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Parliament’s Appointments Committee to vet Mutebile as Governor BoU and IGP Okoth Ochola

By
Our Reporter
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Mutebile and Ochola to be vetted

Parliament’s Appointments Committee chaired by the Speaker Rebecca Kadaga is today expected to vet Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile as Governor Bank of Uganda (BoU) and Martin Okoth Ochola for another term as the Inspector General of Police (IGP).

Mutebile’s contract ended on 14th January, serving for 20 years as Governor of BoU. During his tenure, he presided over dubious activities which tainted the image of the Bank. In January, Museveni extended Mutebile’s term in office for another five years.

It should be recalled that in February 2018 Tumusiime-Mutebile made staff changes where he replaced former executive director of supervision Justine Bagyenda with Dr. Tumubweine Twinemanzi.

President Yoweri Museveni later appointed a committee to investigate staff changes. Later it was established that Tumusiime-Mutebile made some transfers and appointed Twinemanzi without consulting other members of the BoU board, a decision they said was wrong as the governor had no powers to make changes single handedly.

Worse still, most of the staff head picked by the governor did not meet the qualifications and experience required for the jobs. For instance, Dr. Tumubweine does not have any experience in commercial banking.

Martin Okoth Ochola was appointed IGP in March 2018, replacing Gen Kale Kayihura who he deputized for seven years. During his tenure, the country has witnesses arbitrary arrests of people and clobbering of journalists covering opposition politicians.

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NUP’s John Mbaziira elected Kyambogo University Guild President

By
Geoffery Serugo
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NUP's John Mbaziira

The National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate John Mbaziira has been elected Kyambogo University Guild President.

Mbaziira’s photo did not appear on all the ballot papers that were printed by the Kyambogo University Electoral Commission. The University administration rejected his pictures with red beret and asked him to submit new pictures which he declined.

Despite arresting him and his supporters, Mbaziira won the highly contested election after he garnered 4,372 out of 9,069 votes cast.

Mbaziira polled 4,372 votes followed by Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) aspirant Trust Mugisha with 3,638 while NRM’s Tayebwa Jonathan came with 750 votes.

Candidates in the race included; Mugisha Trust Nduwayo of FDC Tayebwa Jonathan of NRM, Kigaye Collin (Independent), Ssubi Julius Ceaser (Independent), Onai Emmanuel Peter, Mugeni Sharifu (Independent) and Markmort Daniel who later joined Mbaziira.

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UTB marks International Women’s Day with ‘Take on the Pearl Campaign’ trip

By
Our Reporter
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Game-drive in Murchison

Uganda Tourism Board marked international women’s day with ‘take on the pearl campaign’ trip under the theme ‘Women in leadership’: achieving an equal future in a Covid-19 world through its current digital campaign dubbed Take on the pearl with love.

A group of six women were flagged off on 5th March, 2021 from the Talent Africa offices in Kamwokya amidst excitement and jubilations as they boarded the van and set off to MurchisonFalls National Park, Uganda’s largest and oldest conservation area, hosting 76 species of animals and 451 birds.

The group included two winners Tamara Nanfuka and Joan Hiring who each brought along two friends including Zena Gram, Aminah Nakakande, Brenda and Viola Nina.

 The group checked into the hotel late in the evening and thereafter concluded the day with an outdoor dinner, under the stars, at Sambiya River Lodge in Murchison Falls National Park.

“The first day was fun as I have never travelled this far from home so I kept on looking at the scenery along the way, am tired but excited about the long weekend ahead,” said Aminah Nakakande, one of the friends to the winners.

On 6th March, 2021, the group of women started the day with breakfast at Sambiya River Lodge followed by a morning game drive in the southern bank, swimming, relaxing and taking nature walks followed by a boat cruise after lunch and a candlelit dinner at night.

“When they told us that we were going for a game drive, I did not know that we were going to see the animals up close, I even feared that the lions could come close and eat us but the game rangers were so nice and assured us they wouldn’t. I have a lot to tell my family when I return back home,” Joan Hiring continued to explain as she talked about her day.

Murchison Falls, which is one of the places that were visited on day two is also known as Kabalega Falls, is a waterfall between Lake Kyoga and Lake Albert. At the top of Murchison Falls, the Nile forces its way through a gap in the rocks, before flowing westward into Lake Albert.

The third day of the trip was highlighted with a picnic in the wild and open discussions about women given that it was a women’s day weekend.

The goal of this picnic was to let these women discuss some of the challenges that they face as women and how they have overcome them as well as devise means on how to help women out there who do not have access to this information.

“As women we go through a lot, these days we are both the mothers and fathers since men have neglected their roles in a home. I am therefore very grateful to UTB for bringing me on such a trip because I would never have afforded it, thank you so much. This has been the highlight of my year so far,” Tamarah Nanfuka, one of the winners of the trip exclaimed as she gave details about the picnic they had.

“March is internationally recognized as a women’s month, and this is the same for us as UTB, we would like to use this month to appreciate the mothers of the nation. Therefore, using our current digital campaign Take on the pearl with love to do this is a bonus for us, am glad that the participants for the 3rd trip have enjoyed themselves and we look forward to more winners,” said Claire Mugabi the Marketing Manager UTB

Day three of the trip ended with performances from Dance Master Academy of Northern Uganda who performed the Bwola dance, Dingi-Dingi, Laraka – Raka and Ajere dance. And of course, our winners couldn’t resist the urge to join in!

The winners’ trip was concluded on Monday 8th March, 2021 as they set off from Heritage Safari lodge at 11am and headed back to Kampala.

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Shs311 billion funds for #Covid-19 mismanaged – Auditor General

By
Our Reporter
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The Auditor General, John Muwanga

The Auditor General has revealed that there was financial indiscipline in the utilisation of shs311 billion disbursed to Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs) and districts for Covid-19 interventions.

The Auditor General, John Muwanga presented the audit report for financial year 2019/2020 to Speaker Rebecca Kadaga, on Thursday, 11 March 2021.

According to the report, Government interventions towards the management of Covid-19 pandemic was shs4.36 trillion. The funds were raised from loans, donations and grants.

However, the Deputy Auditor General, Keto Nyapendi Kayemba says that the report focuses on funds totaling shs311 billion comprising of shs284 billion disbursed to the MDAs and districts, shs27 billion released from the Contingency Fund and the in-kind donations received by the various entities.

According to a summary of the findings, shs6.68 billion out of the shs284 billion that came directly from the Consolidated Fund was not utilised at the close of the financial year and returned to the Consolidated Fund.

“This affected the implementation of the planned activities. Contrary to the Secretary to Treasury’s guidance to bank the funds intact, shs850 million out of shs17.24 billion total cash donations were utilised at source in 56 entities. The balance was banked on designated accounts of the entities,” reads the report in part.

Muwanga adds that a total of 25 entities undertook Covid-19 related procurements worth shs143.84 billion without fully adhering to the procurement rules and regulations. Some of the observed anomalies include irregular use of direct procurements, procurements without signed contracts, late delivery of goods, payment before receiving goods and failure to involve the contracts committee.

Parliament also learnt that shs1.31 billion disbursed to 17 entities remained unaccounted for at the time of audit.

“I therefore, could not establish whether the funds were put to proper use. 94 out of 135 entities that received donations in kind did not undertake valuations contrary to the Treasury Instructions, 2017 while 69 entities did not record the donated items in the stores. This resulted into misstatement of financial statement balances,” says Muwanga.

Muwanga further notes that items valued at shs55.8 billion were distributed under the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) but lacked sufficient evidence of acknowledgement to enable him verify the recipients.

Muwanga advised government to initiate measures to raise preparedness for management of emergency situations.

Speaker Rebecca Kadaga said that Parliament did what it could to support government in the country’s Covid-19 response although in some instances the institution felt unsatisfied.

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Bebe Cool disappointed with gov’t as son misses UCE exams while on national duty

By
Our Reporter
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Alpha Ssali

Musician Moses Ssali commonly known as Bebe Cool is not happy with the Ugandan government after denying his son and other players of the Uganda U-20 to sit for their senior 4 examinations which they missed while out on national duty at the AFCON U-20 tournament.

Bebe Cool’s son Alpha Thierry Ssali was part of the Uganda Hippos football team that finished second place at the recently concluded U20 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Mauritania losing out to Ghana in the final.

The Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations started on 1st March while the U20 football team was already in Mauritania.

Through his Facebook page, Bebe expressed his frustration as he questioned government’s planning for the children who were representing the country in the football tournaments.

Below is Bebe Cool’s statement;

Really big disappointment with the Uganda government and the Ministry of Education and Sports in particular on how they have handled the issue of missing Senior Four (S4) final exams by the young talented football players who have been/are on continental duty with the U-20 and U-17 Uganda National teams.

It’s unfortunate that this government has never had plans to support each and every educated person by giving them a job after their tertiary education. So I believe the youths who push thier talents to turn them into a lifetime career/self-employment would be seen as an advantage, hence supported at all costs.

Ten years ago, my son (who represented Uganda at the just concluded U-20 continental championship), my wife and I sat down and agreed that he (my boy, Alpha) would be a football player.

As parents, we agreed to support him in his football journey.

And the journey begun at Proline Football Club with coach Mujib Kasule, and sometimes supported by Edgar Watson at Edgar’s Football Academy.

We then saw that the biggest problem of our Ugandan players was to drop out of school for soccer. Therefore, we designed a programme for the boy that his education was to support his talent.

He would be involved in both co-currently.

We also noticed that most footballers come from poor families hence they drop out of school to focus on the little pay they earn to sustain thier families, yet football careers end by 38 years for most players.

Football in Uganda collects so many youths mainly those who can’t go to school and also many who drop out.

I would have expected government to by now have found a way to work with these young people and find a way to support their education programs without interfering with their blossoming sporting careers, to see that they achieve a required level of education that can sustain them after their careers and also help them know how to invest the little money they make during thier careers.

Parents struggle to pay school fees for these kids, the kids dreams are to be professional players, to represent their country and win for their clubs, this making their nation’s pround.

How could you have thought they could choose exams over representing their flag?

And after representing their flag, can’t their flag (country) support them by organising special exams so that their parents don’t pay an extra year of fees. And ofcourse the time wasted.

This will happen over and over again in netball, cricket, athletics, basketball and many other sports.

I therefore wish to express my disappointment and disamy that my son Alpha Thierry Ssali and other boys (7 altogether) who represented Uganda will not be sitting their final S.4 exams.

To say I’m hugely disappointed is an understatement.

I call upon the Minister of Education to review this issue urgently.

Call the parents of the involved children and forge a way forward so that next time this happens, there’s a sort of programme to support national team players and by this our players won’t lose out on education.

For God and My Country.

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People vaccinated with with AstraZeneca #Covid-19 drug develop blood clots

By
Our Reporter and Agencies
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A health worker gets ready to vaccinate.

Denmark and other countries have temporarily suspended AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine shots after reports of cases of blood clots forming, including one in Denmark, Danish authorities said on Thursday.

They did not say how many reports of blood clots there had been, but Austria has stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism.

It is the same drug that Uganda government is using to vaccinate its citizens against #Covid-19.

They said six other European countries had halted the use of a vaccine batch from AstraZeneca.

“Both we and the Danish Medicines Agency have to respond to reports of possible serious side-effects, both from Denmark and other European countries,” the director of the Danish Health Authority, Soren Brostrom, said in a statement.

The vaccine would be suspended for 14 days, the health agency said. It did not give details of the Danish blood clot patient.

AstraZeneca has said its shots are subject to strict and rigorous quality controls and that there have been “no confirmed serious adverse events associated with the vaccine”. It said it was in contact with Austrian authorities and would fully support their investigation.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Wednesday there was no evidence so far linking AstraZeneca to the two cases in Austria.

It said the number of thromboembolic events – marked by the formation of blood clots – in people who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine is no higher than that seen in the general population, with 22 cases of such events being reported among the 3 million people who have received it as of March 9.

The Danish Medicines Agency said it had launched an investigation into the vaccine together with corresponding agencies in other EU-countries as well as EMA.

“It is important to emphasise that we have not opted out of using the AstraZeneca vaccine, but that we are putting it on hold,” Brostrom said.

The agency said it had pushed back the final date for when it expects all Danes to have been fully vaccinated by four weeks to Aug. 15 as a result of the vaccine suspension.

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Bobi Wine’s was an implausible election petition

By
Guest Writer
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Ambassador Henry Mayega

As it turned out, Bobi Wine’s petition against the re-election of President Yoweri Museveni in the just concluded polls was bound to suffer a still-birth anyway; and that wasn’t without reasons as we will enumerate shortly; but to begin with, the prelude to the January 14, 2021 general elections was punctuated with outlandish deportment and a general lack of respect for the rule of law on the part of NUP’s supremo and his rank and file. And so, when, in recalcitrant and vulgar tirades unseen before in Uganda’s body politic, Bobi Wine and his lawyers came out strangely tongue-wagging against real and imagined political foes, they ended up not sparing even the esteemed inhabitants of our country’s highest temple of justice – the Justices of the Supreme Court!

From then on, calibrating the deportment of Bobi Wine and his ilk wasn’t a daunting task; theirs was predictable, overly assuming and outrightly arrogant. One thing was, particularly, not known to them though; politics is different from theatrics where crudity is a norm and signature. The despicable sectarian violence they meted out on NRM-supporters and PSVs plying the western route was part of that crudity. Handlers of intel services spoke of some youth harvested recently who were being trained in acts of terrorism to engineer an insurrection during the election season.

Firstly, outside that crudity, Bobi Wine’s so-called evidence was riddled with discrepancies between the signatures on the affidavits submitted to the Supreme Court and NIIRA’s data bank that ideally has all nationals’ autographs. Uganda’s writing expert, Silvia Chelangat confirmed that misdemeanour that ten out of fifteen affidavits had forged signatures. That perjury and uttering false documents by an aspiring national leader, if I recall, attracts a handsome sentence for the perpetrator in our land. That indelible forgery blight has been recorded in history to live with the petitioner into his future political career. Relatedly, it couldn’t stand on the floor of the court; it was bound to collapse like a house of cards at a flick of a child’s finger.

Secondly, the heap of the so-called election petition evidence was a pack of falsifications and that is partly why it couldn’t even be snail-paced to the Supreme Court premises promptly as the petitioner busied himself with inter-switching his supervisors for polling agents (as petitioners) on paper between far flung locations; the petitioner kept duping the public by complaining about inadequate time for collecting the requisite evidence, the impartiality of some justices and the incarceration of some of his witnesses many of whom were more-over immobilized as far back as the November 2020 riots to keep the Ugandan voter from harm’s way. That tempestuous situation was instigated by NUP goons. President Yoweri Museveni was re-elected on January 14, 2021 well after those upheavals. It should be recalled that the petitioner was severally given extra time by the Supreme Court to present “more evidence” he claimed he had to no avail.

Thirdly, Bobi Wine’s legal bunch were mere moonlight as compared to the sunlight of President Yoweri Museveni’s. It was all about a game of inexperience against experience and nymphs against a strapper. The legal teams of the President, the EC and the Attorney General have been in politically charged legal trenches umpteen times that it was only a matter of time before they dropped the gauntlet. A little bit of that was seen when the respondents’ lawyers shredded the petitioner’s “evidence” on March 4, 2021; that must have profoundly unnerved Bobi Wine’s legal squad and chilled their spines!

Fourthly, the ministry of health had, earlier, issued standard operating procedures in order to stem the COVID 19 pandemic that has ravaged the entire globe including the western hemisphere that has not lacked proclivity to lecture us about democracy! Bobi Wine and his ilk flouted those SOPs throughout the campaign period. Surprisingly, he had cogitated using the SOP restrictions to advance his petition! Was the petitioner and his lawyers surprised, therefore, that the Supreme Court Judges observed the SOPs including wearing masks and social distancing throughout the hearing of Uganda’s shortest and still-birthed legal-political case? The matter of violating the SOPs by Bobi Wine and other opposition oligarchs was robustly raised by the respondents’ lawyers; forget about the EU’s and US’s misplaced and exasperating outbursts that the Yoweri Museveni administration used those restrictions to debar citizens’ freedoms.

It is crystal clear that Bobi Wine was only after a public relations stunt before his western foreign funders, regional anarchists as well as appeasing his domestic constituency with a post-election-loss pain killer – the petition. The very election he grumbled about, gave him a win in Buganda although he was aided by negative and sectarian social media-mongering plus; the judicial system he disparaged had earlier adjudicated him into parliament as an MP for Kyadondo North.

Fifthly, his incessant falsities about how the restrictions imposed on him impeded the advancement of his petition fell flat after respondents’ lawyers countered them on the floor of court with evidence that he had unfettered communication with his lawyers throughout the court process.

Ambassador Henry Mayega

Deputy Head of Mission

Uganda Embassy

Abu Dhabi, UAE

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Disregard the fake video on vaccination – Ministry of Health

By
Our Reporter
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covid vaccine

The Ministry of Health has urged Ugandans to disregard the fake video circulating allover social media showing that Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng was not vaccinated against #Covid-19 yesterday.

“Attention of the  Ministry of Health been drawn to manipulated videos on the COVID-19 Vaccination  launch event that took place yesterday, 10th March, 2021,” the ministry’s senior Public Relations Officer Emmanuel Ainebyoona said in a statement.

“It is very unfortunate that some unscrupulous individuals have embarked on creating deep fake videos and circulating them online with an intention of discrediting the COVID-19 Vaccination exercise in the country.”

Ainebyoona said the minister is currently in good health and she was the first Ugandan to take COVID-19 Vaccine jab.

“The Minister of Health, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero was the first Ugandan to take COVID-19 Vaccine jab in broad day light. She is currently in good health.”

A total of 310 persons received their COVID-19 Vaccination jabs at the launch event, with Mulago recording 280 and 30 at Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital.

“This is to kindly request you to disregard the manipulated videos with a logo of one of the media houses that are making rounds online.”

“The Ministry of Health social media pages i.e. twitter and YouTube have the videos that are a true reflection of the National Vaccination launch that happened at Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal Hospital and Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital.”

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UTB launches 6th Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo

By
Geoffery Serugo
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UTB launches 6th Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo

The State Minister for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities Godfrey Ssuubi Kiwanda has launched the 6th Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo (POATE 2021).  The first-ever virtual tourism expo is a tourism exposition organized annually by the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB). The expo brings together domestic, regional and international tour operators, travel agents, destination agencies and various players in the tourism trade to network and facilitate tourism business.

The expo will take place from 23rd to 25th of April 2021 under the theme: ‘Restarting Tourism for Regional Economic Development’.

Speaking at Ndere cultural center, the minister said the expo will see suppliers of tourism products test the acceptance of these products in the post-covid-19 Ugandan market as well as presenting the opportunity for online networking by key stakeholders in the tourism industry.

“Domestically, we know that the private sector has been getting back on its feet in what is now the new normal and we know that it has not been easy and won’t get easy so soon; but yes, there is light at the end of the tunnel and as the Government, we have also been doing our homework by taking stock, looking for resources, and strategizing on a comeback strategy to support UTB in its recovery efforts”, the minister said.

According to the Bank of Uganda Monetary Policy Report for February, the Ugandan economy is projected to grow between 3% – 3.5% this financial year.

The UTB CEO Lilly Ajarova stated that the decision to go virtual was not only informed and influenced by the unique physical and logistical challenges posed by Covid-19 and the associated limitations, but it was also out of UTBs desire to leverage the internet to bring on board as many participants as possible.

“We have built a specialized virtual meeting platform that shall facilitate one-on-one meetings, virtual speed networking sessions as well as live conference sessions for domestic, regional and international tourism players”, she said.

The virtual platform has unique abilities such as; Directory Listings where exhibitors will be able to showcase their products and services in a variety of multimedia formats, including video, website links and e-brochures.

“One -On-one  Meetings function within the platform will be exclusive to buyers, media and exhibitors only, and shall allow participants to connect with the highest level of travel trade industry professionals with direct purchasing power. Participants can create their attendee profile, adding products and regions they are interested to buy from. This will make it easy for exhibitors and other participants to quickly find and match contacts that suit their business needs,” she said.

The platform has Lead Generation which allows participants to remotely schedule individual thirty-minute video meetings and network with industry professionals and Choice Content Sessions where Participants will have a variety of live sessions, debates and forums from industry experts to choose from. A variety of topics from experts in key areas such as hotels, aviation, resilience, sustainability, and recovery in a post-COVID-19 world have all been lined up.

She said Participants for POATE 2021 will be vetted through a set of criteria that has been developed by the National organizing committee to ensure they are of the right caliber to showcase Destination Uganda’s offering.

Hosted buyers and exhibitors will be sourced from the existing core and emerging source markets within the East African Region (Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda), rest of Africa (Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa) and the international markets (North America, UK and Ireland, Germany speaking countries, Japan, Gulf states and China and the new markets of France, Belgium + Netherlands).

“Over the next coming days, UTB will be engaging the industry further on how best to take advantage of the numerous opportunities presented by POATE 2021. Building on the successes of POATE 2020 where we registered a 138% growth in exhibitors, from 63 exhibitors in 2018 to 150 exhibitors in 2020, and leveraging the power of the internet, this time we expect to attract more than 200 exhibitors,” she said.

As we prepare for the gradual recovery of the global regional tourism sector, we believe that POATE 2021 will contribute the following:

The Chairman of the 4th Board of Directors of UTB expressed Daudi Migereko said the expo came at the right time and it will be used to send out a message of hope to the tourism sector; a message focused on recovery, rebuilding, reconnecting and rebooting the Ugandan tourism sector.

UTB is optimistic that the global vaccination will trigger resumption of international tourists into the country; indeed according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the tourism industry is recovering with 2021 expected to be better than 2020, with a rebound expected in 2022.

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SMEs to benefit from Business Continuity and Survival Training

By
Geoffery Serugo
-

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are set to benefit from a Business Continuity and Survival Training and Coaching tailored to their growth. The online training programme is aimed at equipping SMEs with the knowledge, skills and tools necessary to enhance their survival, recovery and continuity in light of the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The training, which will support SMEs in the construction, manufacturing, tourism and hospitality sectors, will be a blend of short live webinars conducted twice a month and a series of online courses available to the SMEs to take online at their convenience. The training will run from March to June 2021 while the one-on-one coaching sessions for the promising SMEs will commence in May 2021 ending in July 2021.

Speaking at the launch of the sessions, Albert Byaruhanga, Absa Bank Uganda’s Head of Business Banking, said, “SMEs in Uganda have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and as such recorded a larger decline in business activity compared to large firms. As a financial institution that is invested in the growth of SMEs, Absa Bank Uganda is proud to work with GIZ, an experienced and reputable partner, to bring forward pragmatic resilience-based solutions to the challenges facing these businesses, which are at the core of the country’s economy.”

The Uganda Business Climate Index 2020 conducted by the Economic Policy Research Center found that lockdown measures had reduced business activity by more than half. The report adds that 90% of businesses surveyed reported experiencing an increase in operating expenses due to Covid-19 containment measures decreed by the government. Furthermore, 75% of the surveyed businesses had laid off employees following the risk presented by the pandemic.

In response to the situation, the government announced in June 2020 that SMEs in the manufacturing and tourism sectors would receive a stimulus package of about UGX 1 trillion through the Uganda Development Bank (UDB) to bolster their operations during the lockdown, however, many businesses report that they have not yet received the funds.

The E4D training program, which is being delivered by ACLAIM Africa Limited, will entail modules in, building financial management systems, financing businesses, managing costs effectively, business planning and management, acquiring and retaining customers, running business online, leading and management of people, and managing risk in business. Additionally, selected companies will qualify for small grants from the Employment and Skills for Development in Africa (E4D) programme and financing from Absa Bank Uganda at reduced interest rates.

While giving his remarks, Mr. James Macbeth Forbes, Country Director for GIZ said, ”There is no question that the private sector is critical to the economic development of Uganda, and a large component of this growth will be driven by having a highly skilled and highly competent SME core. To achieve this, we rely on public-private partnerships with institutions such as Absa Bank Uganda, who bring to the table the zeal and experience that is key to sustainable SME growth.”

Mr. Byaruhanga adds, “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for all the relevant stakeholders to go beyond the call of duty and provide additional value for stakeholders. Absa Bank Uganda is committed to the growth and development of the SME sector, and this is one of the ways through which we are making a mark for our customers and SMEs in Uganda.”

The Business Continuity and Survival Training and Coaching are an initiative of the GIZ E4D programme which is funded by the German and Norwegian governments. The initiative is being implemented in partnership with Absa Bank Uganda, Uganda Tourism Association (UTA), Uganda National Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors (UNABCEC), Federation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Uganda (FMSE) and Uganda Manufacturers’ Association (UMA). The training and coaching is being delivered by ACLAIM Africa Limited on behalf of GIZ E4D.

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