Enkyuka

kyuka eyakole

ddwa mu ntambula ya bbaasi ereese obwezi

goolo mu basaabaze

By Eria Luyimbazi

Added 13th December 2016



Abamu ku basaabaze nga balwanira bbaasi


EKIRAGIRO ky’okusengula bbaasi ezimu okuva mu paaka ya Qualicel ey’omugagga Drake Lubega ereetedde abasaabaze abamu okubuzibwabuzibwa ne babulako entambula okugenda gye balaga.

 Kino kyadiridde  akakiiko akavunanyizibwa ku by’entambula

 n’okuwa bbaasi layisinsi Transport Licensing Board (TLB)  okuyisa ekiragiro egiggya bbaasi ezikwata mu bugwanjuba

 n’obukikakono mu paaka ya Qualicell  ne balekamu ezidda mu buvanjuba.

Embeera eno ereetedde paaka ya Qualicell okusigalamu kampuni za bbaasi nnya zokka okuli YY Coaches, Gateway, Kampala Hopper, Teso Coach  ne Kakise  okuba nga zezitikiramu

 abasaabaze ng’endala zalagiddwa okugenda mu paaka ya Namayiba ne Kisenyi Bus Terminal.

Nathan Ssemujju  akolera mu kkampuni ya YY agambye nti ekiragiro kino kikosezza nnyo abali mu mulimu gw’okusaabaza abantu mu mu kiseera kino bangi bakonkomalidde mu paaka tebalina mmotoka zibatwala kuba ezisinga zigyiddwa mu paaka.

“ Ekiragiro ekyayisiddwa  nga kiggya bbaasi ezemu mu paaka ya Qualicell kitumenya kuba kati paaka nkalu nga temuli mmotoka zitwala basaabaze era eziriwo bali mu kuzirwanira tusaba abaakiyisizza bakikyuseemu” Ssemujju bwe bwategeezezza.

Agambye nti mu paaka ya Qualicell musigaddemu baasi 32 zokka songa luli mubaddemu ezisoba mu 150 nga abasAabaze bali mu kutataganyizibwa

  ekisusse nga kyetagisa okukomyawo baasi ezimu.




UGANDA'S MEDICAL BRAIN DRAIN IS A GLOBAL PROBLEM:

December 14, 2016

Written by PETER MUWONGE

Health experts from across Africa have expressed dismay at the failure by Uganda’s government to stem the tide of skilled health workers leaving the country for greener pastures.

They voiced their disappointment during the third Congress of the African Health System Governance network (ASHGOVNET) in Kampala last week. The congress was held under the theme,“Fostering capacity for health governance and leadership with a focus upon health work development.”

The health experts argue that if the current hemorrhage of the country’s workforce continues unchecked, it will be extremely difficult for Uganda to fulfill its commitment to regional and global Human Resources protocols such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) Workforce 2030 Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health to which Uganda subscribes.

 

 

 

 

A normal medical surgical theatre on the continent of Africa.

 

“It is disappointing that officials at Uganda’s ministry of Health (MOH) evaded all our efforts to discuss the extent of the problem of medical brain drain in this country and the possible measures to bring it under control,” said Dr Patrick Kadama, the executive director of the African Platform on Human Resources for Health (APHRH), an NGO committed to the fight against brain drain on the African continent.

Uganda subscribes to the road map for scaling up human resources for health for improved health service delivery in the African region 2012-2025, which was adopted by African health ministers three years ago in Angola. But experts say the evident apathy towards brain drain means health improvement targets are unlikely to be met.

“No one seems to care when health workers exit this country. When you express worry about the problem to MOH officials, they tell you there is a capacity to replace those who have migrated, when it is actually not true,” said the president of the Uganda National Academy of Sciences, Dr Nelson Sewankambo.

 

 

A Self-Styled African Spritual leader from the Tribal State of Acholi, Uganda, is a fake:

 

Mr Severino Lukoya walks out of Gulu Central Police Station last year after briefly being detained following the death of a child at his temple.

By JULIUS OCUNGI & CAROLINE AYUG
Posted 5 February, 2017

UGANDA, GULU

AGAGO:

 

From casting himself as the untouchable almighty god (Lubanga Won) in late 1980s, it now required the intervention of an earthly police force in Agago District to save the father of late Holy Spirit Movement leader Alice Auma Lakwena from an angry mob.

The mob accused Mr Severino Lukoya Kibero, a self-proclaimed prophet, of preaching what they termed as false prophesies in their area and wanted to lynch him.

Mr Lukoya had travelled with his team of ministers to Kalongo Town Council to conduct door-to-door prayers, claiming that God had sent him to cleanse the area. Mr Lukoya is the leader of the New Jerusalem Tabernacle Church in Gulu Municipality where he preaches a mixture of Acholi traditional religion, Christianity and Islam.

It’s reported that before Mr Lukoya could embark on ‘redeeming’ prayer sessions, hundreds of angry residents confronted him and he was only rescued by the police who whisked him away to safety in neighbouring Pader District, several miles away.

Mr Albert Onyango, the Agago District police commander said: “Residents hate him because of the past rebellion his daughter led. They also believe Lukoya is a cult leader whose presence brings bad omen.”

Mr Onyango said Mr Lukoya’s activities in Agago District were in violation of a district council resolution that barred setting up of any prayer shrines.

“I think it is time Lukoya realised that he is not wanted in the district. This is the fourth time in less than two years that people are attempting to kill him,” Mr Onyango said.

Earlier last week, Mr Lukoya had told Sunday Monitor in an interview that God had called him out to walk on foot and do a door-to-door preaching until he covers the entire country.

“God wants peace to prevail in Uganda. He wants everyone to accept His word,” Lukoya said.

This is not the first time Lukoya’s activities are being stopped by residents and district leaders in Acholi sub-region for fear that his preaching could brainwash young people into another rebellion.

 

Background

After the defeat of Lakwena, Mr Lukoya launched another Holy Spirit Movement in Acholiland. But unlike Lakwena, Mr Lukoya didn’t attract the same big following as his daughter. He surrendered to the government in 1989, but has continued to re re-emerge from time to time.

In August 2011, Mr Lukoya and his followers survived death when residents hurled stones at them injuring him and his followers in Mucwini Kitgum District. In March 2015, police in Gulu District arrested Mr Lukoya over an illegal assembly after he and his church members stormed Gulu Town and disrupted traffic and businesses.

In August 2014, authorities in Kitgum District demolished Lukoya’s temple after complaints that a paralysed man had died while being prayed for there.

In 2008, Mr Lukoya was arrested on accusation that he wanted to revive his daughter’s Holy Spirit Movement rebel outfit. But the High Court acquitted him and awarded him Shs13 million in damages for malicious arrest.

editorial@ug.

nationmedia.com

Are Smartphone makers victims of their own success, or should the whole population on earth own a smartphone as a human right?

4th January, 2019

Written by VOA

African peoples are coming out in greater numbers to embrance modern technology as a human right

 

Behind Apple's disconcerting news of weak iPhone sales lies a more sobering truth: The tech industry has hit Peak Smartphone, a tipping point when everyone who can afford one already owns one and no breakthroughs are compelling them to upgrade as frequently as they once did.

Some manufacturers have boosted prices to keep up profit, but Apple's shortfall highlights the limits of that strategy. The company said demand for iPhones is waning and revenue for the last quarter of 2018 will fall well below projections, a decrease traced mainly to China.

Apple's shares dropped 10 per cent Thursday on the news — its worst loss since 2013. The company shed $74.6 billion in market value, amid a broader sell-off among technology companies, which suffered their worst loss in seven years.

Apple's news is a "wake-up call for the industry," said analyst Dan Ives of research firm Wedbush Securities.

And it's not just Apple. Demand has been lackluster across the board, Ives said. Samsung, long the leading seller of smartphones, has been hit even harder, as its phone shipments dropped 8 percent during the 12 months ending in September.

"The smartphone industry is going through significant headwinds," Ives said. "Smartphone makers used to be like teenagers, and the industry was on fire. Now it feels like they're more like senior citizens in terms of maturity."

Victim of its own success

Tech innovations in phones grew in leaps and bounds earlier in the 2010s, with dramatic improvements in screen size, screen resolution, battery life, cameras and processor speed every year.

But the industry is a victim of its own success. Innovation began to slow down around 2014, once Apple boosted the screen size with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models. While phones kept improving, new features tended to be incremental, such as a new flash technique to already excellent phone cameras. It's the stuff consumers won't typically notice — or want to shell out for.

 

"Since the iPhone 6 you've seen it has been tough to innovate to continue to raise the bar," Ives said.

Apple customers now upgrade every 33 months on average, longer than the 24 or 25 months three years ago, he said. Apple's diminished growth projections, fuelled by plummeting sales in China, have reinforced fears the world's second-largest economy is losing steam.

Its $1,000 iPhone is a tough sell to Chinese consumers unnerved by an economic slump and the trade war with the U.S. They also have a slew of cheaper smartphones from homegrown competitors such as Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo to choose from.

The fact that even Apple's iPhone juggernaut is suffering cements a larger trend for all major smartphone makers. After a steady rise for a decade, worldwide smartphone shipments fell 3 percent to 1.42 billion in 2018, the first annual drop, according to International Data Corp., which tracks such movements. IDC estimates that shipments will rebound 3 pe rcent in 2019 to 1.46 billion, but that still falls short of 2017 levels.

No 'silver bullet'

It doesn't help that top phones come with four-digit price tags — $1,100 for the iPhone XS Max and $1,000 for Samsung's Galaxy Note 9. The top-end Max model sells for $1,450 in the U.S.

"They're getting more and more expensive while offering fewer and fewer new, innovative features that I'll actually use," said Zachary Pardes, a tech-savvy 31-year-old in Fairfield, Connecticut. "I'll upgrade when the battery stops working. When I'm forced to buy a new phone, I'll buy a new phone."

Vivian Yang, a manager at a Beijing technology company, also balked at the price. "Nobody needs such a phone," she said.

 

IDC analyst Ramon Llamas said the cycle might bottom out and start growing again in 2021 or 2022, when people's current phones start reaching the end of their useful life. "People will still replace their phones. It's going to happen eventually," he said.

But there's no "silver bullet" that will spur growth to levels seen in the past when the industry was less mature.

Foldable smartphones, with screens that unfold like a wallet to increase display size, are one thing that could spur excitement, but they're expensive and not due out until at least the end of the year.

Another thing that might spur growth: 5G, the next-generation that telecom companies are currently in the process of building, expected to be faster and more reliable than the current 4G network. The first 5G compatible phones are due out this year.

"There's more pressure on 5G as the next-wave smartphone," since sales are so lackluster, said Ives. "There will be a battle royale for 5G phones."

But 5G will take years for broad, nationwide deployment, so the new 5G smartphones coming out this year are not likely to make much of a splash immediately either.

Analysts say smartphone makers need to push into under-saturated areas like Africa and elsewhere, and also sell more services like cloud storage, streaming music and phone software. But the glory days of untrammeled growth appear to be over.

"It's going to be a slow slog," Llamas said. "By no means is this the end of the smartphone market. But this is an indication that the smartphone market can be a victim of its own success."

Nb

It is all congratulations for makers of Smartphone for bringing this robot to very many people on the planet. The human eyes can now see better. The human ears can now hear louder. The mouth and tongue for many people can talk more and better to each other. It is only some African leaders who continue to undermine the speed of technological development in helping humanity into greater heights of civilizations.

 

 

 

 

 

How visa fees flout the East Africa Communities protocol:  

 

JKIA

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. South Sudan, Uganda and Kenya are now the latest group to flout the freedom of movement guaranteed by the EAC Common Market Protocol. PHOTO | NMG 

By Dicta Asiimwe, The East African paper
 

More by this Author

More than two years after South Sudan became a member of the East Africa Community, its citizens visiting Kenya and Uganda still have to pay $50 for an entry visa.

At the points of entry into the different partner states, this newspaper found that South Sudanese visiting Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi do not pay any entry visa fees.

But when visiting Uganda and Kenya, they are required to pay for their entry visa.

South Sudan officially joined EAC in September 2016, when the country’s leaders deposited instruments ratifying the Treaty, its annexes and protocols.

Having deposited these with the EAC secretary general, South Sudan started the process of filling different positions that it was guaranteed, as a member of the Community.

First was the appointment of Justice Charles Oyo Nyawello to the East African Court of Justice. South Sudan also nominated nine members of the East African Legislative Assembly and appointed a defence liaison officer, stationed at the EAC Secretariat as well as a commissioner to the ad hoc EAC service commission.

While South Sudan joining the EAC represented a boon for some in the political class and members of the civil and defence services who have been appointed to jobs, the country alongside its partners at the EAC Secretariat seem to have forgotten about implementation of the people-centred sections of the treaty.

Currently there are three protocols that are integral parts of the EAC treaty. These include the Customs Union, Monetary Union and the Common market protocol.

The Common Market guarantees five freedoms and two rights. These are the right of establishment of a business and right of residence. The freedoms are free movement of goods, services, labour, capital and persons removes impediments like entry visa fees.

While EAC partner states still flout significant parts of the Common Market Protocol, freedom of movement of persons has largely been respected with citizens allowed to travel without paying visa fees.

Tanzania had an exception to this rule; Ugandans going to Tanzania for business are required to pay $100 for an entry visa. South Sudan, Uganda and Kenya are now the latest group to flout the freedom of movement guaranteed by the EAC Common Market Protocol.

 

 

 

 

 

High Tech trade innovations take centre stage at the World Trade Organization forum:

13 October, 2018

Written by Joseph Olanyo

A man tries out a giant iTab smartphone during a trade exhibition

A man tries out a giant iTab smartphone during a trade exhibition

 

Roberto Azevedo, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) director-general, says the organisation should set a more sustainable and inclusive path towards better global trade by 2030, writes JOSEPH OLANYO from Geneva.

Azevedo made these remarks during the opening plenary of the 2018 Public Forum last week in Switzerland. He underlined the importance of modernizing and adapting the rules of global trade in order to manage the major social and economic challenges ahead of technological change.

“We can’t put progress on hold until we are ready. We have to start talking now. We have to get involved,” Azevedo said.

Azevedo’s remarks kicked off a three-day discussion at the WTO regarding the future of trade and how to make it more sustainable and inclusive.

The Public Forum is the WTO’s largest annual outreach event, providing a unique platform for parliamentarians, leading global businesspeople, students, academics and non-governmental organizations to come together and debate on a wide range of WTO issues, and on some of the major trade and development topics of the day.

100 sessions

More than 2,500 participants have registered to attend this year’s forum, the theme of which is “Trade 2030.”

More than 100 sessions have been scheduled to examine what sustainable trade will look like in 2030 and beyond, with sub-themes focusing on sustainable trade, technology-enabled trade and a more inclusive trading system.

The WTO director general noted that the rapid changes taking place today, from the emergence of new technologies to growing environmental risks, are challenging the way people think about trade. He said with proper policies in place, the technological revolution could help fuel significant trade growth.

At the same time, new technologies, Azevedo said, are expected to create substantial churn in the global jobs market, with tens of millions of jobs lost and created in the coming years.

“More and more trade will be happening through digital platforms,” Azevedo said. “New ways of delivering products will come on stream. New kinds of services will be created. So, we have to ask – is the global trading system that we have today equipped for that new environment?”

“I believe that the fundamental principles still apply, as enshrined in the WTO agreements: the importance of clear rules, openness, cooperation and non-discrimination,” he said.

Whether the current system of rules is enough to manage this change is still an open question, Azevêdo added.

Keynote speakers at the opening plenary stressed the importance of innovation and flexibility in adapting to the new global trading environment, and putting proper policies in place to allow innovation to flourish and facilitate the achievement of sustainability and inclusiveness.

Erik Solheim, the executive director of UN Environment Programme, underlined the important role of trade in supporting sustainable development, including trade’s role in contributing to the sharp reduction in global poverty and promoting the expanded use of renewable energies and technologies. 

“Last year, we had more electricity coming onto the global grid from solar alone,” noted Solheim. “Could that happen without trade?  No. It may have started in California and Germany, but the enormous markets of China and India took it to such a scale that solar can now compete on price with coal everywhere in the world.”

“That’s a change that would have been impossible without trade.”

Jack Ma, the executive chairman and co-founder of the Alibaba Group, a world leader in global e-commerce, outlined a rosy forecast for trade – one driven by e-commerce, small businesses and services. He urged the audience to have confidence in the future. 

“Let’s stop worrying about the future,” he declared. “You may not have the solutions, but young people have the solutions.  You don’t have the solution today, but you’ll have the solution tomorrow.”

The year 2030, he predicted, would see a substantial increase in the amount of business conducted online, greater involvement of small businesses in e-commerce and more consumer-to-business transactions.

Made in internet

“Today we see Made in China or Made in Switzerland. 2030 will be Made in Internet,” he declared.  “All these things will fundamentally change the way we do trade, but for sure most businesses will benefit. We will create a lot more jobs than we expected.”

Laura Behrens Wu, the CEO and co-founder of Shippo, a multi-carrier shipping platform, said one of the big advantages from the new world of trade will include lower entry costs for entrepreneurs and removing geographical boundaries to trade.

“It’s easier than ever to start an online business,” Behrens said. “You don’t need a physical location; starting an online business is asset-low, and people can focus on what they are best at, which is making creative and beautiful products, taking care of customers, and being in touch with the trends.”

“People have been saying we cannot stop technology. I don’t want to stop technology. People are leveraging technologies to be more creative and be able to form more human connections and make the world a smaller place.”

Tunde Kehinde, the co-founder of Lidya, a leading platform for small- and medium-sized business lending in emerging markets, said obtaining affordable finance was critical in allowing these companies to participate in trade and take advantage of the opportunities offered by access to global markets.

“When you look at sustainable development goals, around job creation and equality, the fact that you can now provide the financing (small businesses) need to meet buyers’ demands really opens up markets for these small businesses that weren’t there before.”

Kehinde urged small business to engage with governments and make their case for creating a business environment that will help them take advantage of new technologies and flourish.

“If you’re not at the table, the challenge you face is that regulation is being made without your voice. And that regulation can be very disruptive; it’s tough to unwind.”

Christine Bliss, the president of the US-based Coalition of Services Industries (CSI), said there was a bright future ahead for service providers in the new technology-driven trade environment. Nevertheless, her members were concerned with some emerging regulatory trends which threatened to disrupt this progress.

“The demands for data localization and data processing requirements are a huge problem and they do threaten to break down the delivery of services in an efficient, cost-effective manner on a cross-border basis,” Bliss declared. 

“The pressure to impose duties on electronic transmissions is another huge challenge which, if not handled correctly, could lead to a serious breakdown in cross-border e-commerce.”

“Cybersecurity risks and over-reaction by governments is another area that needs to be tackled. Cooperative frameworks need to be developed to handle that carefully. We are pressing up against them and we need to find ways to move forward.”

jolanyo@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

Low-cost, printable solar panels offer ray of hope amid global energy gridlock:

Australian physicist says technology could make signing up for energy accounts as easy as a mobile phone subscription.

 

1st September, 2018

 

Paul Dastoor believes printed solar cells will help change the way consumers think about renewable energy
 Paul Dastoor believes printed solar cells will help change the way consumers think about renewable energy. Photograph: Newcastle University

An Australian physicist is leading a push to pioneer a new type of low-cost solar energy he believes could make signing up for energy accounts as straightforward as taking up a mobile phone plan.

In May last year, the University of Newcastle professor Paul Dastoor used organic printed solar cells to power screens and displays at an exhibition in Melbourne.

 

Less than one millimetre thick and held down with double-sided sticky tape, the panels are similar in texture to a potato chip packet and can be produced for less than $10 per square metre.

Dastoor has been working on the technology for more than a decade, but has now begun a 200 square-metre installation – the first commercial application of its kind in Australia and possibly the world.

“The low cost and speed at which this technology can be deployed is exciting as we need to find solutions, and quickly, to reduce demand on base-load power – a renewed concern as we approach another summer here in Australia,” he said.

Organic printed solar cells on sub-millimetre thin plastic sheets being installed at the pilot project
 Organic printed solar cells on sub-millimetre thin plastic sheets being installed at the pilot project. Photograph: Newcastle University

And as Canberra is again gripped by energy policy inertia, he said the commercial pilot was an example of industry and academia “just getting on with things”.

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“If we reflect on where we’ve come from in the last decade and what we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks in Canberra, one of the things this project highlights is that universities and industry are coming together to just to get on with things and that’s exciting.”

The printed solar technology is not as efficient as the silicon-based one, and degrades much faster.

 

But Dastoor believes its low production and installation costs would make it competitive.

“The point of this technology is that if you look at it in terms of raw efficiency numbers, it’s much lower than typical silicon cells [and] it doesn’t last as long but actually those aren’t the important numbers,” he said.

“The question is how much does the energy cost? These materials are so cheap to make, manufacture and install that when you calculate the total cost of energy when manufacturing at scale, it’s going to give you a competitive product.”

Dastoor said it would be easy for companies to sell energy “plans” for consumers to sign up in the same way they do with mobile phones.

The commercial installation was completed in a day by five employees, and a lab-size printer can produce hundreds of metres of the product in one day.

the panels are similar in texture to a potato chip packet and can be produced for less than $10 per square metre
 The panels are similar in texture to a potato chip packet and can be produced for less than $10 per square metre Photograph: Newcastle University

“The caveat to that is I’m obviously not sure exactly how the commercial reality will manifest, but if I was going to guess I would say that this technology is one that does not last an extremely long time [but] is also likely to improve rapidly,” he said.

“Both of those factors are similar with what we faced with mobile phones [so] I think it points to a model where you will simply have all of that done for you – it will be some sort of plan with constant upgrade and replacement.

“The cost to produce it is so low and to roll out another set of solar cells is going to be extremely easy. I think over time our current picture of how we view solar energy and cells is going to fundamentally change.”

The pilot installation is due to last six months, and is the final stop before the technology becomes more widely available in the next few years.

 

 

 

 

 

The African country of Uganda and its next international trade disaster by Andrew Mwenda:

18 August, 2018
By Mr A. Mwenda
FIA 2018 Uganda Signature Day: Hadi Akoum (left) Vice-President Sales Africa and Indian sub-Ocean Customer Affairs / Eric Schulz, Chief Commercial Officer Airbus / Ephraim Bagenda, Chief Executive Officer of Uganda Airlines / John Kelly, Senior Vice-President Customers, Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace. PHOTOS @AIRBUS

 THE LAST WORD: How the re-launch of Uganda Airlines is most likely going to bring our country to tears – unless

THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | The decision by Uganda government to re-establish a state-run airline is a strategic mistake. In the early 1990s Uganda took a strategic decision to get government out of business. It disbanded state monopolies, privatized state run enterprises, liquidated others (like Uganda Airlines) and largely restricted itself to the role of overseer/regulator of private enterprise. This move was backed by a reorientation of the ideology of state bureaucrats, especially in the economic agencies, towards free market economics.

Government held onto some enterprises many of which have been very successful – The New Vision Printing and Publishing Corporation, National Water and Sewerage Corporation, Post Bank, Housing Finance Bank, National Social Security Fund, Pride Micro Finance, etc. are prominent examples. However, these have been successful in large part because they are very few.

Across most of the world airlines are losing money – including our neighbors Kenya and Rwanda. Why is Uganda government opening a new business in a loss-making industry? Indeed many experienced analysts have pointed out – and quite correctly in my view – that the choice of planes Uganda is buying, the routes it intends to fly, the liberalization of passenger and cargo handling and in-flight catering services, competition from the big players etc. all limit the business opportunities this airline can rely on to succeed.

However, these criticisms address tactical not strategic risks. If government were totally committed to building a successful airline, these mistakes would be corrected with time and more robust airline has potential to growth against the odds. The strategic challenge is political: the ideology of government bureaucrats, the behavior of our legislators – both in government and opposition – and the attitude of Ugandan elites towards the state. How?

The initial years of this airline are going to be characterized by nepotism, favoritism, fraud, corruption and gross incompetence. These weaknesses (in-and-of-themselves) are not unique to Uganda or even a strategic risk to the airline. They are part of the process of growth and learning, which many successful businesses have historically faced. In fact they are an inevitable short-term cost for a long-term goal.

The issue is the bureaucratic and political response to these early challenges. The award of contracts and hiring of staff, however honestly and transparently done, will evoke suspicions and intense contests among the different factions of our body politic. The losers in the contracts-and-jobs-lobby will run to the media, parliament, the IGG and other oversight institutions to complain of foul play. These will kick off the dust, which will now pollute social and traditional media. The management of the new airline will be besieged.

In this politically charged environment, Uganda’s international creditors will weigh in. IMF and World Bank will argue that they knew all along this was going to happen and threaten to cut aid and other support. Uganda’s bureaucrats at the ministry of finance and central bank will spot their quarry. Being free marketers hostile to the state doing business, they will make public statements against the airline. MPs (including those of NRM) will exploit this to grandstand by refusing to approve the budget of the airline.

We must remember that in the initial years, the airline will have invested heavily in capital expenditure and have high operating costs yet business will be low. So the losses will be very high –up to $50m per year. These losses will have to be funded from the budget. The strategic challenge is whether the Ugandan body politic can accept taxpayers’ money subsidizing a loss making state enterprise accused of nepotism, corruption, incompetence and mismanagement.

Nb

It seems that this land locked African country cannot run any viable State Corporation at all on the international scene. It is only the foreign investors alone that can manage to run such businesses in this country.

 

 

 

 

 

Russian Politician Tamara Pletnyova as the 2018 World cup football begins has Warned Russian Women Not To Sleep With non-white Foreigners During this World Cup that is in their country:

'I’m not a nationalist, but..'

ANTON NOVODEREZHKIN VIA GETTY IMAGES
Russian State Duma member Tamara Pletnyova pictured in February.

14June, 2018

 

By Huffpost UK

 

A Russian politician has warned women not to have sex with non-white foreign men as they could become single mothers to mixed race children.

Tamara Pletnyova, who heads the parliament’s committee for families, women and children, said even if the relationship leads to marriage, it often ends badly as people are stranded abroad, or in Russia but unable to get their children back.

Her assertion was in response to a question from a radio station about the so-called “Children of the Olympics” after the Moscow Games in 1980 - a time when contraception was not widely available in the country, reports Reuters.

The term was used during the Soviet era to describe non-white children conceived at international events after relationships between Russian women and men from Africa, Latin America, or Asia.

Many of the children faced discrimination.

“We must give birth to our children. These (mixed race) kids suffer and have suffered since Soviet times,” Pletnyova told Govorit Moskva radio station.

“It’s one thing if they’re of the same race but quite another if they’re of a different race. I’m not a nationalist, but nevertheless I know that children suffer. They are abandoned, and that’s it, they stay here with mum,” she said.

PA WIRE/PA IMAGES

Pletnyova said she that she would like Russian citizens to get married “out of love regardless of their ethnicity”.

Another lawmaker said foreign fans could bring viruses to the World Cup and infect Russians.

Talking to the same radio station, Alexander Sherin also said Russians should be careful in their interactions with foreigners as they might try to circulate banned substances at the tournament.

Thousands of football fans from 31 countries are travelling to the tournament, which kicks off on Thursday with an opening ceremony in Moscow, followed by a match between the host team and Saudi Arabia.

FIFA and the Russia 2018 organizing committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Pletynova’s remarks.

Pletnyova is a lawmaker for the KPRF Communist Party, a nominally opposition party that backs President Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin on most key issues.

Russians make up the majority ethnicity in the country, but there are dozens of minority groups, as well as a large labor migrant force predominantly from Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

Nb

Better these outer space seeking Russians find humans of the white kind on the planet of Mars. They can then stay put there and make a great Russian white only life on the red planet by 2089.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The African citizens of Nigeria are on big time protest after the Federal government of Nigeria refused to take any action over the massacre of over 2500 people in the North of this country:

By AFP

 

Added 3rd January 2018

Buhari 703x422

 

The Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari above, is thought to be turning a blind eye to the clashes

 

Hundreds of people stormed Makurdi, the capital of Nigeria's eastern Benue state today protesting the death of 20 farmers allegedly killed by cattle herders, a local civil society group said.

 

The farmers in Guma and Logo local government areas were reportedly killed by Fulani herdsmen in a series of attacks that took place on Monday and Tuesday.

 

The mainly Muslim nomadic cattle rearers have been clashing with largely Christian farmers over grazing rights in Nigeria for decades.

 

At a press conference on Tuesday, Benue governor Samuel Ortom said more than 20 people were killed in the violence, though an official toll has yet to be released.

 

"People were slaughtered like animals," Ortom was quoted as saying by Nigerian newspaper The Guardian.

 

More than 1,000 people took to the streets of Makurdi and blocked the highway on Wednesday morning, according to Helen Teghtegh, the head of local non-governmental organisation Community Links.

 

"There have been no policies implemented to slow down the attacks made by Fulani herdsmen," she said.

 

"We feel that (President Muhammadu Buhari) being a Fulani man, he is turning a blind eye on the issue."

 

Teghtegh said another protest was planned for Thursday.

 

The killings usually occur at the end of rainy season between December and March, when the Fulani pastoralists arrive in large numbers to graze their cattle and the farmers start harvesting yams.

 

But as the country's population explodes, Nigeria is set to become the world's third most populous country by 2050, according to the United Nations - the battle over land is intensifying.

 

Hundreds of people were reported dead in Benue state in early 2016 following a week-long clash between herdsmen and farmers.

 

In November, at least 30 people were killed after farmers attacked herdsmen in the Numan district in eastern Adamawa state.

 

The violence is a perennial security headache for Nigeria, which has been battling Boko Haram Islamists in the northeast since 2009 and a flare-up of militancy in the oil-producing south.

 

The International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think-tank, said in a September that some 2,500 people had been killed and tens of thousands were forced from their homes last year.

 

Such attacks were "becoming as potentially dangerous as the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast", it added.

 

 

 

 

 

THE LONG SERVING PRESIDENT OF UGANDA IS TRYING TO LEGITIMIZE THE RECENTLY STOLEN ELECTION THROUGH AN ARTICLE 102B IN THE CONSITITUTION OF UGANDA:

President Museveni of Uganda reading the Christian bible.

By Mr William Ekwelu

Even deaf and dumb people achnowledge that Museveni stole the just concluded election.

He snatched Besigyes overwhelming win .Bse his term and govt is illegal, he wants to legitimize it through article 102 through parliament which will make him like a dully elected president. Hence forth a life president.

First he started by intimidating ugandans through the land bill but ugandans became even more resilient. Set up a land commission to hoodwink the populace but turned out this is a mock bse the only culprit is him since majority of land grabbers is state house.

Museveni is on a dare or survive to assert himself on ugandans.

Then from no were, the magezi bill comes up. At the beginning m7 discarded himself from it but bse the opposition was assertive, he invaded parliament thru SFC and now he has come out that he is the one behind the bill. So magezi is a condom .

Bse the populace has stuck on his rejection, he has shifted polls to LC5 and 3' to conclude on the matter still avoiding the populace.

But what museveni must know is a majoritarian decission can not be concluded by lower councils. Lower councils make by-laws.

Now the hyena has been exposed. Uganda is for ugandans . And it is ugandans to decide who should rule them. It has hurt museveni for years that ugandans discovered the truth.U know one thing, propaganda has a short life span. After, the truth reveals itself. And sustaining propaganda is very costly. But the worst is, a lie can not be repaired. All along, Obote warned ugandans about museveni and he always asserted that Museveni was a rwandesse and that his ego was sinstar. Obote is long gone but museveni is still not clear about his grand plan for uganda. Uganda is now a nest of refugees.

Basing on the above, museveni must be stopped from his sinister motives. Our country is a ghost.without a back-born bse every social infrastructure has been destroyed .

 

Egypt still wants revision of the Nile Treaty to safeguard its interest on the East African water source:

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi (Right)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi (Right) and Rwandan President Paul Kagame inspect a guard of honour after Al-Sisi’s arrival at Kigali International Airport on August 15, for a two-day visit. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA | AFP

 

 

21August, 2017

 

By The EastAfrican

 

Egypt is trying to convince countries to adopt its renegotiated position on the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) ahead of this month’s Council of Waters Ministers’ meeting of the riparian states.

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi visited Tanzania and Rwanda last week, as part of a four-state-tour that also took him to Chad and Gabon, in a diplomatic move to convince them to adopt its position and proposed agreement.

Tanzania and Rwanda recently ratified the Nile Basin Common Framework Agreement that Egypt opposes, as it lobbies for its own renegotiated and updated CFA that, it says, addresses its concerns.

While in Tanzania, President John Magufuli expressed his country’s understanding of the importance of the River Nile to Egypt as its main source of fresh water, but failed to make a commitment in support of Egypt’s position.

“I believe that the Nile Basin countries will reach an agreement that all parties would accept. We have agreed to continue negotiations over this issue,” President Magufuli said during a joint press conference with President Al-Sisi.

The Egyptian leader admitted that they could not reach an agreement during the meeting, but both agreed on further negotiations over how best to handle the Nile Basin issue.

“We will offer our support to the Nile Basin countries so that all parties achieve the maximum benefit from the Nile without harming Egypt’s water interests, and taking into consideration Egyptian concerns in this regard as a matter of life or death,” President Al-Sisi said in a statement.

 

Egypt’s position

 

In Rwanda, where President Al-Sisi held talks with President Paul Kagame, one diplomat confirmed that the Egyptian leader’s visit was aimed at cementing Egypt’s position on the sharing of Nile resources.

The two presidents did not take questions from journalists in Kigali but read out statements.

A statement released by Egypt’s Presidency indicated that Al-Sisi pledged support for Nile Basin countries in return for favourable sharing terms of the Nile waters, which he said are a matter of life and death for his people.

“The President asserted Egypt’s support for the Nile Basin countries with Egyptian technical experts to achieve development in these countries, stressing Egypt’s keenness to achieving the maximum benefit from the Nile for all Nile Basin countries without harming Egypt’s water interests, and taking into consideration Egyptian concerns in this regard as a death and life matter,” the statement read.

President Kagame said Rwanda was happy to co-operate with Egypt on matters concerning the Nile and trade.

“Egypt and Rwanda do not share a border but we have many common interests on which our friendship is based. This includes our shared responsibility to care for the River Nile which sustains life for tens of millions of Africans as it makes its way to the Mediterranean,” he said.

“We are happy to cooperate with you and all the countries in the region in pursuit of this crucial objective that we share,” President Kagame said during a state banquet held in honour of Mr Al-Sisi.

No common ground

 

In an interview with The EastAfrican, Innocent Ntabana, the executive director of the Nile Basin Initiative, said a Council of Water Ministers’ meeting, where the Egyptian proposals will be discussed in detail, is planned for later this month.

At the June summit in Kampala, Egypt pushed for the regional countries to replace the Entebbe Agreement with a new CFA, but most members were reluctant to accept it.

During the meeting, the heads of states, who include President Al-Sisi, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, failed to strike common ground on the matter.

Egypt has objected to the CFA, which was adopted in 2010 and has been signed by six upstream countries — Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, and Burundi — though they are yet to fully ratify it.

Instead, the North African country has proposed its own terms to ensure maximum utilisation of Nile resources, while maintaining a colonial agreement that gives it a lion’s share of the Nile.

Cairo had the backing of Khartoum but the recent fallout between Sudan and Egypt over alleged political interference and territorial disputes have left it on its own.

Egypt is seeking to have an alternative agreement signed by the heads of states, which will accommodate a number of principles governing the management of the Nile water.

This new agreement, which it failed to push through at the Entebbe talks in June will also set up the main lines of co-operation and decision-making mechanisms in relation to any project on the river.

Cairo’s main drive is that, as much as the 2010 Entebbe agreement was binding, it is yet to be final, as not all signatory countries have ratified it.

The Nile Basin countries dispute Egypt’s historic share of the Nile water. There are plans to set up the Nile Basin Commission to enforce demands of equitable utilisation of the Nile waters.

 

Nile Basin Initiative

 

Born almost two decades ago in Dar es Salaam, following the signing of the minutes of the meeting by nine of the Nile ministers of water resources in attendance, the NBI sought to foster co-operation and sustainable development of the Nile for the benefit of all the inhabitants of those countries.

However in 2010, major differences occurred amongst countries over water security, championed by Egypt and Sudan. This created an impasse.

In 2010, it was Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda that signed the Co-operative Framework Agreement (CFA) and were a year later to be joined by Kenya and Burundi.

The CFA has since been ratified by Rwanda, Ethiopia and Tanzania but it requires a total of six instruments of ratification to enter into force. To date, Sudan and Egypt continue to reject the CFA.

Kampala is the current chair of the Nile Council of Ministers of Water Affairs of the NBI, which has Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, South Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia with Eritrea having an observer status.

 

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Unless this Egyptian leader recommends these African dictators to keep their countries as green as possible, the cropping desert of the Sahara will soon be all over the continent of Africa in 50 or 100 years. Unfortunately, for Egypt by then, not a drop of water will be coming to this ancient country.

 

How the United States of America spends its tax payer's money in Uganda:

Vaccination. A health worker gives an oral Polio vaccine to a child in Masaka District during a recent Mass immunisation exercise. Uganda’s health sector is the biggest beneficiary of US aid.

PHOTO BY MARTINS E. SSEKWEYAMA

The United States of America has between October last year and September this year availed $840.4 million (Shs2.9 trillion) for health, justice, education, stability and ensuring the prosperity of Ugandans. This is contained in the 55-page “Report to the Ugandan people”, that the US Embassy in Kampala released this week.

Uganda’s health sector is the biggest beneficiary of US aid spend, with approximately $488.3 million or Shs1.7 trillion pumped in between October last year and September this year. This support makes the US the largest single provider of health assistance to Uganda.

By dedicating much of their support to the health sector, the US government says their aim is to reduce the threats of infectious diseases like HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria, to improve the health of mothers and newborn children.

The report notes that US funded programmes in the sector are providing life-saving medicines, empowering girls, saving mothers, and allowing Ugandans to live longer, more productive lives.

The US classifies Uganda’s stability as very important to its work in the country and this perhaps explains why it is the second largest funded priority. In the last financial year, the US government spent $279.6 million or Shs951.2 billion in assistance to guarantee a stable Uganda.

Some of the resources were, according to the report, spent on efforts to professionalise Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF). For example, the US provided training in human rights and peacekeeping methods to more than 5,000 UPDF soldiers.

Other areas “to ensure stability” that the US invested in over the year included programmes that promote peaceful dialogue as a means of avoiding conflict and violence. Through legal aid programmes, the US has, for example, helped families to peacefully resolve land disputes and other conflicts, especially in northern Uganda which was ravaged by more than two decades of civil war.

The number of refugees entering to Uganda increases every year. During the period under review, the US government contributed $126.5 million or 453.8 billion to assist refugees in Uganda and vulnerable populations in Karamoja sub-region. That figure is likely to increase in the next financial year.

In fostering the Global Health Security Agenda, the US says it has supported Uganda to develop world-class capabilities to detect and control infectious disease outbreaks such as ebola, yellow fever, and cholera. This too, is part of US support for a stable Uganda.

Health officials are supported with tools and equipped with skills to respond in the case of a health emergency.

With assistance from CDC, USAID, and other US government partners, the US government says it is helping to improve Uganda’s preparedness and emergency management capacity by establishing Uganda’s Public Health Emergency Operation Center and training workers to detect diseases before they spread.

The US government, according to report, invests in activities aimed at making Ugandans wealthier. The US spent $47.5m (Shs 161.7b) in support of such activities. In the report, the US government says $68.8 million worth of coffee was sold by farmers associated with one of its flagship economic programmes, the Feed the Future programme in the financial year 2015/2016.

The assistance, the report notes, seeks to generate a stronger economic climate, reduce poverty, and expand trade and investment opportunities. The activities include efforts to add value to the production chains of maize, coffee, and beans, as well as training programmes and microfinance projects for entrepreneurs.

“We encourage increased trade between Uganda and the United States through the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which helps domestic exporters take advantage of trade preferences and provide greater access to US markets,” the report notes.

The US also funds conservation activities which are helping to combat illegal trafficking and environmental destruction, in an effort to protect Uganda’s abundant natural biodiversity.

With one of the youngest populations in the world, the US is supporting efforts in the country to build what it terms as an inclusive, educated, and empowered Uganda through funding of $14.7million (Shs50 billion).

“US-funded programmes in Uganda aim to ensure all voices, especially those of women and youth, are fully represented in all aspects of life and development. The activities we support seek to ensure that every Ugandan benefits from the country’s economic growth, receives a quality education, and has the opportunity to contribute to society,” the report further notes.

Efforts by the US government to promote a more just and democratic Uganda receive the least funding of the five priority areas the US government funds. It is, however, significant given that some of the development partners find this sector unappealing. The US government, according to the report dedicates $10.3 million (Shs 35 billion).

The programmes facilitated aim at building “the capacity of civil society actors to advocate on behalf of their fellow Ugandans, especially those who traditionally face neglect or discrimination – such as women, LGBT individuals, ethnic and religious minorities, and persons with disabilities.”

By training judges and others activists to protect human rights, the US government says it aims at supporting efforts to increase government transparency, and combat corruption.

 

US versus CHINA:

 

US ambassador to Uganda Deborah Malac

 

 

In her foreword to the report, Deborah Malac says: “The objective of our (aid) programmes is simple: we want to help Ugandans create a healthy, prosperous and stable country with just and democratic governance, which will in turn produce an inclusive, educated, and empowered population,” she says.

From Ms Malac’s statement, one can quickly decipher the key difference between the approaches of the US and China, the country that is pushing the US hardest in the race to dominate and influence the world, as far as their aid priorities are concerned.

China has on the other hand mostly invested in brick and mortar, with the Asian giant bankrolling giant projects like Isimba and Karuma dams, roads, and the planned construction of the Standard Gauge Railway. China is also funding the expansion of Entebbe airport, and has built the President’s Office building and a hospital in Naguru, among other projects.

The European Union, the other giant donor to Uganda, has on the other hand focused on transport infrastructure, food security and agriculture, value chains and green economy, and good governance.

To understand the differences in approaches to aid between the US, EU and China, one may need to look deeper into those donor countries. The US and the EU countries are democracies for which human rights and governance issues matter more than they do to China, a monolithic state that has been controlled by the Communist party for almost 80 years.

China, therefore, is primarily keen to create and maintain good relations with developing countries like Uganda, with which they may then trade in their quest to access raw materials and eventually markets.

The US and EU, even when they too have over the centuries, since the ages of slavery and colonial rule, sought to control the poorer countries to access raw materials and eventually get markets, now find themselves pressured by pro-democracy lobbies within their backyards to push the dictates of human rights and good governances in other countries.

The absence of such lobbies in China allows the Chinese government the lee-way that its rivals don’t have – to remain unconcerned with the internal politics of its client states like Uganda. The Americans and Europeans, even when their governments have had interests to pursue within poor countries like Uganda that may run counter to pursuing human rights and good governance, will always at least pay lip to the cause.

Ms Malac says her government believes by channelling America’s aid to Ugandans in the five areas identified above, Ugandans will “live up to their full potential” and “this is the future that all Ugandans – regardless of age, gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or political beliefs – deserve.”

The mantra of America’s aid, as captured in the report, is to invest in human development as opposed to investing in physical things as China favours.

Uganda, however, gets a lot more aid from China, its biggest bilateral donor which, according to the ministry of Finance, had lent to Uganda $1.099 billion (Shs3.8 trillion) as of June 2017, while the US does not feature in the top 15 countries that Uganda owes money.

The pressure to stay young and fit in Africa is forcing the ruling elites in Uganda to change their Date of Birth as a legitimate procedure:

Deputy Chief Justice Steven Kavuma during a recent court session. Last year, The Observer reported that deputy chief justice Steven Kavuma had sworn an affidavit to amend his age reflecting that he is four years younger than his current officially known age. File photo

KAMPALA.

The government through the Public Service ministry has warned public servants applying to change their age to stop it, insisting that such applications will not be accepted. The warning follows an influx of public officials applying to change their dates of birth for unknown reasons.

The Public Service ministry permanent secretary, Ms Catherine Musingwire, in a letter dated February 6, revealed that her ministry had received numerous requests from public servants who want to change their dates of birth.

The letter was addressed to all permanent secretaries, chief administrative officers, town clerks and copied to the Office of the President, Cabinet secretary and head of Public Service, Mr John Mitala.

“The ministry of Public Service has of recent received many requests from public officers for change of their dates of birth. The requests follow the biometric verification of public officers and matching of their data with the national identification registrar,” the letter reads in part.

“The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to inform you that the ministry will uphold the dates of birth declared upon appointment,” the letter warns.

In 2013, Parliament rejected a plan mooted by a section of MPs who wanted to raise the retirement age for public officers to 75 years.

The plan prompted fears from the Opposition that its architects led by former Bufumbira East MP, Mr Eddie Kwizera harbour a “sinister” agenda to perpetuate President Museveni’s grip on power.

The plan also came under attack from civil society activists who, at the time, accused its backers of contemplating treason. Mr Kwizera, a former State House employee wanted to table a private member’s Bill or a motion to amend the 1995 Constitution to raise the retirement age from 60 years.

Last year, The Observer reported that deputy chief justice Steven Kavuma had sworn an affidavit to amend his age reflecting that he is four years younger than his current officially known age.

Kavuma’s case

Justice Kavuma was born on September 29, 1948, meaning he is supposed to retire September 29 this year after turning 70, the mandatory retirement age. The judiciary later insisted that Justice Kavuma’s name was in December last year forwarded to the JSC in preparation for his successor.

Ethics minister Fr Simon Lokodo said attempts by public officers to change their age in order to stay in public service longer defeats logic and asked them to drop the idea.

“It is irresponsible for a public servant to turn around trying to amend age to stay in service longer,” Fr Lokodo said.

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It looks like the President of Uganda is the one leading his African civil servants to play games with their employment terms of  references. Sounds absurd for an African employee to set the terms of employment other than the African employer.

 

 

 

The Environmental Aspects on the Continent of Africa

 

 

 

Environmentally damaged wetlands right in the middle of Africa

on Lake Victoria, Uganda

 

The timber industry in Uganda is very much involved in illegal lumbering: 

10 November, 2016

Impounded timber being loaded on a National Forestry Authority truck in Kagombe Central Forest Reserve recently. Both political and technical leaders in Bunyoro sub-region say illegal lumbering denies them prospective revenue. Photo by Ephraim Kasozi

 

By Ephraim Kasozi & Jalira Namyalo:

UGANDA, MUBENDE. District local government leaders in Bunyoro sub-region have decried the illegal cutting down of forests saying the move has caused them loss of revenue.

Both political and technical leaders say that despite having forests in their areas, illegal lumbering and charcoal burning have denied them prospective revenue through taxation and issuing of licenses to the dealers.

Mr Francis Kibuuka Amooti, the chairperson Mubende District, described lumbering as one of the major economic activities in the area which would be generating up to 70 per cent of their revenue to support local government works but they get less than 10 per cent.

“We used to earn from timber dealing and charcoal burning but the fight against illegal harvesters has weakened. We have now registered a big revenue shortfall in the rather lucrative business,” he said.

“We used to earn more than Shs40 million from forest products per month but currently it is less than Shs10 million,” Mr Kibuuka said; adding the district now relies on petty collections such as sale of agricultural produce and markets to facilitate day to day operations and meeting payments for the councilors’ allowances.

Mr Swaibu Balekye, the chairman of Kasule Sub-county in Kyegegwa District, attributed the loss of revenue to technical people in the district whom he accused of abuse of their offices leading to financial loss to their employers.

He said: “My district is not gaining from timber trade because we are not taxing timber in Kyegegwa. They said that timber harvested with power saws is illegal and dealing in it amounts to smuggling which has made the local governments to lose millions in revenue which would in turn support community growth and development.”

The leaders from Mubende, Kyegegwa, Kabarole, Kagadi and Kibaale were speaking at the orientation workshop for local government leaders hosted by the Joint Effort to Save the Environment (JESE) on their roles in forest governance.

A report by the National Forestry Authority indicates that the country’s forest cover reduced from 4,933,271 hectares in 1990 to 1,835,147 in 2015.

“Forest degradation has far-reaching cost implications to the economy.

For instance when kerosene is substituted for charcoal in urban households, it would result in an increase in the national import bill by $180m (Shs622 billion) annually,” reads the report, in part.

Mr Sam Nyakoojo, the JESE coordinator, said the forum was started to coordinate the flow and share of information about timber and charcoal trade in Bunyoro to stop illegal trade in forest products.

“We have mobilised local leaders, technocrats and other stake holders to discuss and come up with a joint plan and strengthen good information flow to stop depletion of natural resources specifically forests in the region. And to create revenue collection points which will increase districts’ income that would support their development,” Mr Nyakoojo explained.

Contribution

Statistics. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics for 2009, the forestry sector contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by current economic activity prices was estimated at Shs1,038 billion, of which Shs418 billion was monetary and Shs 619 billion was non-monetary. Based on those statistics, the percentage share of GDP to the forest sector was 3.5 per cent.

editorial@ug.nationmedia.com

 

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THE AFRICAN IS A UNIVERSAL HUMAN BEING

Posted on 6th February, 2017

The Parliament of Uganda continues to chase its tail over the number of years a President should rule the country:

Term limits are back in parliament just after removing the age limit a president should end to rule this country:

Written by Sadab Kitatta Kaaya

Deputy speaker of parliament Jacob Oulanyah

Deputy speaker of parliament Jacob Oulanyah

 

The ruling NRM is faced with another unattractive parliamentary battle; the reintroduction of the two-term presidential limits as part of an opposition push for elaborate electoral reforms ahead of the 2021 general election.

The reforms carried in The Constitutional (Amendment) Bill 2019 are pushed by Ndorwa East MP Wilfred Niwagaba and, got the much-needed parliamentary nod of approval last week hardly two years after the NRM-dominated parliament lifted the constitutional lower 35 and upper 75-year presidential age caps in December 2017.

 

Igara West MP Raphael Magyezi’s promoted age-limit bill cleared the last hurdle for President Museveni’s re-election in 2021 when he officially turns 75 years of age. Both the Attorney General William Byaruhanga and his deputy Mwesigwa Rukutana were not in parliament last week when deputy speaker Jacob Oulanyah opened up debate on Niwabaga’s motion seeking parliament permission to table his bill.

Finance Minister Matia Kasaija was a lone wolf. He tried but failed to kill the motion supported by an army of opposition legal minds in the House. Kasaija argued unsuccessfully for debate to be pushed to this week when either Byaruhanga or Rukutana would be in the House to defend government but Oulanyah didn’t budge.

“When I ruled [on August 29], I was clear; I said at the next sitting of parliament, this issue will be handled, that is why it is on the order paper. There is nothing new; it is a motion for leave, which has been with us for eight months. Both the attorney general and his deputy know the importance of the matter but they are both not here, after eight months, there is no excuse to delay this matter any longer,” Oulanyah said.

 

In his August 29 ruling, Oulanyah shot down government’s objections to the motion, especially arguments advanced earlier by Rukutana that the bill contradicted Article 93 of the Constitution and Rule 123 of the Parliamentary Rules of Procedure, which restrict private members from introducing bills that could have financial implications.

At the moment, Oulanyah argued, parliament was dealing with a motion to introduce a bill. Niwagaba’s bill has been on the shelves since January when he filed a notice of motion but met stiff resistance from government.

LONG FIGHT

Then, Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Maj Gen Kahinda Otafiire told parliament that Niwagaba’s bill was unnecessary since the reforms being proposed by the shadow attorney general were part of the issues government intended to handle through the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC).

Speaker Rebecca Kadaga then gave Otafiire up to the end of April to table the reforms. The three months’ ultimatum passed without Museveni approving the list of nominees to the commission forwarded by Otafiire and no bill had been tabled in parliament.

When Byaruhanga on June 26 tabled five bills, Kadaga alerted Niwagaba to dust his motion and table it to give parliament an opportunity to comprehensively handle the various reforms that government has been ignoring since 2014.

This sent the government strategists back to the drawing board to plot another move to block the bill. (See: Govt moves to block opposition reforms, The Observer, August 7.)

 

Because the bill has proposals that are intended to clip Museveni’s powers as president, government will most likely go out of its way to kill it at the next stage.

NEXT HURDLE

While it was easy for government to give Magyezi the certificate of financial implication to back up what came to be popularly known as the age limit bill, the story will be different for Niwagaba.

Once his bill is published in the government gazette as required under Article 93, Niwagaba must get a certificate of financial implication before proceeding to table his bill in parliament for the first reading.

“Seeing how the government has been objecting to it, I don’t have any illusion that it will be a smooth ride for me to get a certificate of financial implication, but, I will do what the law requires me to do to get it,” Niwagaba told The Observer on Tuesday.

Under Rule 117 of parliament’s Rules of Procedure, Niwagaba is supposed to pick his bill’s certificate of financial implication from Kasaija. Should Kasaija refuse to issue the certificate, parliament will proceed under Rule 117(4) to process the bill.

“They [government] no longer have that so much power to refuse to issue the certificate; where it is denied without a valid reason, the speaker can allow the member to proceed with the bill. Government must have a justification, which they have to explain on the floor,” said opposition MP Mathias Mpuuga (Masaka Municipality).

Rule 117(4) states that a certificate of financial implication shall be deemed to have been issued after 60 days from the date of request for the certificate. Interviewed on Tuesday, Otafiire said, “I have been out of the country, I haven’t seen the bill.”

But Information minister Frank Tumwebaze said in a separate interview that government will give its views after an internal discussion.

“It will be discussed on merit. We are going to discuss it as government and give our views,” Tumwebaze said.

Key among Niwagaba’s proposals is locking out the president in the appointment of the chairperson and commissioners of the Electoral Commission under Article 60. He suggests the appointments should be made by the Judicial Service Commission.

He also proposes to amend Chapter Seven of the Constitution specifically Articles 99 (2) and 100 to replace the office of Vice President with the office of Deputy President plus Article 103 (2) to require every candidate in a presidential election to nominate a person who is qualified for election as president, as a candidate for deputy president.

He also proposes an amendment to Article 104 to allow any voter or political party or organization to challenge the outcome of a presidential election in addition to an aggrieved candidate.

He also wants to reintroduce Article 105(2) reinstating the two-term limits for a president.

sadabkk@observer.ug

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Of course reinstating the two term limits must state that those presidential candidates who have already completed a two term limit of presidential rule or a four term limit rule before this rule must not stand in the future time of this bill if it becomes law.

Such a simple logic of law should not need this parliament to demand money from the suffering Uganda taxpayer.

 

keremire Quoting kabayekka:

Of course reinstating the two term limits must state that those presidential candidates who have already completed a two term limit of presidential rule or a four term limit rule before this rule must no stand in the future time of this bill if it becomes law. ......



No. New laws are not applied retrospectively. That is a basic principle in law that must be respected.

 

Indeed thank you keremire for your reminder. The law is an ass. To look at things as they have happened in the past is what the 4th or 5th National Constitution of Uganda is all about. What one believes is that the next rule(Post M7) of this country is likely to dumb this current man made constitution in the dust bin. It is of what one believes is God and that is Supreme. Many Germany citizens during the 1930/45 believed and respected in the Supremacy of Heil Hitler at their own peril.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Uganda, the approaching Presidential Age limit jurisdictive ruling is going to be some sort of a litmus test for Uganda courts:

 

Constitutional Court judges Cheborion Barishaki, Remmy Kasule

Left to right: Constitutional Court judges Cheborion Barishaki, Remmy Kasule, Deputy Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, Kenneth Kakuru and Elizabeth Musoke at the hearing of the age limit case in Mbale District recently. File photo  

By a Uganda Monitor Correspondent

The fate of the five-month Constitution Amendment Act, which removed age limits on the presidency and sought to extend the term of parliament and government by another two years awaits a decision by the Constitutional Court, which spent two weeks hearing the petition.

The petitioners challenged the constitutionality of the Act passed last December amid drama that included a raid by security operatives who evicted mainly opposition MPs from parliament.

The Act extended the mandate of parliament by another two years, removed an age cap that would have barred President Yoweri Museveni from seeking re-election after his current term expires in 2021 and extended the time for filing and disposing of a petition challenging the outcome of a presidential election among other things.

But, the verdict, whichever way it goes, will be a test not just on the law but on the five judges of the Constitutional Court.

They are Justice Alfred Owiny Dollo, who was appointed deputy Chief Justice only last year, judges Kenneth Kakuru, Remmy Kasule, Cheborion Barishaki and Elizabeth Musoke.

All, but one of the five judges, are facing their first major constitutional case and their decision will determine whether President Museveni, who has been in power for over 30 years, can seek re-election in 2021.

Critical choices

The Justices have three critical choices and each will come with its own issues: They could dismiss the petition on the basis that it lacks merit or fail it on technical grounds.

They could accept the petition and quash the law in its entirety or they could opt to accept some aspects of the petition and dismiss others.

Whatever the decision, the losing party is expected to appeal it. And why not, given that an appeal would have an impact on other scheduled constitutional activities like the referendum, which would affirm the term extension for the presidency and the general election in 2021.

For the government, an initial win would provide the critical window to push through critical activities aimed at defeating any final verdict.

A similar situation was witnessed in the early 2000s when the law that cleared a referendum on political parties was nullified for lack of quorum, but the final verdict was determined after a new law had been crafted and the referendum held.

Another potential conundrum is the ruling lacking a unanimous decision or split decision on all or parts of the petition.

Whatever the decision, the judges will face criticism and praise in equal measure.

Of the five, only Justice Kasule has dealt with a contentious constitutional matter when he gave a minority opinion in a petition involving the ruling National Resistance Movement party and four of its members famously known as “rebel” MPs.

His dissenting opinion in the 2014 case — where NRM had expelled MPs Wilfred Niwagaba, Barnabas Tinkasimire, Theodore Sekikubo and Mohammad Nsereko and wanted them thrown out of parliament — was later to carry the day on appeal to the Supreme Court.

Judge Kasule ruled that the MPs could not be expelled because their disagreement with their party and their subsequent expulsion by NRM on whose ticket they were elected to parliament made them involuntary independents. This therefore did not amount to a crossing of the isle, which would have led to them automatically losing their seats.

The decision by the Constitutional Court will re-set the political dynamics of the country no matter the final outcome.

“The court itself is as much a hostage as the case, the petitioners and the citizens,” said Busingye Kabumba, a constitutional lawyer and lecturer at Makerere University School of law.

“In my view, the fundamental challenge is the resolution of the deep political crisis in the country. The ultimate liberation of the court itself can only be realised in the context of the resolution of that broader crisis,” he said.

Elison Karuhanga, a lawyer who was also part of President Museveni’s legal team in the 2016 Supreme Court challenge to his re-election by rival Amama Mbabazi, described the Mbale Constitutional Court hearing as a “laboratory for constitutional jurisprudence,” which provides an opportunity “to deepen and broaden” the role of courts in settling political disputes.

While avoiding to speculate on the outcome, Mr Karuhanga said that whatever the verdict, it will have a huge impact on the nexus between courts and politics.

He said that even though this case is important, Ugandan courts have already come a long way in building constitutional jurisprudence, which has contributed significantly to political dispute resolution as the country moves away from violence as the decider of political winners and losers.

According to Crispin Kaheru, the co-ordinator for Citizens Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda, the environment rather than the verdict is the most critical matter for Ugandans as they await the judgment.

“I think our democracy is being slowly chipped away and that is why the Mbale judgment is very important, whichever way it goes,” said Mr Kaheru.

“The decision is going to be made in an environment where there is little public confidence in public institutions including courts of law; in a context of an overbearing executive; and in a setting where courts have ruled in a given pattern with respect to cases of high political interest such as this one. The bench has good objective minds, but is the environment permissive for them to invoke their wisdom and judgment independently?” he said adding, “I do not expect anything ‘out of the ordinary” from Mbale.”

After closing arguments two weeks ago, the Constitutional Court promised to deliver its verdict on notice.

 

 

 

 

 

The Vice President of Uganda, Mr Ssekandi is in Brazzaville for  talks on the way forward for peace and not civil wars for African countries on the continent of Africa:

What of this Gentleman's own country?

 

By Vision Reporter

 

Added 18th October 2017 

 

The meeting that opens on Thursday is based on the 2013 framework agreement established to support the ongoing regional efforts to achieve peace and stability in the DRC and the region in general.

 

Ssekandi 703x422

Vice President of Uganda, Mr Ssekandi.

 

The Vice-President Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi is in the Congolese Capital of Brazzaville where he joins other African leaders from the great lakes region to discuss peace and security in the region.

 

The Brazzaville meeting code named the High Level meeting of Regional Oversight Mechanism of peace, security and cooperation framework for the Democratic Republic of Congo and the region will be the 8th in series.    

 

The meeting that opens on Thursday is based on the 2013 framework agreement established to support the ongoing regional efforts to achieve peace and stability in the DRC and the region in general.

 

The AU, International Conference on Great Lakes Region(ICGLR), the South African Development Community (SADC) and the UN are guarantors of the initiative while member states including Angola, Burundi, CAR, Congo Republic, DRC, Kenya, South Sudan, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda are signatories. 

 

The meeting will among other things take stock of earlier commitments and consider additional measures aimed accelerating neutralisation and pacification of the Eastern DRC and addressing the sticky issue of resettlement of the former combatants.

 

Ssekandi who is leading the Government delegation to Brazzaville earlier, met with the AU Vice-Chairperson, Thomas Kwesi in Addis Ababa on his way to Congo with whom they discussed the situation in Somalia.

The Vice-President is being accompanied to the meeting by foreign affairs minister Sam Kutesa, defence minister Adolf Mwesigye and several senior technical government officials. 

 

Nb

The Regional efforts to achieve peace and stability in all the regions on the continent of Africa have failed. When one looks at the blood letting in Somalia and the failure of democratic elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. What is worse about such failures are these very African countries and their governments. 

Many Africans want to blame their leaders who have taken on the responsibilty of stopping civil wars as only an African problem needing an African solution. Surely these  African problems require all the International Communities to come forward and to put up joint efforts to stop this African suffering. Africans are also human beings represented foremost in the United Nations than the African Union.

The African Unity troops must leave these countries in strife since they have failed to stop the blood letting for example in Somalia, and the Sudan. They cannot be seen exporting their own brand of inadequate democratic rule in other African territories.

The so called African democratic countries which are trying to bring peace and sanity to Somalia, Sudan, and DRC are involved in destabilizing their own respective home countries. They are every day detaining the opposition and using military police to stop free speech and a peaceful transition of political leadership in their own backyard. In some of these countries the Military Police is trigger happy arresting women and children and shooting them point blank with live bullets.

This whole African Union political charade in Somalia, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is like years ago when former tyrant Saddam Hussein of Iraq was trying to liberate Kuwait.

 

 

 

African leaders cannot afford to abandon the International Criminal Court as these same so called leaders continuously incite civil wars and horrible atrocities in their governance of this massive continent:

 Mr  Adama Dieng

Posted  Monday, February 6   2017 

 

IN SUMMARY

 

The Rome Statute that establishes the Court is a global achievement, and its practices are evolving. However, the Court must be prepared and willing to listen to the concerns of those it intends to serve.

 

To have done so would have presented an opportunity to have an open and frank dialogue, and discuss how to make the Court a better institution, one that is capable of responding effectively to the challenges it was established to address.

With the ongoing atrocities in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, South Sudan and elsewhere, this is not the right time to abandon the Court.

Adama Dieng is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General/Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and former registrar for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

 

 

All City waste from the Land locked International city of Kampala goes directly into the inland Fresh water lake. Geographycally well known world wide as the Victoria Lake or the Nalubaale, this lake will soon have no drinking water:

Nobel cause. NWSC board chairman Christopher Ebal (centre) cleans Ggaba Landing Site with members of Young Water Professionals during World Water Day commemoration yesterday. PHOTO BY STEPHEN OTAGE 

EAST AFRICA,UGANDA, KAMPALA. National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) has asked government to take urgent measures to stop the high rate of waste matter disposal into Lake Victoria to minimise costs of water treatment and improve the quality of water drawn from the fresh water lake.

Speaking at celebrations to mark the International Water Day yesterday, Mr Christopher Ebal, the NWSC board chairman, said despite measures the corporation has adopted to extend its intake pipes deeper into the lake with the hope of drawing cleaner water, the quality of water drawn is continually deteriorating with NWSC incurring more costs in water treatment to make it clean and safe for consumption.

“The work of National Environment Management Authority (Nema) is to ensure that the water going into Lake Victoria is clean and not contaminated; but it is costing us a lot of money to treat water and this is unacceptable,” Mr Ebal said, adding that they will take up the issue with Nema.

Mr Ebal’s response followed concerns raised by the residents of Ggaba landing site, who complained about the alarming rate at which rain water is washing solid waste and pouring effluent into the lake following the degradation of wetlands which previously filtered waste matter in the water that poured into the lake.

“When it rains, the garbage comes direct through the market to the lake, it comes with the bad hygiene from the toilets. I have talked to the Ministry of Works and the [Makindye Division] town clerk and they have failed to respond,” Francis Sabiti Katuramu, the chairman of Ggaba market, in Kampala suburb, said. He said even the swamps that used to filter the water before it ends in the lake, have been demolished.

Mr Robert Kiwagira Sebiina, the chairman of Ggaba Mission, said he previously proposed to Mr John Nasasira, the former minister for Transport and Works, to create drainage channels to redirect rain water into the remaining swamps to reduce the rate of pollution in Lake Victoria but the minister then said there was no money. Mr Sebiina said the situation has since worsened.

Yesterday as the world marked the International Water Day, NWSC joined in the commemoration with its Young Water Professionals and planted trees in the remaining swamp surrounding the Ggaba waterworks.

Mr John Fisher Sekabira, the secretary general of Young Water professionals, said they decided to plant trees around the swamps surrounding the Ggaba waterworks in order to protect it from encroachment because most of the wetland has been destroyed by encroachers.

sotage@ug.nationmedia.com

THE ECONOMICS OF THE WORLD

Posted on 20th October, 2016

Kenya just redrew the Uganda map – in a most unlikely way:

27 May, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Charles Onyango-Obbo

 

About a week ago, Kenya’s Transport minister James Macharia said something that didn’t make newspaper or TV headlines – it should have.

He announced that “all” cargo destined for Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan will be transported via standard gauge railway (SGR) for clearance at the Naivasha Inland Container Depot (ICD), starting June 1. The chiefs - President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, President Uhuru Kenyatta, our man President Yoweri Museveni, and South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir – he said, had “considered appropriate cross-border transportation modalities to reduce human traffic without impacting negatively on transportation of cargo across the borders, and the use of SGR is one of them.”

A while back, Kenya gave Uganda land at the ICD, and lately Rwanda too. This development was a big deal and deserved may be not a screaming line, but a two-page spread inside. In the post-Coronavirus period, it will become clear why. The distance between Kampala and Mombasa, Uganda’s main export and import route, by road is 1,146.9 kilometres, and 20 hours without traffic.

The official African map of the East African Regions

 

With traffic, roadblocks, weighbridges, road accidents, and border delays, it is between 50 to 72 hours for trucks. Effectively, the Mombasa port now has been brought 580 kilometres, and 10 to 20 hours closer to Kampala, and the same distance closer to Kigali. Because Kampala is

1,147 kilometres from Mombasa, it has nearly cut that down by half! Everything remaining the same, the cost of ferrying goods from Mombasa to Kampala should be anything between 25 to 35 per cent cheaper, with an equal reduction in time.

But of itself that wouldn’t be game changing, except for two other things. Again, partly because of Covid-19, transport of goods from Kisumu port to Port Bell and onward over Lake Nalubaale (Victoria) has got a shot in the arm. The lake transport itself resumed at the start of the year, with wagons carrying diesel loaded on ships to Uganda. However, Kisumu port is an aspect of a bigger story of economic realignment in Kenya.

It is part of a micro economic bloc comprising 14 devolved counties around Lake Nalubaale and its neighourhood working together to improve their economic fortunes. It is called the Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB), and one of its key planks is to realise a lucrative blue economy from the water resources in the region, with Nalubaale and Kisumu being central to that element.

The 14 counties are Homa Bay, Bomet, Bungoma, Busia, Kakamega, Kericho, Kisii, Kisumu, Migori, Nyamira, Nandi, Siaya, Trans-Zoia, and Vihiga. There are plans to rebuild the railway from Naivasha, onward to Kisumu. I list them because if you look at the Kenyan, then Ethiopian, maps the creation of LREB and the Naivasha inland depot, have

brought in a third part of the puzzle. The construction of the Mombasa-Nairobi-Addis Ababa road, has gone a long way. It’s projected, conservatively, that with that corridor up and running, trade between Kenya and Ethiopia could jump by as much as 500 per cent. Already, though Ethiopia is not part of the East African Community, the two countries have a one-stop border post

(OSBP), much like Uganda and Kenya have at Malaba and Busia. With the combination of Naivasha inland depot and LREB, Ethiopia has all but a trading border with Uganda. The distance between Moyale and Mombasa is 1,208 kilometres, but to Naivasha it is 794 kilometres. There are three more pieces of the puzzle, but we have space for only one.

Tanzania President John Magufuli is a strange man, as we all know, but perhaps since Julius Nyerere, in his bulldozer way, no president there has exerted a greater effort to make Dodoma the capital of Tanzania that it is in law. Now, the distance between Mutukula, Uganda’s main formal trade border with Tanzania, and Dar es Salaam, the second key port for us, is a whopping 1,448.6 kilometres and anything between 24 and 48 hours on good days.

If Dodoma was to become a true capital, and some key commercial functions moved there over time from Dar, up to 39 per cent of the business functions between Uganda and Tanzania would move 444 kilometres closer. But perhaps more critical, Mwanza, which is 1,128 kilometres from Dar es Salaam, and is a key loop in the growth of a new Lake Nalubaale economic sphere, would also be that closer. For Uganda then, the cost and speed of doing business, could drop significantly and the savings will turn over money in the bank for entrepreneurs, and wealth in the economy. And the depth of our “landlockedness” will, and is shrinking, considerably in practical terms. The physical map will remain the same. But we will need to draw a totally new economic one.

Mr Onyango-Obbo is a journalist, writer, and curator of the ‘Wall of Great Africans’ and publisher of explainer site Roguechiefs.

@cobbo3

The Government of Uganda is trying for some years now,  to sell 45,000 barrels of crude oil:

 

Storage.  Some of the special storage tanks

Storage. Some of the special storage tanks containing crude oil in Buliisa District. PHOTO BY ERONIE KAMUKAMA 

By Frederic Musisi

UGANDA, Kampala:

 

The Government of Uganda has invited companies to buy 45,211 barrels of crude oil worth about Shs13 billion currently stored in specialised containers at four sites in Buliisa and Nwoya districts in Bunyoro and Acholi sub-regions respectively.

The Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), the statutory agency charged with managing the government’s commercial interests in the oil industry, invited bids from companies in a notice published in the media yesterday.

The bid notice indicated that the qualified buyers/companies will be shortlisted directly for negotiations upon presenting satisfactory crude utilisation plans, and demonstrating quality, health, safety and environment (QHSE) management measures.

The crude oil for sale is currently stored in tanks at four oil fields of Kasemene 1, Ngara-1 and Ngiri-2 in Buliisa and Nwoya districts respectively. The test or trial crude oil has been lying in storage for about seven years. It was generated during the extended well testing (EWT) by oil companies Anglo-Irish Tullow Oil and French Total E&P.

The EWT is the process of evaluating both the characteristics of petroleum (oil and gas) reservoirs and establishing properties of crude oil to adequately plan for its production.

UNOC chief legal and corporate affairs officer Peter Muliisa declined to put a value to how much the government will earn from sale of the crude oil.

“There are several differentials you have to factor in before arriving at how much we could actually earn,” Mr Muliisa said.

However, at the prevailing trading price of $74 (Shs280,000) per barrel of Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, the 45,211 barrels could fetch about $3.3m (about Shs13b).

Nature of Uganda’s oil

Uganda’s (Brent) crude oil has low sulphur content, making it heavy, waxy and solidifies at room temperature or “sweet and heavy.”

One of the variables, besides transport costs, is to compare properties of Uganda’s crude oil to that from other countries such as in the Middle East and Nigeria to determine its fair worth.

“After taking into consideration everything and other factors kept constant, you could lose or gain some cents [on the international market], which is why we cannot put a figure right now,” Mr Muliisa said.

In January, UNOC announced a similar bid process to sell the test crude oil, with a closing date of March 9 for receiving bids, but the move did not materialise.

“We got a few expressions of interest but when we reviewed them, only one was reasonable. So we decided to go back to the market to attract new buyers,” Mr Muliisa explained.

He added that while money is a key consideration, “we are also paying due attention to the health, safety and environment aspects of managing the oil, including the caution required in transporting it from one location to another.”

In January, the Auditor General John Muwanga submitted a report to Parliament, blaming UNOC for failing to dispose of the test crude oil.

There have been attempts since 2012 to dispose of the oil but they were hampered by technical constraints such as the absence of an enabling legal regime. The required law has since been put in place following the enactment of the Petroleum (Exploration, Development and Production) Act 2013, which established UNOC that was incorporated in 2015 as a private company but wholly owned by government. The Energy and Finance ministries own 51 per cent and 49 per cent shares respectively. The company’s operations commenced in 2016.

Potential local buyers of the test crude oil include, but are not limited to, cement factories and thermal power generation plants, which import heavy fuel oil to generate electricity.

However, Mr Muliisa said in the absence of “a reasonable buyer”, they will continue storing the oil until the refinery is completed.

The government plans to construct a 60,000-barrel per day refinery in Hoima District to produce liquefied petroleum gas, diesel, petrol, kerosene, jet fuel and heavy fuel oil, among others, for both the local and regional market. At least 5 per cent of the 60,000 barrels will be used for heating the refinery.

According to the ministry of Energy, Uganda’s fuel/petroleum products imports as of last September averaged at 85 million litres, with demand growing at 7 per cent per annum. The 85 million litres comprised 34.6 million of petrol, 42.5 million of diesel, and 2.6 million of kerosene. Jet fuel imports stood at 5 million litres. In April, government signed a project framework agreement with the Albertine Graben Refinery Consortium (AGRC), a joint venture of American and Italian firms, to design, finance, construct and maintain the refinery, which is expected to cost $3b (Shs11 trillion).

The general manager of the Uganda Refinery Holding Company, Dr Michael Mugerwa, last week described the refinery as a “worthwhile investment” given its “extremely attractive internal rate of return.”

It is not clear when Uganda will start commercial oil production after it became apparent that the earlier target of 2020 cannot be met given the required high capital investment.

The government requires about $1b (about Shs3.8 trillion) to finance its equity stake in the upstream and midstream projects to enable it start commercial oil production.

 

 

 

 

 

Global debt has increased too much in the world, the International Monetary Fund is warning Planet Earth:

By AFP

Added 5th October 2016 

 

The easy money policies of the world's top central banks has fed the problem, stoking a private-sector credit binge in China and rising public debt in some low-income countries, the IMF said in a new report.

Bank governor Mark Carney (left) is widely expected to again delay a move on rates Wednesday, when policy-makers also issue their latest economic outlook in the closely watched quarterly Monetary Policy Report./AFP

Worldwide public and private debt is at an all-time high, posing a substantial impediment to getting global economic growth back to normal, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday.

The easy money policies of the world's top central banks has fed the problem, stoking a private-sector credit binge in China and rising public debt in some low-income countries, the IMF said in a new report.

Meanwhile, slow economic growth is making it hard for both companies and countries to cut their debt burdens -- a process that can also drag on growth momentum because deleveraging companies slow spending and investment.

Without deleveraging, however, countries run the risk of fresh financial crises that can turn into deep recessions, the IMF's Fiscal Monitor report says.

"For a significant deleveraging to take place, restoring robust growth and returning to normal levels of inflation is necessary," the fund said.

Getting there requires governments to stimulate growth though investment, certain fiscal and business reforms, and targeted programs to help heavily indebted companies lower their debts.

"Global debt is at record highs and rising," the IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department chief Vitor Gaspar said.

Public and private debt -- excluding the financial sector's -- at the end of last year hit $152 trillion, with around two-thirds owed by the private sector, the report said.

Measured against the size of the world economy, it rose from less than 200 percent of global GDP to 225 percent over the 15 years to 2015.

Debt at such levels while economic growth remains tepid heightens the risk of financial crises, Gaspar said.

"High debt levels are costly as they often end up in financial recessions that are deeper and longer than normal recessions," he said in comments accompanying the report.

Moreover, "excessive private debt is a major headwind against the global recovery and a risk to financial stability."

While central banks have had to cut interest rates to support the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis, that has encouraged the debt pileup, the report said.

Dealing with the problem requires governments to implement well-calibrated programs to reduce private debt -- by cleaning up poor balance sheets of European banks and non-financial companies in China.

"Generally, where the financial system is under severe stress," the report said, "resolving the underlying problem quickly is critical."

MORE MUST BE DONE FOR THE COMING GENERATIONS

Posted on 8th October, 2016

 

Tororo’s 14 Gigawatt solar plant is likely to boost African Energy Civilization and Uganda's National trade:

An aerial view of  the Tororo solar po

 

An aerial view of the Tororo solar power plant. COURTESY PHOTO 

21 June, 2018
By Joseph Omollo

UGANDA, Tororo- The installation of the Shs7.4 billion solar plant in Tororo District is set to improve access to power and also boost trade in eastern region, leaders have said.

The solar plant has more than 32,240 photo voltaic panels and sits on a 14-hectare piece of land in Asinget Village, eight miles off Tororo-Jinja highway. It will generate about 14 Gigawatt hours (GWh) of clean energy per year. GWh is a unit of energy representing one billion watt hours and is equivalent to one million kilowatt hours. Gigawatt hours are often used as a measure of the output of large electricity power stations.

The project, which is developed under the Global Energy Transfer Feed in Tariff support scheme for renewable energy projects managed by Germany’s KfW Development Bank in partnership with Uganda’s Electricity Regulatory Agency (ERA), is funded by the governments of Norway, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

During the commissioning of the solar plant last year, State minister for Mineral Development Peter Lokeris said it will produce enough power to supply more than 170,593 homes for both domestic and commercial use.

He added that the government is focusing on the clean renewable energy sector, which produces electricity from wind, solar, hydro and biomass in order to reduce on carbon emissions.

“This is one of the interventions geared at ensuring consistent power supply, most especially to serve emerging heavy duty cement factories and the rest of the districts in the eastern part of the country,” Mr Lokeris said.

The minister added that new factories, including the phosphate mining factory, will need reliable power to operate and that the solar plant will close the gap.

Ms Helen Emagalet, a trader in Asinget Trading Centre, says the establishment of the plant is an opportunity for small scale entrepreneurs to boost their businesses. “This is a good opportunity for us as business entrepreneurs in this rural area because we will be in position to operate our computers and refrigerators, which has not been possible due to lack of power,” she says.

Appeal over tariffs

Mr James Akabwait, another trader, requested government to ensure that power tariffs are affordable to the ordinary people.

Mr Julius Wandera, the ERA senior communications officer, said the tariff for power from the solar plant will be at 16.9 US cents per kilowatt hour (KWh) for a period of 20 years.

“The consumers will only pay 11 cents per KWh while the remaining 5.9 cents will be covered by the development partners,” he said.

Mr Wandera explained that during the seven months of the plant’s construction, more than 350 jobs were created and more youth will be employed when it finally gets connected to the grid.

“More youth will be employed to assist with the operation and maintenance of the facility,” he said, adding that jobs in solar heating and cooling, installation, sales, research and development will also be created.

Mr Fredrick Angura, the Tororo South County Member of Parliament, said the initiative will address the electricity needs of the communities and spur urbanisation.

“With electricity available, our people will be in position to engage in small income generating projects such as selling water,” he said.

Tororo was in 1960’s considered as the second largest industrialised district after Jinja. It formerly had such as Tororo Industrial Chemicals and fertilisers (TICAF), Uganda Jute and Hessian, Tororo Steel Works, Tororo Oil and Soap Works, Universal Abestos and South Bukedi Cooperative Union ginnery, which have since collapsed.

Mr Angura appealed to government to consider lighting the neighbouring communities as a token of appreciation to the residents for accepting to give out their land to build the plant.

“It will be unfair for the village Asinget to remain in darkness yet it hosts the biggest power station,” he said.

Cement companies Simba and Hima, which have set up new factories in the district, are all expected to benefit from the power. Mr Morgan Gagrani, the executive director Tororo Cement Industries Limited, says the plant will address power shortage and quality, which he says has been lacking and affecting their production.

“We have been facing power shortages, which affects our operations but we are now excited,” he said.

editorial@ug.nationmedia.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

TO ALL UGANDANS WITHIN AND IN THE DIASPORA

 

 

 11 November, 2017

 

By Emmyx Nuwenyesiga

 

This is a time where by region, religion/ education background, size, status, age and political affiliations can’t help us any more, it’s because the one we thought, he was ours, he turned away from us by first saying that he is Just freedom fighter and is working for himself and his children and is not a servant to any one and we all know that when we vote someone in any position of leadership, we give that person a position to serve no to look for his own wealth and his or her family. If you come out publically even at a big function to denounce the duties you were given by Ugandans and you still stand looking for another term to serve your desires and asking for more time for your exit not even to accomplish what you have started after 32 years you still need more time to plan your exit? East African Countries can’t come together because what others are fighting against, its what you are doing, how do you expect to bring together such countries when you are the root cause of all wars in those countries, you harbor Rebels and many other things. Museveni you’re the best traitor I have ever seen in Africa, Thank you very much!

The Magezi and Museveni bill of Age limit: This was planned long ago because by the time they removed term limits, they knew that time will come and they will come for it again, that is how he planned his strategy from the bush to rule for ever, If you think you can scare Museveni with blood, that is a necked lie, because Museveni is like a surgeon, he can’t be at the dead body when someone needs help and he or she is still alive. 

If they are saying they have done this and that, let’s stop paying for tax for at least 3 months and see whether Museveni will go to Rwakitura and sell his cows to run Uganda programs or any MP who will sell what it belongs to him to bring you electricity or water or make you roads. We Ugandans should know that without us this Uganda they call theirs can’t see ant light. This means, evening someone else can plan for us without museveni because Museveni knows to plan wars not development.

These people are saying that, the bill is giving the gap for all Ugandans to lead and this is the time when they have seen that this article is segregative when they are put in a target. They are opening one door and close the other for you to go through, after one door, the next is closed, what would you do? Now they have removed the age limit and opened for you to lead and have increased the nomination fees for presidency from 20M to 50M who can raise this money and assured that he/she can’t win. Am just speculating but just wait and keep my word.

Ugandans we don’t exercise our rights inherited from our fathers and was given by God not by the state. If you want true freedom: do nothing, say nothing and be nothing that’s how we should live like Ugandans and let them lead and fight for their families.

I wonder when you say you are a freedom fighter, may be its true but whose freedom as you are working for yourself and the family? Oh your family freedom and yours coz you are needed by many war crime fighters, that’s why you are protecting yourself as you ruin our future generation.

You have failed on most of your pledges and all Ugandans are now aware about your tricks, that you have been playing them. You now want to divide them through local council election so that we divide and you rule? Museveni! Don’t think we went to school to waste time like some of Your comrades who are hiding in the government you are leading like Sam Engola Defense minister, don’t think that we are not aware.

Now that we are aware: I argue all candidates of local councils and the women to create the environment that will keep harmony in our societies not divisionism of which the NRM government is targeting because it has realized that opposition has gained ground and they want to divide us. We can use small papers to write the names of our candidates with tight supervision since the villages are small and manageable. Don’t say that because so and so did this to me I have to do this to show him or her that you were upset, that one will not work and will bring back the situations of 1990 where we used not to share water source, paths were blocked no one greets the other, you can imagine those situations. There is no one who can achieve something single handed, we all need each other as families and societies and in our communities.

Museveni and his Mafias are eating up this country by misleading and misinforming the general public that all people support the removal of age limit in the constitution as opposition looks on!. Opposition should wake up to tell the public that all information given is for one side and the government has taken over all media houses and is misinforming the general public what they want to achieve.

NRM should give me only two reasons why the constitution must be amended and two groups of people who are benefiting in this and where we are getting a loss if it is not amended as Ugandans. If all these are not addressed to the public, then #WE #SHOULDNOT #AMEND#THEN #CONSTITUTION.

If you want to know the truth, that NRM MPs are there to benefit their family and not those who sent them, let one be laid off and you will hear the words against his own party

Finally, Opposition to be valid has also to give solutions not all time to blame the government for doing wrong because Ugandans also want to see alternatives as you oppose the ruling party and Museveni life presidency. If you keep on blaming the government and not giving the alternatives, people will keep going to those who are saying what they want to hear, no matter is the truth or feasible by the promising body. Ugandans are at cross roads where, they don’t know whom to follow or who to lead them. They are tired of Museveni and are seeing Besigye not giving the alternative. Ugandans Kyagulanyi God sent him to lead Uganda and don’t fear him as you call him all sorts of names even Museveni we were not contented with him when he came out, remember when he stood as MP in Kiruhura and scored less than his age votes but that did not stop him from going forward.

We need to entrust the top leadership as the one that has been running for 32 years are toned and tip off.

FOR GOD AND OUR COUNTRY: UGANDA

 

 

The Dead Bodies of two United Nation experts have been found in the Congo as violence continues on the African continent:

 The UN has 19,000 soldiers, police and military observers deployed in the mission, costing $1.2 billion annually in this violent African country.

Two foreign UN contractors who were kidnapped in DR Congo have been found dead, one of them decapitated, the government said Tuesday, as spiralling violence in the vast country sparked international condemnation.

The bodies of American Michael Sharp and Swedish national Zaida Catalan were found as the UN Security Council prepared for a vote on Wednesday, on extending its peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres vowed that the world body would do "everything possible" to bring justice in the case.

"Michael and Zaida lost their lives seeking to understand the causes of conflict and insecurity in the DRC in order to help bring peace to the country and its people," the UN chief said.

"I trust that the Congolese authorities will conduct a full investigation into this incident. The United Nations will also conduct an inquiry. In case of criminal acts, the United Nations will do everything possible to ensure that justice is done."

The two were kidnapped by unidentified assailants on March 12 along with four Congolese accompanying them in Kasai-Central province.

Government spokesman Lambert Mende said the woman's body had been decapitated.

The remote region has been plagued by violence since mid-August, when government forces killed Kamwina Nsapu, a tribal chief and militia leader who had rebelled against President Joseph Kabila's central government.

The violence has spilled over from Kasai to the neighbouring provinces of Kasai-Oriental and Lomami, leaving at least 400 people dead.

Several days before the two UN experts were kidnapped, a Uruguayan peacekeeper was shot and injured in the same region.

Sharp's father, John Sharp, said there was a "high probability," the bodies were those of his son and Catalan.

"Dental records and DNA samples will be used to confirm the identities. This will take some time," he added on Facebook.

39 officers killed

On Monday, Congolese national police accused rebels of massacring 39 of their officers in Kasai.

The victims were killed in an "ambush" early Friday as they were travelling in trucks, and buried in a mass grave by supporters of the late Kamwina Nsapu, a police spokesman said.

Jordan Anderson, Africa analyst for IHS Markit, cited reports that all 39 had been beheaded.

The Kamwina Nsapu militia "is increasingly taking violent and hostile action against anyone it sees as being outsiders, interfering in the Kasai," he said.

The United Nations, European Union and African Union on Tuesday expressed "grave concern" over the spiralling violence in Kasai.

The organisations "condemn this despicable act and express their condolences to the families of the victims," they said.

They called for an "urgent response from the country's political leaders" to curb the violence and "urge the defence and security forces to exercise restraint in the efforts to restore order in the Kasai."

The UN Security Council is set to vote on Wednesday on extending its mission in the DR Congo, the largest and costliest UN peacekeeping mission in the world.

The UN has 19,000 soldiers, police and military observers deployed in the mission, costing $1.2 billion annually.

About 100 of those troops were recently dispatched to the Kasai region.

'Playing with fire'

France warned last week that drastic cuts to the mission would be tantamount to "playing with fire" as the DRC is also embroiled in election turmoil.

France has circulated a draft resolution to renew the mandate of the peacekeeping mission, but is facing scrutiny from the United States which is seeking cuts to UN peace operations.

The influential Catholic Church in DR Congo brokered a deal in late December to pave the way for elections by the end of 2017, but the agreement has been bogged down in disputes over the appointment of a new prime minister.

Elections would bring an end to the rule of Kabila, in power since 2001.

The Church and the electoral commission said earlier this month that the growing unrest in Kasai threatened to derail voter registration.

Police reinforcements meanwhile were sent to strategic points in the capital Kinshasa on Tuesday after clashes between demonstrators and officers in several districts, where tyres were burned and roads blocked.

 

 

 

 

ABANTU ba Ssaabasajja mu ssaza ly’e Busujju ne Ssingo bali mu kwebuga olw’ Omutanda eyasiimye okukuliza olunaku lwa Bulungibwansi mu ssaza lye Busujju.

The King of Buganda, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II ng'akola dduyiro. Photo by Dickson Kulumba

 

 

 

ABANTU ba Ssaabasajja mu ssaza ly’e Busujju ne Ssingo bali mu kwebuga olw’ Omutanda eyasiimye okukuliza olunaku lwa Bulungibwansi mu ssaza lye Busujju.

Ebiyitirirwa byazimbiddwa mu bubuga obuwerako era bangi baasuze bakuba embuutu n’okutyabula amazina g’okulaba ku Kabaka.

Kasujju Mark Kaberenge Jingo 11, akubirizza Bannabusujju okwesonyiwa emirimu gyonna, egiyinza okubalemesa okwaniriza omutanda.

Abantu nga basanyukira Kabaka

 

Yategeezezza nti Kabaka ke kabonero k’emirembe bwatyo n’akubiriza Obuganda bwonna okuggwaayo.

Emikolo gyatandise n’olusirika lw’Abasajja olwategekeddwa ku kabuga k’e Kakindu ku Lwokusatu.

Omugenyi omukulu yabadde omumyuka asooka owa Katikkiro e Mmengo Emmanuel Sendawula. Abalala kwabaddeko minisita Mariam Mayanja avunaanyizibwa ku Bulungibwansi.

Hajji Sulaiman Magala, amyuka Katambala, yakubirizza Bannabutambula okujjumbira okusaala Juma, olwaleero ku muzikiti gw’omu kabuga ke Kakindu.

Kabaka ng'akola dduyiro

 

Kabaka akedde kukola dduyiro

KABAKA Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II akedde kukola dduyiro nga yetolodde embuga y'essaza ly'e Ssingo okumala eddakiika ezisobye mu 30.

 

Abadde akuumibwa abaserikale be era ng'abantu nga bakulembeddwamu Mukwenda Hajj Abubaker Magala Sebuwufu bamusanyukidde ng'akomawo nga bwebayimba n'ennyimba n'okukuba mu ngalo ebimuwaana.

Abazinyi obwedda nabo bakola ogwaabwe okubugumya embuga.

 

 

 

Katikkiro Mayiga akulembeddemu Bulungibwansi e Mukono,

By Henry Nsubuga

 

Added 1st October 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okulemererwa okuteeka sente mu kukunganya ebisasiro mu kibuga Kampala, Uganda:

 

Omukozi we bisasiro ono alina okuyiya bwasobola okulwanyisa bulungi bwansi mubuzibu obunene enyo. Ate nga omulimu guno agukola buli lunnaku.