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MP Winnie Kiiza handsover office to new LoP

By
Isaiah Mwebaze
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DROOPED Winnie Kizza

Kasese Woman MP Winnie Kiiza has today handed over office to the newly appointed Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Parliament and Gulu woman MP Betty Ocan Aol.

This follows recent changes that were made by the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) president Patrick Amuriat. Hesaid the move was based on vast consultations among major political icon in the party and there are more 26 positions that will be filled later since the party is participating in election processes across the county.

Speaking parliament, Kiiza applauded FDC leadership for opportunity and trusting her to serve as LoP, saying the position offered her exposure and opportunities in various sectors in and outside Uganda. Kizza says believes that new team will play a critical role in terms of her political career.

Kiiza handed in a Catalogue of alternative policy statements for financial year 2015/17.

In her remarks LoP Betty Ochan AoL commended Kiiza for her contribution towards the thriving of FDC and striving to impact the ideology of changing the current leadership in the country. She announced that she will not make major changes in the current shadow cabinet thought parliamentary rules of procedures entitles her to. She said her office remains open for all.

The Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga however, ruled that FDC members such as Cecilia Ogwal a Parliamentary Commissioner whose term of office has not expired should be allowed to complete their term and Pan African Parliament members whose term expires in 2021.

She asked FDC party leadership to let the current leadership complete the tasks at hand saying committees of the parliament are expected to produce reports for discussion between Oct-Dec 2018.

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Private Sector lending rise 2.8 per cent in June

By
George Mangula
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Stanbic Bank Uganda recently announced an increase in private sector credit.

The stock of outstanding private sector credit increased by 2.8 per cent to Shs13,336.9 billion in June 2018 from Shs12.979 billion in May, according to the latest performance of the Economy Report published by the Ministry of Finance .

The report released for the month of July indicates that the value of loans approved in June 2018 increased by 42.6 per cent to about Shs1.3 trillion from Shs896.5 billion in May 2018.

The report attributes the growth in the value of loan approvals partly to reduced risk averseness following reduction in non-performing loans.

By sector, trade received the largest share of credit at 23 per cent in the month of June 2018. Other notable recipients of credit were: manufacturing (22 per cent), transport & communication (18 per cent), personal & household loans (11 per cent); building, construction & real estate (10 per cent) and agriculture (10 per cent).

However, trade registered the most significant growth (15.67percent) in flow of credit during the month of June 2018. In addition, there was strong growth in credit extended to the manufacturing sector (15.13percent), Transport and Communication sector (11.25percent), and Mining and Quarrying (10.32percent) over the same period.

On the other hand, the value of credit extended to community, social and other services declined in June 2018.

Treasury bills and treasury bonds

According to the report, during the month of July 2018, there were two T-Bill auctions and one T-Bond auction in the primary market which raised Shs385 billion, of which Shs203.7 billion was from T-Bills and Shs181.3 billion was from T-bonds. Shs299.3 billion was used for the refinancing of maturing debt whilst Shs85.7 billion went towards financing other activities in the government budget.

Merchandise trade deficit

According to the report, the merchandise trade deficit deteriorated by 44.4 per cent in June 2018 to US $190.7 million from US $132 million recorded in May 2018. The deterioration of the deficit is on account of a decline in the country’s export receipts, coupled with an increase in the import bill.

Compared to June 2017, the merchandise trade deficit widened by 21.5 percent to USD190.7 million in June 2018 from USD 156.9 million in May.

Merchandise earnings

That report shows that merchandise export earnings increased on an annual basis but declined on a monthly basis as the total value of exports in June declined by 7.9 per cent to US $296.33 million from US $321.58 million recorded in May 2018.

The report attributes the decline in exports mainly to the fall in the value of gold, maize, beans, base metals and coffee following a drop in their respective volumes save for coffee who drop in value is a result of the drop in the international market.

However, compared to June 2017, export receipts grew by 6.7percent to US $296.33 million in June 2018 from US $277.63 million. And the report attributes the rise to mainly the higher earnings of gold, tea, maize, beans, fish and its products.

Nevertheless, coffee earnings fell by 32.3 per cent following a drop in both its volume and the international coffee prices while coffee volumes fell by 25.6 per cent whereas the price declined by 8.9 per cent. Cumulatively, coffee exports for FY 2017/18 totalled 4,458,558 (60 kg) bags worth US $492.47 million compared to 4,188,170 (60 kg) bags worth US $490.41 million in FY 2016/17, the report says.

Destination of exports

During the month of June 2018, the East African Community remained the major destination for Uganda’s exports accounting for 46.3 per cent of total exports, followed by the Rest of Africa (18.6 per cent), and the European Union (14.2 per cent). Exports to the EAC region grew by 28.1 per cent from US $107.10 million in June 2017 to US $137.24 million in June 2018. Exports to all EAC Partner States registered increases except Burundi.

Merchandise Imports

Merchandise worth US $486.98 million was imported during the month of June 2018, registering an increase of 7.4 per cent from the previous month, the report says. And attributes the increase majorly to a rise in the value of government imports, which more than doubled during the month.

Higher import volumes during the month (up 6 per cent), contributed to the increase in the value of imports, according to the Bank of Uganda. “The value of merchandise imports in June 2018 was higher by US $52.5 million compared to the same period the previous year,” the report says, attributing the increase to mainly a 17.4 per cent increase in private sector imports that more than offset the 37.6 per cent decline in government imports.

The hike in oil prices and higher import volumes10 contributed to the increase in the value of private sector imports.

Origin of Imports

Asia remained the biggest source of imports, contributing 39 per cent of the total merchandise imported in June, 2018. Middle East and EAC contributed 24 per cent and 14 per cent of the total imports respectively, making them the second and third largest sources. Of the imports from Asia, 75 per cent were sourced from India, China and Japan while Kenya and Tanzania contributed 90 percent of the imports sourced from EAC.

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Police confirms arrest of Bobi Wine plus three MPs

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Police has confirmed the arrest of Kyadondo East legislator Robert Kyagulanyi, nabbed following last night’s scuffle in Arua municipality.

Last night chaos engulfed Dourcus Inzikuru Street as Special Forces command (SFC) soldiers and police battled crowds led by MP Kyagulanyi and many of colleagues who were in procession after holding final rally of Independent candidate Kassiano Wadri ahead of tomorrow’s by-election to fill vacant seat for Arua municipality following the assassination of MP Ibrahim Abiriga by unknown hooded gunmen.

Speaking at police headquarters Emilian Kayima said they nabbed Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake, Ntungamo Municipality MP Gerald Karuhanga, Jinja East MP Paul Mwiru, former MP Michael Mabikke, a one Fred Nyanzi, Wadri and others.

“We caution public to obstruct and or attack president’s motorcade saying the act contravenes traffic and road safety act and some provisions of panel code act, our readiness to secure the elections tomorrow is on standby,” he said.

He implored voters to exercise the constitutional and democratic rights to vote their preferred candidates.

He said the scuffle started when President Museveni was going to Boma grounds for the final rallies, he was met by a tractor that had the red ribbons. When leaving the grounds, he was then met with Wadri’s supporters at Trans-junctional road.

He said both the tractor and Tundra registration Number UAJ 416K were towed to Arua central police station and the body of Kyagulanyi’s driver Kawuuma Yasin was taken to Arua hospital.

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Gov’t’s collects revenue of Shs1.160 trillion in July

By
George Mangula
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URA boss Doris Akol collects tax revenues

The domestic revenues revenue collections during July amounted to about Shs1.160 trillion in July posting a surplus of Shs. 35.8 billion against the programmed target as both tax and non-tax revenues performed above their respective targets, says the latest Performance of the Economy Report published by the Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development.

According to the report, the realised revenues registered a 25 per cent increment when compared to July 2017. Tax revenue collections amounted to about Shs1.1 trillion attaining a surplus of Shs34.3 billion against the projected target.

The report attributes the extra revenue to direct domestic tax and taxes on international trade which registered surpluses of Shs 3.9 billion and Shs 30.4 billion respectively.

The performance in direct taxes was partly due to salary increments for some public officers which resulted into higher than anticipated PAYE remittances from government. The surplus in international trade taxes during the month was partly due to higher than anticipated dutiable imports. Non-tax revenues amounted to Shs35.0 billion posting a surplus of Shs1.5 billion against the programmed target.

Total expenditure for the month amounted to about Shs1.867 trillion, though it fell short of the expenditure by Shs. 726 billion. “This performance was majorly on account of lower than projected spending on domestic and externally financed projects,” says the report.

Revenue and grants amounted to Shs. 1,196.6 billion registering a shortfall of Shs. 42.3 billion against the target for the month. According to the report, the shortfall resulted from lower than anticipated inflows of grants which more than offset the surplus of Shs. 35.8 billon in domestic revenues.

The total government expenditure during the month amounted of about Shs1.867 trillion was an equivalent of 72.0 percent of the projected expenditure level. The report attributes the performance mainly to lower than anticipated spending on interest payments and development expenditure which performed at 83.3 percent and 47.4 percent respectively against their programed spending levels for the month.

However, wages and salaries payments were close to target as they amounted to Shs337.4 billion exceeding the programed level by Shs3.1 billion. Development expenditure amounted to Shs667.9 billion against the target of Shs1,408.3 billion. The performance was mainly attributed to lower than projected disbursements in externally financed projects. Preliminary out-turns show a performance of only 16.2 per cent of the target for the month.

Exchange Rates

Considering monthly averages, all EAC Partner States’ currencies were fairly stable against the US dollar in July 2018; with the exception of the Ugandan shilling which greatly appreciated in July 2018 having moved from a high depreciation rate in June 2018.

Within the EAC region, only the Uganda and Kenyan shillings gained value against the US dollar during the month, registering appreciation rates of 2.1 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively compared to the previous month.

The appreciation of the Ugandan shilling was partly explained by an influx of off-shore players attracted by increases in interest rates on government securities. The Burundi franc and Rwandese franc depreciated at 0.1 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively as in the previous month; while the Tanzania shilling depreciated at 0.1 per cent.

Uganda’s Trade balance with the EAC Partner States during June 2018, showed a surplus having exported merchandise worth US $137.4 million and imported US $69.6 million from within the EAC region.

At country specific level, Uganda traded at a surplus with Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan during the month while deficits were recorded for Tanzania and Burundi. Kenya was Uganda’s biggest trading partner compared to the other EAC Partner States, with the highest value of imports US $35.5 million and largest market for Uganda’s exports US $73.6 million.

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Betway ends Onduparaka sponsorship deal

By
Our Reporter
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Betway end sponsorship to Onduparaka

Onduparaka FC have parted ways with British online gaming company Betway after expiration of the contract, ending their two-year long partnership.

The Caterpillars published a statement about ending their partnership with the betting company;

“Onduparaka Fc would like to confirm that its Partnership with Betway has come to an end. We have enjoyed a two year partnership with the betting franchise that has helped us grow from glory to glory.

We would like to thank Betway for its invaluable support to the club and for having helped us to reach thus far. We have indeed been able to benefit immensely from Betway’s Football development strategy. We are optimistic that everything happens for a reason and Onduparaka FC will continue to enjoy its presence in the league and its partnership with other sponsors.

We wish Betway all the very best in the business and indeed hope that our paths cross in the future.

Onduparaka FC Management”

Betway started sponsoring Onduparaka in August 2016 after they gained promotion to the top tier of Ugandan football. They signed a one year sponsorship deal of up to a tune of Shs180 million, a contract which was later renewed in 2017 at cost of Shs600 million.

The West Nile club has so far played two seasons in the Ugandan Premier League, finishing fifth and fourth respectively. The reason for not renewing the contract this season remains unknown.

They will host SC Villa in the Semi-finals of the FUFA Pilsner Super 8 tournament at Green Light Stadium in Arua on Thursday.

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We did not give KACITA grace period to import fake products-UNBS blasts lawyers

By
George Mangula
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UNBS Eexcutive Director Dr Ben Manyindo

Following yesterday’s statement by the Uganda Law Society (ULS) that the country’s standards regulator, the Uganda National Bureau of Standards recently granted members of the Kampala City Traders Association to import fake products, the agency has come out to deny that it ever issued such grace period to traders.

“As the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS), we are greatly perturbed and dismayed by the statement issued today by Uganda Law Society (ULS) and signed by its President, Simon Peter Kinobe, about the apparent “grace period granted to Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) to import fake products. The statement is full of inaccuracies, innuendos, and gross misrepresentation of facts. We would like to urge the public to treat with contempt it deserves,” UNBS statement says.

UNBS in the statement has blasted ULS for not seeking clarity with them before making the statement on the purported grace period given to KCITA. “It is unfortunate that the ULS did not make any effort to seek clarity from UNBS or carry out basic research to establish the facts but they instead rushed to issue a statement based on misinformation being propagated on social media,” reads part of the statement.

UBBS should not have used fake news on social media to make its statement but rather that is should have consulted with the agency first. “Some people on social media misconstrued this to mean that UNBS had given “KACITA a grace period to import fake products” which was the basis of ULS Statement,” the statement says.

UNBS defends itself by saying that July 9, 2018, it only issued an administrative directive containing new guidelines for importation of garments into the country which require that all consignments of imported garments should be accompanied by the PVoC Certificates of Conformity.

As a result, it continues, all imported garments will have to be tagged for UNBS inspection and clearance, at Customs clearance points, before they are allowed on the market.

The statement partly says that on August 7, 2018, as part of our standard working procedures, UNBS met with importers of garments to raise awareness and ensure compliance to the new guidelines for importation of garments into the country and that the traders were thus given up to September 15, 2018 to comply with the new PVoC directive. “After deadline, all garments must be accompanied by PVoC Certificates of Conformity,” statement reads further.

The agency says that all products covered by compulsory standards have to undergo inspection for compliance to Uganda Standards before they are imported into the country through the Pre-Export Verification of Conformity (PVoC), which has been and continues to be the practice since 2013 when the programme was first introduced.

Fighting substandard products requires a concerted effort involving UNBS working together with manufacturers, traders, consumers, and other government agencies, it says.

UNBS says it will continue to perform its mandate of enforcing standards to protect consumer health and safety and the environment against dangerous and sub-standard products. “As result of the PVoC programme, last financial year, UNBS was able to stop 33 million substandard products from being imported into the country,” it says.

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MP Robert Kyagulanyi’s driver shot dead

By
Trevor S Baleke
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Bobi Wine's Tweet after the shooting of his driver

Yasin Kawooya, the driver of Kyadondo East Member of Parliament, Robert Kyagulanyi has been shot dead.

Kawooya was killed from from inside his car in Arua Municipality by unknown gunmen.

Kyagulanyi is in Arua to campaign for independent Candidate Kassiano Wadri.

Some sources say, Kyagulanyi’s hotel has been cordoned off by Police.

MP Bobi Wine tweeted moments after the incident that police shot his driver thinking they were shooting at him. His said his hotel had been cordoned off.

More to follow.

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Kadaga vows to handle issues of reclaiming kingdoms assets

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Speaker Rebecca Kadaga

The Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has vowed to handle issues of reclaiming Kingdoms assets from the Central Government.

Kadaga was speaking at the commissioning of 400 local representatives, known as Isaazy of the King of Tooro, Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru IV held at Tooro Kingdom Palace.

The Speaker’s assurance followed a request by the Prime Minister of Tooro, Bernard Tungwako to spearhead efforts to reclaim the Kingdom’s assets which include land titles.

He said some of the land titles of the kingdom still under central government include Kamwenge prison, Muhoti barracks and Kamwenge refugee camp among others.

“I want to assure His Majesty and the people of Tooro that we shall reclaim our assets. I am also pursuing Busoga assets because the central government gave us only the market. I will therefore, make a joint strategy for both Tooro and Busoga,” Kadaga said.

She also commended King Oyo for his unwavering commitment to revive and strengthen the culture of Tooro. She noted that many Ugandans cannot trace their clans, do not know their poems, dances and history.

“In this digital era where even English is adulterated, one should not allow our language Rutooro to be adulterated. I am very happy that you have taken up this important mission to bring back Tooro to its lost glory,” Kadaga said.

She urged the commissioned local representatives of the King to ensure that they use such opportunities to support the work of the Kingdom as well as Central Government.

“I want to appeal to you, the members of the Isaazy not just to remain decorated. You must be visible and reach the people so that they can benefit,” Kadaga said.

The Isaazy will be charged with collecting views from the locals and forward them to the King to be addressed. They will be spread in Tooro and among Tooro communities living outside the Kingdom, including in Kampala, Jinja, Mukono and the Diaspora.

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Comesa-EAC-Ecowas start designing a digital networking platform for women entrepreneurs

By
George Mangula
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The designing process of the 50 Million African Women Speak (50MWS) Digital Platform for women entrepreneurs has commenced following the kick-off workshop held from July 31 -August 10, 2018 at the COMESA Secretariat in Lusaka, Zambia.

Officials from COMESA, East African Community (EAC), Economic Commission for West African States (ECOWAS), African Development Bank (AfDB), and other stakeholders representing policy makers, women in business and service providers participated in the workshop.

The workshop was facilitated by Izertis Society Limited / P&L Global Joint Venture, a Spain based technology Consultancy Company which won the bid to develop the software and to design the platform.

The 50MWS is a three-year project funded by the AfDB, jointly implemented by three Regional Economic Communities (RECs) COMESA, EAC and ECOWAS in 38 countries.

The development objective of the project is to contribute to the economic empowerment of women through the provision of a networking platform to enable women to access information on financial and non-financial services. Specifically, the objective of the project is to establish a platform to improve the ability of women entrepreneurs to network and share information and to access financial services.

To achieve these objectives, the project will create a dynamic and networking platform for women entrepreneurs to connect them with one another in ways that will foster peer-to-peer learning, mentoring and the sharing of information and knowledge within communities, and access to trade finance and market opportunities between urban and rural areas, and across borders and between countries.

Addressing the participants during the official opening of the workshop, COMESA Assistant Secretary-General for Programmes, Ambassador Dr. Kipyego Cheluget urged the RECs and stakeholders to be innovative and develop a user-friendly platform that can be easily adopted by women entrepreneurs.

“The aim is to have a platform that is responsive and fit for purpose. We want a digital platform that will make it easier and convenient for women entrepreneurs to navigate and access the relevant information they need to develop and grow their business”, said Ambassador Cheluget.

He added that COMESA was making strides to invigorate her Member States towards the full adoption of digital technologies. The focus is on establishing seamless processes across the COMESA region to enable ease of doing business/trade and to enhance regional integration using information communication technologies (ICTs) as a tool.

Furthermore, he expressed his appreciation that the 50MWS project is being implemented at a time when COMESA is rolling out instruments of Digital Free Trade Area (DFTA) to minimize physical barriers in its Member States. Thus, the digital platform is expected to complement the ongoing efforts on enhancing the regional economic integration agenda.

The Head of the EAC delegation, Mary Makoffu, Director responsible for Social Sectors noted that the 50MWS initiative is an exciting project and all EAC Partner States are looking forward to the successful implementation in the East African region.

“The project will support current interventions which are providing women entrepreneurs with real time information on cross border market information such as prices of agricultural commodities, currency exchange rates and taxes charged by the revenue authorities. This helps women to make informed choices and save them time and money moving from one market to another searching for the trade commodities”, added Ms. Makoffu.

Ms. Makoffu also informed the meeting that the EAC had already held consultative meetings with all the EAC Partner States, which provided valuable feedback to enrich the platform design process.

Salimata Thiam, Principal Programme Officer (PPO) Gender at the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre, representing ECOWAS commended the AfDB for bringing the three RECs together to implement the 50 MWS project.

“In our view as ECOWAS, we envisage this project to enable women entrepreneurs in the three different sub-regions to interconnect, to share their experiences and to have access to useful information which will help them to improve their turnover”, said Thiam.

The 50MWSDigital Platform is expected to be fully functional at the beginning of 2019. Meanwhile, the three RECS will continue to engage their respective member States to introduce the project as well as setting up country teams who will be coordinating the implementation of the project at national level.

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Bright Stars FC seals $40,000 sponsorship deal

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Maroons Football Club Players. FILE PHOTO.

Bright Stars FC has sealed US $40,000 sponsorship deal with Japanese Yoshino Trading Company for 2018/19 football season.

The announcement follows Keisuke Honda’s buying of controlling interests in the club through his management company Honda Estilo.

Speaking before signing, Club Chairperson Ronald Mutebi applauded Yoshino Trading Company for choosing Bright Stars FC. He said that the partnership will push them towards improving the bright stars FC and clinching the startimes Uganda premier league trophy.

“Yoshino decided to partner with us because many people want to go for already established brands but they chose to develop with us. I want to promise that as a club, we shall fulfill the agreed principles within the contract,” he said at Matugga-Mwererwe.

However the exciting and attacking midfielder Kokas Opejo who remarked on behalf of players said, the club is delighted for the coming of Yoshino Trading Company on board saying as players, they believe that the deal will boost their income and promised to be more committed in the coming season.

Japanese Ambassador to Uganda Kazuaki Kameda who expressed greatness to witness partnership of both companies said the deal will brings Uganda and Japan not only in sports but in a number of sectors.

The coming of Yoshino Trading Company adds up to three sponsors with Lato Milk and Fero who recently signed with the club.

Last season Matugga club last finished eighth on the log with 27 points behind vipers the league champions.

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