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UTB to conduct a national grading and classification exercise for all tourism facilities in Uganda

By
Geoffery Serugo
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UTB to conduct a national grading and classification exercise for all tourism facilities in Uganda

Uganda Tourism Board is set to conduct a grading and classification exercise for all Tourism Facilities in the Country in line with new East African Community (EAC) standards.

The exercise has kicked off with a two-day refresher course for the 12 EAC-certified hotel assessors at Protea Hotel, Entebbe. The refresher course is to improve their skills ahead of the sensitive exercise that starts in May 2021. Between now and then, UTB will embark on a massive stakeholder sensitization exercise.

Addressing the assessors and media at Protea Hotel, Mrs. Susan Muhwezi, the UTB Board Vice-Chair and Chairperson of Uganda Hotels Owners Association (UHOA), commended UTB for working with the private sector members, such as UHOA in the grading and classification exercise, that she said, was very vital to the recovery of Uganda’s tourism sector.

“Most tourists especially foreigners value the stars of the hotel they are booking and they always look forward to experiencing the standards of the indicated star of a particular hotel,” she said, urging the assessors to be diligent in their work and to follow the set procedures and standards.

Mrs Muhwezi pledged her support during this exercise as both the UTB Board Vice-Chair and the Chairperson of the Uganda Hotels Owners Association.

The East African Community, standards criteria for classification of hotels, restaurants and other tourist facilities were gazetted in 2009 to encourage and maintain quality standards in products and services being delivered to tourists in East Africa.The standards were institutionalized under the Tourism Regulations 2008.

The standards include:

Classification Criteria for Lodges

Classification criteria for Motels

Classification Criteria for Restaurants

Classification Criteria for Guesthouses

Classification Criteria for Tented Camps

Classification Criteria for Town hotels

Classification Criteria for Vacation Hotels

Classification Criteria for Villas, Cottages and serviced apartments

Since the release of the criteria, Uganda has been able to classify 121 accommodation facilities. The exercise was last conducted in 2017.

According to Ms. Lilly Ajarova, the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) Chief Executive Officer, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdown measures, the next round of assessment which was scheduled to commence from the end of FY 2019/20 was postponed to FY2020/21.

“The star-rating we give during the grading and classification has a life span of 2 years meaning that all facilities that were graded can no longer identify themselves with the star rating they were awarded with because it expired, and this means that currently Uganda does not have any graded facilities.Due to Covid-19, a number of facilities’ standards have gone down, so this exercise is important for safeguarding the standards in the sector and the competitiveness of Destination Uganda,” she said.

“UTB’S decision to conduct classification envisions transforming the tourism sector into “one of the top long-haul tourist destinations that offer a high-value, diverse and distinct visitor experience,” she added.

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MPs demand for action against BoU officials implicated in the sale of seven defunct banks

By
Our Reporter
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Mr. Sekabira

MPs have continued to demand for the action against Bank of Uganda (BoU) officials who were implicated in the sale and acquisition of seven defunct banks.

In 2018, MPs on parliamentary Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) made the recommendation in their report following a recent probe of BoU on the closure of seven banks such as; Teefe Trust Bank, Greenland Bank, International Credit Bank, Cooperative Bank, National Bank of Commerce, Global Trust Bank Uganda and Crane Bank Limited. The banks were controversially closed between 1993 and October 2016.

The report recommended that the Bank of Uganda (BoU) Governor Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile and his deputy Dr Louis Kasekende be sacked from the Central Bank’s Board of Directors if the institution is to run its operations efficiently in the future.

The MPs in their report say that much as Article 161 (4), provides that the Governor and deputy Governor shall be Chairperson and Vice Chairperson respectively, good governance principles would require that the position of the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the board is separated from the position of the Chief Executive Officer (Tumusiime-Mutebile) and his deputy (Kasekende).

“It is the recommendation of this committee (COSASE) therefore, that Article 161 (4) be reviewed to separate the offices of the leadership of the Board and top management of BoU,” the report partly says.

In tandem the office of leader of opposition made several recommendations which included the naming and individually holding bank accountable for the mess exhibited in the sale and acquisition banks.

Among the officials mentioned as not doing their work and they should have done, are the current Ben Sekabira, Director Financial Markets Development Coordination and Edward Katimbo Mugwanya, who was the statutory manager of CBL. Sekabira’s matter was forwarded to the Police CID investigation.

Ms Bagyenda was heavily involved in the controversial closure and sale of Crane Bank Limited (CBL) to its rival Dfcu Bank in January 2017 at Shs 200 billion paid in installments, the central bank, having spent Shs478 billions of taxpayers’ on CBL before it sold it to Dfcu Bank.

Others heavily mentioned for failure to adhere to the FIA procedures are Governor Emmanuel Mutebile and his deputy Dr. Louis Kasekende. Parliament however asked police other agencies to act against the bank officials.

To date, no BoU official has been arrested or prosecuted in courts of law. Munira Ali spokesperson of the Inspectorate of Government (IG) said that Inspectorate of Government (IG) is not investigating any case in relation to the Parliament recommendations on closure of commercial banks.

“We have not carried out any investigations about that. We have not done anything because that would have been Parliament to forward to us but they did not.”

Recently, police’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations (CID) spokesperson Charles Twine confirmed that the officials are under investigations however he didn’t delve into details.

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Construction of Katosi Water Treatment Plant System at 95%

By
Our Reporter
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Katosi Water Treatment Plant System

The Government of Uganda through National Water and Sewerage corporation (NWSC) is putting final touches on a new water treatment plant in Katosi, Mukono district.

Works on the 240 million litres per day water production plant are near completion with 95 percent of project works completed. The new plant will serve over 7.5million people in Kampala, Wakiso and Mukono up to 2040.

According to NWSC Director Engineering Services, Eng Alex Gisagara, system tests for the new plant have commenced Testing and commissioning of different Plant electrical control units.

Eng Denis Taremwa, the Project Manager, said that works are on course with the first drop of water expected to reach the new Nsumba water reservoirs by the end of April 2021.

The Deputy Managing Director Technical Services Eng. Johnson Amayo said that the utility is moving away from the traditional treatment of water by sedimentation to the use of dissolved air floatation, in order to deal with the problem of increasing algae on Lake Victoria.

“Upon completion, the Katosi plant will be the first and biggest plant in East and Central Africa using the AquaDAF and AquaZur technologies,” he said.

The state of the art plant shall incorporate water recycling and sludge thickening to minimise plant losses and promote environmental conservation.

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Uganda Cup 2021: Round of 32 draws held

By
Our Reporter
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Uganda cup trophy

The 2021 Stanbic Uganda Cup round of 32 draw has been held at FUFA House on Tuesday, 30th March 2021.

The draw was overseen by the FUFA Competitions Director Aisha Nalule who was flanked by the FUFA Deputy CEO-Services Humphrey Mandu Watenga and FUFA Communications Director Ahmed Hussein.

The sponsors were also ably represented by Sonia Karamagi (Director of Marketing and Communications) and Daniel Kayongo (Kansai Plascon Marketing).

The first and second legs of the round of 32 matches will be played between 5th and 12th April 2021.

The tournament is sponsored by Stanbic Bank as the headline sponsor, partnered by Kansai Plascon.

Last season’s Uganda Cup was ended prematurely at the quarter-final stage by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Complete Draws:

Terrazo and Tiles Vs Maroons – Kakyeka Stadium

Onduparaka Vs Luwero United – AbaBet Green Light Stadium, Arua

Vipers Vs Busoga United – St Mary’s Stadium, Kitende

Water Vs Wakiso Giants – Kavumba Recreational Stadium, Wakiso

Kitara Vs Kigezi Home Boyz – Kavumba Recreational Stadium, Wakiso

Blacks Power Vs BUL – Bukedea Town Council

KCCA Vs Nyamityobora – MTN Omondi Stadium

Gaddafi Vs Mbale Heroes – Kyabazinga Stadium, Bugembe – Jinja

Proline Vs MYDA – MTN Omondi Stadium, Lugogo

Kyetume Vs Express – FUFA Technical Center, Njeru

Kataka Vs Tooro United – Mbale Municipal Stadium

Paidha Black Angels Vs Soltilo Bright Stars – Bar Okoro Stadium, Zombo

URA Vs Mbarara City – Arena of Visions Stadium, Ndejje University

Police Vs Calvary – MTN Omondi Stadium, Lugogo

Arua Hill Vs UPDF – Barifa Stadium, Arua

SC Villa Vs Ndejje University – Army Military Stadium, Bombo

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Makerere scraps 18 programmes as the University restructures

By
Our Reporter
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Makerere-University

Makerere University has phased out 18 undergraduate programmes following Council approval of restructuring the education institution.

In a letter issued by the Makerere University Vice Chancellor’s Office, the institution has announced that the affected programs are not to be advertised in the next academic year of 2021/2022.

The affected programs are; Bachelor of Library and Information Sciences, Bachelor of Archives and Records Management, Bachelor of Science in Construction Management, Bachelor of Community Psychology, Bachelor of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, Bachelor of Arts in Development Economics, Bachelor of Science in Telecommunication Engineering, Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering.

Others are; Bachelor of Environmental Science, Bachelor of science in Meteoroly, Bachelor of Development studies, Bachelor of Adult and Community Education, Bachelor of Business Statistics, Bachelor of science in Population studies, Bachelor science in quantitative Economics, Bachelor of science in Wildlife Health and Management, Bachelor of science in Agricultural Land Use and Management and Bachelor of science in Horticulture.

According to the letter, all College Principals are expected to submit curricula for the re-structed programmes for consideration by Senate not later than 15th May 2021.

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Roke Telkom launches free internet usage through express Wi-Fi internet service

By
Our Reporter
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Internet in Uganda

ROKE Telkom, a Ugandan home-grown public service provider for voice and data communications services has announced an additional cost-free time for its signature Express Wi-Fi internet service.

This is following a recent announcement of the telecom’s partnership with Facebook to provide high-speed internet to millions of Ugandans in October last year.

In this new campaign, the users of the Express Wi-Fi service will enjoy an extra gratuitous 30 minutes every day for 12 days.

Michael Mukasa, the Chief Commercial Officer at ROKE Telkom said that the principal goal of launching Express Wi-Fi was to offer a more diversified set of services including; promotional offers, while charging for some, to improve our customers’ experiences and position ROKE Telkom as a frontrunner in making internet more affordable and accessible.

“Today, we announce this offer as a part of our overall strategic plan to extend the internet to Ugandans. Because users of these services are always on the go, it is best that they can access internet services anywhere and at any time,” he commented.

ROKE Telkom has been at the helm of providing affordable, reliable, and fast internet for Ugandans for the past 15 years. With over 600 Rokespots, many people including those in the remote regions of the country have had a chance to experience uninterrupted internet connectivity.

“We pledge our unwavering commitment to continue innovating as we remain at the center of this country-wide transformation in steering Uganda to world-class efficiency and productivity in the communication and technology sector,” Michelle Baine, the Brand Manager, ROKE Telkom stated.

This offer will run from the 29th of March, 2021 to the 11th of April, 2021. During this time, users will have free 30 minutes of usage everyday on all Rokespots countrywide.

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Op-ed: Safeguard the girl child from defilement

By
Guest Writer
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Brenda Asiimwe

Violated by the same people that ought to protect them, what is the fate of the Ugandan girl child? Daily Monitor on 25th March reported over 1,000 girls to have been defiled with 200 victims having been abused by their fathers.

It’s not stressed enough how children ought to be protected by their parents/caregivers but what if the child’s enemy lives under the same roof under the guise of a parent?

The United Convention on the Rights of the Child advocates for all appropriate legislative, administrative, social, and educational measures to protect children from all forms of violence including defilement and sexual abuse. Additionally, the UN Sustainable Development Goals set an agenda for global human development endeavors from 2015–2030 in which they acknowledged defilement as a fundamental obstacle to the health of the children and society as a whole.

Going by the SDG targets, we should not still be having such a high number of cases of defilement in 2021.

Today’s parents are busier than ever with work or running businesses that little time is left to fend to children’s needs or notice when a child’s behavior changes. During the COVID19 lockdown last year, parents and caregivers had unrivaled time to spend time with children.  Child Protection Specialists stressed the need for parents to be deliberate about spending time with children, to bond with them, to strengthen parent-child trust so that children feel safe to report any unbecoming behavior towards them. It was also stressed that if parents are keen and pay attention to children, they would notice cries for help, even the nonverbal cues exhibited through a change of behavior such as when a child who is normally bubbly becomes withdrawn or violent among other traits that would depict that the child is battling something within.

This is where the aspect of work, life, and family balance comes into play. When a parent concentrates and spends more time working, in the long run, children are neglected putting them at risk of being abused.

Research conducted on psychosocial outcomes among children affected by defilement from Nairobi suburbs, Kenya, established that victims develop depression. Accordingly, caretakers/parents reported that children affected showed persistent anxiety, fears, feelings of hopelessness, and depressive symptoms like anger, irritability, sleep changes, and loss of interest in daily activities.

I also recently read a story from Facebook of a woman whose sister was defiled by their father when they were young. The sister had never disclosed this information until recently in adulthood when she decided to confide in her sister adding that she was going to kill their father for what he had done to her as a child.

This is one example of the extent of the trauma, defilement victims carry with them especially if they are not supported to deal with the turmoil of emotions earlier on through proven methods like counseling and psychotherapy.

Another study online indicates that children rarely disclose sexual abuse immediately after the event. In case of lack of visible harm on the child, caregivers/parents who are not highly observant to subtle changes exhibited by children, the defilement may go undetected.

Unfortunately, we also live in a society where children are easily ignored or brushed off to be making up stories when they report cases of defilement. This is in addition to people being more mindful of protecting their family reputations more than addressing the bigger challenge at hand which ought to be ensuring the child’s safety going forward and ensuring that they get the necessary support. It’s also difficult for a child to confide in their parent/caregiver when the relationship between them is one of fear and intimidation. Child protection specialists stress the need for parents/caregivers to bond with their children to create an atmosphere where a child can confide in them.

We need to adopt a culture of listening to children and believing them when they report situations that make them uncomfortable. A society where perpetrators of sexual violence against children go unpunished is no safe place for children and especially the girl child to achieve their full potential.

Securing our future is more than having loads of money in the bank, it is in creating an environment where children can thrive, right from their homes to the outside world beyond their homes. While the government has a mandate towards the safeguarding of children, the primary role of protecting children lies with parents/caregivers. If parents are not checking in with their children to see how they are doing, that’s how abuse such as defilement goes undetected and unreported with offenders left to continue abusing more children.

Brenda Asiimwe,

Communications Officer, ChildFund International

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Absa Bank Uganda appoints two directors to facilitate bank activities

By
Our Reporter
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Albert Byaruhanga as Business Banking Director

Absa Bank Uganda has appointed Albert Byaruhanga as Business Banking Director and Helen Basuuta Nangonzi as the Marketing and Customer Experience Director.

Previously, Albert served as Head of Commercial Banking unit and Relationship Manager in the Corporate Department at Absa Bank Uganda and Head of Business Banking for two years.

He is a seasoned banker with 18 years’ experience working with various financial institutions including United Bank of Africa, Standard Chartered Bank and now Absa Bank Uganda.

He holds a Bachelor‘s Degree in Commerce from Makerere University Business School, a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Management from UMI and is currently pursuing his MBA from Herriot-Watt University, Edinburgh Business School.

Helen Basuuta Nangonzi as the Marketing and Customer Experience Director.

In tandem, the bank appointed Helen Basuuta Nangonzi to the position of Marketing and Customer Experience Director.

Prior to joining Absa, Helen was the Head – Corporate Affairs, Brand and Marketing for East Africa at Standard Chartered Bank. She also served as Head of Corporate Affairs, Brand and Marketing for Standard Chartered Uganda.

Helen has a wealth of experience gained over a 14-year career in Product Development, Brand Management, Corporate Relations, Marketing, Client Experience, Administration, Sustainability, and Human Resource Management.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Sciences – First Class (Hons) and an Executive MBA attained from ESAMI (Eastern and Southern Africa Management Institute).

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Tourism ministry, UWA, UTB resolve to boost security and fight illegal poaching in National Parks

By
Our Reporter
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Lions

The Tourism Ministry, UWA, UTB, security agencies and local communities in Kanungu have resolved to strengthen their working relationship to protect lions and other animals in Queen Elizabeth National Park.

This followed a fact-finding meeting, convened at Enjojo Lodge, to establish the circumstances, surrounding the gruesome killing of six tree-climbing lions, on the 19th of March 2021.

Four men suspected to have been involved in the killings are currently in police custody in Kampala. They were arrested by a joint security operation of UWA, Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), and the Uganda Police, helped by the local community who identified the suspects.

The meeting resolved to reinforce the working relationship between the UWA rangers, UPDF, Police, and the local councils to make sure the security of the national park is stronger. They also committed to create awareness through sensitization within the communities to ensure that they appreciate the need to protect the wild animals as well as understand how to address their conflicts to UWA.

The Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities Col. Rtd. Butime said that Wildlife poaching is a criminal offence that remains punishable by the courts of law.

He assured domestic and foreign tourists that despite the loss of the six lions, Uganda still had plenty of lions in Queen Elizabeth National Park and other national parks.

“Let this not discourage you from exploring our national parks that are also full of other animals aside from the lions like over 5000 elephants, 2000 buffalos, 800 giraffes, birds, and many more,” he said.

Mr. Sam Mwandha, the executive director of Uganda wildLife authority (UWA) applauded the security agencies and local community members who worked with the UWA rangers to have the suspects arrested.

He lauded all the stakeholders for coming together to work out an even stronger mechanism to ensure the safety of both the animals and that of the livelihoods of the communities.

“Arresting the suspects involved in the killing of the lions required collaboration between ourselves, the UPDF, the police, the local council leaders and that, we have agreed that we will strengthen. We will also work together to create awareness among the communities to ensure that they appreciate the need for not getting into the park, not killing the wildlife, and then raising their issues with us so that we can be able to address them as Uganda Wildlife Authority,” he said.

He said, there was a need to ensure that the revenue that UWA shares with the communities is appropriately used and that the communities benefit from the money.

Mr. Ssekandi the Kanungu District RDC said it had been established through confessions that the killers, who are residents in communities neighbouring the park, had been offered between Shs 40,000 to Shs 80,000 for each lion’s head by the buyers.

“The caught culprits did confirm killing the six Lions and explained that they first poisoned them before mutilating them into pieces. Body parts were discovered in the suspects’ houses while other body parts were found hidden within the park,” he said

 “Investigations are still ongoing, and the Kanungu District leaders are optimistic that all people involved in this act will be caught,” he said adding, that by the time the suspects were arrested, they had not yet received their payment from the yet-to-be-identified buyers.

The RDC also said that although unrelated to the killing of lions, human-wildlife conflict is rife, characterized by animals destroying their crops as well as preying on their domestic animals like goats.

Lilly Ajarova, the UTB CEO, reiterated the need by communities to conserve and protect the animals and other species that contribute to the Tourism Sector.

“As an agency philosophically driven by tourism sustainability, we are in a joint effort with the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities, Tourism Agencies, Local Leaders as well as the Tourism Police in getting to the bottom of the matter at hand and seek justice for the dead lions and curb the criminals of the offence who will be sentenced accordingly,” she said.

She said the death of the lions at this particular time when the tourism sector was reeling from the effects of Covid-19 was regrettable.

“The UNWTO declared 2020 as the worst year in tourism history, with arrivals declining by 1 billion visitors translating into a 74% decline. With 2021 showing optimism, we need to preserve and conserve our tourist attractions to be able to regain what we lost in 2020 and get the sector back to its glory days,” she told the meeting.

“UTB has been doing different Destination Uganda campaigns both domestic and foreign to reboot tourism in the country with The Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo being ongoing and is set to happen from the 27th to the 29th of April. She urged people to endeavour to attend as it will connect business to business as well as business to consumers,” she added.

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Former UTODA Chairman Hajji Musa Katongole dead

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Katongole

The former chairman of Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association (UTODA), Hajji Musa Katongole has passed on. His death was confirmed by the Kawempe North MP Latif Ssebagala Sengendo.

Katongole was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at TMR International Hospital in Naalya, a Kampala suburb after he returned from Thailand.

For over 25 years, UTODA was managing tax parks and taxi business in Kampala till 2011 when the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) under the leadership of Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago declined to renew his contract.

Hajji Katongole was one of the shareholders in Awakula Ennume transport services operating a fleet of buses.  He is expected to be laid to rest at his father’s home in Kasangati.

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