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Issue No. 534 Aug 17 - 23, 2018 Ushs 5,000,Kshs 200, RwF 1,500, SDP 8

Muntu’s
next move
Supporters say he
kept FDC together,
now they want him
to exit. Will he?

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Issue No. 534 Aug 17 - 23, 2018

News analysis Business Health Arts Motoring

Cover story
Muntu’s next move
Supporters say he kept FDC together, now they want
him to exit and lead a new political organ. Will he?

4 The Week
29 Comments
Gun shoots as Arua
campaigns end If Trump ruled Venice:
How his switch from laissez-
faire global trade rules to
9 The Last Word
mercantilist trade deficit
The disintegration of the FDC: Why policies could imperil the dollar
liberal minded Ugandans should
celebrate the breakup of FDC and rally 33 Health
behind its enlightened leaders
What’s wrong with condom
campaign?: Why government
16 Analysis officials say you, probably,
Let court decide, CCEDU tells EC: Behind shouldn’t give your girl a Kiss
the case of NGO blocked for crossing the
line in election observation
35 Arts & Culture
23 Business
Don’t miss The Studio:
Cipla to raise Shs168bn in IPO 7 art masters in town for
Kampala Art Biennale III

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2 Aug 17 - 23, 2018

 Offline

President Yoweri
Museveni
commissioning
NYOKA Conversion
Project at the
Manufacturing and
Assembling Plant at
Magamaga Barracks “We were informed of the smuggling
in Mayuge district
on August 8.
of sugar products into Tanzania from
Uganda. This is why we issued an
embargo to stop the illegal activities.”
Tanzanian President John Magufuli

President John Pombe

Magufuli, of Tanzania
receiving president
Museveni at Julius
Nyerere International “It is an established principle in
Airport on August International law that sitting
9. The two leaders Heads of States have immunity
discussed various
issues affecting trade while conducting their legitimate
relations between their duties. Do not trivialize this
countries and in the issue by reducing it to Uganda
region. politics.”Adonia Ayebare, Uganda’s
Permanent Representative to the UN,
responding to Winnie Byanyima on
move to grant sitting heads of state
immunity

Deborah Malac, the

American Ambassador
Uganda and Health
Minister Jane Ruth
Aceng during the launch
of a Tuberculosis report
on Aug.14.

“Let us give Amuriat a chance

because if I had not stepped down
as FDC president, people would
not have known the capabilities
of Mugisha Muntu”Dr Kizza Besigye
on new appointments in parliament by
FDC president Patrick Amuriat

Yeas Equity Makerere Ugandan babies

10 Bank is
marking 30 University students
offered scholarships 37000 born with
blood diseases
by China annually

Aug 17 - 23, 2018 3

week
Gun shoots as Arua campaigns end
A one Yasin Kawuma,
driver of Kyadondo East
MP Robert Kyagulanyi
Bobi wine was shot and
died on the spot in a scuffle
that ensued at the end of a
campaign rallies on Aug.13
ahead of Arua Municipality
by-elections.
It’s alleged that sup-
porters of Bobi wine who
was in Arua to campaign
Health issues cited as Imbalu festival is marked
The Bamasaba Cultural
Festival – Imbalu kicked
off on Aug.11 in Mutoto
Sub- County, Mbale District
where young males were
circumcised, a rite believed
to initiate them into man-
hood. The Bamasaba who
were joined by the Bakusu
of Kenya in celebration had
4 Aug 17 - 23, 2018
for the Independent can-
didate Kasiano Wadri
attacked President Yoweri
Museveni’s motorcade as
he finished campaigning
for NRM candidate Nusra
Tiperu.
Giving a situation report,
Police Spokesperson Emil-
ian Kayima said Kawuma
was shot as security opera-
tives tried to secure the
hundreds of youthful boys
undergoing the procedure
done in every even year.
The festival that has been
marked nationally as one of
the biggest cultural events
involve crowds dancing,
whistling and initiates who
are usually smeared with
sand and ashes on their
president and contain riot-
ers, although, other reports
show that four people died
and others sustained seri-
ous injuries. Also, by press
time, several journalists
who were covering the
events had been detained
at various police stations in
the West Nile.
However, scuffles and
shootings have become an
ingredient of campaigns
recently. In a recent cam-
paign in the newly created
Bugiri Municipality, a sup-
porter and body guard
of one of the candidates
– Asuman Basalirwa who
too was being supported
by Bobi wine was shot and
died at the hospital later.
shoulders to the initiation
sites. After the cut, the can-
didates join the rest of the
crowds in celebration and
dancing called ‘Kadodi’.
But, as the festival was
marked this year, there
were concerns on the safety
of the cultural procedure
happening at the time of
diseases like hemophilia
that involves uncontrolled
loss of blood, hepatitis B
and HIV/AIDS. Health
workers warned that the
procedures should be done
with caution.
However, the event
attracted dignitaries from
both governments of Kenya
and Uganda.
Government returns
scratch card air time
Government has cards was mooted
reversed its earlier on grounds that
decision to phase air they were aiding
time scratch cards. insecurity.
The ban had been Ibrahim Bossa,
imposed by the Director Consumer
Uganda Communi- Affairs at UCC had
cations Commission said in an earlier
(UCC), the govern- interview that there
ment communica- are people who
tions regulator but have been masquer-
was protested by ading as airtime
members of parlia- dealers yet they
ment. This prompt- are criminals and
ed ICT Minister that UCC realized a
Frank Tumwebaze need to register and
to rescind the deci- tighten the process
sion.
Tumwebaze said
of airtime selling so
they can know who
government will is selling airtime
liaise with UCC and to whom in
and telecommuni- order to have some
cation companies form of accountabil-
to allow for the ity and traceability.
gradual phasing out With the changes,
of scratch cards. the only options
“I have now people had to load
directed that let airtime was through
us not ban scratch using mobile
cards abruptly. money, e-top ups,
I agree that we payway, e-value
should have walked vouchers and
along with our rural other technologies.
people,” said Tum- Critics say these
webaze during a methods, were seen
meeting with MPs, to be problematic
UCC and telecom- especially among
munications service the uneducated and
providers. rural dwellers who
The move to experience network
phase out scratch challenges.
*terms and conditions apply
 Week

Congo preps Country mourns Yona; Museveni says death could have been avoided
if they are to live longer.
for new polls as “I am told Yona was per-
forming self-medication for
Kabila steps aside some time which was not right
over something which devel-
Bringing father will oped into a bacterial infection in
to an end remain with the heart,” said the President.
months of a lot of influ- President Museveni jokingly
speculation, ence during said he does not like the saying
Democratic the campaign that God has taken someone
Republic and even in when people die. “I don’t think
of Congo an event that God has run short of company
President Ramazani and instead take young peo-
Joseph Kabila emerges President Museveni lays a wreath on the casket containing late Yona Namawa ple,” added the President. Yona
announced victorious Wapakhabulo 's remains on August 10. Looking on is First Lady Janet Museveni. was aged 46 years.
last week that since for “It saddens me that Yona has
he will not be them fronting Former National Team Crick- habulo died last week after a gone at his prime and in such
running for another can- eter, Yona Namawa Wapakhab- short illness. circumstances. I don’t mind if
presidency didate didn’t ulo was laid to rest on Aug.11 at While attending requiem God takes some of us, in fact I
again. Kabila necessarily his ancestral home at Mafudu mass at ALL Saints Cathedral a am waiting for Him to call me,
should have mean he was in Sironko district. The son to day before this burial President but I think Yona’s death could
stepped retiring from former Foreign Affairs Minister Museveni encouraged people to have been avoided,” Museveni
down at the the country’s and Speaker James Wapak- go for regular medical checkups told mourners.
end of 2016 politics. He
when his is said to
second term have just suc- DPP wants court to rule on legality of blood compensation
expired, but cumbed to
he invoked the pressure The Directorate of Public leaders on the practice, which blood compensation is part of
a constitu- since his fail- Prosecution (DPP) is decrying they say is dangerous on the Lango culture, which can’t be
tional clause ure to leave the practice of blood compen- administration of justice in the avoided. He says the practice
allowing him office has sation in Lango Sub region. region. is also enshrined in the new
to remain sparked sev- ‘Blood Compensation’ alias Rukundo Martin, the Lango constitution of Lango Cultural
in office as eral protests Culu-Kwor in Luo is a prac- Regional Officer in the Direc- institution, which has been
a caretaker. orchestrated tice in Lango where a person torate of Public Prosecution, approved by the Attorney Gen-
Now, he says by mainly accused of murder compensates says the practice has crippled eral and Ministry of Gender,
he is rallying members of the clan of the deceased usually prosecutions of many cases as Labor and Cultural Develop-
behind his the opposi- six or more cows as a sign of the state is often left without ment as a normal practice.
Interior Min- tion. seeking forgiveness and recon- any prosecution witnesses. Dr. Nam argues that blood
ister Emman- 25 candi- ciliation. According to Rukundo, in some compensation enhances
uel Ramazani dates have so Once the payment is accept- instance witnesses run away peaceful co-existence among
Shadary. far showed ed and completed, the clan of they are persuaded by the state different clan members of the
Analysts interest in the deceased writes an addi- to appear in court. ethnic group. Joseph Odongo,
say Kabila participating tional statement withdrawing Jane Okuo Kajuga, the DPP 47 a, member of Ngurapuc
who has been in the polls interest in the case. According spokesperson wants court to clan in Lango, says he once
in power come Decem- to the DPP, the practice of pronounce itself on the legality used blood compensation to
since 2001 ber 23 when ‘Blood Compensation’ is crip- of the practice. reconcile with the family of
when he took the country pling the prosecution of murder Dr. Richard Nam, the Prime a 19-year-old-girl whom he
over after the goes to the cases. Now, the DPP is ponder- Minister Lango Cultural Foun- erroneously hit to death in a
death of his polls. ing engaging Lango Cultural dation, says the practice of motorcycle accident. URN

Aug 17 - 23, 2018 5

Week
Mabirizi challenges age limit judgment in Supreme Court
Male Mabirizi, one of the challengers
of the Constitutional Amendment
Act 2018 on Aug.13 filed his appeal
in the Supreme Court challenging the
verdict of the Constitutional Court.
His petition was detailed in 3066 pages
in 150 booklets that he delivered to
Supreme Court premises in Kampala
in a pickup car.
The appeal received by Registrar
Godfrey Angualia Opefeni stems
from a Constitutional Court judgment
delivered by a panel of five judges
at Mbale High court weeks ago
upholding the scrapping of the
presidential age limit. The judges
are Cheborion Barishaki, Elizabeth
Musoke, Alphonse Owiny-Dollo and
Remmy Kasule.
With the exception of Justice
Kenneth Kakuru who dissented in
his judgment, the remaining judges
6 Aug 17 - 23, 2018
said the act was passed in line with
Constitutional procedures.
Hours after the constitutional court
judgment, Mabirizi filed a notice of
appeal listing 80 grounds as to why he
would challenge part of the majority
judgment, orders and some aspects
of the court findings. In his petition,
Mabirizi raises sixteen grounds where
he believes that the learned Justices
erred in law while making their
judgment with one of them being
failure to summon the speaker.
He now prays for orders that the
failure to comply with mandatory
constitutional provisions, rules of
parliament, violence and failure of
public participation among other lapses
rendered the whole process leading to
enactment of Constitutional Act, 2018
null and void and of no effect.
North Korea suspends tour
visas ahead of anniversary
North Korea has stopped processing
tourist visas for foreigners ahead of a
high profile anniversary next month,
according to a China-based tour
operator.
The measure follows reports that
Pyongyang had suspended visits by
Chinese tour groups as it prepares
to mark the 70th anniversary of the
foundation of the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea, as the country
is officially known. Koryo Tours, a
popular agency among Western tourists
seeking to visit the North, said on its
website it had been “informed on 13
August by our partners in Pyongyang
that they had been instructed from
above that all tourist visa applications
currently underway are to be frozen”.
It was not given a reason for the
freeze, the company said, but was told
it would apply until the anniversary
on September 9. “This suggests to us
that... a higher power in the country
is simply pressing pause on tourism
until it is clear to them who is coming
in such delegations and how many
people,” it added. Pyongyang has
previously lavishly celebrated the
date with military parades or mass
games involving thousands of people
performing acrobatic choreography
in unison, and is expected this time to
hold its first mass games for five years.
Speculation has also mounted that
the nuclear-armed North could be
preparing to mount a parade -- at
which it normally shows off some of the
weapons that have earned it multiple
sets of UN Security Council sanctions.
In his New Year speech in January,
leader Kim Jong Un said North Korean
people would “greet the 70th founding
anniversary of their Republic as a great,
auspicious event”. AFP
Humour
Gulu Woman MP Betty Aol Ocan has been confirmed as the new Leader of
the Opposition in Parliament.
Kawempe South MP Mubarak Munyagwa is the new chairperson of the
Committee on Statutory Authorities and State Enterprizes.
Mukono Municipality MP Betty Nambooze received a heroic welcome back to
Uganda from India where she had gone for treatment.
Did you know?
Why left-handed
people are so rare
Scientists have long tried to answer
this. In 2012, researchers at Northwestern
University developed a mathematical model
to show that the percentage of left-handed
people was a result of human evolution —
specifically, a balance of cooperation and
competition.
But scientists have now found at least
why some people are left-handed – and
it has nothing to do with the brain. It
was previously thought that the genetic
differences between the left and right
hemispheres of the brain determine whether
someone is left- or right-handed. But a study
published in the journal eLife found that the
answer could lie in the spinal cord.
The researchers found that gene activity
in the spinal cord was asymmetrical in the
womb and could be what causes a person
to be left- or right-handed. Arm and hand
movements start in the brain, in an area
called the motor cortex, which sends a signal
to the spinal cord that’s translated into a
motion. The researchers found that while the
fetus is growing in the womb, up until about
15 weeks, the motor cortex and the spinal
cord are not yet connected, but right- or left-
handedness has already been determined.
In other words, the fetus can already start
movements and chooses a favorite hand
before the brain starts controlling the body.
To study this, the researchers analyzed
gene expression in the spinal cord in the
eighth through the 12th week of pregnancy.
They found significant differences in the left
and right segments of the spinal cord that
control arm and leg movement.
They concluded that the asymmetrical
nature of the spinal cord could be down
to something called epigenetics, or how
organisms are affected by changes in their
gene expression rather than in the genes
themselves. These changes are often brought
about by environmental influences and
can affect how a baby grows. These gene-
expression differences could affect the right
and left parts of the spinal cord differently,
resulting in lefties and righties.
Aug 17 - 23, 2018 7
President Yoweri Museveni takes a selfie on Aug. 11 with some youth at the National Youth Council meeting
at the Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA) Conference Hall in Lugogo, Kampala.

The disintegration of the FDC
By Andrew M. Mwenda
Why liberal minded Ugandans should celebrate the
breakup of FDC and rally behind its enlightened leaders
T
he inevitable is happening. Ugan-
da’s largest opposition party, the
Forum for Democratic Change
(FDC), is breaking up. Twenty two
out of its 36 Members of Parliament (MPs)
are quitting the party to form another. They
will initially present the new party as a
pressure group to avoid the requirement
that they seek re-election upon crossing the
floor. However, one year to the 2021 elec-
tions they will officially announce the new
party whose leader will most likely be Mu-
gisha Muntu.
This is a welcome move. FDC has been
under the control and direction of an
extremely uncouth and intolerant faction
led by its presidential candidate for life, Dr.
Kizza Besigye. This group acts like a mil-
lenarian cult. It does not tolerate dissent,
however mild. Every dissenter is labelled a
mole of President Yoweri Museveni. Criti-
cism of their cult leader, however mild and
well intentioned, is treated as sacrilegious.
It relies on intimidation, blackmail, slander
and lies to subdue opponents.
This is the first time in the political history
of Uganda that we have developed a politi-
cal party as intolerant as the radical extrem-
ist wing of the FDC. It is a group that has no
limits on what it is willing to do to destroy
its opponents, both real and perceived.
Equally it has no limits on what weapons
it is willing to employ to gain and capture
power. One must worry what it would do
to retain power if it ever had a chance to
capture it.
For two years now I have waged a near-
lonely ideological war against this radical
extremist group. Many enlightened and
liberal-minded leaders and members of the
FDC have quit the party. Many others have
remained members but gone silent. I often
talk to these people. Some are MPs, others
very senior politicians. They all tell me they
are afraid to speak out because they will be
labelled moles and destroyed through slan-
der and false accusations on social media. It
is tragic that a political party born to protest
suppression of divergent views inside the
National Resistance Movement (NRM)
practices this behaviour in worse form.
The radical extremists of the FDC have
buried the liberal-democratic foundations
on which that party was born. The biggest
frustration I have had is with many Ugan-
dans who position themselves as liberal-
The Last Word
minded in the media, academia, civil society
and politics. They have exhibited enormous
courage in opposing Museveni’s dictato-
rial tendencies. However, they have also
demonstrated a deafening and dangerous
silence on the growing intolerance of these
FDC radical extremists. This has helped
radical extremists consolidate their control
over the party.
Here has been the tragedy of the struggle
for democracy in Africa. Claims by any
group to be fighting for democracy are tak-
en on face value. Its internal operations and
the behaviour of its leaders and members
are rarely questioned. And in many cases
these groups have captured power and
produced governments that are worse than
those they overthrew. The lesson for Ugan-
da is simple but fundamental: denouncing
Museveni’s dictatorial tendencies is not
enough to make a political movement liber-
al-democratic. Its modus operandi is more
critical. FDC is the best positioned party
to capture power from NRM. The radical
extremists are its strongest faction. Hence
a capture of power by FDC is a victory to
radical extremism.
Whatever the democratic deficits mani-
fest inside NRM, Museveni individually
and his party and government generally are
fairly tolerant and liberal-minded. I built
my career as a journalist exposing the rot
in his government alongside its dictatorial
tendencies. Yet throughout this period I
frequently visited Museveni at State House
and we argued over our differences. He
would come to my radio show. He would
telephone me to express disagreement over
opinions or facts I had written. The same
applies to NRM and UPDF leaders. They
were regular guests on my radio show and
my major sources of information.
The difference between Besigye and
Museveni and between FDC and NRM
became manifest to me when I began criti-
cising Besigye and his radical extremists.
Besigye personally cannot tolerate dissent.
The radical extremists around him push
this behaviour to the extreme. I am aware
that he personally works with them to make
vicious attacks on his critics on social media.
In many ways his actions reflect those of
Adolf Hitler. This may shock many readers
to believe that I am exaggerating to com-
pare Besigye with Hitler. But let us listen to
the German dictator.
Opinion
In his autobiography, Mein Kampf (My
Struggle) Hitler says that he observed the
organisation of the Social Democratic Party
in Germany and learnt that one of the major
sources of their success was the use of
“physical and spiritual terror.” Let us look
at his views of “spiritual terror.”
“I understood the infamous spiritual ter-
ror which this movement exerts particularly
on the bourgeoisie which is mentally nor
morally equal to such attacks,” Hitler wrote
in Mein Kampf, “It unleashes a veritable
barrage of lies, slander and personal attacks
against whatever adversary seems danger-
ous until the nerves of the attacked person
break down. This is a tactic based on precise
calculation on all human weaknesses and
its results will lead to success with almost
mathematical certainty.”
Besigye and his radical extremists may
not have read Hitler. They have, of course,
deluded themselves into the belief that
they are a force for democracy. However,
their strategies on social media are exactly
what Hitler learnt from the SDP and once in
power employed with deadly success.
There is a misleading conception – in
Africa and the Western world – that the fall
of tyranny is a triumph of democracy and
liberalism. This is even the more intriguing
given that most experience in postcolonial
Africa has disproved this belief. Indeed,
the fall of many tyrannies on our continent
has led to renewed tyrannies (Uganda in
1971, Liberia in 1980, Ghana in 1966, 1971,
1981), Nigeria etc., sometimes to anarchy
(in Uganda in 1979, Somalia in 1991, Liberia
in 1990, Sierra Leone in 1990 and Libya in
2011).
All liberal minded Ugandans (as opposed
to opportunists and other self-interested
pretenders) need to come out openly and
constantly to denounce radical extrem-
ism in FDC. They must push Besigye (if
they believe he is democratic minded) to
denounce it as well. Or they must demon-
strate their commitment to liberal values by
supporting Muntu and those courageous
FDC MPs who have said enough is enough
to the conspiracy of silence that has allowed
radical extremism to grow and consolidate
inside the party
amwenda@independent.co.ug
Aug 17 - 23, 2018 9
cover story

Muntu’s next move

Supporters say he kept FDC together,
now they want him to exit and lead a
new political organ. Will he?
By Agather Atuhaire

10 Aug 17 - 23, 2018


S
Muntu campaigns in Arua.
upporters of opposition
Forum for Democratic
Change (FDC) party
stalwart, Mugisha Muntu,
recently held their last lap
of consultations in Busoga
region and finalised with a retreat in
Kamuli.
The Independent has learnt that a
major decision was reached - to leave
FDC and form a new party.
Following the Kamuli meeting, on
Aug.7 in Kampala, 25 FDC legislators
met and resolved to reject positions
in a shadow cabinet expected to be
announced by the newly appointed
Leader of the Opposition in
Parliament, Betty Aol Ochan.
They also agreed not to make
monthly contributions to the party,to
form a pressure group in parliament
and recruit more members into
it, and support and campaign for
independent candidate Kassiano
Wadri in Arua Municipality.
The decisions of those two meetings
and others mean that as Gen. Mugisha
Muntu approaches his 60th birthday,
he faces what might be the best
opportunity but equally the toughest
decision of his career in politics.
Muntu must decide whether to calm
down –again- those pushing to quit
FDC or lead the exodus and start a
new political formation with them.
Pressure is mounting and even
Muntu who has the patience of an
ox, is finding it hard to remain still.
Insiders say he is traversing the
country in one last consultations
push before he makes the big
announcement.
The Kasese Municipality MP Robert
Centenary told The Independent
that the group realise they have two
options; either to rebrand FDC and
find a middle ground or to form a
platform of like-minded people and
engage an overdrive gear and go back
to the grassroots.
“I don’t see the first option, which
would be our first call, happening
because there is no will. So we will
still harmonise our views on the
next move,” he said, “While some
want a new party, some of us want
another kind of platform which will
accommodate everyone from all
groups including FDC.”
Centenary said their biggest
disagreements are over approach and
`Besigyeism’ in the FDC.
“Some members in FDC think they
are the only ones with the formula to
defeat Museveni. They do not want to
hear any other alternative. When you
challenge Besigye in FDC you become
an adversary,” he said.
“We have worked on the Muntu
project for too long,” another Muntu
diehard told The Independent on
conditions of anonymity, “POA’s
cover story
decision has hurt all our allies and
they cannot remain unhappy and
unguided. There are many political
actors. The fear is that if we delay
too much, another political actor can
emerge and seize the moment. But it is
up to Gen. Muntu to judge if the time
is now.”
POA is short for Patrick
OboiAmuriat, the man who succeeded
Muntu as FDC president and recently
shuffled opposition leadership
in parliament in a move that has
estranged the majority of opposition
leaders. Many see it as a purge of
Muntu supporters.
In anguish, these legislators have
been holding meetings— which
insiders say, mainly centre on how
best and safely to quit the FDC
and forge ahead under Muntu’s
leadership.
Both the mood and the numbers
appear favourable to Muntu but some
in the group are insisting that the
timing is not right; that quitting FDC
now and establishing another political
formation might be premature.
Insiders add that the group will not
form a political party immediately
because doing so would mean losing
seats in parliament since the law
provides that once a legislator quits a
party on whose ticket they were voted,
they lose their seats. As such, the plan
is to have a pressure group akin to
Aug 17 - 23, 2018 11
cover story
the Parliamentary Advocacy Forum
(PAFO), which legislators formed in
the seventh parliament. PAFO later
merged with Reform Agenda to form
FDC.
For now, the pressure group is
intended to be a mobilisation outfit for
legislator that builds momentum until
2020, when they can form a political
party. The Constitutional amendment
Act of 2015, amended article 83 (1) (h)
to allow members to cross the floor of
Parliament a year to election.
Well-placed sources in Muntu’s
camp say all seems on course. Apart
from the over 25 FDC MPs already
on board, the recruitment of the
Independent candidates is said to have
already yielded results.
A well-placed source told The
Independent, that Muntu’s group is
in talks with Independent MPs with
Ntungamo municipality MP Gerald
Karuhanga coordinating and about
nine have so far confirmed. The Jinja
East MP Paul Mwiru is spearheading
the registration process. The group is
also testing out some names for the
new organisation.
There are currently 38 FDC MPs
parliament. Most of the 25 MPs in
Muntu’s camp breaking away would
leave FDC with 13 and declining if
Muntu’s camp maintains momentum
up to the next elections. Muntu is also
said to be favoured by some of the 66
Independents who failed to join FDC
because of the dominating shadow of
Besigye.
But it is the latest reshuffle that has
strengthened the group’s resolve to
find their footing. In that reshuffle,
Betty Aol Ochan, replaced Winnie
Kizza as the Leader of Opposition;
Budadiri West MP NandalaMafabi
replaced Angelina Ossege as the
leader of the Public Accounts
Committee (PAC); Kawempe South
MP, Mubarak Munyagwa replaced
Bugweri County MP, Abdul Katuntu
as the new chairman Committee
on Statutory Authorities and State
Entreprises (COSASE), and Moses
Kasibante, the Lubaga North MP as
his deputy.
Other Amuriat appointments
included; William Nzoghu, Busongora
County North, as a representative
in the Pan-African Parliament,
FrankaAkello, Agago Woman MP,
as the new head of the committee on
Local Government, Gilbert Olanya of
Kilak South, as her deputy and Kaps
Hassan Fungaroo, Obongi County MP,
the new head of the Public Assurance
committee. Some of Amuriats
appointees were rejected as ultra vires,
but his cards had been revealed and
12 Aug 17 - 23, 2018
Besigye (R) and Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago.
his intention exposed.
For critics, one factor characterized
Amuriat’s changes—he used the
changes to reward loyalists, also
known as the `defiance camp’ with
allegiance to FDC stalwart Kizza
Besigye’s radical if not militant
faction and a purge of those opposed
to them – even if not loyal to the
perceived rival camp of Muntu which
are called the ‘Organisation camp’
because of insistence on building party
organs and institutions.
The pro-Muntu camp accuses
Amuriat’s camp of high level
intolerance.
But Amuriat told The Independent
that he was guided by party loyalty
in picking the new group. The other
factor, he added, was contribution to
the party financially.
The perfect trigger
In whatever case, the reshuffle has
been seen as the perfect trigger for an
exodus.
Former FDC Secretary General Alice
Alaso said on WhatsApp: “The best
thing to ever happen to our cause is
this reshuffle or blunder. The sooner
we build our outfit the better for us
and for this country.”
“I will be shocked if some members
of this family are bothered by what
has happened,” another members
of the WhatsApp group of Muntu
supporters said following the
reshuffle. “We should all celebrate
this reshuffle. It presents the greatest
opportunity to redefine Uganda’s
politics.”
Kabweri County MP Francis
Gonahasa added: “We need to go
to Arua and bring back Kasssiano
(Wadri) to the house to continue
building sources of sanity following
victories in Kyadondo East, Jinja
East, Rukungiri and recently Bugiri.
Together with such truly patriotic
individuals, the opposition coalition
or alliance currently called “third
force” will evolve into a mighty force
which will make Uganda rise and
shine again.”
Abdu Katuntu said he would
be reaching out to other founding
members of the FDC. This appeared
to confirm reports that the Muntu
camp has been reaching out to other
senior members of the party who had
become alienated by the divisions in
the party.
Some of these include;
AmanyaMushega, Augustine
Ruzindana, Maj. John Kazoora,
among others. Katuntu is seen a
major political cog in Muntu’s camp
having nominated him for the party’s
presidential flag bearer race against
Besigye in 2015.
Apart from the legislators and
senior leaders, the Muntu camp has
also formed alliances with other
politicians. Kyadondo East legislator,
Bobi Wine and AsumanBasalirwa, who
recently won the Bugiri by-election are
some of these.
Aparently, Muntu’s camp has had
engagements with Bobi Wine, who
could potentially support them.
Muntu and Bobi Wine have supported
and campaigned the same candidates
recently including Basalirwa and
Wadri. In these contests, Amuriat,
Besigye and the entire defiance camp
have been opponents.
In both Kyandondo and Bugiri, the
party refused to support opposition
candidates and influential comrades in
the struggle—Bobi Wine and Asuman
Basalirwa—and instead supported the
party’s flag bearer.

In both these races, the party lost
with Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi
aka BobiWine and JEEMA’s Asuman
Basalirwa sailing through. This has
put the party and these opposition
stalwarts and their supporters on a
collision course.
Amuriat’s camp has even gone as
far as calling for disciplinary action
against Muntu and his supporters. He
will certainly not get that when, not if
Muntu pulls the trigger first.
Two groups better, says Muntu
Muntu has in the past toyed publicly
with the possibility of quitting FDC.
He says it is mainly because the party
leadership has failed to handle issues
maturely and pursue a common
objective.
“In that case then, isn’t it better for
the two groups to pursue this objective
separately instead of wasting time
infighting and diverting the resources
from the main objective?” he says.
Political analyst Frederick
GoloobaMutebi agrees.
“Leaving a party they no longer
want to associate with allows them
to establish what they think will be a
better party,” he told the Independent.
“We could end up with two-better
organized and coherent parties that
are better able to contest the NRM’s
hegemony.”
But he cautioned Muntu’s next move
depends on his short, medium, and
long-term ambitions. He says a slow
start and building the party slowly,
first; to play a role in public debates
and influence policy and decision
making as this would help establish
it in the minds and thinking of the
general public, which in the long term
may help it win power.
“If the idea is to reach for power in
the short or even medium term; that
would be rather fanciful,” he said
and cited the way all party leaders
in Uganda scramble to stand for
president, however insignificant their
so-called parties are. “It is telling of
how they are driven primarily by their
desire to become president, not to
build viable rival organisations to the
NRM.”
The planned departure of Muntu
and his group first became eminent
when Amuriat defeated him in
November last year.
Earlier, although some of his
supporters had wanted Muntu to
run for presidential candidate in
2016; even after he was defeated
by perennial FDC flag-bearer
KizzaBesigye in the party primaries,
he shunted them aside and threw
his full weight behind Besigye’s
candidature, like he had done thrice
before that.
It was rather surprising for the
group that Besigye, after all that did
not support Muntu in the Nov. 2017
party Presidential race. He instead,
with his defiance camp brought
Amuriat and saw to it that he defeated
Muntu. Amuriat’s victory, insiders
say, marked a new chapter in the
politics of FDC.
Immediately after the November
2017 elections, MuniniMulera, who
has served FDC for the last 13 years in
various capacities wrote that: “It is my
informed and confident opinion that
the contest was between the Besigye
and Muntu visions for the party”.
Mulera wrote in Daily Monitor:
The planned
departure of
Muntu and
his group
first became
eminent
when Amuriat
defeated him
in November
last year
“Besigye believes in militant and
physical defiance to the dictatorship.
This single strategy was very well
articulated by Amuriat during his
speech at the conference.
On the other hand, Mulera added,
Muntu believes that building a well-
organised party, whose fortunes are
not tied to an individual, but are
founded on very strong institutions,
is the critical step in the struggle for
change in Uganda.
It became apparent that the
two tendencies—the defiance and
organisation—could no longer tolerate
each other.
Many expected Muntu to quit the
party in a fit of disappointment and
anger. He did not.
cover story
Insiders say vintage reflective
Muntu could not just leave in a huff—
he instead launched a trek across
the country in what he described as
consultations. But he also maintained
a humble foothold in the party,
schmoozing, putting up appearances
and mumbling the right noises.
Observers said he was testing the
level of countrywide support which
his defeat by Amuriat meant he could
no longer possibly do as party flag-
bearer in the next national president
election in 2021.
Recently, in another article in the
Daily Monitor, Mulera announced his
resignation from the party noting that
with the two tendencies in FDC at
war and with no room in him for the
defiance only strategy, he had reached
a dead end in the FDC. He quit.
But if Muntu and group were still
convincing supporters; especially in
parliament, that leaving FDC was
the only guarantor of their future
in politics, on Aug.3, Amuriat made
that job much easier when he fired
from parliamentary leadership those
opposed to him and replaced them
with his loyalists.
But this is not the first time Muntu
loyalists are pushing him to stand.
He has let them down in the past.
Ahead of the 2016 elections, they held
multiple meetings and strategised on
how to ensure Muntu’s victory against
Museveni.
An official who was at the centre of
these meetings told The Independent
that at the time, they were betting on
the fact that Muntu appealed to the
moderates in both the ruling party
and the opposition who are fatigued
by the politics of extremism by both
Museveni and Museveni.
“Muntu has always appealed to
the moderates and the divisions we
see in the NRM augur well for him,”
the official noted, “he has many
loyal supporters in FDC and can
easily mobilise those alienated by the
Besigye camp.”
The officials added that Muntu also
boasts of support from the senior FDC
party advisors, who found it hard to
work under Besigye and stayed away.
Apparently, because Besigye had
approached these senior officials before
exiting the NRM and they had poured
cold water on his plans saying he was
jumping out too early, when they latter
followed him, Besigye always kept
them at bay. Back then, Muntu refused
to leave FDC. Now, as pressure mounts
on him again to lead an exodus one
question remains: will he?
Aug 17 - 23, 2018 13
news analysis
By Flavia Nassaka

Let court decide,

S
ince it was suspended from
conducting voter education and

CCEDU tells EC
election monitoring on July 09, a
local NGO – Citizens Coalition for
Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU),
has been in and out meetings with the
Electoral Commission in a bid to regain
their freedom.
Behind the case of NGO blocked for
On Aug.10, they held another meeting
with the hope of getting a go ahead
crossing the line in election observation
to observe the by-election in Arua
Municipality on Aug.15. But permission
was denied – again.
For the CCEDU Chairman, Livingstone
Sewanyana, who is the Director at another
NGO; the Foundation for Human Rights
Initiative, that was a sign that the EC was
not about to budge. CCEDU was heading to
court to challenge the EC’s move.
Sewanyana says they want court to
conduct a judicial review of the decision
by the EC to suspend CCEDU’s election
observation license. A judicial review is a
case in which the High Court reviews a
decision by individuals or institutions that
hold power and authority is authorized
and valid or not. This means the CCEDU
case has a lot of significance on the powers
of the EC to determine who observes
elections.
The NGO world is watching the case
closely because, the EC’s withholding
of CCEDU’s license is a sign of the
government to scare other NGO from being
critical. If the court upholds the decision,
critics say, the decision could have a chilling
effect and limit other NGOs from reporting
election irregularities.
Sewanyana who has written a book on
NGO regulation in Sub-Saharan Africa
says the EC’s suspension of CCEDU’s
work did not surprise them as government
has always wanted to stifle freedom of
Association.
“They have done this to journalists,
NGOs and Political Parties. They have made
sure that they have power to do so,” he said
and relating it to recent raids on NGOs.
In September last year, security agencies
raided and occupied the premises of
three NGOs; the Great Lakes Institute for
Strategic Studies (GLiSS), Uhuru Institute
for Social Development in Kampala, and
Solidarity Uganda in northern Uganda.
The government said it was probing
reports of money laundering, and ordered
another 15 NGOs to present to them a pile
of documents; including annual reports
and financial statements. Apart from the
pressure this caused, there has not been
a report of the government finding or the
reasons as to why the NGO Bureau of the
government was making such demands.
Sewanyana says it is all part of the
government’s scare tactics.
Before that, the offices of some NGOs had CCEDU-Observer during an election

14 Aug 17 - 23, 2018


endured a mysterious spate of break-in and
even murder of guards.
In his book titled ‘Comparative
Experiences of NGO Regulatory
Frameworks’, Sewanyana says, there has
always been a tension between NGOs
and government which he calls uneasy
co-existence.
To him, the whole of Sub Saharan
Africa is characterized by despotic regimes
which cannot easily accept a new wave of
democracy that has swept across the region.
While Election observation started as
way back as the 1950s in the west, in many
African nations, it is one of those relatively
new phenomena that came with this
democracy. In many countries in Africa,
it began in the late 1980s where elections
monitored by NGOs and international
bodies increased.
Among the benefits that this came
with, says CCEDU National Coordinator,
Crispy Kaheru, is the ability of citizens
and the international community to get
an insight into the credibility and fairness
or otherwise of elections. It also exposes
areas in the election process that need
strengthening for democratic practices to
be entrenched in a country.
Kaheru points out that local observers
like him have the benefit of understanding
the local context better, including the
cultures and languages. He says local
observers are, therefore, able to read
the undercurrents of an election better,
contextualize each election better, and
offer sustained, constructive feedback to
election stakeholders including the election
management body.
Although this could be true, experts
say election observation came along
with increased criticism of the behavior of
authoritarian regimes which in the way
also affected their relationships with the
promoters of democracy from the west.
And the catch now is that for a country
to benefit from foreign investment or
to be members of certain international
organizations they have to be seen to be
democratic. This is what has helped many
NGOs that do democracy promotion to
thrive. But it has also meant that some
governments have to push hard to muzzle
critical observers.
“Dictators will enact laws that are
controlling and burdensome and will
not create conducive environment for
inclusiveness and public participation”,
Sewanyana points out. He says some
advocates will censure themselves.
To understand Sewanyana’s view, many
point at countries like Zimbabwe where
international observers only returned this
year for the July 30 general election. The
previous president, Robert Mugabe, had
suspended them for nearly two decades.
Groups like the European Union and
the Commonwealth had been kicked out
because they had reported on electoral
fraud and human rights abuses during the
electioneering process.
In Uganda, election observers – both
local and international have functioned
unhindered since the 1980 elections but a
wave of intolerance is creeping in. That is
why the CCEDU case is critical. The case
will be heard on Nov.09.
“There is a lot at stake. We have petitions
that have not been heard. All these matters
are pursued through the right channels,”
Sewanyana says.
It all started on July 02, when the EC
called for a meeting with CCEDU officials
and complained about how the organisation
had reported on the by-elections in
Rukungiri which were characterized by
misuse of state resources during campaigns,
hate speech during campaigns, and voter
intimidation.
The EC claims CCEDU pledged to
Simon Byabakama Crispy Kaheru
rethink their work methods to fit in the
election observation guidelines that the EC
provides.
In his letter, Byabakama pointed out that
just two days after this meeting a CCEDU
official appeared on a TV talk show
and castigated Village Women Council
Committee elections that took place on July
3, as a sham.
“This was contrary to the big turn up
registered countrywide and the public
interest and yearning to have these
Committee elections conducted after
such a long time,” Byabakama said in the
letter, “ The Commission needs credible,
honest and impartial partners to assess
the electoral process and make pertinent
recommendations.”
A week later, the EC suspended CCEDU.
The letter from the EC Chairman Justice
Simon Byabakama suspended them from
conducting voter education and monitoring
the LC elections that were to happen
the next day, on July 10 and all the other
proceeding elections until further notice.
Since then, it has been meetings after
meetings and without reprieve for CCEDU.
news analysis
Sewanyana says the EC insists CCEDU
must show commitment that they report
whatever they observe in a ‘non - partisan’
way.
“They don’t state how we should do it.
It’s not clear. They don’t want us to report
the findings the way we see them,” he says.
When the Independent called the
Electoral Commission, they failed to
comment on the matter. But, according to
Sewanyana, the aim of the meetings was to
try to resolve their differences amicably.
Following a by-election in the western
Uganda district of Buhweju, local NGO –
Citizens Coalition for Electoral Democracy
in Uganda (CCEDU) released a report
calling for legal provisions that stipulate a
timeframe for candidates to withdraw from
an election race to deter any potential last
minute withdrawals that may bear serious
financial and logistical consequences on
the respective electoral processes. One
of the candidates, Alisson Byamukama
an Independent had withdrawn just a
day leaving two competitors – FDC’s
Jane Frida Bwiruka and NRM’s Olivia
Kwoyekyenga who emerged victorious.
The by election was held in 2013 after the
woman MP Arinaitwe Karisa succumbed
to a brain tumor.
In another by- election in Butambala,
DP’s Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi
trounced four others. Still, CCEDU
reported two key findings – voter bribery
and heavy deployment of security
operatives. At one polling station – Gombe
Play Grounds, the area LC1, Mr. Sulaiman
Byekwaso was found distributing UGX
1,000 notes allegedly telling locals to vote
for the NRM candidate, Kikulukunyu
Faisal Ssali. In its recommendations,
CCEDU urged the Electoral Commission
(EC) and the Police to adhere to electoral
laws while managing election security.
CCEDU has distinguished itself as the
only local NGO that observes elections
from start of preparation to vote tallying.
When they made recommendations after
the Buhweju and Butambala by election,
they had established just four years ago
in 2009. Since then, the NGO has built a
reputation of offering information, Election
Day reporting and voter education which
researchers have come to rely on. It also
offers real time updates of what happens at
polling stations to media houses.
To be able to do this, CCEDU boss
Kaheru says, they ensure they are in an
electoral area days before the election, are at
the EC’s stores as early as 4am to be able to
witness the dispatch of electoral materials
to different stations, and leave tally centers
only after final results are announced. Now
the courts must decide whether the EC can
indefinitely suspend CCEDU or any other
election observer from doing exactly that.
Aug 17 - 23, 2018 15
news analysis
Hon. Betty Aol Ocan being congratulated by her colleagues in Parliament recently
Betty Aol Ocan
New Leader of Opposition in parliament looks to biblical
David for inspiration as daunting task dawns on her
By Ronald Musoke
B
etty Aol Ocan, the new
Leader of Opposition in
Uganda’s 10th Parliament
says her Christian values of
honesty, truthfulness, hard work and
loyalty will help rally her fellow MPs
in Parliament to work as a team to
deliver results to Ugandans.
“The people of Uganda expect better
things from the opposition rather than
the NRM,” she told The Independent on
Aug.10.
Ocan, 59, said just like God
empowered David in the bible to
kill a bear and a lion before slaying
Goliath, she feels she has already been
prepared for this daunting task.
The Gulu Woman MP was on
Aug.08, formally confirmed by
Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Jacob
Oulanyah, as the new Leader of
Opposition in the 10 th Parliament.
Oulanyah, who presided over the
plenary sitting, read to the House the
communication from the Forum for
Democratic Change Secretary General,
Nandala Mafabi, naming the new
16 Aug 17 - 23, 2018
leadership of opposition.
The Forum for Democratic Change
President Patrick Amuriat Oboi had
on Aug.3 in consultation with FDC’s
National Executive Committee,
replaced Winnie Kiiza as the Leader of
the Opposition even though her term
was set to expire in December, this
year.
The new changes also saw, Mubarak
Munyagwa (Kawempe South) take
over the chair of the Committee on
Commissions, Statutory Authorities
and State Enterprises (COSASE).
In other changes, Nandala Mafabi
(Budadiri West) rebounded as the
chairman of the Public Accounts
Committee while Cecilia Ogwal was
replaced by Francis Mwijukye as
parliamentary Commissioner, among
others.
But the reshuffle was greeted with
shock and exasperation from some
sections of the Ugandan public with
some saying the new FDC leadership
in Parliament, especially the Leader
of Opposition and, the chairperson of
COSASE, Mubarak Munyagwa, are
“light weight.”
FDC president Amuriat came out
fighting on television and FM radio
talk-shows saying he had consulted
widely over several months before
the reshuffle was done. He also
protested the insinuation that his new
lieutenants are light weight arguing
that as long as one qualifies to be MP,
they qualify to be on a Parliamentary
committee.
“I don’t actually understand why
this has raised eyebrows; opportunity
should be given to as many people as
possible,” he said, “If the positions
are held by just a particular people,
how do we measure the strengths and
capabilities for the rest of the people
in the party?”
“When you talk about Betty
Aol Ocan being little known, you
underrate her political capacity and
where she came from,” Amuriat said,
“She started early and she is now a
third term MP, so why would you
think she would never perform in the
position of Leader of Parliament.”
The office of the Leader of
Opposition in Parliament was created
by the Administration of Parliament

(Amendment) Act 2006. The Act
outlines the role of the Leader of
the Opposition as “to hold the
government to account,” through
providing alternative policies and
opinion.
But the office bearer who in
principle serves two two-and-half-year
terms also enjoys several perks and
privileges of a Member of Parliament
and a cabinet minister. Ocan, will
for instance, be entitled to a lead car
and chauffer driven vehicle, as well
as security personnel drawn from
the Uganda Police Force to guard
her residence, and an official Aide de
Camp.
Some political analysts have
explained that it is these perks that
have often threatened to shred the
opposition parties into pieces each
time changes are made in Parliament.
When, for instance Mugisha Muntu
assumed the FDC party leadership
after an acrimonious election and
fired Nandala Mafabi as leader of
opposition, the reaction then mirrored
the current apprehension and
bitterness within the opposition.
Wafula Oguttu who replaced
Nandala Mafabi was so shaken that he
at first turned down the offer. Again,
party loyalists, were disappointed that
Oguttu was replacing an opposition
big wig who had mastered the rough
and tumble of Uganda’s opposition
politics.
Oguttu had a rough start too. He
inherited a polarised opposition in
parliament as his predecessor’s take-
no prisoners approach had alienated
some opposition colleagues, especially
from DP and UPC.
He told Daily Monitor that he had
come in as an underdog who might
not fit in the big shoes of Ogenga
Latigo (2006-2011) and Nandala
Mafabi. Tasked with naming a
shadow cabinet, two appointees
rejected his positions while others
questioned the size of his cabinet.
But as the storm over appointments
settled, he sought to unite the
opposition in Parliament into pushing
in the same direction.
Ocan, a professional teacher, will
be hoping that similar luck comes her
way. It also appears she is destined to
follow a similar route.
In a telephone interview with The
Independent, Ocan said if the members
of the opposition in Parliament unite,
their work will be a little easier
since they face a common foe in the
ruling party—the National Resistance
Movement.
“When we are together, we are
stronger and we can achieve more
than when we are divided,” she said,
“When we are out of Parliament
trying to mobilise, we can afford to
be partisan, but inside Parliament, we
have to bury some of the conflict and
differences so we work together for
the people of Uganda.”
Ocan told The Independent that
she intends to rally her opposition
colleagues so they work as a team.
“I am one person who has a high
sense of respect for what others have
previously contributed.”
“There is no need to start from
scratch. So I recognize and respect the
work already done by the four leaders
of opposition who came before me.”
“I also believe in learning and the
position I have been put in is not
because I am already perfect but it is
to empower me.”
Winnie Kiiza, the outgoing Leader of Opposition receives the Japanese Ambassador
to Uganda in her office at Parliament during a recent function.   COURTESY PHOTO
“We will continue to dialogue
among ourselves, brainstorm and
prioritise and then focus on what our
priorities are. We will be able to move,
once we work as a team.”
Work success in Uganda’s
parliament is about numbers and
the ruling NRM party has got over
two-thirds of MPs in Parliament. So,
Ocan says, it is a challenge for the
opposition to push any of its positions
through.
“But we will continue going back to
the people to explain our positions on
certain issues,” she said.
In her very first address to
Parliament, Ocan called for unity from
all the opposition parties to achieve
a common goal of checking the
news analysis
government.
“Honourable members, I am
so happy to be the fifth leader of
opposition in this Parliament and I
would like to appeal to all my fellow
colleagues from the opposition to
unite in order to check the government
well,” she said.
“Our key role is ensuring
accountability with the government,
presenting and discussing alternative
positions,” she said, “To achieve that,
we will need a united front.”
She noted that whilst differences
of opinion and ideas are healthy and
should be encouraged, the opposition
cannot afford to be divided because
they are numerically thin.
Ocan says she was elected for her
ability to work with everyone, because
she is a humble person, and her long
time commitment to the party and also
because she has friends in the ruling
party.
Ocan’s predecessor, Kiiza, has
assured her of her full support during
her reign while the government Chief
Whip, Ruth Nankabirwa, also pledged
to work with Ocan for a constructive
opposition to critique the government.
In the coming weeks, Ocan will
appoint and head an alternative shadow
cabinet whose duty is to challenge and
influence government legislation on
the floor of Parliament. But that small
matter will come after a "small party"
she has organised back home in Gulu on
the weekend of Aug. 18.
Aug 17 - 23, 2018 17
obituary
Nobel Prize-winning
author VS Naipaul
dies aged 85
By Independent Reporter & Agencies
N
ovelist Sir VS Naipaul, or Sir
Vidia, who won the Nobel Prize in
literature in 2001, had a close con-
nection to Uganda.
His name resonates with many scholars
because they know him as the famous
author of `Miguel Street’ a novel which has
been a fixture on Uganda’s O’Level litera-
ture syllabus.
Naipaul was also writer-in-residence at
Makerere University Kampala in 1966 and
held the Creative Writing Senior Fellowship
in the Department of Literature. It was the
same fellowship held by some of Uganda’s
greatest writers ever, including John
Ruganda, of `Black Mamba (1972)’ , Robert
Serumaga of `Return to the Shadows’, and
Ngugi wa Thiongo of `The River Between’.
All of them published many other books
and were at Makerere in the same period as
Naipaul. Ruganda, for example graduated
in 1967. Other great writers at Makerere at
the time included David Rubadiri, Taban lo
Liyong, and Okot p’Bitek.
It was in Kampala that Naipaul met
another famous author, Paul Theroux, who
was to be his lifelong on and off friend
and foe. In an article in The New Yorker of
August 3, 1998, Theroux reveals that they
met in early 1966 at a party in Kampala,
Uganda, which was given by Makerere Uni-
versity, where the author was a member of
the Department of Extra-Mural Studies as a
visiting professor for one year.
They became friends and Theroux com-
pares Naipaul to a brilliant, demanding
child and Naipaul’s wife, Pat, as a pretty
petite woman in her 30s who seemed rather
frail. He says Naipaul looked down on his
university colleagues and expatriates and
considered them intellectually inferior.
He was equally dismissive of his students’
talents. He says the longer Naipaul stayed
in Uganda, the more morose he became
and couldn’t stand the noise around his
house. He decided to move to a hotel in the
highlands of western Kenya. Together, they
travelled to Tanzania. In late May, 1966,
when the political situation worsened and
a curfew was imposed during the Buganda
Crisis, Naipaul moved out of his hotel and
in with the writer for the final month of his
18 Aug 17 - 23, 2018
professorship.
Naipaul had showed interest in the great
culture, history and traditions of the Bagan-
da people. And when then Uganda’s prime
minister Milton Obote deposed, militarily,
the President of Uganda, Fredrick Mutesa
who was also the Kabaka of Buganda,
Naipaul was critical of the British press for
not condemning the action enough. He
also travelled in rural Uganda to the Kisoro
District on the south-western border with
Rwanda and the Congo.
He fell out with Theroux after Theroux
discovered a book he had given Naipaul
in a second-hand bookshop. They later
reunited.
While at Makerere, Naipaul rewrote a
novel he had been working on with little
success in England titled ‘The Mimic Men’.
He completed it quickly this time.
But, according to another online report,
Naipaul’s African experience also influ-
enced his writing of his next book, “In a
Free State”, published in 1971.
In the title novella, “In a Free State”, two
young expatriate Europeans drive across an departure. He also gave a public talk in
African country, which remains nameless the University Main hall which attracted a
but which offers clues of Uganda, Kenya, full capacity crowd of scholars and curious
and Rwanda. The novella speaks to many observers.
themes. The colonial era ends and Africans Sir Vidia, who was born in rural Trinidad
govern themselves. Political chaos, fre- in 1932, wrote more than 30 books including
quently violent, takes hold in newly decolo- `A Bend in the River’ and his masterpiece,
nized countries. Young, idealistic, expatriate `A House for Mr Biswas’.
whites are attracted to these countries, seek- According to the BBC, his wife, Lady
ing expanded moral and sexual freedoms. Naipaul, called him a “giant in all that he
They are rootless, their bonds with the land achieved”.
tenuous; at the slightest danger they leave. She said he died at his home in London
The older, conservative, white settlers, by “surrounded by those he loved, having
contrast, are committed to staying, even in lived a life which was full of wonderful cre-
the face of danger. The young expatriates, ativity and endeavour”.
though liberal, can be racially prejudiced. Geordie Greig, editor of the Mail on Sun-
The old settlers, unsentimental, sometimes day and a close friend, said his death leaves
brutal, can show compassion. The young, a “gaping hole in Britain’s literary heritage”,
engrossed in narrow preoccupations, are but there is “no doubt” that his “books live
uncomprehending of the dangers that sur- on”.
round them. The old are knowledgeable, According to the BBC, Theroux, who had
armed, and ready to defend themselves. a bitter 15-year feud with Sir Vidia before
The events unfolding along the car trip reconciling, said: “He will go down as one
and the conversation during it become the of the greatest writers of our time.”
means of exploring these themes. Paying tribute to his friend, who he said
He became one of the first winners of the had been in poor health, Theroux added:
Booker Prize for the novel in 1971. “He also never wrote falsely.
Naipaul returned to Makerere University “He was a scourge of anyone who used
in March 2008 as a guest of the literature a cliché or an un-thought out sentence. He

was very scrupulous about his writing, very
severe, too.”
Salman Rushdie, who also disagreed
repeatedly with Sir Vidia, said he was “as
sad as if I just lost a beloved older brother”.
Farrukh Dhondy, a writer and long-time
friend of Sir Vidia, told BBC News that his
writing was distinguished by its clarity, lack
of self-indulgence and for his unique per-
spective on the post-colonial world.
“It’s window pane prose. You’re looking
through a very clean, polished glass win-
dow at the object beyond,” he said.
“He was one of the greatest literary tal-
ents of the last century, and he was quite a
remarkable personality, with insights which
I don’t think anybody else had - on a per-
sonal level, on a broader civilisational level.”
On social media, fans paid tribute to Sir
Vidia and expressed their sadness.
Author Laila Lalami described him as a
“wonderful stylist and a terrible curmud-
geon”, adding: “At his best, he could write
with great tenderness and good humor [sic]
about people whose lives were erased by
colonial narratives.”
British novelist and journalist Hari Kun-
zru recalled interviewing him and said:
“When we sat down, the first thing he said
was ‘tell me what you’ve read and don’t
lie’. Only then would he consent to be ques-
tioned.”
Writer Jeet Heer called him a “powerful
novelist” who “at his best approached Con-
rad and even the shadow of Dickens”, while
blogger Patrice Yursik described him as a
“titan of Caribbean literature”.
One fan said “no-one inspired me to read
more than Naipaul” while another tweeted
that his novel `A House for Mr Biswas’
stayed with me as a lasting memory for 30+
years”.
‘Modern philosopher’
Sir Vidia, who as a child was read Shake-
speare and Dickens by his father, was raised
as a Hindu and attended Queen’s Royal
College in Trinidad.
He moved to Britain and enrolled at
Oxford University in 1950 after winning a
government scholarship giving him entry
into any Commonwealth university of his
choosing.
As a student, he struggled with depres-
obituary
sion and once attempted to take his own
life.
His first book, `The Mystic Masseur’, was
published in 1957. It was made into a film
directed by Ismail Merchant in 2001.
In 1961 he published his most celebrated
novel, `A House for Mr Biswas’, which took
more than three years to write.
Sir Vidia was a broadcaster for the BBC’s
Caribbean service between 1957 and 1961.
Awarded the Nobel Prize in literature
in 2001, the committee said Sir Vidia had
“united perceptive narrative and incorrupt-
ible scrutiny in works that compel us to see
the presence of suppressed histories”.
It added: “Naipaul is a modern philoso-
pher. In a vigilant style, which has been
deservedly admired, he transforms rage
into precision and allows events to speak
with their own inherent irony.”
His first wife, Patricia Hale, died in 1996
and he went on to marry Pakistani journal-
ist, Nadira.
Sir Vidia was outspoken and became
known for criticisms of Tony Blair - who he
described as a “pirate” - as well as Charles
Dickens and EM Forster.
Aug 17 - 23, 2018 19
rwanda
Parliamentary election
campaigns on
Strong RPF pledges transformation, small parties worry
By Emmanuel R. Karake
V
arious actors on Rwanda’s politi-
cal scene launched campaigns for
parliamentary elections. Observers
are, however, tipping the ruling
Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) to win with
another landslide as the political terrain has
not changed since the last polls.
The RPF launched its campaigns in Rul-
indo district in Northern Province where
RPF Secretary General Francois Ngarambe,
who was the chief guest, spoke to a huge
crowd.
Observers say should RPF get more than
95% of the vote, it means all independent
candidates or parties not in coalition with it
will not make it to the forthcoming legisla-
tive assembly because the condition is that
for a party or person to go to parliament
must have obtained 5% of the total vote.
“That scenario cannot happen. In the
last presidential elections all parties rallied
behind the RPF candidate. In this election,
some are going it alone,” an official told The
Independent.
Rwanda operates a two-chamber House
20 Aug 17 - 23, 2018
comprising of a Senate and a Chamber of
Deputies which is the lower house.
The senate comprises 26 members who
are elected by specific councils of adminis-
trative entities, appointed by the president,
or elected by lecturers and researchers from
universities. They serve 8-year terms.
Up for grabs in this election are the 80
seats in the Chamber of Deputies who are
elected through two methods: 53 seats are
directly elected by universal suffrage in a
single nationwide constituency, with an
electoral threshold of 5%; and seats are allo-
cated using the largest remainder method.
This means the country is considered to
be one nationwide constituency and voters
cast ballots for parties and not individuals.
Each party or independent candidate that
gets 5% of all votes cast nationwide wins a
seat in parliament. The 80 seats are allocated
based on what portion of the nationwide
vote each party or independent candidate
wins. For this to happen, each party submits
a list of its 80 aspirants to the National Elec-
toral Commission. After the election, the
seats are allocated based on the position the
aspirants occupy on their party list, starting
at the top.
The remaining 27 seats are indirectly
elected by local and national councils. Of
these, 24 seats are reserved for women, two
for representatives of youth, and one for the
handicapped.
The number of candidates is 521, includ-
ing 302 from political parties, four inde-
pendent candidates, 26 for the youth, 10 for
people living with disabilities, and 179 for
women slots.
RPF has allied with five other political
parties, which critics have termed ‘hangers
on’ because - instead of providing an alter-
native political narrative, they ride on the
back of the powerful RPF to get a slice of the
national cake.
However, RPF spokesperson Wellers
Gasamagera speaking to the media after the
party’s campaign launch rally in Rutongo,
Rulindo district in Northern Province
defended the partnership and dispelled the
hangers on arguments, saying the party was
keen on further strengthening its position in
the 4th Parliament.
He noted: “We do not pick any political
parties. We get into coalition with parties

that have agendas similar to ours. It is not
about job positions, but the wellbeing of
Rwandans. Also, every party that allies to
us, that is additional strength.”
Parties in a coalition with RPF are Party
for Progress and Concord (PPC), Centrist
Democratic Party (PDC), Democratic Union
of Rwandese People (UDPR), Party for
Solidarity and Progress (PSP) and Ideal
Democratic Party (PDI) of former Security
Minister Musa Fazil remembered for being
the first person to voice the removal of pres-
idential term limits to enable President Paul
Kagame to continue to vie for presidency.
Other parties in the race are Social Demo-
cratic Party (PSD) and Liberal Party (PL)
of the outgoing speaker of lower chamber
of parliament and Green Party of Frank
Habineza who participated in the last
presidential elections. PSD has members
occupying cabinet posts; including long
serving minister Dr. Vincent Biruta. Others
are independent candidates Elisam Salim
Ntibanyendera, Janvier Nsengiyunva, Allay
Husseine Sebagenzi, and Phillip Mpay-
imana. Mpayimana contested in the last
presidential elections as an independent.
RPF’s transformation manifesto
Candidates of RPF and its allies were
presented to the public in a group and did
not speak save for leaders of their respec-
tive parties whom the master of ceremony
allotted two minutes to speak to the public.
None of them presented individual party
manifestos.
“The party agenda is reflected in the
manifesto of President Kagame that was
presented in last year’s presidential election.
Parliamentarians are expected to assist in
the implementation of that agenda through
legislation and oversight,” a party official
told The Independent.
Key among the said manifesto is transfor-
mation of livelihoods of Rwandans.
“Reasons for voting RPF are clear and
known to you all; the main agenda of RPF is
to impact lives of Rwandans. Here in Rulin-
do, there is a lot; Girinka to supplement our
efforts to fight malnutrition and household
poverty, hospitals, and a feeder road net-
work, among others. Campaigning for RPF
doesn’t require one to labour too much…
We need strong institutions, parliament
inclusive, to advance our agenda of devel-
oping the Rwanda we want,” said Sports
and Culture Minister Juliene Uwacu, who is
the national campaign manager for RPF.
“We know where we are coming from
and where we are going, which is far but
walkable. RPF has the will and energy to
deliver an agenda to improve lives of Rwan-
dans. We want a growth driven by knowl-
edge and ICT.
We need to elect a parliament that will
enact appropriate laws to deliver on the
plan,” said RPF Secretary General Francois
Ngarambe, who was the chief guest.
There are 80 seats in Rwanda’s parlia-
ment which political party and independent
candidates are working to get a slice of.
In the outgoing house RPF had 34 seats
while the rest were shared between interest
groups such as women, youth, people with
disabilities and other political parties. Some
observers say RPF rides on the argument of
having more women in the house to gain a
numerical controlling stake in the house.
rwanda
Greens optimistic to gain more seats
Green Party president Frank Habineza
told The Independent that his party is opti-
mistic to beat the odds presented by the
uneven political terrain and make to the
house.
“We are the only alternative political
party in Rwanda. We have been champions
of citizens’ views. Rwandans have listened
to us for the last 10 years,” he says.
This election is being conducted under
almost similar law with that of 2013. An
official at the National Electoral Commis-
sion says “literally nothing has changed in
the law”.
The third parliament was elected at a
critical time, the country was at a politi-
cal juncture after Kagame caught many
unaware when he encouraged his political
party to start debating the country’s politi-
cal transition in 2017.
The last parliament achieved a lot in
terms legislation and government oversight,
and will be remembered for amending the
constitution, allowing president Kagame to
remain eligible to run for office until 2034.
Under the same amendment, the presiden-
tial term of office was reduced from seven
to five years; that’s after Kagame’s depar-
ture.
The campaigns will run for 20-days, start-
ing Aug.13 to Sept.01. Some parties say this
period is too short given that they have to
traverse all the 30 districts in the country.
As Gasamagera explained, “when look-
ing for votes; you have to go the ground”.
However, most of the parties; if not all, do
not have the capacity to cover the whole
country in such a small time.
Aug 17 - 23, 2018 21
rwanda
Mushikwabo leads
race for top OIF job
By Daniel C. Ntwari
W
ith only two months to go to
the election of new Secretary-
General of the Organisation In-
ternational de la Francophonie
(OIF), Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Cooperation and East African Community,
Louise Mushikiwabo’s chances look good.
She is, however, not taking chances and is
using all available channels including social
media platforms to drive her campaign
forward.
The election is slated for October 11-12
2018 in Armenia, and in discussions with
other OIF countries Mushikiwabo has said
top of her agenda will be tackling the chal-
lenge of reviving the French language in a
number of member countries that have over
time discouraged the language. This is a
22 Aug 17 - 23, 2018
major challenge facing the OIF.
Her campaign is also focusing on youth
employment as key to addressing current
global migration trends involving French
speaking countries. OIF is a 58-member
state organisation with 26 observer nations.
The current Secretary-General of OIF is
Canada’s Michaella Jean, 60, whose four-
year term since 2014 expires mid-October.
She is seeking a second term in office.
Mushikiwabo, however, has got the
endorsement of African Union chairperson
and countryman President Paul Kagame,
French President Emmanuel Macron and
French Canadians. But she must still use all
her diplomatic skills to outwit Michaella,
the only other candidate in the race.
While announcing his endorsement for
Mushikiwabo during a recent joint press
briefing with Kagame in Paris, Macron said:
“The Rwandan foreign minister has every
competence to carry out this role. I will sup-
port her.”
Experts believe that Macron’s endorse-
ment of Mushikiwabo for the OIF top job,
could provide the much-needed environ-
ment and goodwill to amend further
broken Rwanda-France relationship over
disagreements on the latter’s role in the 1994
genocide against the Tutsi.
The two nations have enjoyed very “ami-
cable terms” since Macron was elected pres-
ident in May 2017. After officially sharing
her plan for OIF, Mushikiwabo had no bet-
ter opportunity to move her campaign strat-
egies than using the recent African Leader-
ship Forum (ALF) in Kigali, where former
African Heads of State joined President Paul
Kagame and business leaders to discuss
financing for sustainable development. The
5th ALF was hosted by the former Tanzania
President Benjamin William Mkapa and
organised by UONGOZI Institute.
Louise Mushikiwabo’s plans for OIF
The priorities for the 57-year-old Mushi-
kiwabo at the OIF released this month
include; the influence of the French lan-

guage; the relevance of the Francophonie;
youth employment, and the exchange of
good practice.
After moving around several African
countries canvasing for support, Mushiki-
wabo has gone as far as the Far East; includ-
ing to Cambodia and Vietnam, and plans to
reach other OIF members in central Europe
and South-East Asia seeking endorsement
before the vote.
On Aug.09 she was in Cambodia and
tweeted: “I am very pleased with the warm
welcome that was reserved for me in the
Kingdom of Cambodia today; and I enjoyed
the convergence of ideas with my coun-
terpart, on the future of the Francophonie.
A thousand times thanks to the Mekong
countries.”
While Mushikiwabo has an agenda that
may change OIF-Rwanda relations, she said
in an interview with TV5 Monde that; “The
best way to manage the mission of the in
OIF relation to democracy and freedoms is
to stand very close to the states, to give them
advice, not to give lessons.”
The OIF SG candidate has said that La
Francophonie is more than France and she
believes the OIF “could do much more”
in influencing issues on the international
scene.
From her track record back home, many
Rwandans have supported Mushikiwabo’s
candidature; and some qualities have been
identified in her as that could make Mushi-
kiwabo a good OIF leader, including her
diplomatic skills, eloquency, and strength of
women in politics.
Emmy Arsonval Maniriho, a communica-
tion officer at UNDP Rwanda, said: “She
has strong political career in foreign affairs.
Her candidacy is supported by France and
Rwanda in particular. There is nothing that
can prevent her from handling OIF mat-
ters.”
“She is a great lady, very attentive and
especially anxious about the success of our
beautiful continent. She will manage with-
out stress... then for that and other good
reasons, we are all for our sister Minister
Louise Mushikiwabo,” said Bosco Sababu
on twitter.
Rwanda and French language
Back home, Mushikiwabo will have to
prove how French will be revived as the
country has slowly shifted to using English
in public setting since 2006, despite French
remaining one of the four official languages,
including Kinyarwanda and Swahili.
However for the Vietnamese Prime
Minister, in charge of the Francophonie,
Samxsang Bounkeut, backing Mushiwabo’s
plan of reviving the French language, will
be helpful.
“The use of the language tends to disap-
pear within the Laotian youth who prefers
English, a reality that goes beyond Laos and
concerns many other countries members of
the Francophonie,” Bounkeut said at Mushi-
kiwabo’s latest Asia tour accompanied by
Guinea’s Foreign Minister, Mamadi Toure.
Who is Mushikiwabo?
Louise Mushikiwabo has degrees in Lan-
guages and Interpretation from University
of Delaware, USA. She is a former translator,
public relations executive and is a published
author. Mushikiwabo lived in the United
States for 22 years, and then in Tunisia for a
short period.
She joined the Rwandan Cabinet in
March, 2008. She is the former Minister of
Information and government spokesperson.
She co-authored an intergenerational socio-
historical memoir; “Rwanda Means the Uni-
verse” in 2006, and has contributed many
articles to newspapers and online maga-
zines. She won the Outstanding Humani-
tarian Award (2004) from the American
University’s School of International Studies.
She is a sister of fallen Rwandan business
businessman, Landoald Ndasingwa, who
was killed in the 1994 genocide against Tutsi
and who is commonly known for the Chez
Lando Hotel in Kigali.
rwanda
Rwanda
hosts Shared
Accord 2018
military
exercise
T
he Rwanda Defence Forces
(RDF), the United States
Military, European Union
and East African nations with
other International Organizations,
will conduct a Command Post
Exercise (CPX) and a Medical
Readiness Exercise (MEDRETE)
Shared Accord 2018 (SA18) from
August 14-29, 2018 at Rwanda
Military Academy – Gako.
This is according to a press release
issued by RDF on August 12.
Shared Accord is a military
exercise focusing on African partner
capability and interoperability in
support of a United Nations/African
Union Peace Keeping Operations
(PKO).
The exercise seeks to assess
abilities of participants in conducting
PKO and to enhance positive bilateral
and regional relationships in austere
environments with coalition partners.
The training exercise helps build
partnership with US Army Africa
(USARAF) and East African Military
Forces, and is designed to help
participants improve their capability
to respond to regional security
threats posed by violent extremist
organizations, and to more effectively
counter the associated ideology.
This exercise will include scenarios
related to conducting peacekeeping
operations during the United
Nations Multidimensional Integrated
Stabilization Mission in the Central
African Republic (MINUSCA).
SA18 will involve participants
of government personnel from
Botswana, Gabon, Germany, Malawi,
Morocco, the Netherlands, Republic
of Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, United
States and Zambia, as well as the
international organizations, such
as the United Nations and the
International Committee of Red
Cross (ICRC).
Aug 17 - 23, 2018 23
rwanda

Rwanda’s conference
tourism grows
Marketing efforts, infrastructural developments, and
capacity improvements set new MICE sector records
By Stephen Nuwagira Convention Bureau (RCB). to US$74 million this year.

R
wanda’s tourism industry,
particularly the Meetings,
Incentives, Conferences and
Exhibitions (MICE) segment, is
seeing significant growth going forward,
according to statistics by the Rwanda
The growth is on the back of increased
interventions by stakeholders and
government to make the country a top
conference destination in Africa.
MICE raked in US$42 million from 192
conferences in 2017, according to RCB
statistics, and this is projected to increase
Rwanda recorded 28,308 delegates in
2017, up from 23,804 in 2016, according
to RCB figures. However, the country’s
earnings from MICE were even higher
last financial year between July 01,
2017 and June 30, 2018 at US$51 million
realized from 219 conferences hosted

24 Aug 17 - 23, 2018


during the period.
Sector players and experts attribute
this upward trajectory of the MICE
segment to relentless efforts geared at
improving services, conference facilities
and increased connectivity of the country
thanks to RwandAir’s expanding
network.
Ariella Kageruka, the director general
of Rwanda Chamber of Tourism,
attributes the growth to various factors,
including continuous efforts by sector
players to ensure standards, the
simplified visa process where travelers
get visa on arrival, as well as continuously
training workers to ensure visitors get the
best experience while in Rwanda.
Many sector players are also upgrading
their facilities while the government
was improving infrastructure, which the
official says is essential for the sector to
remain competitive.
“Members are getting a lot of revenues
from the MICE sub-sector; if the MICE
segment is bringing in more money for
the business, you would of course have to
increase your investment to gain more,”
Kageruka told The Independent in an
interview.
That Rwanda is one of the few
countries that have implemented the visa
for all policy, enabling travellers to get
visas on arrival at entry points, has made
the country a preferred MICE destination,
and Kageruka says this has made it easier
for all to attract conference organisers and
visitors.
There is also easy accessibility due to
improved connectivity to Kigali and the
rest of Africa, thanks to expanding of
destinations operated by RwandAir.
The national carrier plies routes that
connect to most parts of Africa, Asia
(India) and Europe as part of government
efforts to continuously promote and
position Rwanda as a top destination for
investment and tourism.
In addition, development of
infrastructure, like upgrading of airports,
including Kigali International Airport,
and the ongoing construction works
for Bugesera International Airport and
a new road that will ease connectivity
along the Kivu belt is being constructed
will all ease accessibility.
Generally, tourism is Rwanda’s
leading foreign exchange earner and
brought in $437 million last year, with
the MICE sector adding 15% to last year’s
total tourism earnings.
Rwanda Convention Bureau Chief
Executive Officer Denise Omany
said earlier that the support of the
government, as well as the private sector,
Rwanda has been able to establish itself
as a safe, secure MICE destination of
choice due to the presence of world-class
MICE venues, accommodation facilities,
connectivity options and ease of service
due to RCB support. These gains point
to the vibrancy and positive long-term
outlook of the country’s MICE tourism
segment.
New products
Kageruka says that the sector was
working with government through
public-private partnerships developing
new products that help increase stay of
MICE delegates and other visitors.
“For instance, the paramotoring and
mountain cycling were introduced
recently to tap into the growing
segment of adventure tourism. We are
also developing new products along
the Kivu belt, and all of these efforts
are aimed at increasing the level of
stay in the country while ongoing
infrastructure developments will enable
In May 2018,
International
Congress and
Convention
Association (ICCA)
named Rwanda
as the third most
popular destination
in Africa for hosting
international
meetings and
events
us to do business better,” says the
tourism chamber chief, adding that this
will further benefit service providers
such as hotels, lodges, restaurants and
RwandAir. The MICE segment was
launched in 2014 as Rwanda sought
to attract major conferences and
more foreign direct investment (FDI),
especially by renowned international
hotel brands.
Improving customer service
However, members must ensure great
customer care to reap from the MICE
windfall, and Kageruka believes that
good customer service is today’s central
marketing tool. “Every business owner
is aware of its potential to reinforce
their marketing and business strategies.
rwanda
Campaigns like “Na Yombi” are there
to remind service sector players to
always consider excellent customer
service as a matter of priority. The issue
of poor customer service has over the
years raised concern, prompting RDB
to initiate the “Na Yombi” campaign
to sensitise the private sector players
particularly hospitality sector about the
importance handling customers very
well.
Global recognition
In May 2018, International Congress
and Convention Association (ICCA)
named Rwanda as the third most
popular destination in Africa for hosting
international meetings and events. In
the past 7 months of 2018, Rwanda has
hosted major conferences, including
Transform Africa Summit, Next Einstein
Forum, the 2nd Africa Innovation
Summit, Africa Green Revolution Forum
and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation Good
Governance Meeting, and the 30th
Ordinary Session of the African Union
Assembly.
The country was also recently
selected to host the 7th Africa CEO
Forum 2019 slated for March 25-26.
Rwanda Development Board (RDB)
Chief Executive Officer Clare Akamanzi
says the forum is a great opportunity
for Rwanda to showcase to the world
its know-how on hosting the biggest
meetings on the continent as the country
seeks to position itself as the preferred
MICE destination in Africa. The annual
Africa CEO Forum is organised by Jeune
Afrique Media Group, publishers of
Jeune Afrique and of The Africa Report.
Tourism earnings rise
Tourism has become Rwanda’s biggest
source of foreign exchange, earning $438
million in 2017, creating over 90,000
jobs so far. Rwanda received 1.3 million
visitors in 2017.
“We are confident that this number
will rise this year because of our
marketing efforts, tourism infrastructural
developments and overall destination
attributes,” Sanny Ntayombya, the
head, communications and marketing at
Rwanda Development Board, said.
The sector should be further boosted
by planned expansion of RwandAir
destinations to 31 this financial year,
including Addis Ababa-Ethiopia,
Guangzhou-China, Tel Aviv in Israel,
Guinea, and New York in the U.S. The
national carrier presently plies 26 routes
in Africa, Asia and Europe. RwandAir
transported 926,571 passengers for the
year ended June 2018, and projects to
ferry 1.15 million travellers this fiscal
year supported by the new planned
destinations.
Aug 17 - 23, 2018 25
rwanda
Rwanda to host continental
annual fine coffee forum
By Daniel C Ntwari
R
wandan farmers expect the annual
African Fine Coffee Conference
and Exhibition (AFCCE) to be held
in Kigali next year. The AFCCE
conference addresses factors affecting the
sector, especially challenges that are hurt
productivity.
Theopista Nyiramahoro, the head of cof-
fee farmer’s associations in Rwanda, said
that farmers have a lot of expectations from
the conference, especially practical solutions
on how to address issues of climate change
impacts on the sector, pests and diseases
control, and low international prices.
Nyiramahoro said prolonged droughts
and pests and diseases were devastating
coffee plantations on the continent, while
low prices were discouraging some farm-
ers from continuing with coffee produc-
tion. Many are abandoning coffee for other
crops.
She was hopeful that the international
coffee conference will expose Rwanda farm-
ers to better buyers and equip them with
skills to engage in global coffee trade mean-
ingfully.
The 17th African Fine Coffee Conference
and Exhibition (AFCCE) in Kigali will run
from February 13 to 15, 2019 under the
theme “Rwanda - Specialty Coffees at the
heart of Africa”.
26 Aug 17 - 23, 2018
Speaking during the announcement of
Rwanda as hosts on Aug.10 in Kigali, Jean
Claude Kayisinga, the Permanent Secretary
in the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal
Resources, said Rwanda will showcase its
potential in coffee research and strategies of
shifting focus from production for export to
increase local consumption to leverage the
countries competiveness.
AFCCE is organised by the African Fine
Coffee Association (AFCA), and Rwanda
will be hosting the annual event for the sec-
ond time since 2009.
“The conference promises to be an excit-
ing opportunity for Rwanda coffee produc-
ers and will greatly support the country
tourism sector given the big number of
global delegates expected,” said Eng. Ishak
K. Lukenge, the  AFCA board chairman.
Samuel Kamau, the AFCA executive
director, said that Rwanda will be the first
country to benefit from a specialised farm-
ers training that will address issues of coffee
growers’ contract management.
“This is the first training of its kind where
farmers will be equipped with necessary
skills to analyze and understand contracts,
enabling them to guard against bad agree-
ments and benefit from international coffee
trade,” he said in Kigali on August 10.
Speaking at the event, Amb. William Kay-
onga, the CEO of Rwanda National Agricul-
tural Export Board (NAEB), was optimistic
the conference would create a platform for
stakeholders along the value chain to find
ways on how they can embrace technol-
ogy to propel the sector to the next level of
growth.
“We need collaboration of all key players
to bring farmers on board so that they bene-
fit fully and understand the trading process.
For instance, they should be able to know
where their coffee is sold, how they have
gained, and also to ensure that we trace
how farmers benefit,” Kayonga said.
Currently, the country produces between
18 and 23 metric tonnes annually and
exports 96% of the produce. Despite the
dwindling global prices, Rwanda plans to
produce 24,000 metric tonnes, with 80% of
this as specialty coffee by 2020, up from the
current 60%. The country is also promot-
ing a coffee consumption culture among
Rwandans, and the number of coffee bars
continues to increase driven by support
from corporates. 
The (AFCCE) is the largest coffee trade
event in Africa and is expected to be
attended by about 2,000 participants from
delegates from around the world.
The conference brings together African
and international delegates, representing
buyers from Europe, the Americas, Asia, the
Middle East and African coffee producers,
buyers and consumers.
D
By Isaac Khisa

rug manufacturing firm, Cipla

Quality Chemical Industries
Limited, hopes to raise at
least Shs168.56bn through
an Initial Public Offer that
opened on August 14-24.
The firm that is 62.3% owned by India’s
Cipla, is offering 657.17million shares at a
cost of Shs 256.5 per share.
Nevin Bradford, the firm’s chief execu-
tive officer, said the proceeds from the offer,
which represents 18% stake of the entire
shareholdings, will be used to expand drug
production capacity and portfolio.
“We are looking at increasing the volume
of existing drugs and also add on new ones
(in our portfolio),” he said.
He said the firm, whose monthly produc-
tion capacity has increased from merely Finance Minister Matia Kasaija (R) and Cipla QCIL shareholders
25million tablets per month in 2009 to launching IPO at Kampala Serena Hotel on August 14.   INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA

Cipla to raise
100million currently, is expected to reach
130 million soon.
Besides the production of World Health
Organisation pre-qualified anti-malarials,

anti-retrovirals and Hepatitis B drugs, the
firm plans to add new drugs including,
tuberculosis, hypertension and diabetes to
its portfolio through licensing arrangements
with the parent company Cipla or third
parties.
This comes nearly five years since the
firm expressed interest to list on the Uganda
Securities Exchange (USE).
The Kampala based USE last had a list-
ing in 2012 with the electricity distributor,
Umeme. With the new listing, the bourse
now has 17 local and regional companies.
Emmanuel Katongole, the executive
director at Cipla QCIL said Cipla will retain
the firm’s majority shareholdings of 51%
for strategic reasons such as technological
transfer, procurement efficiency and opera-
tional excellence.
“We are listing at particularly exciting
time in the evolution and development of
the company,” he said.
“Our mission to provide access to quality
affordable medicines has never been more
relevant. We see tremendous potential for
growth, geographically and in the scope
and breath of our product offering.”
USE CEO, Paul Bwiso said the drug firm
is highly commended for allowing mem-
bers of the public to own part of the firm as
it starts a new growth journey.
“We know that many companies are not
willing to come to the market because of
issues of scrutiny from the public, investors
and analysts. Cipla’s decision to open up to
the public is highly commendable,” he said.
He added that more than Shs1.2trillion has
been raised through the stock exchange to
Shs168bn in IPO
grow business.
Cipla QCIL bold move comes when Sub-
Saharan Africa has the highest incidence
of a range of communicable diseases and
accounts for 93% of malaria-related and
73% of HIV/AIDs related deaths in the
world and approximately 12 and 7% of
Hepatitis B and C infections, respectively,
according to the firm’s prospectus.
Similarly, the healthcare spending in
the region has demonstrated high growth
rates from US$20bn in 2000 to US$85bn in
2015 driven by economic development and
donor funding.
CIPLA QCIL started operations in 2005
as a joint venture between Quality Chemi-
cal Limited (QCL), a Ugandan company
dealing in the importation and distribution
of pharmaceutical drugs, and Cipla Ltd, a
leading Indian pharmaceutical company
specialising in manufacturing anti-retroviral
drugs (ARVs) and Artemisinin-based Com-
bination Therapies (ACTs) to combat HIV/
Aids and malaria respectively.
Since then, the firm has initiated multiple
capacity expansion programs and portfolio
expansions, including the launch of new
therapies.
Cipla QCIL’s plant is currently approved
by drug authorities in 13 Sub-Saharan
African countries and its products sold in
nine countries – Uganda, Kenya, Camer-
oon, Angola, Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia,
Mozambique and South Sudan. It also
hopes to sell its products to 19 countries by
the end of 2020.
The firm manufactured over 1 billion tab-
lets – the highest volume in its history, with
a monthly production in December alone
reaching a record of 124 million tablets.
In terms of returns, the firm has consis-
tently recorded growth in revenues over the
last five years due to rapid expansions into
new markets.
For instance, its revenues have increased
from Shs89.7bn as at the end of March 2013
to Shs227.3bn as at the end of March 2018.
Consequently, the firm’s net profit
has increased from merely Shs8.28bn
to Shs44bn. Its assets have grown from
Shs106.7bn to Shs 209.29bn in the period
under review.
With this upward trend curve for net
profits, assets in addition to its planned
expansion strategy, one can easily conclude
that the company could be a good buy.
Cipla QCIL drug portfolio
 Duovir-N (ARV) and Lumartem (ACT)
 Trioday
 Efavirenz and Duovir
 Duomune and Nevimune
 Texavir and Zentair

Aug 17 - 23, 2018 27

Business

Stanbic’s half-year
earnings remain flat
Bank’s CEO is optimistic that the second half will be better

By Julius Businge

S
tanbic Bank has recorded same net
profit in the half year of 2018 as it
was last year, underscoring how the
industry is struggling to grow in the
era of low interest rates and tough economic
conditions.
Financial results released on August 08
shows that the lender generated a merely
0.7% growth in revenue to Shs96bn dur-
ing half year of this year, up from Shs
95bn. However, this is below the Shs107bn
recorded in the previous year.
Patrick Mweheire, the bank’s chief
executive officer said the slight increase in
profit is attributed to growth in non-interest
income revenues supported by increase in
customer transactions.
“Operating costs were also well man-
aged, growing by only 3.6% year on year
and credit risk also remained very strong
with credit loss ration improving to 0.9%,”
he said.
Out of the bank’s Shs321bn income estimated at 1.6million transactions for the Mutebile’s policy stance
earned during the period, Shs7bn higher full year, 2018.
compared with last year, non-interest Commenting on Stanbic’s and general On Aug.13, BoU Governor, Emmanuel
revenue recorded a 12% growth while net performance of the banks, Salima Naki- Tumusiime-Mutebile said he was keeping
interest income dropped by 5% due to a boneka, a financial analyst at the South African- the central bank rate at 9% in line with the
downward trend in the interest rates. based firm, Stanlib told The Independent that objective of keeping inflation in check.
The bank’s income distribution split was the overall performance of Stanbic was flat Data from Uganda Bureau of Statistics
at 47% to 53% on non-interest and in net in the first half of 2018 partly because of the (UBOS) indicates that headline inflation
interest income, respectively, compared tough economic environment that did not rose to 3.1% in the year ending July 2018
with last year that was 43% and 57%. Loans support growth of businesses. from 2.1% in the year ended June 2018.
and advances grew by 13.2% to Shs263bn. Nakiboneka said as private sector credit Core inflation, which is the target for
Similarly deposits from customers grew continues to grow upwards on the back BoU’s monetary policy also went up to 2.5%
by Shs 523bn, representing 16.2% growth of reduced interest rates on the market, from 0.8% in the period under review.
compared with the same period last year, chances are that loans will become more Mutebile said core inflation is expected
supported by the bank’s strong customer affordable and banks will earn more. to continue rising and peak in the range of
focus through its client eco systems and She said the bank also need to think 6-7% in the second half of 2018/2019 but will
nurturing new customer relationships. of better ways of reducing their costs by stabilise around the medium term target of
Total assets grew by 7.4% to Shs 353bn embracing digital banking, agent banking 5% by end 2019.
supported by strong customer deposit so as to improve profitability. However, Mweheire said there are indi-
growth. Data from Bank of Uganda (BoU) shows cations of a better second half of 2018.
The bank said the excess liquidity is being that the country’s economy is expected to “We are beginning to see 6% and 6.5% in
deployed across the different asset classes, grow by 6.5% in the next three years. the last couple of quarters, a sign that we are
mainly customer loans, in government secu- This will be supported by public infra- turning the corner,” he said.
rities and interbank lending. structure investments, improving agricul- He said the private sector credit is also
This new development comes at the time tural productivity, recovery in foreign direct beginning to bounce back at about 12%
the economy is showing signs of recovery investment and strengthening private sector after some anaemic growth the last couple
and interest rates taking a downward trend. credit growth. of years.
It also coincides with the high uptake of This recovery ideally means banks will Personal borrowing, agriculture, manu-
the bank’s new services, with agent banking have chance to lend more cash to those facturing and services have also started
transactions being far the fastest growing – involved in these sectors and earn more. showing signs of growth, Mweheire, said.

28 Aug 17 - 23, 2018

 Business
By Stephen Nuwagira

T
he Rwanda Stock Market (RSE)
equity market recorded sluggish
growth for the first six months
of the year ended June 30, with
both benchmark indices dropping over
the reporting period, but the bourse is
expected to rally during the second half
of the year.
According to RSE market statistics, the
Rwanda Share Index, which measures
performance of local counters, dropped
to 131.07 points as at June 29 compared
to the year’s opening of 135.8 points
recorded on Jan.03. The All Share Index
shed 1.95 points during the first six
month of the year, closing at 131.53 down
from 133.48 points on January 3. This
poor performance of the equity market is
attributable to falls in share value of four
counters – Bank of Kigali which closed at
Rwf286 per share, down from Rwf300 in
January; KCB was at Rwf330 compared

Stock market dips,

to Rwf340 over the same period, while
I&M Bank dropped by one franc to
Rwf94 and Crystal Telecom inched lower
by Rwf13 francs to Rwf53 on June 29

compared to its year’s opening of Rwf66.
The declines in share value eroded the
gains made by the equity market for the
calendar 2017 year when the index for
local counters went up by nearly 13%
year-on-year, market figures show.
RSE performance expect to rise
The 2017 performance was buoyed by
investor confidence in the resilience of
Rwanda’s economy.
The performance recorded last year was
also driven by the ‘renewed’ confidence in
the economy, generally and perception of
stabilisation across all the listed companies,
Pierre-Celestin Rwabukumba, the RSE
chief executive officer, said in an earlier
interview.
With the economy recording impressive
growth of 10.6% in the first quarter of
this year, experts foresee continued
recovery and progress in general if
commodity prices continue to stabilise.
The continued increase in returns from the
Made-in-Rwanda initiative and growing
services sector, especially tourism and
other subsectors, as well as improving
performance of the local mining sector and
recovering commodity prices on the global
market should help improve Rwanda’s
balance of payment and further buttress
investor confidence.
In 2017, the index for domestic listed
companies closed at 135.38 points,
indicating 12.9% growth compared to
119.84 points recorded in 2016. The All
Share Index, which measures performance
of all companies listed on the exchange,
rose by 4.8 per cent, closing at 133.48 points
compared to 127.26 points the previous
year.
tipped to improve
However, the local bourse’s performance
for the period January to June 30 is
higher than what was registered over the
same period in 2017. The Rwanda Stock
Exchange RSI was at 119.32 points on June
30, 2017, lower than this year’s close of
131.07, while the All Share Index was also
down at 124.81 points, RSE market reports
indicate.
Losers and gainers
According to the statistics, Bank of Kigali
lost Rwf14 share value between Jan.03 and
June 29, making the lender the biggest
loser during the first six months of the
year followed by Crystal Telecom that was
down Rwf13, while the cross-listed counter
for regional commercial bank KCB declined
Rwf10 and I&M Bank shed one franc.
The drop in share prices of the four
counters affected the RSE market
capitalization that went down to Rwf2.89
trillion as at end June from the higher of
Rwf2.93 trillion during the first day of
trading this year.
The RSE market capitalisation closed
at a high of Rwf2.9 trillion in 2017, up
from Rwf2.7 trillion in 2016, which is an
increase of 6.8 per cent on annual basis.
The other counters were unchanged over
the reporting period with beverages firm
Bralirwa at Rwf150; NMG Rwf1,200;
Uchumi Supermarkets Rwf104, and
regional lender Equity Group Rwf350.
New strategy
During the 2018/19 budget speech,
finance minister Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana
announced that government would launch
and implement a new 10-year Capital
Market Master Plan, which sector players
say will help concretise initiatives by the
CMA to position Rwanda’s capital markets
as the preferred financial economic hub
for domestic, regional, and international
fund flows. The plan is also expected to
position the capital market to play a central
role in mobilising long-term funding to
support Rwanda’s development goals,
according to Eric Bundugu, the acting
RSE Executive director. Last year, two key
stock market laws were published - the
new law establishing CMA; the law on
commodities trading, as well as seven new
EAC directives on capital markets.
Reissues of TB
Meanwhile, government reopened
a 7-year Treasury bond worth Rwf10
billion in June in a move the central bank
called “another milestone achieved in the
journey of bond market development in
Rwanda”. A bond reopening is tapping
again, once or several times, into a
previously issued bond, with the same
maturity and coupon to gradually build
its outstanding volume to the desired
targeted level. The National Bank of
Rwanda added that more volumes listed
on RSE will attract investors and increase
activity on secondary market.
Aug 17 - 23, 2018 29
Business
BT Cotton Opportunity
Local players unhappy with govt’s shelving of biotechnology law
By Isaac Khisa
W
hen confined field trials for
insect-resistant and herbicide-
tolerant BT cotton started
at the National Semi Arid
Resources Research Institute (NaSARRI)
with support from the US-based Monsanto
in 2006, researchers thought farmers would
no longer worry of pesticides and weeds in
the garden.
The researchers rested their hopes
on a gene that is inserted in the cotton –
Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) to enable the
crop produce proteins that are toxic to
bollworms. The crop was also engineered
to be tolerant to herbicide Roundup so
farmers could forego weeding by simply
spraying the crops with the herbicide.
30 Aug 17 - 23, 2018
The trials were carried out in two
cropping seasons of 2009-2010 and 2010-
2011 in the traditional cotton growing
areas of Serere in the East and Kasese in
the south-western Uganda.
Though preliminary findings confirmed
positive results, the trial that was meant
to be conducted in three cropping seasons
came to a halt citing absence of bio-safety
laws and regulations.
Parliament passed the bio-safety bill in
October, last year, but it was returned by
President Yoweri Museveni two months
later with a request to address numerous
concerns.
Faced with this dilemma, researchers
now say the government seems to have
missed the opportunity to utilise the
technology to boost cotton export volumes
and the recovering of the local textile
industry.
“We feel that growing BT cotton was
a missed opportunity that would have
revived the struggling cotton and textile
industry,” said Barbra Zawedde, a
coordinator at the Uganda Biosciences
Information Centre during the launch of
the global status report of biotech crops in
Kampala on August. 09.
She said biotech research started in 2003
with the launch of the biotech laboratory
by President Yoweri Museveni.
“Since then, we are yet to see any
products reach farmers let alone cotton,”
she said, “We think it has been too long
and it is time for government to tell us its
position – abandon the biotech research
altogether or sale the research work to

other countries that need them including
Malawi and Tanzania”
Zawedde, who also works at the
National Agriculture Research Institute
said researchers feel frustrated, and that
it is time for the government to make a
pronouncement on whether or not it is
interested in using biotech technology
currently in use in 24 countries globally.
To make matters even worse, Zawedde
said a number of African countries
including Ethiopia, Kenya and Malawi are
in the final stages of growing BT cotton
leaving Uganda that pioneered research on
the crop behind.
“This implies that our farmers will
start bringing this BT cotton from the
neighbouring countries without our
knowledge as our export volumes
continue to tumble,” she said.
In July this year, Ethiopia became
the latest African country to authorize
cultivation of biotech crops by granting
two approvals for environmental release
of BT cotton. With the approval, Ethiopia
joins the ranks of South Africa and Sudan
that have been growing the crop for some
time now.
Biotech crops were first commercialised
in the US, Canada, Mexico, Argentina,
China and Australia in 1996, and in
2017 more than 17 million farmers in 24
countries planted biotech crops, according
to the International Service for the
Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications
(ISAAA).
Four-fifths of the world’s cotton crop
is biotech, as are soybean in the same
proportion and a third of maize. India is
the world’s biggest BT cotton producer,
accounting for a quarter of the market
share of the world’s cotton production.
Kenya licensed the India- based firm
Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Co (Mahyco)
in July this year to import BT cotton seeds
for sale to local farmers after the ongoing
field trials.
Mahyco is a global agricultural
company founded in India in 1964 with
operations in Asia and other African
countries.
Mahyco will distribute the seeds
on behalf of Monsanto, which this
year was granted permission by the
National Environmental Management
Authority (Nema) to conduct the national
performance trials on biotech cotton.
The licensing of the firm implies that
the country is set to lift a six-year ban on
importation of biotech material.
Commercialisation is expected in
the next two years. The field trials are
currently being conducted in Mwea,
Bura-Tana, Katumani, Kampi ya mawe
(Makena) and Perkerra in Baringo County.
The project is expected to be
completed within 24 months, which is
the validity period for the permit issued
by Nema. Thereafter, the seeds will be
commercialised once proved that that they
are indeed resistant to pest and has higher
productivity that the current variety.
President Uhuru Kenyatta said in
January this year that he was betting on
mass production of biotech cotton to create
50,000 jobs and generate KSh20 billion in
apparel export earnings this year as part of
his final term economic revival plan.
But Charles Mugoya, the chairperson
of the National Biosafety Committee,
an independent technical committee
established under Uganda National
Council for Science and Technology, to
facilitate the testing and development of
potentially useful genetically engineered
organisms, said the researchers need to be
patient.
“Though the proposed biosafety law
has taken long to be passed into an Act, I
request that you be patient…I believe that
once it is in place, we will benefit from it
maximally,” Mugoya said.
He, however, said delay in passing the
biosafety law – that has stalled for more
than a decade –is regrettable given that
a section of the country’s researchers are
helping a number of countries including
Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia to build
Uganda’s cotton export volumes
Year 2012 2013
Total Exports 235,187 92,519
(85kg bales)
Source: Bank of Uganda
capacity in biotech research.
Cotton is Uganda’s third largest export
crop after coffee and tea grown in over 60
districts in Busoga, Bukedi, Bugisu, Teso,
Lango, Acholi, West Nile, Mid-west and
Western regions, according to the state-
owned Cotton Development Organisation.
It is grown among smallholder farmers
with an average farm size of less than
0.5 hectares and it is the main source of
income for some 250,000 low-income
households.
However, since the 1990’s when cotton
trade was liberalized, Uganda has been a
net exporter of cotton lint with over 90% of
the locally produced cotton being exported
as a raw material.
Domestic consumption of cotton lint
has been minimal ranging between 3 – 5%
of the total cotton production as a result
of few, small to medium sized firms with
modest technology and low capacity to
utilise available cotton production.
Data from Bank of Uganda (BoU) shows
that the country’s total cotton export
volumes fell from 102, 149bales in 2004 to
14,703bales in 2008. Though the volumes
increased to 235,187bales in 2012, it again
fell to 171, 934bales in 2017.
Business
Jackson Jurua, the vice president of the
Uganda Farmers Federation said there’s
need for government to pass the biosafety
law to enable farmers access the new
cotton variety.
“Farmers have been waiting for this
variety for a long time, and some are
giving up on the crop in favour of other
crops,” he said.
This new push to have BT cotton on the
Ugandan market, however, comes as a
San Francisco jury on August 10 ordered
agribusiness giant, Monsanto, to pay $289
million to a former school groundskeeper
dying of cancer.
The jury said the company’s popular
Roundup weed killer contributed to
Dewayne Johnson’s terminal illness and
was the first of thousands of cases filed
in state and federal courts alleging that
Roundup causes cancer, which Monsanto
denies.
Way forward
Zawedde says there’s need to carry out
a study on the cost benefit analysis on
whether the country’s exports abroad will
be affected by the proposed biotech crops.
Fred Muhumuza, an economists and
a lecturer at Makerere University, shares
2014 2015 2016 2017
40,671 63,512 126,633 171,934
similar views with Zawedde. He says there
is need to open up discussions and come
up with a cost benefit analysis of biotech
technologies.
“We need to think through and trust our
scientists. Genetically modified organisms
have all the scares just like swimming
has all the scares, crossing a road in
Kampala has all the scare but it does not
mean that whenever there’s a possibility
of something going wrong, we should
withdraw. We develop means of managing
and controlling risks,” he said.
Muhumuza noted that had Uganda
been growing biotech soybean, it would
have grabbed the Chinese market in the
midst of the ongoing tax dispute between
the US and China.
China had threatened to impose a 25%
tariff on American soybeans as retaliation
against the US’ planned move to impose
a 25% tariff on the US$50 billion Chinese
imports.
The US exports about $14 billion worth
of soybeans to China, according to the US
Department of Agriculture, and accounts
for half of US soybean exports.
Aug 17 - 23, 2018 31
 Executive Style
‘Logistics and courier
sees bright future’
What explains your focus on
international e-commerce
I
now?
nternational e-commerce
is growing at a
remarkable pace, and
we want our customers
to grab their share of the
market which means adding
value to their e-commerce
proposition. Our customers’
success is closely tied to their
buyers’ satisfaction with the
delivery experience and the
delivery options offered. Our
services have moved over
time to now target upcountry
towns of Jinja, Mbarara, Lira,
Soroti, Fort Portal and others.
We are regularly meeting
our clients to make them
understand how they can
target other markets instead
of concentrating on the
domestic market. Research
has shown that retailers who
actually trade internationally
are as twice successful as the
others who sell the products
locally.
So how big is DHL business
in Uganda’s logistics
industry and beyond?
We are present in 220
countries. We serve 51
countries in the Sub-sahara
Africa and we reach out to
40,000 customers. In Uganda
we have a total of 700
customers who are connected
to more than 220 countries
and territories where we
offer our service. We have
13 vehicles, 59 employees,
130 DHL retail outlets, one
dedicated air fleet and we
have Entebbe Gateway Office
or logistic hub.
Would you say the courier or
logistics business in Uganda
is a viable investment area?
Uganda has a big potential
or opportunity for businesses
in all sectors. What we have
noticed is that businesses need
a reliable logistics partner who
32 Aug 17 - 23, 2018
can support their business
with speed. On our side, we
understand the business of
our customers before we
support them to grow. This
is partly the reason we are
present in other towns outside
Kampala.
Some people say this
business is risky?
Just like in any other
country and business, risks
are all over. But it is how you
mitigate them. As DHL, we
have got systems and people
in place to do that. We know
how to deal with the risks…
and our customers are happy.
You recently moved to this
new bigger building that
houses your headquarters…
what value has it added to
your business in general
terms?
We moved here in 2016. I
can say that it has motivated
employees. It has given good
working environment to us.
When you have motivated
staff, they will deliver great
quality service. They will
DHL is a global
brand in the
logistics industry
with operations
in more than 220
countries including
Uganda. The
Independent’s
Julius Businge
spoke to Fatma
Abubakar, the
country manager
for DHL Uganda
on the sidelines of
an e-commerce
workshop held at
its headquarters
in Kampala on
August 08.
reach out to customers
more. The new office has
improved our efficiency and
productivity. Our business is
now faster and growing.
How has the rising prices of
fuel affected your business?
We use commercial airlines,
vehicles that require fuel to
run and our business is here
and must run. Just like any
other business, you plan for
these things. I cannot say
to my clients that I am not
going to deliver their package
because fuel price is up. Price
fluctuation for fuel is a factor
in business that is beyond
our control. That said our
performance has been at the
peak.
How has DHL performed
in the past few years when
Uganda’s economy grew at
less than anticipated growth
numbers?
Uganda as an economy
has a lot of opportunities.
We notice the economy is
recovering going by what
Bank of Uganda and the
ministry of finance and
other agencies are saying.
Uganda’s infrastructure
is growing – that is good
news for us. Coffee as
a business and sector is
growing and we think this
presents great opportunity
for us to move customers’
consignments at a speed
that supports them to grow.
It is an exciting moment
for Uganda, our customers
who we want to grow with.
Some people say it is
tough being Country
Manager for a global
company like DHL. What
is your response to this?
DHL promotes women
leadership. I believe a
woman can do what a man
can do and probably even
better. It is a balance. We
have our core values that we
believe in – we deliver our
work without compromising
on the respect of ourselves
and clients.
What is your reading about
the future of logistics or
courier business in Uganda?
The most important thing
is that Uganda’s economy
is growing. More investors
are coming in as the already
established ones work out
mechanisms to expand their
operations. And that means
this economy; the logistics
sector and DHL as a business
have a bright future.
What more can the market
expect from DHL going
forward?
We believe that cross-border
e-commerce has a huge upside
that many merchants have
not yet tapped. Our aim is to
support web sellers as they
go global and to stand as the
international express provider
of choice for e-commerce.
 business
csr Beverages

NBL donates reusable pads to pupils UBL records 4%

E
mployees of beer leading factor in increasing growth in revenue

U
maker, Nile Breweries the school dropout rate of
Limited have donated girls in Africa, with the lack ganda flavors taking
reusable pads to Kiyaji of sanitary products being a Brew- shape and con-
Primary School, Jinja, in line major challenge. eries tributing to our
with its effort to help local “As a company, we engage Lim- bottom line in
communities improve their in initiatives that are over and ited (UBL) has a big way,” he
lives. above profit making because reported an said.
The pupils, as well as Onapito Ekomoloit, Corporate it is important that our com- overall 4% rev- “We recently
their teachers and other and Legal affairs Director, NBL (L) munities strive and education enue growth for launched a new
female school employees, hands over reusable pads to Kiyaji is a vehicle that can make this the year ending spirits glass
each received reusable pads Primary School, Jinja. possible,” said Onapito Eko- June 2018. production line,
enough to last one year. The such an initiative having done moloit, Corporate and Legal UBL Manag- which means
brewery employees raised the the same to Murchison Bay affairs Director, NBL. ing Director, that more of our
money to buy 300 pieces of Primary School in Luzira last NBL has in the last 11 years Mark Ocitti, spirits products
So Sure reusable pads from July. provided 72 scholarships said the growth like Gilbeys,
AfriPads, through individual This new initiative is in packages for secondary school was driven by Richot and
contributions, in an internal response to the available stud- education, through its Equal- the Spirits seg- Smirnoff will
campaign. This is the second ies that show that menstrual ity Scholarship program, ment – Uganda now be bottled
time that NBL is carrying out hygiene continues to be a worth Shs2billion. Waragi and here, which
Gilbeys and make these
Aviation Bond 7. brand more
“Our goal affordable and
Air Tanzania to unveil flights to Entebbe, Bujumbura as company is accessible to our

T
to ensure that consumers.”
anzania’s national car- three times a week on Tues- in Nairobi. we continue The compa-
rier, Air Tanzania, will day, Thursday and Saturday. The use of the wide body to satisfy our ny added that
bring its new Boeing It will share the Entebbe route aircraft is to showcase poten- consumer hence premium beers
B787 Dreamliner to with another Tanzanian-based tial regional customers the innovation like Tusker and
both Entebbe and Bujumbura Precision Air while on the carrier hopes to attract when being at the cen- Guinness grew
Burundi, when the airline route between Dar es Salaam launching a three times a ter of our suc- 11% over main-
launches the planned regional to Bujumbura, it will be the week service in next month to cess. We have stream beers
flights on Aug. 26. only carrier with nonstop Mumbai, India. seen our new such as Bell and
The airline will operate flights, cutting out stopovers Uganda Waragi Pilsner.

pay tv csr

Tanzania to suspend MultiChoice Qatar Airways supports local school

for charging free channels nursery school, 75 plastic chairs for

T
anzania says it will suspend the licence
of MultiChoice Tanzania, DStv and GOtv
services provider, for charging clients to
access free-to-air television channels.
The Tanzania Communication Regulatory
Authority (TCRA) said MultiChoice has on sev-
eral occasions failed to comply with its licence
condition to exclude the free-to-air stations from
its Pay-tv services.
“In exercising its powers, the authority hereby
notifies the general public that it intends to
suspend all the licences issued to MultiChoice
Tanzania Ltd for failure to comply with the
authority’s orders and failure to adhere to the
licence conditions including failure to exclude
Qatar Airways hands over desks to students of
Kauthara Islamic School in Wakiso District
nursery school and other goodies.
The handover of the desks was
done on August 07 by the Airline’s
officials, Ministry of Education and
Sports officials and politicians.
 Qatar Airways Uganda
Commercial Manager, Haileab
Netsereab Mehreteab, said they
believe in supporting communities
in which they serve and helping
develop environments in which
students can learn better.
“By providing the necessary
resources to students, we aim to
inspire them and encourage them

free-to-air television channels from among its
subscription channels,” TCRA said in a state-
ment on Aug.07.
On July 27, the regulator said it would sus-
pend Star Media Tanzania Limited, providers
of StarTimes, for charging clients to access free-
to-air channels and refusal to the pay fine it was
charged for the breach of law.
A
s part of its corporate social
responsibility, Qatar Airways
has provided students at
Kauthara Islamic School in
Wakiso district with desks for their
classrooms.
The Airline donated 70 desks
for P1-P7 classes, 10 tables for
to aim for the skies,” Mehreteab
said adding, “We look forward to
further collaboration to help support the
education of children in Uganda in the
future.”
Qatar Airways operates a daily flight
to Entebbe International Airport with a
Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Aug 17 - 23, 2018 33

business

MTN Uganda makes

Shs734bn
By Julius Businge new 1% excise tax on

I
t has been a good
half year again for
MTN Uganda as the
telecom firm recorded
8.8% growth in revenue to
Shs734.4bn compared with
the same period last year.
The growth was powered
by improved data and
mobile money business.
The company’s CEO,
Wim Vanhelleputte said the
Wilfred Baluku (L), the Total Uganda distributor sales executive hands over a 6 company is well positioned
kilogram Total Gas cylinder to Brendah Bantu (C) – the winner of the Kampala to deliver growth in the
Restaurant week Total Gas cook-off at Karveli Restaurant recently. Looking on sector despite the shake
is Chef Isaac Lewa.  INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA ups experienced in the
market.
“Our half year results
notwithstanding, I see
MTN ending the year on a
good note,” he said.
He said the number
of active mobile money
customers increased to
5.3 million, out of its 10.5
million subscribers. But
the number of active data
subscribers rose to 1.8
million, helping lift data
revenue by 17.8%.
This comes at the
time the government is
implementing a contested
Vivo Energy MD Gilbert Assi (R) and Britam Insurance CEO Allan Mafabi fuels
a vehicle at Shell kabalagala after both companies launched a partnership that
will enable motorists access insurance services at Shell service stations on
August 10.  INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA
mobile money transactions,
targeting customers
withdrawing and sending
money.
The government is also
charging Shs200 – Over the
Top tax (OTT) – popularly
referred to as social media
tax.
MTN Group, however,
recorded lower profits
and revenue in the first
half of 2018, due in part
to foreign-exchange losses
and challenging economic
environments across the
continent.
The Johannesburg-based
telecom firm reported a
profit of Shs 1.12 trillion
during the six months
ended June 30, down 20%
from the first half of 2017.
Revenue fell 3.1% at
16.trillion, even as total
subscribers rose 2.8% from
the end of last year to 223.4
million.
MTN declared a first-
half dividend of Shs 446.25
a share, down 30% from
a year earlier, while debt
rose 23% to Shs 17,850.

Weekly share price movement (July 17)

Security July 17 June 25 Movement
BATU 30,000 30000 00
BOBU 145 155 6.5
CENT 1,277 1,429 10.6
DFCU 970 870 11.5
EABL 7,574 8,211 7.8
EBL 1,792 1,870 4.2
JHL 19,451 19,300 0.8
KA 402 437 0.8
KCB 1,755 1,851 00
NIC 17 17 00
NMG 3,456 3,606 4.2
NVL 450 450 00
SBU 32 32 00
UCHM 45 55 18.1
The National Gaming Board Uganda CEO, Edgar Agaba, speaks at the
official launch of Super 3, a 3-digit numbers game on August 13. The UCL 23 21 9.5
company has invested over US$3million to kick-start the game in Uganda.  UMEME 350 300 16.7
INDEPENDENT/JIMMY SIYA ALSI -- -- --

34 Aug 17 - 23, 2018


By Asad Jamal
If Trump ruled Venice
How his switch from laissez-faire global trade rules to
mercantilist trade deficit policies could imperil the dollar
M
arco Polo, the famous
thirteenth-century Venetian
merchant, was one of the first
Europeans to trade with China.
Now imagine that, after a while, the Ve-
netian state became concerned that Polo
was purchasing too many silks and spices
from China to sell at a profit in Europe. The
“trade deficit” he was creating, the authori-
ties worry, would deplete the stock of gold
in Venice, while creating jobs for Chinese,
rather than for Venetians.
In this imaginary history, Venice assem-
bles a council of experts to decide whether
the risks posed by the trade deficit merit
retaliation in the form of tariffs, quotas, or
potentially even a ban on trade with China.
As the council deliberates, two competing
theories emerge.
One group – the “mercantilists” – argue
that it is up to the state to maximize gold
holdings and protect domestic manufac-
turing employment, by imposing tariffs,
restricting the use of gold for imports, and
forcing China to buy the same amount of
goods from Venice that Venice buys from
China. If China refuses to do so, Polo’s pur-
chases will have to be restricted.
The second group, led by Adamo Fabbro,
subscribes to the laissez-faire argument
that the state should avoid intervening in
markets. By buying goods from China,
Polo was promoting economic wellbeing
in Venice: consumers benefited from goods
they could not acquire domestically – at
least not at such a low cost – and merchants
were profiting by re-selling Chinese imports
at a markup. While manufacturing jobs
might be lost, retail jobs were gained, and
spending – not just on Chinese goods, but
also on local products and investments –
rose.
As for the depletion of Venice’s stores of
gold, Fabbro offers an ingenious solution:
a paper currency, the Venetian dollar (V$),
which other countries could be compelled
to accept, because Venice was the world’s
top trading power. China would receive no
more Venetian gold, and it could use the
V$ to purchase goods from Venice, thereby
boosting local manufacturing. In order to
preserve the value – and thus the credibility
– of the V$, Fabbro proposes establishing a
central bank to manage the money supply,
thereby preventing excessive inflation.
Venice’s leaders are convinced. They
implement Fabbro’s recommendations,
and, as he had predicted, Venice becomes
the world’s leading power, thanks to bur-
geoning trade, rapid economic growth,
and broad prosperity – all enabled by free
markets.
One large Venetian merchant, Walmartius,
is buying V$50 billion worth of Chinese
goods each year to sell for profit locally, an
endeavor that supports the creation of thou-
sands of local retail jobs and lowers costs
for Venetian consumers. Another merchant,
Appleos, designs high-tech goods in Venice
and manufactures them in China, enabling
the company to achieve a market valuation
of V$1 trillion.
Trade deficits do swell, but they cost
Venice nothing, because they are denomi-
nated in Venice’s own currency, in exchange
for which other countries freely provide
goods. In fact, before long, all international
trade is conducted in V$, which is univer-
sally accepted as a surrogate for gold.
Thanks to the Venetian central bank’s
reliable prevention of V$ depreciation,
confidence in the currency continues to
grow, creating a virtuous cycle. Soon, every
country in the world purchases V$ bonds
to hold in their foreign-exchange reserves,
thereby effectively financing Venice’s large
budget deficits. All of this enables Venice to
fund large public programs and maintain
the world’s largest military, deepening its
international clout as it leads the way in
enforcing global trade rules and securing
sea lanes.
This happy state of affairs continues for a
few centuries. Though lower-value-added
jobs in sectors like manufacturing shift to
China, where labour costs are lower, jobs in
higher-value-added sectors – such as tech-
nology, finance, media, and retail – flourish.
Venice remains the world’s largest economy
and leading trade power, enjoying a secure
position at the top of global value chains.
Sometimes in history, one can pinpoint the
precise moment when things take a turn for
the worse. In this story, that moment comes
with the emergence of Donaldo Trumpi as
the ruler of Venice.
Trumpi understands little about eco-
nomics. He is more performer than policy-
maker, eager to win votes however he can.
He sees that a subset of Venetians are upset
comment
about the loss of manufacturing jobs – they
lacked the skills or flexibility to move to
higher-value-added sectors – and he capi-
talises on it. He likens trade deficits to eco-
nomic losses – almost to theft – and declares
China the enemy.
Some of Trumpi’s advisers try to explain
to him how trade deficits work in an
economy that benefits enormously from
having the world’s leading reserve cur-
rency. Challenging the trade deficit, they tell
him, can imperil the V$’s reserve-currency
status. Moreover, the Venetian deficit
amounts to just 3.4% of Venice’s massive
GDP. They explain that a return to mer-
cantilism could spur others to do the same,
potentially by creating an alternative reserve
currency through a global institution. Only
then would Venice’s trade deficits become
a problem, they tell him. The government
would be forced to reduce spending,
including on the military, throwing the
economy into recession and eroding Ven-
ice’s international influence.
But Trumpi refuses to listen. Centuries
after mercantilism was abandoned in favour
of highly successful laissez-faire policies,
he decides to embrace it, imposing tariffs
on Venice’s trade partners, beginning with
China. And it ends about as well as his
advisers thought it would.
Trumpi’s approach erodes the rules-based
global economic order that had served the
world – and Venice – so well. Eventually,
the rest of the world reverts to mercantilist
policies as well, imposing trade barriers
and refusing to use the V$ for international
trade. An institution the Venetians helped
establish and once led, the International
Monetary Fund, creates a new reserve cur-
rency, based on gold convertibility. Over the
subsequent century, Venice watches help-
lessly as its economic and military power
dwindles.
Unfortunately, this imaginary past is now
threatening to become our real future. If
it does, it will be a major turning point in
world history – and all the more remarkable
because, unlike most such shifts, there will
be no doubt about where the blame lies.
Asad Jamal is the founder and chairman of
ePlanet Capital, a Silicon Valley venture firm.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2018.
Aug 17 - 23, 2018 35
comment
By Karl P. Sauvant and Axel Berger
Putting FDI on the G20 Agenda
Area requires a multilateral organisation for rule-making,
policy developments, dispute adjudication
W
hile much of the world’s atten-
tion is focused on the economic
damage being wrought by U.S.
President Donald Trump’s
trade wars, global trade’s twin – foreign
direct investment – has largely been ne-
glected. And yet, with FDI flows valued at
$1.43 trillion in 2017 – on top of the $28 tril-
lion already invested – how these flows are
managed matters.
International investment has become an
important source of external finance for
many countries; for developing econo-
mies, in particular, FDI can exceed official
development assistance by wide margins.
But if FDI is to contribute meaningfully to
economic growth and sustainable develop-
ment, existing flows must increase even
more. For that to happen, international
investment policies need better coordina-
tion, and we believe that the G20 is the best
forum to facilitate this process.
The current FDI framework – a muddled
mess of more than 3,000 agreements – is
insufficient to attract the level of investment
needed to meet the United Nations’ Sustain-
able Development Goals for the year 2030.
For example, some of the world’s largest
economies are encouraging domestic firms
to “re-shore” their operations and invest
more at home. Many countries are also
tightening controls on inward FDI; applying
stricter screening measures to mergers and
acquisitions; and demanding reciprocal
market access in return for investment.
Moreover, an increase in the number of
disputes being filed by foreign investors
against host countries has challenged
efforts to improve dispute-settlement
mechanisms, as some countries with-
draw from global arbitration forums
altogether.
If these trends are not reversed, the result
could be declines in FDI flows, and perhaps
even the emergence of “investment wars”
stemming from the over-politicisation of
foreign investment approvals. Yet, increased
investment flows obviously are needed to
meet global development goals; what is less
clear is how to bring them about.
Unlike the global trading system, the
international investment regime does not
currently have a multilateral organisation
to facilitate rule-making, monitor policy
developments, or adjudicate disputes. But
one can be built, and the G20 is the most
36 Aug 17 - 23, 2018
sensible place to start. At the very least, the
G20 can offer the appropriate level of guid-
ance to help advance FDI policy.
The G20’s members already account for
two-thirds of global outward FDI flows.
Moreover, they participate in most invest-
ment treaties, and include both developed
and developing countries. Not only is the
G20 an important venue for policy dialogue
and coordination; it is also well suited to
lead on efforts to address key international
investment issues.
To be sure, this is not a new idea. For
example, during China’s G20 presidency in
2016, the G20 adopted the “Guiding Prin-
ciples for Global Investment Policymaking.”
This set of nine concepts was designed to
foster an open, transparent, and conducive
policy environment for investment, while
promoting coherence between national and
international rules.
Still, as we argued in a recent policy brief
for the G20’s T20 think-tank, work on this
issue has only just begun. In fact, at least
three additional steps need to be taken if
efforts to improve the international invest-
ment regime are to succeed.
First, the G20 should call on other inter-
national groupings to conduct analyses
If these trends are
not reversed, the
result could be
declines in FDI flows,
and perhaps even
the emergence of
“investment wars”
stemming from the
over-politicisation of
foreign investment
approvals
of their investment policies to ensure
alignment with the bloc’s nine principles.
When gaps are identified, strategies
for plugging them must be developed.
Furthermore, to promote compliance
and knowledge-sharing – and to chart
a course for the negotiation of future
agreements – the G20 should facilitate a
peer-learning network that links inter-
ested governments and regulators.
Second, the G20 should encourage the
United Nations Commission on Interna-
tional Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and the
International Center for Settlement of
Investment Disputes (ICSID) to intensify
efforts to reform their own dispute-settle-
ment mechanisms. Because dispute resolu-
tion is key to any successful investment
regime, the process for resolving disagree-
ments must be beyond reproach. To make
certain that it is, the G20 should track prog-
ress by requesting regular updates from
UNCITRAL and ICSID.
Lastly, the G20 should support the World
Trade Organisation’s discussions on invest-
ment facilitation. More precisely, the G20
should stress that future agreements need
to be compatible with the “most-favored-
nation” principle while prioritising sustain-
able FDI over other forms of foreign invest-
ment.
The G20 can play a leading role in over-
coming the deficiencies that plague the
international investment regime. To do this,
however, current and future G20 presiden-
cies must provide a home for discussions
about action-oriented policymaking. Inter-
national investment can avoid the type of
tensions currently enveloping global trade,
but only if the rules of the game receive the
attention they need.
Karl P. Sauvant is Resident Senior
Fellow at the Columbia Center on
Sustainable Investment at Columbia
University. Axel Berger is a senior
researcher at the German Development
Institute.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2018.
 the Kiss condom brand ambas-
sador named Joe Chuuma.
Dick describes him as an
‘everyman’– one that all men
wish they could be, and whom
all women want to be with.
Dick says he is great looking,
funny, and confident, and uses
condoms to enjoy sex.
At the launch of the con-
doms brand in November
2017, Dick said: “We want to
deliver a message and a brand
that is not solely hammering
a safety, quality, or protec-
tion message, but more about
enjoying one’s sex life with
condoms”.
He described DKT’s condom
marketing as fun and interest-
ing and designed to make one;
especially a young person,
want to buy the condoms.
“If we can somehow make
condoms cool for young
people to use then we might be
able to contribute to the fight
against new infections,” he
added.
Radio, TV, and billboard
adverts soon hit the airwaves
and street.

Not going down well

But Dick and DKT’s message
is not going down well with
some officials at the Uganda
AIDS Commission (UAC), the

What’s wrong with

government agency respon-
sible for ensuring a harmo-
nized response to HIV/AIDS
in the country through overall

condom campaign?
coordination, monitoring and
evaluation of related activities;
including condom promotion
campaigns.

Why government officials say you, Its Acting Director General,

Nelson Musoba, says UAC has
launched an investigation into
probably, shouldn’t give your girl a Kiss the contents of DKT’s condom
advert campaign message.
“It’s clear that this message

D
By Flavia Nassaka series of adverts which, on TV the market in recent months is not good,” he said, “You
and billboards, features an in English and vernacular, is can’t go out telling everybody
o you prefer energetic looking muscular by the world renowned family to have sex.
your man sweet man showing off different planning and HIV social mar- “Am told the man is naked,”
like chocolate, packages of a new condom keting group DKT Internation- he added.
fresh like straw- brand on the market called al of the USA with operations While airing public health
berry or classic KISS. The adverts end with one in 24 countries. messages requires approval by
like ……… You message: “Be a man, Give your DKT’s Managing Director either UAC or the Ministry of
decide! girl a KISS.” for East Africa, Collin Dick, Health, Musoba says the KISS
That is according to a new The ad campaign, which hit says the man in the advert is condom message was never

Aug 17 - 23, 2018 37

health
submitted to the committee for scrutiny and
approval.
Musoba’s UAC has instituted a multi-
organisational committee of seven headed
by Noerine Kaleeba, the globally celebrated
founder of The AIDS Support Organisation
(TASO), which is supposed to analyze all
public information on HIV AIDs control
and prevention.
He said they specifically look at what the
likely effect of the message is; whether it is
age appropriate and culturally acceptable to
ensure that people are being fed on appro-
priate messages. He says a simple message
that is not well packaged can hugely impact
on people’s behavior.
He says UAC is always on guard and
ensure that messages go through an elabo-
rate clearance process that includes catego-
rization of specific target audiences, pretest-
ing, tweaking for appropriateness based on
feedback, and specific airing time.
He said UAC had received complaints
from parents that when some young chil-
dren see the DKT condom adverts, they
say they want to eat strawberry. He said
UAC has communicated its concerns to the
Ministry of Health and the Uganda Com-
munications Commission (UCC) which
regulates the broadcast sector. He said they
want action to be taken. And that could,
according to experts, include banning the
condoms from the market. Unfortunately
for Uganda’s Ministry of Health, such con-
troversy appears to be exactly what DKT is
courting.
Armstrong Mukundane of Communica-
tion for Healthy Communities; the makers
of some of Uganda’s biggest public health
campaigns – including ‘Obulamu’, says
DKT could have easily avoided the loom-
ing threat and controversy. But, he says
DKT could be deliberately engaging in an
aggressive social marketing campaign – one
that stretches the limits of what is acceptable
and creates strong reactions for or against.
If DKT is, in fact, deliberately court-
ing controversy with its condom adverts,
Mukundane says that is a wrong strategy
that should never be used for products that
have a health or moral link.
It appears DKT does not think so.
In favour of shocking condom advertis-
ing
DKT, in fact, appears to favour aggres-
sive, controversial, and shocking condom
advertising that uses sensual, humorous,
and macho themes to attract attention,
build a brand quickly, and grow sales fast.
When The Independent spoke with
DKT’s Uganda boss at the launch, Dick
emphasized that they would be using
“advertising that will set them apart from
the onset”.
“We want to speak about contraceptives
and family planning products in a very
different way, one that resonates more
38 Aug 17 - 23, 2018
with consumers; especially young people,”
he said.
The DKT International President, Chris-
topher Purdy, once wrote an article titled
`To promote family planning, let’s have
more controversy”. In it, he narrated how
when he was working in Ethiopia in 1997,
DKT International introduced a second
brand of condom called `Sensation’ with
blue package featuring a Caucasian couple
embracing on a beach in their swimwear.
It became controversial and the Ministry of
Health banned it.
In another incident, DKT International
once launched an advertisement in the
Philippines for strawberry-scented Trust
condoms. The Archbishop of the Catholic
Church there, Cardinal Sin, quickly con-
demned the ad as an illicit promotion of
sex.
Then in July of 2013, a DKT condom
advert in Pakistan was pulled off air by the
regulatory authorities who deemed the ad
indecent.
He concludes that “while some public
health advocates might suggest that a more
nuanced approach to condom promotion
would have been better, I disagree”.
“Why? In all three instances, some very
positive public health outcomes emerged
— especially for consumers,” he says.
In the Philippines, the controversy
resulted in record sales of strawberry con-
doms.
“Because of the brouhaha, consumers
wanted to see what the fuss was about.”
He says and adds that Trust condoms are
now the most popular brand in the coun-
try.
In Ethiopia, after two years, the Sensa-
tion condoms and even a third brand were
relaunched and it now sells 30 million
pieces a year.
In Pakistan, the controversial ad ban
catalysed widespread discussion.
Purdy concludes that, in his view,
controversies such as the one on the Kiss
condoms in Uganda are partly because of
cultural taboos and universal nervousness
about sex.
When speaking to a group of health
journalists attending a medical male cir-
cumcision workshop in Nairobi, Dr. Fred-
die Ssengooba, a Professor at the Makerere
University School of Public Health said
condom use is a very sensitive topic in
Uganda and its handling needs to be done
with similar sensitivity.
Ssengooba was part of the strategists
involved in introducing condoms to Ugan-
da and he recalls the moralist and religious
arguments they had to deal with.
Both he and Mukundane seem to hold
the same view that DKT should exercise
more caution than aggression on the mes-
sage.
“You have to take caution because you
are unsure of the effect it might have. You
have to ask yourself that with this mes-
sages won’t moralists cause a hullabaloo,”
Mukundane says.
Mukundane is more practical on the
condom use message.
He says DKT, like any other commu-
nication campaign designer, needed to
do informative research to understand
the different perspectives which help in
generating messages that tackle the key
issues of the campaign, consulted widely,
pre-tested the message to gauge its
acceptability, and submitted dummies for
approval by either the Ministry of Health
or any other responsible authority.
He told The Independent: “Mine
would have been, ‘the best way is to
abstain but in case you can’t then use con-
doms’, then I can put whichever brand
that I am marketing”.
That, it appears, is exactly what DKT
would never do with its Kiss condom
adverts.
They appear determined that the uproar
over similar adverts in the neighboring
Kenya should happen in Uganda. In Kenya,
the government has reacted by ordering
media houses to stop running the advert
during prime hours of 5am to 10pm and to
pull down billboards of the half-naked Joe
Chuuma with his products. The controversy
is unlikely to die out because the Ministry
of Health is pursuing very different goals
from those of the Kiss condom makers; the
Ministry wants a change in attitude away
from increased sexual activity; especially
with multiple partners, but the condom
makers want people to have more sex and,
therefore, buy more condoms.
 ART | BOOKS | SOCIETY | TRAVEL | CULTURE

Don’t
miss The
Studio
7 art masters in
town for Kampala
Art Biennale III

S
By Dominic Muwanguzi

omething exciting is happening

on the Kampala art scene this
August. It is the third edition
of the Kampala Art Biennale
Biennale. And even more excit-
ing is that the world renowned
writer, lecturer, art critic and essayist,
Simon Njami, is curating it. And finally,
Njami has invited seven art masters from
all over the world to the revived annual
extravaganza. Bili Bidjocka, the 56-year old
of Cameroon origin based in Paris, France,
Godfried Donkor; the 54-year old of Ghana
origin based in London, UK, with works
in the Smithsonian Institution of the USA,
Abdoulaye Konate; the decorated Malian
textile-based artist, and Pascale Marthine;
the 51-year old from Cameroon. Others are
the Franco-Gabonian Tayou Myriam Mi-
hindou , Aida Muluneh from Ethiopia, and
Radenko Milak from Bosnia-Herzegovinia.
These are masters of mediums such as col-
lage, textile, photography, performance,
and installation.
Njami’s idea is for the Kampala Art
Biennale 2018 to take the ancient master-
apprenticeship model of artistic training
which he dubs `The studio’. The plan is to
have the seven masters set –up studios in
Kampala with talented young artists from
across the African continent and beyond
taking up residences as apprentices in the
studious in order to gain knowledge from
the masters.
The approach is inspired by the Afri-
can traditional practice of transmission of
knowledge from the older to the young
generation for future use. Traditionally,
young artists in the African setting – also in
Europe from medieval times- worked with
masters who employed them as apprentices
in their studio space in order to skill them
in their craft.
“Our aim is to revitalise ancient practices
that are more than needed in our contempo-
rary world,” says Njami.
Bili Bidjocka has already given a work-
shop about the making of books from tradi-
tional Buganda barkcloth, Godfried Donkor
who works with collage and painting has
worked with young artists archival visual
material in Uganda from the earliest times
to present, Abdoulaye Konate has shared
knowledge on textile as a form of artistic
expression, and Pascale Marthine Tayou has
an installation.
The culmination of this master- appren-
ticeship engagement will be an international
exhibition in Kampala between Aug. 24 and
Sept. 24 in different venues in Kampala city.
The Biennale gains its strength from
revisiting the concept of knowledge trans-
mission and togetherness. By allowing
young artists to learn from internationally
recognised art masters, the festival organiz-
ers are consciously building a vibrant and
enviable art scene within the region that can
sufficiently be part of the wider global art
scene. This is the dream of the biennale and
gives Kampala the potential to be next art
destination of the world.
The novel arrangement has given the
KAB 18 Biennale a completely different
character from the past festivals. In the
Dakar’ Art biennale, pavilions are built for
the public, artist, and artwork to dialogue.
The studio approach seeks to grow the
nascent art scene in the East African region
and Africa, especially in the era where
there’s renewed interest in art from Africa
and traditional African practices by the
West.
The Kampala Art Biennale will officially
open on 24th August until 24 September in
Kampala. The Festival is organized and pre-
sented by Kampala Arts Trust and funded
by the European Union.

Aug 17 - 23, 2018 39

Mafia offers Shs260 to kill sniffer dog!
Usually, bounties get put on the heads of
humans but a sniffer dog for the Colombian
police, with the cute/scary name of Sombra
(Shadow in English), has been named as
the target of a $70,000 (Approx. Shs260 mil-
lion) bounty by the Urabeños mafia. The
Urabeños are, according to CNN, “one
of Colombia’s most powerful criminal
groups,” trafficking in enough cocaine that
one dog could seize 9 tons of it. That dog, as
you may have guessed, is Sombra. Sombra
has helped the Colombian Anti-Narcotics
Police capture 245 people before turning
six years old. This record has led Sombra to
be referred to as “the torment of ‘Otoniel,’”
who is the head of the Urabeños mafia.

Man fakes own Barber with no hands is 2-year-old `Super Girl”

death to stop giving proof anything is possible
wife money
A 27-year-old foreign man
working in the United States
recently tried to fake his own
death in an effort to stop his
wife constantly asking him for
more money. She kept asking
him to send her mobile phones,
although he had already sent
six. She claimed they had been
stolen. So he decided to trick his
wife into thinking that he had
died, and to that end, sent her
some photos of himself lying
on a bed with cotton balls in his
nostrils and mouth and cov-
ered with a white sheet. What
Danny Gonzalez didn’t count
on was his wife taking the pho-
tos to a local television station
in Honduras, which actually
showed them on television. As
the photos went viral on social
media, people voiced their
suspicion that Gonzales had
faked his death, local media
decided to investigate and it
didn’t take long for them to
find out that the 27-year-old
was actually alive and well.
He immediately admitted to
staging his own death.
When faced with hardships
in their lives, many people
find them too challenging
and give up, especially on
their life dreams. But not for
Gabriel Heredia. Gabriel is
a 20-year-old Argentinian
barber who was born without
hands. Despite his handicap,
he was able to grow up
happy and independent. In
fact, his inspiration for such a
line of work was his mother,
who is a hairdresser. At the
tender age of 14, he started
working as a barber, and
learned all the techniques to
perfecting both haircuts and
beard trimmings. Although
he first saw it as a hobby,
Gabriel quickly determined
that this was the profession
he wanted to work in.
falls from 17th floor,
simply walks it off
A two and a half year old
girl from Changzhou, China’s
Jiangsu Province, has been
dubbed a “super girl” after
falling from the 17th floor of
an apartment building and sus-
taining only minor injuries. The
accidental fall took place on July
11, when the girl climbed onto
a chair, then on the computer
desk and leaned out an open
window. She lost her balance
and plunged 17 floors down.
Eyewitnesses told reporters
that the girl rose to her feet
almost instantly after hitting
the ground, started crying and
went straight for the front door
of her building. She was rushed
to Changzhou Children’s Hos-
pital for a thorough examina-
tion but doctors were stunned
by how few injuries the child
had sustained. “She is a little
superman,” one of the doctors
said in an interview. “This child
is too lucky.” It is believed that
the branches of the trees outside
the high-rise apartment build-
ing cushioned the girl’s fall.

Book about history of Ferrari costs more than car

$30,000 (Approx. Shs112
million) may not buy
you a new Ferrari, but
it’s enough to cover the
cost of this limited edition
book on the history of the
iconic sports car brand.
Before you freak out about
the price, you should
know that it includes a
beautifully sculptured
steel and chrome book
stand, as well as an
aluminum display case
for the incredibly rare
book. Together, the two
artistic pieces created by
designer Marc Newson
are supposed to emulate
the legendary Ferrari
12-cylinder engine. Titled
simply ‘Ferrari’, the
book itself is described
as a “massive tome”
and includes loads of
photographs from the
Ferrari archive that tell
the history of the luxury
Italian brand.

40 Aug 17 - 23, 2018

 Toyota rules off road
But which SUV is best? A look at the Toyota LandCruiser,
Toyota Fortuner GX, and Toyota Prado GX
N
Toyota 76 LandCruiser Workmate
o 4X4 adheres to the KISS (Keep It
Simple Stupid) principal quite like
Toyota’s 76 LandCruiser Wagon.
It is old-school with a separate
chassis, live axles front and rear, five-speed
manual gearbox, a part-time 4×4 system
and, in base-spec Workmate trim, unencum-
bered with fancy stuff like carpet and cloth
trim. This is great when you’re jumping
in and out of the vehicle in dirty, dusty or
muddy conditions, because all you have to
do to clean up later is wipe everything over
with a damp cloth. Its one-piece 16-inch
steel wheels that can take a beating in the
bush and be easily repaired if they cop a
Toyota Fortuner GX
Based on the HiLux platform, the Fortuner is a
basic yet robust bit of kit. It has a separate chassis,
independent front suspension with MacPherson
struts, a live-axle rear with coils, a six-speed manual
gearbox (or optional six-speed auto) and a part-time
4×4 system. Its 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel engine
makes a claimed 130kW of power at 3400rpm and 420Nm of
torque from 1400-2600rpm, and decent low-range gearing aids
slow-speed off-road driving, as does the standard rear diff lock
and electronic traction control.
The original was equipped with 17-inch steel wheels, but
an update in late-2017 saw these replaced with 17-inch alloys
shod with 265/65R17 tyres, rear parking sensors to go with its
reversing camera, and manual seat adjustment, durable cloth
trim, manual front and rear air conditioning, a 7-inch display
with Toyota Link and a cooler for the glovebox. It boasts seven
airbags, ABS, TC, VSC, EBD, HSA (Hill Start Assist) and TSC
(trailer sway control). The manual variant offers a class-stan-
dard 3000kg towing capacity.
hard knock. And the off-road-friendly
225/95R16 tyres offer plenty of side-
wall for driving in extreme conditions.
The 76 Wagon’s V8 turbo-diesel
means there’s a handy 151kW of pow-
er available at 3400rpm and 430Nm of
torque from a low 1200rpm through to
3200rpm. A generous 785kg payload
means you can kit it out with accesso-
ries such as bull bar, winch and lights
and still have plenty of load carrying
capability. It comes standard with
ABS, TC, VSC, HSA (Hill Start Assist),
BA, EBD and front airbags. It has air
conditioning and a Bluetooth compat-
ible sound system with two speakers.
Toyota Prado GX
The base-spec Prado GX has everything you
need for bush travel and not too much of the
unnecessary ‘fruit’ that you’ll find on higher-specifi-
cation models.
The Prado has separate chassis architecture with indepen-
dent front suspension and a live axle rear with coil springs. It
is powered by a 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine that
makes a claimed 130kW of power at 3400rpm and 420Nm of
torque from 1400-2600rpm mated to a six-speed manual gear-
box, or 450Nm with the optional six-speed auto.
The Prado GX offers a generous 150L fuel capacity which
results in a touring range in excess of 1000km, and it features
a full-time 4×4 system with a lockable centre diff. Low-range
reduction is excellent and the Prado offers a good combination
of ground clearance and wheel travel for off-road forays.The
Prado GX manual has a generous 760kg payload capacity.
Aug 17 - 23, 2018 41
Profile
Agnes Akite aka Arach on funny Ugandans
By Agnes E Nantaba
C
omedian Agnes Akite
has recently received
heaps of praise from
fans after her clip about
real life experiences of people
who mimic songs and insert
own words and the escapades
of pregnant women went viral.
Like her previous performanc-
es, Akite prepared the script to
get a feel of how her audience
would react.
Many social media fans were
impressed by her talent and
creativity and for someone
who is just four years into the
comedy industry, Akite is yet to
wake up from the trance the fan
reaction has taken her to.
“I didn’t expect it to go that
far but it has humbled me,”
she says, “From the comments,
some people didn’t know
about me, which is a sign that
I should work harder to get to
greater heights.”
Unlike some comedians who
base on use of vulgarity, Akite’s
jokes are based on everyday
life and experiences.
42 Aug 17 - 23, 2018
It is from such that she picks
up a line or two, builds up on
them, and eventually crafts
something funny out of it. Her
creativity has birthed decent
lines in her scripts.
“It’s funny how people think
that we just jump on stage and
start yapping yet we spend
time preparing for the best
show,” she says.
Akite says comedy perfor-
mance has bad and good days
but her positive energy keeps
her focused to deliver the best.
“I still get nervous at
times for not know-
ing what kind
or size of the
audi-
ence to
expect or even how they will
receive you because it’s always
a different reception,” she says.
The mother of two says she
never saw herself anywhere
close to making people laugh
for money. But she jumped
onto comedy after hitting fame
for her role as Arach in the NTV
series, ‘The hostel’.
She acted the role of an illiter-
ate young woman from North-
ern Uganda who follows her
boyfriend to Kampala. As he
pursues university educa-
tion, she starts
a canteen
at the
drama
filled hostel where the boy-
friend lives. It is through the
series that she met renowned
comedians like of Daniel
Omara and Anne Kansiime.
Her acting was so powerful that
the village girl character has
stuck in the audience and her
challenge today is to prove her
flexibility in character.
Akite says her fun is inborn;
inherited from her father who
has always been funny crack-
ing jokes that leave the family
laughing.
“From his stories told with a
tough face, everyone in the fam-
ily is crazy in their own way,”
she says, “We are all comedians
by nature because we find fun
in almost everything.”
The tourism graduate from
Makerere University who
started the comedy journey
with Punchliners before join-
ing Comedy Files says she has
no regrets having comedy as
her way of life. Her dream is
to cross borders and make a
name in the comedy industry
making fun for an international
audience.
Akite says Uganda is gifted
with the funniest and happi-
est people on earth and the
comedy industry requires just a
little support to boost the talent
and grow.
Akite is the fifth born of
the nine children of Anthony
and Hellen Opio. She had her
early years of school at Our
Lady of Africa Nursery School
- Mbuya, St Kizito Primary
School Bugolobi, Our Lady of
Good Counsel Gayaza, Naalya
SS and St Lawrence Schools
and Colleges - Creamland
Campus from where she joined
Makerere University to pursue
a bachelor’s degree in tourism
graduating in 2007.
She is married to Brian
Makalama with whom they
have two children.
“My husband is part of
my jokes and I have put him
on stage sometimes; so he is
supportive of my journey,”
she says.

Agnes Akite’s Liteside
Any three things that we
I
don’t know about you?
am a very reserved
person; I mind my
own business and if I
meet you for the first
time, you might mistake
it for pride. I am very
short tempered which
may sound funny for
a comedian but it’s the
truth.
What is your idea of
perfect happiness?
Family time is all time
happiness for me.
What is your greatest
fear?
Dying before my
children can fend for
themselves; I fear leaving
my children in the hands
of a merciless and cruel
world.
What is the trait
you most deplore in
yourself?
I have a soft spot
for people; when I like
someone, I overdo it and
eventually some take
advantage of me.
What is the trait you
most deplore in others?
Hypocrisy.
Which living person do
you most admire?
I admire my father;
even at 70 years, he is
still hardworking and
energetic enough to
take care of the family.
He is my superstar.
I also admire every
hardworking woman
because it’s good to
hustle and have your
own money.
What is your greatest
extravagance?
I like hanging out a lot
even when I know that
it’s not a good habit.
What is the greatest
thing you have ever
done?
Settling down for
marriage; I never
imagined myself settling
down for marriage but I
am there and still going.
What is your current
state of mind?
I am happy because
things are working out
slowly.
What do you consider
the most overrated
virtue?
It is a character of all
Ugandans; we waste
too much time yapping
about unnecessary stuff
that never adds value to
our lives. We also like
fighting wars on behalf of
others.
What does being
powerful mean to you?
Knowledge is power;
it can be used to build
or destroy anyone so a
person with knowledge is
powerful.
On what occasion do you
lie?
If I ever tell lies, it
won’t go unnoticed so I
avoid telling lies.
What do you most
dislike about your
appearance?
Although I usually joke
about my legs, they don’t
bother me.
Which living person do
you most despise?
Anyone who is a
hypocrite.
What is the quality you
most like in a woman?
God fearing,
hardworking, and self-
respect.
What is the quality you
most like in a man?
God fearing, self-
respect, and hard work.
What or who is the
greatest love of your
life?
My family and that
incorporates many
people.
When and where were
you happiest?
Giving birth to my son
and daughter in 2004
and 2013 respectively
is unforgettable. I was
also happy graduating
from university in 2007
because, clearly, people
had lost hope in the
playful me. It disproved
many people.
Which talent would you
most like to have?
I would love to add
music but it’s one thing
that I was never gifted
with. I tried it several
times until I came to
terms that I can never be
a musician even when my
entire family can sing.
Where would you most
like to live?
Where else would I live
apart from Uganda?
What is your most
treasured possession?
I treasure talent
because it foots my bills.
What do you regard
as the lowest depth of
misery?
I would never wish
for any woman to have a
miscarriage because it is
a very painful experience.
What is your favorite
occupation?
Being a mother is
also an occupation so I
put it before anything
Aug 17 - 23, 2018
Q&A
advertorial
else. I take that job very
seriously.
What do you most value
in your friends?
I am more comfortable
having male friends
because they are
straightforward and less
dramatic.
Who are your favourite
writers?
I don’t read a lot but I
believe that a stand-up
comedian should read
widely to get a feel of
what is trending and
guide his or her work.
Who is your hero of
fiction?
I like Tyler Perry; he
is an actor, playwright
and filmmaker whom I
learn from a lot. I highly
recommend his film
‘Acrimony’ to all women.
Which historical figure
do you most identify
with?
I have read about
Bob Marley as a brave
activist; I wish I could be
an activist standing up
for peoples’ rights if not
for being a coward.
Who are your heroes in
real life?
My father is my hero.
What is your greatest
regret?
Everything that
happens does so for a
reason and it teaches
lessons so I don’t regret
anything.
How would you like to
die?
In my sleep but in old
age.
What is your motto?
Keep walking.
43
Global comment
By Danny Bradlow
The BRICS summit
Important small steps, but little to show on big issues
T
rying to evaluate a meeting like
the BRICS summit that recently
took place in Johannesburg is chal-
lenging. On the one hand, a summit
is an exercise in political theatre. In this
sense, success means that the leaders put on
a good show of international camaraderie
and issue a communique expressing their
firm commitment to solving the common
challenges facing their countries and the
world. On the other hand, an annual
summit is the culmination of a year-long
process of meetings of officials, politicians,
and non-state actors from the participating
countries. They spend the year trying to
reach agreement on specific deliverables
that they hope their leaders will endorse
in their communique, which is the sum-
mit’s primary output. This means that
understanding the real meaning of the
communique is essential to assessing the
success of the summit. This requires paying
close attention to what the communique
does – and doesn’t – say as well as to the
things that it promises. The Johannesburg
BRICS summit delivered a mixed bag when
judged on these two criteria. The commu-
nique makes clear that some solid work was
done and that the participants have agreed
to undertake some useful initiatives. But it’s
also clear that on some issues the leaders
resorted to vague statements that hide their
real differences. This suggests that, despite
their accomplishments, there are differences
in their overall commitment to the BRICS.
In addition, key countries view it as merely
one option for advancing their grand inter-
national relations strategy.
The positive notes
The leaders issued a communique that
suggested that they had a productive
meeting and agreed on a range of issues.
They announced the formation of a new
vaccines research centre in South Africa
and their intentions to collaborate more in
tourism and customs, technology, energy,
the environment, and agriculture.
On trade, the leaders followed the Chi-
nese lead. They expressed their support
for a rules based multilateral international
trading system and called on all countries to
comply with their World Trade Organisa-
tion (WTO) commitments. They also stated
their support for the newly signed African
Continental Free Trade Agreement and for
the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
They agreed on the importance of pro-
moting a more inclusive and sustainable
44 Aug 17 - 23, 2018
international society, stressing the impor-
tance of the Sustainable Development
Goals. And the leaders commended the
BRICS’ New Development Bank for dis-
cussing innovative approaches to develop-
ment finance. They also praised officials
for the progress that’s been made in estab-
lishing a BRICS local currency bond fund.
This will help the countries raise funds for
development projects from each other and
further develop their local capital markets.
Progress also has been made in operational-
ising the Contingent Reserve Arrangement
which is designed to provide central bank
support to a member state facing balance of
payments problems. They also announced
more people-to-people exchanges in sports,
culture and research collaborations.
The leaders called for South Africa, Brazil
and India to play a larger role in the United
Nations and for a larger voice for Africa in
the governance of the International Mon-
etary Fund (IMF).
The gaps
The summit communique had some
noteworthy gaps. First, while the leaders
expressed support for IMF governance
reform, they failed to explicitly support
South Africa’s lobbying for a third chair for
Africa on the IMF board of directors. They
also did not propose any other specific
measures to improve African participation
in IMF governance.
Second, the communique failed to spe-
cifically support Brazil, India and South
Africa’s efforts to win permanent seats on
the UN Security Council.
The leaders highlighted their concerns
about the challenges in the international
trading system and called for it to become
more inclusive and development oriented.
But they did not set out how the system
should be reformed to achieve these objec-
tives. This is particularly striking because
their meeting came soon after the U.S. and
the European Union announced that they
could begin working together to reform the
WTO. Similarly, their expression of sup-
port for the AU’s free trade agreement and
Agenda 2063 was devoid of any specific
commitments. This is particularly note-
worthy because both the Chinese and the
Indian leaders combined their participation
in the summit with visits to various African
countries to whom they made specific offers
of support. This suggests that India and
China see the BRICS as only one channel for
developing economic relations in Africa. It
also means that South Africa’s position as
the BRICS’ gateway to Africa is not assured.
Financial intervention
While the communique highlighted the
progress made in operationalising the
Contingent Reserve Arrangement, it gave
no indication that the BRICS are planning
to de-link the Contingent Reserve Arrange-
ment from the IMF. This means that about
70% of the financing available through this
initiative will be linked to reaching agree-
ment with the IMF. This should be seen in
the context of the BRICS lukewarm support
for increased African representation in IMF
governance. In addition, while the com-
munique commends the BRICS Bank for
considering innovative approaches to devel-
opment finance, it makes no mention of its
poor record when it comes to transparency,
participation, and accountability. In fact, the
bank is less transparent, less open to consul-
tation and less accountable than any of the
other multilateral development banks.
Without improvement in these areas it
is hard to see how the New Development
Bank can become an environmentally and
socially responsible funder of sustainable
and inclusive infrastructure. The bank’s
lack of progress in the transparency scale
exposes it to significant reputational risk.
Hedging bets
The BRICS have agreed some impres-
sive initiatives and have taken some steps
to strengthen their ties. But they have also
failed to demonstrate that they will live up
to their promise to be an effective advocate
for global governance reform.
Key leaders have also shown that they
are hedging their bets on the BRICS. They
are using other vehicles to develop their
international relations in Africa and at the
global level. The key takeaway therefore
is that South Africa should be proud of its
participation in the BRICS but should retain
a healthy scepticism in its approach to the
group. It should continue to diversify its
international economic and political rela-
tions, should attach appropriate value to
the BRICS and all the other regional and
international forums and groupings in
which it participates, and should avoid
over-investing in the BRICS.
Danny Bradlow is SARCHI Professor of
International Development Law and African
Economic Relations, University of Pretoria
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