to provide a coherent
explanation for it, and thus were unable to
offer guidance on how to repair the damage.
Despite this, much of the profession remains
in denial, hankering for a return to “normal”
and in effect treating the crisis as just a rude
interruption.
That needs to change. Although an
economic recovery has taken root, its
structural fragilities suggest that macro-
economics is still in pressing need of an
overhaul. Three sets of lessons from the
past decade stand out.
First, the presumption that economies
are self-correcting, while tempting in
good times, is unfounded and can have
catastrophic consequences. The recovery
of the past few years has lulled many
into a false sense of security, because it
was the result of unconventional policy
responses that transcended mainstream
“general equilibrium” thinking.
Moreover, pre-crisis economic models
are struggling to cope with the disruption
unleashed by emerging digital technolo-
gies. The digital economy is characterised
by increasing returns to scale, whereby
Big Tech companies rapidly exploit net-
work effects to dominate a growing array
of markets. This has upended incum-
bent business models and transformed
behavior in ways that have left macroeco-
nomists and policymakers struggling –
and mostly failing – to keep pace.
Consequently, the widespread belief
that economic activity will follow a reg-
ular cycle around a stable growth trend
is not very helpful beyond the very short
term. Rather, the economic disruptions
we are experiencing highlight an obvious
fact, but one that prevailing models
assume away: the future is fundamentally
uncertain, and not all risks are quantifi-
able.
Precisely for that reason, we should reject
the notion that emerged in the aftermath of
the crisis that the world would enter a “new
normal.” In the face of evolving structural
shifts in finance, technology, society, and
politics, it is far more useful to think in terms
of a “New Abnormal,” in which economies
are characterised by actual or latent struc-
40 Sept. 13 - 19 2019
tural instability.
The second lesson from the crisis is
that balance sheets matter. The finan-
cialisation of the global economy leaves
national economies vulnerable to major
corrections in asset prices that can render
debt unserviceable. Macroeconomic
models that focus on flows of income and
spending ignore the critical role played
by such wealth effects. Compounding the
problem, these models are unable to pre-
dict asset prices, because the latter reflect
investors’ beliefs about future returns and
risks. In other words, asset prices are hard
to forecast because they are themselves
forecasts.
Moreover, financial reregulation since
the crisis has not necessarily solved the
balance-sheet problem. True, individual
banks have become more resilient as a
result of having to raise their capital and
liquidity buffers substantially. But years
of unprecedented monetary easing and
large-scale asset purchases by central
banks have encouraged risk-taking across
the economic and financial system in
ways that are harder to track and predict.
In addition, policymakers’ determination
to limit taxpayers’ exposure when finan-
cial institutions fail has led to risks being
shifted onto investors through the use of
instruments such as “bail-in-able” bonds.
The systemic effects of such ongoing reg-
ulatory changes won’t be clear until the
next recession strikes.
There is also a growing recognition that
financial balance sheets are not the only
type that matter. As climate change and
environmental degradation move up the
political agenda, macroeconomists are
beginning to appreciate the importance
of other, less volatile forms of capital
for sustainable growth and wellbeing.
In particular, they need to understand
better the interaction of produced capital,
whether tangible or intangible; human
capital, including skills and knowledge;
and natural capital, which includes the
renewable and non-renewable resources
and environment that support life.
Lastly, macroeconomists must rec-
ognsze that distribution matters. Trying
to model households’ economic behavior
on the basis of a single “representative
agent” elides crucial differences in the
experiences and behavior of people in
different income and wealth brackets.
The fact that the rich disproportionately
benefited from globalisation and new
technologies, not to mention from central
banks’ successful efforts to boost equity
and bond prices after 2009, has arguably
been a drag on growth. What is certain is
that widening inequality has dramatically
reduced support for mainstream politi-
cians in favour of populists and national-
ists, in turn corroding the previous policy
consensus that sustained fiscal probity,
independent monetary policy, free trade,
and the liberal movement of capital and
labor.
The global backlash against the eco-
nomic and political status quo has also
targeted big business. In the immediate
aftermath of the crisis, financial institu-
tions were in the firing line. But popular
anger has since morphed into a general
skepticism about corporate behavior,
with the tech giants coming under par-
ticular scrutiny for alleged abuses of user
data and monopoly power.
It would be too simplistic to view these
tensions as the result of resentment
toward the top 1%. There are substan-
tial divisions within the remaining 99%
between winners and losers from glo-
balization. Moreover, divisions between
countries have intensified as populists
and nationalists blame foreigners for
domestic economic and social problems.
This has contributed to wider ques-
tioning of globalisation and international
trade, investment, and tax rules. Changes
in global governance arrangements may
disrupt business models, transform the
institutional framework, and add a fresh
layer of uncertainty to the economic out-
look.
The macroeconomics profession has yet
to come to terms with the most important
lessons of the past decade. And without
a new consensus on how to manage
uncertainty, the world is uncomfortably
vulnerable to fresh economic, social, and
political shocks. Sadly, another crisis may
be needed to force economists to abandon
their outmoded ways.
Mark Cliffe is Chief Economist and Head of
Global Research of the ING Group.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.
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