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copy ugshs2,000 february 13 – 29, 2020 co m plem entary public lens the sieving facts from fiction www.thepubliclens.ug.com month of the great afrika kwetu trek ...p4 special report legacy of speaker kadaga ...p9-24 locusts: counting the loss, damage by public lens team uganda is the latest country to be in- vaded by the menacing upsurge of the swarm of desert locusts which have wrecked havoc and caused debilitat- ing loss and damage in the horn of africa including somalia, ethiopia and kenya. the onslaught of the locusts into uganda was reported early this week when a swarm was seen in amudat and have now spread to moroto, nabilatuk, nakapiripiriti, na- pak and abim. there is warning that the locusts could soon spread to neighbouring regions of acholi, lango, teso, south su- dan. the imminent danger of the locusts is alarming: ravaging vegetation, crops, pas- ture. famine is the net effect. turn to page 8 coronavirus ugandans in china cry out, as kenya evacuates nationals fellow ugandans, you might have heard about the outbreak of the corona virus which originated in wuhan and the ugandan students in wuhan who are pleading to be evacuated. this cause is very impor- tant because these are our ugandan brothers, sisters, friends and children. of the 800 ugandan stu- dents in mainland china, 71 are in wuhan which is the area most affected by this virus outbreak. these stu- dents cannot leave on their own accord hence the need for a government-initiated evacuation. the statistics collected from wuhan show why this matter should be treated with the utmost ur- gency. turn to page 2 sports news: legendary brazil forward pele’s health is worrying ...p.32
coronavirus february 13 – 29, 2020 public lens 2 coronavirus: ugandans in china cry out to govt, as kenya evacuates nationals dear fellow ugandans, you might have heard about the outbreak of the corona virus which originated in wuhan and the ugandan students in wuhan who are pleading to be evacuated. this cause is very important to me because these are our ugandan broth- ers, sisters, friends and children. please note: i am in beijing not wu- han thus i am just championing for hu- manity and not for any personal benefit whatsoever. of the 800 ugandan students in main- land china, 71 are in wuhan which is the area most affected by this virus outbreak. these students cannot leave of their own accord hence the need for a government-initiated evacuation. the statistics below collected from wuhan show why this matter should be treated with the utmost urgency. as of; 23rd january 639 cases and 17 deaths -0th january (7days later) 7711 cases and 124 deaths 6th february (after another 7days) 28,018 cases and 563 deaths. note that the sars virus which was one of the worst epidemics faced by china in 2002-2003 killed 349 people in 9 months. this figure has been sur- passed by the wuhan coronavirus in 5 weeks. wuhan is currently on lockdown which simply means that no one is al- lowed to travel in or out unless there is an intervention from the government. at least 25 airlines have suspended and or reduced flights to and from china. therefore, even if the families of the students were able to raise money for the air fare, they would not be able to evacuate their children without the aid of the government. the situation has only become more frightening since a 21-year-old camer- oonian student, was diagnosed with the virus at yangtze university. a student in wuhan said, “i feel like the walls are caving in around me; there are times where i think i am losing my mind,” adding that her mental health is deteriorating amidst increased anxiety. another student said, “masks are running out of supply and the prices in the grocery stores have skyrocketed even though we need to make very long lines to access necessities.” as of 02/02/2020 the chinese au- thorities ordered remains of bodies to be cremated nearby (within china). therefore, in the unfortunate event that a ugandan succumbs to this virus they will not get a chance to be buried by their loved ones. the students are very aware of the danger of this disease and deadly virus... note that the sars virus which was one of the worst epidemics faced by china in 2002-2003 killed 349 people in 9 months. this figure has been surpassed by the wuhan coronavirus in 5 weeks. are willing to comply with the 2-week quarantine period since they would also not want to infect their loved ones. call for action firstly i call upon people in positions of authority to act on this issue with the urgency it requires. the government of kenya this week announced that they shall be putting measures in place to evacuate the kenyan students in wuhan. i am no expert in foreign relations, and i stand to be corrected however can’t our fellow ugandans come aboard this flight and if need be negotiations can be carried out with their parents to meet the travel expenses. secondly i call upon every parent in their various capacities to come togeth- er and stand with parents of students in wuhan who are going through a very difficult time and having sleepless nights. to champion for the evacuation of these 71 children in our various ca- pacities. this virus was not the students making and they should not pay with their lives for this. thirdly i call upon you who is read- ing this message to do what you can to spread this message, a share in a group can take it a long way. and above all let’s keep praying for the students in wuhan and greater chi- na that the lord gives them and their families the strength to go through this trying time. #evacuateugandansinwuhan for god and my country *concerned ugandan citizen in china
coronavirus february 13 – 29, 2020 public lens 3 travellers in china cover up their noses with breathing masks to reduce chances of infection. by sarah newey & anne gulland the telegraph what is a coronavirus? coronaviruses are a family of viruses that cause dis- ease in animals. seven, in- cluding the new virus, have made the jump to humans but most just cause cold-like symptoms. two coronaviruses – middle east respiratory syndrome (mers) and severe acute respiratory syn- drome (sars) – are much more severe, having killed more than 1,500 people between them since 2002. the new virus, named 2019- ncov, is also dangerous. so far, around 20 per cent of confirmed cases have been classed as “se- vere” and the current death rate stands at about two per cent. this is much lower than fatality rates for mers (30 per cent) and sars (10 per cent) but still a sig- nificant threat. how many people have been affected so far? the new virus is spreading fast and there are eight confirmed cas- es in the uk. more than 43,000 cases have been confirmed since the outbreak started and the death toll has sur- passed 1,000. the vast majority of cases are in china but the virus has spread to 28 other countries. the philippines was the first country outside china to report a death related from the virus. the department of health said a 44- year-old chinese man from wu- han was admitted on january 25 after experiencing fever, cough, and sore throat. he developed se- vere pneumonia and later died. the disease, which causes pneumonia-like symptoms, has forced beijing to quarantine some 18 major cities, essentially lock- ing down more than 56 million people. put in place with imme- diate effect as the health secretary warned that spread of the virus is now a “se- rious and imminent threat” to the british public. the what’s the position in the uk? four more patients in england have tested positive for novel cor- onavirus, bringing the total num- ber of cases in the uk to eight. the new cases are thought to be linked to a british man who caught the virus at a conference in singapore and stopped at a ski re- sort in france before returning to the uk. the patients are currently undergoing treatment at special- ist nhs centres at guy’s and st thomas’ and the royal free hos- pitals in london. health confirming the four new cases on monday, chief medical offi- cer for england professor chris whitty said they were all “known contacts of a previously confirmed uk case, and the virus was passed on in france”. meanwhile officials are urgently trying to trace those who came into contact with two patients – who are being treated at newcastle upon tyne hospi- tals nhs foundation trust – after they fell unwell whilst staying in york. professor sharon peacock, director of the national infection service at public health england (phe), said: “phe is contacting people who had close contact with the confirmed cases.” police have been handed un- precedented powers to force those at risk of coronavirus into quar- antine, amid fears two gps may have passed the virus on to their patients. the new measures have been what about those flown back from wuhan? after several delays, 83 britons and 27 non-uk nationals arrived in the uk on a government char- ter flight from wuhan on friday. they were then taken by coach to arrowe park hospital in the wir- ral for a quarantine period of 14 days, where they will be housed in an nhs staff accommodation block. all are reportedly well. how did the outbreak start? the source of the coronavirus is believed to be a “wet market” in wuhan which sold a wide variety of both dead and living animals, including fish and birds. such markets pose a heightened risk of viruses jumping from ani- mals to humans because hygiene standards are difficult to maintain if live animals are being kept and butchered on site. typically they are also closely packed and very busy places. the animal source of the lat- est outbreak has not yet been identified but the original host is thought to be bats. bats were not sold at the wuhan market but they may have infected live chickens or other animals sold there. bats are host to a wide range of zoonotic viruses including ebola, hiv and rabies. why has the who declared an international emergency? the who’s primary concern is the virus’s potential to spread unhindered in low and middle in- come countries, where it could spark a full- blown pandemic. while developed nations like the uk are likely to be able to contain the virus in the short term at least, that is not the case in the poor but globally connected mega-cities of asia and africa. the authorities in countries like india, where there have been three confirmed cases, and kenya, which is investigating suspected cases, have significantly less cen- tral control than china and their health systems are rickety at best. the potential for runaway out- breaks in these countries is there- fore much greater. is this virus like sars and mers? or the h1n1 virus – remains the most devastating flu pandemic in modern history. the disease swept around the globe and is estimated to have caused between 50 and 100 million deaths. a new version of the same virus was also behind the 2009 swine flu outbreak, which is thought to have killed as many as 575,400 people. other major influenza outbreaks include the asian flu in 1957, which led to roughly two million deaths, and the hong kong flu 11 years later which killed one mil- lion people. but coronavirus outbreaks have so far been far smaller. sars even- tually spread to 27 countries in to- tal, infecting around 8,000 people and killing 700. is this outbreak likely to become yes - but it is nowhere near as a full-blown global pandemic? lethal. sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and mers (middle east respiratory syndrome) are also coronaviruses which cause severe respiratory infections. they also originated in bats, sars jumping to humans via civet cats and mers coming via camels. sars, first reported in china in 2002, spread to 27 countries, in- fecting around 8,000 people and killing 700. it spread quickly at first but then died out. mers on the other hand, is more tenacious. it first emerged in 2012 in jordan and about 2,500 cases of the disease have been identified so far. it is more deadly than sars, and has claimed about 850 lives in total. how does this coronavirus compare to past respiratory epidemics? the 1918 spanish influenza – it is too early to say. the virus has spread widely in china but even there the total numbers remain relatively small compared to the country’s 1.4 bil- lion population. it has jumped to more than 20 other countries, including the uk, but so far there is little evidence of the virus spreading in a sus- tained manner outside of china. the who says it is not yet a pan- demic as the majority of cases in other countries have been import- ed from china. is there anything i should be doing to prepare? yes, there are plenty of basic precautions you can take to pro- tect yourself against catching respiratory viruses of this type. click here now for a full briefing on the symptoms, treatments and precautions you can take against the new coronavirus.
4 february 13 – 29, 2020 public lens president’s diary january 2020 month of the great afrika kwetu trek january 28: officiated at the opening the 22nd annual judges’ conference, where i shared some aspects of the historical mission of the nrm government, which is to build a free uganda whose people are engaged in agricultural and indus- trial production for financial and food security. i urged the judiciary, being part of the state, to be a partner in fulfilling this mission and not a hindrance. january 26: presided over the 34th libera- tion day celebrations in ibanda district. i thanked h.e jakaya mrisho kikwete for honouring my invita- tion to join us at the historic event. the gist of my message to ugandans was that all homesteads should join the money-making campaign, through agriculture that is commercial- based on “ekiba- ro”, “cura”; others should join the ict, services and industry sectors etc, for the benefit of their families and the country. january 25: presided over the national conference at the nelson mandela national stadium, namboole. speaking to the delegates, informed them that whereas the nrm has done and achieved a lot, in my analysis there are 6 areas in which we must closely guide the people. these are: house-hold incomes; education for their chil- dren; opposing their illegal evic- tion from their bibanja; opposing the stealing of drugs in the health centres; opposing the corruption of government officials – police- men etc.; and working on the feeder roads among others. january 21: paid a courtesy call on prince william, the duke of cambridge, at buckingham palace, discussing several issues of mutual interest and importance. addressed the uk-uganda business forum at the double tree hilton hotel in london. it was graced by chief executives of over 70 british companies, where i made the case for them to come and invest in uganda. i urged investors to report any government officials that asks them for bribes. january 20: attended the uk-africa invest- ment summit at the interconti- nental hotel - the o2, in london hosted by british prime minister, rt. hon. boris johnson. january 31: attended the rwenzori investment expo 2020 at mountains of the moon university in kabarole district. the women here formed an association to help them pool resources so that they acquire personal motorcycles/ boda bodas and make money. this is the spirit we want, and the government will surely support them. january 29: was in murora sub county, bu- fumbira east constituency, kisoro district. the people of this sub county voted overwhelmingly for the nrm with the highest percent- age of votes in kigezi region, in the last election cycle. with this mandate, the nrm has been able to carry out infrastruc- ture developments in the area for example tarmacking the kabale- kisoro road, electricity, schools and now piped water, restored peace and unity in the region. i thank the prime minister for the invitation and told him in our bilateral meeting, uganda is ready to receive british investors, given the immense business opportuni- ties in the pearl of africa. was glad that in his speech, the prime minister indicated that our products, including uganda’s beef, would find its way onto the dining tables of post-brexit britain. january 18: spoke at the france – africa summit on drug trafficking and counterfeit medicines on the continent. confirmed uganda’s commit- ment to the collaborative process on the elimination of the global health challenge of trafficking of substandard, falsified medicines
president’s diary january 2020 february 13 – 29, 2020 public lens 5 and other medical products. january 17: january 13: left for and arrived in lome, presided over swearing in of togo, for the france – africa sum- mit on drug trafficking and coun- terfeit medicines at the invitation of the brazzaville foundation. a new ministers that took the oath of office at state house, entebbe. called upon all ministers and public servants to desist from en- gaging in any form of corruption. january 11: as a visitor, i graced the 15th graduation ceremony of gulu university at the institution’s main grounds in gulu town. my appeal to universities is that you should design and teach courses that solve our key societal issues. you should produce graduates who provide answers to key human needs--in the four broad sectors of agriculture, industry, services and ict. january 9: january 7: january 16: met with and bade farewell to ambassador deborah malac who told me she would be ending her duty in uganda in a few days after thirty -nine years in diplomatic service for the united states of america. i thanked ms. malac and wished her luck in her next move. january 15: opened the new home of the january 10: uganda industrial research insti- tute in namanve industrial area. with this new home, the dream towards industrialization, import substitution, export promotion, technical skilling of our youth to fill gaps in the job market, comes even closer. january 14: presided over the swearing-in of the new principal judge, dr flavian zeija, and supreme court justices mike chibita, percy night tuhaise and ezekiel muhanguzi. i thank god for giving me an opportunity to participate in re- building uganda’s judiciary. concluded the symbolic afrika kwetu trek from galamba to bireembo. thanks to everyone, especially the bazzukulu. the trek provided a new dimension of life and gave us much needed physi- cal exercise. the moral of the trek was that there should never be an excuse not to do anything’ i am fit today and can fight anybody because i have chosen a clear behavioral path; do not be like a flag which wind blows in any di- rection; have an ideology, follow through with discipline to execute that ideology but most importantly prepare enough ideologically and physically! afrika kwetu trek continues... january 8: the trek continues... during the war, by difficult marches, by day and by night, we went through bukuya, butorogo, crossed hoima-kakumiro road at nkoondo and camped at kasaam- bya sub-county headquarters on the afternoon of the 8th of janu- ary, 1985. there, through the usual radio communication, we agreed with (gen) saleh to link up at bireem- bo, only 8 miles from kasaambya sub-county headquarters. the link was effected on the 9th of january, 1985. the kabaamba operation/ battle had been almost as success- ful as the masindi one. 650 rifles, mortars, machine-guns, ammuni- tion, etc., had been captured. it was another historic victory for the nra. we, eventually, camped at nyambiindo and re-organized the force creating the battalions that pushed the upc regime to its evening hours. january 15. president museveni during the commissioning of new premises for uganda industrial research institute at namanve. january 3: met musician ibrahim mayanja alias big eye at state lodge, nakasero. he said “i am steady”. thanked him for supporting the national resistance movement (nrm). also met with one of uganda’s finest talents in the stand-up comedy industry, patrick idringi. bazzukulu call him salvador from ombokolo village. but from his looks, he must be the grandson of idi amin.we shared quite a lot regarding the industry, social and developmental issues. trek continues…………. pitched my tent at the residence of christopher ssetuba who was killed when unla forces attacked us at kagogo, bukomero in 1981. i spent the night to pay tribute to this gallant son. january 6: trek continues……..katera hill with other trekkers, we camped below kateera hill before com- mencing the third phase of the symbolic afrika kwetu trek upward the hill. january 5: the second day of the af- rika kwetu trek ends at kagogo, bukomero sub county in kiboga district. stopped over at kalege and namasinda trading centres to thank the people here for their support during the 1986 liberation war on our way through nvuye/ namasinda swamp towards ki- teredde. january 4: with bazzukulu, veterans, free- dom fighters and the well wishers, embarked on the symbolic afrika kwetu trek tracing the route we used during the nra war, start- ing off from galamba in wakiso headed for bireembo in kibaale. the trek aimed to celebrate freedom fighters’ heroic sacrifices for patriotism. spent the night following our first phase (28km) at bukatira.
6 february 13 – 29, 2020 public lens special message more ugandans to access water and sewerage services in 2020 as we start the year 2020 there is no doubt that more ugandans now have access to clean safe water. this follows a period of aggressive expansion by national water and sewerage corporation (nwsc) working with government of uganda and ministry of water and environment. geographical coverage has expanded from 36 to 253 towns and urban growth centers in the last 5 years serving up to 10 million people. the corporation has grown its surplus from ugx 650bn in the last financial year to currently ugx 3.1trillion according to the managing director nwsc dr. eng silver mugisha, the real story is in the additional number of ugandans who now have access to safe clean drinking water. “at nwsc we don’t think in terms of profit. we think in terms of surpluses available to us to extend services to unserved ugandans. the surpluses that we make from operational efficiency and innovative management practices are ploughed back into network expansion to serve more ugandans. so for us the surplus means we have increased our capacity to serve more ugandans. we measure ourselves by how many more people we serve.” the corporation’s strategic focus is to ensure water for all, through accelerated sustainable growth and service reliability. this is in line with the overarching government policy of universal coverage as enshrined in the vision 2040, national development plan (ndp ii), government (nrm) manifesto, and the sustainable development goals (sdg 6). within the context of nwsc operations, the national strategic guidelines and directives broadly entail the following: 1. improve urban water supply and sewerage coverage to 100% and 30% respectively. 2. all cities, towns, trading centres and villages to get clean water. 3. water and sewerage services for the planned industrial parks. 4. environmental sustainability. over the past five years of service delivery, nwsc has implemented a number of government undertakings towards the achievement of the above commitments and directives. these include: improve urban water supply and sewerage coverage to 100% and 30% respectively. nwsc implemented the following undertakings aligned to the government strategic agenda: implementation of capital development projects: the projects aim at expanding the water production capacities of the various water treatment plants to meet the water consumption needs of our customers, and improved sanitation thereby improving the quality of life in the various communities. key among the projects implemented include; kampala water lake victoria water and sanitation project (lvwatsan): the project broadly entails four major components including: • refurbishment of gaba 1&2 water treatment plants, laying 9.6 km gaba/namasuba pipeline, and construction of a new 8,000m3 storage reservoir at namasuba. (package 1&3) • (katosi) (4b) • main. (4b) • water network rehabilitation, extension and rezoning. (2b) construction of a new water treatment plant east of kampala construction of katosi – kampala drinking water transmission construction of nakivubo waste water treatment plant at package 1 & 3 also known as the namasuba project has been completed and was commissioned by h.e the president of uganda in 2016. for package 4b, the project site has been cleared and fenced, 58 km of pipeline secured and handed over to the contractor (8km laid), and technical evaluations completed for package 2b. a) kampala sanitation project (ksp): the project involves the following milestones: • bugolobi • nakivubo and kinawataka sewer project – laying of sewer mains and associated works including manholes and tie-in works. • kinawataka pre-treatment and pumping station as well as pumping mains from kinawataka sewerage system to nakivubo sewerage system. the project is near completion, overall project progress is estimated at 98%. b) water management and development project (wmdp): the project involves the following milestones: • arua water supply and sanitation project • gulu water supply and sanitation project • bushenyi water supply and sanitation project orm national water and sewerage corporation toll free lines: 0800200977 / 0800300977 plot 3, nakasero road, p.o box 7053, kampala t: @nwscug f: waterug
special message february 13 – 29, 2020 public lens 7 nwsc is committed to providing water to all ugandans (2) in arua and bushenyi, the projects are complete and systems are operational. in gulu, the karuma intake civil works and rehabilitation of the water treatment plant are ongoing, and rehabilitation of the sewerage ponds is 80% complete. g) masindi water production improvement project: the project entailed construction of additional water treatment units to boost water production from 1,700 m3 to 3,700 m3. the project was completed and commissioned. h) kapeeka water supply project: the involved construction of a 4,000m3 water intake plant, 4,000m3 water treatment plant, 600m3 reservoir and accompanying measures. the projects was completed. d) package sewage treatment plants for fort portal & kisoro: the project aimed at addressing wastewater disposal challenges in the towns of kisoro and fort portal. kisoro plant was completed. fort portal civil works at 65% progress. e) soroti intake at awoja: the project involved construction of a new intake to replace the old one that was washed away during the october-november teso floods of 2010. the project was completed and commissioned in august 2017. f) new water treatment plant in kapchorwa: the project involves construction of a new water treatment plant (capacity - 3000m3/ day) and 4km dn 200mm delivery main. pipe laying works are substantially complete and the construction works at the water treatment are advanced. other projects in the pipeline include: south western cluster water and sanitation project – mbarara integrated water management development project mbale and • adjumani. • – isingiro project and lukaya-masaka. • upgrade of kapeeka water supply system and construction of sewerage system for the industrial park. • wakiso west water and sanitation project to in the south and west of greater kampala. • water supply and sanitation project; kotido & kaboong. national water and sewerage corporation toll free lines: 0800200977 / 0800300977 plot 3, nakasero road, p.o box 7053, kampala t: @nwscug f: waterug
8 february 13 – 29, 2020 public lens locust invasion locusts: counting the loss, damage termites, and other smaller insects, but are not effective in killing locusts. the chemicals can be harmful to human be- ings if exposed to large quantities. the desert locust control organi- sation of east africa (dlco-ea) had recommended fenitrothion chemical as more effective in combating the locust swarms. fenithrothion doesn’t kill birds and animals, and it doesn’t accumulate in the environment. however, reports from government suggest that uganda opted to use cyper- methrin and chlorpyrifos because the recommended chemical- fenithrothion- is out of reach. government says they are doing everything possible to import the recommended chemical, or buy from ke- nya, if they still have stocks left. control measures 1. if you hear that the insects are com- ing our way, prepare to control their numbers by digging holes in your field. the insects will fall in the holes. as soon as some gather in the holes, cover the holes with earth and bury them. they will serve as fertiliser for your next crop. 2. you may also use sticks and build fires to control the insects. but wear san- dals with hard soles to trample on them to to crash their bodies. this, together with the smoke, may chase them away. or else dig trenches and use metal sheets. they will enter and will be unable to rise out of the trenches. 3. other traditional methods of con- trol of the locusts include chasing them off crops, burying the young hoppers in loose sand. ploughing up egg-pod fields, driving cattle into vegetation that is heav- ily infested with locusts, setting fire to the grass infested with locust. but note: all these method only reduce damage. they do not prevent damage. if the locusts invade one or two fields in your village, leaders should mobilise all able-bodied people to get involved in destroying the insects, hoppers and eggs. all should be involved. let them enter any land and dig holes and trenches, turn over the soil, burn scrub or grass. those who refuse to participate, except the sick and elderly, should be put in prison for at least 5 days or fined shs 20,000 each. it is a matter of life and death to manage the locusts. — additional writing by fred oweyegha-afunaduula l when it devastated ethiopia in 1958, it destroyed 167,000 tonnes of grain. l when it devastated india in 1962, it destroyed 4,000 hectares of cotton. l when it devastated kenya in 1928- 29, it destroyed £300,000 worth of crops per year. l when it devastated morocco in 1954- 55 it destroyed £4,500,000 worth of crops in a single season. 1986 value: £40,000,000 based on the above data, it means when the locusts come, it seems im- possible to chase them away. you are at their mercy. once they come to your field they will not leave until they have finished everything they found. they don’t care where you will get your next meal. in a country like uganda where we do not have a national food storage system to take care of tests like those presented by locusts it can be hell. the usual method of control of lo- custs is by using pesticides. but when you use pests you also spray people and animals as well as the soils. you com- pound the problem. traditional meth- ods tried elsewhere are safer and can be effective. as an urgent measure, government has decided to spray the locusts using cypermethrin and chlorpyrifos in the affected regions. but experts doubted the effectiveness of the chemicals in killing locusts, saying they are meant to kill ordinary insects such as cockroach- es and fleas. according to environmen- tal health experts, both cypermethrin and chlorpyrifos are harmful to useful insects such as bees and are used for killing pests such as cockroaches, fleas, it may or may not reach your village; world’s most dangerous migratory pest by public lens team uganda is the latest country to be invaded by the menacing upsurge of the swarm of desert locusts which have wrecked havoc and caused debilitating loss and damage in the horn of africa including somalia, ethiopia and kenya. the onslaught of the locusts into uganda was reported early this week when a swarm was seen in amudat and have now spread to moroto, nabilatuk, nakapiripiriti, napak and abim. there is warning that the locusts could soon spread to neigh- bouring regions of acholi, lango, teso, south sudan. the imminent danger of the locusts is alarming: ravaging vegetation, crops, pasture. famine is the net effect. such swarms of locusts can be huge. they can contain up to 10 billion indi- viduals and stretch over hundreds of ki- lometres. each of the locusts consumes food equal to its weight. they can cover up to 200km in a day, devastating rural livelihoods in their relentless drive to eat and reproduce. even an average swarm can destroy crops sufficient to feed 2,500 people for a year, according to the un’s food and agricultural organisation (fao). the last major upsurge- a sharp rise in the number of swarms-in west africa in 2003-05 cost $2.5bn in harvest losses, according to the un. but there were also large and dam- aging upsurges in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. some of them spanned multiple regions, reaching the numbers required to be declared a “plague.” overall, the fao estimates the des- ert locust affects the livelihood of one in 10 people on the planet- making it the world’s most dangerous migratory pest. the pests had already destroyed more than 175,000 acres of farmland in somalia and ethiopia by the end of december last year. they are eating 1.8million tones of vegetation a day across 350 sq km (135 sq miles), fao says. the organisation believes one swarm in kenya covered an area 40 km by 60 km. the desert locust informa- tion service, run by the fao, provides forecasts, early warning and alerts on the timing, scale and location of inva- sions and breeding. counting the previous losses according to data from the locust handbook, natural resources institute, chalham, uk: l when the desert locust devastated libya in 1944 it destroyed 7,000,000 grapevines. l when it devastated sudan in 1954, it destroyed 55,000 tonnes of grain. l when it devastated senegal in 1957, it destroyed 16,000 of millet and 2000 tonnes of other crops. dangerous pest... fao estimates the desert locust affects the livelihood of one in 10 people on the planet- making it the world’s most dangerous migratory pest. the pests had already destroyed more than 175,000 acres of farmland in somalia and ethiopia by the end of december last year.
kadaga legacy 9 kadaga the busoga matriarch speaker rebecca kadaga’s affection earns her title of ‘mama busoga’
10 february 13 – 29, 2020 public lens kadaga the busoga matriarch rt. hon. rebecca alitwala kadaga, shariong a ligh moment with her constituents. kadaga’s affection earns her title of ‘mama busoga’ by james igumba throughout busoga, speaker rebecca kadaga is fondly ad- dressed as “mama” (mother) by both young and old, the esteemed and lowly. busoga calls her mama because she has exhibited motherly nature, attention and passion, readily available with a heart for her people. to children, she has an ear, eye and large heart for them because she stoops so low, feels happy dancing freely with them and listens to their issues, takes note and action. in appreciation for the roles she has played in raising the girl-child esteem, confidence and status, and being their inspirational role model, the children under kamuli children apex council voted her as the children’s heroine, ambassador and mouth during the day of the african child last year. “mama kadaga fights for us, shows us the way to look to, offers us first priority attention and opportunities; she is very committed and has a pas- sion for girls’ empowerment to merit the children’s recognition and award as children’s heroine and ambassa- dor,” leah babuleka the speaker of kamuli children apex council read amidst thunderous applause. in acknowledgement, ms kadaga said the recognition by children re- news her commitment to ending do- mestic violence against women and children, creating safe environments for them to realise their rights, grow, develop and make safe lasting and effective decisions and unlock their full potential. “children are my spe- cial constituency and i am committed to raising awareness of the continued need for child protection, respect of women and children’s rights, issues of gender-based violence and improve- ment of education,” she said. kamuli rdc haji moses dum- ba says despite her busy schedule, kadaga finds time for her people at the shortest notice, follows up issues to conclusion and will call back over missed calls and to get briefs on how the situation is on the ground, and if her input is needed. “she reaches to the lowest of the affection. her fruits speak volumes and are there for everyone to see. love or hate her, she has built a cult-like network so much so that a simple attack on her is an attack on everybody and like termites or wasps before she reacts to it ,they will have risen fast though oftentimes she restricts them. lowest be they bodabodas, muchomo dealers, lunatics also praise her, the albinos, elderly, children, interact- ing and making follow-ups, and she is so endeared to the communities that anything reaches her before you know it as a civil intelligence force,” rdc dumba explains. her fruits speak volumes and are there for everyone to see. love or hate her, she has built a cult-like network so much so that a simple attack on her is an attack on everybody and like ter- mites or wasps before she reacts to it ,they will have risen fast though of- tentimes she restricts them. kadaga is local-based and like a real mother serves children, and oth- ers first before herself that anything coming up she will want it for her people. yes, kamuli municipality has the best tarmac road network, her schools have been well facilitated, the local leaders were on target for wealth creation, she pulled igad, cpc, ipu to busoga- kamuli and kagulu hill- there are quarterly medical camps sponsored by her fans and friends with donations of mattresses, beds rt. hon. kadaga interacting with her constituents. rt. hon. kadaga handing over home construction materials to storm victims in namasagali.
kadaga the busoga matriarch february 13 – 29, 2020 public lens 11 rt. hon. kadaga supporting pwds with wheelchairs. rt. hon. kadaga launching community boreholes in buzaaya. rt. hon. kadaga interacts with the clergy. rt. hon. kadagahanding over medical equipment. rt. hon. kadaga’s political assitant handing over sewing machines.
12 february 13 – 29, 2020 public lens kadaga the busoga matriarch revolutionalizing livestock in greater busoga region by stephen bwire late last year, a shs45 bil- lion agricultural funda- mental change project dubbed “revolutionalising of livestock farming in the greater busoga region,” was launched by the kyabazinga of busoga kingdom hrh william nadiope gabula iv at kasolwe livestock farm, balawoli, in kamuli dis- trict. the project is the brainchild of kamuli woman mp, busoga parliamentary caucus chairperson and speaker of parliament re- becca kadaga to fight household poverty, raise household income in local communities and revolu- tionalise agriculture for improved production, value addition and integration. it will be a one-stop- stock centre in busoga region. kadaga says the project is to transform enhance skills especially among youth and attitudes, about the project. this project is to teach, train, build capacity and empower locals in management and enterprise. we shall also enhance value addition, processing and marketing of livestock and livestock products through community breeding and business incubation centers across busoga region— rt. ho. kadaga women, complement land use from mono-cropping of sugarcane and maize to mixed livestock and crop enterprises. “this project is to teach, train, build capacity and empower locals in management and enterprise. we shall also enhance value addi- tion, processing and marketing of livestock and livestock products through community breeding and business incubation centers across busoga region,” kadaga adds. it sits on 1,984 acres of land at the decaying government live- stock farm which, by chance, survived encroachers, and tar- gets 300,000 households living below the poverty level who will be availed with appropriate pack- ages for different agriculture and livestock enterprises, with the aim of transforming them from substance to middle income sta- tus, and moving them away from rain- based farming and agricul- ture to modern business-oriented farming. under the ministry of agricul- ture, animal industry and fisher- ies (maiif), the project is being implemented by the national an- imal genetic resources centre and data bank (nagrc & db). kadaga, who is literary ob- sessed with this pet project walks, talks breathes and smiles about this mega kasolwe revolution and is a defacto general supervi- sor following up its works prog- ress weekly. “this is one of the cardinal government and nrm manifesto grassroot projects which must be nurtured for the people, not the ordinary business as usual, we must all in equal measure ensure its completion, implementation and collective responsibility for busoga,” she emphasised. kadaga said that in the near future, farmer organisations like the operation wealth creation (owc), send a cow, the vol- unteer efforts for development concerns (vedco), among oth- ers, will be sourcing improved animal species from the project hence money will shift its journey to busoga households. the area mp and karamoja state minister moses kizige ex- plains that the centre of excel- lence for livestock was formulat- ed to increase resilience, wealth and positive livelihood outcomes among the small-holder players along the livestock value chain. it shall also have a training facility for farmers and students, while 100 farmers shall be se- lected and empowered from each sub county across busoga sub region. “the project shall address high poverty levels, food and nutrition security, low household incomes using livestock farming as an al- ternative tool, the farm shall also include hatcheries and a dairy plant,” kizige explains. dr charles ezati, the farm manager, reports rapid and timely construction works at the site with more emphasis on local content and expertise, revealing that an artificial insemination (ai) satel- lite centre is to be established to serve the different ai sub centres in busoga region with ai inputs including semen, liquid nitrogen, gloves sheath and hormones. ambulatory services will be established to serve goat and pig flocks in the communities using rt. hon. kadaga receiving cows from operation wealth creation to distribute to households. fresh semen produced and pro- cessed at the farm. refresher courses he added that refresher courses in new technologies, like use of sexed semen, syncronisation for ai using hormones, use of dis- ease diagnostic kits before breed- ing interventions shall take be in place. “nagrc& db plans to utilise the advances in breeding tech- nologies, to hasten production of improved stock like use of invtro fertilization and embryo transfers, use of sexed semen, synchronised breeding in partnership with other institutions within the country and abroad,” dr ezati points out besides other high breed live- stock species to be introduced, nagrc& db shall maintain the selected breeds of poultry (kroiler and rainbow rooster), dairy cat- tle (friesian and ayrshire) pigs (camborough) and goats (nubian red, kasolwe brown goat) as the foundation stock for multiplica- tion to pass on to elite farmers, breeders. public appreciates simon sentongo, a resident of kagumba, can’t wait to start ben- efiting from the mega project say- ing the feed mill will give maize and soybean growers a competi- tive ready market and move them away from sugarcane. “this is the biggest nrm gov- ernment project in busoga off the busoga growers of those times, and with the feed mill, the prices and market for soya and maize is on the rise,” he said. pertrude aliyinza, the vice chairperson kamuli women league, is all praise for the lob- bing skills and heart speaker kadaga has for her people, saying pulling such a project and having it take-off is a big contribution to the liberation of women in terms of economic empowerment and families will be more stable. “with poultry, piggery and goats easily managed by women, they will be economically empowered, stop depending on men and enable them get family autonomy, stand on their own feet and stabilise the homes,” aliyinza said.
kadaga the busoga matriarch february 13 – 29, 2020 13 public lens rt. hon. kadaga breaking ground for the construction of kasolwe livestock farm and center of excellence. constituents receiving goats from rt. hon. kadaga. rt. hon. kadaga hands over ox hoes to her constituents.
14 february 13 – 29, 2020 public lens kadaga the busoga matriarch rt. hon. kadaga handing over pads to girls at naminage primary kadaga intervention boosts education in busoga region by sandra chebet if you are at an advantaged posi- tion, allow others to reach and at- tain their goals through our assis- tance by being a pillar not an obstacle sheltering many people like a sin- gle tree, kadaga puts a lot of effort, resources and time on children, their education and “cleaning” up their fu- ture. she declared war on poor perfor- mance of busoga schools and she gen- erously sacrifices shs20 million from her monthly pay towards supporting the girl-child education. the project includes scholarships for over 1,000 girls, provision of ple revision booklets to all candidates in busoga sub-region and the sanitary menstrual hygiene management. the ple revision booklets pre- pared by victoria education consul- tancy, a consortium of experienced teachers from busoga and examin- ers have three sets of revision papers based on uneb examination sylla- bus, as well as a package of teachers’ capacity building workshops on set- ting, preparation and marking. in 2018 alone, 30,823 ple can- didates in jinja, iganga and mayuge districts have received examination revision booklets from the speaker of parliament rebecca kadaga to pre- pare and set them for ple. handing over the ple revisers at iganga sda for iganga, mayuge and kagoma primary school in jinja re- cently, kadaga said she was respond- ing to the embarrassing performance of busoga region that featured among the worst performing districts in last year’s ple results. “this is to kick- start busoga education improvement programme, and please ensure you help the candidates revise and other pupils retained in schools,” kadaga said. concerned about building strong systems, creativity and teaching val- ues, kadaga initiated and spearheaded the busoga children’s retreat dubbed “ekigangu” equivalent of buganda’s “ekisakaate” where children are taught values, skills, norms and integ- rity alongside academics. “the speaker has become our educa- setting a firm foundation in education. in 2018 alone, 30,823 ple candidates in jinja, iganga and mayuge districts have received examination revision booklets from the speaker of parliament rebecca kadaga to prepare and set them for ple. tion kingpin donor and voice leading to increment in enrolment, retention and completion,” kamuli municipal education officer joseph musoke said. musoke says kadaga lobbied for schools emergency construction of 28 primary schools last year now popularly called “bukadaga” school buildings, attracted building tomor- row, turkish investors, japanese do- nors and many local agencies to sup- port education kamuli deo charles akoyo re- ports that with an enrolment of 98,896 pupils of whom 50,437are girls in the 165 primary schools, government can only construct at most three or two classroom blocks but the speaker brought in 28 such constructions us- ing her lobbying and concern. on school feeding, akoyo adds that through the korean international de- velopment institute, over 10,000 pu- pils in 12 selected primary schools are getting lunch meals of posho and beans, scholastic materials, uniforms and other facilitation through her good relations. rt. hon. kadaga breaking ground for construction of 28 schools in kamuli. ple candidates of balawoli primary school reading revison booklets given to them by rt. hon. kadaga. she is giving ple candidates in busoga 146,000 revison booklets.
kadaga the busoga matriarch february 13 – 29, 2020 15 public lens nawanyago technical, delivering hands-on training to impart skills for job creation by stephen bwire along located in nawanyago sub county, kamuli district, about 34km jinja-kamuli highway is a grand-imposing campus that is redefining the practical aspect of business, technical, vocational and education training (btvet). the campus sits on 10 acres of land, with plan to expand to additional 30 acres soon. on this particular visit by the public lens team to this ultra-modern training complex, which has recently been designated by government as one of the centres of excellence, we are ushered in by a lady wearing a beaming smile who motions us to her office after taking a couple of pictures with her. she is ms kumwiza rose martha, the principal of nawanyago technical institute. the institute was commissioned in 2015 by president yoweri museveni on the invitation of rt hon speaker of parliament rebecca alitwala kadaga who is also the patron. to kick-start the project, kadaga has lobbied fund- ing and support from development partners including opec fund for in- ternational development (ofid), the africa friendship association based in turkey and plan uganda. govern- ment of uganda has so far injected about shs5.8billion in the school’s development. the turkish government, under its development arm tika, has equipped the school to support different courses especially in production units includ- ing bakery for bread, cakes for the market. the agency is also equipping the textile unit to produce dresses, lobbyist. the institute was commissioned in 2015 by president museveni on the invitation of rt. hon. kadaga who is also the patron. to kick- start the project, kadaga has lobbied funding and support from development partners including opec fund for international development (ofid), the africa friendship association and plan uganda. the govt has so far injected about shs5.8 billion in the school’s development. ed in the world of work today.” the institute trains students in ag- riculture, building construction, hotel management and institutional cater- ing, cosmetology and beauty therapy, fashion garment design, welding and fabrication, and computer application for all formal students is mandatory. the principal says that the insti- tute attracted over 80 students at the start in 2015. these were enrolled for quick non-formal courses includ- ing salon, bakery, and among others. the non-formal programmes are as- sessed by the directorate of industrial training (dit), a government agency tasked with promoting skills develop- ment in the country. recruiting for formal training pro- grammes started in 2016, and in 2018, the school had its first graduation, with 57 students graduating in formal training and 174 in non-formal mak- ing a total of 174 graduates. in 2017, 72 graduated in formal training and 102 students in non-formal formal. as of 2019, the school has got an enroll- ment of 243 students offering formal training and 75 in non-formal totaling 318 students who are yet to graduate. the principal reveals that nawan- yago is to benefit from the skills de- velopment facility under the private sector foundation uganda (psfu), and that the school is working with city and guilds to have the institute acquire international certification. nawanyago technical institute recruits students from all over the country to equip them with skills for tomorrow. partnership with tika at nawanyago technical institute suits and other garments similar to those produced in turkey. a number of teachers from the in- stitute have been privileged to travel to turkey to learn and get exposure to practical training. they were recently hosted by atatuku university in tur- key. speaker kadaga has helped the in- stitute acquire more land where they are establishing an agricultural cam- pus which shall transition into an ag- ricultural training institute. through partnership with operation wealth creation (owc), she donated 2,000 kroiler chicks to the school in addi- tion to three heifers which have since multiplied. according to information availed to this newspaper by the principal, the institute offers 70 per cent of hands- on training, while 30 per cent caters for related theory. project work is compulsory for all trainees. “nawanyago technical institute is your ideal choice for technical and vocational training because: we train job creators not job seekers, acquisi- tion of our skills increases students’ employability. our curriculum empowers you with entrepreneurship skills. we also of- fer support services that promote stu- dent’s success such as employment support, counseling and career guid- ance,” she says. she adds: “equal opportunities are given to both male and female stu- dents enrollment in any of our pro- grammes. our programmes are flexible for trainees who wish to attain skills in technical and vocational sectors. worth noting is that we are equipped with facilities that enable trainees to practice better methods of work need-
16 february 13 – 29, 2020 public lens kadaga the busoga matriarch consolation: rt. hon. kadaga consoles and assures parents whose girls were killed in captivity during 15th anniversary of kony’s abduction thanksgiving at lwala girls ss. kadaga rescues lwala lra-abducted girls, offers them light with education by david onguti as a good samaritan, speaker rebecca kadaga took a hu- man face, listened to the plight of desperate child-mothers who had stormed parliament with intention of demonstrating in protest over those still in captivity, but were warmly re- ceived by the speaker of parliament rebecca kadaga who gave them an ear and subsequently adopted them as her daughters. on june 24, 2003 kony’s lord’s re- sistance army (lra) rebels abducted 180 out of the 631 girls of lwala girls senior secondary school. to-date five of the abducted girls are confirmed dead, only 85 of the girls have been accounted for having escaped from kony; some with bro- ken limbs, bullets still in their bodies, while others had children fathered by the rebels. though informally re-unit- ed into the communities, they contin- ue to be traumatised and stigmatised by the community. the escapees came back with 30 children and have produced more 120. the remainder is unaccounted for, feared dead or still in captivity. following rejection from the com- munities they live in, inability to compete for jobs because of their past, stigmatization as they are called “kony wives” and difficulty in ac- cessing healthcare and education ser- vices, the girls organised themselves into an association called lwala girls abducted survivors association (lwagasa) in 2015 to address their welfare, livelihood and care of the ‘or- phaned” children they came with. “it is very unfortunate, traumatising and regrettable that after abduction and courageous escape from captivity, our communities fear, discriminate and regard us and our children as so- cial outcasts and we have leaders who are enjoying and reaping from our untold suffering,” dorine itola, their coordinator, narrated. priscilla amuge, the chairperson lwagasa, puts it boldly that with- out attention and continued rejection, this remains a time-bomb to produce valueless population, increased vio- lence and hardcore rebel outfits as these children will be left with no op- tion but trace back their rebel fathers, and the girls continue producing un- planned children. “we crave for justice, social accep- tance and rehabilitation. we desire to bring change, hope and be great moth- ers to our children instead of rais- ing a valueless population,” amuge warned. “we were humbled and disarmed by speaker kadaga our now newfound guardian-mother like the mother the- resa and things have since changed for better for us,” doreen itola revealed. commemorating the 15 years of abduction by kony at lwala girls re- cently, kadaga who was chief guest, committed parliament’s shs400 mil- lion (shs200 million for rehabilitation of the school and shs200 million to the lwagasa sacco) saying gov- ernment and community have an ob- ligation to offer rehabilitation support to the girls who were victims of mili- tary crime and account for those yet to come back, or, unfortunately, died. “on behalf of government, i would like to apologise for what happened and commit parliament to contribute shs 400 million shillings, shs 200 million for the construction of a new humbled. we were humbled and disarmed by speaker kadaga our now newfound guardian-mother like the mother theresa and things have since changed for better for us. – doreen itola “pushing them away should not arise but welcome and accept them. – rt. hon. kadaga girls dormitory and the other shs200 million to the abducted girls survi- vors sacco to organise, rehabilitate themselves and support their chil- dren,” kadaga announced. kadaga pledged commitment for justice, visibility, affirmative action and rehabilitation and final resettle- ment of the survivors. she challenged parents to forget what happened to the girls, accept the children they have come back with, and end their stigma saying they did not choose to have them nor loved their fathers, but the children should have identity and citizenship through birth registration. “where do you want these chil- dren to be taken? what happened was an accident, so pushing them away should not arise but welcome and ac- cept them,” kadaga said. she disclosed that when she was at the hague, she raised the issue of stateless children and will table a mo- tion in the house to debate on how to handle survivors’ complications aris- ing from conflict and abduction.
kadaga’s milestones at parliament february 13 – 29, 2020 17 public lens kadaga’s milestones at parliament; in her own words speaker rebecca alitwala kadaga is the first female speaker of the parliament of uganda. she punched her way into politics on the affirmative card when she contested as woman member of parliament for kamuli in 1989. at the time the national legislature was the national resistance council (nrc). since then, she has been the area’s woman mp. she has been at the forefront of championing gender equality, and empowerment of women and the girl child, among others.
18 february 13 – 29, 2020 public lens kadaga’s milestones at parliament 1. i have enhanced the visibili- ty of parliament. the public follow parliament’s proceedings with keen interest. parliament is now more open to the public. every year, we organise the ‘par- liament week’--- during which we invite the public to visit and interact with the institution; to have better appreciation of what each department does; the role of parliament; and to learn more about the role of an mp, among other issues. we have the ‘people’s parlia- ment’ where citizens come to have a true experience of parliament as mock legislators. above. hon. gonahasa francis barnabas during a debate between students and mps in the chambers of parliament 5th dec 2017. above. hon. jovah kamateeka during a debate between students and mps in the chambers of parliament. right. rt. hon. kadaga inspecting the corporate and public affairs stall during the recent parliament week.
kadaga’s milestones at parliament february 13 – 29, 2020 19 public lens 2. private members’ bills have also increased. 3. we have improved on our legislative record. we have 20 bills which have been worked on. 4. on the gender equality front, we have established the first certificate of ‘gender and equity compliance,’ which is the first of its kind in the world.
20 february 13 – 29, 2020 public lens kadaga’s milestones at parliament parliament’s breastfeeding and daycare centre lead the way for women at the workplace. 5. we have also recognized the maternal role of women. we have a ‘child day care centre’ for mps and staff. this helps the mps and staff to concentrate on their work, instead of driving home every now and then to check on their children. nanny belinda inside the cosy breastfeeding room at parliament
kadaga’s milestones at parliament february 13 – 29, 2020 21 public lens above. speaker lunches bunge app to enable the public follow and contribute to debates in parliament. 6. we have launched the application for ‘bungeni uganda’ to enable the public follow our proceedings; study the bills; and submit their views and proposals be- fore these bills are passed. 7. in terms of infrastruc- ture, we have a car park for mps.
22 february 13 – 29, 2020 public lens kadaga’s milestones at parliament the parliamentary building, underground parking and the 6th floor completed. 8. the 6th floor which houses my office has been com- pleted in my term. it was part of the original plan when the colo- nial government was building this house. the 6th floor under construction. this floor was completed by rt. hon. speaker rebecca kadaga.
kadaga’s milestones at parliament february 13 – 29, 2020 23 public lens 9. we are constructing a new chamber to provide enough space for mps and staff. the new chamber under construction, which is going to provide more office space for members of parliament
24 february 13 – 29, 2020 public lens kadaga’s milestones at parliament 10. parlia- ment has hosted key inter- national events, including the commonwealth parliamentary conference (cpc), which was held in kampala, last year. in 2012, we hosted the inter- parliamentary union (ipu). we also hosted the youth parliament. above. argentine delegates listening to a presentation during the ipu assembly in kampala. 11. over these years, we have rec- ognized special inter- est groups: people with disabilities;women;and youth; in addition to com- mittees. commonwealth speakers pose for a group photo with rt. hon. kadaga. hon. alex ndeezi, a pwds representative. rt. hon. kadaga has championed and recorgnised the vital role of pwds in parliament.
editorial leaders should emulate speaker rt. hon. kadaga speaker of parliament rebecca alitwala kadaga has served an illustrious career spanning more than 30 years in public life. she began her political journey in 1989 when she stood to represent the women of kamuli district in the national resistance council (nrc). she has served the nation with dedication and distinction creating impact and leaving a mark especially at the time she has served in parliament in the last 20 years as deputy speaker and speaker respectively. it’s during her tenure as speaker that the institution of parliament came to have life, vibrancy and touch with the public. she asserted her position effec- tively to reclaim the place of the legislature as second arm of government under the doctrine of separation of powers. the legislature is strong and resolute in carrying out its functions without undue influence from any other arm of government. she has promoted the true image of the house, and her leadership style has endeared her to the members of parliament across the political divides. she is strong. fear- less. resolute. a mother to all. traveling through her constituency in kamuli and the greater busoga, you will not fail to see the true definition of leadership and community mobilisation personified in kada- ga. the name kadaga is a household item in busoga and other parts of the country where her affectionate hand has touched the disadvantaged ranging from child mothers, orphans, widows, war victims, pwds, women, youth, elderly, school chil- dren. homesteads in busoga are steadily recovering from decades of biting poverty and socio-economic stagnation thanks to kadaga’s pragmatic approach in mobilis- ing communities on issues of development, wealth and income generation, education and health, production and value addition, infrastructural development. kadaga’s success in transforming lives of the ordinary people is testament that when actual politics is pegged to mean- ingful development, the resultant net- effect is gross general happiness. in her, we have seen how a leader works closely with government to lobby for her people; how a leader develops networks and syner- gies with all sorts of partners and friends to bring development to the people. we also learn the sacred virtues of sacrifice, selflessness, honesty, tolerance when dealing with diverse clusters of people. kadaga has been the most effective speaker of parliament by far. the first female speaker of parliament in the whole of the african continent thanks to the nrm’s policy of af- firmative action and women empowerment. having built an enduring legacy, the path has been cleared for rebecca kadaga to remain serving at the helm of the house. her people in kamuli and busoga are also not about to her go. the public lens pays a special tribute to mama kadaga. publiclens sieving facts from fiction chairman — richard todwong ceo — alfonse opwonya editor -in-chief — stephen bwire head of operations — david onguti plot 106, bukoto street, kamwokya. p.o. box 31219, kampala–uganda tel: 072 421 333 | 0704 745 528 | 0782 303 453 e-mail: publiclenspubications@gmail.com household name the name kadaga is a household item in busoga and other parts of the country where her affectionate hand has touched the disadvantaged ranging from child mothers... commentary defence february 13 – 29, 2020 25 public lens by tony geoffrey owana updf: the evolution of an army (part 2) the solution lay in political ‘james bond’ fiction. yet it is these trying conditions that prepared them to defend the revolution after they took charge of uganda. consciousness or siasa, a term that some ugandan poli- ticians have learnt to use derogatively for their own usually selfish ends. as mentioned above, the ugandans in 4th kar were incomparable fighting men, but unfortunately primed to de- fend foreign interests. this sad episode promised to end when ugandans exiles in fronasa, kikosi maalum and other groups dis- lodged amin with tanania’s robust backing. there was jubilation, but the fact that the change had been made possible only with alien assistance did not help the spirit of our indepen- dence. the transformation however was inevitable, especially after their par- ticipation in the world wars showed them that whites were also after all mere human beings. they had seen their white commanders cowering in the trenches in fear; they had seen them fleeing, sometimes ignomini- ously, from an action; and they had seen them dying of bullets, confirm- ing that they were killable. this revelation greatly assisted in the transformation but did little to awak- en political consciousness. what africa in general and uganda in particular saw was the struggle to take over from the colonial pow- ers and allow business to continue as usual. in short order, our post-in- dependence armies were a continua- tion of the colonial way. the sacred right to oppress remained intact, only the proprietor had changed. indeed for sometime after independence in 1962, the army’s top command re- mained largely british, which partly led to the mutiny of 1964. after that mutiny we saw africani- sation of the armed forces and badly- needed salary hikes which were how- ever bought at the price of merit and fairness. barely a year after the mu- tiny, acting major shaban opolot be- came brigadier and acting major idi amin rose to colonel. army salaries for other ranks rose between 135% and 204% while other poorly-paid ugandans in public service stayed “as you were”. for the military, the crucial element of sacrifice had given way to the joys of privilege and pre- ferment at the expense of ordinary ugandans, thus entrenching the mer- cenary spirit. moreover, the army had noticed how easily they could force government to do what soldiers want- ed, which made the coup in 1971 all but inevitable. from 1971 to 1979, president ii amin showed politicians willing to risk staying inside uganda that they had gone into extinction. there had been no elections since 1962 and although amin promised “civilian government soon, for we belong to the barracks”, this “soon” took eight bloody years and only ended with the assistance of a foreign invader, tan- zania. during field marshall idi amin’s time the defence council replaced parliament and military tribunals be- gan trying civil cases like smuggling, with very noble intentions but with a very negative outcome. by all ac- counts the business of the military being subordinated to civil authority ended, if it had ever existed at all. now pay attention. many of the freedom fighters who formed the core of kikosi maalum were old uganda army soldiers fighting to re- store the order which marshal amin had disrupted and to return dr. mil- ton obote to start from where he had been stopped. they were joined by those upc stalwarts who had lost privileges after the coup. these were shortly re-enforced by hundreds of ugandans who had first given amin the benefit of doubt but soon discov- ered their mistake. many of the fight- ers who joined yoweri museveni’s fronasa were ordinary ugandans who got so annoyed with the behav- iour of soldiers that they decided to find out what made a soldier so spe- cial in uganda. it is no accident that the updf’s chief of doctrine was, so to speak, recruited into the army by mistreatment. in his ‘as i saw it’, ro/026 lt gen pecos onesmus kutesa, mp narrates the thrashing he received from uganda army soldiers because of the offence of being a well- dressed high school student, which also earned him a mud bath at a road- block in broad daylight. he joined fronasa to revenge and instead emerged as an armed cadre of the people’s struggle for freedom. that anger, which nurtured fronasa cadres, is part of the foundation of the national resistance movement from which the mighty updf evolved. i am not competent to discuss weapons and training, except to ob- serve that nra/updf excels in managing scarce resources and using them to maximum advantage. it is an army very conversant with adversity and survival under stupefying odds. when hon gen matayo kyaligonza describes some of the recipes which passed for meals among guerillas you might puke. if col. dr. besigye was to give details of one of his bush sur- gical operations many medics would snigger in disbelief. if col. john ‘air force’ mugisha narrated moving 800,000 rounds of ammunition under the noses of the enemy right within kampala many would dismiss it as many of the fighters who joined yoweri museveni’s fronasa were ordinary ugandans who got so annoyed with the behaviour of soldiers that they decided to find out what made a soldier so special in uganda... late in 1986, the nra organised the return of west nile refugees from congo and sudan on foot. the un high commissioner for refugees had accurately calculated the number of trucks needed to ferry about 500,000 people back home and the months or years it would take. but president museveni’s nra knew that if they had not fled in trucks but on foot they could return on foot in the manner in which the recent afrika kwetu trek from galamba to birembo was or- ganised. the refugees returned home in a few weeks… in 1987, a neighboring country was sorely tempted to shoot the young nrm government out of power in an operation they thought would last a few hours or days. they had tanks, jets, marine vessels, excellent communications, name it. a western diplomat however warned the lead- ers of that country that they stood no chance against the seemingly rag-tag nra in charge of a country that had very little to lose. an angry president museveni also promised, “…the in- vaders will of course enter uganda if they wish, but none will go back…” the other aspect was to embed the army with its people, which was achieved via political education for the masses. the gun ceased to be a deadly mystery and became a tool for protection of peace. ugandans swift- ly discovered that men and women in uniform were not automatons but could think and even debate like true parliamentarians. many army com- manders were routinely described in the press as ‘mister’, further dimin- ishing the old divide between soldier and civilian. “abaana baffe” (our children) became the standard de- scription of the nra/updf, signal- ing an unprecedented transformation in civil-military relations. of course we had some rotten to- matoes, but the privilege of impunity in military uniform had disappeared, with all soldiers knowing that kill- ing or robbing a civilian meant death for the robber. human rights activ- ists who could only operate in exile before nra/nrm took charge now spiritedly defend the rights of uni- formed murderers, ignoring the price paid to reach this level of conscious discipline rather than mechanical dis- cipline. when you go back to how hon amama mbabazi described his old comrade yoweri museveni as he retired from the updf in 2004, you will begin to understand a little on how we have got this far and resolve to defend the gains at all costs. * the writer is attached to vision group, to nali kyankwanzi and to the nra archives unit 0753-545099 owanatone@gmail.com
2021 elections public lens 26 february 13 – 29, 2020 busia politics: minister maganda faces stiff challenge from new comer hamala voters pleased with municipality mp macho fact sheet... hamala is a strong nrm cadre whose mobilisation antics has endeared him to the nrm party honchos. by special correspondent the politics of busia district tends to be tense and somewhat bloody each election season. this is largely because of the divisive nature of the political terrain character- ised by camp politics. as the race for 2021 heats up, the political dynamics seem to be changing with the arrival of a new firebrand young politician, wan- yama richard aka hamala, son of late upc stalwart mzee sepiriya wanyama, who was a staunch nrm supporter by the time of his death. according to some analysts keenly watching busia politics, the entry of hamala, who is contesting the samia bugwe south parliamentary seat against incumbent minister julius maganda, signifies a new dawn in the leadership question of busia. hamala, who goes by the local slogan “esilayi syekusa e’syeene (a good product markets it- self), comes with a new leadership ap- proach of uniting the largely polarised population by vowing to eliminate camp politics. “the camp politics has disunited our people and leaders for so long; some leaders wouldn’t see eye-to-eye and this has affected our people. people have been killing each other simply because of belonging to opposing camps. this must stop, if we are to see real change and development not only in samia bugwe south where am contesting, but the whole busia district,” said hamala when reached out for comment. hamala is an auditor with office of the auditor general, a graduate of bangalore university in india. he joined elective politics in india where he campaigned and became the presi- dent of the uganda students associa- tion in a hotly contested race and at the same time becoming the chairman of the nrm india chapter. he is a strong nrm cadre whose mobilisation antics has endeared him to the nrm party honchos. camp politics samia bugwe south constituency has been characterised by two oppos- ing ideological camps stemming from the national resistance council of 1989 elections, all through to constitu- ent assembly in 1994; to parliamentary elections ever since 1996; and the same scenario continues to date. the two personalities behind the camp politics were hon gabriel opio and hon (late) chango machyo w’obanda. opio rep- resented the constituency in parliament new firebrand young politician, wanyama richard aka hamala thrice: first in 1989 in the national resistance coun- cil (nrc) when he defeated the late chango machyo. how- ever, he was subsequently trounced by chango machyo in the elections for constituent assembly (ca) in 1994. opio did not end there. he came back for his seat in 1996 and served until 2001 when he lost to simon mayende (the successor to chango machyo’s camp). however, that was not the end of opio. like in 1996, he staged a com- mendable campaign trail in 2006 to unseat mayende; but as before, he only managed one term - serving until 2011 when he was uprooted by the incum- bent hon. julius maganda. maganda was re-elected in 2016 becoming the first mp in the south to make it to par- liament for two consecutive terms. but as the situation stands, according to analysts, maganda faces a big hurdle at re-election. by the time of compiling this report, hamala was ahead of other aspirants, including the incumbent mp minister maganda, in opin- ion polls conducted by abs trust africa. abs trust africa is a research firm specialising in po- litical and economic trends in east and central africa. the firm has carried out similar surveys in other districts and constituencies in the country. why maganda was re-elected in 2016 many sections of the population be- lieved that hon. opio had served his useful time having been to parliament thrice and the slogan was, “time for the youth to take over,” cognizant of the fact that the majority voters were youth who virtually did not understand opio despite the good that he could have done for the constituency. his oppo- nent, maganda, stood a chance having been in his youthful mid-40s competing against an old man. there are a section of voters who be- lieved that buhehe sub county where mzee opio comes from had ruled for four times; opio having ruled thrice and hon mayende simon once, who is actual- ly opio’s neighbour, and voters believed that it was time for other sub-counties to produce a leader. enter nyangweso the coming in of a youthful nyangwe- so denis in 2016 completely disorganised hon. opio, having been a very close ally of the latter. this caused deep fights with- in opio’s camp as some sections of the voters looked at nyangweso as a game- changer in busia politics. nyangweso is one of the many young people who have gone through hon. opio’s hands and mentorship. therefore maganda’s sup- port remained intact as that of opio was sharply divided due to nyangweso’s can- didature. how maganda’s popularity dwindled one of the biggest mistakes bringing down maganda is the confusion he alleg- edly created in the busia lc5 by-election in early 2018. voters are said to be very angry in the way he managed to dupe president yoweri museveni when he of- fered a candidate (oguttu bonifice omu- longa) whom he very well knew didn’t have the minimum academic qualifica- tions to take up that seat, creating a huge financial loss to the nrm and museveni after his candidate was ejected from the race by the electoral commission just days to voting. he is also reported to have gone ahead to create more confusion and planted a one geoffrey wandera as the lc5 without going through elections; it’s now clear that people are tired of the maganda leadership. another issue being raised is that when parliament sent them for consultations regarding lifting of the age limit, hon maganda decided to consult a handful of people mainly his core agents and yet it was a constituency issue. so, voters are bitter with the way the mp has been han- dling key issues. however, the mother of all conten- tions is the minister’s alleged failure to actualise the comesa market which is to be established in the south of the dis- trict. “minister maganda can’t forgiven for failing to make this market take-off, and yet he is the minister for east african affairs. he should have done everything within his means and power to ensure that we have the market,” said a disgruntled voter. many youth claim not to have benefit- ed from the youthlivelihood funds, and it’s these groups of youth who are now leading the campaign to ensure that the minister doesn’t return. “youth in other districts are benefiting from the youth fund, for us we haven’t benefited much because our mp is sleeping,” said a youth who preferred not to be named.
2021 elections february 13 – 29, 2020 27 public lens thought that the money was meant for eating, a kasimo from the president! as a result, a number of youth projects failed to take off, they couldn’t pay back the money, and this hindered them from applying for the subsequent lot of the funds. more to this, the district has got its own institutional challenges; they have failed to recruit a community development officer who is the focal person for this project. money meant for recruiting technical staff at the district amounting to shs 1billion was returned to the consoli- dated fund at the end of financial year 2019. poor leadership and bad politics is to blame here. proposal is being vehemently fought by local leaders. so, this money is at the verge of being taken back! compare this to the current municipal budget of shs 3billion both for recurrent and develop- ment. 8. the new road of mayuge, musita, lumino, majanji, busia has been finished under my tenure, thanks to my lobbying. 9. unra has finalised a feasibility study to link this new road to ke- nya through e lwanda. this shall spur trade and movement. we shall also have a customs station there. 3. i have lobbied government to expand safe water coverage in busia district. through the world bank and exim bank, we secured shs 336billion and we are at the level of procurement. by may, we shall have finished actual works. 4. i have lobbied for a secondary school at the level of centre of excellence to be established at majanji. shs 1.4 was advanced to the school to set up the necessary facilities and infrastructure. this school is now commonly called “maganda s s”. 5. in 2019, i secured shs 5billion for the refurbishment and infra- structural support of nalwiire techni- cal institute. the school is another centre of excellence in business, technical, and vocational education and training. 6. the same applies to lumino polytechnic where we have ac- quired new equipment for training and recruitment of staff. 7. busia municipality is among the municipalities benefiting from the uganda support to municipal infrastructural development (usmid). currently, $8million (about shs 30billion) has been earmarked to develop infrastructure includ- ing roads, street lights, sewerage systems, drainage, among others. challenge is that the municipality is too small to absorb this huge amount of money. there had been a proposal to expand the size of the municipality to include sub counties of dabani and sikuda. but this 10. am proud to announce that majanji has been selected to host the east african navigation and safety system on lake victoria. this shall employ locals, reduce risks on the lake, and enhance safety on the lake. other players in the north, busia municipality mp macho geoffrey obanda is set to bounce back easily. though belonging the ruling nrm, he is among the mps who were vehemently opposed to the lifting of the age limits from the constitution. this endeared him to the urban population voters majority of whom are opposition supporters. the only person threaten- ing to challenge macho is former lc5 chairman ouma adea, who is barred by law from holding elective office for five years. in samia bugwe north, the voters are increasingly rejecting the current mp gideon onyango. onyango defeated john mulimba in 2016. mulimba has since put his game in order, and he is set for a return. woman mp florence nabulindo faces no apparent challenge. her only would be challenger is ex-minister and mp barbara nekesa oundo who is confortably serv- ing as uganda’s ambassador to south africa. facts about samia bugwe south: samia bugwe south con- stituency is located in the south of busia district. it comprises eight (8) sub-counties i.e masa- fu, masinya, masaba, buhehe, lumino, ma- janji, lunyo and busime. the constituency has had an addition of two (2) new town councils i.e. lumino town council and masafu town council. . maganda... am proud to announce that majanji has been selected to host the east african navigation and safety system on lake victoria. this shall employ locals, reduce risks on the lake, and enhance safety on the lake. minister julius maganda, the samia bugwe south incumbent member of parliament. new faces from late 2018, three faces emerged to provide replacement to mzee opio and these are: nyangweso denis who still claims to belong to opio’s house though opio himself and his support- ers are totally against him since he is seriously seen as the reason that led to opio’s failure in 2016; then the other two are wanyama seppy, a lecturer at makerere university and osinya james an officer at ura. they have been traversing the constituency carrying out consultations from mainly opio supporters ahead of who succeeds the mzee. mzee opio has eventually pro- nounced his backing for hamala. these three have not been a threat to maganda not until the rise of hamala whose declaration for the seat has sent panic waves in maganda’s camp. analysts say that hamala carries an appealing personality to a cross-section of voters across the two camps; he is seen as a unifying factor in the highly polarised politics of samia-south. he is also liberal in ideological thinking; and quite a number of voters are look- ing at him as the long-awaited leader who will gradually dismantle the camp- politics- which is his immediate task. his vision for the constituency is far and wide; development and socio-eco- nomic transformation is at the core of his leadership. hamala already commands a strong political base galvanised around the three sub-counties of masaba, masafu and masinya which sub-counties have never provided leadership for the con- stituency. it’s worth noting that buhehe sub-county has ruled four times; mzee opio having ruled thrice and mayende once, greater lumino which includes majanji sub-county ruled under hon chango machyo, greater lunyo which includes busime sub-county has ruled twice under hon. maganda together with former chairman lcv, mzee wanyama osiepuna. the voters are now unanimously saying that it’s time for greater masaba which produced masa- fu and later on masinya sub-counties to also go to parliament. hamala’s ances- tral home is in masaba but currently re- sides in masinya and marries in masafu among the abalindo clan which is the biggest clan in samia. this has given him a very wide mileage ahead of his opponents; seppy and osinya who both hail from buhehe sub-county. nyangweso hails from masinya sub- county but lost his political capital in 2016 when he stood against hon opio making him the weakest candidate now ahead of 2021. a section of the nrm stalwarts see hamala as the best candidate to support ahead of the nrm primaries because the incumbent hon. maganda has sig- nificantly lost ground as many of his supporters say that he has not fulfilled his pledges, and that he is remembering them when elections are nearing; and as earlier indicated, he is the first mp to be re-elected to parliament consecutively which puts his re-election chances in jeopardy. hamala is seen by many as one who can easily neutralise the people power element and secure a win for the nrm in the 2021 general elections due to his age and enthusiasm; he se- riously appeals to the youth who had started chanting people power before his coming, but has already been able to convince them to support the ruling system. his mobilisation skills across all age brackets both within and out- side the constituency has sent panic in maganda’s camp. maganda speaks out on his record performance when contacted for his response on this report, minister maganda said thus: sa market they are accusing 1. comesa market: the come- me about is first and foremost a result of my intense lobbying given my portfolio as minister for east africa. having this market come to masafu didn’t happen by chance. the east african community member states have got a project of common user markets especially at the border points to facilitate trade and commerce in the region. before the decision to bring this comesa market to masafu in busia, there had been other initial considerations to establish the market in malaba, elegu, katuna, namanga and busia. each of the other locations had their own unique challenges not favouring the establishment of the market: malaba, there was the prob- lem of land whereby the projected land was also being contested for by some businesspeople who wanted to establish an inland port. for the case of elegu at the border of south sudan, the conflict in south sudan couldn’t permit the establishment of the market; for namanga, there was no commodity trading between kenya and tanzania; and when it came to busia, there was a big plus for this. we got land at the government prisons at masafu cover- ing 187 acres. the delay in the commencement of construction of this market has largely been the slowness of the district local government in processing the council resolution and mou on how the project is to be managed and operationalised including finding partners and investors to work on the supportive infrastruc- ture. this resolution came in very late towards the end of 2019. we secured a loan from the african development bank, and government of uganda was also supposed to do counterpart fund- ing. we pushed for government to avail shs 850million which money is now on the accounts of the district local gov- ernment. 2. the youthlivelihood pro- gramme: ylp started in 2014 as a pilot project, and it covered 14 districts of eastern uganda of which busia was among. i was a member of the gender committee of parliament when this scheme was being piloted. my youth in the district were among the very first people to benefit. the failure of this programme can’t be tied to the mp. the problem lies in the district which has failed to sensitize the beneficiaries to build their capacity to utilise the money well, as well as pay back the money. some of the youth
interview public lens 28 february 13 – 29, 2020 a lion came into my house, but it didn’t eat me — prof. afunaduula prof. oweyegha- afunaduula is living quietly in his home district of luuka having retired from public service. he spends most of his time writing and guiding the young generation on productive living as well as posting intellectual discourses on governance, politics, economy, socio- anthropology especially through social media engagements. joseph ssenabulya caught up with him. joseph ssenabulya (js): mzee, there is something you have never told me. you retired in 2009 from the life of an academic of makerere university. you have lived on since for a decade. you are entering another one. you will later this year be 71, if god wishes. and you have had no steady income. many of the people who retire in uganda die within the first five years of their retirement. what explains your resilience? and you look 50 instead of 70! oweyegha-afunaduula (oa) many factors, not one. first, god. god took me to very difficult places in tanzania and kenya. he took me to zanzibar to work for the east african community soon after i graduated from the univer- sity of dar-es-saalam in zoology and botany with development studies. i was a fisheries re- search officer with the east afri- can marine research organisation (eamfro) and spent hours on the indian ocean daily interacting with salty water and fish. it was not easy. i had to endure. i learnt endurance and courage. socially life was very difficult in zanzibar. first the place was muslim country and i was a bach- elor then. it was not easy to get a girl friend. there were strict rules one had to observe to fit in. so i had to learn to live a lonely life very early. i learnt restraint and prof. afunaduula is living a quiet life having retired from public service to be patient. secondly, unlike in uganda, kenya and tanzania, where you could socialise with others drink- ing anything that you wanted and in any quantities, in zanzibar we were constrained what we could drink and what quantities. if you drank soda you were not allowed to drink beer. if you drank spir- its you were not allowed to drink beer. some were allowed one beer and the maximum number of beers one was allowed was four. for those who drank spirits they would be allowed a glass. at that time i would take a maximum of two beers. so i learnt how to live, behave and act within constraints as an adult. i learnt to go by the rules. social life was further con- strained by the fact that electricity in zanzibar was very unreliable. one was better off retiring for home when electricity was un- available. i learnt to live and socia- lise with people of largely islamic culture, which was not the case in my life before at mwiri primary school or busoga college mwiri or university of dar-es-salaam. i learnt religious tolerance. js: go on… oa: when the east african community disintegrated in 1977 i found myself jobless for four months in dar-es-salaam, the capital city of tanzania. it was not easy. i lived with two people, who were ugandans, and also with no jobs. one had been working with the east african harbours corporation. the other had just graduated from makerere university later became honourable odur) and were both from lango. we managed to live together through difficulty. somehow we survived. i leant how to live with many lacks after being a big officer of the east african community. i learnt to live at a very low standard of living those four months. (he so when i got my next job in the tanzania national parks i was pre-adapted to live any condi- tions. i was posted to a very dif- ficult place in iringa province of the country as a research zoolo- gist. the place was called ruaha national park. it is the most dif- ficult place i have lived in. when- ever it rained we would be more broke the glass probably because we decided to sit still. perhaps if we moved it would swing in action. it walked away, and we thanked god for saving us from the jaws of the lion. so a combi- nation of faith in god, courage and patience explained our response to the sudden appearance of the lion. most likely there were other lions lurking in the darkness. i must add that throughout the time i was in zanzibar, to the time i was in tsavo national park, to the time i graduated from the uni- versity of nairobi, i leant how to respond to disappointments with calmness and without fear. for example, before i left zanzibar i had got a scholarship from the british council to study for a phd in biological oceanography at the university of southampton, uk, and i would have been the first south of the sahara to get such a degree. but when i went to the british council in dar-es-salaam, the council representative told me: “sorry we have withdrawn the scholarship. the east african community, your employer, for whom we were sponsoring you has collapsed. it would have been different if you were already in uk. we would continue sponsor- ing you but you are here in dar- es-salaam. we wish you success in whatever you choose to do.” i shook his hand and left his office, disappointed but not finished. i quickly concluded that i could not stop the collapse of the communi- ty nor the withdrawal of the schol- arship by the british council. i decided that life must move on, but only god knew in which direction. but life has been full of ups and downs. js: so how did you end up in uganda? oa: well, combined forces of tanzania national defense forces (tpdf) and uganda exiles, either under kikoosi malum of apollo milton obote or front for national salvation (fronasa) of yoweri museveni overthrew idi amin’s government in 1979 and i came back to the country in 1980. i spent six months here before i left for chiromo campus of nairobi university for my post graduate studies. i did not position myself to participate the uganda national liberation front (unlf) governments of yusuf lule and godfrey binaisa because; first, i was not a politician, and second, i knew i was to leave for further studies shortly. in or less prisoners, interacting with no other people for three months. the ruaha river, which flowed through the park would swell and flood, halting all movement be- tween msembe, the headquarters of the park and the rest of iringa region. lucky enough park au- thorities would stock enough food to take us through the rainy period, which i experienced in 1977, 1978 and 1979, before i moved to kake manyara national park in arusha region. the next place of hardship was tsavo national park (east), kenya, where i did research for my mas- ters degree in zoology (the biol- ogy of conservation). i had my wife with me as my field assistant and secretary. but the extremes of environment were very testing for a couple that came from a coun- try that enjoyed two rainy seasons (short and long) and two dry sea- sons (short and dry). the first day in the park a lion visited us as we sat in our glass-doored residence. it sniffed at the door as we watched it, waiting to see it break the glass for a ready meal. i thought, “will it take me or my wife?” it never
interview february 13 – 29, 2020 29 public lens although i sometimes came to the country, and even taught bi- ology at jinja senior secondary school between 1983 and 1985. it was not easy to adapt to the very tough conditions then, but i had been prepared well during my time in tanzania and kenya. when tito okello junta was overthrown by the nrm/a, i was still at jinja senior secondary school, but preparing for my viva voce (the- sis defence) and graduation at the university of nairobi. i left ugan- da just as the new rulers were set- tling and i did not leave my family behind. i never knew that i would but ended up teaching in at least three secondary schools in kenya (ksnunga high school, tinganga secondary school and torongo high school). i developed my teaching skills in kenya and have never stopped teaching since then. it was not easy be- cause kenyans would keep on re- minding me that i didn’t belong to them and asking me when i would leave for my country. all other ugandans in kenya were treated that way. indeed in 1989, ugan- dan teachers were summarily stopped. i stayed on in kenya un- til january 1991, when i ultimate- ly joined makerere university as a lecturer in the faculty of science. i was in makerere till 2009 when i retired from active academic life. you can see my life’s experience had not been easy. loving js: what did you do when you left makerere? oa: in my service to the community i had, since 1998, been active in civil society work. that year the late martin musumba, formally lc 5 chairman of iganga district and former prime minister (katukiro) of busoga, formed a pressure group, save bujagali crusade (sbc) to save the bujagali falls from destructive development. government unilaterally decided to have a hydroelectric facility erected on the river nile at dumbbell island, two kilometres from bujagali falls, which action would silence the falls. he coordinated the crusade and i deputised him. had almost simultaneously, i joined the national association of profes- sional environmentalists (nape) as a member of its board, and soon became its secretary. mar- tin musumba also joined nape as chairman of its board. we decid- ed to make sbc an environmental effort of nape and waged a noble struggle locally, nationally and globally to save bujagali falls and its associated ecological, cultural, spiritual and tourism potential. we ensured that environmental impact assessment became adequately in- tegral to the bujagali dam process. we travelled widely and presented our positions to diverse audienc- es. unfortunately, i failed to pres- ent our positions to the world prof. oweyegha-afunaduula at his home in busoga. bank board of directors in new york because of terrorist attacks on the three trade towers in new york. i was travelling from mapu- to, mozambique, but was advised not to proceed. it would have been a great opportunity to interface with the policy making body of the world bank. in 2003, i was one of the pioneer leaders of a regional nongovern- mental organisation for the nile basin called nile basin discourse (nbd) at the national level. i be- came the vice chairman of one of the original 10 forums of nbd -the uganda nile discourse forum (undf). every member country had a forum. the countries were burundi, drc, egypt, eritrea, ethiopia, kenya, rwanda, su- dan, tanzania and uganda. south sudan had not joined because it was nonexistent since sudan was still one gigantic country. three years later, in 2006, i became the chairman of undf. a year later undf seconded me to the board of nbd, and the same year i be- came the acting secretary gen- eral of nbd, when the substantive secretary general, a lady from rwanda, left for medical reasons. the following year i was elected chairman, nbd, by its general assembly. i replaced an egyptian. of significance was that i was the first ugandan and east african to be the boss of this great regional ngo of more than 1000 member ngos. i was to continue serv- ing as chairman until 2010, when i handed the chair to the former chairman. i handed the chair of undf to an- other colleague. it was during my terms as chair undf and nbd that the two got systems, includ- ing governance manual, finance and administration manual, hu- man resources manual, et cetera since their creation in 2003. i did not stay to put these instruments to simultaneously effect. as chairman undf and nbd i influenced quite a lot of modi- fication of development thinking and action in the water sector in uganda and the nile basin. as chairman nbd i sometimes inter- faced with heads of state, perti- nent water ministers and techno- crats within the countries of the nile basin and in the nile basin initiative (nbi), which manages the nile waters and resources on behalf on its member countries. what i learnt was priceless. un- fortunately by the time the mem- bers of nbi had not agreed on the framework for cooperation, the nile basin cooperative frame- work (nbcf) because of exac- erbated hydro-hegemony on the part of egypt. however, a nile basin sustainability framework (nbsf), which was less politi- cally sensitive had been endorsed by the member counties of nbi. as chairman nbd, i travelled widely, participated in many fora, workshops and conferences, often presenting papers and position of civil society, especially on joint projects, which were frequently in- frastructure developments. many times i was able to influence the i thank the muganda man i met in a taxi between mpereirwe where i was renting a house and kampala, who advised that i build a house in my rural area in busoga. he said, “if you build in your village you will be developing your village and busoga. if you build in kampala you will be developing buganda. processes and outcomes in favour of civil society. my high critical thinking skills, intellectual skills and debating skills always put me in a more advantageous position to put the positions of civil society. my task was to enhance com- munity and people participation in decision-making in the nile basin development processes, especially by amplifying the voice of the voiceless. it was not easy. often big money and budget mon- ey plotted together to defeat civil society positions on development. but giving up was not an option for me. the greatest challenge was get- ting funding for nbd to enhance the voice of the voiceless in nile basin development processes, which, unfortunately, were far more infrastructure oriented than community and people oriented. it was always an uphill task chang- ing the thinking and decisions of governments, politicians and tech- nocrats in favour of civil society. however, as chairman i led and effectively participated in rais- ing funds, especially from uk’s dfid, for nbd and its 10 forums. i was greatly demoralised by the withdrawal of funding by cana- da’s cida after i was convinced that my negotiating team had done well in nairobi when we met a spectrum of potential funders. such demoralisation of a leader is possible if an organisation or country is over-dependent on ex- ternal funding. you can blame me for failure to mobilise domestic funding for nbd. the problem, however, was that nbd was initi- ated from the top by world bank, iucn and cida, and was right from its launch set to rely heavily on external funding. even as late as 2017, the major funding agency for nbd was world bank. world bank is the major funder of large infrastructure projects in the nile basin. it is not easy to see how the world bank can balance its inter- ests with those of civil society. js: how did you shoulder on after leaving undf and nbd? oa: lucky enough, in the year i retired from makerere university, the board of nape agreed that i transferred my services from it to management. i became pioneer programme manager of one of the ngo’s programmes. it was called “the sustainability school in uganda”, which was being funded by an organisation in germany called rose luxemburg founda- tion. this organisation paid my salary directly from germany. that gave me a soft landing after retirement. actually the salary i was getting from rose luxem- burg foundation was far bigger than the salary i was getting from makerere university by the time i retired from it service. i thank nape for providing the ground i needed to enhance my practical influence in the field of environment. i travelled a lot in africa and elsewhere, represent- ing nape’s environmental inter- ests and presenting its positions on a diversity of environmental issues. i used nape as a base to write prolifically on environmen- tal issues and debate or give talks on environment in and outside uganda. apparently, as early as last year, nape invited me to give a talk on its behalf at the national theatre on the threat of govern- ment’s choice of sugarcane grow- ing over bugoma forest and its tourism value to uganda. it was a very well attended talk, which enabled me to meet many former colleagues at makerere university and in the environmental arena af- ter almost decade. using the allowances i got from undf and nbd and the salary i was getting from nape, up to end of 2012, i was able to speed up the construction of our rural home so that jane, my wife, and myself could retire into it. so i retired from nape by the end of 2012 on age and health grounds and on the advice of the board. my wife retired from mak- erere university service in 2013. we had to face the reality of post- retirement life’s challenges. it is not easy to maintain social and economic stability after retire- ment. those who did not prepare for retirement end up on streets as paupers or die earlier. retirees tend to face neglect, even by their children and relatives, who never imagine retirement from active service or life. lucky enough none of us had bank loans or other loans to pay. we were able to concentrate on building a house in our rural area. it would have been a different matter if we did not build one. we are staying in it now. no rent to pay. their own to be continued
30 february 13 – 29, 2020 public lens business kayunga gets modern pinneaple processing plant by our reporter the government through the na- tional agricultural advisory services (naads) secretariat has procured and installed a fruit pro- cessing plant for farmers in kayunga district. during a recent tour of the facility by the chairperson of the naads board of directors; robert kibirango, benefi- ciary farmers couldn’t hide their excite- ment urging the firm contracted to in- stall the necessary equipment tohasten the process so as to start adding value to their produce. “president yoweri museveni pledged to donate the equipment and we are grateful to the national agricultural advisory services (naads) secretari- at for fulfilling the president’s pledge,” said jamil kamya, one of the benefi- ciary farmers in the area. the facility according to this promi- nent pinneaples farmer, is aimed at assisting fruit farmers from kayunga district and the nearby districts engaged in pinneaples cultivation toventure into value addition. currently, fruit dealers from as far as kayunga and other major towns usual- ly buy pineapples for less than sh1,000 apiece from the farmers within the area and it is hoped that once the juice pro- cessing project takes off the pinneaples will be bought at slightly better prices. the district agricultural officer; mo- ses kibumba is also optimistic that the processing facility will create job op- portunities for local residents and spur growth among other business ventures in the sleepy busaale trading centre. speaking during a recent interface with the beneficiary farmers at the fac- tory premises, the chairperson of the naads board of directors; robert ki- birango asked the district officials and farmers to demonstrate appreciation for the donation by ensuring the factory roars into business. kibirango also rallied farmers to plant more pinneaples with an assurance of guaranteed market for their produce. “the political leadership should mobilise farmers to engage in the cul- tivation of pinneaples among other horticulture crops that will sustain the facility upon its completion. there is no reason why the factory should operate below the installed capacity,” said ki- birango, also a progressive farmer from buikwe district. kibirango further observed that the country has been divided into clusters targeting value addition growth. “with the establishment of a fruit processing facility in this area, our sup- port to kayunga in terms of planting materials will be pinneaples suckers not forgetting food security crops for the households,” he said. besides pineapples, the factory that has been built on three acres of land will also process other fruits like man- goes into juice, giving farmers in the area and beyond a ready market for their produce. pinneaples cultivation in kayunga over 2,000 farmers are said to be en- gaged in the cultivation of pinneaples with an estimated 1,200 hectares of land believed to be under pineapples cultivation in the district. according to kibumba, the district is currently producing about 60,000 tonnes of pinneaples per year. “there is a great potential for the crop and we will ensure farmers adopt mod- ern farming techniques so as to boost production,” kibumbasaid, adding that up to 150,000 tonnes could be produced annually in the next three years. he said lack of a reliable market has seen farmers sell pineapples at throw away prices to middlemen who take the produce to lucrative markets in kenya and oversees. moses kakande, a pineapple farmer, said they sell mature fruits at between sh1,000 and sh1,500 on the farms, but get better prices when the fruits are hawked to commuters along the major roads in the district. the middlemen later sell the fruits at more than sh2,000 each in major towns. in times ofglut, prices fall to below sh500 per mature fruit, which takes five months to grow. in anticipation of the new fac- tory, farmers have formed kayunga district farmer’s association which the newly installed processing machines at the fruit plant. close- l y is working with ssem agritech con- s u l t a n t ltd, a company that has been contracted to buy the produce delivered to the fac- tory for processing. the consultant will also market the processed pineapple products within the district and markets beyond. the head of the consultancy firm; jane were explained that for proper running of the factory, they will require five lorry trucks full of the fresh pinneaples on a daily basis. established through the public private partnership arrangement, the sh2bn facil- ity expected to start juice production in march 2020, will also sell residues as ani- mal feeds to livestock farmers. the government is executing the ex- ercise through its agencies like naads secretariat which procured the equipment and installation of solar powered water- ing system. the rural electrification agency under the energy ministry on the other hand, has already extended electricity supply to serve not only the factory but the com- munity as well. the private sector led by ssemu agro- tech ensured that the installation process was executed as per the plan while kay- unga district local government and kay- unga district farmer’s association have ensured that farmers are mobilised to provide the facility with the enough pin- neaples. kamya jamil lutalo, another success- ful farmer in the area, was also full of praise for the president museveni and the naads secretariat for extending the fa- cility in the areas. “we have longed for the establish- ment of the fruit factory in our area. we are indebted to president museveni for his tireless efforts towards the growth of the country’s agricultural sector,” he ex- pounded.
sports february 13 – 29, 2020 31 public lens messi move to man city simulated on barca manager messi has sensationally been linked with a man city move this summer. any suggestions of messi leaving barcelona have been previously ridiculed, but his public spat with sporting director eric abidal seems to have sparked genuine suspicions that he could depart. the likes of inter milan, paris saint-germain and manchester united have been connected with a move and are reportedly running the maths in case messi actually choose to cut ties. but the citizens are most definite- ly frontrunners, both in the minds of football fans and bookmakers. not only do city have the finan- cial brawn to make a move for the argentine feasible, but reuniting with pep guardiola - with whom he enjoyed his best years - would sure- ly pique his interest. messi in the premier league? and while it goes without saying that messi leaving barcelona still seems quite unlikely, you can for- give the footballing world for hy- pothesising would would happen if it genuinely transpired. so, in the spirit of that imagina- tion, the manchester evening news decided to call upon football man- ager 2020 in a mission to predict how messi would fare at the etihad stadium. we won’t get any closer to an- swering how messi would perform in the premier league than when it’s looked more realistic than ever and with all the data at football man- ager’s disposal. messi at man city simulated and without further ado, here’s what happened when the footballing simulator was left to its own devices for messi at manchester city next season: the premise in order to catch up with the times, men had to simulate through the entire 2019/20 season - making relevant transfer and injury updates en route - before signing messi on july 1, 2020. you can check out messi’s full statistics on the game by this point and appreciate just how superb the argentine remains despite advanc- ing past his 33rd birthday. messi’s performance at city so how did he fare? messi experi- enced a slight decline by his dizzy- ing barcelona standards, but it was still an incredible debut season in the premier league for him. guardiola ensured messi was a first-team regular, handing him 48 appearances in all competitions, and was rewarded with 18 goals and 10 assists in the process. only sergio aguero scored more goals for the citizens; messi won 38 of the 48 games he featured in and collected 14 man of the match awards across the entire campaign. but most impressive of all is the fact messi’s average match rating of 7.86 was the highest in the premier league, ousting his teammate ber- nardo silva and liverpool’s andrew robertson. city best xi in 2020/21 given his brilliant statistics, it’s little surprise that messi features in guardiola’s strongest xi. messi was used most regularly on the right-hand side of an attack- ing triumvirate with aguero and raheem sterling, while kevin de bruyne and silva provided the am- munition from deep. city’s performance in 2020/21 it was a great season in general for city, too, as they wrestled back the premier league title from liverpool by finishing five points clear of manchester united with a total of 92. there was more the in heartbreak champions league, though, as chelsea knocked them out on penalties at the semi-final stage despite messi’s electrifying per- formance. strangely, ed- erson was one of the players to miss in that short-lived shootout....
32 keep up-to-date with local and world sports ferrari launch car for 2020, seek to challenge for the title formula 1: ferrari have unveiled a 2020 formula 1 car that team boss mattia binotto says takes design to the “extreme” as they seek to challenge for the title. the italian team struggled last year, winning only three races as mercedes dominated, but binotto hopes they can take a step forward this season. he said: “it may look similar to last year’s, but it’s completely different.” sports publiclens sieving facts from fiction february 13— 29, 2020 pele health is worrying legendary brazil forward pele is reluctant to leave his house because he cannot walk unaided, his son has said. the three-time world cup winner, widely regarded as the greatest player of all time, was taken to hospital with a urinary infection last year. pele, 79, has had problems with his hip for some time and now needs a frame to walk, with many of his recent public ap- pearances in a wheelchair. “he is very sheepish, reclu- sive,” his son edinho told tv globo. pele scored a world record total of 1,281 goals in 1,363 appearances during his 21-year career, including 77 goals in 91 appearances for brazil. his health has been a con- legendary brazil forward pele in a wheelchair cern in recent years and he had prostate surgery in 2015 after he was admitted to hospital for the second time in six months. “imagine, he’s the king, he was always such an imposing figure and today he can’t walk prop- erly,” edinho explained. “he’s embarrassed, he doesn’t want to go out, be seen, or do practically anything that in- volves leaving the house. “he’s pretty fragile. he had a hip replacement and didn’t have an adequate or ideal rehabilita- tion. so he has this problem with mobility and that has set off a kind of depression.” this june marks the 50th an- niversary of pele’s final world cup title, won in mexico with what many believe to be the greatest team of all time. sports round–up european football barcelona winger sidelined for six months after surgery dortmund: barcelona winger ousmane dembele will be sidelined for six months following surgery on a serious hamstring tear. the france international, 22, was on his way back to full fitness following another thigh injury when he pulled out of training last week. dembele has suffered several injuries - in both legs - since joining the la liga champions from dortmund in 2017. he has played only three full games this season, missing 63 games in all competitions at barca through injury. dembele, a member of france’s world cup- winning squad, is expected to miss euro 2020. rugby england beat scotland 53-0 in freezing conditions murrayfield: champions england beat scotland in freezing conditions to go top of the women’s six nations standings. the match was switched to murrayfield on monday because of storm ciara but conditions were still difficult as snow left players struggling to keep warm. sarah bern, jess breach and abby dow, who sprinted 50 metres for a superb try, put england 22-0 up at half-time. emily scott (two), dow, sarah hunter and claudia macdonald scored after the break in deteriorating conditions. athletics armand duplantis sets pole vault world record in poland torun: european champion armand duplantis set a pole vault world record at a world athletics indoor tour meeting on saturday. the usa-born swede, 20, cleared 6.17m at the second attempt in torun, poland, to beat frenchman renaud lavillenie’s previous mark. lavillenie, the 2012 olympic champion, cleared 6.16m in february 2014. “it’s something that i wanted since i was three years old,” said duplantis, the 2019 world silver medallist. published and printed by public lens publications and printing limited. plot 106 bukoto street kamwokya. p.o. box 31219, kampala–uganda. editor 0704 745 528. e-mail: publiclenspubications@gmail.com