Finance minister Matia Kasaija has refuted reports that government is planning to borrow over Shs700 billion shillings to pay public servants’ salaries.

Addressing reporters at the Uganda Media Centre, Mr. Kasaija clarified that he submitted a proposal to Parliament, seeking for authority from the House to borrow additional Shs736 billion from the domestic financial market to finance the budget for FY 2017/18, of which Shs48 billion will go towards meeting shortfalls in civil servants salaries and wages.

“This money ( is to) meet the financing obligations of on-going infrastructure projects whose certificates will fall due this financial year as well as other statutory obligations such as wages,” Mr. Kasaija said.

Further, according to the minister, the borrowing is to mitigate the revenue shortfalls recorded at Shs324 billion in VAT, trade and excise taxes.

He also noted that borrowing will not have any significant impact on the private sector given that liquidity in the market currently amounts to two trillion shillings.

Last year government employees from different sectors including health and judiciary went on strike, demanding for salary enhancement and the improvement of their welfare and working conditions.

In response the government this year committed itself to addressing their concerns.

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The National Information Technology Authority Uganda (NITA-U) has been cleared to roll out the National Backbone Infrastructure (NBI) Missing Links Project, after the Authority’s top officials met and updated members of the Parliamentary Committee on ICT about the multi-billion venture.

Today’s meeting that cleared NITA-U to embark on the project was a follow-up on queries raised by Budadiri West MP Nathan Nandala Mafabi, who had sought information on the procurement details of the Missing Links Project undertaking hat involves the laying out of concentric rings connected through optical fiber cable that will ensure self-resilient National Communications Infrastructure.

During the interactive meeting, the Chairperson of the Parliamentary ICT Committee Annette Nyakecho noted that Paragraph 24.7 of the World Bank Guidelines 2014 bars NITA-U from sharing information in any form relating to the evaluation until the publication of the award of the contract.

She also welcomed views from the committee members on how to proceed in-light of two letters from the World Bank and the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority that provided guidance that the procurement was ongoing and the evaluation report wasn’t available to enable the investigation into the allegations made.

Consequently, Ms Nyakecho directed that NITA-U officials be invited back once the Missing Links procurement process had been concluded.

In response, NITA-U welcomed the development. ‘NITA-U welcomes this guidance from the Parliamentary ICT committee, World Bank and the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) as it will allow for the conclusion of the procurement process of the national strategic project, Missing Links,’ a February 20 release by the Authority reads in part.

Through NITA-U, the government of Uganda (GoU) is implementing the National Data Transmission Backbone Infrastructure and e-Government Infrastructure (NBI/EGI) project to connect all major towns across the country including Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies via an optical fiber cable network so as to reduce the cost of public administration, support delivery of secure e-Government services as well as enhance communications services in the country.

Following the successful completion of Phases I – III of the NBI/EGI Project, and to ensure the network is able to consistently provide 99.9%, the Missing Links project was started upon. The expected benefits of the Missing Links project include among other objectives, improving redundancy for the existing National Data Transmission Backbone Infrastructure (NBI) by creating more rings on the NBI and create redundant routes across the country.

Other objectives include extending the reach of the NBI/EGI to other major towns and regions that are not covered under the current scope of Phase I – III, and extending connectivity to the major border points across the country to achieve regional connectivity.

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Stiff competition in Uganda’s banking industry has forced commercial banks to cut their prime lending rates (PLR) in a bid to attract borrowers back to the banking halls which were hitherto aloof to most of the borrowers due to higher interest rates charged on loans.

The latest banks to announce the cutting of prime lending rates (PLR) are the Bank of India (BOI) and Standard Chartered Bank. BOI has cut its PLR to 18 percent per annum effective March 22 even though the bank says PLR in dollars will remain unchanged, which means importers will continue borrowing at that rate.

On the other hand, Standard Chartered has tabled 19.3 percent for shilling loans per annum effective March 15, 2017. The changes in interest rates come at the time when corporate companies are releasing their end year financial statements.

According to analysts, more banks will cut their PLRs but it is not clear whether Stanbic Bank, one of the biggest in the country by capitalization will further reduce its PRL as it has been charging shilling loans at 18 percent per annum.

Early February the Bank of Uganda (BoU) reduced the Central Bank Rate (CBR) by 50 basis points to 9.0 percent, this was according to a Monetary Policy Statement for February 2018 issued to the press in Kampala by Professor Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, the Governor Bank of Uganda.

“Given the objective of keeping inflation close to the target and the estimated spare capacity in the economy, a cautious easing of monetary policy is warranted to further boost private sector credit growth and to strengthen the economic growth momentum,” Prof. Mutebile said at the time.

The reduction of the CBR is supposed to entice commercial banks cut their PLRs so that more credit flows to the private sector for investments. Currently the average commercial bank interest rate is above 20 percent and is seen by analysts as too expensive for borrowers. Banks say non performing loans (NPLs) are part of the reasons for higher interest rates in Uganda.

But Prof. Mutebile in the February monetary statement said NPLs as a percentage of gross loans have declined from a peak of 10.5 percent in December 2016 to 5.6 percent in December 2017, which he added should support credit extension.

According to Prof. Mutebile, the growth of private sector credit in Uganda remains below historic levels and that the cost of credit remains relatively high for micro and small loans while the cost to corporates have declined.

However, Prof. Mutebile said there are indications of a revival in private investment activity; as reflected by the recovery of Foreign Direct Investment, which grew by 18.5 percent in 2017 compared to a decline of 30.5 percent in 2016. He added that shilling credit extended by 10.8 percent in December 2017 compared to 7.9 percent in December 2016.

He said that although public investment programmes could substantially raise output and be self-financing in the long run, “transitional challenges of funding these investments can be formidable and may crowd out private sector borrowing, thus delaying the growth benefits of public investment.

Commercial banks in Uganda have been accused of lending to government which gives them assurance to pay back through offering treasury bills and bonds. They also target salaried employees in corporate companies and the civil service, leaving out majority of the population engaged in agriculture and the general informal sector.

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Katonga Game Reserve that lies on the northern banks of River Katonga is to become the 11^th National Park in Uganda, according to officials at Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).

The Game Reserve that stretches over 210 square kilometres in Ibanda and Kamwenge districts was gazetted in 1998 but now UWA has started a drive to upgrade it to a national park to boost wildlife and tourism.

UWA’s Veterinary official Dr Patrick Atimnedi says Katonga is an additional tourism package which brings products closer to tourists, especially those from Kibaale National Park and the Rwenzori cluster.

Dr. Atimnedi has of recent been in the wilderness with other veterinarians, trans-locating zebras, topis and elands to Katonga, and the veterinarian says the antelope family arrival brings to life UWA’s dream of making Katonga an antelope epicentre.

The reserve already has an estimated 2,000 impalas, 1,000 bushbucks, 500 waterbucks and an unspecified number of the less known but globally attractive sitatunga – a local breed of swamp-dwelling antelope.

Katonga is also going to be Uganda’s third national park with zebras, and is expected to attract tourists with tight schedules.

In 2015 five zebras were introduced to the game reserve but UWA says, three of the five zebras walked 153km back to Mburo National Park.

The animals were then loaded onto trucks and driven to their new home. After the translocation of 46 zebras and about 30 topis, UWA took a group of journalists to see how the animals were adopting to their new home.

In a more than Shs5 billion investment plan, UWA intends to promote Katonga as the ‘source of the source of River Nile’, the longest river in the world.

Katonga and Kagera are the main rivers that pour into Lake Victoria, from which the Nile flows all the way to the Mediterranean Sea.

Katonga, a 220km-long river, is said to originate from Bihanga in Kamwenge district where three rivers – Kitonga, Mpanga and Rushango converge.

From there, Katonga flows in two directions; westwards to pour into Lake George and northwards into Lake Wamala in Mubende, and later into Lake Victoria to connect to River Nile.

“This is a [tourism] product we are seriously looking at because this offers a unique experience. Guests will take a walk along the river to the source of the source of the Nile and in the process view the sitatungas,” Dr. Atimnedi noted.

This is a 35km stretch of River Katonga and it will take a tourist about five days of activity-packed trek.

UWA has already secured the approval of the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and is waiting for the proposal to be endorsed by cabinet and later parliament so that Katonga can become a national park.

Other National Parks

UWA’s outgoing Executive Director Dr. Andrew Seguya, says 95 per cent of Uganda’s tourism resources are nature-based. Tourism contributes 10 per cent of Uganda’s GDP and is the country’s top foreign exchange earner.

Tourists favour Ugandan national parks because they offer a variety of species. While they all have a wide variety of wild animals, each has a special ‘X-factor’.

Murchison Falls National Park (Masindi/Nwoya)

Uganda’s biggest national park is arguably also its best-known, in part because of the magnificent falls that tourists can trek up for a more intimate experience. The Victoria Nile separates the park into the northern and southern banks, and Murchison also has some of the best accommodation facilities.

Lake Mburo National Park (Kiruhura)

This acacia-savannah park is favoured for its extensive wetland, birding, as well as trophy hunting, heavily controlled by UWA.

Queen Elizabeth National Park (Kasese)

With its Ishasha tree-climbing lions, shoebill stork, Kazinga Channel and Mweya peninsula, it is no wonder Queen Elizabeth is a very popular park.

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park (Kisoro)

Semliki National Park (Bundibugyo)

Situated on the floor of the Albertine rift valley, Semliki is famous for birding and primates. It boasts more than 400 bird species and 300 butterfly species and has hot springs.

Mt Rwenzori National Park (Kasese/Kabarole)

This is a mountain park, popular with climbers, and offers a rocky mountain experience, with a snow-capped peak.

Mt Elgon National Park (Mbale)

Where Rwenzori is rocky, climbing the Elgon is a forested affair. The forest changes and fascinates the higher one goes, with unique bamboo and other tree species. The breath-taking caves and waterfalls are

Covering three of the eight Virunga mountain volcanoes, Mgahinga gives both the mountaineering and gorilla tracking experiences.

Kidepo Valley National Park (Karamoja)

Kidepo is a savannah park loved for its pure, totally wild experience. It is also the Ugandan park with ostriches, cheetahs, not to mention the mountain-dwelling Ik community that makes for amazing visits.

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park (Kabale)

Where gorilla-tracking in Mgahinga gives the volcanic mountains experience, trekking through mountainous Bwindi’s dense tropical forest in search of the gorillas is a different ball game. The park was declared a UNESCO natural world heritage site in 1994.

Kibaale National Park (Kibaale)

When one thinks of chimpanzee tracking in Uganda, the first park in mind is this forested sanctuary in Tooro Kingdom.

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