UGANDA INFLATION HITS 28.3 PERCENT
1 october 2011

CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION IN OUR CITIES – DON’T IGNORE THE URBAN POOR
3 october 2011

ADULT EDUCATION: HOW TO CATCH UP ON TIME YOU LOST
3 october 2011

MORE THAN 1,000 DISPLACED FAMILIES STILL STUCK IN CAMPS
6 october 2011

AT SCHOOL IN A BAD ECONOMY
10 october 2011

UGANDA, 18 MILA BAMBINI VITTIME DI ABUSI
10 ottobre 2011

MAKERERE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS DECRY POOR LIVING CONDITIONS
11 october 2011

TANGENTI DAI PETROLIERI, GOVERNO SOTTO ACCUSA
12 ottobre 2011

ATTIVISTA UGANDESE PER I DIRITTI LGBT RICEVE IMPORTANTE PREMIO SUI DIRITTI UMANI
14 ottobre 2011

BREVI DALL’UGANDA
17 ottobre 2011

IN UGANDA SBARCANO SOLDATI USA PER LA GUERRA CONTRO L’LRA
17 ottobre 2011

NON SOLO LRA NEL MIRINO DEGLI AMERICANI
19 ottobre 2011

UGANDA, BANCA CENTRALE PREVEDE CALO INFLAZIONE
18 october 2011

IMPROVING TRAFFIC SEES GROWTH IN UGANDA’S AIRLINE BUSINESS
21 october 2011

GOVERNMENT, PRIVATE SECTOR DISCUSS STATE OF UGANDA’S ECONOMY
21 october 2011

WAKISO, INFANT AND MATERNAL MORTALITY RATE HIGHEST
24 october 2011

ESPONENTE DI OPPOSIZIONE BESIGYE AGLI ARRESTI DOMICILIARI
25 ottobre 2011

UGANDA’S POPULATION TO HIT 100M IN 2050
27 october 2011

Annual headline inflation hit 28.3% at the end of September, the highest since January 1993, due to shortage in food supply and the continued depreciation of the shilling, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) has said.
The inflation figure, which excludes education data, shows a 6.9% jump in the general price level, from 21.4% at the end of August, to increase the chances of a higher Central Bank Rate for the month of October.
“During September, food prices went up by 8.4% due to reduced supplies to the market. Non-food prices rose by 5.9% due to higher prices of charcoal, firewood, local brew (waragi and malwa) and scholastic materials” Chris Mukiza, the UBOS director for macro-economic statistics, said. “Prices of some imported goods, especially second-hand and new clothing, household items and pharmaceutical products went up due to the continued depreciation of the shilling” he noted.
Mukiza said upcountry towns of Arua, Masaka, Jinja and Gulu are experiencing annual higher inflation rates of 38%, 32.2%, 31.8% and 31.7%, respectively. Prices of matooke, sugar, irish potatoes, cassava, pineapples, avocado, tomatoes, cabbage, green pepper, meat, chicken, eggs, cooking oil, fish and bread went up in most areas in September.
fonte www.allafrica.com

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CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION IN OUR CITIES – DON’T IGNORE THE URBAN POOR
3 october 2011

The urban poor in developing countries will be hardest hit by the impacts of climate change, says a new report by UN-Habitat on cities and climate change. This is not because the urban-poor are most responsible for high greenhouse emissions; in fact, it is quite the opposite. The report shows there is an inverse relationship between those most responsible for greenhouse emissions and those who suffer most from its impacts.
In Uganda, the lack of basic services and infrastructure in the country’s slums compound these impacts. Severe flooding and landslides caused by heavy rain have long plagued the urban-poor, whose affordability constraints force them to settle on vulnerable land.
In the coming years, heavy precipitation events are very likely to occur more frequently and with greater severity according to the report. Residents of Uganda’s slums are not strangers to this phenomenon, which disrupts and destroys business, makes roads impassable, decimates homes, overwhelms sanitation systems and spur outbreaks of cholera, malaria, dysentery, and diarrhea.
During heavy downpours, many of Kampala’s slums look as though they have been hit by a Tsunami. Roads turn into raging rivers and cars, people, loose structures and property are washed away. In many, pit latrines are swept away by flash floods, spreading disease throughout the settlements. Throughout the country’s slums, homes and businesses are severely damaged during rainy periods, necessitating partial rebuilding multiple times per year. The asset stripping this presents for the urban-poor is crippling.
This World Habitat Day, Ugandans should not ignore the vital role of the urban-poor, who constitute 60 per cent of the nation’s urban population. When the urban-poor are organized and sensitized about climate change, they can play a central role in mitigating its impact upon their environment.
Indeed, about 38,000 Ugandan slum dwellers in six urban centers – Kampala, Arua, Jinja, Mbale, Mbarara, and Kabale – are doing just that through small but scalable slum upgrading activities. These responsible citizens are members of a growing social movement known as the Uganda Slum Dwellers Federation – a network of 343 community groups that save daily, work in partnership with local authorities, and mobilize their members to improve living conditions in slums.
Among the committees found in each community group is a Health and Hygiene Committee. Throughout the country, these committees mobilize members, and even the wider community, to dispose of waste thoughtfully and work with local authorities on municipal-wide initiatives.
The impact of community-led initiatives such as Keep Mbale Clean, make a visible difference in some of the largest slums, and greatly mitigate the risk of flooding by clearing drainages and encouraging residents to keep them litter-free. Environmental conservation is also enhanced when groups such as the Federation train communities in solid waste management skills.
Among the best practices instituted by the Federation are community projects that make briquettes from organic waste, that recycle plastic waste, and reuse discarded materials to make crafts. In Jinja, the Federation is using innovative soil compressed interlocking brick technology to construct quality and weather resistant houses for members.
The technology being employed eliminates the need for massive quantities of scarce timber for brick-firing. It is the Federation members themselves who do the construction, acquiring marketable skills in eco-friendly building technology. In addition, the Federation collects invaluable information during citywide enumerations (community-run censuses) about waste management practices and sanitation services in each of its cities of operation.
Once processed, the Federation works with local authorities to see that this data informs interventions in their settlements. Such information means the Federation can assist local authorities to generate targeted and efficient strategies for climate change mitigation that can be jointly implemented with local communities.
Sustainable and scalable mitigation strategies are possible in Uganda if the urban majority is organized and respected as a legitimate partner in this most urgent endeavor.
fonte www.allafrica.com - Skye Dobson

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ADULT EDUCATION: HOW TO CATCH UP ON TIME YOU LOST
3 october 2011

Getting formal education right from childhood may look a luxury to some people but many regret when opportunities pass them by in later years after they have missed certain steps they can’t compensate for. While many mourn their miss quietly, some, especially those who attain some level of economic and social success find themselves at odd with their social status but often think of themselves as misfits as the shadow of lack of academic papers hover over their success.
Foreshadowing - Those who choose a life of politics have borne the brunt of those early missed opportunities as they have seen doors slammed shut in their faces or their otherwise flourishing careers brought to a sudden halt.
The most traumatized however remain those who discover later in life that their current situation is largely to blame on opportunities they missed earlier. It is partly for this reason that adult education is suddenly becoming a major business in Kampala and other urban centers. Adult training centers are teeming with eager learners hoping to recapture a part of what they missed if not to tap into new opportunities, at least compensate and restore battered egos.
“I have been facing a lot of difficulties in communicating with my customers who do not understand Luganda and I have to interact with them in English. So, that is the reason I am in this place” says Richard Senyondwa, a 35-year-old student of Kampala Adult School, who chose to take to class, as the value of education becomes real to many people.
Agnes Nabbanja, a matooke vendor in St. Balikuddembe Market, is studying to be able to earn an income of her own in future. Ms Nabanjja says she prefers to pay Shs150, 000 per term in such a specialized centre, than joining a regular Universal Secondary Education School, for fear of embarrassment. In the classroom, which accommodates up to 50 students, the mature men and women recite word by word as their instructor, using a rudimentary pointer, points at what they are supposed to read.
Al Hussein Mohammed, a 40-year-old from Somalia, is aiming to get the education that he missed when wars raged in his country. He is currently achieving this advancement in education at Makerere Day and Evening Adult Class (MAECCA). “I have got an invitation from my brother in the US but all documents are in English which I do not understand” he explains.
Another student, Mr Ephraim Sekidde, who missed formal education due to economic deficiencies, joined the adult school to grasp opportunities for further education in order to update professional competencies required by the working world. “I had dropped out in primary level” he recalls. “But now since I have got money and a job, I need to upgrade my education status and CV as well.”
Originally for foreigners - James Baluku, proprietor of Kampala Adult School, says that the school was established two years ago to assist foreigners, mostly Rwandese, whose country shifted from French to English-speaking, as well as to combat high illiteracy levels. Mr Bakulu says: “We wanted to help everybody to learn this language [English] because it is like the Anglophone world is winning over the Francophone and if a person does not know English they feel like they have been left out somehow.”
In most of the schools, the beginning adults are given simple English sentence-construction lessons and after a period of a year, the students are free to leave school and continue with their businesses. But Ms Grace Nakintu, the director Nakivubo Settlement Continental School of Primary Education and Computing, says due to commitments at home, most of the students are rarely in class. “It is the biggest challenge we are facing because you can be conducting a lesson and one gets a call that there are problems at home. He simply walks out of the class and you cannot stop him” she says.
Two of Ms Nakintu’s students have since climbed the education ladder higher and are pursuing diploma courses at Makerere University Business School. Laban Kabuye, the head teacher at the centre says the classes can be as big as 100. The study programme is shorter compared to the regular school time table. Most of the classes are conducted in the evening, and the school day is only three hours.
Only this year, Ms Nakintu says 25 of out 350 students at the school, are set to sit their Primary Leaving Exams while 32 will sit for Uganda Certificate of Education. At MAECCA however, adults are passed into a fully-fledged education programme, similar to the typical Ugandan education system. Although similar, the adult version takes a shorter time in comparison due to the age of the students; it is thought students at advanced ages do not have the same dexterity as their younger counterparts, according to Henry Bantariza, an administrator at the school.
“Since most of these people come to class after work, they are tired and what we do is to only teach them for two hours” Bantriza told Daily Monitor. “We make each level of education shorter by two years, and one year for ‘A-Level’“. Ephraim recalls gaining these skills as quite life-changing: “A year ago, I could not even switch on a computer” he says. “I did not know how to send e-mail or access the internet, yet at my work place, everyone was given a computer and they expected us to own e-mail accounts to enable us to communicate easily.”
Employment demands – Mr Bantariza, the administrator at MAECCA, explained that demand for computer literacy forced the school to include computer studies due to the tension resulting from employers demanding computer skills, even though employees did not possess these abilities. The adult education sector, commonly referred to as the Literacy and Basic Education (LIBE) by the Ministry of Education, is also facing various hitches, especially for the private proprietors who have predominantly established the schools on their own.
James, at Kampala Adult School, says students often do not complete the courses because their target is to learn basic English. Additionally, they abandon their studies before clearing all the school fees, which affects the school’s operations.
According to the educator, “Some of these people are stubborn and do not want to comply with us because they think we are younger and should not tell them what to do, but we have designed rules and regulations to which they must adhere.”
fonte www.allafrica.com - Skye Dobson

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MORE THAN 1,000 DISPLACED FAMILIES STILL STUCK IN CAMPS
6 october 2011

Much as the government announced in 2006 that it was safe for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northern Uganda to return to their villages, several vulnerable people including the elderly, child-headed families and widows have failed to leave the satellite camps.
Statistics from aid agencies indicate that at least 1,000 households in Lango sub-region are embroiled in a number of struggles ranging from lack of manpower to build houses in their respective villages and land wrangles. Majority of the stuck families attribute their woes to abandonment by their able-bodied relatives as they relocate to their villages.
Ms Grace Atoo, 35, a widow with 11 children in Opimo Village, Barlonyo Sub- county in Lira District, said she lacks money to build a house in her village, adding that providing food and school fees for her children is also becoming difficult. Mr Simon Odongo, an 83-year resident of Ariongomele Village, said he came to Bala Stock Farm Village in 2003 when insecurity was at its peak, but has not been able to return because he has been waiting for the government to fulfill its promise of providing iron sheets. “They promised to give us iron sheets and ox-ploughs to enable us resettle, but up to now there are no signs of the pledges” Mr Odongo said.
Mr David Ojuka, a former chairman of Bala IDP camp in Lira, estimates that the area still has about 280 households that have not received their packages from the government. He asked President Museveni to fulfill his pledge if he is to get votes in 2016 polls. Railway A Division chairman George Awio, said many people in the camps have become destitute, daily relying on hand outs from friends and relatives while others resort to begging.
The Resident District Commissioner in Dokolo, Mr Ben Anyama, however, refuted the claims, saying “Our next target is resettlement and it is a process. It cannot be done in a day. We have been giving out iron sheets, drilling boreholes and giving out farm inputs to those returning to their villages.” Mr Anyama added that those claiming the government has failed to fulfill its promises to war victims were looking at money rather than what was designed to resettle them. “People should not expect cash, but they can be given iron sheets and farm inputs” he said.
fonte www.allafrica.com - Emmanuel Opio & Bill Oketch

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AT SCHOOL IN A BAD ECONOMY
10 october 2011

Figures released by the Uganda National Bureau of Statistics a month ago indicated that the inflation rate rose to 28.3 per cent in August, from 6 per cent in January this year. Three weeks into the third and last term of the UNEB school calendar, the ‘Daily Monitor’ spoke to a number of school heads to find out how they are coping with the current inflation.
Fuelled by rising food and transport costs, we wanted to find out what special arrangements, if any, have been implemented to deal with a crisis whose containment seems to elude policy makers. The budget for the first term usually gives a rough idea of what will be spent in other terms. This year, however, given the galloping inflation, schools have had to scale back on some activities, eliminate others and as a last resort increase school fees for some.
Expensive food - Rising food costs a 50kg bag of posho cost Shs100,000 at the beginning of the year; now it costs Shs175,000 have forced schools to cut back on other expenses to maintain their menu and reduce the potions served. Mr Bharat Manek, the principal of the privately owned Lohana Schools, told us that they have tried to maintain their menu although at a higher cost. The schools usually buy fresh vegetables, cassava and matooke to be used throughout the coming week on Saturdays. But whereas this cost between Shs600,000 and Shs700,000 at the beginning of the year, it now costs Shs1,100,000.
At Kololo High School, they have been forced to eliminate some food from their menu and serve only the basics. Rice is out whereas fish and beef, which were served three times a week, are now served once. It is a USE school so only A-Level students eat at school. Namilyango College, meanwhile, has decreased the potions it serves at mealtimes, Mr Gerald Muguluma, the head teacher, told this paper. Other activities and plans, meanwhile, have been shelved.
At Namilyango, they have had to reduce on the number of student outings. Club activities, which usually involve social functions at other schools have suffered the brunt of budget cuts whereas academic trips and sports engagements have been unaffected. At Lohana, money that had been allocated to the purchase of new textbooks has instead been diverted to food.
The acquisition of new laboratory equipment for their secondary section has also been pushed to next year as the school struggles to keep its menu the same as before. The recent primary school teachers’ strike was provoked by the rising prices against meagre salaries and we were interested in finding out how teachers were coping. Private schools said they could not raise salaries without increasing fees. And the two private schools we visited, Caltec Academy and Lohana, said they had not raised fees because such decisions are usually taken at the end of the school, taking effect in the next school year. Caltec has instead added a transport allowance to teachers’ salaries, while at Lohana, the salary has remained constant. Increasing fees in government schools requires government approval and at the moment, this is not forthcoming. In any case, however, few schools have explored that option.
Mr Muguluma told ‘Daily Monitor’ that some parents have been inquiring if the school plans to raise fees and have expressed willingness to pay the extra fees but this is not on the table yet. It will need approval by the Board of Governors and government and even then, it is being mooted for next year if the economic situation does not improve.
Dark future - Actually, the same sentiment was expressed at all the other schools; should the economic situation remain the same or become worse, schools will have no option but increase their tuition for the coming academic year. Meanwhile, the government has maintained the USE grant it pays to schools under the policy.
To cope, other activities had to be cut. Kololo High School, for example, reduced termly tests from three to two, scrapping the mid-term test. This is due to the increase in stationary prices; a dream of duplicating papers that cost Shs80,500 at the beginning of the first term now costs Shs15,000. A number of schools have increased fees, especially for candidate classes who are subjected to more tests than usual in the third term.
Mr Manek said his school has had to admit a number of new students this term and when he asked the parents why they were transferring their students at such an unusual time, they said it was because of unexpected increases in fees.
A number of parents ‘Daily Monitor’ spoke to as they lined up to pay fees in banks around the city said their children’s schools had raised fees. Parents whose children’s schools had maintained their fees don’t expect such luck next term however, especially if current economic trends persist. And, like the school heads told this paper, they are right.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug – Raymond Mpubani

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UGANDA, 18 MILA BAMBINI VITTIME DI ABUSI
10 ottobre 2011

Almeno 18.000 bambini sarebbero vittime di abusi sessuali in Uganda, 12.000 in più rispetto all’ultimo rapporto stilato sei anni fa.
Lo studio, pubblicato sulla edizione online di Africa Review, è stato condotto dall’Uganda Youth Development Link (Uydl) in 10 distretti del paese, nel febbraio scorso. Secondo il rapporto, le giovani vittime di sesso a pagamento hanno dai 13 ai 14 anni, e il fenomeno prende piede anche nelle scuole.
fonte www.ansa.it

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MAKERERE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS DECRY POOR LIVING CONDITIONS
11 october 2011

Angry female Makerere University students residing in Complex Hall Tuesday morning went on strike over the continuous pitiable living conditions in the hall. The students were striking over lack of piped water, lack of constant electricity supply, poor sanitation and poor hygiene in the hall which houses only female students. Other reasons included foul stench emanating from the toilets, overcrowded rooms, poor quality meals and a leaking roof among many.
The students also demanded the immediate resignation of the contemporary hall warden, Akullu Laurah saying she was extremely uncooperative. “We want a new warden now” chanted the fuming ladies. What began as an emergency general assembly called by the student leaders of the hall at 7:00pm at the hall’s parking yard almost turned violent when the warden refused to address the emotional students and locked-up herself in her office prompting some students to threaten to beat her up.
However, at around 8:00 am, the dean of students, Cyriaco Kabagambe came to the rescue of the scared warden, who swiftly re-emerged from her hideout. The dean then addressed the students and promised to address their issues immediately saying by 6pm yesterday the students would have water and power.
Nonetheless, he pledged to work on the administrative issues later. He also promised to get the hall re-roofed immediately further admitting the shortage of rooms in the hall saying at one point all rooms in complex hall were single. On the quality of food, the dean pledged to improve it further advising the hall to adopt the squatting toilets instead of the sitting ones saying the squatting ones are easy to maintain and clean than the sitting ones.
The intervention of the dean eventually calmed the students. However, the students vowed to continue with the strike if the dean did not fulfil his promises.
fonte www.allafrica.com - Innocent Anguyo Alia

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TANGENTI DAI PETROLIERI, GOVERNO SOTTO ACCUSA
12 ottobre 2011

Moratoria sugli accordi nel settore petrolifero e richiesta di dimissioni del capo del governo e del ministro degli Esteri: sono i punti fondamentali di una risoluzione approvata dal parlamento dell’Uganda dopo le rivelazioni su presunte tangenti versate ad alti funzionari dalla società inglese Tullow Oil.
In un dossier presentato ai deputati ieri il capo del governo Amama Mbabazi e il ministro degli Esteri Sam Kutesa sono accusati di aver intascato tangenti per decine di milioni di euro in cambio di misure favorevoli a Tullow Oil, una società che quest’anno ha rilevato concessioni su tre giacimenti di idrocarburi nel bacino del Lago Alberto.
La risoluzione, approvata anche con il voto di deputati del partito del presidente Yoweri Museveni, vincola nuovi accordi con le società petrolifere all’entrata in vigore di una legge quadro che regolamenti il settore. A essere bloccata è anche una possibile vendita delle concessioni di Tullow Oil alla francese Total e alla cinese Cnooc, in discussione da mesi.
Oggi il voto del parlamento è sulle prime pagine di molti quotidiani di Kampala. Secondo ‘The Monitor’, un giornale di opposizione, Museveni potrebbe tenere una conferenza stampa oggi pomeriggio.
fonte www.misna.org

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ATTIVISTA UGANDESE PER I DIRITTI LGBT RICEVE IMPORTANTE PREMIO SUI DIRITTI UMANI
14 ottobre 2011

Nel corso di una cerimonia svoltasi a Ginevra il 13 ottobre, Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera ha ricevuto il prestigioso premio Martin Ennals per i difensori dei diritti umani. Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera è la fondatrice e la direttrice esecutiva di ‘Freedom and Roam Uganda’, un’organizzazione non governativa che difende e promuove i diritti delle persone lesbiche, gay, bisessuali e transgender.
“Questo premio è un riconoscimento all’incredibile coraggio mostrato da Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera in un contesto di profonda discriminazione e violenza contro le persone Lgbt nel suo paese” – ha dichiarato Michelle Kagari, vicedirettrice di Amnesty International per l’Africa. La comunità Lgbt ugandese sta affrontando una situazione estremamente difficile. Amnesty International continua a ricevere segnalazioni di arresti arbitrari, detenzioni illegali, maltrattamenti e torture per ragioni unicamente legate all’orientamento sessuale e all’identità di genere. Le leggi ugandesi considerano l’omosessualità un reato penale punibile anche con l’ergastolo. Tentativi di introdurre la pena capitale per il reato di omosessualità aggravata sono stati per il momento respinti grazie alla mobilitazione delle attiviste e degli attivisti locali e delle organizzazioni internazionali per i diritti umani.
Il 26 gennaio di quest’anno l’attivista per i diritti dei gay David Kato è stato assassinato dopo che il quotidiano ugandese ‘Rolling Stone’ aveva pubblicato la lista dei 100 ‘più importanti’ omosessuali del paese, invitando i lettori a impiccarli. Anche il nome di Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera era nell’elenco. “Ho dedicato la mia vita a lottare apertamente per i diritti dei gay in Uganda ed ecco il prezzo che mi viene fatto pagare: mi cacciano da una casa all’altra, il mio ufficio è stato chiuso, non posso più camminare tranquillamente in strada e mi hanno aggredito” – raccontava nei mesi scorsi Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera ad Amnesty International.
Nonostante queste intimidazioni e minacce, Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera continua a perorare la causa dei diritti delle persone Lgbt, in pubblico e attraverso i mezzi d’informazione, sia in Uganda che all’estero. Il premio Martin Ennals, intitolato alla memoria dell’ex Segretario generale di Amnesty International e giunto alla ventesima edizione, viene conferito da dieci organizzazioni per i diritti umani a colui o colei che, nell’anno in corso, ha svolto un’azione coraggiosa ed efficace in difesa dei diritti umani.
fonte www.amnesty.it

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BREVI DALL’UGANDA
17 ottobre 2011

È stata dispersa dalle forze dell’ordine di Kampala, la manifestazione degli oppositori tornati in piazza per una protesta ‘walk-to-work’ contro il carovita e l’aumento dell’inflazione. La polizia, hanno riferito alcuni testimoni, è intervenuta con idranti e gas lacrimogeni contro alcune centinaia di attivisti, arrestando alcuni degli organizzatori.
Ieri il presidente Yoweri Museveni aveva ammonito i manifestanti e minacciato ‘tolleranza zero’ contro chi fosse sceso in piazza oggi, giorno degli esami nelle scuole secondarie.
fonte www.misna.org

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IN UGANDA SBARCANO SOLDATI USA PER LA GUERRA CONTRO L’LRA
17 ottobre 2011

Gli Stati Uniti hanno inviato i primi cento militari in Africa centrale, per contrastare i ribelli dell’Esercito di resistenza del Signore (LRA). Pur essendo armati fino ai denti, i soldati Usa sono ufficialmente in Africa solo per assistere.
A precisarlo sono i presidenti di Stati Uniti e Uganda, che pochi giorni dopo il dispiegamento dei soldati, hanno insistito nel dire che hanno solo compiti di assistenza. Ieri a Kampala Yoweri Museveni ha assicurato che i militari giunti in Uganda la settimana scorsa dovrebbero essere definiti “personale” e non “soldati“. In una lettera inviata al Congresso Usa venerdì, Barack Obama aveva sostenuto che “i consiglieri combatteranno le forze dell’LRA soltanto se costretti a difendersi“.
Secondo il presidente statunitense, l’assistenza degli Stati Uniti si estenderà dall’Uganda alla Repubblica democratica del Congo, al Centrafrica e al Sud Sudan, i paesi dove l’Esercito di Resistenza del Signore ha progressivamente spostato il baricentro delle sue incursioni. L’invio dei militari è consentito da una legge del 2010 sul sostegno politico ed economico ai paesi africani minacciati dall’LRA.
Secondo stime della Ong Usa ‘Resolve’, dal dicembre 2009 i ribelli dell’Esercito di resistenza del Signore hanno ucciso 944 civili ed effettuato 1723 rapimenti.
fonte http://it.peacereporter.net

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NON SOLO LRA NEL MIRINO DEGLI AMERICANI
19 ottobre 2011

“Un maggiore impegno internazionale è un fatto positivo ma ci si chiede se un’escalation militare sia una soluzione” dice alla MISNA padre John Ashworth, un consulente del Consiglio ecumenico delle Chiese con un’esperienza trentennale in Sudan.
Alcune organizzazioni non governative hanno sostenuto che l’arrivo in Africa centrale di unità speciali statunitensi incaricate di garantire assistenza nella lotta contro i ribelli dell’Esercito di Resistenza del Signore (LRA) sia il segno di una nuova consapevolezza a livello internazionale. I piani americani stanno però alimentando anche timori e sospetti.
“I bombardamenti dei Mig ugandesi peggiorarono solo le cose” dice alla MISNA padre Franco Barin, un missionario comboniano che si trovava nella regione congolese di Dungu tra il 25 e il 29 dicembre 2008, quando le incursioni dell’LRA fecero più di 400 vittime. Secondo il missionario, l’offensiva avviata pochi giorni prima dagli eserciti di Congo, Uganda e Sud Sudan ebbe l’effetto di disperdere i ribelli guidati da Joseph Kony e rendere ancora più imprevedibili le loro incursioni.
L’organizzazione non governativa americana ‘Resolve’ calcola che soltanto dalla fine del 2009 l’LRA sia responsabile dell’uccisione di 944 civili e del rapimento di 1723 persone. Il raggio d’azione dei ribelli si è progressivamente spostato dall’Uganda settentrionale verso il nord-est del Congo, il Sud Sudan e la Repubblica centrafricana. Sono i paesi dove dovrebbero operare i 100 “consiglieri militari” giunti mercoledì a Kampala, equipaggiati per combattere e sostenuti da “personale esperto di intelligence, comunicazioni e logistica”. Secondo il presidente Barack Obama, l’Esercito di resistenza del Signore “continua a commettere atrocità che hanno conseguenze sproporzionate sulla sicurezza a livello regionale”.
Le stime sulla consistenza numerica dell’LRA variano da alcune migliaia di combattenti a poche centinaia, anche perché è spesso difficile distinguere una colonna di ribelli da un gruppo di disertori. Gli spostamenti degli uomini di Kony potrebbero essere seguiti grazie alle tracce lasciate dai telefoni satellitari che portano sempre con sé e devono poter ricaricare. Un precedente c’è, l’uccisione del guerrigliero angolano Jonas Savimbi, ma non tutti credono all’approccio muscolare. Secondo padre Ashworth, bisogna puntare su “negoziati e maggior protezione e assistenza umanitaria” alle popolazioni colpite.
L’arrivo delle unità speciali ha seguito di alcuni anni quello dei 17 consiglieri “anti-terrorismo” inviati dall’amministrazione di George Bush. Dal 2008, soprattutto dopo l’approvazione di una legge del Congresso l’anno scorso, gli Stati Uniti hanno stanziato a beneficio degli eserciti africani impegnati nel contrasto all’LRA circa 33 milioni di dollari. Stando agli ufficiali di Kampala, la settimana scorsa Kony sarebbe sfuggito d’un soffio alla cattura nei pressi della cittadina centrafricana di Ndjema. Vero o no, resta il fatto che gli americani posizionano i loro militari tra il petrolio del Lago Alberto e la cassiterite dei giacimenti congolesi. “Gli Stati Uniti hanno legami storici con Uganda e Sud Sudan – sottolinea padre Barin – ma guardano oltre”.
fonte www.misna.org

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UGANDA, BANCA CENTRALE PREVEDE CALO INFLAZIONE
18 october 2011

La Banca centrale dell’Uganda prevede per il 2012 un raffreddamento delle tensioni inflazionistiche, che in questo Paese hanno un tasso a due cifre.
In un intervento alla cerimonia per la consegna dei diplomi dell’Istituto per i servizi bancari e finanziari, il Governatore dell’istituto di emissione, Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile, ha detto che “è già cominciato il calo dei prezzi delle derrate alimentari che, insieme con la svalutazione della moneta locale, sono state tra le cause principali dell’aumento dei prezzi“. Questo Paese dell’Africa orientale ha registrato ad agosto un tasso di inflazione su base annua del 28,3 per cento, contro il 21,8 del mese precedente.
fonte www.misna.org

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IMPROVING TRAFFIC SEES GROWTH IN UGANDA’S AIRLINE BUSINESS
21 october 2011

Uganda’s skies have continued to attract attention of international airlines as they seek to tap into the country’s growing passenger traffic resulting from increasing investor numbers coming to explore investment opportunities, especially in the oil sector. Gulf Air, Bahrain’s national carrier, yesterday announced it’s re-launch of flights Entebbe effective December, coming on the back of Qatar Airways’ recent announcement to enter into Uganda’s airline business.
The continued dominance of East Africa’s airline business by Kenya Airways, and the lack of strong competition against KQ has among other factors built confidence among established international airlines to venture in the region so as to tap into the growing passenger traffic.
Mr Karim Makhlouf, the Gulf Air chief commercial officer, told a news conference in Kampala yesterday that the re-launch is part of the airline’s strategy to expand to diverse and niche locations beyond Middle East and Bahrain in a bid to spur investment, trade and leisure travel between the two countries.
Providing an alternative – The re-launch of the airline’s flights to Entebbe, will give Ugandan travellers another alternative airline to the Middle East, Europe and Asian destinations. Ugandans currently fly to business destinations in Europe and Middle East using mostly Emirates, Kenya Airways, British Airways and KLM. “Gulf Air has made considerable changes to its service portfolio and I believe this new route will be a success for both passengers and cargo operations as we seek to serve the underserved markets” Mr Makhlouf said. He added the Entebbe route, the fifth on the African continent for the airline, will present commercial and tourism opportunities for investors, entrepreneurs and business people from both markets.
Gulf Air suspended services to Entebbe 8 years ago, saying it was undergoing restructuring to enhance the efficiency and attractiveness of its operations but has now come back after realising that Uganda is a growing market with a lot of potential.
Qatar Airways, a Doha-based airline is expected to commence daily flights between Doha and Entebbe and to the rest of the world on in November.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug – Faridah Kulabako

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GOVERNMENT, PRIVATE SECTOR DISCUSS STATE OF UGANDA’S ECONOMY
21 october 2011

In a landmark dialogue held yesterday, government officials and a cross section of senior business personalities discussed serious challenges facing the economy, with the Central Bank insisting on tackling consumer demand while private players agonised over the effects of hard times on their businesses. The dialogue, tagged ‘CEO Summit Agenda October 2011′ was held at Serena Hotel featured presentations from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), leading economists and chief executives of prominent firms.
While the IMF appears bullish about Uganda’s economic forecast, with projections of more than 5 per cent this year alongside stable budget deficits in spite of suffering the highest inflation rate in East Africa, the government and the private sector are visibly shaken by prevailing conditions. Bank of Uganda (BoU) on one hand, admits serious concerns about rising prices that saw headline inflation hit 28.3 per cent last month, but calls for drastic monetary actions to protect long term growth, however, business executives argue such actions have suffocated their operations and rendered survival difficult.
Aggressive policy actions by BoU have led to sharp hikes in the inflation targeting rate, known as Central Bank Rate (CBR) that has shot up to 20 per cent, triggering further increases in banks’ lending rates that are currently averaging at 25 per cent a situation that local executives feel is likely to accelerate collapse of many businesses due to excessive borrowing costs.
“With inflation at 28.3 per cent and growth in private sector credit in the region of 45 per cent, we believe it is necessary to curb aggregate demand and bring down inflation in order to protect long term growth” said Dr Louis Kasekende, deputy governor at BoU.
In contrast, private sector executives lamented that BoU’s tight stance that has accelerated interest rates has clearly compounded their nightmares, coupled with high inflation, a falling shilling and higher costs of operation driven by load shedding. Manufacturers for instance, are confronted with declining sales, increased production costs and cheap imports that are outcompeting local goods, according to Emmanuel Katongole, chief executive officer of Quality Chemicals Industries.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug – Bernard Busulwa

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WAKISO, INFANT AND MATERNAL MORTALITY RATE HIGHEST
24 october 2011

Wakiso District has the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the country although it’s an urban area, where health services can be easily accessible, an official has said.
Ms Jesca Nsungwa Sabiiti, the assistant commissioner for child health at the Ministry of Health, also revealed that the district currently leads in cases of malnutrition in the country. “It is absurd that Wakiso, an urban area neighbouring Kampala (Uganda’s capital city) is leading in mortality rate and malnutrition” Ms Sabiiti said.
She made the remarks during the opening of the Nurture Africa Paediatric Medical Centre in Nansana Town Council at the weekend. Infant and maternal deaths, Ms Sabiiti said, are caused by HIV/Aids, malaria, malnutrition and other diseases triggered by HIV/Aids. She encouraged the centre to sign a memorandum of understating with the district so that it can be assisted by the latter in procurement of drugs and human resource.
The centre, which was constructed with the help from the government of Ireland, will provide free healthcare to the most vulnerable children in Wakiso.
Mr James Kimbowa, the Nurture Africa country director, said over 2,000 vulnerable children will access primary service care at the centre. He said about 200 children living with HIV/Aids will also access full treatment at the centre. “We are committed to contribute towards the health and development of the most vulnerable children to enable them become positive influences on societies” he said.
fonte www.allafrica.com - Joseph Miti

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ESPONENTE DI OPPOSIZIONE BESIGYE AGLI ARRESTI DOMICILIARI
25 ottobre 2011

Il capo del Forum democratico per il cambiamento (Fdc) Kizza Besigye rimarrà agli arresti domiciliari fino a quando prometterà di non partecipare più alle manifestazioni di piazza che, negli ultimi mesi “hanno macchiato l’immagine del paese agli occhi dell’opinione pubblica”. Lo ha reso noto la polizia di Kampala dopo aver fermato l’esponente di opposizione che si recava, questa mattina, all’ennesima protesta ‘walk to work’ organizzata dal partito per protestare contro il carovita e chiedere le dimissioni del presidente Yoweri Museveni.
Besigye era confinato nella sua abitazione di Kasangati, alla periferia di Kampala, dal 18 ottobre scorso senza nessuna ‘accusa’ formale. “Riguadagnarsi la libertà di movimento dipenderà solo da lui e dalla sua capacità di giudizio” ha detto la portavoce della polizia Judith Nabakoba, aggiungendo che “dovrà prima promettere di astenersi dal partecipare ad attività violente e tese a minacciare l’ordine sociale”.
Diversi membri dell’opposizione – secondo la stampa ugandese – sarebbero stati arrestati negli ultimi giorni dopo aver partecipato alle manifestazioni che, nella loro forma più recente, prevedono che i partecipanti blocchino il traffico abbandonando per strada autoveicoli e motociclette.
Per la terza volta consecutiva Besigye ha perso, nel febbraio scorso, le elezioni presidenziali alle quali si era candidato contro Museveni, al potere da 25 anni. Il blocco di opposizione ha rigettato i risultati delle urne denunciando frodi elettorali.
fonte www.misna.org

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UGANDA’S POPULATION TO HIT 100M IN 2050
27 october 2011

Uganda, with its high fertility ratio of about 7 children per family, is likely to see its population rise to 103.2 million by 2050, latest projections indicate.
Government released the projections yesterday while launching a report that assesses the state of the country’s population, with a pledge that it is keeping a keener eye on the implications of Uganda’s high growth rate. The announcement coincides with the timing of a global report, which shows that the world population will hit the seven billion mark on Monday.
The State of Uganda Population Report 2011, launched in Kampala yesterday alongside the State of the World Population Report 2011, paints a picture of a country whose rapidly rising population could have “negative impacts” for its per capita economic growth. Throughout most of that time, the majority of Uganda’s population is likely to be young – leaving a perpetually huge weight of dependence on a small number of productive Ugandans.
Currently, according to the 120-page report, some 69 per cent of Uganda’s population is under 24 years of age. However, in a speech read by Finance Minister Maria Kiwanuka, Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi noted that the “government regards population as a crucial resource that can be harnessed for national development.”
Estimates published in the report, whose focus this year was on reproductive health, show that if Uganda succeeded in reducing its population growth rate from the current 3.2 per cent to 2.4 per cent in the medium term, the country’s annual growth of per capita GDP could rise by between 0.5- 0.6 per cent.
Fertility – “If we additionally consider the impact of the population dynamics such a reduction would entail, per capita economic growth could increase by between 1.4 and 3.0 percentage points per annum as long as Uganda would be in the phase of the ‘demographic gift’ with falling population growth but still substantial labour force growth” it adds. The report also adds that Uganda has an unusually large discrepancy in fertility between the highly educated (3.9) and the women with low education (7.8), which it says makes Uganda’s poor prone to being caught in a poverty trap which keeps poverty high, widens inequality and reduces economic growth.
In its analysis of the impact of population growth on resources, the report says more than 80 per cent of Ugandans rely directly upon land, agriculture, and fishing for their livelihoods, but environmental indicators reveal trends of degrading agricultural lands, soil erosion, deforestation, drainage of wetlands, loss of bio-diversity, reduced range land capacity, and increased pollution.
The report also indicates that the growth of urban populations throughout Uganda is placing particular stress on municipalities that already lack the infrastructure to meet current water and sanitation needs. “In these urban areas, flooding, poorly constructed latrines, and the resultant run-off of solid waste contaminate water ways and further exacerbate diarrheal disease outbreaks. As such if the trend persists, there shall be several challenges to future growth and structural transformation unless serious measures are taken to convert it into a population dividend” explains the report, which adds that even in densely populated Kampala, 85 per cent of households rely on pit latrines.
Comparing Uganda’s socio-economic indicators with those of other countries in Africa and Asia that have lower population growth rates, the report says Uganda’s high population growth rate exacerbates poverty and constrains the household’s and the government’s efforts to provide quality social services such as education and health. “The problem with a fast-growing population is not the growth itself, but “rapid, unplanned growth” concludes the report. “It is conceded that growth is a natural process that guarantees continuity of existence of living things. However, the process of growth is determined by important variables, which include; age structure, sex and distribution. The decisions and policies we make today, and the options available to young people, will ultimately determine the quality of the population in 2050.”
In his statement, however, Mr Mbabazi said the government is now closely monitoring the country’s population trends “not only in numbers but also in terms of what implications such numbers mean to the provision of services such as health, education, housing, food, [and] employment.”
fonte www.monitor.co.ug – Benon Herbert Oluka

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Cambio valuta: in data 02/11/2011 1 dollaro USA è pari a 2610 scellini ugandesi, 1 Euro è pari a 3596,3194 scellini ugandesi

SARA’ AMMODERNATO GRANDE OSPEDALE DI KAMPALA
28 luglio 2011

FONDI PER DARE PIU’ ILLUMINAZIONE A ZONE RURALI
3 agosto 2011

SCOPERTO CRANIO SCIMMIA DI 20 MILIONI DI ANNI
8 agosto 2011

PUBLIC LIBRARIES RELEVANT FOR EXCELLENCE
8 august 2011

RIVISTE AL RIALZO STIME PRODUZIONE CAFFE’ (+12%)
10 agosto 2011

BLOCCATO L’EXPORT DI ZUCCHERO
11 agosto 2011

E’ NATA UNA NUOVA RADIO E SI CHIAMA ‘XFM’
11 agosto 2011

BANANA GROWTH UP 2.7 PERCENT
15 august 2011

NATION STARTS ENERGY AND CLIMATE EDUCATION TOUR
15 august 2011

ERITREA, ROMPERE L’ISOLAMENTO
17 agosto 2011

LA TENSIONE RIMANE ALTA
18 agosto 2011

SHILLING CONTINUES SLIDE TO THE U.S. DOLLAR
20 august 2011

KAMPALA IS AMONG CHEAPEST WORLD CITIES
22 august 2011

DOCTORS, NURSES TO GET SALARY RISE
22 august 2011

UN SMS CONTRO LA MALARIA: CURE MIGLIORI NEL 24% DEI CASI
22 agosto 2011

MAKERERE UNIVERSITY LECTURERS STRIKE OVER POOR PAY
23 august 2011

RITIRATO DL SU PENA DI MORTE PER OMOSESSUALI
24 agosto 2011

EBOLA, SCOPERTA UNA MICROMOLECOLA IN GRADO DI BLOCCARE L’ACCESSO AL VIRUS
25 agosto 2011

CEMENT PRICES HIT SHS30,000
25 august 2011

UGANDA-ERITREA, PIU’ INTENSA LA COOPERAZIONE BILATERALE
26 agosto 2011

BREVE DALL’UGANDA
29 agosto 2011

La Banca africana per lo Sviluppo (AfDB) ha erogato all’Uganda un prestito per un valore complessivo di 463 milioni di dollari, da destinare allo sviluppo dei settori sanitario, idrico e delle infrastrutture.
In un intervento a una cerimonia pubblica, il rappresentante dell’AfDB a Kampala, Patrick Simiyu Khaemba, ha detto che i fondi “serviranno al finanziamento, nel prossimo triennio, di settori cruciali per l’economia” di questo Paese dell’Africa orientale.
Tra i progetti in programma, l’ammodernamento dei centri sanitari di Kawempe e Kirundu e del più grande ospedale del Paese, situato nella parte settentrionale della capitale, Kampala.
fonte www.agi.it

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FONDI PER DARE PIU’ ILLUMINAZIONE A ZONE RURALI
3 agosto 2011

Il governo dell’Uganda, in collaborazione con enti istituzionali internazionali, ha stanziato 20 milioni di dollari per aumentare l’accesso all’elettricità nelle zone rurali del Paese.
Si insisterà maggiormente, spiegano i tecnici del governo di Kampala, sull’estensione della rete di trasmissione elettrica e sulla costruzione di microcentrali in diversi punti del territorio nazionale.
Al termine dei lavori dei progetti fin qui presentati si prevede che oltre 15mila abitazioni saranno dotate di corrente elettrica, per un totale di 100mila ugandesi destinati a cambiare vita. L’inadeguatezza del sistema energetico ugandese costa ogni anno al Paese una mancata crescita in termini di Prodotto interno lodro (Pil) di circa 2 punti percentuali.
fonte www.agi.it

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SCOPERTO CRANIO SCIMMIA DI 20 MILIONI DI ANNI
8 agosto 2011

Una squadra di paleontologi ugandesi e francesi ha annunciato di aver scoperto nel nord dell’Uganda il cranio di una scimmia risalente a venti milioni di anni, che potrebbe fornire notizie utili sulla storia evolutiva in questa parte del mondo.
Il paleontologo del ‘College de France’ di Parigi, Martin Pickford, ha detto in conferenza stampa che “si tratta della prima volta che si scopre il cranio completo di una grande scimmia di quest’epoca“. Lo studioso ha aggiunto che quello scoperto è “un fossile molto importante, capace di dare all’Uganda un posto di rilievo nelle ricerche in questo settore“.
Il cranio appartiene a un maschio di scimmia Ugandapithecus Major, ritenuto un lontano cugino delle grandi scimmie che tuttora popolano questo Paese dell’Africa orientale.
fonte www.agi.it

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PUBLIC LIBRARIES RELEVANT FOR EXCELLENCE
8 august 2011

In Uganda, it has been argued severally that a reading culture is almost nonexistent. Lots of reading materials are in place but only a fraction of the population have the interest to read.
This also accounts for the low sales of newspapers in the country. The public does not have a similarly strong association with public libraries. The use of the library can be of great help to learners and researchers as it provides a quiet reading environment (as a rule) and variety of book resources.
Allan Musoke, a Senior Four student at Sentah College in Mbarara District testifies on how helpful the library has been. “I was introduced to this library by a friend of mine when I was in Senior Three. I am inspired to read when I see other people reading. Since I was the only child in secondary at home, I spent most of my time playing around with my siblings in primary. However, with the library I am able to concentrate as reading is the reason everyone comes here, so I concentrate more.”
However, Rachael Ntegyereize, now a first year student at Mbarara University of Science and Technology, does not concur with Musoke. “In secondary school, public libraries were viewed as areas where students would show off. I had never liked reading from there because students always formed ‘cliques’ of their schools and gossiping on who dressed best and who has the best phone was the order of the day. So to clear this stress, I always stayed home where I concentrated more in my room” she says.
Security fears – “The only problem I had with public libraries was the poor security in most of these libraries. While it was meant for reading, some people came with different reasons. It is a common rule that users’ bags should be left outside” Ms Ntegyereize says.
Students that came with other purposes like stealing took this opportunity to take what did not belong to them. “On several occasions, I lost property at the library and I had to go through a lot of explaining to my parents on why I had ‘misplaced it’” Ms Jalia Nanziri, now working with a media company, memorizes.
Nevertheless, public libraries are key in improving a student’s mind set on different subjects. “With the state of schools in our country, most school libraries are not up to date, and so public libraries come in handy to supplement students’ learning given the various books in libraries” Ms Nanziri commends.
Mr Abdul Mutazindwa, the Director Education Standards in the Ministry of Education, says public libraries are one of the critical installations, “but I don’t know whether they qualify to be called public libraries.” He says these facilities are not re sourced and would be very effective if people knew about them. “Few people know that they exist.”
Mr Mutazindwa, who says he benefitted a lot from public libraries during his time at school, notes that the country has failed to promote reading. “The reading culture has been poor. The unfortunate part is that we have failed to outwit it. In our education system, we don’t start it early” Mr Mutazindwa explains.
The importance of a library - The library not only compliments the classroom study but also aids in research. It helps students with text books, parallel studies, reference books and periodicals; by providing a large number of bibliographic tools and up to date literature. However most of the public libraries in Uganda do not have the IT component as most of them have one or two computers with limited access to the internet.
Unlike in classroom academics, the internet facility is important in research work.
The public libraries are also short of proper book up dates. Some of them still have old, outdated books in their shelves as some depend on donations most times. “Our peak time is second term holidays when candidate classes are preparing to sit their final exams. Students come in large numbers and at times we cannot accommodate all of them because of the limited space and scarcity of books” Ms Nalubega notes.
If public libraries are going to invest limited resources into a marketing campaign to stay relevant in the information services field, then determining the likely effectiveness of the results is imperative.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug - By Joseph Mazige & Sheila Nduhukire

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RIVISTE AL RIALZO STIME PRODUZIONE CAFFE’ (+12%)
10 agosto 2011

L’Uganda, secondo produttore africano di caffè, ha rivisto al rialzo le stime per la raccolta 2010-11, grazie ai risultati migliori delle aspettative registrati nella regione sud-occidentale.
Lo ha reso noto l’Autorità per lo Sviluppo del caffè, la quale ha fatto sapere che a fine settembre, quando si prevede la fine della raccolta, saranno stati prodotti tra i 2,8 e i 2,9 milioni di sacchi di caffè da 60 chilogrammi, contro i 2,6 milioni previsti nello scorso aprile.
La fonte ha aggiunto che dallo scorso ottobre fino alla fine di luglio la produzione è cresciuta dell’8,7 per cento, rispetto allo stesso periodo dell’anno scorso, pari a 2,5 milioni di sacchi, contro i 2,3 milioni dell’annata 2009-10.
fonte www.agi.it

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BLOCCATO L’EXPORT DI ZUCCHERO
11 agosto 2011

Per fronteggiare un’imprevista penuria di zucchero, il presidente ugandese, Yovweri Museveni, ha annunciato il blocco delle esportazioni e la ripresa dell’import di questo bene di prima necessità. Il provvedimento, che avrà durata semestrale, servirà a bloccare il continuo aumento del prezzo sul mercato interno. Lo ha reso noto lo stesso Capo dello Stato, nel corso di un sopralluogo a due zuccherifici situati nelle province di Jinja e Buikwe.
Museveni ha precisato che l’esecutivo consentirà l’importazione di 40.000 tonnellate nei prossimi sei mesi e, nello stesso tempo, saranno bloccate le esportazioni dello stesso prodotto.
Nel 2010, l’Uganda ha esportato 275.000 tonnellate metriche di zucchero, mentre nel primo semestre di quest’anno ne ha destinate al mercato estero circa mezzo milione.
fonte www.agi.it

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E’ NATA UNA NUOVA RADIO E SI CHIAMA ‘XFM’
11 agosto 2011

Trasmette da pochi giorni ed ha già conquistato indici di ascolto da fare invidia alle emittenti storiche del panorama radiofonico ugandese.
La nuova radio ‘XFM’ è controllata dal Gruppo editoriale locale New Vision, attivo soprattutto nella carta stampata. La new entry dell’etere ugandese punta soprattutto sulle news e sulla musica più in voga nel continente, come il rythm & blues, l’afro-pop e l’hip hop.
Ai suoi microfoni, alcune tra le voci più popolari del panorama radiotelevisivo, strappate alla concorrenza con contratti ritenuti molto lucrosi.
fonte www.agi.it

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BANANA GROWTH UP 2.7 PERCENT
15 august 2011

Bananas locally known as matooke registered a 2.7% growth in the fiscal year 2010/2011. This remains the major food crop for Uganda followed by cassava and sweet potatoes.
According to Uganda’s financial year 2011/2012 budget analysis by Price waterhouse Coopers limited (PWC), the subsectors growth is attributed to the huge investments made in the agricultural sector during the fiscal year. “US $13 million funding by the World Bank in research targeting food crops, high value non staple foods and agro-biodiversity is evidence for focus on the sector” reads the report.
The report indicates that enhancement of agricultural production and productivity through investment in infrastructure and increased agricultural investment to more districts led to the growth of the sub sector.
The sector continues to grow with the focus on diversification of the agricultural export base and subsidization of interest rates in respect to lending to Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) through facilities like the Agricultural credit facility. However the analysis highlights the major challenges to the sector which if worked upon could lead to the rapid growth of the plantain sub sector and agriculture at large.
“Continued dependence on increasingly unpredictable weather pattern for crop production, low adoption of mechanized farming and failure to manage producer prices especially in periods of bumper harvest when demands outstrips supply depresses producer prices which the sector continues to face” a section of the report reads.
While addressing journalists in a media training workshop, Mr. Francis Kamulegeya the country senior partner with PWC said that the government however proposed to allocate Ushs437 billion to this sector an increase compared to the 2010/2011 allocation of Ushs 366 billion. “Government proposed a number of incentives to address the challenges that are within its control and these are expected to create a positive medium term impact on the sector” explained Kamulegeya.
In recognition of the predominantly manual nature of subsistence farming as well as the fact that most of the hoes used for tilling are imported, the report indicates that government proposed to reduce the import duty on hoes to 0% from 10%.
Kamulegeya highlighted areas that still require intervention to address challenges facing the sector. “Incentives to encourage mechanization, measures to boost the adoption of large scale commercial farming, incentives to encourage mechanization and ways of strengthening agricultural extension services provided by organizations such as NAADS remain unaddressed” Kamulegeya revealed.
fonte www.allafrica.com – Eriosi Nantaba

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NATION STARTS ENERGY AND CLIMATE EDUCATION TOUR
15 august 2011

Uganda has started an Energy and Climate Change awareness campaign for schools, aimed at raising a generation of an energy and environment conscious population. The campaign is dubbed ‘Energy Explorerz’. It targets students of primary, secondary and vocational level.
It is also intended to promote awareness on energy and climate change in a sustainable manner, make energy and climate change concepts appreciated and easy to understand among the young generation and promoting use of energy efficient technologies and practices as a wise option for energy and environment conservation.
The awareness campaign is supported by Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development in partnership with the GIZ promotion of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Programme (PREEEP). According to Uganda’s state minister for energy Mr. Simon D’Ujanga, the energy sector is one of the key sectors that have for a longtime been regarded as a complex and technical among the general public.
“The awareness levels on issues pertaining to energy are so low that very few people understand the meaning of the term ‘Energy.’ “The majority of them think that Energy means Electricity. This situation demonstrates a dire need to demystify Energy and educate the public about its significance in our daily lives, hence raising a population with an Energy efficient culture” explained D’Ujanga.
Uganda is among countries with the lowest access to modern energy services around the world. It meets more than 93% of its energy demand with biomass, 6% with fossil fuel combustion and only 1% with electricity from hydro and fuelled thermal power plants.
Throughout previous campaigns, the ministry of energy noted that many young people in Uganda do not know the role energy and the impact of climate change. “We believe that children are the future and that is why educating them is very important. We want to start at the grassroots levels since lack of awareness is an issue that needs to be tackled right from the root” added the minister.
Mr. Claus Dieter Duxmann the German Ambassador to Uganda said the two governments are in partnership to improve access to modern energy by the Ugandan population.
fonte www.allafrica.com – Paul Tentena

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ERITREA, ROMPERE L’ISOLAMENTO
17 agosto 2011

Il presidente eritreo Isaias Afeworki è giunto ieri a Kampala per una visita di stato di tre giorni. La sicurezza regionale sarà il tema principale di discussione tra Afeworki e il suo omologo ugandese Yoweri Museveni.
L’Eritrea è accusata da Etiopia e Gibuti di sostenere le milizie islamiche Shebab e di destabilizzare l’area. I due paesi dell’Africa Orientale avevano già chiesto alle Nazioni Unite di applicare sanzioni economiche contro il governo di Asmara. La stessa Uganda, che tiene il principale contingente di uomini in Somalia, aveva rivolto la stessa accusa. “Ci sono gravi accuse che l’Eritrea aiuti i ribelli Shehab a destabilizzare la regione del Corno d’Africa. Speriamo che il presidente Afewerki ci dia delle risposte soddisfacenti a riguardo” ha dichiarato James Mugume, segretario permanente del ministero esteri ugandese.
Recentemente il presidente governo federale transitorio (Tfg) Sharif Sheikh Ahmed ha chiesto al presidente Museveni a portare ulteriori 3.000 soldati in Somalia per rafforzare la distribuzione di aiuti alimentari e la pace a Mogadiscio.
Un rapporto delle Nazioni Unite pubblicato a fine luglio accusa apertamente l’Eritrea di sostenere miliziani Shebab e di sostenere vari gruppi ribelli in Gibuti, Sudan ed Etiopia come anche in Uganda con “supporto finanziario e logistico, addestramento e operazioni speciali di intelligence, violando la risoluzione dell’Onu 1907 (2009)”.
Asmara che è sotto embargo Onu, ha negato le accuse. Un altro elemento di discussione è la richiesta dell’Eritrea di ritornare nel blocco dell’ Autorità intergovernativa per lo sviluppo (Igad), dopo quattro anni di isolamento. Eritrea si ritirò dalla Igad nel 2007 per protesta contro l’intervento militare dell’Etiopia a sostegno del governo di transizione in Somalia.
fonte www.misna.org

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LA TENSIONE RIMANE ALTA
18 agosto 2011

La polizia ugandese ha usato cannoni ad acqua, gas lacrimogeni e colorante rosa contro i leader dell’opposizione e i loro sostenitori per disperdere una manifestazione in memoria delle 10 vittime morte durante le proteste antigovernative dell’aprile scorso. Dopo le schermaglie iniziali, la polizia ha permesso ai manifestanti di continuare la loro marcia in una zona diversa della capitale Kampala.
La manifestazione, mercoledì mattina, aveva attirato alcune centinaia di persone che volevano ricordare le vittime della protesta ‘Walk-to-work’ (vai al lavoro camminando). “Abbiamo organizzato una manifestazione per ricordare le persone morte durante le proteste dell’aprile scorso e anche per attirare l’attenzione del pubblico sulla situazione economica del Paese” ha detto Nandala Mafabi, parlamentare dell’opposizione.
Il portavoce della polizia, Ibin Ssenkumbi, ha sostenuto che le forze dell’ordine sono intervenute perché i parlamentari presenti avevano rotto un accordo stipulato in precedenza. Ssenkumbi si riferisce all’accordo di non organizzare manifestazioni nei centri commerciali ed industriali della capitale che era stato raggiunto alcuni mesi fa con le forze dell’opposizione.
Lo scorso aprile, per protestare il caro vita e la mancanza di protezioni sociali, centinaia di persone avevano aderito alla proposta di andare a lavorare a piedi, senza quindi usare il costoso servizio pubblico. La manifestazione fu repressa brutalmente per volere del governo. L’opposizione ha peraltro promesso di iniziare a breve una nuova serie di proteste contro il costo del cibo e l’aumento del presso dei carburanti.
Di fronte ad una inflazione che ha toccato il 19% quest’anno, il governo si difende facendo cadere la colpa sull’aumento del costo del petrolio – che l’Uganda deve importare attraverso il Kenya – e la siccità che ha colpito la regione.
L’opposizione fa notare che il governo ha però rifiutato di tagliare le tasse sui prodotti petroliferi, innescando così un inflazione alta e l’aumento del costo di produzione e distribuzione di molti prodotti locali.
fonte www.misna.org

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SHILLING CONTINUES SLIDE TO THE U.S. DOLLAR
20 august 2011

This week the shilling traded in a narrow range against the dollar of Shs2,775 to Shs2,800 with mild activity in the market.
The aggressive bids seen in the last couple of weeks seem to have disappeared despite the growing concerns about the global economy. Market confidence remains severely dented and the risk of sentiment is likely to remain elevated.
Next week the shilling could stay about the Shs2,760 to Shs2,800 range as the market keeps a close eye on the global developments concerning the US and EUR zone economies.
The cash markets are expected to remain short as the Central Bank issues treasury bills on August 24.
fonte www.allafrica.com

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KAMPALA IS AMONG CHEAPEST WORLD CITIES
22 august 2011

Kampala is one of the cheapest cities in Africa and the entire world to live for expatriates, a 2011 cost of living survey from Mercer, a leading human resource and financial consultancy firm has revealed.
Ranked at position 202 in the world, Kampala fares a lot better than Tanzania’s Dar-es-Salaam (ranked 187) and Kenya’s Nairobi (108). This gives the city an edge over its East African counterparts as an attraction for highly-skilled foreign labour. Regionally, Kampala ranks 40th, ahead of Dar-es-Salaam (36) and Nairobi (23) out of 43 surveyed African countries.
This development, according to some experts, could have been precipitated by the current economic trends that have seen the Uganda shilling depreciate against the dollar. “This means that people from foreign countries can purchase more goods for less money in Uganda” says Dr. Adam Mugume, the Bank of Uganda executive director for research function.
“With $100, one can purchase a lot more goods and services in Uganda than in other countries” he adds. This, Mugume says, is potentially good for the country “because more and more people are encouraged to come to Uganda, which boosts tourism and other sectors of the economy”.
According to the same survey, Luanda, the capital city of Angola is the most expensive city for expatriates across Africa and globally. It is followed by the Chadian capital Ndjamena, ranked number three and Gabon’s Libreville in the 12th position. The survey covers 214 cities across five continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.
New York is used as the base city against which all cities are compared. Currency movements are measured against the US dollar. The cost of housing — often the biggest expense for expatriates — plays an important part in determining where cities are placed. After Luanda, Ndjamena and Libreville, Africa’s most expensive cities are Victoria (13) in the Seychelles, Niamey (23) in Niger and Dakar (32) in Senegal. In South Africa, Johannesburg and Cape Town rank 151 and 171, respectively.
These findings defy the long held notion that cities in African nations are affordable, perhaps because of the less developed infrastructure and run down amenities. Nathalie Constantin-Métral, a senior researcher at Mercer, says this is not true. “We’ve seen demand increase for information on African cities from across the business spectrum, mining, fi nancial services, airlines, manufacturing, utilities and energy companies” she says.
This, she says, is because of the increasing cost of safe and secure living conditions, which many multi-national companies seek out for their expatriate employees “In some African cities, the cost of living, particularly, good, secure accommodation can be extraordinarily high.” This, she says, is generally the main reason why we fi nd so many African cities high up in the ranking.
At the bottom of the ranking, Addis Ababa (208) in Ethiopia is the cheapest African city, followed by Namibia’s Windhoek (205) and Botswana’s Gaborone (203). New entries in the top 10 list of the costliest cities in the world are Singapore (8), up from 11, and São Paulo (10), which has jumped 11 places since the 2010 ranking. Karachi (214) is ranked as the world’s least expensive city.
Recent world events, including natural disasters and political upheavals, have impacted the rankings for many regions through currency fluctuations, cost infl ation for goods and services and volatility in accommodation prices. Mercer’s is the world’s most comprehensive cost of living survey and is designed to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees.
EXPERIENCES OF UGANDANS ABROAD
Dr. Augustine Nuwagaba, consultant – I lived in Geneva in the 1990s. It is one of the most expensive cities I ever lived in. Transport, accommodation and food was expensive. A plate of chicken and French fries cost $96 (about 250,000). Accommodation cost between $100 and $180 (sh260,000-sh460,000) per night. To cut costs, I and my colleagues appealed to the head of the Uganda Consulate in Geneva to help us out. I teamed with friends to share accommodation and cut costs. We also used trams for transport as opposed to expensive road transport. We used to go to neighbouring Germany to find cheaper food.
Cindy Sanyu, Musician - It is quite expensive living in London. While some of my trips were paid for, I have had to get money out of my pocket to go around and do shopping. Taxis cost an arm and leg. Imagine paying £12 (about sh48,000) for a short drive around town. I used to go shopping, but many items were extremely expensive. A nice pair of shoes cost over £25 (over sh100,000). Here, you can ¬ nd a nice one at much less than that. What I did to cut costs? I also stopped using taxis and resorted to going around by bus or train. I stopped going to expensive restaurants.
Navio, Hip Hop artiste – I lived in South Africa. I was a student there. Everything, from textbooks to transport, was annoyingly expensive. Food too was on the high side. So I got on to a hustlers meal — this consisted of bread and soft drinks like Pepsi. There is also something we called Bunny Chow (meet rolled up in bread). This meal was a nice way for us to save. I played in a provincial basketball team and worked at a café to supplement my income. I also used to do music so I had busy weekends working.
Dr. Lilian Nabulime, University lecturer – I lived in Newcastle, where I did my PhD. Accommodation cost about £2,000 every month. Food and transport was also very expensive. We needed warm clothing and other materials, but these too were very expensive. I had to ¬ nd accommodation near the university. This made it very easy for me to walk to class, instead of using a bus or taxi. I never ate in restaurants, because it was expensive there. I would instead buy food in bulk and slowly but carefully consume it to make sure it lasts long enough.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug - Stephen Ssenkaaba and agencies

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DOCTORS, NURSES TO GET SALARY RISE
22 august 2011

The salaries for doctors, nurses and all the senior health officials is to increase substantially, if the proposals made by the health ministry are approved. The monthly gross pay of the director general will shoot up from over sh2.14m to sh7.5m, according to figures presented to the social services committee by health minister Dr. Christine Ondoa on Friday.
A senior consultant will earn a gross salary of sh5m, from the current sh2.12m, while a medical offi cer (scale U4) will get sh1.6m compared to the current sh833,123. For a nursing assistant and other support staff (scale U8), the new salary would rise to sh500,000, from sh210,996. The minister said the proposals had been submitted to the public service ministry for consideration.
Ondoa had re-appeared before the committee together with the ministry’s permanent secretary, Dr. Asuman Lukwago, and other senior staff to respond to queries raised by MPs on the ministry’s budget for this fi nancial year. Lukwago told journalists that they had held discussions with the public service ministry over the issue.
The proposals, he said, would not be implemented this financial year. Committee chairman Dr. Sam Lyomoki said they had not yet agreed on where to get the money for the salary increment.
In comparison, a document circulated to the committee indicated that a medical offi cer in Uganda gets $354, while in Kenya they get $959, Tanzania $550, Rwanda $645 and South Africa $2,150. It also showed that a nurse/midwife in Uganda gets $107, in Kenya they get $335, Rwanda $419 and South Africa $1,200.
The MPs were also concerned about allowances of health workers and made suggestions on areas where budget cuts could be effected so that health workers can be retained.
Lyomoki pointed out that the MPs had asked the minister to do re-allocations in the budget and fi nd money for health workers, before she goes to the finance ministry to look for more money. “We are working with the ministry to undertake cuts in some areas in the ministry budget in order to find money for maintaining health workers” Lyomoki said.
The areas targeted include workshops, entertainment, buying of new vehicles, advertisement and travel abroad. “We want a functional health system, not white elephants” he added.
Lyomoki said an additional 5,000 health workers were required. He added that since there was new leadership in the ministry, “there should not be a mere change of guards, but a fundamental change”.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug - Joyce Namutebi

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UN SMS CONTRO LA MALARIA: CURE MIGLIORI NEL 24% DEI CASI
22 agosto 2011

In Africa un sms può salvare la vita e costare meno di un dottore. Sono i paradossi di un continente dove, in alcune aree, gli ammalati non hanno accesso a strutture sanitarie attrezzate e la semplice tecnologia di una pompa idrica è futuristica quanto può esserlo un’astronave, ma nel quale i cellulari hanno una diffusione non ancora capillare ma rapidissima.
Così il ‘Kenya Medical Research Institute’ (Kemry) ha deciso di sfruttare la telefonia mobile e gli sms per raggiungere più facilmente gli operatori sanitari delle aree più remote e aiutarli nel loro lavoro, un’iniziativa che ha avuto risultati sorprendenti, tanto da venire menzionata dalla prestigiosa rivista scientifica ‘The Lancet’.
Le indicazioni arrivate agli infermieri via sms sono infatti servite a trattare nel modo corretto il 24 per cento in più dei casi e si sono dimostrate più efficaci ed economici di corsi di aggiornamento o materiale cartaceo.
Per capire come un semplice sms mandato sul cellulare di un infermiere può contribuire a salvare una vita bisogna tener conto non soltanto dei mezzi limitati della sanità africana, ma anche delle sue caratteristiche, completamente diverse dalle nostre.
Ospedali, ambulatori, cliniche sono pochi e irraggiungibili per un’ampia parte della popolazione, perciò, quando è possibile, le strutture sanitarie istruiscono infermieri che si spostano di villaggio in villaggio creando degli ambulatori itineranti nei quali si fa prevenzione, si curano le malattie più comuni, vengono prestate le cure di primo soccorso e organizzati i trasferimenti degli ammalati più gravi negli ospedali.
Il lavoro degli infermieri a domicilio è gravoso, spesso intrapreso dopo corsi accurati e approfonditi quanto è possibile in Paesi nei quali i fondi destinati alla formazione del personale sanitario sono limitati o nulli. Il Kemry, struttura governativa che ha tra i suoi obiettivi proprio la formazione di questi profili professionali, ha perciò pensato a un metodo per poter seguire e aiutare gli infermieri kenyani anche dopo gli studi, avviando un servizio di sms per ricordare alcuni principi basilari delle terapie e delle procedure più comuni, come quelle antimalariche. Il successo dell’iniziativa è stato sorprendente, con un miglioramento del 24 per cento di casi di malaria trattati in modo corretto.
In pratica, il 24 per cento di vite salvate in più. È stato sufficiente inviare sui cellulari del personale sanitario sms del tipo “Raccomandate alle madri dei bambini affetti da malaria di finire tutte le dosi di medicina anche se il bambino si sente meglio dopo aver preso le prime!”, o altre indicazioni utili a ribadire quanto gli infermieri avevano studiato nei corsi professionali.
Agli sms ‘tecnici’ sono stati inframmezzati anche sms motivazionali, come “Un sorriso che farete, porterà sempre qualcosa di buono in cambio”, per rendere il servizio meno freddo e distaccato. Il costo degli sms è stato ampiamente ripagato dai risultati e si è dimostrato anche più economico dei mezzi usati di solito per l’aggiornamento professionale, quali corsi di sostegno o materiale cartaceo da distribuire nei centri sanitari distaccati.
Il costo di ogni sms in Kenya è inferiore a un centesimo di euro, ma i dati elaborati nello studio del ‘Kenya Medical Research Institute’, coadiuvato dallo ‘Oxford Biomedical Research Institute’, hanno indicato che – pur mandando messaggini per un totale di 39mila euro – la spesa per l’iniziativa è stata assai inferiore ai costi che sarebbero stati necessari per far viaggiare docenti nel Paese o inviare materiale per l’aggiornamento.
In ogni caso, gli sms si sono dimostrati di gran lunga più utili per i 119 infermieri che hanno visitato 2269 bambini affetti da malaria rispetto a corsi di aggiornamento o nuovi libri. E, tengono a sottolineare i ricercatori, le cose possono ancora migliorare, perché nei sei mesi successivi al monitoraggio di cui si riferisce nell’articolo pubblicato su ‘The Lancet’, gli sms sono diventati sempre più accurati e graditi.
fonte www.repubblica.it - Cristina Nadotti

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MAKERERE UNIVERSITY LECTURERS STRIKE OVER POOR PAY
23 august 2011

Makerere University lecturers have declared a sit down strike, starting today, over low pay. They want the Government to pay a Professor a salary equivalent to that of a Member of Parliament.
A Ugandan MP receives an average of sh15m monthly. The lecturers also want sh8m for teaching assistants, the entry level into teaching at the University.
However, State minister for higher education Dr. John Muyingo said Government will look into the lecturers grievances. The minister said they were in a meeting on Tuesday morning to forge a way forward.
The lecturers resolved to lay down their tools following a heated meeting convened by the Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA) that lasted for over four hours. The MUASA chairperson, Prof Tanga Odoi said the lecturers would not teach until their demands are met. The strike will affect students who resumed for the new semester last week, and started their lecturers on Monday.
“We have agreed to lay down our tools until our demands are met by the Government” he said. He added: “We gave the Government three months to increase our salaries to help us cope with rising inflation, but we have not received any feedback.”
The lecturers also agreed not to conduct lecturers until the National Insurance Corporation (NIC) clears the sh16.7b it owes the University. The money reportedly accumulated between July 1996 and 2005, when the company operated a deposit administration plan (DAP) for the university’s pension scheme.
Odoi blamed the University Council for failing to liaise with NIC to resolve the matter, until he petitioned them to write to the insurance firm last week. The lecturers agreed to use their lawyers to place a caveat on sale of NIC properties, alleging fear that the insurance firm may wind up business without paying their savings.
They cited reports that NIC had not renewed its trading license.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug

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RITIRATO DL SU PENA DI MORTE PER OMOSESSUALI
24 agosto 2011

Il governo ugandese fa una parziale marcia indietro sulla presentazione in Parlamento di una proposta di legge per aggravare ulteriormente la condizione degli omosessuali, considerati, come in altre numerose nazioni africane, alla stregua dei peggiori criminali.
La riforma in cantiere dal 2009 prevedeva addirittura di offrire ai giudici la possibilità di condannare a morte i gay. L’opposizione di numerose associazioni per i diritti umani e il dissenso di sempre più larghi strati della popolazione ha portato il governo a ritirare il progetto.
David Bahati, l’architetto della riforma, non si dà per vinto: “Considerate le polemiche il governo ha fatto bene a frenare, del resto ci sono già numerose leggi in materia” dice Bahati alla stampa locale “ciò non toglie che è assolutamente necessario adottare misure più severe per garantire la moralità pubblica e proteggere la purezza della nostra società“.
fonte www.agi.it

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EBOLA, SCOPERTA UNA MICROMOLECOLA IN GRADO DI BLOCCARE L’ACCESSO AL VIRUS
25 agosto 2011

Studiosi statunitensi hanno identificato il meccanismo in grado di bloccare il virus Ebola e la strategia impiegata dal virus per attaccare le cellule umane.
Il virus dell’Ebola (EboV) è all’origine di micidiali focolai di infezione tra le popolazioni africane e purtroppo i casi di insorgenza sono in aumento. Finora non esiste alcun vaccino o terapia efficace per l’infezione e, nella ricerca di un’arma per combatterlo, i ricercatori del Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) di Boston hanno utilizzato un robot sviluppato dai loro colleghi impegnati presso il ‘National small molecule screening laboratory’ della Harvard Medical School per esaminare decine di migliaia di campioni.
Nel corso della ricerca, gli studiosi hanno individuato una nuova micro-molecola derivata da benzilpiperazina adamantyl diamide che si è rivelata in grado di inibire l’ingresso di EboV in oltre il 99 per cento delle cellule. Ulteriori studi effettuati presso lo ‘United States Army Research Institute for Infectious Disease’, a Fort Detrick, nel Maryland, hanno verificato l’efficacia di questo inibitore di entrata del virus.
In particolare, essi hanno usato l’inibitore come sonda per studiare il percorso di infezione dell’EboV e hanno scoperto che l’obiettivo dell’inibitore è la proteina Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1), il ‘cavallo di Troia’ attraverso il quale il virus attacca la membrana cellulare dell’organismo ospite. I risultati della ricerca verranno pubblicati domani sulla rivista Nature.
“Nel 2005 - ha spiegato James Cunningham, primo autore dello studio e ricercatore presso la Divisione di ematologia della BWH – abbiamo dimostrato che la digestione della glicoproteina sulla superficie delle particelle dell’EboV da parte della cellula ospite della proteasi catepsina B costituisce un passaggio fondamentale nell’infezione, ma avevamo intuito il coinvolgimento di altri fattori. Identificare l’inibitore dell’EboV ci ha portato alla scoperta che NPC1 è il condotto attraverso il quale il virus è in grado di infettare le membrane cellulari e ciò rappresenta una svolta per le nostre ricerche“.
In combinazione con gli esiti degli studi precedenti sulla struttura della glicoproteina del virus e sulla sua funzione, questi risultati indicano che l’infezione procede per passi successivi nel corso dei quali la catepsina B rimuove la parte superiore della glicoproteina dell’EboV ed espone la regione critica che si lega alla proteina NPC1 e consente l’ingresso delle particelle di EboV nelle cellule.
“I nostri risultati dimostrano che l’infezione di EboV ha caratteristiche in comune con altri virus patogeni tra cui l’Hiv e la Sars, i quali utilizzano anch’essi due proteine ospiti per avanzare nelle membrane cellulari e infettare le cellule ospiti“ ha detto Cunningham. “E ‘interessante notare che NPC1 è fondamentale per l’assorbimento del colesterolo nelle cellule, il che è un’indicazione di come il virus sfrutta processi cellulari normali per crescere e diffondersi. Le micro-molecole – ha concluso il ricercatore americano – connesse a NPC1, che inibiscono l’infezione di EboV, mostrano senz’altro il potenziale di essere trasformate in anti-virali“.
fonte www.repubblica.it

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CEMENT PRICES HIT SHS30,000
25 august 2011

As the high cost of sugar eases across the country, cement prices are heading up on the back of higher fuel prices and the weakening Shilling. The retail price of a 50-kilogramme bag of cement now costs between Shs29, 500 and Shs30,000 at several hardware stores such as Hardware World in Ntinda. While wholesale prices vary between Shs28,500 and Shs28,800 at stores like Kingstone Enterprises in Kampala.
Retail cement prices have risen by about Shs7,000 per bag since the beginning of the year undermining the construction of residential and commercial property.
Mr David Njoroge the general manager of Hima Cement, the largest producer of cement in Uganda, attributed the surge to the persistent rise in fuel prices and the 21 per cent depreciation of the local unit against the dollar since January 2011. “These put pressure on the cost of production, transportation and distribution of products which costs are then passed on to consumers where possible” Mr Njoroge said in an interview on Tuesday.
Fuel prices have gone up by almost a half since the beginning of year. For instance the cost of diesel has gone up to Shs3,450 per litre from Shs2,200 in January. A litre of petrol now costs as high Shs3, 850 at Shell gas stations compared to Shs2, 700 at the start of the year.
Oil marketers have attributed to the rise in international oil prices and the depreciation of the shilling which is exchanged for dollars to buy imports.
The shilling fell to 2,800 per dollar from 2, 300 at the start of the year. The inflationary pressures have eroded the benefit of lower prices that were brought about by the opening of a new factory by the company.
fonte www.allafrica.com

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UGANDA-ERITREA, PIU’ INTENSA LA COOPERAZIONE BILATERALE
26 agosto 2011

Uganda ed Eritrea hanno deciso di avviare una cooperazione bilaterale, definita “strategica” dai presidenti dei rispettivi Paesi, Yoweri Museveni e Isaias Afewerki, al termine di una visita di tre giorni compiuta da quest’ultimo a Kampala.
Nel corso della visita, che da alcuni osservatori e’ stata vista come un tentativo di porre fine all’isolamento internazionale di Asmara, Museveni si è impegnato a “fare il possibile per garantire la sicurezza” di entrambi i Paesi.
I due capi di Stato – che si erano già incontrati tre anni fa nella città costiera eritrea di Massaua – hanno deciso anche di “far fare un salto di qualità alle relazioni commerciali” bilaterali, soprattutto nei settori agroalimentare e dell’information Communication Technology.
fonte www.agi.it

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BREVE DALL’UGANDA
29 agosto 2011

Sono almeno 23 finora le vittime dello smottamento provocato dalle piogge torrenziali che hanno investito l’est del paese.
Operatori della Croce Rossa locale hanno recuperato 15 corpi e salvato due persone rimaste intrappolate nel fango nel villaggio di Mabono, distretto di Bulambuli, 270 chilometri a nord-est di Kampala. In un villaggio poco distante, fonti sanitarie hanno confermato la morte di altre otto persone.
fonte www.misna.org

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Cambio valuta: in data 31/08/2011 1 dollaro USA è pari a 2813,6499 scellini ugandesi, 1 Euro è pari a 4062,6276 scellini ugandesi

18 STRUCK DEAD BY LIGHTNING IN KIRYANDONGO
29 june 2011

INFLATION SLOWS TO 15.8%
1 july 2011

INVESTMENTS DROP BY 48% DUE TO PROTESTS
4 july 2011

I WON’T RUN IN 2016, SAYS BESIGYE
4 july 2011

UGANDA, PROCEDE ELETTRIFICAZIONE ZONE RURALI
7 luglio 2011

UGANDA, CORSI AGGIORNAMENTO PER 4.000 IMPRENDITRICI
7 luglio 2011

EAST AFRICA CHILDREN POORLY TAUGHT, A REPORT
11 july 2011

A GULU APRE PROCESSO A COMANDANTE LRA, NON MANCANO PERPLESSITÀ
11 luglio 2011

FOOD PRICES LIKELY TO REMAIN HIGH IN REGION
12 july 2011

AIDS, I FARMACI USATI PER LA CURA ABBATTONO I CONTAGI TRA I SANI ‘A RISCHIO’
14 luglio 2011

TRIBUNALE RITIRA CAPO DI ACCUSA CONTRO OPPOSITORE, PROCESSO CONTINUA
15 luglio 2011

UGANDA, 25.000 BABIES BORN WITH HIV/AIDS ANNUALLY
17 july 2011

VOCATIONAL TRAINING VITAL FOR FUTURE CAREER
18 july 2011

COUNTRY SEEKING MORE STUDENTS FOR NEUROSURGERY
18 july 2011

IMMORALITY LINKED TO POVERTY
21 july 2011

BETTER MAIZE SEEDS COMING
21 july 2011

TEACHERS DEMAND 100% PAY RISE
21 july 2011

TOUR OPERATORS ASK FOR FUNCTIONAL TOURISM MINISTRY AND AGENCIES
22 july 2011

MESSA DI SUFFRAGIO STASERA IN RICORDO DI SILVIA OCHEN
22 luglio 2011

SUGAR PRICES KEEP AN UPWARD TREND
23 july 2011

UGANDA FACES FOOD SHORTAGE MONDAY
25 july 2011

DEMAND FOR SKILLED LABOUR ATTRACTS TECH UNIVERSITY
25 july 2011

SHILLING IS THIRD WORST PERFORMING CURRENCY
25 july 2011

FIRMS RAISE PRODUCT PRICES, CUT JOBS TO STAY IN BUSINESS
25 july 2011

UGANDA, L’INFORMATICA CONTRO ASSENTEISMO A SCUOLA
26 luglio 2011

UGANDA, SARA’ AMMODERNATO GRANDE OSPEDALE DI KAMPALA
28 luglio 2011

ETIOPIA-UGANDA, PIU’ STRETTA COOPERAZIONE BILATERALE
28 luglio 2011

TURISMO IN AFRICA CRESCIUTO DEL 6% NEL 2010
28 luglio 2011

Lightning struck several districts in the country yesterday, with one strike killing 17 pupils and one student teacher at Kiryandongo, some 210Km north of Kampala.
Police confirmed that 36 other pupils of Runyanya PS in Kiryandongo District were admitted with serious injuries, and arrangements had been made to transport some of them to Masindi and Mulago hospitals by last night. The devastation, which is by far the biggest since unseasonal heavy rainstorms descended on the country, formed the highlight of debate on the floor of Parliament yesterday as lawmakers put the government on the wall to explain what is going on.
Some 100 pupils at Runyanya PS are said to have been affected by the late afternoon thunderstorm, and medical personnel said the death toll was feared to rise by today. Dozens of the dead were taken to the Kiryandongo Hospital morgue, three miles away from the primary school. Grief and emotion engulfed the hospital as many thronged to indentify the dead. Mr Patrick Kawamara, the Kiryandongo Resident District Commissioner, told this newspaper that doctors had confirmed 18 dead, while 36 had been admitted nursing serious injuries. This brings the death toll from lightning strikes in the past one week to 28.
Those killed yesterday included 14 girls, two boys and a female student-teacher. “Majority of those being treated are in a coma and cannot talk” said Mr Edward Kirya, the district education officer. Officials admitted it was difficult to ascertain just how many people had died. “All the children are scattered” said Sister Norah Akello, a nurse at Kiryandongo Hospital. “It is not easy to count how many are dead”.
Police publicist - Judith Nabakooba said last evening that the force had dispatched six ambulances to bring the injured to Masindi and Mulago hospitals. Police was called in to calm matters following a scuffle that ensued as crestfallen parents moved to claim their dead children. Meanwhile, a total of 21 other pupils at Paidha Role Model Primary School in Zombo District received burns after they were struck by a bolt of lightning. Witnesses said several pupils writhed on floors in their classrooms holding their ears and eyes. The injured pupils were rushed to Nyapea Hospital, some 10km away from the school.
Cleric hit – “I just heard an irritating sound and I got scared that it could have struck something. Moments later, I just heard pupils wailing in pain. They lay unconscious on the ground” said Christopher Onyai, an eye witness. Six people in Yumbe District were similar victims while a cleric in Hoima is admitted to a private clinic partially paralysed after he was struck on Monday. In the last one week, there have been several incidents of lightning strikes which have left several people dead and untold damage.
In Hoima, the Rev. James Mbabazi, 45, an associate Vicar at Hoima All Saints town church (COU) is admitted to a private clinic in Hoima town after being struck by lightning at about 10.20pm on Monday during a downpour at his home in Kalyabuhiire village in Hoima municipality. Mbabazi, who was shivering, told the Daily Monitor at the Tropical Clinic that the incident left him with burns on the right hand and feet. He said his right hand side of his body is paralyzed. It has been a bitter pill to swallow for many farmers whose prayers for the return of rains following a long dry spell have brought tragedy and suffering.
Lawmakers ordered the government to come up with a comprehensive statement on the crisis. “I don’t know which minister is in charge of the lightning but let the Government come with a statement to inform the country on what is going on and how we can manage it” said Speaker Rebecca Kadaga.
The matter was raised by Kyenjojo Woman MP Lyndah Timbigamba who reported that an unspecified number of cows in her district had been killed by lightning. Scientists believe that magnetic force generated by lightning provides an electric jolt so powerful that it can stop someone’s heart. Traditional advice for people caught in a thunderstorm is to avoid sheltering under trees as they act as lightning conductors and to make sure you are not the tallest object on the ground.
Government to explain - “Most of the school buildings need electro lights to avert such deaths and injuries” said Terego MP Kassiano Wadri. Government Chief Whip John Nasasira told MPs both the Ministers of Environment and Housing would table a statement before the House as MPs demanded that lightning conductors be fixed atop all public building including schools to avert future disasters. Efforts to obtain a comment from experts at the Meteorology Department were futile. The department’s publicist declined to receive repeated calls.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug - George Muzoora & Frank Wimba

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INFLATION SLOWS TO 15.8%
1 july 2011

Ugandans will for the time being begin to enjoy low food prices as supply to markets increase due to improved harvests. The harvests are expected to slightly ease food price pressures that had for the past six months increased the cost of living.
The reduction in prices of matooke, Irish potatoes, pineapples, passion fruits, avocado, beans, tomatoes, fish and fresh milk have seen inflation slightly drop to 15.8 per cent in June, according to data from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos). Inflation has been accelerating since January hitting a 16 per cent rate, the highest record in 17 years. The country last recorded inflation above 16 per cent in May 1994, when it stood at 16.2 per cent.
Food inflation - According to the figures released yesterday, food inflation reduced from 35.3 per cent in May to 33.4 per cent in June, while food prices inflation dropped by 2.5 per cent during the period. Food constitutes 27.2 per cent of the weight in the basket of goods and services, the biggest percentage in the basket of goods used to measure inflation. This therefore means any reduction or increase in food prices will automatically impact inflation. The director macro-economics at Ubos, Dr Chris Ndatira Mukiza, however, noted that prices for cabbage, egg plant, bitter tomatoes, groundnuts, maize flour, bread, firewood and paraffin went up during the period.
Dollar effect – The continued depreciation of the shilling against the dollar has, however, kept inflation in double digits despite increased food supplies to markets. This is because Uganda imports 40.5 per cent of the goods consumed in the country. During the month, prices of imported goods especially clothing, household and personal goods went up because of a weak shilling. Yesterday, the dollar closed at the Shs2,500, the highest record in so many years.
Importation has also brought in imported inflation from countries like China, Uganda’s biggest trade partners.
Inflation is picking up in all East African countries due to a weak shillings, sharply escalating cost of food and fuel prices. In Kenya, it leapt to 14.49 in June from 12.95 per cent in May, while Tanzania’s rose to 9.7 per cent in May, from 8.6 per cent in April.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug - Faridah Kulabako

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INVESTMENTS DROP BY 48% DUE TO PROTESTS
4 july 2011

The month-long ‘ Walk to work’ protests between April and May scared away investors leading to a decline in the investment value in the last quarter of the 2010/2011 financial year, an official has said.
State minister for privatisation, Mr Aston Kajara, said during the release of the 2010/11 Uganda Investment Authority report that the authority registered 95 projects with a planned investment of $210 million between April and June. This represented a 48 per cent drop, compared to the 78 projects licensed between January and March 2011, with a planned investment of $604 million.
“The ‘Walk to work’ demonstrations saw a number of potential investors stay their establishment in Ugandan market while they assessed the political situation” Mr Kajara said in Kampala last week. However, the authority’s investments during the just concluded financial year increased, with a total of 337 projects, worth $1.7 billion licensed compared to 340 projects worth $1.55 billion in 2009/2010 financial period.
The highest investments were recorded in electricity and gas sector and this was closely followed by the financial, insurance, real estate and services sectors. The licensed projects are expected to create employments for about 130,732 people in the country. Uganda still took a lead as a top source of investment, followed by India, Kenya, Netherlands, Norway and China in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth positions respectively.
Meanwhile, the investment body also launched its new website that is expected to enhance investors’ search capabilities by making it easy for investors to navigate.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug - Faridah Kulabako

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I WON’T RUN IN 2016, SAYS BESIGYE
4 july 2011

The FDC leader, Dr Kizza Besigye, has announced that he will not contest for the national presidency in 2016. Dr Besigye, whose second term as Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party president expires in 2014, also said he would not seek to extend his leadership of the main opposition party in the country.
While the FDC constitution bars him from running for the party presidency after two terms in office, it does not have similar restrictions for anyone seeking to stand on the party ticket for the national presidency. The FDC leader broke the silence over his political future on Saturday during a two-day retreat for party leaders held in Mukono District. The meeting was called to examine last year’s elections and to propose a way forward for the opposition party.
Dr Besigye is expected to meet another set of FDC leaders in Mukono today. “I am not going to be like the NRM and President Museveni who want to cling on to power. I will not change the party constitution for selfish reasons to serve another term” Dr Besigye, who was flanked by the party’s vice president for eastern Uganda, Ms Salaam Musumba, and the Leader of Opposition, Mr Nandala Mafabi, reportedly announced during a closed-door meeting.
‘Shocked’ audience – Sources not authorised to speak on behalf of the party and therefore sought anonymity told ‘Daily Monitor’ that after Dr Besigye’s announcement, silence engulfed the hall with most officials visibly shocked. According to the FDC Deputy Spokesperson, Mr Toterebuka Bamwenda, Dr Besigye did request to retire after serving his second term. He said Dr Besigye explained to officials that he had served his two terms successfully and time had come for him to give way to new leadership. “Dr Besigye said he would retire from the leadership of the party when his current term expires and that he will not seek re-election as the party’s presidential flag bearer in 2016, saying he had successfully completed his two terms. The party leaders, however, said they still need him as FDC party leader and presidential candidate” Mr Bamwenda said.
A group, reportedly led by the FDC chairperson for Kasese District, tried to dissuade Dr Besigye from stepping down. Whereas Dr Besigye did not hint on his possible successor during the meeting, the FDC leader reportedly directed his party officials to formulate a transition plan that among other things will enable them elect his likely replacement.
Speculation is, however, rife that a succession battle has been raging on with a number of candidates expressing interest to replace him.
Likely replacement – Those that have so far been tipped to replace Dr Besigye include Mr Nandala Mafabi, Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu, Bugweri MP Abdu Katuntu, Aswa County MP Reagan Okumu, Kitgum Woman MP Beatrice Anywar and Ms Musumba. Dr Besigye could not be reached for a comment by press time as his known mobile phone was switched off.
As soon as the 2011 presidential elections ended, some party officials started agitating for Dr Besigye’s exit, saying he had played his part to the full.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug - Mercy Nalugo & Gerald Bareebe

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UGANDA, PROCEDE ELETTRIFICAZIONE ZONE RURALI
7 luglio 2011

L’Uganda ha varato una serie di progetti per l’estensione della rete elettrica nelle zone rurali di alcune province settentrionali e orientali. Gli interventi porteranno al prolungamento della rete dalla provincia orientale di Soroti, dove arriva attualmente, alle province di Katakwi e Amuria, mentre nel nord l’ampliamento interesserà le province di Oyam, Gulu e Kole.
La realizzazione delle opere, che beneficiano di un prestito parziale della Banca mondiale per 6 milioni di euro, sarà coordinata dall’Agenzia nazionale per l’elettrificazione rurale, che gestirà un apposito fondo creato dal governo per accelerare l’elettrificazione delle zone più lontane dai grossi centri urbani.
fonte www.agi.it

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UGANDA, CORSI AGGIORNAMENTO PER 4.000 IMPRENDITRICI
7 luglio 2011

Oltre 4.000 imprenditrici ugandesi beneficeranno di un corso di aggiornamento quinquennale, concepito con lo scopo di migliorarne le capacità professionali, soprattutto nei settori della produzione e del marketing. L’iniziativa, che richiede l’esborso di tre milioni di dollari, è stata lanciata da Enterprise Uganda, un organismo locale impegnato nella promozione dei talenti imprenditoriali femminili.
Il corso, che avrà come slogan ‘Rafforzare le donne imprenditrici’, inizierà nel 2012 per concludersi nel 2016. Un’iniziativa analoga si svolse dal 2008 al 2010 ed ebbe come risultato la creazione di oltre 740 nuove imprese guidate da donne che avevano partecipato ai corsi di formazione.
fonte www.agi.it

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EAST AFRICA CHILDREN POORLY TAUGHT, A REPORT
11 july 2011

While three East African countries have achieved on school enrolment levels, majority of pupils continue to demonstrate incompetence in the two most important aspects of basic education. A report dubbed ‘Are our children Learning’ shows that children in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda perform poorly compared to the established curriculum standards.
The report appears to hold a different tone than another one from Uganda’s examinations body, which points to a slightly brighter outlook. Uganda boasts of approximately 8.3 million children in primary school, compared to 2.3 million before the programme in 1997. But as the report, prepared by Uwezo, an initiative to improve competencies in literacy and numeracy in East Africa, indicates, there is nothing to be proud of if majority of pupils, though in school, are not able to read and later on deal with numbers.
The tests were for Primary Two and administered to 145,730 children from 79,286 households in 2009/2010. The assessment was done on children between the age of 6 and 16. But findings indicate that investing in inputs alone has limited impact, and that fresh thinking focused on incentives for learning is needed. Further, it shows that children in the three countries perform poorly compared to established curriculum levels. In Primary Three, two out of three children failed to pass the Uwezo tests for English, Kiswahili and numeracy.
In Kenya, only 28 per cent of pupils in Standard 3 completed the test successfully, meaning they were able to read a story with ease. In Uganda and Tanzania, pass rates were at 4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively. “There is a crisis of learning in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Governments are proud of their achievements in expanding school enrolments. But they should now not hide behind these achievements, and focus instead on making sure that children in school are in fact learning” reads part of the report released last month. It adds: “Even amongst children who have advanced to Standard 7, many have not acquired Standard 2 numeracy and literacy skills.”
However, Mr Aggrey Kibenge, Ministry of Education undersecretary said issues in the report are not any different from what government has been addressing for five years. “These issues are not coming up for the first time. We have been working on book-to-pupil ratio, pupil-to- teacher ratio and the launching of Quality Enhancement Initiative project three years ago, which was to target 12 districts that are poor in attracting teachers”
Mr Kibenge said on phone. Referring to a 2010 report released on Tuesday last week by the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) on the National Assessment of Progress in Education (NAPE), Mr Kibenge said there has been improvement with at least more than half of pupils able to read. Although the NAPE report shows an overall 72.8 per cent proficiency in numeracy and 57.6 per cent in literacy in English in Primary Three, it still identifies that Primary Six pupils are not able to tell time on hour and minutes, read a story and comprehend, and subtract fractions, which is not any different from what the Uwezo report identifies.
Mr Mathew Bukenya, UNEB executive secretary notes that the findings in the various NAPE reports have revealed a lot about teaching-learning process and pupils’ learning achievement.
Like the Uwezo report, NAPE recognises that pupils in private primary schools are performing better than those in public schools. “The results showed a decline in pupils’ achievement immediately after the introduction of UPE and also a gradual improvement thereafter” Mr Bukenya says, highlighting an uneven curve in the progress. However, the Uwezo report asks the three governments to face the crisis squarely and find solutions that will reflect the billions of shillings and hours spent on basic education each year by parents, governments and donors and that the learners are learning, literate and numerate.
The Uwezo report notes that teacher incentives are weak, with teachers often posting high rates of absence. It demonstrates that in Tanzania, 23 per cent of teachers are not in school on any given day and when in school, teachers spend half their time outside the classroom. As a consequence, children are only taught two hours and four minutes a day, instead of an expected five hours. Studies from Uganda and Kenya suggest similar findings.
“Reflecting on these results, one cannot but note the enormous challenge East African governments, teachers and parents face in making sure that children acquire basic numeracy and literacy skills. These asymmetries in learning also undermine the prospects for greater cooperation and development across the East African region” says the report.
Mr Emmanuel Mugole, Uwezo-Uganda assessment Coordinator, earlier said as long as there is an individual in primary school who cannot read or deal with numbers, it is a loss for any government because money has been spent for learning to take place yet there are negative returns on it.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug - Patience Ahimbisibwe

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A GULU APRE PROCESSO A COMANDANTE LRA, NON MANCANO PERPLESSITÀ
11 luglio 2011

Centinaia di persone stanno assistendo al processo dell’ex comandante delle operazioni militari della ribellione dell’Esercito di Liberazione del Signore (Lord’s Resistance Army, LRA), Thomas Kweyelo, che si è aperto oggi dinanzi la divisione speciale per i crimini dell’Alta corte di Gulu (nord).
Lo riferisce il quotidiano ugandese ‘Daily Monitor’ sottolineando che si tratta del primo procedimento ai danni di un alto dirigente dell’LRA da quando la Corte penale internazionale (Cpi/Icc) ha messo in stato di accusa altri elementi della ribellione nord ugandese, sodali di Kweyelo tuttora latitanti, tra cui Joseph Kony, il fondatore, Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo e Raska Lukwiya.
L’ex comandante, nato nel distretto settentrionale di Amuru tra il 1968 e il 1972, era stato catturato nel marzo 2009 nell’est della confinante Repubblica democratica del Congo durante scontri tra l’LRA e l’esercito ugandese impegnato nell’operazione ‘Fulmine’ alla ricerca di elementi armati. Anche se il suo nome non figura tra quelli dei ribelli ricercati dalla Cpi, nel suo paese Kweyelo viene processato per omicidi preterintenzionali, sequestro di persona, ferimento di persone e danni a proprietà privata perpetrati nelle regioni di Gulu e Amulu.
Detenuto da più di due anni in un carcere ad alta sicurezza nei pressi di Kampala, la capitale, Kweyelo potrebbe essere condannato all’ergastolo. Osservatori fanno notare che finora gli elementi della ribellione ugandese arrestati come quelli che si sono arresi hanno usufruito di una legge di amnistia mentre alcuni sono stati perfino integrati nell’esercito regolare.
A Gulu, riferisce la stampa locale, la gente si sta interrogando sul valore del processo a Kweyelo, da molti considerati un comandante di minore importanza, mentre i capi più importanti sono latitanti.
Il procedimento giudiziario ha però una valenza simbolica in quanto si tratta del primo ribelle dell’LRA a comparire davanti a un tribunale speciale che dipende dall’Alta corte, istituito nel 2009 dal governo di Kampala.
Secondo i bilanci in circolazione, da settembre 2008 l’LRA ha ucciso 2400 persone e ne ha rapite 3400. Fondato negli anni ‘80 nel Nord Uganda, il movimento guidato dall’ex-predicatore Kony è stato protagonista in Uganda, per circa un ventennio, di brutali attacchi contro i civili delle comunità settentrionali Acholi.
Dopo il fallimento di un difficile processo di pace, il gruppo si è sparso tra il nord-est della Repubblica democratica del Congo, il sud del Centrafrica e il Sud Sudan, dove continua a seminare il terrore tra i civili.
fonte www.misna.org

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FOOD PRICES LIKELY TO REMAIN HIGH IN REGION
12 july 2011

Food prices across the east African region are likely to remain high due to low production resulting from low rainfall and high fuel prices, United States Agency for International Development says.
Although improved harvests are expected this month (July), the Agency says high transportation costs of commodities to the markets are likely to maintain prices above the seasonal levels. “In Teso and Lango sub regions, normal rains are likely to result in average harvests but the marketable surplus of sorghum in these regions are likely to offset deficits in Karamoja” the Agency says, adding that food prices in West Nile region continue to rise as farmers in Eastern Uganda report good harvests and dropping food prices.
Kenya’s hopes to import maize from Malawi and Zambia to alleviate food crisis; dampened after Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) rejected some 5,000 tonnes on basis that they were discoloured. The duty free maize was to be imported mid last month. And while the products were not harmful for human consumption, it is alleged that the commodities defied Kebs standards with several parameters that include rotten, decayed and discolored, foreign matter and moisture discontent and insect damage and aflatoxin contamination.
The country’s Ministry of Agriculture currently projects to produce 25 million 90 kilogramme bags of maize in 2011/12 season down from 39.8million in the previous season due to low yields resulting from poor rainfall. Also, farmers abandoned the growing of maize due to lower prices experienced last year in favour of wheat and fruits. While food shortage in the region is expecting to be short-lived, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says people in developing countries – in which Uganda is inclusive – will continue to be squeezed by spiraling food prices for another decade.
But Oxfam – another charity organisation predicts food shortage for the next two decades. In their 2011-2020 Agricultural Outlooks FAO and OECD, a think-tank that tracks economic developments in 34 countries, forecast that real prices for cereals could grow on average by 20 per cent over the coming decade, compared to 2001-2010.
They project that farm output would grow to 1.7 per cent annually over the next decade, down from the 2.6 per cent growth rate of the past 10 years, with meat prices increasing by up to 30 per cent. “While higher prices are generally good news for farmers, the impact on the poor in developing countries who spend a high proportion of their income on food can be devastating” OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurri says. The increasing erratic weather and price speculation are blamed for a spike in foodstuff prices over the past years.
A severe drought in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan caused wheat prices to spiral, driving up the cost of bread and animal feed, while falling stocks caused sugar to reach a 30-year high in February. Oxfam, however, says the world’s poorest people, who spend up to 80% of their income of food, will be hit hardest in the next two decades. The charity says the world is entering an era of permanent food crisis, which is likely to be accompanied by political unrest and will require radical reform of the international food system. The charity projects international prices of staples such as maize to rise by as much as 180% by 2030, with half of that rise due to the impacts of climate change.
A devastating combination of factors – climate change, depleting natural resources, a global scramble for land and water, the rush to turn food into biofuels, a growing global population, and changing diets – have created the conditions for an increase in deep poverty.
Hunger to bite on – Over 44million people are currently under abject poverty globally, according to World Bank. “We are sleepwalking towards an age of avoidable crisis” says Oxfam’s chief executive, Barbara Stocking. “One in seven people on the planet go hungry every day despite the fact that the world is capable of feeding everyone. The food system must be overhauled.”
For that, Kenya has opened door to genetically engineered crops, seeking people to produce or trade in genetically mortified materials but only after getting a written consent from the regulator – National Safety Authority. Food Aid agencies have also launched multimillion-pound appeals to address amounting humanitarian emergency in the east and the horn of Africa. Oxfam launched its biggest ever appeal for Africa last week , seeking £50 million to help three million people. The British government also announced that it was giving £38 million emergency food aid to Ethiopia, following a warning from Josette Sheeran, the World Food Programme executive director that “desperate hunger” loomed across the Horn, “threatening the lives of millions“.
For Somali refugees arriving in neighbouring Ethiopia, the rates of severe malnutrition are as high as 23 per cent, according to Oxfam. Oxfam spokesperson in Nairobi, Alun McDonald, recently said the figures were the worst the agency had seen since the early 90s. At least 500 people are believed to have died in Somalia over the past few months of nutrition-related illnesses, he said. “We are not yet at a stage where large numbers of people are dying. But things could get even worse in the coming months as the next rains are only due in October.” It is estimated that up to 1,000 Somalis a day are also streaming across the Kenyan border to Dadaab, already the largest refugee settlement in the world, with 367,000 residents.
Overwhelming figures - Over 2.5 million people require food aid in Somalia; and 3.2 million in Ethiopia. In Uganda over 600,000 people are in dire need of assistance, and in Djibouti 120,000. In Kenya, over 3.5 million people in the country’s arid areas need assistance. cap: One in seven people on the planet go hungry every day despite the fact that the world is capable of feeding everyone.
fonte www.allafrica.com – Isaac Khisa

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AIDS, I FARMACI USATI PER LA CURA ABBATTONO I CONTAGI TRA I SANI ‘A RISCHIO’
14 luglio 2011

Arriva da due studi condotti sul campo in Africa la nuova speranza contro l’Aids. I due trials realizzati in Kenya e in Uganda e Botswana nel contesto del progetto ‘Partners PrEp’ hanno dimostrato per la prima volta in maniera inconfutabile che i tradizionali farmaci usati finora per curare l’infezione utilizzati nei soggetti sani svolgono una decisiva funzione preventiva, più che dimezzando le possibilità di contagio del virus Hiv durante rapporti sessuali con partners sieropositivi.
A darne notizia è stata l’Università di Washington che ha diretto lo studio ‘Partners PrEP’, finanziato con 63 milioni di dollari dalla fondazione di Bill e Melinda Gates, con i Centers for disease control and prevention (CDCP) di Atlanta che hanno coordinato il progetto in Botswana, costato 31 milioni di dollari.
La scoperta sarà uno dei temi salienti della Conferenza mondiale Ias 2011 sull’Aids, in programma a Roma dal 17 al 20 luglio prossimi. Ai due studi sarà dedicata un’intera sessione nell’ambito delle quattro giornate di lavoro. E’ una svolta per la terapia antiretrovirale (ART) alla quale va il merito di tenere sotto controllo la carica virale nei casi conclamati di Aids e che ora si trasforma in una preziosa arma per arginare la diffusione del virus Hiv nella popolazione sana. Curarsi o meno con la terapia antiretrovirale (ART) farà la differenza sia per il singolo, sieropositivo o sano con comportamenti ad alto rischio, sia per l’intera collettività.
Dopo l’introduzione della doppia terapia, annunciata nel ‘96 a Vancouver, e il grande tema dell’accesso ai farmaci nei paesi poveri del mondo, dibattuto nel 2000 a Durban, l’impiego della ART come strumento di profilassi per spegnere la pandemia Aids/Hiv specialmente nel Sud del mondo è il grande cambiamento di cui si parlerà alla Conferenza di Roma.
“Si tratta di una novità straordinaria – dice Stefano Vella dell’Istituto Superiore di Sanità, co-presidente della Conferenza mondiale IAS 2011 – sapevamo che se un sieropositivo assume precocemente e correttamente la terapia antiretrovirale la possibilità di trasmettere l’infezione si abbassa drasticamente oltre il 95% come dimostrato dallo studio HPTNO52 condotto su coppie in cui uno dei partenr era sieropositivo; adesso questi studi clinici controllati e randomizzati dimostrano l’efficacia dei farmaci nel ridurre dal 60 fino all’83% il contagio se assunti da soggetti sani che hanno rapporti sessuali ad alto rischio“.
Promuovere l’accesso al test ed ai farmaci in Africa, e non solo, potrebbe essere dunque una delle strategie per fermare o ridurre notevolmente l’infezione. Convincere le persone con comportamenti a rischio a sottoporsi al test e, qualora risulti positivo, a cominciare presto la terapia resta però un’operazione impegnativa e costosa. “Sappiamo che i farmaci sono capaci di stoppare il contagio, ma l’applicazione nella pratica non sarà facile; è importante capire che le cure non saranno più solo finalizzate alla salute del singolo ma a quella dell’intera collettività“, sottolinea l’infettivologo Mauro Moroni.
Guai, però, avvertono gli esperti, a interpretare l’azione preventiva delle terapie antiretrovirali come la pillola del ‘giorno prima’. “L’utilizzo del profilattico, l’uso consapevole e responsabile del proprio corpo e del sesso restano i capisaldi della prevenzione contro l’Aids - sottolinea Stefano Vella – : somministrare i farmaci ai sani, oltre che ai sieropositivi, come profilassi fa parte di quell’approccio combinato di cui si parla da anni e che porterà ci auguriamo a spegnere se non a eradicare la diffusione dell’HIV“.
fonte www.repubblica.it – Mariapaola Salmi

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TRIBUNALE RITIRA CAPO DI ACCUSA CONTRO OPPOSITORE, PROCESSO CONTINUA
15 luglio 2011

Non sarà processato per incitamento alla violenza Kizza Besigye, capofila del ‘Forum democratico per il cambiamento’ (Fdc), imputato nelle manifestazioni antigovernative ‘Walk to work’ che negli ultimi mesi hanno provocato scontri e diverse vittime tra agenti di polizia e dimostranti che protestavano contro il carovita.
Senza fornire alcuna motivazione, il procuratore della Repubblica, Ivan Nkwasibwe, ha annunciato che lo Stato ha deciso di abbandonare l’azione giudiziaria intentata nei confronti di Besigye in relazione al suo presunto comportamento che l’11 aprile, durante manifestazioni antigovernative, avrebbe incitato alle successive violenze. Rimangono invece in piedi i procedimenti aperti per assembramento illegale, rifiuto di obbedire ad un agente di polizia e mancato rispetto del codice della strada.
Il processo a carico di Besigye si è aperto il 13 giugno per assembramento illegale e incitamento alla violenza, capo di accusa ormai decaduto. La prossima udienza è prevista il 27 luglio.
L’esponente di spicco dell’opposizione, ex compagno d’armi ed ex medico personale del presidente Yoweri Museveni, ha già criticato la decisione del procuratore che “avrebbe dovuto ottenere prove prima di aprire il caso” ha detto Besigye che accusa la giustizia ugandese di “usare il suo potere per reprimere l’opposizione” e si dice vittima di “violazione dei propri diritti costituzionali”. Ha annunciato che sporgerà denuncia contro lo Stato ugandese “che infanga il mio nome e mi fa perdere tempo” riferisce la stampa locale.
Intanto a gettare un’ombra sulle istituzioni giuridico-carcerarie è il rapporto di ‘Human Rights Watch’ che denuncia violazioni dei diritti umani dei detenuti, vittime della lentezza della giustizia, di maltrattamenti fisici e morali oltre ad essere “costretti a lavorare in condizioni vicine alla schiavitù” sostiene l’organizzazione internazionale.
fonte www.misna.org

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UGANDA, 25.000 BABIES BORN WITH HIV/AIDS ANNUALLY
17 july 2011

As the world celebrates good results of an HIV/Aids drug trial conducted in Kenya and Uganda, the country once a role model in the fight against HIV/Aids, has for the last 10 years not made any progress in reducing the incidence of the disease.
The announcement early this week in the US that the use of certain ARVs among discordant partners had cut infection by 73 per cent is dampened by reports that the number of new infections every year is exceeding the number the government can treat. At the same time, donor money for the fight against the pandemic is dwindling.
Fresh alarm – Though infections in Uganda, which once had the highest, incidence rate in the world, dropped from 30 per cent in the early 1990s to around 7 per cent to date, Centre for Disease Control (CDC-Uganda), a bilateral partner within the US mission to Uganda has raised fresh alarm over increasing HIV/Aids infections.
Dr Wuhib Tadesse, the director CDC-Uganda at a news conference in Entebbe last week, said Uganda was the only country where HIV incidence has remained unchanged for more than 10 years. “In Uganda, for every person started on antiretroviral therapy, there are three new HIV infections and this is unsustainable” Dr Tadesse said.
Dr Tadesse said there are no clear-cut answers to explain this trend, but added concerted efforts will be needed to stop new infections. “We are investigating what has caused this stagnation in the fight against HIV/Aids in Uganda and we are very concerned” Dr Tadesse said. “But complacence could be part of the problem. Young people nowadays no longer see people dying; they see people on ARVs but getting children. We need to re-examine our strategies in the fight against HIV/Aids. Leaders at all levels are spending a lot of time in workshops than in the communities to sensitive the people and this must stop.”
According to Dr Tadesse, in the past 10 years, Uganda appears to have turned a corner in the opposite direction as more people continue to get infected. CDC figures show that there are 1.2 million Ugandans with the virus. However, according to Dr Tadesse, only about half of those who are in need of the life-saving drugs under the new treatment guidelines were receiving them by the end of last year. He said unless government deals with new infections through effective prevention strategies, achieving the universal treatment coverage of 80 per cent will be difficult.
Much of Uganda’s HIV/Aids programmes are being funded through the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund. Dr Tadesse said under PEPFAR, Uganda has received over $1.2 billion between 2004-2010. Globally, as of September 2010, PEPFAR supported ART for 3.2 million people, care and support to 11 million people, counseling and testing to 33 million and provided $5.1 billion to Global Fund initiative. However, with more than 110,000 new infections occurring every year, more funds will be required to help Uganda regain its reputation in the fight against HIV/Aids.
But health experts at CDC-Uganda are concerned that if these new infections continue the way they are, it will be hard for Uganda government to cope with the cost of offering treatment to all. The number of Ugandans on ARVs has risen from 10,000 a decade ago to 200,000. But figures from the Uganda Aids Commission indicate that an extra 300,000 Ugandans in need of ARVs do not have access to the drugs because they cannot afford them.
In his response to the crisis, Dr Kihumuro Apuuli, the director general of the UAC, has since warned that the rising number of new infections will cause a critical challenge in the future, suggesting that more focus should be put on prevention and that the government should stop over relying on donor monies in its battle against the HIV/Aids pandemic.
A senior official in the Ministry of Health who preferred anonymity in order to speak freely, said even those on ARVs receive treatment largely as a result of American generosity. “We are guilty” she said, adding: “As government, we have not taken prevention seriously. We have concentrated so much on treatment and care yet more Ugandans are getting infected each year and the number of those who need ARVs is increasing. It is time we reviewed the old-fashioned prevention because it has flopped. The few people in Uganda are using the ‘ABC’ Abstain, Be faithful and use Condoms strategy“.
fonte www.allafrica.com – Yasiin Mugerwa

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VOCATIONAL TRAINING VITAL FOR FUTURE CAREER
18 july 2011

With the levels of unemployment shooting high due to the few jobs, the education system to had to redesign itself in many ways. One such way is vocational training. This has meant moving away from theoretical classes to more practical approaches.
During Open Day at Mengo Senior Secondary School last week, the focus was mainly put on vocational training, in which students are equipped with skills, which they can use to survive before or even after they get white-collar jobs. The head teacher, Mr George Ssemivule, says that the school aims to produce competent students in the job market and that they can provide others employment other than them seeking the same. He says that “we train students so that they can professionalise after sometime”. Paul Mukasa, a Senior Three metal work student admits that the subject is more of prior training before he ventures into the world. He says: “I don’t have to struggle looking for a job because I can now make a lot out of the skills that I get from the subject.”
Blacksmith skills – In the subject, which puts emphasis on metal fabrication basics such as sketching, cutting and welding, these are skills the blacksmith in Katwe and Kisenyi must have. The students are exposed to such skills before they leave school. The students are equipped to make various items such as burglar proof windows and doors, chairs and other metal products, which are on high demand in Uganda and South Sudan.
The Home Economics department, which embraces clothing and textiles, teaches students the basics of clothing from tracing to fashion designing, which helps them maintain a dream for the future as Moreen Niwenshuti notes. “With different design styles, by the time I am done with Senior Four, I will go for a short fashion and design course. I would like to be Sylvia Owori’s competitor” she says.
In Food and Nutrition, the students are taught about proper food quantities. Richard Mubiru, a Senior Five student, spoke to Education Guide about self- reliance: “We get skilled in making cakes for all functions, food processing and production. I cannot go out looking for jobs on the streets.” The students from this department get a chance for employment in bakeries, especially during holidays, to help them with work.
Excellence rewards – Other subjects that have been a major focus include Art and Design in which Mengo senior school has been awarded as a center of excellence in Africa and one of the students, Faridah Nalukuuma has been awarded a two year scholarship by the African Leadership Academy for her exceptional performance in making cultural gear more so necklaces where gets herb school fees.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug - Abdu Kiyaga

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COUNTRY SEEKING MORE STUDENTS FOR NEUROSURGERY
18 july 2011

Uganda has four qualified neurosurgeons at Mulago National Referral Hospital. Medical experts are calling on the government of Uganda to support the training of more professionals to better cater for the population, which stands at more than 33 million people. Neurosurgery is a medical treatment that deals with operation of the brain, spine, peripheral nerves and the arteries of the neck.
Nixon Niyonzima always wanted to study journalism but never got support from those around him. For many of his friends, there was only one profession. That is how he finally found himself following the medical path. Under a Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI) scholarship, Mr Niyonzima, a Makerere University Bachelor of Medicine graduate, is now studying a Master of Science in global health and wants to become a neurosurgeon. If you paused and asked what interests him in the profession, you could get the most unlikely answer. “It is more about service to the people than the financial benefit” he says.
Never mind that this is a field many people shy away from. With five years of under graduate study, a year on internship and another on up-country hospital attachment, going for another five-year course to master in neurosurgery is not easy. “I always want to serve. It takes long to see the results when you start working. You have to learn to be patient. Otherwise many look at the time spent on the training and opt to join NGOs” says Niyonzima, now in his third year. He plans to be an academic, a researcher, once he is done with the course.
The training focuses on chronic and non-communicable diseases and trauma in areas of neurosurgery, orthopaedic and spinal surgery, trauma management, physical therapy and rehabilitation, stroke and stroke prevention and pediatric malnutrition. To improve the situation in the country, the government has introduced a scheme that sponsors any student willing to study neurosurgery to improve on the enrolment.
According to Dr Edgar Muhumuza, a consultant neurosurgeon at Mulago Hospital, the government should support the training offered by the DGHI and Duke University, in order to increase the number of neurosurgeons. “This work needs a lot of dedication and patience because we deal with emergencies and work long hours. It will be difficult for someone who is not interested to join because it is tedious” Dr Muhumuza explains, adding: “We see over 100 patients a month and 30 to 40 of these need surgery, yet we can’t admit them because we are overwhelmed on the ward as the workload is too heavy and facilities are limited.”
Seeing the need for more neurosurgeons in the country, Dr Michael Haglund, codirector in the partnership between Mulago National Hospital, Duke University, DGHI and Makerere University, said an East African Neurosurgery Training Programme has been designed to train Ugandan surgeons in neurosurgery, who will then go to regional hospitals to provide neurosurgical care. “Uganda has laws in place that are not enforced in compliance to helmet use” Dr Haglund said during the tour of the Duke projects at Mulago Hospital. Dr Haglund hopes the number of neurosurgeons will have increased to 19 in 2020 and spread across the country. He, however, added that the government needs to support the project by providing residence for neurosurgeons and salaries to trainees to attract their service within the country.
Dr Isaac Alidria-Ezati Director of Health Services (planning and development) in the Ministry of Health said while there are challenges with salaries, there are still few students who apply to study neurosurgery. “In this country, neurosurgery has been left behind yet this is an important area. Because people don’t apply to study it, we have put up a scholarship that binds the students for five years after which they can go and work where they want” Dr Alidria-Ezati said.
Dr Alidria-Ezati said once the number of neurosurgeons increases, it will reduce the number of patients who seek their service outside the country.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug - Patience Ahimbisibwe

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IMMORALITY LINKED TO POVERTY
21 july 2011

Poverty is the leading cause of immorality among communities, the Archbishop of Kampala Dr. Cyprian Lwanga, has said. Lwanga said if the Government and the church do not put in place measures to fight poverty, it may be difficult to eliminate prostitution, abortions and homosexuality. He said many countries are spending money in the fight against diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria without identifying their cause. “We often talk about Malaria, HIV/AIDS and cancer, but we forget to identify their linkage to poverty” he said.
Lwanga made the remarks on Sunday during golden jubilee celebrations for the Fort Portal Catholic Diocese. The ceremony was held at St Mary’s Minor Seminary in Fort Portal town in Kabarole district. Lwanga decried the high rate of prostitution, homosexuality and lesbianism among the youth in urban areas. “The youth need our help. Government and church leaders should find a solution to these problems. I do not think these girls like to sleep with different men. Some of the men smell like rats, while others are drunkards but poverty drives these girls to do it” he explained.
Lwanga called for harmonious living among communities. He urged leaders to work hard and display exemplary leadership. “When people get into leadership positions, the first thing they ask is what they will get from it. If a leader cannot manage his family of five people, how can he be a village chairperson?” Lwanga asked. President Yoweri Museveni, in a speech read by the local government minister, Adolf Mwesige, hailed the church for promoting delivery of social services among communities. “These institutions help masses to access services which has led to improvement in standard of living of many Ugandans” Museveni said.
He commended the diocese for championing a holistic human growth as a benchmark in preaching the gospel.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug - Hope Mafaranga

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BETTER MAIZE SEEDS COMING
21 july 2011

Drought resistant maize seeds will be ready for use in 2016, experts have said. Confined field trials on the seeds are taking place at the National Crops Resource Research Institute at Namulonge.
Joseph Kikafunda, a researcher at the institute said the initiative would help farmers continue with production during drought. Kikafunda was speaking at a meeting for Kasese district stakeholders at Rwenzori International Hotel in Kasese Municipality recently. The meeting was aimed at updating stakeholders on the progress of the research. It was held under the theme ‘Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology in Africa’.
The research is funded under the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) Project. Presenting a paper on the status of the field trials of WEMA maize in Uganda, Kikafunda warned that the country would experience drought more often due to changes in global climatic conditions. “We have to mobilise people to adopt modern farming methods, otherwise, the country is at risk of famine” Kikafunda said. He advised farmers to use modern farming methods to get higher yields for sale and consumption.
Johnson Mutungwanda, the assistant chief administrative Officer, expressed concern over the laxity by residents to adopt modern farming techniques. Mutungwanda asked the team to sensitise masses on the benefits of yellow maize, saying some people had spread rumours that it had side-effects. Deputy resident district commissioner Aminadab Muhindo urged scientists to sensitise masses on modern farming methods. He urged residents to work hard to fight poverty. Muhindo hailed the leadership of the National Crops Resource Research Institute for selecting the district to benefit from WEMA maize project.
The meeting was attended by district leaders, model farmers, the Media and representatives of NGOs. Experts say a drought-tolerant seeds can tolerate erratic weather patterns and yield greater crops. The initiative has been welcomed by many countries in Africa as a strategy to boost food security among households.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug - John Nzinjah

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TEACHERS DEMAND 100% PAY RISE
21 july 2011

A group of 40 teachers from the Uganda National Teacher’s Union (UNATO) on Thursday petitioned the social services committee of Parliament demanding a 100% pay rise. The group led by the UNATO chairperson, Margaret Rwabushaijja told MPs on the committee, that they want the money to meet the rising cost of living. She said the current salary teachers get is too low forcing some teachers seek for greener pastures elsewhere and do other businesses to cover up the gap.
Currently, a primary school teacher earns sh260,000 on average per month, while secondary schools teachers get about sh450,000. There are about 152,682 teachers on the Government payroll in primary and secondary schools. Rwabusaiija now wants the Government to respond immediately or they continue with their intended strike starting Wednesday next week. She told the committee that teachers in Kenya get Kenyan shillings 3500 and in Tanzania teachers, get over $200 US dollars and wonders why Ugandan teachers cannot be paid to the same.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug - Alfred Byenkya

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TOUR OPERATORS ASK FOR FUNCTIONAL TOURISM MINISTRY AND AGENCIES
22 july 2011

Tour operators have demanded to meet the tourism minister and the tourism committee of Parliament to discuss and devise solutions to the numerous challenges facing the sector.
Speaking in Kampala on Wednesday, Mr Amos Wekesa, the president of the Uganda Tourism Association, said among the key issues players want to discuss include having a functional tourism ministry and agencies. Tourism was allocated a full ministry, away from Trade but it’s yet to start executing its duties. Mr Wekesa also noted that players need to talk about having functional wildlife authority and tourism boards. “Uganda Wildlife Authority top board members are in acting capacities and can’t make major decisions on matters concerning the industry. This is massively impacting the sector” he said.
The Uganda Wildlife Authority is responsible for the conservation of wildlife while the Uganda Tourism Board is charged with marketing and promoting the country as a tourism destination. UWA board was disbanded last year to pave way for the Commission of Inquiry to investigate how the Shs85.5 billion ($38 million) in grant and loan money from the World Bank was spent by UWA in the Protected Areas Management for Sustainable Use wild life project.
Functional boards – Ms Connie Tumusiime, the managing director Acacia Safaris, however, urged the commission to expedite the investigation and institute a functional board that can ably deliberate on matters concerning the industry. Mr Wekesa further said that the prevailing conditions in the country started with the general elections to a series of civil strikes in past months have portrayed a negative image of the country, thus discouraging tourists.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug -Faridah Kulabako

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MESSA DI SUFFRAGIO STASERA IN RICORDO DI SILVIA OCHEN
22 luglio 2011

In ricordo di Silvia Auma Ochen, una messa di suffragio nella chiesa di Sona, questa sera alle 20.30. Silvia Auma Ochen, mediatrice interculturale dell’Ulss 22, è scomparsa ai primi di luglio in seguito ad un incidente stradale nella capitale ugandese. Silvia collaborava da più di 10 anni con il servizio stranieri dell’Azienda Ulss 22: coinvolta nel progetto fin dal suo avvio, ha contribuito in modo sostanziale a definire un modello ormai collaudato di mediazione.
Lavorava nelle scuole, affiancando gli alunni di recente immigrazione nel delicato momento del primo inserimento e accompagnava le famiglie nel dialogo con la scuola e i servizi territoriali. Accoglieva il venerdì mattina, allo sportello all’ingresso dell’ospedale Orlandi di Bussolengo, i cittadini dell’Africa anglofona, nigeriani e ghanesi soprattutto, orientandoli al corretto accesso ai servizi sanitari e ospedalieri. In collaborazione con l’associazione ‘Le Ninfee’ realizzava laboratori di animazione interculturale nelle scuole. Portava la sua testimonianza raccontando la vita dei bambini ugandesi e l’Africa, condividendo la sua esperienza di migrante e mediatrice.
Molti operatori, insegnanti, famiglie, bambini che hanno potuto incontrarla e apprezzarne la professionalità sentiranno la sua mancanza.
Quanti hanno lavorato con lei potranno fare tesoro della sua discrezione e riservatezza, del suo rispetto per il prossimo, della capacità di empatia e dell’umiltà che la caratterizzavano. Come desiderio della famiglia, il funerale è stato celebrato in Uganda. Ora la comunità si stringerà attorno al marito Luciano Tacconi e ai figli Francesco e Maria nel suo ricordo.
fonte www.larena.it

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SUGAR PRICES KEEP AN UPWARD TREND
23 july 2011

Sugar prices have risen steadily in the last few weeks with a kilogramme costing as high as Shs5,000 in most market locations. The increase comes on the back of a 50 per cent duty reduction on the commodity that was recently announced by the government during the 2011/12 budget reading.
The cut would mean that the Shs50 tax levy on the commodity would be less by Shs25 for every kilogramme consumed. The spike in prices is attributed to the closure of some manufacturing factories for maintenance routines, high fuel prices and the general increase in the cost of doing business. Recently retail price in and around Kampala rose to between Shs4,000 and Shs5,000 from Shs2,400 last month. However, prices are expected to come down as manufacturers resume operation. It is expected that within a month’s time, traders would have stopped the speculation thus prices falling.
During this time market supply would also have stabilised as the sector’s maintains production. Around the same period last year, when sugar manufacturers closed for annual maintenance, prices increased from Shs1,900 to about Shs2,300 for every kilogramme. However, even after resuming production of the commodity, prices only dropped by about Shs100, this is an indication that suggests that prices might not go back to their original but would be kept in the rage of Shs3,000.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug – Othman Semakula

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UGANDA FACES FOOD SHORTAGE MONDAY
25 july 2011

Research carried out by the Ministry of Disaster Preparedness which is yet to be announced has established that several parts of the country will experience severe food shortage between August and January when the next harvesting period will be.
The ministry experts have advised the Government to set aside a reasonable amount of money not less than sh10b to embark on a drive of stocking food for emergency relief. The Ministry of Disaster Preparedness is already undertaking measures to ensure that the Ministry of Fnance, Planning, and Economic Development allocates funds for feeding Ugandans. Already, the Karamoja region is experiencing food shortage with over 1,200,000 people facing starvation.
Households in the pastoral and agro-pastoral areas of Amudat, Kaabong, Kotido, Moroto, Nakapiripirit and Napak are likely to continue facing food shortages for the remaining months of the year requiring relief food support from the Government. The ministry had red-zoned 15 districts which are likely to experience food shortage that might lead to starvation and deaths of people if there are no relief interventions.
These vulnerable districts include Moroto, Napak, Kotido, Amudat, Kaabong, Nakapiripirit, Abim, Amuria, Katakwi, Adjumani, Arua, Koboko, Moyo, Yumbe and Bulambuli. The disaster preparedness ministry has established that over 35 districts are likely to experience acute food shortages and these include Nebbi, Kyenjonjo, Amuru, Gulu, Pader, Kitgum, Dokolo, Apac, Lira, Amolatar, Sironko, Kapchorwa, Isingiro, Tororo, Busia, Budaka , Butaleja, Palisa, Sembabule, Lyantonde, Nakaseke, Mubende, Kooki, Kabula, Luwero, Rakai, Nakasongola, Bugiri, Namutumba, Iganga, Kaliro, and Kamuli.
Districts that are likely to experience moderate food shortages include Kamwenge, Bushenyi, Hoima, Bulisa, Ibanda and Kiruhura. Food shortage in these areas is likely to be result of sudden shocks such as excessive sell of household stocks. The areas that will experience severe food shortage had seasons of poor rainfall, crop failure, and poor agricultural performance.
There are also areas that have not recovered from the impact of last season’s drought and areas that experienced crop destruction by hail and windstorms.
A prolonged dry spell is the other factor many areas of the country, especially those around the cattle corridor experienced.
If more focus is put on the northern Uganda region which unlike other parts of the country has been currently experiencing a rain season since May, more food can be produced to feed other parts of the country.
According to the meteorology department’s forecast for the period between June and August, the northern region is expected to continue receiving rainfall. “The northern region has a rain season which is different from other parts of the country. That region is right now having a rainfall season which is expected to go up until the end of the year. If measures are undertaken to ensure that there is increased food production in that area, the country will have enough food” said Deus Bamanya, the assistant commissioner for meteorology in-charge of data processing and analysis.
Bamanya said at the peak of the harvesting period in August, food supply will increase and the food prices are expected to go down. “The Ministry of Agriculture people should come out and sensitive Ugandans on food security. Let them use our weather forecast to advise Ugandans on what to grow where and the need for stocking food in other parts that will experience food shortage. The sensation should be done early enough before it is too late” Bamanya advised.
Meanwhile, experts have also warned that the long dry spell that has been experienced in the neighboring countries of Somalia, Kenya, Ethopia, and Sudan has created famine in those areas and they will all be running to Uganda to buy off the country’s food that will be realised from the August harvest. As part of the preventive measures, the Uganda government might have to emulate Kenya by stopping traders from taking food out of the country.
The spokesperson for the Uganda Food and Agriculture Organisation of United Nations, Rachael Nanderenga, said the situation is likely to be bad. “We have not yet done any survey except that we have done with government jointly on the Karamoja region. Since most parts of the country got adequate rainfall, there are high prospects for a good harvest in most parts of the country. But rains are not enough to guarantee food security. The high fuel prices are likely to lead to higher food prices than it would have been” Nanderenga argued.
The head of the Ministry of Agriculture’s early warning department, Anunciata Hakuza, said they would carry out a thorough countrywide survey and produce report to guide the farmers. “We had not yet received funds from government to embark on research for our early warning reports. Probably in two weeks time we shall embark on that because the releases have started coming” said Hakuza.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug - Moses Mulondo

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DEMAND FOR SKILLED LABOUR ATTRACTS TECH UNIVERSITY
25 july 2011

Demand for skilled human resources in Uganda continues to be a major issue for organisations to deal with. Calls to enhance capacity have been partly answered to through plans for the construct of an ultra-modern technical university.
The university, aimed at enhancing the government policy of teaching science subjects and promoting practical skills among employees, is a brain child of a local education charity, Kariisa Foundation, officials said on July 13. The university in Ntungamo District, will target students from western districts and neighboring countries mainly to produce technically skilled personnel.
“Start of the construction will depend on how soon the project will be approved. We have support both locally and internationally to put up a skills development facility” said Mr Hamidu Kariisa, an Executive Member of the foundation said during a meeting in Kampala.
Mr Kariisa explained that the university is aimed at enhancing the government’s efforts to improve and develop human resources through training job creators rather than seekers. “We have a plan to cost us about $1million (approximately Shs2.5b) to construct laboratories and workshops as well as lecture theatres on a 16 acre piece of land. Our target is the increasing number of students who complete advanced secondary level but cannot afford universities in Kampala” Mr Kariisa said.
According to the expenditure performance for the financial year 2010/11, nine traditional secondary schools received fully quipped ICT laboratories to promote science and technology in schools. Funds have been provided by the government to equip technical institutions and about 10,000 youths, country-wide, were trained in various non-formal modularised courses for self-employment.
Mr Kariisa said the move is aimed at addressing the challenge of rising unemployment. It is estimated that the current job market can only absorb 20 percent of the youth. “Much as the youth are highly adaptable and only require attitudinal transformation, with technical and business management skills attained, that part of the population will fit into the existing job market and create avenues for generating their own small scale enterprises” said Mr Kariisa.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug -Ephraim Kasozi

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SHILLING IS THIRD WORST PERFORMING CURRENCY
25 july 2011

The Uganda Shilling is one of the world’s worst-performing currencies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, a news agency. The local unit is in third position coming after the Suriname dollar and the Maldives rufiyaa.
Since January the Shilling has depreciated by about 12 per cent touching an all-time low of Shs2,700 in more than a decade. The unit was by close of last week set for a weekly decline against the dollar amid increased demand for the greenback from local domestic banks. It fell by 0.6 per cent to Shs2,600 per dollar bringing its decline so far this week to 1.9 per cent, according to Bloomberg’s data. Last week it closed at Shs2,585.
A local foreign exchange dealer, Mr Benon Okwenje, said last week: “The Shilling weakened slightly because of demand in the interbank market.” However, the local unit has also seen pressure from both corporate demand and the manufacturing sector. Businesses are pensive about the local unit’s trend, thus have been forced to increase stock capacity fearing for the worst.
The Shilling has since the beginning of this year heavily depreciated against major currencies on the back of rising inflation, high fuel prices, power outages and international market volatilities. In May, inflation rose to 16.1 per cent – a 17-year high, before slowing to 15.8 per cent in June. However, the central bank has stepped up measures that aim to stabilize the unit.
Apart from a regular market interventions, the central bank recently increased interbank interest rates from 11 per cent to 13 per cent. The move is part of the lager plan that seeks to mop up excess liquidity from the money market so as to curb the runaway inflation.
The government is also optimistic that the Shilling will soon be lifted as the petrol dollars begin to flow in. Uganda has an estimated 2.5 billion barrels of oil, with about 1 billion in proven reserves, according to Tullow. It is expected that by 2012 the country would have started pumping oil for commercial purposes.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug - Othman Semakula & Agencies

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FIRMS RAISE PRODUCT PRICES, CUT JOBS TO STAY IN BUSINESS
25 july 2011

Manufacturers and service providers are taking extreme measures as they seek continued business operation, amid worsening economic conditions. The measures that have been adapted to cut costs include; raising product prices, cutting jobs, reduction on noncommercial costs and a cut in product quantity.
This comes at a time when Uganda is facing an unending fuel crisis, skyrocketing inflation, heavy depreciation of the Shilling and continued power outages. A survey conducted by Daily Monitor among business leaders, indicates that the situation is indeed dire.
Counting loses – Last week, Mr Dawuda Viney, the managing director of Britannia Industries, told Daily Monitor that if the government does not intervene when it is still early, it will count heavy losses in the long run. “There is a drop in market demand. This is forcing us to have intervals of plant shut down since we can’t continue to produce goods that will just stay on the shelves” Mr Viney said. He said the increasing fuel prices and power outages have shot their budget by about Shs60 million on a daily basis as the firm seeks to keep their plants running on generators. Mr Josephat Ochieng, the Monitor Publications chief accountant, said last week that the power outages are costing the company heavily, which has almost tripled its expenditure on power. “We use generators, which are very expensive to maintain thus heavily affecting our budget, operations and cash flow” he said.
Weak Shilling - Mr Ochieng added that the depreciating Shilling is another burden to the business since most of the firm’s production inputs are dollar denominated. For instance a 500 kilogramme newsprint that used to cost about Shs1.4 million in January has increased by over Shs144,000. Currently it costs Shs1.54 million.
The price of the newsprint is dollar denominated and has since January been selling at $600, but, the weak local unit, forces firms to spend more Shillings while buying dollars for imported commodities. However, Mr Elliot Mwebya, the Bank of Uganda head of communications, assured businessmen that the central bank is doing all it can to stabilise the Shilling which he says has been the root cause of most problems. “The central bank has put up structures to help improve the performance of the local unit, which we believe will calm the tension.”
fonte www.monitor.co.ug -Nicholus Kalungi & Jacinta Odongo

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UGANDA, L’INFORMATICA CONTRO ASSENTEISMO A SCUOLA
26 luglio 2011

Tempi duri per gli assenteisti – insegnanti e allievi – delle scuole ugandesi. Gli istituti scolastici di 20 province del Paese sono stati, infatti, dotati di un software che giornalmente rileva le assenze ingiustificate e immette i dati direttamente nel Sistema informativo nazionale del ministero dell’Istruzione. Questi potrà cosi’ intervenire quasi in tempo reale, disponendo le opportune sanzioni contro coloro che si sottraggono all’obbligo della frequenza.
Il presidente della società di informatica che ha installato il dispositivo, James Curry, ha assicurato che “una squadra speciale di tecnici controllerà regolarmente le apparecchiature telematiche per assicurarsi del loro corretto funzionamento“.
L’uso della nuova tecnologia è stato accolto con soddisfazione dai funzionari ministeriali, spesso accusati di rari e inefficaci controlli sull’effettiva frequenza di docenti e scolari.
fonte www.agi.it

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UGANDA, SARA’ AMMODERNATO GRANDE OSPEDALE DI KAMPALA
28 luglio 2011

La Banca africana per lo Sviluppo (AfDB) ha erogato all’Uganda un prestito per un valore complessivo di 463 milioni di dollari, da destinare allo sviluppo dei settori sanitario, idrico e delle infrastrutture.
In un intervento a una cerimonia pubblica, il rappresentante dell’AfDB a Kampala, Patrick Simiyu Khaemba, ha detto che i fondi “serviranno al finanziamento, nel prossimo triennio, di settori cruciali per l’economia” di questo Paese dell’Africa orientale.
Tra i progetti in programma, l’ammodernamento dei centri sanitari di Kawempe e Kirundu e del più grande ospedale del Paese, situato nella parte settentrionale della capitale Kampala.
fonte www.agi.it

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ETIOPIA-UGANDA, PIU’ STRETTA COOPERAZIONE BILATERALE
28 luglio 2011

Etiopia e Uganda hanno deciso di rafforzare le relazioni bilaterali e di condurre congiuntamente “una serie di azioni a favore della pace e della sicurezza nella regione, in particolare in Somalia, e di combattere il terrorismo“.
In un comunicato diffuso al termine di un incontro, svoltosi a Kampala, tra il Vice primo ministro e ministro degli Esteri etiopico, Hailemariam Desalegn, e il ministro degli Esteri ugandese, Sam Kutesa, si rileva che “la decisione di rafforzare la cooperazione bilaterale nei settori di politica, economia e sicurezza, è una conseguenza della consapevolezza della gravità della situazione in Somalia, in particolare l’attività dei gruppi armati degli Shabaab“.
fonte www.agi.it

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TURISMO IN AFRICA CRESCIUTO DEL 6% NEL 2010
28 luglio 2011

Nel 2010 il turismo africano è cresciuto del 6 per cento rispetto all’anno precedente, toccando il traguardo, importante anche psicologicamente, dei 50 milioni di presenze. Lo ha reso noto a Dakar il Commissario alla Gestione di territorio, trasporti e turismo dell’Unione economica e monetaria dell’Africa occidentale (Uemoa), Ibrahim Tampone’.
Intervenendo a un convegno dedicato all’attuazione del Programma regionale per lo Sviluppo del turismo, Tampone’ ha detto che l’Africa “l’anno scorso ha beneficiato, tra l’altro, anche delle ricadute dei Mondiali di Calcio in Sud Africa“.
Al convegno ha partecipato oltre una trentina di esperti e dirigenti della Federazione delle organizzazioni di albergatori e operatori del turismo dell’Area Uemoa.
fonte www.agi.it

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Cambio valuta: in data 29/07/2011 1 dollaro USA è pari a 2606,5 scellini ugandesi, 1 Euro è pari a 3724,8166 scellini ugandesi

HOW UGANDA REGISTERED EBOLA SUCCESS
1 june 2011

UGANDA, HIV/AIDS AT 30 YEARS – GOOD AND BAD NEWS
5 june 2011

MAKERERE TO TRAIN JOBLESS GRADUATES MONDAY
6 june 2011

PROTESTE E CRESCITA, IL PRESIDENTE MUSEVENI PARLA ALLA NAZIONE
7 giugno 2011

UGANDA, MERCATI TRANSFRONTALIERI PER LO SVILUPPO
8 giugno 2011

TRAFFICO AEREO AFRICANO CRESCERA’ DEL 7% L’ANNO
9 giugno 2011

GOVERNMENT ASKED TO SPONSOR HIV STUDENTS AT UNIVERSITY
9 june 2011

UGANDA, SI MODERNIZZA L’INDUSTRIA ITTICA
10 giugno 2011

UGANDA, 70 PER CENT OF PRIVATE CLINICS IN KAMPALA ILLEGAL
11 june 2011

UGANDA, EDUCATION MINISTRY FAILS TO SPEND SHS10 BILLION
13 june 2011

UGANDA, FORTI SCONTI A TURISTI SULLE TRACCE DEI GORILLA
13 giugno 2011

PER IL MERCATO COMUNE TRE ANNI DI NEGOZIATI
14 giugno 2011

AGGIORNATO PROCESSO A OPPOSITORI, APPELLI A NUOVE MARCE DI PROTESTA
14 giugno 2011

UGANDA, AL VIA PIANO PER CAMBIARE FACCIA AD AGRICOLTURA
15 giugno 2011

PROTESTE, APPELLO A INDAGARE SU “UCCISIONI SOMMARIE”
17 giugno 2011

UGANDA, RIVISTA AL RIALZO CRESCITA PRODUZIONE TE’
20 giugno 2011

UGANDA, EXPORT CAFFE’ SUPERA STIME DEL 43%
21 giugno 2011

UGANDA, PIANO EDILIZIA SCOLASTICA IN 18 PROVINCE
21 giugno 2011

SHILLING CONTINUES DOWNWARD DRIFT
22 june 2011

L’UGANDA PUNTA SU PICCOLE-MEDIE IMPRESE PER SVILUPPO
23 giugno 2011

UGANDA, CHIESTA ABOLIZIONE TASSA SU VISTI TURISTICI
24 giugno 2011

UGANDA, TEMPO DI DIRE BASTA
26 giugno 2011

HOTEL FOOD RATES SHOOT UP BY 18% SUNDAY
26 june 2011

HOW UGANDA REGISTERED EBOLA SUCCESS
1 june 2011

On May 27 in Bombo, as outgoing minister of Health, Stephen Malinga, announced that the 25 people who had gotten in contact with the girl that died from Ebola were Ebola free, he also told the story of how the outbreak was contained.
Dr Joseph Okware, Luwero’s district health officer, says that on May 1, Kate Nakiguli, the lone victim of this year’s Ebola outbreak fell ill and her grandmother tried to treat her using modest means. She took her to a clinic and after three days of treatment without any signs of improvement, the deceased was referred to another clinic in Wobulenzi.
However, her caretakers instead took her to Bombo Military Hospital. Okware describes this as “good luck” because if the deceased had been taken to the clinic in Wobulenzi, a bigger number of people could have gotten infected.
But because the manpower at Bombo Military Hospital was experienced in handling Ebola (they had worked with Ebola patients in Gulu and Bundibugyo), they quickly recognised the symptoms and took measures to curb its spread. Unfortunately, they were unable to save Nakiguli; she died five hours after getting to the hospital.
To determine whether the people who had gotten into contact with the girl had Ebola or not, they were monitored for symptoms of the disease and when they did not show after 21 days, they were declared Ebola free. Even as Malinga congratulated the team at Bombo Military Hospital for stopping what could have been an epidemic, he called upon the public to remain vigilant. “We should celebrate because we have been successful in controlling this outbreak but while we celebrate, we should remember that other cases could be reported” Malinga said. He called upon sick individuals to refrain from going to the Namugongo shrine to celebrate Martyrs Day on June 3, as these could have Ebola and spread it to the masses that turn up to celebrate.
If there is anything this outbreak has shown, it is the fact that if patients seek treatment from properly trained personnel, epidemics can be averted. Also, the fact that ordinary Ugandans can be lax about their health was highlighted during this outbreak.
Maama Brenda, who runs a restaurant near Bombo Military Hospital, said people were not bothered about the disease. Instead, they simply went about their business, seemingly unbothered. Only one man expressed fear of the disease. While it might be said that the people were right to be unbothered, after all the crisis had been declared over, Malinga called for vigilance. This means that individuals, especially those that are a mere 40km away from Zirobwe (Bombo Military Hospital and Zirobwe are 40km apart), cannot afford to relax.
fonte www.allafrica.com – Diana Nabiruma

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UGANDA, HIV/AIDS AT 30 YEARS – GOOD AND BAD NEWS
5 june 2011

Thirty years ago on June 5 1981, American scientists confirmed what would later be known as HIV/Aids. As the world marks three decades of the epidemic today, the disease which remains incurable presents an astonishing mixture of bad and good news. Globally, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAIDS) estimates some 34 million people are living with the HIV virus and nearly the same number have died since the first case was reported in 1981. In its latest report, ‘Aids at 30: Nations at the Crossroads’ released on Friday, UNAIDS reveals that the rate of new infections has fallen globally by 25 per cent.
Treatment gap - Despite expanded access to antiretroviral therapy, a major treatment gap remains, the report shows. At the end of 2010, it says some nine million people who were eligible for treatment did not have access. Treatment access for children, the report shows, is lower than for adults - only 28 per cent of eligible children were receiving antiretroviral therapy in 2009, compared to 36 per cent coverage for people of all ages.
“Access to treatment will transform the Aids response in the next decade. We must invest in accelerating access and finding new treatment options” said Mr Michel Sidibe, UNAIDS executive director. He added: “Antiretroviral therapy is a bigger game-changer than ever before it not only stops people from dying, but also prevents transmission of HIV to women, men and children.”
While the rate of new HIV infections has declined globally, the total number of HIV infections remains high, at about 7,000 per day and the number of people living with HIV/Aids is still on the increase. Part of the reason is that Aids patients are surviving longer because of the availability of antiretroviral treatment. In Uganda, the 30th anniversary of the HIV/Aids epidemic is being marked by both good and bad news.
Ten years ago, Uganda was considered a shining example of how a country even a poor one at that can effectively fight HIV/Aids, having reduced its prevalence from 18 per cent in the 1980s to about 5 per cent by 2000. But in recent years, the country’s reputation has lost its lustre, as gains against the disease have halted. Experts say complacency, ignorance and indifference have played a role in reversing Uganda’s gains against the HIV/Aids epidemic. And the number of people getting infected every year about 130,000 are higher than the number of people drying from Aids related illnesses.
As UNAIDS analysis show, for every one person who starts treatment, two others become newly infected. Ironically though, Uganda appears to be a victim of its own success. News of the early success, the comfort brought about by the availability of drugs has led to complacency and a return to risky sexual behaviour. As a result, fewer people are using condoms regularly and many more including married people and others in long term relationships are taking on multiple sexual partners. Dr Kihumuro Apuuli, the director general of the Uganda Aids Commission (UAC), explained that behaviour change will be crucial to turning the tide against the Aids epidemic.
“A vaccine that lives within yourself to change your sexual behaviour is the only thing that will set you free” Dr Apuuli said. According to Dr Apuuli, keeping more people on anti-retroviral drugs will be more costly if the number of new infections keeps rising. And donor countries which fund more than 80 per cent of Uganda’s Aids budget are growing restless as they consider the prospect of an ever-rising cost to keep hundreds of thousands of infected people alive.
ARV treatment – Some 550,000 people living with HIV/Aids are currently eligible for anti-retroviral treatment under treatment guidelines which were developed by the World Health Organisation but only about 240,000 are receiving this treatment according to figures from UAC. According to the UNAIDS report, some $22 billion is needed globally between now and 2015 to fight HIV/Aids $6 billion more than is available today.
Mr Musa Bungudu, the country coordinator for UNAIDS in Uganda, said the country needs to invest more of its resources in managing HIV/Aids. “We need to invest our financial resources in as much as the international community is contributing to our HIV response. We cannot continue to depend entirely on outside resources. What happens if they suddenly stop?” Mr Bungudu questioned. Mr Bungudu said if government starts putting more of its own money to manage HIV/Aids, it can lead to some level of ownership and responsibility. “If Uganda can reduce the number of workshops and conferences, that can see more money being channelled to managing HIV/Aids” he said.
Health experts also say government should invest in a range of options that can make a big difference including promoting sexual behaviour change, investing in male circumcision, massive voluntary counselling and testing, preventing mother to child transmission and proven scientific interventions including a vaccine. But they agree that after 30 years with no cure or a vaccine, turning the Aids tide remains difficult, requiring a combination of patience, increased local responsibility and some tough decisions.
fonte www.allafrica.com – Diana Nabiruma

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MAKERERE TO TRAIN JOBLESS GRADUATES MONDAY
6 june 2011

Makerere University has invited its graduates who failed to get jobs to go back for free vocational training. The programme, which the vice-chancellor, Prof. Venasius Baryamureeba, announced yesterday, aims at equipping unemployed graduates with better practical skills.
According to Baryamureeba, the skills will enhance the graduates’ employability or enable them to start and run their own businesses effectively. The courses to be taught include entrepreneurship and small business management, tourism, leisure and hospitality, road maintenance and food processing. Others are computer engineering, mainly machine repair and maintenance, microfinance and small scale manufacturing like candle making, liquid soap production, juice processing and carpentry. Particular courses are being piloted in some of the university colleges, although the programme would be formalised and rolled out in the coming financial year.
Baryamureeba explained that the graduates would be required to apply formerly after the university has advertised available vacancies. Upon completion, he said, the graduates would be able to work in hotels, hair salons, garages, restaurants, massage parlours and internet cafes among other fields.
“The university shall endeavour to provide quality vocational training to our former graduates because we believe graduates can engage in vocational jobs and perform better than non-graduates” Baryamureeba said during a press conference at the university. He said the department of food science and technology, computer science and engineering were already running donor-funded vocational courses. The department of food science offers a technology and business incubation course funded by the Government.
Prof. William Kyamuhangire, a department official, said 15 graduates who present the best business plans are admitted annually. Makerere’s intervention comes in the wake of increasing unemployment in the country. Annually, 26,000 Ugandan graduates fail to get jobs, according to the gender and labour ministry’s April report. The ministry said of the 400,000 who graduate every year, only 160,000 get jobs.
This figure does not include the illiterate who are unemployed. In an extra bid to fight graduate unemployment, the university has partnered with AIESEC, a global organisation, to provide final year students with international internships. AIESEC is run by students and recent graduates of institutions of higher education. Its president, Manuela Mueller, said the first batch of five computer students is currently working with TATA.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug -Francis Kagolo

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PROTESTE E CRESCITA, IL PRESIDENTE MUSEVENI PARLA ALLA NAZIONE
7 giugno 2011

Inflazione, economia, proteste popolari e stabilità interna: sono, per grandi linee, i principali temi toccati dal presidente Yoweri Kaguta Museveni nel discorso pronunciato in occasione dell’insediamento del nuovo parlamento di Kampala.
Davanti ad un’estesa platea, composta di politici ed esponenti di spicco della società ugandese, il presidente ha bacchettato il ruolo svolto da “alcuni mezzi di comunicazione”, che nelle ultime settimane avrebbero “contribuito ad infangare l’immagine del paese e della sua sostanziale armonia sociale”. “In Uganda – ha insistito il capo dello stato, nel discorso sullo stato della nazione – i problemi ci sono, ma c’è anche un aumento del benessere grazie ad una crescita annua del 9%, che si riflette nel settore edilizio, con lo sviluppo della città di Kampala che arriverà presto a congiungersi con Entebbe”.
Riguardo al recente aumento dei prezzi dei generi di prima necessità e dei carburanti, che nelle scorse settimane hanno originato proteste e disordini di piazza, Museveni ha spiegato che “sono frutto di un’inflazione importata, derivante dai problemi nel Nord Africa e dalla cattiva congiuntura economia a livello internazionale”. Questi problemi – secondo il presidente – potranno essere superati dalla “prossima produzione ed esportazione di petrolio”, programmata a partire dal 2014, grazie alla scoperta di ingenti risorse di greggio nei territori a ovest del lago Alberto.
“Il nuovo governo” ha concluso il presidente mentre tra il pubblico alcuni esponenti di opposizione rumoreggiavano, come riporta il quotidiano ugandese ‘Daily Monitor’ “avrà come obiettivo primario nei prossimi cinque anni la lotta e il contrasto alla corruzione”. L’uomo forte di Kampala, al potere nel paese dal 1986, ha dovuto fronteggiare negli ultimi due mesi movimenti di protesta indetti dal Fronte per il cambiamento democratico (Fdc) del suo avversario Kizza Besigye, sconfitto nelle elezioni di febbraio scorso, in cui Museveni è stato confermato alla guida dell’Uganda per un quarto mandato consecutivo con quasi il 70% delle preferenze.
fonte www.misna.org

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UGANDA, MERCATI TRANSFRONTALIERI PER LO SVILUPPO
8 giugno 2011

La cooperazione transfrontaliera è fatta anche di scambi informali che vanno dal piccolo oggetto di uso quotidiano ai volumi di importanza medio-grande. In quest’ottica il governo ugandese ha avviato un programma, dal costo stimato pari a circa 229.000 euro, per la creazione di 17 mercati a ridosso delle sue frontiere, con l’obiettivo di moltiplicare i volumi dei prodotti scambiati a livello regionale e internazionale.
Intervenendo a Kampala a un corso di formazione per giovani che aspirano a intraprendere la carriera politica, il segretario permanente del ministero del Commercio, Julius Onen, ha annunciato che il primo dei nuovi mercati transfrontalieri sorgerà a Katuna, nel nord del Paese, “con l’obiettivo” ha precisato “di imprimere nuovo slancio agli scambi commerciali tra Uganda, Ruanda e Sudan meridionale“.
fonte www.agi.it

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TRAFFICO AEREO AFRICANO CRESCERA’ DEL 7% L’ANNO
9 giugno 2011

Nel prossimo decennio, il traffico aereo del continente crescerà a una media annua del 7% “sulla spinta dello sviluppo economico degli Stati africani e sostenuto da una forte domanda di scambi commerciali con il resto del mondo”.
La stima è stata fatta dal ministro del Trasporto aereo senegalese, Karim Wade, in occasione della cerimonia indetta per il 75esimo anniversario della presenza di Air France in questo Paese dell’Africa occidentale. “Il Senegal” ha detto il ministro “sta per avviare importanti progetti, molti dei quali relativi alle infrastrutture aeroportuali”. Per quanto riguarda il prossimo futuro, Wade ha stimato che, entro il 2015, gli aeroporti del suo Paese registreranno un traffico di 2,4 milioni di passeggeri, con 25.000 movimenti di aerei e 37.000 tonnellate di merci.
fonte www.agi.it

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GOVERNMENT ASKED TO SPONSOR HIV STUDENTS AT UNIVERSITY
9 june 2011

Mothers living with HIV/AIDS in the Acholi sub-region have asked government to give priority to youth living with HIV when awarding university scholarships. The mothers said the parents of these youth are also living with HIV/AIDS, adding that many of them were too weak to raise school fees for their children.
Over 2,400 children living with HIV are registered at Awach health centre IV by Health Alert Uganda (HAU) under the Positive Prevention Project. The project is funded by Save the Children in Uganda, an international NGO. The HAU senior programme officer in Gulu, Jennifer Abalo Opoka, said some of the children were born with HIV.
Margaret Akullu, 40, a widow living with HIV said mothers, whose babies are living with HIV, find it difficult to provide supplementary feeds for them due to poverty. “The cost of a tin of Nan powder milk used to feed these babies has gone up from sh15,000 to sh30,000 and many mothers cannot afford it” Opoka said. “The mothers living with HIV/AIDS are encouraged not to breastfeed their babies but give them cow milk and millet porridge” she added. Opoka said under the Positive Prevention Project, about 200 households of children living with HIV/AIDS in the region were given goats, chicken and ox- ploughs.
Save the Children in Uganda revolved funds to enable them generate income. She added that they also encourage the youth living with HIV to mobilise and sensitise other youth on the dangers of engaging in activities like unsafe sex that could lead to re-infection and infecting others.
Francis Omony, 21, who has been living with HIV since 2003, said young people living with the virus find it difficult to disclose their status to their lovers for fear of being abandoned. The Save the Children in Uganda HIV/AIDS programme coordinator, Benon Orach, said the Positive Prevention Project aims at building resilience of the youth living with the virus to enable them become self-reliant and handle stigma and discrimination.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug -Chris Ocowun

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UGANDA, SI MODERNIZZA L’INDUSTRIA ITTICA
10 giugno 2011

L’Uganda varerà un piano per la modernizzazione dell’industria ittica nelle zone dei Laghi Alberto e Kyoga, che sarà dotata di macchinari e attrezzature di ultima generazione. Con un finanziamento a fondo perduto di oltre 2,3 milioni di euro erogato dall’Agenzia islandese per lo sviluppo internazionale, il piano prevede che a trarne beneficio siano i pescatori delle province di Ntoroko, Hoima, Bulisa, Nebbi, Apac, Amolotar, Soroti e Buyende.
Il governo di Kampala ha inoltre reso noto che sarà avviato un “importante” progetto di acquacoltura per “evitare un eccessivo impoverimento delle riserve ittiche” dei laghi di questo Paese, che non ha sbocchi sul mare.
fonte www.agi.it

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UGANDA, 70 PER CENT OF PRIVATE CLINICS IN KAMPALA ILLEGAL
11 june 2011

A crackdown operation on private health service providers in Kampala has found that over 70 per cent are operating illegally. The operation conducted last month by the Ministry of Health, the Joint Health Professional Councils and the Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda also found that majority of the private clinics, drug shops or pharmacies run without qualified staff.
At least 180 health units were surveyed in the month-long operation in Kawempe, Makindye, Nakawa, Rubaga and Kampala central divisions. Many were shut down after the operation. Addressing the press on Wednesday, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry of health, Dr Asuman Lukwago, said with the growing number of private facilities, it is hard to validate the quality of services offered.
Quacks must go - “Our emphasis is on quality. We shall not sympathise with quacks because we care for the tax payer who deserves quality healthcare” Dr Lukwago said. He said the operation followed a public outcry that many of the private drug shops and clinics do not adhere to requirements necessary for them to practice, with some not registered while others employ unqualified staff.
The Health Ministry says up to 50 per cent of patients in Uganda get healthcare from the private sector, despite the abolition of user fees in public facilities in 2001. In a mini report on the operation, the ministry also found that most allied health professional clinics advertise for services beyond their expertise, while others display and overstock drugs sold directly to patients contrary to the National Drug Authority Act.
Dr Katumba Ssentongo, the Registrar of the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council, said a stronger regulation of private facilities will help curb illegal operators. The ministry has urged the public to report quack clinics and drug shops.
fonte www.allafrica.com – Evelyn Lirri

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UGANDA, EDUCATION MINISTRY FAILS TO SPEND SHS10 BILLION
13 june 2011

The Education Ministry is set to return close to Shs10 billion to the Consolidated Fund after it failed to utilise the funds, a senior ministry official has said. According to Mr Francis Lubanga, the permanent secretary, the money had been earmarked for recruitment of primary teachers in rural districts. “We are returning that money to the Consolidated Fund just because some local governments failed to recruit teachers. We pray that they play their part this time round so that we achieve our objectives as a ministry” he said last Friday as veteran education minister Geraldine Bitamazire handed over office to her successor, Lt. Jessica Alupo, at the ministry offices in Kampala.
Thousands unemployed – He, however, did not name the defaulting districts and neither could this newspaper establish details by press time. The revelation, however, is bound to dismay many as thousands of young graduates continue to roam the streets in search of jobs and schools battle with an unsustainable pupil to teacher ratio. But in what might appear a deeper problem than meets the eye, Mr Lubanga said staff inadequacies were not limited to rural schools, noting that the headquarters itself had many gaps to fill. He said many departments had less of the staff they required. “This situation has resulted in failure to monitor and efficiently supervise the numerous projects and programmes. We hope in the next six months the Education Service Commission will come to our rescue and address this issue” he said.
Despite the introduction of universal education both at primary (last 13 years) and secondary school level (about two years now) government has maintained a staff ceiling system that restricts the number of teachers recruited to the payroll. Mr Lubanga said the ministry is now embarking on a strategy to ensure that districts recruit their teacher stocks as per the communicated set staff quotas. “We’re looking for measures to ensure districts develop capacity to recruit teachers” he said. Some districts complain that they cannot afford wages of teachers due to insufficient funds. Primary school teachers are paid a monthly salary of Shs200, 000 putting them near the bottom of professional government employees.
Vibrant sector - Ms Bitamazire said although education still faces challenges, her successor had joined a “vibrant sector”. “You are indeed taking on a vibrant sector that has made enormous achievements” she said. She advised Ms Alupo to fast-track the ongoing curriculum review at post-primary level to enable the country get a vibrant manpower with skills to create their own jobs. “There is need to consult tertiary institutions and universities on the required knowledge and skills for further education and training at post-secondary levels” she said.
Ms Alupo commended Ms Bitamazire for her contribution to education and promised to build on her successes. “My prayer is that we continue in a progressive way and we don’t slide back” she said. Mr Bitamazire saluted President Museveni for keeping her in the ministry for 12 years, saying her longevity had enabled her turn around the sector. Ms Bitamazire first became education minister in 1979 for one year, before joining the then Teaching Service Commission, now Education Service Commission as deputy chairperson. She became State Minister for Education in 1999, serving in that capacity until 2005, when she became full minister.
fonte www.allafrica.com – Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa

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UGANDA, FORTI SCONTI A TURISTI SULLE TRACCE DEI GORILLA
13 giugno 2011

Per rilanciare il turismo nelle zone che ospitano rare specie di gorilla di montagna, l’Uganda ha varato una politica di forti sconti a beneficio dei visitatori. I ribassi, dell’ordine del 50 per cento, saranno in vigore fino al 2013.
Il direttore esecutivo dell’Autorità ugandese per l’Ambiente, Andrew Seguya, ha detto in conferenza stampa che la politica di forti sconti sui biglietti di ingresso nelle zone frequentate dai primati “mira soprattutto a fare cassa, ampliando il numero dei turisti che possono ammirare una delle specie animali più interessanti“, soprattutto quando osservati nel loro habitat. Negli ultimi quattro anni è aumentata di oltre il 90 per cento la vendita dei biglietti per l’accesso ai parchi che ospitano i gorilla di montagna, una specie presente solo in Ruanda, Repubblica democratica del Congo e Uganda.
fonte www.agi.it

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PER IL MERCATO COMUNE TRE ANNI DI NEGOZIATI
14 giugno 2011

A beneficiare di un mercato comune saranno tutti i paesi, anche quelli economicamente più deboli: lo ha sostenuto Kennedy Mbekeani, il dirigente della Banca di sviluppo africana (Bad) che sta seguendo i negoziati sulla nascita di un’area di libero scambio estesa dall’Egitto al Sudafrica, dall’Angola alle Isole Mauritius. Mbekeani ha concesso un’intervista all’agenzia di stampa americana ‘Associated Press’ all’indomani della firma a Johannesburg di un’intesa sull’abolizione delle barriere doganali e dei dazi sul commercio di beni.
L’accordo, che prevede negoziati di durata triennale per definire tempi e modalità delle riforme, è stato sottoscritto dai rappresentanti dei 26 paesi membri della Comunità dell’Africa orientale (Eac), del Mercato comune dell’Africa meridionale e orientale (Comesa) e della Comunità per lo sviluppo dell’Africa australe (Sadc). “Nel breve termine ci saranno vincitori e perdenti - ha sostenuto Mbekeani – ma sul medio e lungo periodo avranno benefici anche i paesi piccoli”. La firma di Johannesburg è tappa di un processo di integrazione che vale un prodotto lordo da 575 miliardi di euro e coinvolge 533 milioni di africani, circa il 57% della popolazione del continente.
Re Mswathi III, il re dello Swaziland, uno dei paesi più poveri e meno popolosi del continente, durante il vertice ha chiesto che si tenga conto delle esigenze di tutti. Pochi minuti prima Jacob Zuma aveva detto che “nessun paese può prosperare da solo” e sottolineato la necessità di puntare sullo sviluppo delle infrastrutture regionali.
fonte www.misna.org

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AGGIORNATO PROCESSO A OPPOSITORI, APPELLI A NUOVE MARCE DI PROTESTA
14 giugno 2011

“La situazione in città è tranquilla. Si aspettano gli esiti dei processo a carico degli oppositori, ma nel frattempo non si sono svolte altre marce di protesta”: fonti missionarie descrivono così alla MISNA l’atmosfera nella capitale Kampala, dove si è svolta ieri la prima udienza nel processo agli oppositori per le marce ‘walk to work’ contro il carovita.
“La presenza dei posti di blocco è diminuita, ma i controlli sono sempre attivi, nel caso in cui si verifichino nuovi episodi o disordini” riferiscono gli interlocutori secondo cui Kizza Besygie, guida del ‘Forum per il cambiamento democratico’ (Fdc) di opposizione, tornando a casa, ieri, ha invitato la popolazione a non sospendere la protesta e a far sentire la voce del loro malcontento. Circa una decina di persone – i bilanci sono parziali e non confermati – sarebbero morte tra aprile e maggio negli scontri tra i manifestanti e la polizia intervenuta per disperderli.
Nonostante gli appelli dell’opposizione, che invitava gli ugandesi a partecipare alle proteste indette contro i recenti e indiscriminati aumenti dei prezzi dei generi alimentari e dei carburanti, la protesta non è mai riuscita a mobilitare più di alcune centinaia di persone.
Al termine della prima giornata di processo, la corte ha deciso di aggiornare il dibattito – che vede alla sbarra degli imputati Besygie e altre sei persone, con l’accusa di incitazione alla violenza e assembramento illegale – al prossimo 13 luglio.
fonte www.misna.org

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UGANDA, AL VIA PIANO PER CAMBIARE FACCIA AD AGRICOLTURA
15 giugno 2011

Il settore agricolo dell’Uganda è destinato a cambiare faccia nel prossimo futuro. Grazie a un piano quinquennale varato dal governo locale e finanziato con una cifra iniziale di circa 40 milioni di euro, in parte messi a disposizione dalla Banca Africana di Sviluppo (Afdb). Il piano rientra in un progetto più ambizioso che mira a migliorare le condizioni di vita, le infrastrutture, l’istruzione e la salute delle popolazioni rurali.
Per quanto riguarda il settore agricolo, spiegano i tecnici dell’esecutivo di Kampala, si provvederà a innalzare il livello delle strade di campagna in modo da accelerare l’accesso dei prodotti su 97 mercati sparsi sul territorio nazionale. Insieme ad altri interventi pianificati o messi già in cantiere si stima che a regime la produzione agricola nazionale potrebbe aumentare di oltre il 50 per cento.
fonte www.agi.it

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PROTESTE, APPELLO A INDAGARE SU “UCCISIONI SOMMARIE”
17 giugno 2011

Un’inchiesta indipendente che faccia luce sull’uccisione di 9 civili disarmati durante diversi episodi di repressione, da parte delle forze di polizia, contro gruppi di manifestanti che protestavano per l’aumento dei prezzi e l’inflazione crescente: a rivolgere l’appello al governo di Kampala sono oltre un centinaio di organizzazioni per i diritti umani attive nel paese.
In una lettera indirizzata al presidente Yoweri Museveni, i firmatari dell’appello accusano gli agenti “di uso sproporzionato e indiscriminato della forza” sottolineato che, nelle settimane in cui si sono verificati i disordini “il governo ha arrestato decine di dimostranti e disposto investigazioni sugli episodi di saccheggio, incendio e rapina” ma non ha dimostrato lo stesso impegno “per individuare i responsabili di uccisioni sommarie”.
Il mese scorso il presidente Museveni, rieletto per un quarto mandato a febbraio, aveva accusato polizia e magistratura di “debolezza” contro “chi minaccia di sovvertire la stabilità interna”. L’appello si inserisce in un clima di crescente tensione tra maggioranza e opposizione, e mentre il capofila del Forum per il cambiamento democratico, Kizza Besygie, è sotto processo con altri esponenti del movimento, in relazione alle recenti proteste di piazza.
fonte www.misna.org

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UGANDA, RIVISTA AL RIALZO CRESCITA PRODUZIONE TE’
20 giugno 2011

L’Uganda ha rivisto al rialzo al 9,1 per cento la crescita stimata della produzione di the, per la maggiore estensione dei terreni coltivati e l’uso più razionale dei fertilizzanti.
Il segretario esecutivo dell’Uganda Tea Association, George William Ssekitoleko, ha annunciato in un’intervista ai media locali che entro dicembre la produzione potrà raggiungere le 60.000 tonnellate, contro le 55.000 previste nel gennaio scorso. Nel 2010 la produzione di the di questo Paese dell’Africa orientale fu pari a poco più di 59.000 tonnellate.
fonte www.agi.it

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UGANDA, EXPORT CAFFE’ SUPERA STIME DEL 43%
21 giugno 2011

Procede a gonfie vele la raccolta del caffè in Uganda. A maggio le esportazioni sono state pari a 253.270 sacchi da 60 chilogrammi, il 43 per cento in più rispetto alle stime, secondo le quali nel periodo considerato sarebbero stati esportati 210.000 sacchi.
Una fonte dell’Ente per lo sviluppo del caffè ha definito l’aumento “significativo“, soprattutto per quanto riguarda la produzione delle regioni meridionale e sud-occidentale, perchè “si è nel periodo centrale della raccolta“. L’Uganda e’ uno dei primi Paesi africani esportatori di caffè, principalmente della varietà ‘robusta’.
fonte www.agi.it

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UGANDA, PIANO EDILIZIA SCOLASTICA IN 18 PROVINCE
21 giugno 2011

Il governo dell’Uganda varerà entro il mese un programma di edilizia scolastica in 18 province per “esaudire la richiesta d’istruzione che proviene dalla società“. Lo hanno reso noto fonti della presidenza della Repubblica, a margine della cerimonia per il passaggio delle consegne tra i ministri dell’Istruzione uscente e entrante, rispettivamente Beatrice Wabudeya e Kabakumba Masiko.
Le fonti non hanno precisato l’entità dei fondi necessari per la realizzazione del programma, ma hanno dato assicurazioni sulla loro “congruità” e sulla loro provenienza dal bilancio pubblico.
fonte www.agi.it

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SHILLING CONTINUES DOWNWARD DRIFT
22 june 2011

The shilling continued to lose ground against the dollar hitting a low of Shs2,460 yesterday. Traders quoted the local unit at between Shs2,460 and Shs2,450, indicating an average value loss of about Shs5 since Friday. The unit quoted at Shs2,445 on Friday against the green back. Since the beginning of last year the shilling has lost against the dollar by 4.8 per cent, the highest since 2004.
The continued loss comes on the back of government bickering indicating gross budget indiscipline and abuse of fiscal and monetary policies. Recently Mr Emmannuel Tumusimme Mutebile, the governor of Bank of Uganda was quoted by the Financial Times criticising President Museveni over the use of the country’s currency reserves to purchase fighter jets. Since then (Wednesday) the shilling has been sliding forcing the central bank to intervene in the exchange market with $20 million early last week.
Addressing journalists in Kampala last week, Mr Mutebile warned speculators saying he had enough reserves to tame them. He said: “I would not hesitate to tame speculators” adding that “I have capacity to burn their fingers.” However, traders have said the intervention had less impact evidenced by the continued fall of the unit to a new low that was last registered in 2004. Other currencies across East Africa, including Kenya and Tanzania have also weakened against the dollar with the Kenyan unit being the worst hit.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug -Othman Semakula

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L’UGANDA PUNTA SU PICCOLE-MEDIE IMPRESE PER SVILUPPO
23 giugno 2011

Per accelerare il suo sviluppo, l’Uganda punta soprattutto sulle piccole e medie imprese (Pmi). In governo di Kampala ha annunciato una serie di misure con l’obiettivo di incentivare l’avvio di nuove aziende e dare un nuovo impulso a quelle già attive. In quest’ottica, entrerà in funzione a breve un apposito organismo, che regolerà il comparto e sarà gestito dal ministero di Industria, Commercio e Cooperative, in collaborazione con altri soggetti del mondo imprenditoriale. Inoltre, saranno creati sull’intero territorio nazionale degli istituti dedicati alla formazione dei talenti imprenditoriali, con particolare attenzione verso il mondo delle Pmi.
Nel suo discorso di insediamento, il nuovo ministro del Commercio, Amelia Kyambadde, ha spiegato che il nuovo organismo per lo sviluppo delle Pmi “rimedierà alle manchevolezze finora registrate da parte del governo verso un settore che sempre più si caratterizza come il volano dello sviluppo nazionale“.
fonte www.agi.it

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UGANDA, CHIESTA ABOLIZIONE TASSA SU VISTI TURISTICI
24 giugno 2011

Gli operatori delle compagnie aeree attive in Uganda hanno lanciato un appello al governo di Kampala affinchè elimini la tassa, pari a 50 dollari, dovuta per il visto di ingresso turistico nel Paese. L’abolizione dell’imposta, sostengono coloro che vorrebbero fosse eliminata, “contribuirebbe certamente ad un aumento del turismo nel Paese“.
Si è fatto portavoce dell’appello al governo il presidente dell’Associazione dei rappresentanti delle compagnie aeree presenti a Kampala, Pierre Declerck. Dal canto suo, il responsabile dell’Ente nazionale per il Turismo, Justus Tindikanigayo, ha detto di essere “pronto a trasmettere al governo” la richiesta delle 20 compagnie rappresentate nella capitale ugandese.
fonte www.agi.it

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UGANDA, TEMPO DI DIRE BASTA
26 giugno 2011

Membro di spicco del Forum for Democratic Change (il principale partito d’opposizione), vice segretaria per le Relazioni internazionali del partito, Anne Mugisha è anche un’esponente di una organizzazione, Activists for Change (A4C), in prima linea nella battaglia per ridare voce ai cittadini, per far cadere un regime, quello del presidente Yoweri Museveni, in carica da 25 anni, che non sembra aver intenzione di passare la mano. A Peacereporter ha raccontato il fermento che agita la società ugandese, speranze e paure di chi chiede un cambiamento.
Le notizie arrivate dall’Uganda nelle ultime settimane parlavano di proteste diffuse in tutto il Paese, di marce all’insegna dello slogan “Walk to Work”, di una reazione violenta da parte delle forze di sicurezza e di arresti di attivisti e di leader dell’opposizione come Kizza Besigye. Il vento della primavera araba sta arrivando anche in Uganda?
Gli ugandesi vogliono liberarsi di un regime che è stato al potere per un quarto di secolo e che non ha migliorato in nulla le condizioni della popolazione. Il retroterra che ha permesso le rivoluzioni in Egitto e Tunisia, grosso modo esiste anche in Uganda. Durante gli ultimi 25 anni, il Paese ha avuto un solo leader. Certo, c’è stata una crescita economica molto forte ma le statistiche non riflettono il crescente gap tra ricchi e poveri. La ricchezza del Paese è concentrata nelle mani di pochi individui dell’elite al potere che non sono interessati ai problemi della gente comune. Le ultime quattro elezioni che hanno confermato Museveni si sono rivelate fraudolente e i tribunali lo hanno risconosciuto per due volte.
Gli ugandesi hanno smesso di sperare di poter cambiare, attraverso le urne, un regime che sta diventando sempre più militarista e oppressivo. I giovani, che sono più della metà della popolazione, si sentono emarginati e senza prospettive, eppure vedono molta ricchezza intorno a loro. Le marce organizzate con la campagna “Walk to Work” erano un modo di esprimere questo scontento diffuso tra la gente comune e la classe operaia. Il mondo invece ha visto che la libertà di assemblea e di espressione in Uganda sono diventati crimini e che la polizia ha usato la forza per fermare la gente. Tutti questi fattori dicono che l’Uganda è sull’orlo di una sollevazione popolare.
Ma il Forum for Democratic Change, del quale lei è un membro di spicco, è una reale alternativa al sistema? In fondo il vostro candidato premier ha già sfidato il presidente Museveni per ben tre volte, nel 2001, nel 2006 e nel 2011.
La nostra è la battaglia di un popolo che lotta per riaffermare la propria supremazia su coloro che ci governano illegittimamente e in modo oppressivo. L’articolo 1 della Costituzione del 1995 dice che “Tutto il potere appartiene al popolo che esercita la sovranità secondo la Costituzione”. Il comma 2 dice che “senza alcun limite per la clausola 1, l’autorità emana dal popolo ugandese. Il popolo deve essere governato secondo la propria volontà e con il proprio consenso”. Costringere il governo a diventare responsabile di fronte al popolo e a guidare la transizione da una governance corrotta e cattiva ad una leadership che sia centrata sulla popolazione. Questo è il nostro obiettivo come Activists for Change. Chi sono gli individui che si assumeranno la leadership politica per questo cambiamento, non è importante. Non vogliamo nuovi liberatori per questo Paese. Abbiamo solo bisogno che le persone reclamino la propria superiorità sui propri governanti e sui presunti liberatori.
Ecco, lei ha menzionato Activists for Change, organizzazione della quale è un’importante esponente. Di cosa si tratta? Trova analogie con quei movimenti popolari di protesta sorti in Europa di recente? Cosa chiedete e a chi?
Si, sono un’attivista di ‘Activists for Change’. Abbiamo promosso una campagna popolare contro la corruzione nel governo, contro il caro-vita causato dall’inflazione galoppante e dall’assenza di una politica governativa per aiutare gli ugandesi a far fronte alla crescita dei prezzi dei carburanti. Il nostro approccio non è stato quello di riempire le piazze ma piuttosto abbiamo chiesto alla classe media di solidarizzare con i ceti meno abbienti che non possono più permettersi di prendere mezzi per andare a lavorare o che non riescono ad assicurare alle proprie famiglie più di un pasto al giorno. Oltre a questa dimostrazione di solidarietà, abbiamo condotto campagne sui media e attraverso petizioni contro la corruzione e lo sperpero di denaro pubblico.
A proposito di corruzione e sperpero di denaro, poche settimane fa si è svolta una sessione a porte chiuse durante la quale il parlamento ha discusso un aumento dello stipendio (120 mila dollari in più l’anno, ndr) e un’estensione dei benefit per i suoi membri. Qual è la posizione di A4C?
Ci siamo sentiti oltraggiati quando addirittura dopo le marce di aprile per il Walk to Work – nelle quali molte persone innocenti hanno perso la vita, tanti leader sono stati arrestati con brutalità e messi in galera, centinaia di attivisti detenuti – il parlamento nella sua prima sessione dopo le elezioni ha deciso di dare la priorità al proprio welfare. Allora abbiamo indirizzato una petizione allo Speaker e ai membri del parlamento perché rinunciassero ad ogni tentativo di aumentarsi la paga in un momento così difficile, consultabile all’indirizzo http://www.thepetitionsite.com/136/petition-against-increased-emoluments-for-members-of-parliament/. Stiamo pensando di organizzare un picchettaggio davanti al parlamento il 30 giugno per tenerlo sotto pressione affinché si concentri su ciò che interessa alla gente.
Veniamo alla politica estera, che lei segue con attenzione in qualità di vicesegretario per gli affari esteri dell’Fdc. L’Uganda sta giocando un ruolo importante in Somalia e, più in generale, ha ambizioni di leadership in una regione problematica come quella dei Grandi Laghi. Quali sono le sfide principali e qual è, e quale dovrebbe essere, l’agenda ugandese?
L’agenda ugandese dovrebbe avere al centro il negoziare la pace piuttosto che l’espandere i teatri di guerra nella regione dei Grandi Laghi e oltre. Negli ultimi 25 anni, l’Uganda ha avuto un ruolo chiave in ogni grande conflitto nella regione. Dall’invasione del Ruanda, alla guerra contro Mobutu Sese Seko dello Zaire (ora Repubblica democratica del Congo), alla liberazione del Sud Sudan, l’Uganda è sempre stata una base importante. Ma il parlamento non è mai stato chiamato a pronunciarsi su queste guerre. La popolazione non è mai stata consultata. Siamo entrati in guerra per la decisione arbitraria del comandante in capo e degli alti comandi. Eppure gli ugandesi hanno pagato un prezzo molto alto per il nostro coinvolgimento nelle guerre nei Paesi confinanti, incluso un attacco terroristico in cui sono morti un centinaio di persone quando al Shabaab attaccò civili a Kampala.
Il regime crede nella dominazione militare e nell’espansionismo e il risultato è che ci sono numerosi report e sentenze di tribunale contro gli abusi da parte dei militari e lo sfruttamento delle risorse, soprattutto nel Congo orientale. Museveni è stato abile nel destabilizzare la regione ponendo allo stesso tempo l’Uganda come un centro di stabilità, pur avendo un ruolo importante nella destabilizzazione dei Paesi vicini. Il governo ha potuto mantenere questa posizione diabolica grazie al sostegno di governi stranieri, specialmente di quello americano, presentandosi come un importante alleato nella guerra al terrore. L’Uganda è percepito come il partner principale per fermare l’avanzata del terrorismo in Africa, combattendo contro le forze antiamericane in Somalia e Sudan. Fintanto che Kampala starà accanto agli Stati Uniti nella guerra al terrore, l’Occidente ignorerà gli enormi abusi commessi dal governo contro i suoi cittadini. E’ una battaglia che gli ugandesi, soprattutto quelli della diaspora, devono affrontare, per far capire ai nostri partner, di cui abbiamo bisogno per lo sviluppo, che al Shabaab è una minaccia ma non quanto lo sono le stesse forze di sicurezza.
fonte http://it.peacereporter.net – Alberto Tundo

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HOTEL FOOD RATES SHOOT UP BY 18% SUNDAY
26 june 2011

Hotel and restaurant food prices have shot up by 18.2%, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics latest price index. Overall, producer prices for services provided by hotels and restaurants, rose by 8.2% in the first quarter of 2011 compared to 2010. This was due to the increase of 2.2% in accommodation prices, 15% in catering services and a 10% rise in conference facilities.
At Kampala Serena Hotel, a buffet increased from sh45,000 to sh50,000, seafood rates rose from sh60,000 to sh80,000, while Hotel Africana charges sh30,000, up from sh20,000 in October 2010. Rufus Ndeze, the Imperial Royale Hotel general manager, said they had not increased prices since 2009. Their buffet still goes for sh30,000.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug - Catherine Bekunda

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Cambio valuta: in data 30/06/2011 1 dollaro USA è pari a 2847,343 scellini ugandesi, 1 Euro è pari a 3865,4731 scellini ugandesi

UGANDA, IL MARTIRIO DI BESIGYE
29 aprile 2011

BESIGYE CALLS FOR CALM
2 may 2011

SURVEY SPOTS MAJOR GAPS IN EDUCATION
2 may 2011

MUSEVENI DEFENDS POLICE ACTION ON PROTESTS
3 may 2011

VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS INCREASING
3 may 2011

SI ALLENTA LA PRESSIONE SU CAPI OPPOSIZIONE
3 maggio 2011

UGANDA POPULATION TO HIT 94M IN 2050
5 may 2011

KAMPALA, DONNE IN PIAZZA CONTRO IL CAROVITA
9 maggio 2011

UGANDA, LA GUERRA DEL PANE DILAGA: SCONTRI CON LA POLIZIA, VITTIME E FERITI
9 maggio 2011

SEX WORKERS PAY THE PRICE FOR HIV PREVENTION GAPS
10 may 2011

UGANDA SHELVES ANTI-GAY BILL
13 may 2011

CONTINUA BRACCIO DI FERRO TRA PRESIDENTE E LEADER DI OPPOSIZIONE
19 maggio 2011

UGANDA, NEL 2011 +30% PRODUZIONE ELETTRICA
19 maggio 2011

CENTENARIO DELL’EVANGELIZZAZIONE DEL NORD UGANDA: “STIAMO VIVENDO LA FASE DELLA RICOSTRUZIONE” DICE IL VESCOVO DI LIRA
20 maggio 2011

PRESIDENTE MUSEVENI NOMINA PRIMO MINISTRO E VICE PRESIDENTE
24 maggio 2011

UGANDA, IL MARTIRIO DI BESIGYE
29 aprile 2011

Il presidente ugandese Yoweri Museveni ha tolto la maschera al suo regime e il guanto al pugno di ferro con cui venerdì ha di nuovo represso il dissenso. Sono scene di guerra quelle che si sono viste a Kamapala: blindati incolonnati lungo le strade con soldati armati di fucili che sparavano a vista, copertoni in fiamme, devastazione, sangue per terra. Nel primo pomeriggio il bollettino ufficiale parlava di un morto, 84 feriti e un numero imprecisato di persone arrestate.
Questo, alle 12 e 30 ora locale. Già un paio d’ore dopo, il quotidiano ‘The Monitor’, in una drammatica ricostruzione, parlava di quattro morti e di tanti feriti da mandare in tilt gli ospedali della capitale.
In quello di Mulago, il portavoce descriveva un quadro drammatico: “Ci sono molte persone ferite qui ma non ho il numero né so quanti siano i morti, siamo troppo impegnati adesso“. I fatti di venerdì rappresentano un’escalation della crisi politica in cui è precipitata l’Uganda da un paio di settimane, caratterizzate da una serie di marce organizzate dall’opposizione per protestare contro l’inflazione galoppante che sta trascinando fuori dal mercato una larga fetta della popolazione. E più il governo disperde le manifestazioni, più il focus della protesta si sposta dalle rivendicazioni economico-salariali a quelle politiche. Il regime lo sente e stringe la morsa, cosa che porta un numero maggiore di cittadini al di là della barricata.
E’ solo una coincidenza che la violenza sia esplosa nel giorno in cui l’Ufficio nazionale di statistica diffondeva i dati spaventosi sull’inflazione: il prezzo dei prodotti cerealicoli ad aprile è aumentato del 39,3 per cento in una comparazione anno su anno e del 10 per cento rispetto a marzo. Il costo dei prodotti alimentari in generale è salito del 5,9 per cento nell’ultimo mese, portando l’inflazione complessiva al 30,8 per cento. Solo una coincidenza, si diceva, le ragioni degli scontri di ieri sono tutte politiche.
Ad accendere la miccia è stata la voce diffusasi nella mattinata secondo la quale il leader dell’opposizione Kizza Besigye era morto nella notte. Poco importa che si trattasse di una indiscrezione non confermata, la violenza è esplosa immediatamente. Molti ugandesi ci hanno creduto subito, ancora scioccati dai fatti di giovedì, giorno in cui Besigye era stato arrestato per la quarta volta in due settimane. A impressionare la popolazione non è stato l’arresto di per sé ma la dinamica particolarmente violenta, raccontata dalle drammatiche foto subito apparse su alcuni forum.
Nel timore che il leader del Forum for Democratic Change potesse unirsi alla quinta manifestazione contro il caro-prezzi denominata Walk to Work, i militari hanno circondato la sua abitazione, cercando di impedirgli di uscire, per poi consentirgli di dirigersi prima in banca e poi nel suo ufficio, imponendogli però un preciso percorso, in modo che non incrociasse il corteo. Poco prima dell’arrivo a destinazione, gli agenti hanno perso la testa: quattro pick up bloccano il suv di Besigye, rompono un vetro, neutralizzano gli uomini di scorta del politico, li trascinano fuori dall’abitacolo e li picchiano selvaggiamente. Intanto, una folla si raccoglie intorno alla rotatoria dove è ferma l’auto di Besigye che si rifiuta di scendere; ha paura. A quel punto, le forze di sicurezza spaccano un altro finestrino, spianano pistole e Ak47 contro il leader, lo immobilizzano con uno spray e lo trascinano fuori dall’automobile, prendendolo a calci e tenendolo costantemente sotto tiro, lo buttano sul pianale di un camioncino e lo portano via.
A distanza di 12 ore, la famiglia non era ancora riuscita a visitare Besigye, le cui condizioni avevano costretto il tribunale davanti al quale era stato condotto a ordinarne il trasferimento in ospedale. Fonti giornalistiche locali raccontano di un uomo che non riesce quasi più a camminare e che non ha ancora riacquistato la vista. Gli stessi medici non hanno saputo dire quale fosse la sostanza semigassosa contenuta nelle quattro bombolette che sono state svuotate nella macchina su cui viaggiava il leader dell’opposizione. Besigye è ormai è il fantasma del leader che ha sfidato Museveni per ben tre volte. Sconfitto anche a febbraio, la sua stella era in declino ma adesso il presidente lo sta trasformando in un martire. C’è poca logica in questo, soprattutto perché molti ugandesi si stanno chiedendo quanto valga la loro vita per il regime se quella di un uomo così in vista conta così poco.
fonte it.peacereporter.net - Alberto Tundo

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BESIGYE CALLS FOR CALM
2 may 2011

Dr Kizza Besigye yesterday recovered some of his eyesight – and voice, urging his supporters not to avenge his violent arrest last week, even as he said peaceful walk-to-work protests against the rising cost of living would continue.
Dr Besigye was addressing a press conference at Nairobi Hospital where he was rushed for treatment on Friday night after he was brutally arrested and doused in tear gas and pepper spray. “I have heard reports while here that the police officer [Gilbert Arinaitwe Bwana, who led the assault] is being hunted down for harm” Dr Besigye said, flanked by family members and FDC official Ms Anne Mugisha. “I have contacted our people to make a statement that we have no plan for retribution.”
Television footage showed Mr Arinaitwe beating Dr Besigye and drenching him repeatedly with pepper-spray before bundling him onto a police pick-up truck on Thursday. The brutal nature of Dr Besigye’s arrest angered many of his supporters who later took to the streets in protest on Friday in widespread riots. At least five people were shot dead- bringing the death toll to 10 since the start of the opposition walk-to-work protests on April 11.
Dr Besigye asked his supporters to refrain from any vindictive acts but said the walk-to-work protests would continue until the government addresses the rising cost of fuel and food. Doctors attending to the opposition leader said Dr Besigye had recorded some improvement and they hoped he would be discharged within four or five days depending on the progress of his recovery. “Dr Besigye suffered chemical irritation of serious severity and on Friday evening, we took him to the theatre and cleaned the remnants of chemicals in the eye. The treatment is still going on but there is some improvement” Dr Timothy Byakika, one of several doctors who attended to Besigye, said. “Although we had suspected spinal and chest injuries, a scan established that there were no fractures and the injuries in his chest and back were on the soft tissue. The chemicals with which Dr Besigye had been sprayed had affected mainly his eyes, his neck and back.” During the press conference, Dr Besigye sat in a wheelchair dressed in a white hospital robe and donned dark shades to protect his eyes from direct light.
Counter claims - On Saturday President Museveni, visiting Nairobi on an earlier-scheduled official visit, had defended the actions of the police and accused Dr Besigye of attacking the officers with a hammer and pepper spray, and defying their orders. However, Dr Besigye yesterday denied the allegations. He said he did not have any pepper spray and that, although a hammer used by security agents to break the car window had fallen through and hurt his thigh, he had not used it against them. Television footage from the incident does not show Dr Besigye attacking any of the officers.
Growing pressure - Government’s violent response to the walk-to-work protests has continued to draw widespread condemnation. A trade union representing workers in Kenya yesterday urged President Museveni to learn from former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak and his Tunisian counterpart Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali who were forced out of power following demonstrations in their countries over the high cost of living. Diplomatic pressure is also growing on the NRM government after a senior US official, Johnny Carson protested to Foreign Affairs minister Sam Kutesa in a telephone call, while a senior Norwegian government official was quoted as saying the Nordic country was considering unspecified sanctions against the country.
On Saturday the Dutch envoy to Kampala, Mr Jeroen Verheul defended the visit, by European diplomats, to Nakasongola prison where Dr Besigye and DP President Norbert Mao were being held on charges arising out of the walk-to-work protest. In a strong speech delivered during celebrations to mark the Netherlands’ National Day, Mr Verheul said his country would continue to withhold aid to government pending governance and accountability reforms. “We will not be able to provide budget support for as long as the preconditions for such support…have not been met” Mr Verheul said.
He added: “Unfortunately we have to conclude that at present a number of these preconditions have not been met. Particularly I would like to mention the precondition on fighting corruption which has not been met for a number of years now. The preconditions on budget credibility and commitment to poverty reduction are seriously threatened by recent decisions on the national budget.”
fonte www.monitor.co.ug - Yasiin Mugerwa & Peter Leftie

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SURVEY SPOTS MAJOR GAPS IN EDUCATION
2 may 2011

The educational system in Uganda especially in schools upcountry is still lagging behind. This is evident in the districts of Kiboga, Mubende, Mityana, Kitgum, Pader, Lamwo, Gulu, Amuru, Kyegewa, Kyenjojo, Ntoroko and Ibanda.
During a three weeks tour of these districts by stake holders from the Ministry of Education and sports, dialogues were held with head teachers, school management committee leaders, parents, teachers and members of various non-government organisations on the state of education. One of the most burning challenges that were presented in every district was absenteeism of both teachers and pupils.
In Ntoroko District, for example, Rev. David Kibonwa the inspector of schools says that he once went to inspect a school and out of the 10 teachers, only three had attended. As regards the pupil absenteeism, teachers in the North and Central parts of Uganda complain that it’s impossible for them to teach a full class. Mr Amo Okwe Okaka the District Education Officer in Kitgum District blames the pupil absenteeism on economic activities in the district. “Most of the children do not attend school during the rainy season and on market days. In the rainy season they are always in the garden sowing and on market days they are normally selling off the crop produce.” He explains that during the planting season, pupils stay away from some schools for over two weeks and by the time they come back, their colleagues will have covered a lot.
The other general problem is lack of mid-day meals for both teachers and pupils. Mr Abdul Wahid Katelega the chairperson of the School Management Committee at Kyekumba DAS Primary School in Kibogo says that teachers in his school only have sugar canes for lunch. “When you go to my school during lunch time, you will either find teachers sleeping under trees because they have nothing to eat or they will be eating sugar canes. This also applies to the pupils because government refused parents to contribute towards anything in schools and thus it’s impossible for the school to provide food for pupils and teachers.”
Besides the lack of meals, the pupil teacher ratio is high. According to the 2008 Education Act, the teacher pupil ratio should be at least 1:53. However in districts like Kyegegwa the ratio is at 1:110, in Kitgum, it’s at 1:59 and in Lamwo it’s at 1:71. The situation is not any different as regards the desk pupil ratio. The Education Act stipulates a 1:3 desk pupil ratio. However in Kyegegwa, the ratio is at 1:6, in Mubende, it’s at 1:7 and in Lamwo it’s at 1:10.
Mr Steven Kaketo the District Education Officer Mubende District says that such a desk pupil ratio makes it hard for the teachers to teach. “In classes where the pupils are very many and the desks are few, pupils are forced to sit on the floor.”
Infrastructure like classrooms, teacher’s houses and latrines are also lacking in these districts. In Mityana, there is a need for 1214 teachers’ houses, in Mubende District; the latrine pupil ratio is at 1:75 instead of the 1:45 ratio specified in the Education Act. The classroom pupil ratio stands at a minimum of 1:77 and a maximum of 1:170 instead of the 1:54 stated by the Education Act. Mr Charles Mafaya the head teacher of Kibiga primary school says that with all these challenges, their hands are tied. “There is nothing we can do to save the situation because government warned to arrest any head teacher that collects money from parents.” Mafaya says adding, “to make matters worse, the Universal Primary Education (UPE) capitation grant also comes late. This makes it hard for schools to plan and continue with the school curriculum comfortably.”
While responding to the challenges faced by the districts, state minister for Primary Education, Hon Bataringaya Kamanda advises Parents to play an active role as regards the education of their children.
Parents’ roles – “Parents should not leave their roles to the school; it’s the duty of the parent to provide food for their child.” He says adding “Where this fails, school management committees should call parents for meetings so that they can discuss on how they can avail meals to both pupils and teachers.” To rule out cases of teachers’absenteeism, Hon. Kamanda says that Government has increased the inspection grant from Shs2.5b to Shs4.5b per a year. “This is meant to ensure that school inspectors visit schools as often as possible to check on the teachers’ attendance.” As regards pupil attendance, Ms Resty Muziribithe assistant commissioner for Pre-Primaryeducation discourages teachers from automatically promoting pupils that have been absconding from class. “Teachers should not promote pupils that have failed and yet have missed class for more than 30 days in a term.”
Hon Kamanda also adds that government has increased its budgetary fund towards the education sector to Shs1.4t thus making it the second most funded sector. “This will enable us to build at least 10 teachers’ houses in every district this year, provide some text books to all schools and take care of other challenges in education.”
More to be done – However, although government is coming up with such kinds of policies to advance the education system, there is more to be done especially as regards sensitising communities up country on the importance of eucation because the dropout rates in some districts are still high. In Kyegegwa, the dropout is at 65 per cent, in Ntoroko it’s at 63 per cent and in Lamwo it’s at 70 per cent. There’s also need for the increment in the teacher’s salaries if they are to be kept in schools because most of the District Education Officers reported teachers’ absconding from classes as a result of the side businesses they have.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug -  Sarah Tumwebaze

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MUSEVENI DEFENDS POLICE ACTION ON PROTESTS
3 may 2011

Now 25 years in power and counting but trying times are beckoning for President Museveni. The opposition’s walk-to-work campaign is not only bringing out the worst of Ugandan security agencies but also ironically putting on the spot the man credited for pulling Uganda out of years of oppression and misrule. So is the President losing the shine? We bring you an edited version of his interview with NTV Kenya’s Linus Kaikai. Interview starts with a video clip of Dr Besigye attempting to walk to work and the subsequent brutal arrest and torture by state agents.
Mr President, many people have compared what we have just seen in the video clip with what used to happen during the years of former President Idi Amin Dada. How does it make you feel when comparisons are made between your style of rule and that of Amin?
Well, it just shows that you are not serious, you [Kaikai], who is reporting all this [pointing at the screen showing Besigye being tortured]. You did not show when people were stoning the police or when they were attacking vehicles. Cars were destroyed in Kampala, damaged, but you do not show it there. That is a partial story. But even if it is a partial story, why should a civilised leader resist the police. If they say come with us, why do you resist? Why don’t you go along with them and see what they want to do?
We have not seen any resistance Mr President in that clip. We have seen policemen breaking windows of the vehicle of the leader of opposition?
No no no! First of all Besigye was walking, the police blocked him, they said you come with us. He should have cooperated with them. That’s what civilised people do. But he didn’t.
Talking of civility Mr President, was it civilised for police to behave in the way they did?
Yes, there could be some mistakes but the original mistake is for a mature person, a leader, not to be exemplary in following the law. These young people can make their own mistakes but how about me? I should be an example. I am a mature person if I have a point of view and these young policemen say come with us, and I cooperate with them. But not to struggle with these young people, because they could make mistakes.
You call them young people but they are the police and security agencies of Uganda. Are you concerned with what their actions will do to your personal image?
Ah, my image will not be touched by this [pointing at the screen] because my image is based on substance. Mr President I want to quote you in 1987 a year after you came to power. You said Uganda had gone through a traumatic period because Idi Amin and Milton Obote didn’t respect the rule of law. What do you say to critics who today say the same of you? [Toughing the tone] That gentleman, Besigye, who was being arrested, was being taken to court. Do you know what Amin used to do? Murder them and throw them in River Nile for the crocodiles. I have not heard of Besigye’s body floating for the crocodiles to eat.
What about the manner of his arrest?
[Visibly annoyed]: That may have its own problem but also how about his conduct? Why don’t you talk about that?
Mr President, Kizza Besigye is the ace of the Ugandan Political opposition. Would you say the government of Uganda has treated the Opposition in Uganda the way civilised and democracies should treat the opposition?
Yes. The opposition should be civilised. First of all he didn’t inform the police. Yes, you have the freedom to demonstrate but the police have got powers to regulate public assembly. If you want to demonstrate but I am selling tomatoes where you want to pass and the third party comes in to mediate our interests, that is how civilised societies are organised.
Three or four times we have seen Dr Besigye trying to make this walk to work and in all of those incidents we have not detected any violations. You are talking about planning to step on tomatoes?
That’s what they were planning. Because the police has intelligence, they know that this walk is supposed to attract a group which will then start looting. But if I ask you a question, you the evangelist of civilisation; What is so hard with a civilised political leader coordinating with the police? After all, we were doing it during the just-concluded elections. All of us were under the Electoral Commission [EC]. I could not hold a rally without informing the EC.
Your government has not allowed public demonstrations since the elections?
Because they do not inform the people they are supposed to inform [repeats it]. In a few days, you will be sworn in for a new term. What is your agenda this coming term considering the events of the past few days? We look at the mandate you got during the elections and it was quite high but looking at the mood in the country now, there is a bit of a gap between the mandate you commanded in the February polls and the state you find yourself in politically today. Well, I do not see the gap. The gap is that when we voted, about five million voters supported us. There are those who didn’t vote for us, about two million voters, so there is no gap. Our programme is to deal with the foundation. This hotel in which you are smartly dressed is because of the foundation. Without a foundation there is no way this house can be here.
It’s been 25 years Mr President and the foundation has not been completed yet?
Well, you did not hear what the foundation is. The foundation has a number of items. Electricity is one of them, roads, railway, education. There are many elements. In the past 25 years we have dealt with some elements. Would basic freedoms be part of that foundation; would freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, democratic practice and expansion of political space be part of that foundation we are talking about? It so happens that those are the things I fought for. That’s what I fought for. We fought for those freedoms. But they must be exercised with discipline. I am now dialoguing with you but if you step on me, then the dialogue will have to be stopped. But why do you have to step on me? Why don’t you regulate your behaviour as I regulate mine? Maybe there is a neutral regulator who regulates us such as the police, the electoral commission, the courts. Why don’t you respect those regulators? All the three regulators that you have mentioned, the police, the EC and the courts, your critics feel are 100 per cent in your hands. They are not exactly free to pay umpires. Oh! That must be new information now. Because the only body which we disbanded when we won the civil war was the army. We inherited all the other institutions; the civil service, even this police. Talking of the foundation and these institution that you do mention; we do remember that you had beginnings by fighting a liberation war when your were young and leading the NRA; and it would have been expected that after many years, 25, we would see the de-politicisation of the army but we see and what we witnessed during the elections was the continued politicisation of the army. The army continues to play a very big role in Ugandan politics. When is this going to end?
What did they do in politics?
They are very visible. They are in polling stations, they are almost a very active player. No, they are not in polling stations. Each polling station is manned by one [police] constable. The army is only in the zone not in the polling station, they back up the police in case somebody wants to cause trouble. There are still parliamentary seats reserved for the army. Yes. There is no harm in that because the army was responsible for the liberation of the people of Uganda. All development we have is because of the work of the army. There is no harm in having 10 seats out of 340, I think, such a huge number. But the army is there and they engage in discussions when there are national issues of great importance otherwise, they just keep quiet and watch what’s happening.
We would like to hear your own broad assessment of the state of democracy in Uganda considering that you came from a single party system, [Movement] now to a multi-party system. Where is Uganda?
Uganda may be, I suspect maybe the most democratic country in the world [opens his eyes wide open] because we have 238 directly-elected seats which are competed for on merit by parties. We have 112 special seats for women, five seats for people with disabilities, five seats for youth and five for workers. I have not heard many systems in the world which take into account those interest groups. So if I were to give a lecture on democracy I think I would have good credentials to do so.
Was it a positive move that the presidential term limits were removed?
Yes. We removed the Presidential term limits because the problem of Africa is not term limits. The problem of Africa is the fundamentals which I was talking about: electricity, roads, and education. Another challenge is integration; making countries of Africa to come together so that we have viable economic units. If people are voting and they want to vote this candidate or vote out the other one; that is there choice and that is the benchmark. That’s the lowest common multiple to determine whether a system is democratic or not. About these term limits, that is according to individual countries. Many countries do not have that term limits.
So the persistent question would be when would you leave office?
When my party decides to have another candidate because it is the party which puts forward another candidate or when I decide not to present myself. The struggle which we have been engaged in for the last 45 years to bring up Uganda and if possible also bring up Africa, is the one which guides our choices whether I should participate or not.
But are you concerned with some of the turns that have attended to similar examples where we have limitless terms. In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak was there for very many years, same to Ben Ali of Tunisia. Are you concerned that this sort of resentment can eventually catch up with President Museveni of Uganda?
Well I do not know the system in Egypt or Tunisia. I don’t know how competitive they were. Were they competitive systems? I do not know.
They had no term limits.
There are no term limits in the UK, France or Israel. I do not know whether its there in Germany. Have you done the census to know how many countries have term limits or not? Therefore, the crucial thing is the competitiveness in the political system. Was the system in Egypt competitive enough? I do not know. How about the one in Tunisia? But as far as Uganda is concerned the system in very competitive. There is no limit on the number of parties, no limit on who can contest.
Uganda is the only country in the East African Community without term limits. Does that make you feel like you are the odd one out?
No. That is our system. And when we form the East African Federation, we shall see how to harmonise. If the rest want term limits then I will support them. But work on the Federation through your radio. In addition to talking all these little things you keep taking about, talk about the East African Federation. Okay? We thank you very much Mr President. Thank you.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug -Linus Kaikai

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VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS INCREASING
3 may 2011

At least 55 journalists suffered various forms of violence at the hands of security operatives and political party supporters over the last six months, a new report shows. The Press Freedom Index Report launched in Kampala yesterday named the police as the leading tormentor of journalists accounting for 19 cases, followed by supporters of different political parties, with 12 cases. The army came third with nine cases registered against it followed by individuals who caused anguish to seven journalists. The report comes as government on Sunday evening convened a meeting with members of the international media in Uganda and appealed for “more balanced coverage” in the walk-to-work campaign.
Government appeal - Government Chief Whip Daudi Migereko addressed about 15 members of the foreign press at the Uganda Media Centre, where he focused on how protests and riots have been portrayed in the media. Mr Migereko focused his objections on the controversial footage of opposition leader Kizza Besigye’s violent arrest last week – when security officers broke the windscreen of his vehicle and tear-gassed him directly in the face, causing temporary blindness, for which he is still undergoing treatment in Nairobi. He said government’s position is that there was an undue amount of focus paid to those events in particular, and not enough on the violent actions of protesters and hours-long standoff during which he said the FDC leader was antagonistic towards the police.
On the violence suffered by journalists, the report covering a six months period, also captured university students and Resident District Commissioners as being accountable for two cases each while media managers were blamed on three cases. One case remained unaccounted for, according to the report. The index is aimed at bringing afore the plight of journalists and recommending future actions for the protection of media practitioners. It further discusses the key challenges, threats and violations faced by journalists.
Highest figure ever - “The six month period report documented 55 journalists who faced numerous cases of violence. This is the highest figure since HRNJ-Uganda started releasing PFI reports” reads the report in part. The 92-page report was compiled by Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda, an independent media advocacy network for human rights journalists. The report recommends that the Directorate of Public Prosecutions drops all sedition charges and similar charges against journalists since the Constitutional Court ruled repealed this law from the penal code. It was launched by Dr Margret Ssekajja, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.
Earlier in the day, Ms Ssekajja led a procession of journalists and human rights activists on the streets of Kampala who braved the early morning downpour. Both the procession and launch of the report were part of the activities to mark the World Press Freedom Day, which takes place today, under the theme, ’21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers’. Ms Sekajja urged journalists not to be deterred by the brutality meted out by security personnel, saying they should instead unite and expose such cases.
fonte www.allafrica.com – Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa, Nelson Wesonga and Philippa Croome

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SI ALLENTA LA PRESSIONE SU CAPI OPPOSIZIONE
3 maggio 2011

È stato liberato l’esponente di opposizione Norbert Mao, presidente del Partito democratico, insieme ad altri sei simpatizzanti arrestati due settimane fa mentre partecipavano a manifestazioni di protesta contro il carovita. Il giudice ha stabilito che il tribunale presso il quale era stato trasferito il caso, la Corte di Nakawa, non è competente in materia.
Si alleggeriscono, inoltre, le accuse nei confronti di Kizza Besigye, esponente di spicco dell’opposizione, attualmente ricoverato a Nairobi (Kenya) dopo aver subito percosse durante il suo ennesimo arresto la scorsa settimana. Il procuratore capo ha ritirato accuse di aggressione su agenti delle forze dell’ordine mosse contro il leader del Forum per il cambiamento democratico (Fdc) e alcuni membri del suo entourage. Sono state mantenute invece accuse di assembramento in grado di minacciare la sicurezza nazionale, per il quale Besigye dovrà comparire in tribunale.
Sia Besigye che Mao hanno attivamente preso parte, nelle ultime settimane, all’organizzazione di manifestazioni nell’ambito di un movimento chiamato ‘Walk for work’ contro gli aumenti dei costi della benzina e di altri beni di prima necessità, e contro il governo del presidente Yoweri Museveni, al potere da 25 anni. I professionisti del settore giudiziario, riuniti nella ‘Uganda Law society’, hanno annunciato a partire da domani uno sciopero di tre giorni in segno di protesta contro la repressione delle manifestazioni da parte del governoritenuta sproporzionata.
fonte www.misna.org

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UGANDA POPULATION TO HIT 94M IN 2050
5 may 2011

Uganda will have a population of 94 million people in the next 40 years, according to the World Population Prospects by the United Nations. According to the report, Uganda’s population stood at five million in 1950, but increased to 33 million last year. The country’s population is also expected to rise to 39 million people by 2015. By the end of this century, there would be 170 million Ugandans.
Dr. Jotham Musinguzi, the regional director of Partners in Population and Development, said urban areas in Uganda such as Kampala are beginning to experience the effects of the population growth with the high number of unemployed. “With the country’s population increasing by 60 million people in the next 40 years, with inadequate infrastructure for education, health, doctors and medical supplies, there is potential for unrest” he warned. “We are going through inadequacies. Not enough jobs are created every year and youth are on the streets with no jobs. If all the youth have jobs, it could be an engine for growth. But the challenge will be huge and the policy makers are not preparing for this” Musinguzi added.
The UN population projections rely on a probability model, which is used to establish fertility, depending on the previous fertility trends in the countries as well as the regions. The projections were prepared by the UN’s Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The report included world population projections until 2100. In making the projections, the UN used different models of future birth rates, which results in a wide range of population sizes, going from six billion to 27 billion people in 2100.
According to the projections, the highest population growth rates will occur in poor countries like Uganda, which has a high fertility rate of 3% per year, according to the UN.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug

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KAMPALA, DONNE IN PIAZZA CONTRO IL CAROVITA
9 maggio 2011

Con padelle e piatti fondi, rigorosamente vuoti, un centinaio di donne stanno sfilando nel centro di Kampala per protestare contro il carovita: lo riferisce l’edizione online del quotidiano ‘The Monitor’, mentre alcuni missionari raccontano a MISNA di “un clima di attesa” in previsione di nuovi cortei dell’opposizione.
A convocare la manifestazione di oggi è stata Uganda Women’s Network, un’organizzazione non governativa in prima fila nella difesa dei diritti delle donne e delle categorie sociali più umili. Secondo ‘The Monitor’, le attiviste stanno sfilando sotto lo sguardo di poliziotti in apparenza decisi a garantire l’ordine pubblico ma anche il diritto a manifestare. Proprio la difesa di questo diritto, insieme con un forte aumento dei prezzi dei generi alimentari di base, alimenta da settimane le protesta dei partiti di opposizione.
Kizza Besigye, un dirigente del Forum per il cambiamento democratico (Fdc) dal mese scorso agli arresti in Kenya, ha annunciato che i cortei continueranno e che saranno “pacifici”. “Tutti pensano alla cerimonia di giovedì – dice un missionario – quando Yoweri Museveni giurerà per un nuovo mandato da capo dello Stato”. Dall’inizio dell’era Museveni, nel 1986, a Kampala i cortei dell’opposizione sono una novità assoluta. Secondo l’organizzazione non governativa statunitense Human Rights Watch, la repressione delle forze dell’ordine ha causato finora almeno nove vittime, in alcuni casi dimostranti colpiti alla schiena mentre cercavano di fuggire.
fonte www.misna.org

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UGANDA, LA GUERRA DEL PANE DILAGA: SCONTRI CON LA POLIZIA, VITTIME E FERITI
9 maggio 2011

Le rivolte del pane continuano ad attraversare l’Africa. Stavolta è l’Uganda a scendere in piazza – denuncia ActionAid – contro l’aumento dei prezzi dei beni alimentari e dei carburanti. E anche in questo caso gli scontri tra i manifestanti e le forze dell’ordine provocano vittime e feriti. Negli ultimi dieci giorni, nel silenzio più completo dell’opinione pubblica internazionale, gli ugandesi stanno manifestando contro il proprio governo, accusato di sperperare le risorse pubbliche e ritenuto responsabile dell’ondata inflazionistica che ha aggravato ulteriormente le già difficili condizioni economiche della popolazione.
E’ un copione già visto – Prima in Tunisia, poi in Egitto. Ora è il turno dell’Uganda, un paese già duramente colpito dalla povertà, che lo scorso anno si trovava solo al 143° posto nello Human Development Index delle Nazioni Unite. E di fronte alla accuse di corruzione da parte degli attivisti il Governo risponde con un uso massiccio della violenza: numerosi avversari politici sono rimasti gravemente feriti negli scontri, tra cui il Presidente del Forum per il Cambiamento Democratico (FDC) Kizza Besigye, principale avversario politico del presidente in carica. Molte sono state le persone, tra cui anche alcuni bambini, che sono rimaste vittime di ferite d’arma da fuoco.
La repressione e le violenze - Nonostante gli scontri, i dimostranti non si arrendono e stanno continuando la loro protesta in maniera pacifica. I leader religiosi, le autorità diplomatiche e il mondo delle Organizzazioni Non Governative hanno condannato duramente la violenta repressione delle proteste da parte del Governo ugandese, chiedendo le immediate dimissioni del Ministro degli Interni e del Capo della Polizia. ActionAid, una delle Ong più attente alla protesta, aveva già denunciato qualche mese fa il clima di intimidazione e la corruzione che aveva preceduto le elezioni presidenziali con le quali, per la quarta volta veniva riconfermato alla guida del paese Yoweri Museveni sta prendendo parte alle proteste della società civile ugandese.
Otto mesi di aumenti - “La crescita dei prezzi agricoli sui mercati internazionali - spiega Marco De Ponte, segretario generale di ActionAid in Italia – è l’elemento scatenante delle rivolte che stanno attraversando l’Africa. L’indice dei prezzi alimentari della FAO ha visto un aumento dei prezzi per otto mesi consecutivi fino al marzo scorso e le conseguenze reali sulle popolazioni dei paesi più poveri cominciano a vedersi ora. Il rischio è quello di una nuova crisi alimentare. Quello che sta succedendo in Uganda è solo un esempio di quello che potremmo vedere nei prossimi mesi in molti altri Paesi del Sud, se la comunità internazionale non prenderà immediati provvedimenti“.
I cereali costano il 40% in più - Tra il febbraio del 2010 e quello del 2011, l’indice dei prezzi dei cereali è aumentato del 40%, ritornando ai livelli dei luglio del 2008, in piena crisi alimentare. Il rischio è che l’onda lunga di questo aumento dei prezzi porti molti altri paesi in via di sviluppo ad aggiungersi alle ‘rivolte del pane’. In Vietnam e in Mozambico, ad esempio, si sta vedendo un repentino incremento dei prezzi del riso, l’inflazione sui generi alimentari in India ha raggiunto il 18% e in Cina il 10%. La Banca Mondiale stima che dal giugno del 2010, l’aumento dei prezzi dei prodotti alimentari abbia spinto, nei Paesi a medio e basso reddito, altre 44 milioni di persone nella povertà estrema. “Il G8 e il G20 si impegnino immediatamente per ridurre la volatilità dei prezzi – dice De Ponte di ActionAid – da un lato riducendo le speculazioni sui mercati dei derivati agricoli e dall’altra incrementando gli investimenti a sostegno dei piccoli agricoltori, altrimenti la situazione rischia di peggiorare ulteriormente“.
fonte www.repubblica.it - Evelyn Lirri

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SEX WORKERS PAY THE PRICE FOR HIV PREVENTION GAPS
10 may 2011

Uganda is short on data on HIV among the country’s sex workers, but a new study shows that in the capital, Kampala, HIV prevalence among female sex workers could be more than four times the city’s average prevalence.
The study, published in April in the Journal of the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STI) Association, recruited 1,027 women from the city’s red-light areas, and found 37 percent to be HIV-positive, while 13 percent had gonorrhoea and 10 percent had syphilis. According to the government, Uganda has an average national prevalence of 6.4 percent; in Kampala, that figure rises to 8.5 percent.
The study recommended HIV prevention interventions, including regular STI screening; voluntary HIV testing and counselling; condom promotion and counselling for reducing alcohol use. However, according to local NGOs, the illegal nature of the trade makes sex workers difficult to reach with HIV-prevention services. “They plead with us, saying, ‘please doctor, is there some way we can get services and not go to the clinic? When we go to the clinics we meet our clients and that spoils our business” said Henry Kibira, who works with the NGO, InterAid Uganda, in the central Ugandan district of Rakai.
“The problem is that there is no clear framework to deal with the commercial sex workers” said Catherine Nandago of the Uganda chapter of the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders’ Initiative for Community Action on AIDS at the Local Level (AMICALL). “When you approach them they think you are bringing police, who harass them all the time.” She said police harassment – and often rape by law-enforcement officers – was an issue that needed to be urgently addressed. According to Geoffrey Bwambale, a health worker from South Rwenzori in western Uganda, many sex workers continue to practise even after being diagnosed with HIV. “After testing they know that they are HIV-positive and relocate to other towns. We bump into them when we travel but cannot say anything.”
Peer education - One strategy that does seem to be having some success is the use of sex workers as peer educators. “We involve leaders of commercial sex workers in consultative and planning meetings. This has helped to identify working strategies that ensure ownership and success of planned interventions” said AMICALL’s Nandago. “Peer education has proven to be a very effective tool for sensitization and for mobilization of commercial sex workers for HIV/AIDS services like home counselling and testing, anti-retrovirals and other related services. Many are able to negotiate for condoms; they used to say, ‘men give us small money – 5,000 shillings [US$2] – for protected sex, and 10 times that amount for unprotected sex” she added. “But now they say, ‘even if he gives me all that money, I want to protect myself’.”
The challenge, Nandago added, was that the peer educators often decided to change locations in search of more money, so the training was a constant process. The government reports that sex workers, their clients and partners of clients contribute 10 percent of new infections in Uganda. According a 2009 HIV Prevention Response and Modes of Transmission Analysis report by UNAIDS and the Uganda AIDS Commission, special programmes for commercial sex workers and their clients are not of a large scale, nor comprehensive.
fonte www.afronline.org

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UGANDA SHELVES ANTI-GAY BILL
13 may 2011

Uganda’s parliament on Friday shelved an anti-gay bill that would have imposed the death penalty for certain homosexual acts after the United States slammed the proposed legislation as “odious“. Lawmakers had been due to debate the legislation calling for capital punishment notably for consensual gay sex where one partner has the HIV virus.
The United States, a major aid donor to Uganda, said on Thursday that nothing could justify passing the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Parliament speaker Edward Ssekandi said he was “adjourning this house“, effectively killing off the debate over the controversial legislation for this parliament.
David Bahati, the lawmaker behind the anti-gay bill, said that no bills could be passed as the cabinet was dissolved following the inauguration of President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday following a landslide election victory in February. But he said that even if the bill was not passed this session it had achieved the goal of sparking a debate that would continue when the new parliament convenes. “We have made important steps in raising the issue and that will continue” he said.
Mounting pressure - Frank Mugisha, executive director of the rights group Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), voiced relief over the adjournment, but warned: “We shall continue advocating because the bill could come back next parliament.” Parliament’s current session ends on Wednesday, but since Monday and Tuesday will be given over to the swearing-in of new parliamentarians, officials said that Friday is effectively the last day bills could be discussed before the recess. Ssekandi said he reserved the right to reconvene parliament in case of an emergency, but rights group Avaaz also welcomed the news of the decision to “drop” the legislation from parliamentary discussions.
The adjournment came a day after Museveni was sworn for a fourth term amid mounting pressure on the country over its moves to crush both the opposition and the gay community. Museveni’s security forces Thursday teargassed supporters of his rival Kizza Besigye, sending several people to hospital. US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said: “No amendments, no changes would justify the passage of this odious bill.” Uganda – an important ally in the fight against Somalia’s al-Qaeda-linked rebels – received $526m in development aid last year.
Australia also added its voice to global criticism of the anti-gay bill first introduced in 2009. “We have expressed the government’s condemnation of the content of the bill” Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said in a statement on Thursday.
Aggravated homosexuality – The bill calls for the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” that is in cases of rape of a minor by a person of the same sex, or where one partner carries the virus that can cause Aids. It also proposes to criminalise public discussion of homosexuality and would penalise an individual who knowingly rents property to a homosexual. “It would require anyone who knows of or has heard of any homosexual activity to report that to police within 24 hours” said Maria Burnett of Human Rights Watch’s Africa division. Burnett said the clause would be in violation of “all levels of confidentiality for doctors, counsellors or priests“.
Homosexuality is already illegal in Uganda, punishable by life imprisonment in some instances.
fonte www.news24.com

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CONTINUA BRACCIO DI FERRO TRA PRESIDENTE E LEADER DI OPPOSIZIONE
19 maggio 2011

Il leader dell’opposizione Kizza Besige si troverebbe in stato di ‘detenzione preventiva’ nella sua abitazione, circondata da giorni dalle forze di polizia ugandesi. Lo riferiscono fonti vicine al Forum per il cambiamento democratico (Fdc) di cui Besigye è alla guida dopo aver annunciato nuove marce ‘Walk to work’ per la prossima settimana.
Ieri intanto, un tribunale di Kampala ha posticipato al prossimo 13 giugno l’udienza per il processo che vede accusato il leader di opposizione di ‘assemblea illegale’ e ‘incitamento alla violenza’ in relazione alle recenti manifestazioni antigovernative, contro il carovita e l’aumento indiscriminato dei prezzi.
Per la prossima settimana, gli attivisti dell’ex compagno d’armi ed ex medico personale del presidente Museveni – rieletto in febbraio per un quarto mandato – hanno diffuso un appello: in segno di protesta, tutti gli autisti e coloro che si trovano in macchina alle cinque di pomeriggio, ogni giorno, suonino il clacson. “Coloro che non hanno la possibilità di farlo trovino una pentola o dei coperchi, l’importante è fare rumore. Per rompere il silenzio sui problemi reali della gente” ha spiegato Mathias Mpuuga, coordinatore degli ‘Attivisti per il cambiamento’ (A4c). Due giorni fa il presidente Museveni aveva criticato l’eccessivo “lassismo delle forze dell’ordine e della giustizia nei confronti di azioni che tentano di minare la stabilità del paese” promettendo a breve nuove leggi e più restrittive in materia.
Nelle ultime settimane scontri tra polizia e manifestanti avrebbero provocato – secondo stime in circolazione – almeno nove vittime. Ma la gran parte della popolazione ugandese, secondo fonti della MISNA, guarda con sospetto misto a timore le iniziative degli attivisti che pur indicando nei problemi sociali l’origine del movimento, non sembrano aver riscosso finora il consenso delle masse.
fonte www.misna.org

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UGANDA, NEL 2011 +30% PRODUZIONE ELETTRICA
19 maggio 2011

Quest’anno crescerà del 30% la capacità elettrica dell’Uganda grazie agli investimenti del settore privato. Secondo il direttore dell’Autorità statale per l’energia elettrica (Era), Benon Mutambi, il merito del salto, dai 576 megawatt del 2010 ai 747 stimati per il 2011, è da attribuirsi “alle politiche liberaliste e al buon livello dei prezzi che hanno garantito agli investitori profitti ragionevoli”.
Dal 2006, quando a causa della siccità si è dimezzata la produzione della maggiore centrale idroelettrica del Paese (Janji), il governo è alla ricerca di investitori interessati all’apertura di due nuovi impianti termoelettrici che sostituiranno due vecchie centrali. Per il presidente Yoweri Museveni, “risolvere il problema della cronica insufficienza elettrica è la prima azione per spingere l’Uganda nella classe dei Paesi a medio reddito”.
fonte http://www.agi.it

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CENTENARIO DELL’EVANGELIZZAZIONE DEL NORD UGANDA: “STIAMO VIVENDO LA FASE DELLA RICOSTRUZIONE” DICE IL VESCOVO DI LIRA
20 maggio 2011

“Oggi concludiamo il secondo Sinodo Arcidiocesano di Gulu. Se Sinodo significa ‘cammino insieme’ mi viene in mente che 100 anni fa, nel 1911, quando i primi missionari comboniani arrivarono a Gulu, da soli, sul cammino intrapreso da San Comboni, hanno avviato un processo che a 100 anni di distanza fa sì che esista una Chiesa che cammina insieme ed è capace di indire un Sinodo. Mi sembra un evento abbastanza significativo” dice all’Agenzia Fides Sua Ecc. Mons. Giuseppe Franzelli, Vescovo di Lira, nel nord Uganda.
“Domani celebriamo il centenario dell’evangelizzazione di questa zona. In realtà i comboniani arrivarono in questi territori nel febbraio 1911, ma siccome a febbraio di quest’anno si sono tenute le elezioni, si è ritenuto opportuno rimandare le celebrazioni del centenario a maggio” spiega Mons. Franzelli. “La ricorrenza riguarda in particolare l’arcidiocesi metropolitana di Gulu, in quanto la diocesi di Lira è stata evangelizzata un po’ più tardi, sempre dai comboniani che sono partiti proprio da lì. Per questo celebriamo insieme, Gulu e Lira, il centenario, perché è come un albero, che una volta piantato, allarga i suoi rami” dice Mons. Franzelli.
Tracciando un bilancio dell’attività missionaria della sua diocesi, il Vescovo di Lira spiega: “La diocesi di Lira è stata fondata nel 1968, ritagliandola da una parte del territorio di quella di Gulu. I comboniani presenti sono 19, 17 sacerdoti e 2 fratelli, mentre le suore comboniane sono 12. Ma in questi 43 anni abbiamo registrato un forte aumento del clero locale. Attualmente vi sono 45 sacerdoti diocesani più due Apostoli di Gesù, una congregazione missionaria fondata da alcuni padri Comboniani. Vi sono poi due congregazioni religiose locali, una fondata a Gulu e l’altra fondata a Lira dal suo primo Vescovo, Mons. Cesare Asili, le Missionary Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church. Questa congregazione ha 270 religiose che lavorano non solo a Lira ma anche in altre diocesi dell’Uganda, oltre che in Kenya, Tanzania e sud Sudan”.
Su una popolazione di circa 2 milioni di abitanti, un milione e 86.000 sono cattolici, distribuiti in 18 parrocchie. “È un numero insufficiente – ammette Mons. Franzelli – ma con il clero attuale non posso permettermi di aprirne altre. Le parrocchie sono a loro volta divise in cappelle. Quella che ne ha di meno ne ha 31, quella che ne ha di più ne ha 102. Le mille cappelle della diocesi sono rette grazie a circa 1.200 catechisti laici”.
Anche Lira è stata teatro delle violenze dell’Esercito di Resistenza del Signore (LRA). “Tra gli episodi più gravi ricordo l’assalto alla scuola femminile di Aboke, nell’ottobre 1996; 139 ragazze vennero rapite dai ribelli. Grazie al coraggio di suor Rachele Fassera, che inseguì i rapitori nella foresta, ne vennero liberate 109. Poi altre riuscirono a fuggire negli anni successivi, anche se alcune di loro furono uccise. La penultima l’ho accolta io, aveva un bambino avuto da Joseph Kony, il capo dell’LRA” dice Mons. Franzelli. “Anche qui, come a Gulu, la gente è stata costretta a sfollare” ricorda il Vescovo. “Dentro e intorno alla città di Lira vi erano 16 campi per sfollati interni, al punto che la popolazione della città era cresciuta di 200.000 persone. Ora che l’LRA non agisce più qui da noi, la gente è tornata a casa, anche se c’è ancora molto da ricostruire. Ed è proprio questa la fase che stiamo vivendo, quella della ricostruzione” conclude Mons. Franzelli.
fonte www.fides.org

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PRESIDENTE MUSEVENI NOMINA PRIMO MINISTRO E VICE PRESIDENTE
24 maggio 2011

È Amama Mbabazi, già ministro per la Sicurezza, il nuovo primo ministro dell’Uganda. Lo ha annunciato il presidente Yoweri Museveni che ha chiesto al nuovo capo dell’esecutivo di rassegnare le dimissioni da Segretario generale del partito Nrm di maggioranza. Museveni ha nominato inoltre l’ex presidente del parlamento Edward Ssekandi, suo vice presidente, nel ruolo che era stato finora di Gilbert Bukenya.
Nelle prossime ore – secondo il quotidiano ‘The Monitor’ il capo di stato renderà noti i nomi degli altri esponenti del nuovo governo. Nei giorni scorsi, la stampa ugandese aveva riportato con risalto la nomina di Rebbeca Kadaga, prima donna presidente del parlamento nella storia del paese. Il quarto mandato del presidente Museveni, rieletto nelle elezioni dello scorso febbraio con oltre l’88% delle preferenze, si appresta a cominciare in un paese scosso da movimenti di protesta fomentati dall’opposizione e in particolare dal Forum per il cambiamento democratico del suo ex compagno d’armi e medico personale Kizza Besigye.
fonte www.misna.org

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Cambio valuta: in data 31/05/2011 1 dollaro USA è pari a 2391,8999 scellini ugandesi, 1 Euro è pari a 3447,2072 scellini ugandesi

UGANDA, NEL NORD DEBELLATE GRAVI MALATTIE INFETTIVE
4 aprile 2011

UGANDA, UNA DONNA MINISTRO PER LA CAPITALE
12 aprile 2011

UGANDA INVESTE SULLO ZUCCHERO
12 aprile 2011

MALARIA DRUG PRICE CUT TO SH2,000
11 april 2011

PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES TO DOUBLE TUITION
13 april 2011

MILLIONS OF CHILDREN AT RISK OF MISSING SCHOOL NEXT YEAR
13 april 2011

UGANDA, BOOM ISCRIZIONI PER UNIVERSITA’ MAKERERE
14 aprile 2011

UGANDA, IN FORTE CRESCITA GLI INVESTIMENTI
14 aprile 2011

UGANDA: SHILLING GAINS AGAINST DOLLAR
14 april 2011

CAROVITA E POLITICA, UN MORTO E DECINE DI FERITI IN PROTESTE
15 aprile 2011

MATERNAL DEATHS – NATION’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE
16 april 2011

UGANDA, ARRESTATO LEADER DELL’OPPOSIZIONE
18 aprile 2011

UGANDA, PRESTO UN MASTER PLAN DEL TURISMO
19 aprile 2011

UGANDA, PENE SEVERE PER CHI PICCHIA I BAMBINI
19 aprile 2011

UGANDA, RIMESSE DEGLI EMIGRATI IN CRESCITA
20 aprile 2011

UGANDA, VENTO MEDIORIENTALE
20 aprile 2011

UGANDA: MAKERERE UNIVERSITY TUITION FEES WILL NOT BE INCREASED
22 april 2011

UGANDA: RICE DEMAND STILL HIGH DESPITE PRICE INCREASE
27 april 2011

UGANDA: MANIFESTAZIONI, VITTIME E CENTINAIA DI ARRESTI
29 aprile 2011

MANIFESTAZIONI, GAS LACRIMOGENI E DISORDINI A KAMPALA
29 aprile 2011

Tetano, morbillo e poliomielite, patologie gravissime che uccidono migliaia di bambini ogni anno in Uganda, sono state sconfitte nel nord del Paese. E’ quanto emerge da uno studio dell’Ong ‘Medici con l’Africa Cuamm’ che ha analizzato i risultati ottenuti sulla popolazione grazie agli interventi sanitari della cooperazione internazionale negli ultimi 5 anni.
Il contributo italiano – in particolare nella regione del Karmoja, dove la cooperazione opera in collaborazione con l’Unicef – è stato determinante. Nel 2010, nove cliniche mobili italiane, unità super-attrezzate, hanno portato servizi preventivi e curativi di base alle popolazioni che vivono in villaggi privi di centri di salute.
“In questo modo – spiega Paolo Giambelli, capo progetto dell’Unità tecnica di Nairobi – è stata assicurata copertura vaccinale al 95% della popolazione infantile. Un risultato che, in termini tecnici, vuol dire l’eradicamento totale di patologie mortali in un’area con 400 mila bambini potenzialmente a rischio“.
L’intervento italiano, che ha un peso finanziario di 12 milioni fino al 2012, si rivolge anche alle donne in maternità e alla costruzione di alloggi per il personale sanitario locale e internazionale impegnato negli interventi di soccorso nel Karamoja.
fonte http://www.agi.it

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UGANDA, UNA DONNA MINISTRO PER LA CAPITALE
12 aprile 2011

Il presidente dell’Uganda, Yoseweri Museveni, ha dato il via a un rimpasto della compagine governativa che ha portato i dicasteri da 22 a 28. Tra le ‘new entry’ c’è Beatrice Wabudeya, che occuperà la carica di ministro per la capitale, Kampala.
L’unica grande città del Paese ha un primo cittadino con un ruolo puramente cerimoniale e d’immagine, ma è amministrata direttamente dall’esecutivo tramite un ministro di nomina presidenziale, coadiuvato da un direttore generale.
Tra i nuovi dicasteri, anche quelli per gli Affari della regione di Teso e del regno di Bunyoro.
fonte http://www.agi.it

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UGANDA INVESTE SULLO ZUCCHERO
12 aprile 2011

I tre più importanti produttori di zucchero ugandesi – Kakira, Kinyara e Scoul – hanno annunciato investimenti per circa 135 milioni di euro nei prossimi due anni, per ampliare la produzione di zucchero e di elettricità ottenuta con gli scarti di lavorazione della canna.
Nel 2010 la produzione ugandese di zucchero è stata pari a 350.000 tonnellate, circa il 20 per cento in più rispetto alle 292.051 dell’anno precedente. L’anno scorso i consumi interni sono stati pari a 318.000 tonnellate, contro i 325.000 dell’anno precedente.
fonte http://www.agi.it

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MALARIA DRUG PRICE CUT TO SH2,000
11 april 2011

The cost of malaria drugs is to come down from sh20,000 to sh2,000 a dose in a bid to eliminate one of the leading killer diseases in Uganda.
Health minister Dr. Stephen Mallinga announced yesterday that the Affordable Medicines Facility for Malaria (AMFM) will be launched in Bulisa district on April 29. Health officials said the drugs would be in the country before the launch date. Malaria kills 320 Ugandans daily. This translates into 116,800 deaths a year.
Studies show that development in Africa lags behind by 32 years due to malaria, Mallinga said. “Children perform poorly in class due to the effects of malaria. Lots of family incomes are spent on treating malaria at the expense of other social sectors. Malaria contributes heavily to poverty” he told journalists at the Media Centre in Kampala yesterday.
The global goal is to eliminate the disease by 2015. In February, the Government signed a $28.6m (about sh60b) two-year grant with the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria by implementing the anti-malaria strategy. The strategy aims at increasing the availability of Artemisin-Based Combination Therapies (ACTs) in public and private outlets, reducing their prices and ensuring that malaria patients have access to the drugs. ACTs consist of lumertem artemisin, coartem and duo-cotecxin.
Mallinga said the drugs would cost sh2,000. “We are negotiating with pharmacies all over the country and drug shops where there is a professional person to sell the drugs at this price” he said. The Global Fund will meet 95% of the cost and users 5%. Mallinga said the ministry had introduced the use of rapid diagnostic tests to improve access to testing malaria before treatment to avoid wasting drugs. He warned health workers against demanding for money from patients.
The minister disclosed that he was planning to put a system where all hospital deaths are investigated and culprits penalised in case of foul play. He said in other countries, deaths in hospitals become a coroner’s cases, which are probed by the Police.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug - Joyce Namutebi

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PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES TO DOUBLE TUITION
13 april 2011

Parents should brace for harder times after it emerged yesterday that public universities’ tuition fees could be doubled under a new blueprint backed by a confidential Auditor General’s report to President Museveni.
The proposal to hike fees at all public universities was revealed by Makerere University Secretary David Kahundha Muhwezi who led a team to Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee to answer audit queries for the years 2007-2009.
“A new research on unit cost of study at public universities has revealed that our charges are far too low compared to other universities in the region” Mr Muhwezi said. “The cost per student should be Shs6 million per year (up from the Shs3.5 million) and this is what the Auditor General has found out in his report to President. We knew the cost but it was controversial and [so] before its implementation, the government wanted the Auditor General to first carry out a study.”
While appearing on the Kfm Hot Seat show yesterday, university Vice Chancellor Prof Venansius Baryamureeba, ruled out an immediate increase in tuition, saying they would await government guidance on the matter. He said, with the introduction of e-courses, fees are likely to reduce. Mr Muhwezi said, if President Museveni approves the Shs6 million to be paid per student per year, then, the government will have to subsidise Ugandan students.
Makerere University Bursar Joshua Karamagi said: “We are only waiting for government to study the Auditor General’s report and parliamentary intervention before we start charging students. This is something urgent because our charges are very low and we are financially constrained.”
Mr Karamagi told MPs that the government had failed to release Shs11 billion for arrears and that in the 2011/2012 budget the university faces a gaping hole amounting to Shs90 billion. Meanwhile, PAC has ordered Makerere to advertise the job of VC after the university secretary told the committee they had received instructions from the Ministry to halt the exercise until the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act is amended.
Prof Baryamureeba is the acting VC. However, MPs objected to the delay arguing that there was no need to amend the Act.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug - Yasiin Mugerwa

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MILLIONS OF CHILDREN AT RISK OF MISSING SCHOOL NEXT YEAR
13 april 2011

The government free education programmes for primary and secondary schools are facing a crisis resulting from a Shs67 billion budget shortfall which government has failed to provide for in the next financial year.
The deficit is highlighted in the government budget proposals for the financial year 2011/2012. According to a national budget framework paper for the coming financial year now before the Social Services Committee of Parliament, it was observed yesterday that the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme is facing a shortfall of Shs10 billion. The shortfall will affect about eight million pupils in primary while the Shs57 billion for Universal Secondary Education (USE) would affect about 1.5 million students.
The figures are contained in the ministry’s national budget framework paper. The legislators have, however, summoned the education minister, Ms Namirembe Bitamazire, to appear before MPs next week to explain the shortfall which they said is likely to affect next term’s school curriculum. “We are inviting the education minister to appear with her team next week to answer some of the questions regarding the budget allocations to UPE and USE inclusive” said the committee chairperson, Mr Brian Asiimwe (Ntoroko).
UPE started in 1996 and the government pays the school fees for the children. It also provides grants to be spent on instructional materials, co-curricular activities like sport, and the management and maintenance of utilities like water and electricity. The same modus operandi applies to USE.
Minister Bitamazire told Daily Monitor yesterday that they are trying to harmonise the Ministry’s budget to ensure that the programmes are not affected. The Education Ministry last financial year received Shs1.2 trillion and the allocation has been maintained this financial year. The programmes, however, continue to face criticisms especially in regard to the quality of the education being offered.
Critics argue that the programme was implemented without due consideration and planning hence leading to a high school dropout rate. According to UNESCO’s annual Education for All Global Monitoring report for 2008, only about 49 per cent of pupils enrolled in UPE complete primary education.
President Museveni during last year’s presidential campaigns also announced a free education provision for A-Level, beginning next financial year.
fonte www.allafrica.com – Mercy Nalugo

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UGANDA, BOOM ISCRIZIONI PER UNIVERSITA’ MAKERERE
14 aprile 2011

Nel prossimo quadriennio, l’università di Makerere, la più grande dell’Uganda, vedrà quasi triplicati i suoi iscritti. La stima è del vice rettore dell’ateneo, Venansius Baryamureeba, il quale ha detto in un’intervista ai media locali che entro il 2015 gli iscritti passeranno dagli attuali 35.000 a 100.000.
“Nel prossimo anno accademico” – ha detto – “aumenteremo la quota degli iscritti di 10.000 unità, parte dei quali seguirà corsi online, fino a raggiungere entro il 2015 un totale di almeno 100.000“.
Baryamureeba ha precisato che i nuovi studenti saranno accolti nei campus-satelliti realizzati recentemente nelle vicine aree urbane di Jinja e di Fort Portal.
fonte www.agi.it

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UGANDA, IN FORTE CRESCITA GLI INVESTIMENTI
14 aprile 2011

Nel primo trimestre di quest’anno sono stati avviati in Uganda 78 progetti di investimento per 604 milioni di dollari, contro i 210 milioni dello stesso periodo del 2010.
Il presidente dell’Autorità per gli Investimenti, Patrick Bitature, ha detto in conferenza stampa che le ricadute sull’occupazione nel primo trimestre saranno di circa 22.000 nuovi posti di lavoro.
Bitature ha precisato che i settori che hanno avuto l’interesse degli investitori sono stati soprattutto il finanziario-assicurativo e l’immobiliare, verso i quali si è indirizzato il 38 per cento del totale dei fondi investiti.
La maggior parte dei progetti approvati, ha aggiunto, è stata presentata da investitori locali, seguiti da britannici, norvegesi e kenyani.
fonte www.agi.it

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UGANDA: SHILLING GAINS AGAINST DOLLAR
14 april 2011

Importers are gaining optimism as the shilling continues to gain against the dollar. The gain means that traders’ purchasing power that has suffered since the start of this year is likely to be boosted. The shilling has continued to build against major currencies over the past week, selling at an average of Shs2,315 by close of yesterday. This is a remarkable improvement compared to Shs2,425 that it sold against the greenback three weeks ago due to high demand.
The current trend of the shilling, however, does not favour exporters, whose revenues tend to reduce as the dollar depreciates.
Ms Grace Makoko, the head of financial markets at Standard Chartered Bank, told Daily Monitor in an email exchange that the strengthening of the shilling is due to the increasing risk appetite of offshore investors who have moved to buy the local unit to place themselves for any yields as the central bank bids to contain inflation.
Inflation went up to 11.1 per cent in March from 6.4 per cent in February, driven by high food prices, rising oil prices and depreciation of the shilling against the dollar. Mr Elliot Mwebya, the director of communications at Bank of Uganda also asserted that the increased inflow of dollars into the country from off-shore investors has reduced the price of the shilling.
The period prior to elections saw off-shore investors hold back on their dollars ahead of the February 18 presidential election as they watched events in the market. Mr Mwebya explained that the settlement of the government/Tullow tax dispute that saw the oil explorer pay $469 million in capital gains tax, has also increased the dollar supply in the local market.
Ms Makoko noted that the mid-month obligations for companies to pay tax is likely to strengthen the local currency further as demand for the shilling is likely to increase.
She said despite some outstanding demand from the energy, manufacturing and telecommunications sectors, the shilling is further likely to remain firm, as businesses slowdown in the coming days due to Easter celebrations. She forecasts the local unit to trade between Shs2,330 as the initial support level and Shs2,375 as the key resistance level on the interbank.
fonte www.allafrica.com – Faridah Kulabako

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CAROVITA E POLITICA, UN MORTO E DECINE DI FERITI IN PROTESTE
15 aprile 2011

Un imponente dispositivo di sicurezza è stato dispiegato attorno all’Università di Makerere, principale ateneo della capitale Kampala, nel quale si è svolta oggi e una manifestazione di protesta degli studenti contro l’aumento delle spese universitarie, e in parte contro l’opera del governo del presidente Yoweri Museveni.
Lo confermano alla MISNA fonti missionarie sul posto. Alla protesta degli studenti starebbero partecipando diverse migliaia di giovani. Colpi d’arma da fuoco sono stati uditi nei pressi dell’università. Disordini si sono verificati ieri a fine giornata in diverse località del paese.
“A Gulu, c’è stato almeno un morto nell’intervento della polizia per disperdere una protesta organizzata dal movimento che si fa chiamare ‘Walk to work’, contro il carovita” ha detto alla MISNA una fonte contattata nella località settentrionale del paese.
Copertoni in fiamme, barricate e posti di blocco eretti dai manifestanti hanno causato disagi nell’area di Gulu, fino a stamattina. Alcune fonti non verificate parlano di altri due morti.
Incidenti si sono verificati ieri in altre località, tra cui Mbarara, Jinja e Masaka. Fonti della Croce Rossa hanno riferito un bilancio di 57 feriti tra ieri e stamattina in tutte le località interessate dai disordini, inclusa Kampala. Tra di loro, anche l’oppositore Kizza Besigye, che due giorni prima era stato arrestato e liberato su cauzione.
fonte www.misna.org

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MATERNAL DEATHS – NATION’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE
16 april 2011

In Uganda, a staggering number of women still die in childbirth. Maternal mortality rates have been reducing slowly, largely because most deliveries occur outside health facilities. But an innovative solution-a maternity waiting facility is helping to change this.
There are many challenges facing women in childbirth in Uganda. From a weak health care system to the lack of specialist staff and widespread poverty, many mothers deliver at home and without the supervision of a health worker. Majority rely on the ‘expertise’ of traditional birth attendants (TBAs). Ms Iruata Lokol is one of them. Now nine months pregnant with her eighth child, this will be her first delivery at a health facility. Ms Lokol, who hails from Lopechapecha village, Kaabong District in Karamoja sub-region, gave birth to her other seven children from home.
“It was usually hard to make the journey up to Kaabong Hospital. By the time the labour pains start, you can’t even walk for a kilometre yet the hospital is 40kms away from my home” she says. “Besides the distance, there was no money to hire a motorcycle or call for the hospital ambulance which would require that I pay for the fuel. I opted to rely on the services of a traditional birth attendant” she explains.
Ms Namoe Longole, another expectant mother has to walk 30kms to access health services. With just weeks before she gives birth, Ms Longole has been booked at a waiting maternity house nearer the hospital. This will make the journey for her much easier once the labour pains start.
In Kaabong District, like much of the country, many women are faced with high levels of illiteracy and poverty. As a result, money is a determining factor of whether a woman will deliver in a health facility or not.
Complicated deliveries - However, for many pregnancies facing complications, delivering at home or without the help of a skilled health work can have devastating consequences. Health experts say without a trained, experienced midwife on hand, women are more likely to die from complications like severe bleeding and obstructed labour. In fact, pregnancy and childbirth related complications are the leading causes of death among women in Uganda.
Yet according to the Ministry of Health Annual Sector Performance Report 2010, only 33 per cent of mothers in Uganda deliver in hospitals or a health facility supervised by a midwife. The other 67 per cent deliver either alone or with the help of a traditional birth attendant. But a novel solution to this, where expectant mothers are brought to a waiting maternity facility closer to a hospital, two to three weeks before their delivery date is encouraging expectant mothers to appreciate hospital deliveries.
Many mothers in Kaabong will for the first time have a chance to deliver in a hospital, with a skilled health worker at hand. Ms Loko and Ms Longole are just one of them. The initiative which was started by a local organisation, Action for Women and Awakening in Rural Environment (AWARE) is being supported by Médecins Sans Frontierès. Ms Grace Loumo, its founder, said hospital deliveries in Kaabong are lower than the national average -at 27 per cent.
“Through this initiative, we hope to increase the number of women who deliver in hospitals. The biggest obstacle to hospital deliveries is the limited infrastructure. There is no public transport system here that the women can use to reach hospitals when the need arises” says Ms Louma. Coupled with this, Ms Louma says the insecurity in the region makes it hard for women to walk especially at night when the labour pains start.
Under this initiative, Ms Louma said the first priority is given to women with high risk multiple pregnancies, HIV positive mothers, first time mothers and those with a history of obstructed labour. Dr Sharif Nalibe, the acting director of Kaabong Hospital, explains that deliveries at health facilities are still low in the district because of several factors, including cultural and social.
“At Kaabong for instance -he says -between two to three deliveries take place every day. Most of the women deliver with the help of traditional birth attendants. When they come for antenatal services, we encourage them to come and deliver from the health facilities. We also tell the traditional birth attendants to accompany the mothers”. Despite the social challenges, it is clear there is a long way to go.
Limited human resource - Dr Nalibe said Kaabong, like many health facilities around the country, is struggling to cope with a huge work load with limited human resource. The hospital, which is at a regional referral level, has only one doctor for a population of 350,000 people. This means that although mothers are being encouraged to deliver in health facilities, the pressure is also growing on overstretched health workers. Many mothers therefore have to rely on community programmes like the waiting facilities to access care.
Health experts say innovations like the waiting maternity house have the potential to save lives, especially in rural areas where infrastructure is still poor. Dr Jotham Musinguzi, a health and population expert and Africa regional director for Partners in Population and Development, explains the benefit of such an initiative. “For rural areas where services have not reached many people, such innovations can act as a stop gap. The facilities don’t have to be sophisticated and are relatively cheap to put up” says Dr Musinguzi.
But to increase the overall hospital deliveries across the country, huge investment in the health system including recruiting more health workers will be key. In its latest report titled ‘Missing Midwives’, Save the Children says globally, nearly 48 million women about 1 in three give birth without the help of a midwife, exposing them to a higher risk of death. It also found that 1,000 women and 2,000 babies die every day from birth complications which can be easily prevented.
Statistics from the Uganda Demographic and health survey show that for every 100,000 women who get pregnant, some 435 end in death, with the contributing factors being prolonged or obstructed labour, massive bleeding, malaria, HIV/Aids and high blood pressure. But often time, the survey reveals the underlying cause of death is the high cost of maternal care.
Maternity care, like all other health services in Uganda, is supposed to be free but because of stockouts, pregnant women are asked to provide their own delivery items like gloves, razorblades, and cotton wool and birth sheets. They also have to bear the cost of transporting themselves to the health facilities costs which many women in rural areas like Kaboong find prohibitive and which government says it is considering reducing in a new plan to cut maternal deaths. “Reducing out-of-pocket payments for women’s medical care will encourage access to health care while protecting poor families from financial hardship” the plan reads in part.
Off-target goal - Cutting maternal deaths is one of the goals the UN set to be achieved by member countries by 2015. But Uganda is still a distant call away from reaching these goals. According to the UN, countries must reduce by 75 per cent the number of mothers who die in childbirth by 2015. This means Uganda will have to significantly reduce this figure to 131 per 100,000 in the remaining five years.
The government acknowledges now that that goal is unachievable in the remaining five years. Instead, according to Uganda’s MDG report, more focus is now going to be shifted on addressing bottlenecks in the delivery of emergency obstetric care, skilled attendance at birth, family planning and access to antenatal care-interventions which are crucially required to improve maternal health. In its proposed plan, the government also says it will introduce inexpensive alternative transportation as an incentive for women to seek care promptly.
Dr Musinguzi says to address challenges of maternal health in Uganda, government needs to focus more on encouraging institutional deliveries, antenatal care, emergency obstetric and postnatal care and making family planning services available to women who want to space or control births.
Studies show that addressing the unmet need for family planning in Uganda can potentially avert some 16,877 maternal deaths and more than 1.1 million child deaths by 2015. But the unmet need for family planning in Uganda remains high at 41 per cent while contraceptive prevalence rate is as low as 24 per cent.
Meeting the unmet need for contraceptives can also potentially reduce maternal deaths by 40 per cent while unplanned pregnancies and induced abortions would decline by 84 per cent. He says access to emergency obstetric care plays an equally huge role in reducing maternal deaths.
“One of the biggest challenges now is that most mothers stay more than 5kms from a health facility where they don’t have access to emergency obstetric” Dr Musinguzi explains.
fonte www.allafrica.com - Evelyn Lirri

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UGANDA, ARRESTATO LEADER DELL’OPPOSIZIONE
18 aprile 2011

Kizza Besigye è stato posto in arresto questa mattina. Il leader del Forum for Democratic Change, che a febbraio aveva sfidato, perdendo, il presidente ugandese Yoweri Museveni, è stato prelevato da agenti in borghese e poi trasferito nella centrale di Ksangati.
Besigye stava per unirsi alla manifestazione che aveva contribuito ad organizzare, ‘Walk to Work’, in nome del diritto al lavoro e al benessere economico. In Uganda l’inflazione ha raggiunto l’11 per cento, l’accesso a beni e servizi è compromesso per larghe fasce della popolazione, la corruzione è dilagante e c’è uno scontento crescente verso la politica economica del governo di Museveni e per la mancanza di libertà.
L’obiettivo di Besigye e dei suoi era quello di pilotare far indirizzare la protesta contro il presidente, facendola diventare un atto contro una leadership percepita come illegittima. Museveni lo sapeva e da giorni aveva messo in allerta gli apparati di sicurezza. Stamane la polizia è intervenuta col pugno di ferro, arrestando decine di attivisti. Sono stati sparati lacrimogeni e i reparti antisommossa si sono scontrati con i sostenitori di Besigye.
Una parte dei supporter ha circondato la caserma di Kasangati, dove sono stati subito schierati altri militari. Il clima si fa sempre più teso. La settimana scorsa, Besigye era stato ferito alla mano da un colpo di pistola.
fonte it.peacereporter.net

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UGANDA, PRESTO UN MASTER PLAN DEL TURISMO
19 aprile 2011

Il governo ugandese lancerà quest’anno un master plan del turismo, affinchè il comparto “possa sviluppare tutte le potenzialità finora inespresse”.
Il segretario permanente del ministero del Turismo, Julius Onen, ha detto in conferenza stampa che il documento “terrà conto di diversi fattori: dallo sviluppo del prodotto al marketing e allo sviluppo delle risorse umane”. Onen ha aggiunto che “particolare attenzione” sarà dedicata alla formazione dei tour operator e degli altri addetti al settore.
fonte www.agi.it

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UGANDA, PENE SEVERE PER CHI PICCHIA I BAMBINI
19 aprile 2011

Il governo ugandese ha allo studio un provvedimento che vieta tassativamente la violenza fisica contro i minori e che prevede pene severe per i colpevoli.
Una fonte del ministero delle Pari opportunità, del Lavoro e dello Sviluppo sociale ha rivelato ai media locali che l’esecutivo presenterà entro il mese in Parlamento un emendamento che migliora la già esistente legge sulla tutela dei minori, varata nel 2006.
fonte www.agi.it

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UGANDA, RIMESSE DEGLI EMIGRATI IN CRESCITA
20 aprile 2011

Nel 2010 le rimesse degli emigrati ugandesi sono state pari a 773 milioni di dollari, in crescita dell’11,3 per cento rispetto all’anno precedente.
Lo ha reso noto un comunicato della Banca mondiale, nel quale si rileva come il denaro inviato dai residenti all’estero sia stato utilizzato in patria principalmente per investimenti nei settori di istruzione (20,2%) e salute (24,8), e per l’acquisto di cibo (12,4).
In Africa centrale e orientale, l’Uganda è la terza nazione, dopo Sudan e Kenya, per il flusso delle rimesse. Negli altri due Stati sono affluiti nel 2010 rispettivamente 2 miliardi e 1,8 miliardi di dollari.
fonte www.agi.it

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UGANDA, VENTO MEDIORIENTALE
20 aprile 2011

Arriva dal Medio Oriente il vento di protesta che sta scuotendo l’Africa orientale e che ha portato migliaia di persone in piazza. Le dinamiche sembrano le stesse che hanno incendiato prima il Maghreb e poi i Paesi del Golfo: nel mirino dei manifestanti c’è il caro prezzi e di conseguenza i governi, accusati di non aver fatto nulla per frenare la spirale inflazionistica.
Se in Kenya la situazione è incandescente, in Uganda sta scappando di mano, perchè proprio come in Tunisia ed Egitto oggetto delle proteste sono la mancanza di democrazia e le ripetute violazioni di diritti umani ad opera del regime del presidente Yoweri Museveni, che per tutta risposta ha dato carta bianca agli apparati di sicurezza.
Il bilancio provvisorio parla di quattro morti, 150 feriti e oltre cento arrestati, 50 dei quali per “adunata illegale e sediziosa“. La tensione era già alta da giorni ma tutto è precipitato lunedì mattina, quando migliaia di persone si sono date appuntamento per una manifestazione intitolata ‘Walk to Work’, una marcia pacifica organizza per affermare il diritto al lavoro e alla sicurezza economica. I reparti antisommossa hanno attaccato i manifestanti in diversi punti della città, innervositi dai report dell’intelligence che da giorni sfornavano report su presunte minacce alla sicurezza dello stato.
Il leader del Forum for Democratic Change, Kizza Besigye, colui che ha sfidato Museveni alle ultime presidenziali, è stato arrestato non appena ha messo piede fuori dalla sua abitazione e portato alla centrale di Kasangani, dove si sono subito radunati, minacciosi, i suoi sostenitori.
Il segretario di un altro partito di opposizione (Democratic Party, ndr), Norbert Mao, anche lui arrestato, ha rifiutato la libertà su cauzione ed è stato trasferito nel carcere di massima sicurezza di Luzira, dove resterà fino al 2 maggio. Arrestato anche il presidente dell’Uganda People’s Congress, Olara Otunu.
Cosa rischi il suo regime, Museveni lo sa bene, tanto che, si scopre, dall’Uganda Communication Commission, l’autorità statale che si occupa delle telecomunicazioni, è partita una richiesta ai server per bloccare agli accessi ai social network. In una lettera spedita dal direttore dell’organismo, Quinto Ojok, si legge “Abbiamo ricevuto istruzioni dagli apparati di sicurezza circa la necessità di ridurre al minimo l’accesso ai media del pubblico per il rischio di escalation delle violenze riguarda al(l’evento) Walk to Work… Vi si chiede, pertanto di bloccare l’accesso a Twitter e Facebook per 24 ore a partire da adesso, le 15 e 30 del 14 aprile”.
La circolare, che adesso viene liquidata come “uno spiacevole malinteso” è stata spedita a 10 società di telecomunicazioni e inviata anche al ministero dell’Informazione comunicazione e tecnologia, nonché all’Ispettorato generale del governo.
La repressione ha comunque contribuito ad esasperare una popolazione che adesso chiede conto a Museveni anche di come spende i soldi. Una delle gocce che ha fatto traboccare il vaso, infatti, è stata la richiesta/ordine avanzata dal presidente di ritoccare al rialzo il budget presidenziale e di destinare una cifra compresa tra gli 1,3 e i due milioni di dollari per le feste che seguiranno la cerimonia di giuramento che, il 12 maggio, segnerà l’inizio del nuovo mandato, conquistato con la vittoria alle ultime elezioni.
Controverse anche quelle: dietro la vittoria schiacciante (68 per cento contro il 26 di Besigye) si nascondano non solo prevedibili brogli ma anche una capillare campagna acquisti fatta con soldi dello stato. Un affronto tanto più intollerabile adesso che l’inflazione sta spingendo fuori dal mercato migliaia di persone.
Negli ultimi tre mesi, i rialzi del petrolio (+21 per cento) hanno trascinato i prezzi dei prodotti alimentari. Secondo la World Bank, in Uganda il prezzo del mais è aumentato del 25 per cento nell’ultimo trimestre e addirittura del 114 per cento in un anno. L’inflazione media si attesta sull’11,1 per cento (a febbraio era al 5,4).
C’è poi il timore di un possibile effetto spill over, cioè che le proteste si propaghino a macchia d’olio. Se n’é avuta conferma martedì in Kenya, quando un gruppo di persone si è radunato intorno al parlamento di Nairobi, fermando le macchine di deputati e funzionari governativi. “Voi ingrassate mentre noi diventiamo sempre più magri”.
fonte it.peacereporter.net - Alberto Tundo

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UGANDA: MAKERERE UNIVERSITY TUITION FEES WILL NOT BE INCREASED
22 april 2011

Makerere University students went on strike in April over reports that it was planning to raise tuition fees from the average of Shs 3 million to Shs 6 million per year per student. Before the strike the university’s Ag.Vice Chancellor, Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba told The Independent’s Mubatsi Asinja Habati that the fees issue was misunderstood.
Why is Makerere University increasing fees? At the time universities were pushing to increase fees two years ago, the government approved a 40% increment in all public universities and that was done in Makerere. After that the President was not happy and convinced that we should increase fees. The President directed the Auditor General (AG) to conduct a study on the unit cost of education in public universities. The AG hired AH Consulting to do the study whose report it submitted in May 2010. So we cannot speak authoritatively on the findings of that study. On increase on fees, the government decided to set up a Visitation Committee in 2008 due to the problems the university had in the past and it came up with findings which later on became a Government White Paper.
This gives the university council autonomy to determine fees but in consultation with the ministry of Education and with approval of cabinet. So if Makerere University Council wants to raise fees, it can come up with a proposal, approve it, and discuss it with the Ministry of Education and the line minister then can seek cabinet approval if the ministry is in approval. Makerere University has not thought of increasing fees as far as I know. As the current acting Vice Chancellor I will not propose such. We have to look at other alternative sources of funding the university and I don’t think asking parents to pay more money now is the solution.
The university needs more money; the money they are paying is on the lower side. In the media there has been comparison between what students in Kenya and Uganda pay but the per capita income in these economies are different and you cannot use that as justification to increase fees. In Kenya the money they earn is more than in Uganda.
Yes, we need to make Makerere University as one of the best in Africa but we need to charge what is realistic. What I would ask for is that government should provide more funding to the university. But for us to ask the parents to pay more will be unrealistic because they can’t afford. Some parents have sold their land to have children in this university and have nothing left yet when they finish they are not able to get jobs.
So you are not increasing fees? No. It would have been discussed in management, senate and council. None of that process has taken place. The newspapers mixed up two things with the Auditor General’s report on the unit cost unit study of education where they compare the Ugandan universities and Indian universities.
This was their report and we don’t have a mandate as a university to pick their recommendations and implement them because we never commissioned the study. But if the AG did the study about public universities it up to them to take it to the one who directed them to do the report. Then at that level they can decide to utilize the recommendations of the study. If government says universities have to increase fees, we have no choice because we are government institution.
What will you do since you say the university needs more money and you cannot increase fees? I am thinking about working with the government and get an arrangement for vocational skills for students. They should look into working as mechanics for computers, TV, refrigerators, cars, working in salons, beauty massage parlours as a fallback position so that you don’t get a degree and remain unemployed. This will be alternative employment so that with time you can go back into your profession if you get opportunity.
We have discussed with the President that we would like a grant of US$100 million to put up laboratory and other teaching facilities and use half of it to develop real estate. We have land in Kololo and other places. All we need is initial capital to put up structures like offices and we will keep recycling that money. The President told us he would look into it. We also want to improve university rankings so that we attract investments and private companies that want to collaborate with us at a fee. We are looking at even fundraising other than focusing on the parent through the money that a student pays. I am completely against raising fees again.
How will you deal with land encroachers on university land, some of who are protected by politicians, when you start real estate development? Grabbing land is not unique to the university. Encroachers are everywhere. If you have land in Kampala you should make sure that it is developed. The institutions in charge of land should be vigilant. You don’t expect the vice chancellor to run around with land grabbers as the police watches.
How far is the case where the title of University land in Kololo was allegedly stolen? We had the original land titles with our lawyers and when they asked us we showed them the titles.
What explains the eventual improvements in the ranking of the university? We have made sure that the research we do is visible. We have been doing a lot of innovations but people outside this university have not known that. We have improved our collaboration with other well known world universities. We have our students in world class universities who are doing well and that works to our best. We have collaborations with big global companies like Microsoft and Nokia which have asked local experts here to develop software. That shows you that Makerere is a serious institution.
So if government gave you a go ahead to increase fees, would Makerere University do it? We are public institution funded 100% from the consolidated fund; the only thing that government allowed us to do is to spend the internally generated funds at source. If government issues a policy statement we would gladly implement it. If government says increase fees we can’t say no. We have a challenge as a country. People who are accessing higher education are mainly those from and around Kampala leaving out those from rural areas.
Increasing fees would be good if the government moved ahead to implement the students’ loan scheme proposal, the Shs 6 million people are talking about would work well through this arrangement because people will study without having sold their land or cows, when you get a job you pay and when you don’t get one you don’t pay so it will become mandatory for government to see that people get jobs. It is not tenable to ask parents to sell their land, cattle to attain education who will not find jobs.
This does not mean we don’t need money as a university. In fact we need more money. What we have is on the lower side. When I say we should not increase fees I am looking at the income levels across the country. But there are people who criticize you for buying three cars at a cost of over Shs 700 million. Your car cost Shs 376 million yet you say the university has no money. Don’t you think that is extravagant?
I did not buy the vehicles. The university bought vehicles for three university officers. These vehicles were in the university budget. The vehicle that the Vice Chancellor was using was involved in an accident in August 2010 where my bodyguard died. So the University Council decided that another vehicle for the vice chancellor be bought. That was the only Land Cruiser of the same capacity that was bought replacing the one damaged during accident. The other vehicles bought were two Land Cruiser Prados for the University Secretary and the Bursar. They were bought because the ones they had had been written off.
The issue has been that the cost is too high? You know the shilling depreciated over time and the vehicles had been budgeted in dollars. I don’t even know how much they paid because I am not the one who paid for the vehicles. They were buying a vehicle for the VC not for Baryamureeba as a person.
Wasn’t the Vice Chancellor’s car that was damaged in an accident insured? It was too old. It had been used by Prof. Ssebuwufu, Prof. Luboobi and then I came in I used it and was involved in accident where I almost lost my life. But there are complaints of your staff who say you have not paid their salaries and the university is just buying expensive cars. When the university makes a budget it looks at what money should be for what. Dr Tanga (MUASA chairman) has personal issues and is trying to use them to incite staff.
Personally I have vehicles but I can’t use them to do university work. The terms of my contract say the Vice Chancellor is entitled to a car. It is not an option for the VC to have a vehicle. Everything comes at a cost. I can’t move in a Corona where my life will not be comfortable.
fonte www.allafrica.com - Mubatsi Asinja Habati

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UGANDA: RICE DEMAND STILL HIGH DESPITE PRICE INCREASE
27 april 2011

Rice is one of the foods that is enjoyed by many Ugandans. The grain that is sold and eaten in Uganda comes from different parts of the world including Pakistan, Tanzania, Vietnam and from the eastern and northern parts of Uganda.
Though one may say that there is a variety that people can choose from, most retail shop owners say that Ugandans have a particular preference of rice.
According to Ms Deborah Nakaryowa, a retail shop owner in Kabalagala, her customers always prefer a particular type known as super. “They like it because it has a good taste and smells good” she says. However, she adds that since super rice is grown in different areas, many people have learnt to differentiate the types and a lot of them prefer the type from Mbale whose seeds are not whole but rather, broken.
Super rice is grown in Mbale, Gulu and Tanzania. Super has less stones, so one doesn’t spend a lot of time sorting it. Because of its cleanliness, Pakistan rice is another preferred type by very many people. Ms Nakaryowa says that this is preferred especially by those who don’t want to sort rice and it does not get soggy when cooked. Pakistan rice has tiny seeds and is very white. “People don’t like Vietnam rice because when you cook it, it doesn’t look as good as the other types” Ms Nakiryowa says of the Vietnam rice with big seeds.
Kaiso, is another type although most people are not sure where it comes from. It has many stones in it. “One may need some hours to sort kaiso before it is ready for cooking” she explains. “Kaiso is often bought by people who have no money to afford the other types.” Ms Nakaryowa says that Tilda rice from Bugiri district, is one type that has low demand. She argues, “People don’t buy it because it is not tasty at all and it is worse than Vietnam when cooked.”
Prices for rice have increased by Shs500 and less in different parts of the country. Despite the increase in prices, Ms Nakaryowa says that the demand for rice is still high because it is eaten in almost every homestead especially by children. Super and Pakistan are on high demand.
In case you would like to venture into rice growing, here are tips from lifeguides.net on how to grow rice.
- Put five to seven inches of soil in a bucket (slightly larger than one hand deep) and place one handful of rice on top of the dirt.
- Cover the dirt and rice with water so that the water rises about two inches above the top of the soil. Keep your bucket or buckets in a sunny area, so the rice can thrive in a warm, sunny climate.
- Check your water levels regularly and add water, if necessary.
- When your rice plants grow beyond six inches, increase your bucket level to four inches above the top of the soil. Let the water slowly evaporate over time, so that your plant has room to grow and be harvested.
-When your plant transforms from a green to a gold colour, it’s a signal to harvest the rice. Your plant has to grow for approximately four months, before it can be harvested.
- After you harvest the rice, wrap up the stalks inside a newspaper and let them sit in a warm place for a couple of weeks. Remove the shells from the rice and let the rice simmer in low heat.
- According to lifeguide.net, there are different types of rice to consider: paddy rice, deep-water rice, rain-fed lowland rice and upland rice.
- Paddy rice growth is controlled by the farmer, whereas deep-water rice grows near the river and other water banks and depends largely on the weather.
- Lowland rice thrives in monsoonal regions where ridges are built into the land in order to retain water after the rain. Upland rice is grown in areas of frequent rain on slopes.
fonte www.allafrica.com - Sharon M. Omurungi

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UGANDA: MANIFESTAZIONI, VITTIME E CENTINAIA DI ARRESTI
29 aprile 2011

Sarebbero almeno quattro le persone uccise oggi a Kampala durante l’intervento della polizia per disperdere una manifestazione di protesta: lo ha riferito il quotidiano ‘Daily Monitor’ nella sua edizione online, mentre il ministro degli Interni stimava in 360 il numero dei fermi effettuati dalle forze dell’ordine.
Secondo i funzionari di polizia e i medici citati dal giornale, le persone ferite da colpi di arma da fuoco sono decine. La stima è compatibile con quella diffusa da alcuni responsabili della Croce Rossa ugandese, che parlano di 120 feriti.
Durante una conferenza stampa, nel pomeriggio, il ministro degli Interni Kirunda Kivejinja ha sostenuto che sotto il profilo dell’ordine pubblico la situazione è “sotto controllo”.
I disordini si sono concentrati in alcuni quartieri di Kampala e nella regione metropolitana della capitale, in particolare lungo la strada che la collega alla città di Entebbe. Secondo fonti della MISNA le proteste sono legate sia al malumore per l’arresto del dirigente di opposizione Kizza Besigye sia a problemi sociali aggravati dal carovita.
fonte www.misna.org

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MANIFESTAZIONI, GAS LACRIMOGENI E DISORDINI A KAMPALA
29 aprile 2011

“Per le strade di Kampala c’è puzza di copertoni bruciati e gas lacrimogeni. Non tutte le zone sono state coinvolte negli scontri ma in quelle in cui si sono verificati incidenti, i testimoni raccontano di uso sproporzionato della forza e violenze”: lo hanno detto alla MISNA fonti raggiunte nella capitale ugandese teatro di disordini e manifestazioni all’indomani dell’arresto ennesimo del capofila di opposizione Kizza Besigye.
“A scatenare la rabbia della gente - riferisce il missionario chiedendo di non essere identificato per questioni di sicurezza – è stata la violenza eccessiva con cui le forze dell’ordine hanno cercato di disperdere i manifestanti, lanciando gas lacrimogeni negli slum e in zone densamente abitate”. Ieri, Besigye era stato ricoverato in ospedale dopo che gli agenti lo avevano arrestato mentre si recava al corteo ‘Walk to Work’ indetto per protestare contro il carovita e l’aumento dei prezzi di beni di prima necessità.
In alcuni quartieri della capitale, la rabbia dei cittadini sembra essere stata scatenata dalla notizia, infondata, dell’uccisione del leader del Forum per il cambiamento democratico (Fdc) in seguito ad un’aggressione delle forze di polizia. Diverse fonti locali riportano la notizia di una o più vittime.
“Fino a pochi mesi fa, provocazioni e reazioni di questa portata in Uganda erano inconcepibili” osserva ancora il missionario secondo cui “la persistente crisi economica e la disoccupazione, soprattutto tra i giovani ha scavato un profondo malcontento nella società e contro il regime di Museveni”.
fonte www.misna.org

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Cambio valuta: in data 30/04/2011 1 dollaro USA è pari a 2389,95 scellini ugandesi, 1 Euro è pari a 3247,3084 scellini ugandesi

RAPPORTO UNICEF, RAPPORTO SULL’EVASIONE SCOLASTICA: 70 MILIONI DI ADOLESCENTI SENZA ISTRUZIONE
1 marzo 2011

MUSEVENI’S BAD EXAMPLE
1 march 2011

OXFAM: AUMENTO PREZZI PER CIBO PREOCCUPANTE
3 marzo 2011

ACCORDO SUL PETROLIO DEL LAGO ALBERTO
9 marzo 2011

A’LEVEL PERFORMANCE IMPROVES
9 march 2011

WILL YOU MAKE IT TO UNIVERSITY?
9 march 2011

BANK OF UGANDA INTERVENES IN FOREIGN MARKET
10 march 2011

CARESTIA E SICCITÀ AFFLIGGONO MIGLIAIA DI UGANDESI
11 marzo 2011

TOP SCHOOLS
11 march 2011

500 KARIMOJONG HOMESTEADS TO BE DESTROYED FOR DAM CONSTRUCTION
12 march 2011

CHANGE OF AGRICULTURE STANCE SHOULD BE UPHELD
15 march 2011

RISING INFLATION HURTING LOCALS’ STANDARDS OF LIVING
15 march 2011

RISING FOOD PRICES HIT FAMILIES
23 march 2011

BICYCLES AT THE HEART OF EMPOWERMENT SCHEME FOR RURAL WOMEN
24 march 2011

SCHOOLS SERVE CHILDREN LESS FOOD
24 march 2011

UGANDA, UNA CENTRALE A BIOMASSA DA 40MW VICINO KAMPALA
14 marzo 2011

UGANDA, 154 MLN PER SVILUPPO REGIONI CENTRALE E OVEST
22 marzo 2011

UGANDA, SARA’ POTENZIATO ACQUEDOTTO KAMPALA
24 marzo 2011

UGANDA, IL GOVERNO INVESTE NELLE STRADE
25 marzo 2011

UGANDA E BURUNDI INVIANO ALTRI 4000 SOLDATI A MOGADISCIO
28 marzo 2011

Le percentuali di frequenza più basse si registrano nell’Africa orientale e meridionale, con dei tassi netti d’iscrizione pari al 24% per i ragazzi e al 22% per le ragazze. I giovani tra i 10 e i 19 anni sono 1,2 miliardi. L’88% di loro vive in paesi in via di sviluppo, costretti ad affrontare sfide difficilissime.
Sono più di 70 milioni gli adolescenti, nel mondo, che non frequentano la scuola media. E quasi la metà dei ragazzi in età di scuola secondaria resta a casa. Lo dice il Rapporto 2011 Unicef sulla Condizione dell’infanzia nel Pianeta, intitolato ‘Adolescenza: Il tempo delle opportunità’ presentato a Roma.
L’Africa in fondo alla classifica
Le percentuali di frequenza più basse si registrano nell’Africa orientale e meridionale, con dei tassi netti d’iscrizione pari al 24% per i ragazzi e al 22% per le ragazze. Sono dati che vanno inquadrati in un contesto ben preciso, che poco ha a che vedere con lo stereotipo dell’adolescente europeo: i ragazzi tra i 10 e i 19 anni sono 1,2 miliardi. L’88% di loro vive in paesi in via di sviluppo, costretti a confrontarsi ogni giorno con sfide difficilissime.
A voler fare un confronto, basti pensare che gli adolescenti nel mondo industrializzato rappresentano solo il 12% mentre sono uno su cinque in Africa sub-sahariana, in Asia meridionale e nei Paesi meno sviluppati. Oggi più della metà vive in Asia ma le proiezioni dicono che nel 2050 l’Africa avrà più adolescenti di qualunque altra regione del mondo
Istruzione e sviluppo
In questo quadro, è chiaro che 70 milioni di ragazzi fuori dalle medie sono una cifra preoccupante: “Senza istruzione – spiega il Presidente dell’Unicef Italia Vincenzo Spadafora – gli adolescenti non possono sviluppare le conoscenze e le capacità di cui hanno bisogno per affrontare i rischi di sfruttamento, di abuso e di violenza, che risultano più alti proprio nel secondo decennio di vita.
In Brasile, per esempio, tra il 1998 e il 2008 si è salvata la vita a 26mila bambini di meno di un anno, determinando una netta diminuzione della mortalità infantile. Nello stesso decennio, però, 81mila adolescenti brasiliani tra i 15 e i 19 anni sono stati uccisi“.
Una gamma di rischi
Tra i problemi, l’Unicef conta ai primi posti il rischio infortuni, i problemi connessi all’alimentazione, l’abuso di certe sostanze. Ed anche i problemi di salute mentale: si stima infatti che circa un adolescente su cinque soffra di problemi di questo tipo o comportamentali.
E poi: la disoccupazione che colpisce 81 milioni di adolescenti in tutto il mondo. Per non parlare delle violenze subite dalle ragazze che vivono nei Paesi in via di sviluppo (Cina esclusa) e che sono più soggette dei maschi al rischio di infezioni da HIV.
Su scala mondiale, un terzo di tutti i nuovi casi di sieropositività riguarda giovani tra i 15 e i 24 anni. E sarebbero più di 70 milioni le donne tra i 15 e i 49 anni che hanno subito mutilazioni genitali/escissioni (FGM/C), di solito prima dell’inizio della pubertà.
L’investimento-scuola
“Milioni di giovani in tutto il mondo - dice il direttore generale dell’Unicef, Anthony Lake – stanno aspettando interventi concreti da parte di tutti noi. Per questo l’Unicef si pone l’obiettivo di raggiungere le adolescenti e gli adolescenti: investendo nell’istruzione e nella salute si possono interrompere cicli radicati di povertà e disuguaglianza. L’adolescenza rappresenta un punto di svolta, un’opportunità“.
fonte www.repubblica.it - Anna Maria De Luca

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MUSEVENI’S BAD EXAMPLE
1 march 2011

Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni’s re-election for another five year term has placed him firmly among the sit-tight leaders of the African continent who must vacate office peacefully or be shoved aside by the power of the people. Museveni, who took over power in 1986 through a military coup has been in office for 25 years and despite failed promises he has made to relinquish power in the past, has continued to rule Uganda without any sign that he intends to leave office willingly.
Kizza Besigye, his one-time ally, who has been his main opponent and who was said to have won 26 per cent of the votes cast at the February 18, 2011 election, to come second after Museveni who was credited with 68 per cent of the votes, has rejected the results, claiming that the elections were rigged and that some voters were disenfranchised, and has called for peaceful protests and fresh polls.
Museveni, who had in reaction to the Tunisia and Egypt protests warned that such protests would not be tolerated in Uganda, has since Besigye’s call, stressed that there would be a clamp down on protesters. He even boasted that he would “catch and eat like cake” the opposition leader, Besigye and clamp in jail whoever participated in an Egypt-type protest.
This, clearly, is the stubborn and unrepentant posture of a dictator and sit-tight leader, the type of which must no longer be countenanced in Africa. The two major characteristics of democracy are that there must be periodic elections and term limits. Most of the sit-tight leaders who pretend that their countries are democracies manipulate the constitutions of the countries to extend their term limits and then conduct sham elections that return them to power as often as they stand for elections.
Besides Museveni’s Uganda, the same strategy has been in operation in Zimbawe, where Robert Mugabe has remained in power, as well as in Paul Biya’s Cameroun and Yahya Jammeh’s Gambia among several others.
The sit tight Presidents of Tunisia and Egypt were only recently dislodged by peoples power protests while Muamar Gadaffi’s more than 40 years rule in Libya is on the verge of collapse, also courtesy of sustained protests by disenchanted Libyans. Apart from the fact that these sit tight leaders thrive on corrupt enrichment and repression of the opposition in their countries, they are often also misled into believing that their people love them and that without them, their countries would collapse. Mubarak thought so and Gaddafi and Museveni think so.
Also, some leading western nations have been encouraging and even openly supporting some of these sit tight leaders, often because of their own selfish interests, especially when they see such sit tight leaders as favourably disposed to their ideological positions, or when such despots openly ally with them in the fight against terrorism.
Some of these western nations that do not tolerate subversion of democracy in their own countries have already endorsed the election of Museveni for yet another term, without consideration of the verdict of the foreign and local monitors who have supported the claims of Besigye that the election was marred by irregularities. Even if the elections were free and fair, the fact remains that there ought to be term limits in every democracy, and often, people are limited to two terms of four or five years.
Why should Museveni and the other sit tight leaders of Africa think that they must continue in office without end? Even when their time in office is not making any marked difference in the lives of their people, in terms of enhanced standard of living, development of infrastructure, eradication of illiteracy, poverty and killer diseases? Museveni’s insistence on running for another term and engineering his re-election is a bad example for other African countries that are still nurturing their democracies.
We hope that the leaders of these countries would shun Museveni’s example. His boast that he would “catch and eat” his opponent like cake is also unfortunate as it must bring back to the memories of Ugandans the horrors of the era of Idi-Amin when about 800,000 opponents of the then maximum ruler were murdered. Nobody can be bigger than his country and no one person can have a monopoly of knowledge of the way for ward for their country.
True democracy remains the way out because it gives opportunity for people to exercise their right to put people in positions of power and to replace them. As one of the opposition leaders in Uganda has said, the constitution of the country allows for peaceful protest.
The Ugandan Police and Museveni’s government must, therefore, refrain from repressing any protests aimed at drawing attention to the flaws in the polls. The people must have their say and, indeed, their way, while Museveni and other sit tight leaders in Africa must put machinery in motion immediately to hand over power to democratically chosen leaders. Otherwise civil wars, poverty, corruption, illiteracy, decayed infrastructure, diseases, hunger and other such challenges would continue to confront the affected countries.
The West must also refrain from supporting despots to sit tight in defiance of the will of the majority of their people. The Peer Review Mechanism (PRM) of the African Union (AU) has proved a toothless bull dog.
The AU and other sub regional groups must, therefore, work at evolving a mechanism that would allow them to intervene when the ruler of any country within their sphere of influence attempts to distort and violate the constitution of their country with a view to sitting tight in office.
Maybe, this would be the way out for African countries currently groaning under the yoke of sit tight leaders like Yoweri Museveni.
fonte www.allafrica.com

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OXFAM: AUMENTO PREZZI PER CIBO PREOCCUPANTE
3 marzo 2011

«C’è bisogno di un’azione coordinata a livello internazionale per sconfiggerne le cause. L’aumento dei prezzi del cibo è molto preoccupante.» non usa mezzi termini Farida Bena, portavoce di Oxfam Italia. Che aggiunge: «milioni di persone stanno scivolando nella povertà mentre faticano ad acquistare le scorte essenziali di cibo e sono sempre più numerosi coloro che rischiano di soffrire la fame».
L’annuncio odierno di un ulteriore aumento dei prezzi mondiali del cibo ha fatto registrare un nuovo record dell’indice FAO dei prezzi alimentari. «Una strategia attendista dei governi - continua Bena – nella speranza che arrivino buoni raccolti nei prossimi mesi, significherebbe giocare d’azzardo con la vita di milioni di persone e aumentare le probabilità di una grave crisi alimentare globale».
Che precisa: «C’è bisogno di una risposta coordinata a livello internazionale per affrontare le cause dell’aumento dei prezzi del cibo. Al contrario, decisioni prese individualmente e basate sugli interessi nazionali peggiorerebbero soltanto la situazione.
La risposta della comunità internazionale dovrebbe includere un’azione di contrasto alla speculazione per calmare i mercati, maggiore trasparenza sulle scorte di cibo e una marcia indietro sui biocarburanti. E’ inoltre necessario sostenere i piccoli agricoltori, affinché accrescano la produzione di cibo e siano parte di una soluzione sostenibile. E’ ciò di cui tutti abbiamo bisogno di fronte alle minacce dei cambiamenti climatici».
fonte www.vita.it

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ACCORDO SUL PETROLIO DEL LAGO ALBERTO
9 marzo 2011

La società britannica Tullow Oil ha raggiunto un accordo con il governo che dovrebbe permettere di avviare lo sfruttamento su larga scala delle riserve petrolifere custodite nel bacino del Lago Alberto, una zona al confine con la Repubblica democratica del Congo dove nel 2006 sono stati scoperti ricchi giacimenti.
L’intesa prevede il pagamento di contributi fiscali non versati da Heritage Oil, un gruppo canadese che aveva poi venduto le licenze per lo sfruttamento dei pozzi a Tullow Oil. In linea con un progetto allo studio della società britannica, l’accordo rafforza l’ipotesi di una cessione di parte delle quote azionarie ai francesi di Total e ai cinesi di Cnooc.
Secondo le stime degli esperti, il Lago Alberto custodisce riserve per due miliardi e mezzo di barili. Lo sfruttamento dei pozzi dovrebbe accompagnarsi alla costruzione di una raffineria, per un volume d’affari complessivo di 10 miliardi di dollari, circa sette miliardi e 200 milioni di euro. L’esigenza di trasformare gli idrocarburi in un fattore di sviluppo sociale è stata uno dei temi della campagna elettorale che, il mese scorso, ha portato alla riconferma del presidente Yoweri Museveni.
fonte www.misna.org

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A’LEVEL PERFORMANCE IMPROVES
9 march 2011

Candidates who sat for Senior Six examinations last year registered an improved performance compared to those of the previous year. The results, which were released yesterday by the education minister, show that there was a slight improvement in performance. More students qualified for the award of the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education certificates this time, accounting for 98.8% of those who sat for the examinations, compared to 98.6% in 2009.
The results were handed over to the education ministry by the Uganda National Examination Board’s (UNEB), Secretary Mathew Bukenya, and chairman Prof. Lutalo Bbosa. They were flanked by Bukenya’s deputy, Dan Odong, and education ministry section directors.
However, the improvement in performance was overshadowed by the fact that less than 20% of candidates had taken on science courses. The minister described this situation as a ‘risk’ to the nation. The arts (humanities) combinations, which were dominated by girls, took a lion’s share. This implies that fewer students, especially girls, will compete for science courses, since the Government only sponsors science courses in public universities.
Bitamazire, in her address, said: “The Government is considering reviewing the science syllabus at A’level and the subject combinations, to make the A’level course focused and practically-oriented for better application of knowledge and skills.”
A total of 101,495 candidates registered for the final examinations, compared to 98,217 candidates in 2009 – an increase of 3,278. But of these, only 99,904 candidates sat the examinations compared to 96,741 in 2009. About 62.5% of all the candidates got at least two principal passes. This means they are eligible for admission to universities.
A total of 61,820 students have qualified for tertiary institutions, compared to 60,370 in 2009 – an increase of 1,450. For one to be admitted to a university, he or she must have obtained two principal passes.
Female students posted a slightly higher pass rate, although males have performed better overall. Female students performed better than males at the A to E grades level in entrepreneurship education, Islamic and Christian religious education, geography, literature in English, mathematics, biology and foods and nutrition. However, male candidates were better in economics, physics, chemistry and fine art.
Significant improvement in performance was registered in history, entrepreneurship education, agriculture, chemistry, biology and food and nutrition. Bukenya told the press yesterday that there was a high quality of work presented by candidates from various schools, “indicating adequate preparation of candidates in those centres.”
Bukenya added that: “poor communication skills also affected the quality of answers, especially in questions that required extended essay writing.” Candidates with a poor command of the English language had difficulty in interpreting questions and often missed out key words that defined the issues to be dealt, according to UNEB.
The UACE examination requires a candidate to demonstrate maturity, ability to apply knowledge, to analyse and give value judgment. “These skills were demonstrated in schools where teaching appeared to be effective, but were lacking in scripts of candidates from many rural centres” Bukenya added. Meanwhile, Lugazi Homeland College had its centre withdrawn for “serious administrative flaws inimical to the proper conduct of UNEB examinations”.
More 68 candidates from various schools across the country had their results withheld pending investigations for alleged examination malpractice. The Public Universities Joint Admissions Board will in a few weeks’ time begin the selection process for students to admit on merit.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug – Conan Businge & Francis Kagolo

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WILL YOU MAKE IT TO UNIVERSITY?
9 march 2011

Competition for places at university this year is likely to be even stiffer due to increased candidature and improved performance at A’level. About 99,904 sat for the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) examinations last year, an increase of 3.3% from 98,217 the previous year.
The overall performance of candidates improved with 61,820 obtaining two principle passes, the minimum qualification for university and tertiary education, up from 57,510 in 2009. As a result, this year’s university cut-off points for various courses are likely to rise over last year’s.
With the 27 universities only able to accommodate about 30,000 fresh students a year, the competition will be even stiffer for the 4,000 state scholarships. Of the 27 universities in Uganda, only five are public. But the majority of students prefer these because of their higher social or academic standing. For the fifth year running, the Government will not sponsor certain arts courses, such as the degrees in urban planning, adult and community education, mass communication and tourism.
Other programmes that are purely private are Bachelors of arts, social work and social administration, human resource management, development studies, library and information science, social sciences, arts with education and secretarial studies. The Government stopped sponsoring these courses as part of its new policy to promote sciences and courses considered critical for national development.
Among those still being sponsored are architecture, information technology, computer science and economics, engineering, pharmacy, medicine, agriculture, veterinary medicine, food science and technology, statistics, quantitative economics, surveying and law.
Students who fail to get state sponsorship in these programmes apply for admission on private sponsorship after the government admissions are concluded. However, a number of students are increasingly opting for private universities some of which have become very competitive as well.
The weighting criteria
A computerised weighting system is used. The points depend on the number of applicants per course and the capacity of the faculties. Under the weighting criteria, all subjects taken at A’level are grouped into four categories: essential, relevant, desirable and others.
For a given candidate, not more than three subjects taken at principle level shall carry a weight of 3, 2 or 1. Principle subjects in excess of three shall be designated as others and weighed at 0.5. Not more than two subjects are designated as essential. A pass in a subject taken at subsidiary level such as general paper carries one point.
For example, assume the cut-off points for law was 50.3. Candidate X scored AAAC in literature, economics, geography and French respectively. The candidate also scored a credit in general paper. Bearing in mind that an A carries a weight of six points, B -five, C – four, D – three, E – two and O – one, and assuming the first two subjects (literature and economics) are essential for law, the third (geography) relevant and the fourth (French) desirable, candidate X’s weight would be calculated as follows:
Literature: A (6X3) = 18
Economics: A (6X3) = 18
Geography: A (6X2) = 12
French (others) C (4X0.5) = 2
General paper = 1
Total: 51.0 points
O’ level marks also account for university entry. A distinction at O’ level carries 0.3 points while credits are rated at 0.2, and passes at 0.1. Female students are also added 1.5 points.
Sports personalities, people with disabilities and biological children of university staff also have affirmative action of various points. All these are then added to the A’level and O’level results to determine the cut off points.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug – Conan Businge

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BANK OF UGANDA INTERVENES IN FOREIGN MARKET
10 march 2011

The Bank of Uganda said on Thursday it was intervening in the foreign exchange market by selling foreign currency. Commercial banks quoted the shilling just up against the dollar at 2,380/2,389 compared to 2,385/90 at the close of trade on Wednesday.
“The central bank has been in the market and sold an unspecified amount of dollars. The impact has been there but not big. Before they intervened, we were trading the shilling at 2,385/90 and now it is at 2,380/85” said Faisal Bukenya, head of market making at Barclays Bank.
“Bank of Uganda doesn’t wait for any particular level to intervene, what it doesn’t want is extreme volatility which happened between yesterday evening and today morning… In that short period the shilling lost 10 shillings.”
A combination of speculative trading by offshore players and soaring demand from corporates for dollars has depressed the shilling since January. The shilling hit a record low of 2,395/2,400 in January as demand from importers for dollars rose and both corporate clients and aid agencies – mindful of a presidential election in February – held on to their hard currency.
The lows prompted a Central Bank pledge that it would “aggressively” beef up the currency to keep the shilling from that level.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug

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CARESTIA E SICCITÀ AFFLIGGONO MIGLIAIA DI UGANDESI
11 marzo 2011

Migliaia di persone che vivono in 36 dei 112 distretti dell’Uganda sono in grave pericolo di carestia per la siccità causata dal fenomeno de La Niña. Gli agenti sanitari hanno lanciato l’allarme epidemia per malattie come diarrea e dissenteria, dovute alle scarse misure igienico sanitarie.
“La situazione richiede particolare attenzione, molte famiglie sono prive di generi alimentari” si legge in un comunicato diffuso del Ministro per la Prevenzione delle Catastrofi, Musa Ecweru, diffuso dall’agenzia IRIN, delle Nazioni Unite.
Il Ministero teme una imminente grave crisi idrica e alimentare in alcune zone del paese. Secondo le previsioni meteorologiche, l’Uganda si troverà a fronteggiare un lungo periodo di siccità, nonostante le piogge previste per il mese di marzo che comunque non saranno sufficienti per l’agricoltura.
In alcuni dei 36 distretti colpiti, i pozzi si stanno prosciugando e i residenti sono costretti a percorrere lunghe distanze in cerca di acqua. I venti forti stanno distruggendo le strutture e la circolazione è ostacolata dalle temperature che vanno da 35 a 38 gradi Celsius durante il giorno.
Al nord, gli ex sfollati reinsediati nei villaggi dei distretti di Acholi sono vittime di frequenti incendi e dell’abbassamento dei livelli delle acque dei fiumi.
La siccità ha colpito anche la produzione di elettricità. I torrenti Aswa, Ayugi, Unyama e Pager, nei distretti Amuru e Kitgum, si stanno prosciugando. I pastori che vivono nei distretti di Nakasongola e Bullisa, della regione di Bunyoro, sono preoccupati per il bestiame che non ha dove pascolare.
Le piogge torrenziali del 2010 hanno gravemente colpito alcune zone del paese aggravando la precarietà delle riserve alimentari.
fonte www.fides.org

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TOP SCHOOLS
11 march 2011

St Mary’s Kitende, Uganda Martyrs, Namugongo, Kings College Budo and Trinity College Nabbingo continued their catfight as top schools in the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education, an analysis of the results shows.
Assessed on the highest number of students obtaining four As in four subjects, St Mary’s Kitende, with 25 students, emerged at the top beating Uganda Martyrs Namugongo which had 11 students. A total 479 students sat their A-Levels at Kitende compared to Namugongo’s 209—implying that in percentage terms Namugongo could have performed better. In Kitende, 62 students scored 3A’s, 101 got at least 2A’s while 162 had at least an A.
In aggregate terms, 25 students at Kitende scored 25 points, 58 scored between 23 and 24 points, 101 had between 21 and 22 while 132 scored at least 20. At Namugongo, 11 students had 25 points while 25 scored 24 points, 22 students had 23 points representing a total 47 students scoring between 24 and 23 points out of a total 209 students who sat at the school.
The Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) and the Ministry of Education stopped ranking of schools over fears that it tempted schools to engage in examination malpractice to perform well and attract more students. There were also concerns that focusing only on examination results denies student wholesome education. But this has not stopped the chase for good grades by schools and parents.
Cutthroat competition
Therefore, the results released this year show similar cutthroat completion for dominance. In the top 10 places based on analysis of results on the basis of most As scored and students with a total tally of aggregate 20 and above puts St Joseph’s College Naggalama, Kings College Budo, St Mary’s college Kisubi, Kawempe Muslim, Lubiri secondary, Gombe SS and Merryland High School Entebbe ahead of the pack.
Among the top 20 are Naalya SS Bweyogerere, Seeta High School, and Nsambya Hillside which replaced the once popular traditional schools like St Balikuddembe Mitala Maria, Namilyango College, Katikamu Secondary School and Ndejje Secondary School among others.
In the 2010 UACE A level results, a total of 61,820 students qualified for admission in public universities compared to 2009’s 60,370 and 2008’s 57,510. Government has also shifted focus to sponsoring sciences based courses. Nabisunsa and Gayaza High schools that used to be among the top five schools in the country, however, registered a decline with each having only 3 and 2 students with 25 points respectively while in Masaka District, Masaka Secondary School competed favourably with St Henry’s college Kitovu to break the latter’s academic dominance.
Over all, performance improved by 0.2 percent from 98.6 in 2009 to 98.8 last year. Higher Education Minister Mwesigwa Rukutana attributed the improvement to better facilities both in private and public schools.
“The standard and quality of education in those schools have tremendously improved. The quality is the best in the region and we are getting students from all African countries to come and study here” Mr Rukutana said. He added: “Better instructional materials have been put in place, the teacher to pupil ratio has also improved from 1 teacher per 56 students to at least one teacher per 53 students and we shall continue until we achieve one teacher per 40 students ratio. Initially all the schools were not being inspected but this is being done now.”
Mr Rukutana said government-aided schools did well because more laboratories and multipurpose science rooms have been constructed. This however, does not explain why sciences are still being poorly done and more students are preferring arts subjects.
Schools speak
Commenting on the improved performance for private schools, Mr Chris Bwiire, the director of studies at Merryland High  School, says private schools take competition very seriously and are more serious when it comes to learning. “Private schools take performance as a survival strategy and they have to meet all the costs like infrastructure and consumables unlike government-aided schools. Today’s parents look out for performance and discipline and private schools know that this is what can keep them going yet there is a lot of laxity in schools” Mr Bwiire notes.
Commenting on his school’s performance, the Director of St Mary’s Kitende, Mr Lawrence Mulindwa, said he introduced more tests and carried out continuous assessments that enabled his students pass with flying colours. “We basically gave our candidates adequate time for preparing for the exams and also pressure from the previous years’ performance pushed the students to strive higher” he noted. He said success came as a result of effective teaching.
Traditional schools have always maintained good standards and the good performance is attributed to experienced teachers some of whom are directly involved in the setting and marking of exams. The rural-urban divide also continued to manifest itself. Most excelling schools are based in urban areas, especially in the central region, while the rural ones still struggle.
For example top schools like Kitende, Namagunga and Namugongo are all in Wakiso, Kampala and Mukono districts. Far-flung districts like Nakapiripirit and Butaleja were among the worst performers. Others are Katakwi, Zombo and Kyegegwa.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug- Mercy Nalugo & Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa

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500 KARIMOJONG HOMESTEADS TO BE DESTROYED FOR DAM CONSTRUCTION
12 march 2011

A total of 500 homesteads foundat the foot of Mt Moroto in Katikekile Subcounty in Moroto District are to be evicted to create enough space for construction of a water dam.
‘Daily Monitor’ has learnt that government was under pressure to construct a multipurpose dam in Karamoja as a measure to solve persistent water shortages which is hindering development in Karamoja region. A multipurpose water dam that will cover one and a half kilometers will be constructed under Mt Moroto by the government of Uganda in partnership with the Israel government.
For the last three days Israeli engineers with the officials from the Office of the Prime minister have been camped in Moroto doing a survey on where the dam will be constructed. Apart from homesteads, the dam construction will also affect many offices including Gum Arabic, Karamoja Development Agency (KDA), and the Karamoja Museum.
The assistant Chief Administrative Officer in charge of Production Mr Edward Eco said plans were underway for the relocation of the affected 500 homesteads. Eco explained that the efforts are geared towards assisting the Karimojong to solve the problem of water shortage which is the cause of conflicts among the Karimojong. He said the dam will also help in boosting food production using irrigation technology.
Construction of the dam is expected to commence within this year. However, the homestead owners who will face eviction are sceptical about the programme implementation. “We hope we are evicted for the purpose of dam construction which will help all of us, but not evicting us then our land is given to investors” Lojore Paul, an elder, said.
fonte www.allafrica.com – Steven Arion

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CHANGE OF AGRICULTURE STANCE SHOULD BE UPHELD
15 march 2011

During the recently concluded election campaigns, President Museveni raised people’s attention to agriculture as one of his priorities. Bill board campaign messages highlighting agriculture were a common encounter, and in his words, the President has often acknowledged that agriculture is the backbone of the Ugandan economy.
Indeed, the President’s 2011 election manifesto includes (among other things) the stimulation of agricultural production and productivity. The perceived change of stance on agriculture is a harbinger for good times ahead, especially for the peasant farmers whose importance is always recognized and exploited at election because of their numbers. There is no better time than this for the President to consider changing his stance on agriculture. The country is watching to see whether the election promises will translate into policy reforms and programs of action, what many call “walking the talk“.
For the larger part of Mr Museveni’s tenure of office as President, Uganda has witnessed an unprecedented decline of agricultural GDP from 51% in 1990 to 20% currently. If this downward trend continues, the agricultural GDP will be below 8% in 2020 and below 2% in 2030. If this does not tantalize you, just read on. In 1990, with 50% of agricultural GDP, 86% of the country’s labourforce was employed by agriculture.
Twenty years later, in 2010, a 31% reduction of agricultural GDP from 51% to 20% has caused a negligible 6% reduction of agricultural labourforce from 86% to 80%. This would mean that even when agriculture is adding progressively less value to the national economy, it remains the only option for the majority of the people, especially the smallholder farmers.
The reportedly growing sectors of the economy, ie the Industry and service sectors have failed to absorb the would-be off farm labour. Agriculture receives 3.8% of the country’s annual budget allocation, which is expected to increase to 6.5% by 2014/15 according to the National Development Plan (NDP).
Meanwhile, Dr Godfrey Bahiigwa of Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture says there is need to increase agriculture spending to the tune of 26% of the national budget to generate 6% annual growth rate of agriculture up from the current 1.4%. If the NDP projection of 6.5% budget allocation to agriculture is implemented, the sector will grow at a rate of 2.35 per annum.
At this rate, MDG1 on eradication of poverty and extreme hunger will not be achieved. Therefore, the NDP projection is very much out of tune with international commitments.
The Maputo Protocol and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) commit signatories including Uganda to allocate at least 10% of their budgets to agriculture. By contrast, Rwanda, our neighbours in the south, are making steady progress. Between 2007 and 2010, Rwanda increased their agricultural budget from 3.5% to 7% and there is no doubt that they will soon hit the 10% target.
The much sought after modernization of agriculture will remain a travesty as long as Government does not wake up to the realization of the need to invest massively in agriculture as a necessary precondition for industrial development, monetization of the economy and food security.
A recent Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report reveals that nine million Ugandans are currently facing an acute food shortage. We can learn important lessons from the British industrial revolution. At the time when Britain was experiencing fast population growth, massive investment in agriculture was undertaken.
This resulted in exponential increase of net income from agriculture through enhanced agricultural productivity.
fonte www.allafrica.com – Medard Kamujuni

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RISING INFLATION HURTING LOCALS’ STANDARDS OF LIVING
15 march 2011

Uganda’s GDP growth is projected to be 6.4 per cent in 2011. However, this is looking unlikely due to fast rising inflation. Prices of items including food, rent, clothes, transport fare, school fees and other household items have all gone up in large amounts in the past few months.
This is as a result of the high wholesale price that has put pressure on businesses forcing them to pass on the high prices to their customers. The measure of wholesale inflation-the Producer Price Index for manufacturing, which measures changes in prices charged by producers for the goods manufactured, rose to 18.3 per cent in December 2010, from 15.3 per cent in November the same year.
The rise was driven by soaring international prices of raw materials resulting from the depreciation of the shilling against major trading currencies, especially the dollar. The depreciation of the shilling is said to have brought in imported inflation from Uganda’s trading partners like China where commodity prices have increased significantly.
As a result, prices for food products rose to 24.6 per cent during the period, up from 22.1 per cent. Prices for drinks and tobacco rose to 18.3 per cent; textile, clothing and foot ware prices went up by 7.3 per cent while those for chemicals, paint, soap and foam products rose by 27.4 per cent. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, the shilling has been depreciating by an average of 15.4 per cent against the US dollar on a year-on-year basis since July 2010.
The consumer price index indicates that inflation hit 6 per cent in February, up from 5 per cent recorded in January 2010 and Bank of Uganda anticipates it to rise to 7 per cent by June 2011, given the current events in the market especially the political turmoil in the oil producing countries like Libya, Iran, Bahrain and Tunisia. This 7 per cent projected figure is, however, higher than the central bank’s target of 5 per cent. UBOS says the rising food prices have continued to drive inflation upwards in the past months.
The annual food price for February rose to 8.9 per cent, from 3.6 per cent in January 2011. Contributing to the sharp rise in food prices were increases in the prices of sweet potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, green pepper, bitter tomatoes, fish, fresh milk, bread, margarine and refined oil due to low supplies to markets. For instance, a kilogramme of bread costs Shs 3,000, up from Shs 2,300 in November 2010, a litre of cooking oil goes for Shs 6,500, from Shs 4, 000, a kilo of rice costs Shs 2,500, up from Shs 2,000 while a kilo of meat cost Shs 7000, up from Shs 5000.
The price for a kilo of beans rose from Shs1,200 three months ago to Shs 2,300 in March, fish cost Shs 8,000 a kilo, maize flour costs Shs 1,800, up from Shs 1300 while sugar goes for Shs 3000, from Shs 2300. However, as the economy continues to register rising commodity prices, paychecks are not getting any bigger to match the pace of inflation. Failing to adjust salaries in accordance with the rising inflation means that most salary workers will be unable to meet their financial obligations.
The situation could even be made worse given the fact that Uganda has no commensurate minimum wage for workers. The country’s minimum wage of Shs 6,000 per month was last set in 1984, under Obote II regime and currently, different employers pay their workers as they please.
Mr Leonard Mutesasira, a Kampala businessman told Business Power said in an interview that as prices continue rising, there might be an increase in the defaulting rates on loans as people, especially those with a fixed income will see it wise to spend their money on food and other basic items rather than paying loans.
Mr Mutesasira adds that rising inflation might constrain banks’ long-term lending since they have to factor in inflation in the lending interest rates. “With the rising inflation, banks can only do better on short-term lending since it allows for revision of interest rates” he notes.
Mr Mutesasira adds that although UBOS puts inflation at only 6 per cent now, it might be much higher given the high commodity prices on the market, which he says seem to have gone up by almost 15 per cent in a year. The high cost of living for salary and wage earners is further affected by high taxes which increase depending on one’s gross pay, which further reduces consumers’ expenditure.
For instance, Uganda’s Pay As You Earn threshold is the lowest in the region at Shs 130, 000 and the final figure of the tax paid depends on one’s gross pay. This threshold was introduced in 1997, but the value of the shilling and cost of living have since changed, meaning that it no longer reflects the economic reality.
Prof. Augustus Nuwagaba, a poverty eradication consultant and professor of Economics at Makerere University said rising inflation erodes the value of savings and could also prompt banks to raise lending rates. High inflation, he adds, consolidates the widening wealth gap in the country as low-income earners feel the pitch more than the rich, it also curtails investments due to low returns on investment and affects business planning and strategic investment decisions. “Rising inflation is a bad indicator to economic growth because one can’t make investment decisions basing on the current market prices since they can’t be the same a month or two later” he says.
Although he doesn’t rule out the effect of high fuel prices, drought and depreciation of a shilling as causes of the high inflation, Mr Mutesasira says there are a number of factors that might be responsible for the skyrocketing inflation. Among them, he says, could be the increased supply of the shilling in the economy, following the just concluded electoral season in Uganda.
“When BoU issued new notes, it was supposed to withdraw old ones from circulation but its surprising that you go to a bank and they give you old notes” he explains. “It’s not possible that the Uganda shilling loses value against currencies in the East African region. How come other countries in the region are not as much affected as the Uganda shilling?” he asked.
However, Mr Lawrence Bategeka, a senior research fellow at the Economic Policy Research Centre, Makerere University, says that following the political fever in the electoral period in the country, importers and manufacturers might have stopped importation and production of goods to watch the political environment. This resulted in low supplies to markets, forcing prices to rise due to the few goods on sale.
Mr Issa Sekito, the spokesperson of Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) says that the current inflation is not much to worry about for traders because he believes that the rise in commodity prices enables them to earn more money which can then be invested back to grow the economy. “The trading community is not yet alarmed by the current inflation rate but we only need to take precaution to see that it doesn’t go beyond the single digit” he said.
He believes that the only reason people are anxious about the increase in prices is the subsistence tendency of most Ugandans. “If one sells you a kilo of sugar expensively, you also have reason to sell your bunch of banana or irish potatoes expensively” he adds. For salary workers, Mr Sekito says the government should institute a minimum wage which should be reviewed depending on the inflationary trends in the country.
He blames the lack of a minimum wage to weak labour unions that have failed to push the government to institute a minimum wage. “Traders are not ashamed to take everything you earn per month because this is a free market driven by forces of demand and supply” he explained.
Mr Vincent Nsubuga Musoke, a principle statistician in charge of prices at the Uganda Bureau of Statistics said the rising cost of living requires that one either widens their income source to earn more money so as to maintain similar living standards or cut down the cost of living by reducing expenditures.
For instance, one can decide to use public transport instead of driving to work or eating beef instead of eating chicken. To tame inflation, economists say that the central bank has to institute programmes aimed at lowering lending interest rates because flooding the economy with new money could also ignite more inflation and reduce expenditure on public administration.
They argue that the central bank should also stop pushing money in the economy, but instead withdraw the excess shillings from circulation. Bank of Uganda recently intervention in the foreign exchange market when it injected $100 million as it sought to stabilise the shilling against the dollar.
It also issued a Shs 100 billion Treasury Bond with tenors of two-years and ten-years with a total amount of Shs 50 billion each.
The move aimed at mopping up excess liquidity in the market in the central bank’s effort to ensure a sound financial system and control risks of high inflation in the country.
fonte www.allafrica.com – Faridah Kulabako

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RISING FOOD PRICES HIT FAMILIES
23 march 2011

Aa the cost of living rises, Ugandans are digging deeper into their wallets to make ends meet. Asuman Arafat, a resident of Jinja who works in an Indian-owned wholesale outlet, has been compelled to temporarily send his wife back to her parents. “I have also taken our only child to my parents” he said. Food prices around the country have more than doubled since last December, resulting into food shortage.
According to yesterday’s survey by ‘New Vision’ the price of maize flour has risen to sh2,000 a kilogramme, up from sh1,000 in November last year. The price of beans has also shot up from sh2,000 to over sh2,600 per kilogramme, while a bunch of matooke has gone up by over sh10,000 from sh15,000 last year.
Prices of beef, fish, rice and milk have also risen considerably. Some traders interviewed yesterday attributed the sharp rise in food prices to last year’s general poor harvest. Traders say this, coupled with an increase in food exports, particularly to South Sudan, has led to food shortage.Others blamed the problem on the long dry spell that hit most parts of the country since early January.
The ‘New Vision’ survey showed that prices of most essential manufactured household commodities have also shot up by an average of between 5 to 10% in the past three months. The price of a pack of match box, for instance, has risen from sh400 to sh500, while that of cooking oil increased by 5,000 from sh9,500 per three-litre jerrycan.
The prices of toilet paper rolls, sanitary pads, kerosene, ghee (Blue Band), and toothpaste, among other commodities, have equally escalated, worsening standards of living for the low and middle income earners. Figures from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) released recently indicated that headline inflation jumped to 6%, from 5% in January, surpassing Bank of Uganda’s target of keeping the cost of living measure at below 5%.
UBOS says the pricing outlook is expected to eat deep into the savings of the high-income earning Ugandans, while the lower earners are cutting their expenditure on basic commodities, a move that will deny manufacturers the new demand they need to boost production and create new jobs. Most traders yesterday said food consumption had reduced as a result of the high prices.
The situation has forced food rights activists to suggest tough measures like asking the Government to start restricting food, especially maize, exports to neighbouring countries and regulate prices. Musa Ecweru, the disaster preparedness minister, told New Vision that the food situation in some parts of the country was running out of control due to drought.
Teso, Tororo, Butaleja and parts of Bugisu, he said, were hardest hit due to flooding and landslides. “Some families are going without a meal and many are gambling on what to eat everyday” Ecweru disclosed. H
e said his ministry had sent out messages to advise the public to store food but they had already sold out the food. “It seems there were many pressures on the food.” Ecweru added that the ministry was working with UN agencies to bring the situation under control.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug – Francis Kagolo

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BICYCLES AT THE HEART OF EMPOWERMENT SCHEME FOR RURAL WOMEN
24 march 2011

The bicycle has become a symbol of hope for hundreds of women who have been trained in repairing one of life’s favorite transport modes. More than two hundred women from around the Bwindi National Park, in the country’s southwest, have been taking part in a two-week course on bicycle repair, organized by the group Ride 4 a Woman.
The idea of the workshop is simple: to help disadvantaged women gain new, marketable skills and at the same time promote an environmentally-friendly form of travel, namely, cycling. It’s part of the Social Bike Business Program, now being developed in Uganda. The model originates with One Street, an international cycle advocacy organisation located in the United States, in Prescott, Arizona.
The idea has spread to Los Angeles and further afield to places such as Budapest, Hungary and Prague, Czech Republic. For the women who participated in the Uganda workshop, it was an eye opener to the multiple possibilities of the bicycle.
The new face of bicycle mechanics
Feredisa Kamahanga, one of the participants said, “I am very excited about this. For the first time I can now remove a tyre from a bicycle and put it back.” She added “I have gained training as a bike mechanic … and I can’t wait to fix my first bicycle!” Sue Knaup, director of One Street, came to Uganda to hold the workshop and said she “was impressed at how quickly the women picked up on the idea“.
Even though many of the women had never cycled before, Ride 4 a Woman has big plans for them. “Next is job training, which will give the women professional skills to earn a much better income and hopefully break out of the cycle of dawn-to-dark work” explained Knaup. In Uganda, women are often discouraged from mechanical activities or from riding a bicycle. Avenues such as this venture offer new territory for the women to cover.
Big plans ahead
Ride 4 a Woman’s executive director Denis Rubalema has big plans for the project. “We have already begun construction the first phase of the women’s centre on their property, which is due for completion in November.” The centre will house a venue for training courses, a bike repair station, a bike shop, and eventually a bike manufacturing section. It will also be the hub of all local activity.
Rubalema believes that the space will create a lively social atmosphere for the women. In addition to bikes, the women will also engage in other skills learning such as crafts, cooking and tailoring. “The project will have a profound impact on the livelihoods of the women and their families” says Rubalema. Women will now be able to earn money repairing bikes, but they can also use bicycles as taxis, as well as to transport goods to the market.
According to a 2008 World Bank report titled ‘Africa Development Indicators’, Uganda not only has the world’s youngest population but also the highest youth unemployment in the world. Statistics for women unemployment are hard to come by, but unemployment among youth aged 15-24 stood at 83 percent.
Tourism plans
Tourism also features prominently as part of the centre’s grand plan. Guided bike rides are offered to tourists visiting the national park or venturing into the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, which provides a home for gorillas. The area is known for its endangered mountain gorillas and has been described as one of the most biologically diverse areas on earth. Tourists also frequently buy local handcrafted products. Tourism is the country’s fourth largest foreign currency earner and provides thousands of people with employment.
The Ugandan Wildlife Authority is supporting the project, as they actively promote the bike tours and cooperate with Ride 4 a Woman. They are also creating an exciting trail for cyclists to use in the forest. The government is also supportive of these programmes, which figure into the development goals, especially as women are at the heart of development in the country.
The local and district authorities have also come out in support for the Social Bike Business Program. Knaup has also helped Ride 4 a Woman secure a wholesale account for quality bike parts since her return home to the U.S. This is the first time that such bike parts are entering Uganda.
Given the generally low quality of bikes available in the country, this will come as a boon to both ordinary citizens and to the women in the Bwindi area who are mastering the trade. Rubalema underscores the high potential that the bicycle has in store for the programme and for the women of southwestern Uganda. “Our biggest dream is to see the women in the area become empowered women. After all, that is how our mission reads: to empower women using bicycles.”
fonte www.allafrica.com – Justin Hyatt

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SCHOOLS SERVE CHILDREN LESS FOOD
24 march 2011

Schools across the country are choking under the weight of the increased commodity prices; with some rationing food and others on the brink of closing early this term. The high cost of living has made it very expensive for some schools administrators to effectively remain in operation. In some schools, the number of meals and amount of food has been reduced, while in others, co-curricular activities have been scrapped to save money for food. Others have removed some items from the menu.
Government is in the process of reviewing the budgetary allocations to all levels of education in the coming financial year. The education ministry, according to its publicist and under-secretary (finance) Aggrey Kibenge, is “aware of the hike in commodity prices, and we are concerned.”
What do school heads say?
- Aziida Nsubuga, deputy head mistress, Old Kampala SS
We had budgeted to spend sh266m on food for the entire year but the actual expenditure will be above this. All allowances have been suspended due to hiked prices for essential commodities. We used to give students meat once a week but this has been stopped.
- Agnes Ssebayiga, head teacher Makerere College School
The menu has not changed. We expected commodity prices to increase and budgeted accordingly. We are also getting a lot of supplies on credit and will pay later.
- Dorothy Kiggundu, deputy headmistress, Mengo SS
We have 3,000 students and 180 staff members to feed. The expenditure has increased yet we have not increased school fees. But we are lucky to have a school farm where we get some food to supplement.
- Margaret Watuwa, headmistress kololo SSS
We used to spend sh2m on providing lunch to 520 A’ level students for a fortnight; but now our expenditure on food has shot up to sh3.2m. We have reduced on the meat and matooke we prepare for teachers from twice to once a week.
- John Buinza, head of Shimon Demonstration School
We have reduced on the food rations. The education ministry requires that every UPE child in P3-P7 pays sh10,000 for lunch and sh5,500 for pupils in nursery. If the situation continues like this, we might begin serving the kids porridge for lunch.
- Ahmed Baagala, deputy head teacher Kololo High
We used to buy a kilo of maize flour at sh800 but the price has doubled. We spent sh1.3m on posho and beans for the first half of this term but we are going to pay sh2.6m in the second half.
- Muhammad Kigere, DOS Hamdan Girls High School
We stocked our food supplies last July. We have rice, beans and maize flour in stock. So we are still relying on the old stock. We have not started experiencing the pinch.
- Claire Nduhura, Headmistress City High School
We are finding it a little bit hard to feed students. Government schools are the most affected because they cannot easily increase school fees. Judging from last year’s expenditure, we had estimated to spend sh34.5m on food this term but already sh28m has been spent yet we still have another month to go. We used to give them soya peas twice a week but we have failed, due to the high prices.
- Florence Akello, head teacher St Mary’s Magadalene Lira
l have failed to get the type of beans my students like.The School has 884 students and they eat 140 kg of posho everyday. Next term, we shall stock beans and posho in large quantities
- Charles Otim, deputy head of Nkonkonjeru Primary School
A sack of maize flour that used to cost sh100,000 is twice the amount. We have had to ration food for our pupils to avoid wastage. As a result of higher prices, there might be a slight increment in fees.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug – Conan Businge

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UGANDA, UNA CENTRALE A BIOMASSA DA 40MW VICINO KAMPALA
14 marzo 2011

Una centrale elettrica a bio-massa da 40MW sarà costruita nella localita’ di Namungoona, nel distretto di Kampala. L’opera, dal costo previsto di circa 160 milioni di euro, sarà realizzata da una partnership tra Sesam Energetics, uno dei protagonisti più attivi nel mercato locale delle rinnovabili, e l’americana Taylor Biomass Energy, con sede a Montgomery, nello Stato di New York.
L’impianto sorgerà nei pressi della strada che collega Namungoona a Lugala, in una zona che ospita una sottostazione elettrica, che sara’ collegata alla centrale.
L’amministratore delegato di Sesam Energetics, Maalanti Noah, ha riferito in un’intervista ai media locali che la centrale avrà la capacità di lavorare giornalmente circa 1.030 tonnellate di rifiuti solidi  prodotti dall’area urbana di Kampala e dall’hinterland della capitale ugandese, e che dell’energia prodotta fruiranno oltre 35.000 nuclei familiari.
fonte www.agi.it

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UGANDA, 154 MLN PER SVILUPPO REGIONI CENTRALE E OVEST
22 marzo 2011

Il governo ugandese ha avviato un programma di sviluppo da un costo stimato di oltre 154 milioni di euro a favore dei distretti di Luwero e Ruwenzori, situati rispettivamente nelle regioni centrale e occidentale. Del programma beneficeranno le comunità che sopportarono il peso socio-economico della guerra civile che ne devastò il territorio a più riprese, nei periodi 1981-1986 e 1996-2003.
In una dichiarazione a Kampala, il segretario permanente dell’Ufficio del primo ministro, Pius Bigirimana, ha annunciato che il piano prenderà il via con un progetto iniziale del valore pari a circa tre milioni, cui si aggiungeranno successivamente stanziamenti di denaro pubblico e di aiuti allo sviluppo da parte di Stati esteri.
Bigirimana ha aggiunto che le autorità locali dovranno sottoporre al più presto al governo i progetti ritenuti piu’ urgenti per la definitiva approvazione.
fonte www.agi.it

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UGANDA, SARA’ POTENZIATO ACQUEDOTTO KAMPALA
24 marzo 2011

L’acquedotto della capitale dell’Uganda sarà potenziato per permettere approvvigionamenti adeguati a tutti i quartieri. L’Ente idrico ugandese ha annunciato la costruzione di una seconda stazione di trattamento delle acque a Katosi, una ventina di chilometri a sud-est di Kampala.
L’impianto, ha rilevato l’amministratore delegato dell’Ente, William Muhairwe, “servirà ad alleggerire la pressione attualmente esercitata sulla stazione di Ggaba e fara’ fronte adeguatamente al fabbisogno idrico della capitale, dove si registra una costante crescita demografica“. Muhariwe ha assicurato che il nuovo impianto sarà completato nel giro di tre anni.
fonte www.agi.it

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UGANDA, IL GOVERNO INVESTE NELLE STRADE
25 marzo 2011

Il settore stradale farà la parte del leone nel bilancio dello Stato ugandese per l’anno 2011-12. Lo ha annunciato il ministro delle Finanze di Kampala, signora Syda Bbumba, in un incontro con i giornalisti nell’intervallo di una riunione del consiglio dei ministri, rilevando che “anche nel prossimo anno saranno consistenti i finanziamenti al settore stradale, al fine di completare i lavori in corso e avviare la costruzione di nuove arterie“.
Nel bilancio 2010-11, così come in quello precedente, al settore delle strade furono dedicati fondi pubblici pari a oltre 8 miliardi di euro.
L’operazione, ha spiegato il ministro, serviraà anche a “stimolare la crescita, creare impieghi e ridurre la disoccupazione giovanile“.
fonte www.agi.it

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UGANDA E BURUNDI INVIANO ALTRI 4000 SOLDATI A MOGADISCIO
28 marzo 2011

Domenica scorsa Uganda e Burundi si sono impegnati a inviare entro metà marzo altri 4 mila soldati in supporto alle truppe Amisom (esercito dell’Unione Africana in Somalia), incaricate di reprimere i gruppi islamisti insorti: da quattro anni il Paese è scosso da ribellioni intestine guidate da al-Shabaab, gruppo collegato ad al-Qaeda, e dall’organizzazione Hizbul Islam.
La decisione è stata presa dopo una visita dei generali burundese, Godefroid Niyombare, e ugandese, Aronda Nyakairima, nella capitale somala, Mogadiscio. Mille soldati del Burundi sono già stati inviati sul posto.
Il governo federale transitorio, appoggiato dal’Onu e guidato dal presidente Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, controlla solamente metà della capitale ma le truppe dell’Amisom stanno combattendo strenuamente contro i ribelli per estendere il controllo sull’intera area cittadina: la comunità internazionale considera l’attuale governo di transizione come la migliore possibilità di riportare stabilità nel Corno d’Africa, dopo due decadi di conflitto.
fonte it.peacereporter.net

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Cambio valuta: in data 30/03/2011 1 dollaro USA è pari a 2405,25 scellini ugandesi, 1 Euro è pari a 3400,4204 scellini ugandesi

UGANDA, MUSEVENI AFFILA LE ARMI
1 febbraio 2011

HALT PRE-ELECTION INTIMIDATION CAMPAIGN
10 febbraio 2011

VERSO IL VOTO, TIMORI E CRITICHE DELLA COMUNITÀ INTERNAZIONALE
10 february 2011

SECONDARY SCHOOLS DOUBLE A’LEVEL FEES FRIDAY
10 february 2011

MUSEVENI TO REVIEW MAKERERE FEES
14 february 2011

IL VOTO E I RISCHI DEL PETROLIO
17 febbraio 2011

AL VOTO COL PETROLIO DA SPARTIRE
17 febbraio 2011

UGANDA, LA SOLITA VECCHIA SFIDA
17 febbraio 2011

MUSEVENI VERSO LA RIELEZIONE
17 febbraio 2011

UGANDA SHILLING LIKELY TO TEST RECORD LOWS THURSDAY
17 february 2011

COTTON PRICES HIT RECORD HIGH THURSDAY
17 february 2011

FUEL PRICES EXPECTED TO RISE
18 february 2011

PRESIDENT MUSEVENI GETS 4TH TERM
20 february 2011

MUSEVENI VINCE ELEZIONI PRESIDENZIALI. OPPOSIZIONE DENUNCIA BROGLI
21 febbraio 2011

Le elezioni presidenziali del 18 febbraio si avvicinano e il presidente ugandese Yoweri Museveni si candida per il suo quarto mandato. Una sconfitta non la ipotizza nemmeno e intanto va oliando l’apparato repressivo.
L’opposizione ne scorge i segnali e denuncia il clima di paura. E’ di un paio di settimane fa l’allarme lanciato dal presidente della Commissione elettorale, Badru Kiddungu, che ha rivelato di essere stato informato dalla polizia dell’attività di nove milizie partitiche che si starebbero armando per “fare la guardia ai propri voti“. Non ha fornito i nomi dei gruppi, né le ‘parentele’ politiche di ogni formazione ma i giornalisti ugandesi sanno di cosa stesse parlando il funzionario: due sono in particolare le bande più pericolose, i Kiboko Boys e i Black Mambas, tutte e due gravitanti nell’orbita del partito di governo, l’Nrm (National Resistance Movement, ndr) che in passato le ha impiegate – e lo sta facendo tuttora – per intimidire i membri dell’opposizione.
I Kiboko Boys, in particolare, sono stati costituiti grazie ai finanziamenti di molti imprenditori e possidenti della capitale, stanchi di contare i danni alle loro proprietà, in seguito a manifestazioni politiche e moti di piazza; lo scorso giugno, i Kiboko hanno attaccato Kizza Besigye, leader del Forum for Democratic Change mentre teneva un comizio in una piazza della capitale. Besigye ha ragione di aver paura: si sussurra a Kampala che l’uomo che guiderà un’ampia coalizione anti-Museveni, l’Inter-Party Cooperation, stia erodendo il consenso per il presidente soprattutto nelle campagne, il grande bacino di voti del governo.
In questi giorni i reparti antisommossa hanno visto ampliare la propria dotazione, in vista di eventuali disordini: domenica 23 gennaio è arrivato dalla Tanzania un carico speciale diretto alla caserma di Naguru, nel cui cortile i cronisti di ‘The Monitor ‘hanno contato 50 vetture, tre autobus, 16 camion dotati di cannoni lacrimogeni o ad acqua, tre mezzi antincendio, quattro autocisterne, due carrelli elevatori e sei autocarri e decine di divise ignifughe e giubbini antiproiettili. I vertici della polizia sostengono che questi mezzi siano stati ordinati ben prima e che sono stati consegnati in prossimità delle elezioni solo per una semplice coincidenza.
L’opposizione però ricorda i manifestanti uccisi nel 2009 e teme che gli apparati di sicurezza si stiano preparando per la battaglia. E’ un dato di fatto che nelle strade di Kampala siano comparsi agenti armati fino ai denti in divise nuove di zecca. Così come non è un mistero che sia in corso un massiccio reclutamento di giovani nelle milizie pro-Museveni, ufficialmente “per aiutare la polizia a mantenere l’ordine“. Haji Munyagwa, ha addirittura denunciato il presidente per questa mobilitazione che ha come scopo “quello di intimidire i supporter dei partiti di opposizione. I miei hanno paura a prensentarsi ai miei comizi“.
In questo clima è esplosa la denuncia di pressioni da parte dei comandi militari su membri della Commissione elettorale: Akbar Godi, giovane parlamentare dell’Fdc, sostiene di aver saputo di un incontro, tenutosi il 20 gennaio, nella caserma di Bondo, tra il capo delle Forze di difesa, generale Aronda Nyakairima, il comandante della 409esima Brigata, colonnello Martin Ndyanabo e Rose Atima, membro della commissione. Nel corso della riunione, a quest’ultima sarebbe stato intimato di trovare un modo per far votare i soldati ugandesi di stanza in Congo, sebbene molti di loro non siano iscritti nei registri elettorali.
Godi ha una reputazione ambigua, è sotto processo per l’omicidio della moglie, ma dice di avere informazioni di prima mano e di sapere chi altri era presente. L’esercito nega, parla di un semplice briefing sulla sicurezza in vista del voto, ma non è un segreto per nessuno a chi vanno le simpatie dei militari. Besigye non si fida della commissione e ha annunciato che annuncerà i risultati del voto attraverso canali suoi. Museveni gli ha risposto che in tal caso lo arresterà. Non ultima, resta la questione dei brogli elettorali, il cui rischio viene denunciato dall’opposizione che chiede il rinvio del voto.
Tutti elementi che rendono il clima incandescente e la tornata elettorale un appuntamento ad alto rischio.
fonte it.peacereporter.net - Alberto Tundo

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HALT PRE-ELECTION INTIMIDATION CAMPAIGN
10 february 2011

Ugandan police and Resident District Commissions are intimidating civil society activists seeking to expose and condemn allegations of government corruption, Human Rights Watch said today. Outside Kampala, some officials are also intimidating journalists reporting about the activists’ efforts.
Since February 5, 2011, Kampala police have intimidated, arrested, and detained 16 people who distributed a joint statement on behalf of several Ugandan nongovernmental organizations. Some were held as long as overnight, though no charges were filed.
In Lira district, police and the resident district commissioner summoned a civil society activist to the police station for interrogation after a member of her organization read the statement during a radio talk show. “Anti-corruption efforts should be welcomed, not suppressed” said Maria Burnett, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Civil society activists are protected in international law from reprisals for legitimate freedom of expression. They shouldn’t be facing interrogations or accusations of partisanship when they speak out for transparency and accountability about state resources.”
Ugandans will hold presidential and parliamentary elections on February 18. Unlike past elections in Uganda, the 2011 campaign period has been relatively free of state-orchestrated violence. However, during the election campaign serious concerns have emerged about how public funds are being used, particularly to support the campaigns of the ruling National Resistance Movement, led by President Yoweri Museveni.
President Museveni came to power in 1986, following a protracted rebellion. After elections marked by violence in 2001, the president pushed through an amendment to the constitution in 2005 that nullified Uganda’s two-term presidential limit, allowing him to run in an equally controversial election in 2006 and again in 2011. This election is just the second since 1986 in which opposition parties have been legally permitted to campaign.
In late January, although Uganda’s Treasury said it had cash flow problems, parliament approved payments of 20 million Uganda shillings (US$8,500) to each of its nearly 330 members as part of a supplementary budget allocation. The money was officially said to be for monitoring government programs, but many anti-corruption activists questioned whether that was the real reason behind such a large disbursement of money to government officials just a few weeks before elections.
A coalition of nongovernmental organizations coordinated by the National NGO Forum working on a campaign called ‘Return Our Money’ issued a statement on January 26 condemning the government’s allocation of public funds in this manner and calling on members of parliament to return the money.
At least twelve have done so and the activists continue to call on the public to intensify pressure on other parliamentarians holding on to the money. In the statement, the authors contend that the payments were “widely believed to be a bribe” given that the members of parliament already receive money for monitoring work, that there were no guidelines for spending the money, and that the novel payout came just a few weeks before the elections.
The statement lists several development projects, such as water sources, food for students, and sanitation services, which could have used the money.
fonte www.afronline.org

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VERSO IL VOTO, TIMORI E CRITICHE DELLA COMUNITÀ INTERNAZIONALE
10 febbraio 2011

Poche se non nessuna delle raccomandazioni formulate dagli organismi internazionali per garantire un corretto svolgimento del processo elettorale sono state seguite dal governo di Kampala: è la convinzione espressa da Graham Elson, vice-presidente della missione di osservatori europei inviati nel paese in vista delle elezioni presidenziali, previste il prossimo 18 febbraio.
“Dal 2006 ad oggi pochi passi in avanti sono stati fatti” osserva Graham ricordando che “una delle principali raccomandazioni in occasione dell’ultimo appuntamento con le urne riguardava la necessità di una maggiore indipendenza della commissione elettorale e la trasparenza sul finanziamento ai partiti“. A parte questo, secondo gli esperti, il governo avrebbe dovuto interrogarsi sull’opportunità di reinserire il limite di due mandati presidenziali come previsto dalla Costituzione, ampiamente ‘aggirata’ dal presidente Yoweri Museveni, al potere ininterrottamente dal 1986.
A margine di una cerimonia per la presentazione di un ‘codice di condotta’ per i candidati alle elezioni, responsabili dei diritti umani dell’alto commissariato Onu (Unhcr) hanno invitato i politici, di qualunque partito, a esimersi dal soffiare sulle differenze etniche e religiose e incitare alla violenza a scopi propagandistici.
fonte www.misna.org

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SECONDARY SCHOOLS DOUBLE A’LEVEL FEES FRIDAY
10 february 2011

The cost of sending a child to school has almost doubled in the last 10 years, according to a survey. A study by ‘Saturday Vision’ shows that average annual fees for boarding school, students in Advanced Level, stands at about sh320,000, up from sh150,000 a decade ago. Most of the top schools charge between sh500,000 and sh700,000 and only about 20 schools have their fees lower than sh100,000. Most of the schools with low fees are Government-aided schools in rural districts.
The survey randomly sampled schools countrywide, irrespective of their performance. It only looked at tuition fee and excluding other costs. According to government figures, in the mid-1980s, the education sector was dominated by public schools. Primary and secondary students then paid school fees ranging from sh9,000 ($5) to sh18,000 ($10) per year; and most schools asked parents to contribute labour, food to the school.
Today, there is free education in primary and O’level. Yet it is in Government-aided traditional schools have to pay high fees. The analysis also shows that most of the top performing schools at A’ level are still the ones which charge high fees. The schools with the highest tutition fees are still among the best schools at Ordinary and Advanced levels of education.
For instance, Namugongo, Kitende Turkish Light Academy, Seeta High School, King’s College Budo and Merryland High had a high number first grades in last year’s final exams. Basing on the list, schools like Namugongo, Turkish Light Academy, Budo, Ntare School, Kibuli and Namilyango sent a high number of students to public universities. Some top schools are not on the list because their fees were not available by press time.
The increase in fees, according to expert/analysts, is partly because of the rise in the cost of scholastic materials and other related costs in running schools. The increased costs include wages and pension contributions, as well as higher utility bills. Private schools are at liberty to increase fees, unlike Government-aided ones, which must seek permission before doing so. The A’level schools, teacher training institutions and other post-secondary institutions, did not charge fees during the 1980s, but their students were required to bring items such as food and beddings.
The education system suffered the effects of economic decline and political instability during the 1970s and 1980s. The system continued to function, however, with an administrative structure based on regional offices, a national school inspectorate and nationwide school examinations. School maintenance suffered, teachers fled the country and many facilities were damaged by war and vandals. In 1994, a Government committee found that school fees were escalating due to the increasing cost of education, and that most parents were too poor to afford them.
The committee recommended a new fees structure that would impose a ceiling on school dues, with the Government contributing between a third and a half of the costs. Any school wanting to charge more than the maximum would first have to get the backing of the parents and the permission of the ministry. But that did not come to pass; since a liberalised education system could not accommodate the policy.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug – Conan Businge

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MUSEVENI TO REVIEW MAKERERE FEES
14 february 2011

President Yoweri Museveni has promised to cause a review of the Makerere University tuition fees structure to ensure that it is not too expensive to the children of low-income earners.
Addressing students at Makerere yesterday, Museveni said university education did not have to be too prohibitive. This was after the students complained to him that fees were raised each year, above additional charges like exam and internship fees. Museveni said: “Why should we continue providing education expensively when countries like India are providing it cheaply? I will commission a study to show how we can provide university education at an affordable cost” he said.
The President said it was unfair for most of the 4,000 government-sponsored students to come from rich families that can afford to take their children to “first world” secondary schools. He added that the system should be reviewed constantly to ensure that children of the poor also benefit from government sponsorship.
The university vice-chancellor, Venasius Baryamureeba, said the increments were made after a team of professional auditors made research on the unit cost of the university’s education. “It is upon their recommendations that the university based to arrive at the current fess structure” he said. But the students again complained that they were paying sh600,000 for internship which they were doing outside the university.
To this, Baryamureeba responded that the sh600,000 was broken into sh100,000, payable every semester for six semesters to make it affordable. “Of this, sh300,000 is repaid to the students to cater for costs they incur during the internship. Sh300, 000 is for administrative costs” he said.
The President promised to look into these matters after the elections. He expressed regret that some youth continue supporting the opposition when it was only the NRM that had a well-articulated plan for job-creation to bring them out of poverty. The Government, he added, would extend free education to A’level education and tertiary institutions, and introduce student loans. “But after your education, the next important thing is jobs, hence the need to support our job creation strategies” Museveni said.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug – Cyprian Musoke

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IL VOTO E I RISCHI DEL PETROLIO
17 febbraio 2011

Il vincitore delle prossime elezioni presidenziali in Uganda sarà “il primo presidente di uno Stato petrolifero”: a metterlo in risalto, alla vigilia del voto di domani, sono i commentatori finanziari internazionali secondo cui la scoperta di giacimenti per un valore di due miliardi e mezzo di barili, modifica profondamente le prospettive economiche del paese africano.
Dopo decenni di speculazioni, le campagne esplorative a cura dell’anglo-irlandese ‘Tullow Oil’ e della canadese ‘Heritage’ hanno confermato nel 2006 l’importanza delle riserve contenute nel bacino del Lago Alberto. E se la produzione di greggio non è ancora cominciata – ritardata dai disaccordi tra il governo e le multinazionali – gli analisti concordano nel definire positivo l’impatto che le nuove scoperte potranno avere su una popolazione di 33 milioni di persone, l’80% delle quali dipende dall’agricoltura e di cui un terzo vive con meno di un dollaro al giorno.
“Ma il petrolio – sottolinea in un’intervista al quotidiano britannico ‘The Guardian’ Frederick Golooba-Mutebi dell’Istituto di ricerche sociali dell’Università di Makerere – sta suscitando grandi appetiti e gli attivisti ugandesi per la giustizia ambientale contestano gli accordi per la suddivisione della produzione, i cui dettagli non sono stati resi noti, firmati da Kampala con le aziende petrolifere straniere”.
Le royalties (imposte) corrisposte allo stato ugandese, secondo gli attivisti, sarebbero troppo basse e troppo compiacenti le normative di sicurezza e ambientali. “In questo scenario – aggiunge l’esperto – le prossime elezioni assumono un valore centrale, poiché tutto dipenderà dal modo in cui i futuri proventi saranno utilizzati”.
fonte www.misna.org

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AL VOTO COL PETROLIO DA SPARTIRE
17 febbraio 2011

«Do you want another rap?». A chiederlo alla folla che lo acclama in un video auto-prodotto non è un rapper qualunque, ma il presidente dell’Uganda Yoweri Museveni. Nuove tecniche di campagna elettorale: il capo di stato africano in cerca del suo quarto mandato (è al potere dal ’69) ha messo in rima la sua richiesta di voti e la sua canzone nelle ultime settimane è diventata un tormentone.
A ridosso delle elezioni gli abitanti di Kampala l’hanno sentita persino venire dal cielo: hanno alzato gli occhi e c’era un aereoplanino giallo che diffondeva la musica-slogan del presidente. Una «pagliacciata dispendiosa», l’ha etichettata l’opposizione, in un Paese che ha ben altre priorità. Ma Museveni ha scommesso che funzionerà. Il 18 febbraio circa 14 milioni di ugandesi cominceranno a votare per le elezioni presidenziali e parlamentari e l’attuale presidente è dato favorito, contro altri 7 candidati.
Il principale avversario è Kizza Besigye, ex medico personale di Museveni, già candidato nelle precedenti elezioni. ‘L’uomo con il cappello’ (si è sempre presentato così nei manifesti per le elezioni), si è detto certo della sua «ampia vittoria» in un discorso pronunciato in occasione dell’ultimo giorno di una campagna elettorale, segnata da grandi manifestazioni in favore del presidente e del suo principale avversario a Kampala.
«I risultati saranno molto buoni. Dovremmo vincere con un’ampia maggioranza. Non siamo affatto preoccupati» ha affermato Museveni a Entebbe, città vicina al lago Victoria, a circa trenta chilometri dalla capitale Kampala. Circa un milione di osservatori locali vigileranno sulle operazioni di voto, e c’è da ricordare che l’elezione di Museveni nel 2006 venne falsata da brogli, stando a quanto denunciato dalla Corte suprema del paese e dagli osservatori internazionali.
Chiunque vincerà le presidenziali sarà chiamato a gestire le riserve nazionali di 2,5 miliardi di barili di petrolio, scoperte solo di recente e capaci di trasformare le prospettive economiche del Paese africano. Secondo l’ong inglese ‘International Alert ‘le entrate per l’Uganda triplicheranno nei prossimi anni quando si comincerà a estrarre e commercializzare il greggio. Ma «nessun candidato» ha fatto notare Dickens Kamugisha, direttore dell’African Institute for Energy Governance di Kampala, «ha presentato un piano concreto su come i proventi del pretorio saranno condivisi con la comunità locale».
fonte www.vita.it

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UGANDA, LA SOLITA VECCHIA SFIDA
17 febbraio 2011

“Qui non soffierà il vento del cambiamento” dice sprezzante il presidente ugandese Yoweri Museveni, riferendosi alla cacciata dei tiranni di Egitto e Tunisia, evocata dal leader dell’opposizione Kizza Besigye come un refrain benaugurante.
Venerdì 18 febbraio, in Uganda è il giorno del primo turno delle presidenziali. Attese e temute. La stampa riconosce che si tratta della competizione elettorale più combattuta e tesa di sempre. Eppure la sfida non è particolarmente nuova: Museveni, che si candida per un quarto mandato, ha già affrontato Besigye due volte, battendolo nel 2001 e nel 2006. Ma nel Paese c’è un’atmosfera da battaglia finale, un senso di sospensione, come se questa volta fosse in ballo qualcosa di diverso e di più importante.
Una eccezionalità testimoniata dalla spesa affrontata dal partito di governo, il National Restistance Movement (Nrm) per rimanere aggrappato al potere e tenere Museveri incollato alla sedia presidenziale. “Sono le più costose della storia ugandese” ha sentenziato ‘The Daily Monitor’, un autorevole quotidiano di Kampala, che non dice, però, quanto ha speso l’esecutivo. Alcuni conti si possono fare comunque.
A fine dicembre, secondo quanto ricostruito da fonti giornalistiche locali, Museveni convoca il ministro dell’Economia Syda Bbumba: gli chiede, anzi esige, che integri il budget destinato alla presidenza, che ha già bruciato i 64 milioni di scellini ugandesi a disposizione per l’anno fiscale 2010-2011. Vuole altri 92 milioni. Totale: 156 milioni di scellini extra, oltre 48 milioni di euro, ai quali vanno aggiunti altri 108 milioni di scellini per il ministero della Difesa, 82 milioni per la polizia, 83 milioni per la Commissione elettorale e 8,4 milioni per il suo ufficio particolare. Soldi che sono piovuti, guarda caso, sugli apparati di sicurezza, la vera polizza d’assicurazione del governo.
L’opposizione lo sa e ha cercato di disinnescare la minaccia. “Andate e votate tranquilli - dice Besigye ai suoi sostenitori – nessuno può farvi del male“. L’Inter Party Cooperation, l’alleanza per la quale si candida, organizzerà sistemi di navette per andare a prendere gli elettori e scortarli ai seggi. “I militari stiano lontani dalle urne” chiedono altri avversari di Museveni. ma è come predicare nel deserto. Nelle settimane che hanno preceduto questo primo turno, le Forze Armate hanno fatto intendere chiaramente da che parte stanno. Sono tornati in azione i Kiboko Boys e i Black Mambas, gruppi di vigilantes che attaccano i comizi dell’opposizione, bastonano e intimidiscono i “nemici del governo“, ragazzoni senza apparenti affiliazioni politiche ai quali spetta il lavoro sporco, quello che polizia ed esercito non possono fare. Come prendere a sprangate lo stesso Kizza Besigye. Accadde nel 2007, durante un comizio a Kampala.
Ma oltre alle formazioni paramilitari in attività – nove ne ha contate il capo della Commissione elettorale Badru Kiddungu – c’è anche la questione degli ‘elettori fantasma’. Secondo un rapporto del Democracy Monitoring Group, il governo avrebbe arbitrariamente truccato gli elenchi elettorali, iscrivendo nei registri un mezzo milione di elettori che non esistono. E’ un’altra conferma dei brogli già organizzati, grida l’opposizione, denunciando un clima di costante intimidazione, che fanno dell’Uganda una ‘democratura’, un po’ democrazia, un po’ dittatura.
I risultati sembrerebbero già scritti. Dei sette candidati del primo turno, rimarranno in piedi Museveni e Besigye e al ballottaggio vincerà il presidente uscente. Eppure, le percentuali del consenso di quest’ultimo calano mandato dopo mandato. Nel 1996 ha vinto col 75 per cento dei voti, nel 2001 col 69 e nel 2006 con il 56 per cento dei consensi. E ulteriori sorprese potrebbero esserci.
Nel nord, dove Besigye è più forte, si sentono gli effetti della fine degli attacchi del Lord Resistance Army. Migliaia di sfollati e di profughi stanno tornando a casa. Per loro il governo sta stanziando cifre enormi, per costruire scuole, ospedali e questo molto probabilmente potrebbe rompere consolidate alleanze politiche.
Accade il contrario invece nei distretti centrali, che corrispondono al Buganda, un regno monarchico di tipo tradizionale, fino a poco tempo fa alleato di Museveni, che adesso invece accusa il governo centrale di volerne la distruzione. Qui c’è la cosiddetta ‘cattle belt’, dove il consenso per Besigye è in crescita. Il solo Buganda ha quasi 3,3 milioni di elettori. Vincere qui, significherebbe avere ottime chances di vincere in tutto il Paese.
Ma la questione è un po’ più complessa. Come fa notare il giovane fondatore e direttore del ‘The Independent’, Andrew Mwenda, l’Uganda è un Paese in forte trasformazione, e nessuno dei due principali candidati è attrezzato per assecondare e guidare il cambiamento. Tanto Museveni che Besigye sono molto avanti con gli anni, quando secondo il censimento dell’anno scorso, più della metà dei 31 milioni di ugandesi hanno meno di 18 anni. Vecchia è anche questa sfida, giunta ormai alla terza edizione.
Mentre il Paese guarda altrove. L’Uganda sforna ogni anno 400 mila laureati, dei quali solo 20 mila trovano un lavoro. Cresce l’alfabetizzazione, cresce l’urbanizzazione. Processi che hanno eroso il consenso per Museveni e che nel breve periodo potrebbero premiare l’opposizione ma nel lungo non è chiaro dove si incanaleranno. Il cocktail di base ricorda quello tunisino. Molti giovani istruiti, inseriti e partecipi delle dinamiche mondiali, governati da un sistema vecchio che non è più in sintonia con il resto del Paese.
Ma Museveni non ci pensa a farsi da parte. Mercoledì 16, travestito da statista sognatore, ha dichiarato che si farà da parte solo dopo che avrà raggiunto il vero traguardo della sua carriera, la costituzione di una federazione dell’Africa Orientale, con Burundi, Kenya, Ruanda e Tanzania. Ma non è ancora chiaro se fosse una promessa o una minaccia.
fonte it.peacereporter.net - Alberto Tundo

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MUSEVENI VERSO LA RIELEZIONE
17 febbraio 2011

“Museveni è un ottimo presidente. Ora però c’è bisogno di cambiare“. Le parole di Erasmus Okanya, impiegato in una delle più grosse banche dell’East Africa, riassumono bene la situazione che sta vivendo l’Uganda. “Ha portato stabilità e crescita, ma ha anche trasformato lo stato in una emanazione di se stesso“.
Dal 1986 al governo, Yoweri Museveni ha ottenuto il potere dopo anni di guerriglia contro il dittatore Milton Obote. Oggi è ancora in carica e i sondaggi lo danno vincente. I suoi successi sono incontestabili. L’Uganda è un Paese che cresce al 6-7% annuo, ha una economia stabile e un peso internazionale di rilievo nonostante le piccole dimensioni. Quello che manca è la libertà di espressione e di dissenso.
“L’Uganda è una democrazia, ci può essere dissenso, nessuno ti vieta di correre per le presidenziali” afferma Stella Kiwawulo, ruandese, da quarant’anni a Kampala. Quello che dice Stella lo pensano in molti. Kampala è tappezzata dai volantini elettorali dei candidati. Non solo per le presidenziali, ma anche per le locali. La sensazione è che alla gente sia dato il diritto di esprimere il proprio parere, ma così non è. Repressioni, arresti indiscriminati e violenze sono all’ordine del giorno.
Le opposizioni hanno già denunciato brogli e hanno chiesto che le elezioni siano rimandate. “Ho fatto domanda per la tessera elettorale quattro mesi fa. Mi hanno scattato una foto, ho firmato alcuni documenti e mi hanno detto di ritornare dopo cinque settimane” racconta Anne Ojwee, impiegata presso l’emittente televisiva Ntv. “Quando sono ritornata per ritirare la tessera mi hanno detto che non l’avevano, che si era persa. Così il 18 febbraio non potrò votare. Spero almeno che nessuno lo faccia per me“.
Museveni ha messo in campo una tattica vincente. Ha imbavagliato le opposizioni, ha portato dalla sua parte i media e ha ‘comprato’ il voto della gente. Qui basta poco. Per le strade non si possono non notare le magliette gialle con la faccia del presidente. “Peace, Security and Stability” è lo slogan che campeggia un po’ ovunque. Nei villaggi i sostenitori regalano pezzi di sapone, offrono bottigliette di Coca Cola e distribuiscono zanzariere da mettere sopra i letti. Le elezioni si vincono anche così.
I principali sfidanti sono Olara Otunnu. In esilio per 23 anni, è tornato in patria mettendosi alla testa del Congresso Popolare Ugandese. L’altro candidato è Kizza Besigye, leader del Forum per il Cambiamento Democratico. Perdente già nel 2001 e nel 2005, quest’anno ci riprova per la terza volta.
“Ma che cosa cambia se queste persone vanno al potere” si chiede Charles Luweero, tassista. “Faranno esattamente quello che ha fatto Museveni. Daranno i posti pubblici agli amici, ai membri dello stesso clan. Allora perché cambiare, almeno Museveni si è dimostrato capace di migliorare le nostre vite“.
I due veri nemici del presidente sono le popolazioni del nord, gli Acholi, che per anni sono stati abbandonati ai ribelli del Lord’s Resistance Army. Un gruppo guerrigliero che ha tenuto in scacco le regioni settentrionali fino al 2008, portando morte e devastazione. Ora queste popolazioni pretendono un cambio al vertice. Dello stesso parere è anche Ronald Muwenda Mutebi, re del Buganda, il regno più influente dell’Uganda. Un uomo che ha solo poteri di rappresentanza, ma i suoi sudditi lo seguono come un leader politico. Basta una sua parola per spostare migliaia di voti e a queste elezioni sembra volersi schierare contro il presidente.
Intanto Museveni mette in chiaro le cose. “Ho sentito alcune persone parlare di violenze durante le elezioni. Non ci saranno violenze. Chiunque provi a usare la forza lo farà a suo rischio e pericolo” ha precisato durante una conferenza al campo sportivo di Soroti. Per sottolineare il concetto ha fatto arrivare dalla Tanzania mezzi anti sommossa, giubbotti antiproiettile e altri equipaggiamenti. La gente ha il terrore che si possano ripetere le rivolte delle ultime elezioni, quando Kampala è stata teatro di scontri tra le fazioni.
Per molti l’agonia della democrazia è un buon prezzo da pagare per avere tranquillità e crescita economica.
fonte it.peacereporter.net - Tommaso Cinquemani

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UGANDA SHILLING LIKELY TO TEST RECORD LOWS THURSDAY
17 february 2011

Uganda’s shilling may well test record lows against the dollar next week on concerns about possible post-election violence, while sustained strength in copper prices should lift Zambia’s kwacha.
Uganda - The shilling may test last month’s lifetime low of 2,395/40 against the dollar if fears of political violence materialise in the wake of Friday’s presidential election. Falling for the third day running, the unit hit 2,383/88 on Thursday, putting it within a whisker of the psychologically key 2,400 support level.
The Bank of Uganda said a month ago it would take an aggressive stance to maintain exchange rate stability, and has injected tens of millions of dollars into the market since the unit dipped below 2,340. However, a recovery from a Jan. 18 low proved shortlived, and further central bank intervention on Tuesday failed to stem the tide, with banks and companies scrambling to secure dollars in case of political unrest and disruption to the economy.
“I think we will touch 2,400” said Lucas Ochieng, a trader at Orient Bank Uganda. Others were more sanguine, predicting a stable shilling until the political dust settled. “I think most people are out of the market until the elections are finished” said Phillip Ssali of Standard Chartered Uganda. “As long as it’s not depreciating too much I think the central bank can stay out until afterwards.”
President Yoweri Museveni is expected to win a fourth term, although arch-rival Kizza Besigye, whom he defeated in 2001 and 2006, has upped the stakes by alleging vote-rigging and vowing to stage street protests if he loses.
Zambia - The kwacha, the currency of Africa’s largest copper producer, is seen strengthening against the dollar next week, reflecting a sustained surge in copper prices to $10,000 per tonne. Commercial banks quoted the unit at 4,740 on Thursday compared with a one-month high of 4,710 a week ago. “Copper prices above $10,100 per tonne have rekindled kwacha bulls and the general commodity recovery has boosted risk prospects across all emerging markets” said Stanley Tamele, Standard Chartered’s local head of global markets. Key support for the dollar now hinged around 4,700, and 4,650 below that, he said. The kwacha met firm resistance around 4,600 during 2010. On the few occasions it breached that level, it tested but failed to breach 4,550.
NIGERIA – The naira is seen weakening to around 153 to the dollar early next week but could appreciate after that on expectations of foreign oil firms beginning month-end forex sales. Traders said dollar demand from at least two lenders forced the unit down to 152.90 in early trade on Thursday from 152.65 at Wednesday’s close. “The naira should trade within a tight range next week, probably crossing the 153 to the dollar mark until the cyclical month-end dollar sales by energy companies” one dealer said.
Demand for the dollar has slowed in recent weeks but peaked on Thursday, largely due to low supply, traders said. The central bank sold all the $203 million demanded at its bi-weekly auction on Wednesday at 150.50 naira compared with the $200 million sold at 150.47 on Monday.
Kenya - Kenya’s shilling is likely to weaken on the back of increased dollar demand from importers and depressed inflows, mainly from the agricultural sector. At 1105 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 81.35/45 from last Thursday’s close of 81.30/40. The unit was last at these levels for a sustained period in July last year. Traders expect the shilling to move in the 81.00-82.00 range next week. Renaissance Capital said potential deterioration in food security, reluctance of banks to pass on low interest rates to borrowers and political feuding ahead of 2012 elections posed the main risks to the outlook for east Africa’s biggest economy. Technical analysis shows the shilling in a short-term weakening trend, with the currency softer than its 14- and 50-day simple moving averages.
Tanzania - Tanzania’s shilling is likely to lose ground due to increased dollar demand from oil and telecommunications firms. The unit was quoted at 1,504/1,509 to the dollar compared with 1,500/1,505 a week ago.
“The shilling has weakened a bit as a result of a shortage of inflows and growing demand from oil and telecoms sectors” said Christopher Makombe, head of foreign exchange trading at Standard Chartered Tanzania. “We expect some dividend payments soon and this will put more pressure on the shilling. Most banks are not comfortable selling dollars at the moment. We have traditionally been seeing a weak shilling in the first quarter of the year”.
Traders said the unit would trade between 1,500 and 1,510 in the coming days. “We are seeing very few inflows. Many traders regard 1,500 as the resistance level and are unwilling to pick up dollars at these rates” said Fred Siwali, a dealer at CRDB Bank. Weakness could persist until dollars started to flow from cash crop exports between June and November, he added. Between last Thursday and Tuesday, the central bank traded $30.85 million on its Interbank Foreign Exchange Market, according to its website.
Ghana - The cedi should stabilize around 1.51 against the dollar due to the issuance of a three-year bond open to offshore investors and expected pronouncements on the exchange rate from the central bank after an interest rate decision on Friday. “Friday’s press briefing offers another opportunity for the Bank of Ghana to allay the fears of the market” said Sampson Akligoh of investment house Databank.
“If the central bank is able to guide expectations very well, l believe the cedi will stabilize around 1.51/3 within the short term as the fundamentals of the country’s external account remain quite strong.” Biggles Amponsah from Access Bank said inflows from the mining, shipping and telecommunications sector had driven the cedi’s recovery from a record low of 1.575 earlier this month.
The announcement of the bond issue, which should attract foreign inflows, had buoyed confidence, he added. “The 3-year bond issue has given most forex traders enough reason to remain bearish on the USD” Amponsah said.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug

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COTTON PRICES HIT RECORD HIGH THURSDAY
17 february 2011

Cotton prices have hit record highs again, raising prospects of better household income for farmers and improved export revenue this year. The prices jumped to sh2,500, up from sh1,600 a kilogramme.
Farmers say middlemen are willing to pay high prices because their aim is to get big volumes to sell to the international markets where ’super profits’ are made. Joseph Muryagasu, a Kasese-based farmer, said they were getting better returns as a result of increase in prices. He said prices had been stagnant for almost 15 years. “This will boost farmers morale to grow more cotton” Jolly Sabune, the Cotton Development Organisation head, said in an interview recently. She explained that the rise was due to increased worldwide demand, adding that there were shortages in other countries.
Recent climate change disasters have wrecked havoc in the leading cotton producing nations, the US, China and Pakistan. India, the world’s second largest cotton growing nation, has stopped lint exports to stimulate local consumer demand and strengthen its textile industry. The price increase has not been seen since the American Civil War (1861–1865), when shipment of the crop was stopped, according to experts.
“Despite out-of-season drought in the south-western region, we expect to produce 130,000 bells this year, up from 70,000 bells last year. This will translate to sh90.7b household income. Export revenue will amount to $73.4m (about sh171b)” Sabune said. Uganda’s cotton industry is stabilising, especially after the restoration of peace in northern Uganda, a traditional cotton growing region.
The cotton regulatory body has intervened to support farmers by supplying high-quality seeds and pesticides at affordable prices. But Sabune called for the development of a vibrant spinning and textile industry to absorb the raw cotton, arguing that value-addition would ensure better returns to farmers.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug – Ibrahim Kasita and Chris Mugasha

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FUEL PRICES EXPECTED TO RISE
18 february 2011

Consumers of fuel in the country should expect to dig deeper into their pockets after dealers said yesterday that the problem is acute and may not be reversed soon. They attributed the price increment to the appreciating dollar and increase in global fuel prices.
“The price is not likely to reduce in the shortest time possible as long as the current exchange rate is maintained and the international market price also remains stable” said Mr Peter Ochieng, operations and marketing manager, Kobil Uganda. “The price is likely to remain at its current level or may rise further.”
Local fuel prices were by yesterday Shs3, 300 for petro, Shs2, 750 for diesel and Sh22, 400 for Kerosene. The prices had since October dropped to as low as Shs2, 950 for petrol, Shs2, 340 for diesel and Shs2, 000 for kerosene.
Shell Uganda Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ivan Kyayonka told Daily Monitor yesterday that the fuel prices were increasing due to the rise in the international prices and the high exchange rate. US Crude oil on the international market cost $85.22 a barrel and the European Brent crude oil $103.33.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug – Isaac Khisa

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PRESIDENT MUSEVENI GETS 4TH TERM
20 february 2011

President Yoweri Museveni, the flag-bearer of the National Resistance Movement party, was yesterday declared the winner of the February 18, 2011 presidential election.
The Electoral Commission chairman, Badru Kiggundu, declared Museveni the winner at Namboole stadium at 4:26pm before journalists and election observers. Museveni polled 68.3% of the votes cast, while his closest rival, Col. Kizza Besigye, of the Forum for Democratic Change, got 26% of the 8,272,760 votes cast. This means that Museveni’s support rose by 10% compared to his score in the 2006 presidential election when he secured 59.2%.
Besigye scored 37.3% of the votes in 2006, which means his support has dropped by 11%. In terms of actual votes, Museveni’s votes went up by over one million from 4.1m in 2006 to over 5.4m in 2011 polls. On the other hand, Besigye’s votes dropped from 2.6m in 2006 to slightly over 2m this year.
Museveni also received more votes during this election than what he got in 2001 when he garnered 5.1million votes. But Besigye’s votes dropped to almost the same amount he polled in the 2001, where he had 27.7% of the votes. According to the results released by the commission yesterday, President Museveni won in all regions receiving 62.7% of the votes in central, 68.2% in eastern; 56.9% in northern and 80% in western. On the other hand, Besigye polled 31.7% in central; 28% in eastern; 26% in northern and 18% in western.
The UPC flag-bearer scored 7.2% in northern Uganda, beating Norbert Mao, who got 6.4% in the region. But Mao got 2.3% of the votes in central region, surprisingly beating Beti Kamya, who got 1.5%, as well as Bidandi Ssali, Abed Bwanika and Samuel Lubega, who each got less than one percent in their home regions. Kamya campaigned on a platform of federalism. Besigye yesterday rejected the results, alleging fraud in the electoral process.
Out of the 13,954,129 registered voters, 8,272,760 voted, translating to 59.29% of registered voters. The commission released results from 23,856 polling stations out of a total of 23,968. In 2006, the voter turnout stood at slightly over 69%. Though the 2011 campaigns were largely peaceful, isolated incidences of violence were registered in the eastern districts of Mbale and the West Nile district of Arua.
Speaking to journalists after announcing the results, Kiggundu called upon the candidates who lost in the elections to concede defeat. He asked Ugandans to remain calm. The commission said the process was free and fair and asked those with complaints to register them.
Kiggundu said the commission could have made some mistakes in the process but added that the mistakes did not affect the results. He said it was good that Besigye had not declared his own results as he had planned to do. He reiterated that only the commission was mandated by law to ascertain and declare the results.
On display of ticked ballot papers by Besigye at a press conference on Saturday, Kiggundu said: “This is not the first time he is doing that. This time around the security agency will take him on and ask him to explain where he got them from.” The commission denied allegations of rigging but promised to look into grievances raised by the election observers.
Present at the announcement was the Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, who warned the public against riots, saying “the iron arm of the law will deal with them. Wherever there are any grievances, there is a procedure in place provided by the Constitution for addressing such. If anybody does not abide by the law, the full force of the law will came down upon them” he added.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug – Barbara Among and Milton Olupot

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MUSEVENI VINCE ELEZIONI PRESIDENZIALI. OPPOSIZIONE DENUNCIA BROGLI
21 febbraio 2011

Yoweri Museveni vince un’altra volta le elezioni presidenziali in Uganda, e si impone al primo turno sugli altri sei candidati con il 68 per cento delle preferenze. Il suo principale sfidante, Kizza Besigye, si ferma invece al 26 per cento dei voti, e denuncia brogli elettorali durante le votazioni: il partito dominante è accusato di aver utilizzato fondi statali per comprare i voti.
Besigye dunque non riconosce come legittimo il risultato delle elezioni. Ancora prima che questo fosse reso noto, lo sfidante di Museveni aveva minacciato di indire proteste di piazza contro eventuali scorrettezze nelle votazioni. “É già evidente – aveva dichiarato – che si sono verificate frodi elettorali. Il volere del popolo non può liberamente esprimersi in un contesto di corruzione e repressione politica“.
Le votazioni sono avvenute in un clima di relativa calma, ma numerosi scontri si sono verificati tra i sostenitori dei diversi candidati alla presidenza. Museveni, da parte sua, si è impegnato a mettere fine ad ogni tipo di protesta.
É dal 1996 che l’attuale presidente vince le elezioni, ed è la terza volta in cui prevale sullo sfidante Besigye.
fonte it.peacereporter.net

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Cambio valuta: in data 28/02/2011 1 dollaro USA è pari a 2355 scellini ugandesi, 1 Euro è pari a 3247,3084 scellini ugandesi

UGANDA SHILLING DEPRECIATES BY 22%
31 December 2010

WHAT WILL UGANDA BE LIKE IN 2011?
2 january 2011

DA NAIROBI A KAMPALA, PIÙ TRASPORTI PUBBLICI CONTRO L’INQUINAMENTO
2 gennaio 2011

UGANDA, PER LA PRIMA VOLTA UNA DONNA A CAPO DI UNA BANCA
5 gennaio 2011

SHILLING CONTINUES WEAK TREND IN 2011
6 january 2011

UGANDA, NEL 2010 BOOM RIMESSE DALL’ESTERO (+56%)
10 gennaio 2011

YELLOW FEVER VACCINE FINALLY HERE
14 january 2011

GOVERNMENT WANTS 3,000 YOUTH FOR ICT JOBS
15 january 2011

AFRICA’S INFORMAL ECONOMY CAN BOOST INNOVATION
16 gennaio 2011

IN UGANDA UCCISO ATTIVISTA GAY, AVEVA DENUNCIATO GIORNALE OMOFOBO
27 gennaio 2011

The Uganda Shilling has lost value of 22 per cent against the US dollar in the period running between November 2009 and November 2010. Bank of Uganda said the depreciation had minimal impact on the national economy. However, interest rates on foreign currency denominated loans slightly edged up, while imports became expensive as importers needed more dollars to purchase goods.
Uganda like many other developing, emerging and advanced economies has had its currency depreciate against the green back as a result of scarcity caused by the global financial crisis. The scarcity caused high demand for the US dollars, used as a measure to shore up liquidity on international financial  markets.
Dr Adam Mugume, the BoU director for research said that international and domestic factors were responsible for the wide depreciation of the Shilling in the year. The depreciation was also attributed to the debt crisis surrounding the Euro-Zone.
www.allafrica.com – Martin Luther Oketch

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WHAT WILL UGANDA BE LIKE IN 2011?
2 January 2011

We can be fore for example that most Ugandans will complain about being short of money through most of January 2011 as a result of overspending during the Christmas 2010 holidays and festive season. Therefore, based on long-established patterns of behaviour, history, social norms, geopolitical forces, religion and economics, the following is a forecast that can reasonably be expected to unfold in 2011.
The 2011 general election
The biggest news story in Uganda in 2011 will, of course, be the general election. President Museveni has made it clear from 1996 that as a rule, he has no interest in handing power to the opposition. If FDC/IPC candidate Dr Kizza Besigye were to win the February 18 general election, do we see Museveni and First Lady Janet Museveni warmly shaking hands with the new President Kizza Besigye and First Lady Winnie Byanyima at the front door of State House Entebbe?
However, the main opposition parties have also made it clear that (in Besigye’s case) they will not go to court in the event of a rigged election or (in the case of the FDC/IPC and the Democratic Party) they will tally their own results. Put another way, Uganda in 2011 is headed for an aftermath similar to that which followed the 1980 election.
Whoever wins the February election (especially if it is the NRM), there will be plenty of drama on the national political landscape brought about by the emergence of the private (or independent) candidates in the 2010 election primaries and campaign.
Bitter outcry
Very likely, the election will be followed by a loud and bitter outcry in the races for Parliament. There was in 2010 anger among NRM candidates who insisted that they had been rigged out of victory in the primaries and chose to contest in 2011 as independents. If they are defeated at the polls, they will only argue, bitterly, that the rigging has continued. If these independents win, it will be the turn of the NRM party flag bearers to cry out in anger and refuse to concede defeat.
Either way, an ugly situation awaits the NRM after February 2011 that could well mark the start of the effective end of the party as it has been for 25 years.
Should Museveni remain President after February, the number one priority and preoccupation for the next five years will be to make sure that the NRM does not fall apart around him. He will have to calm his restive party. He will spend endless hours at State House and at his Rwakitura country home brokering disputes between feuding NRM politicians.
He will have to offer many jobs as ambassadors to foreign diplomatic missions that do not exist or places on boards of directors that are already full. One or two disgruntled cadres and party leaders can be offered a job or tender.
What happens when the disgruntled people number in the hundreds and there are only so many jobs and so much money to go around? To appease this garrison of the NRM disgruntled, to find them money, jobs and tenders, government hospitals and schools will go for a further five years without the basics, Kampala city will remain without street lights and potholes on the roads will become trenches and pits.
Uganda’s foreign relations
Southern Sudan will be the most anxiously watched news story from Africa in 2011. It will be watched as no other recent story by Ethiopia, Arab North Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Libya, Egypt, Chad, Eritrea and by the United States, Britain, Russia, and China.
Every country that shares an international border with the soon-to-be-independent Republic of South Sudan will be scrutinised for its stability and how it can play a role in stabilising the situation should the January 9, 2011 referendum result into civil war. As such, Uganda will be closely watched.
The Ugandan head of state, Yoweri Museveni, will be watched and the main opposition leaders as well, for their positions and leverage with and in South Sudan. Because Uganda has troops in that other African trouble spot Somalia, it will have a heightened strategic value to the Western powers and this will determine whom they back or allow as president in 2011.
All through 2011, the US diplomatic cables published by the WikiLeaks website will continue to roll out. There is much that is still unknown about what is said about President Museveni and his government officials.
However, the little we glimpsed into in 2010 indicated that there will be much for Museveni to fear from Libyan strongman Col. Muammar Gaddafi even if Museveni remains in power after the February election.
Other than that, Uganda whether under Museveni after February or led by an opposition politician, will remain at the behest of the West, taking directives, responding to western requests, entering into bi-lateral agreements that heavily favour the West but that at least strengthen the president and give him the superficial aura of wielding real decision-making power.
The Ugandan economy
The world financial then world economic crisis that started with the collapse in September 2008 of the giant American investment bank Lehman Brothers continued into 2010 and Europe is bracing itself for 2011 as the year of economic austerity and budget cuts. The US economy, the world’s largest, is not expected to recover from net recession until about 2013 at the earliest, that is if at all.
Since Uganda is heavily dependent for budgetary support, aid projects, remittances from Ugandans largely based in the economically-stricken West, and direct foreign investment on the West, it can be assumed that 2011 will see a slow drying up of money from the West into Uganda.
This trend was already underway in 2010 with the continuing depreciation of the Ugandan currency, the shilling, against the US dollar.
The Uganda Revenue Authority reported a short fall in revenue collections in 2010. With the poverty so widespread in Uganda and competition, not much thought is required in predicting that the five telecom companies will take their price war into 2011, except this year it could extend into Internet tariffs.
By early 2011, Warid Telecom will have completed an upgrade from its current and slow 2G/EDGE/GPRS Internet to the high speed 3G+/HSDPA Internet currently offered by Orange Telecom and MTN. It could then embark on a drastic tariff cut as it did in 2009 with its ‘One shilling per second’ and later ‘PakaLast’ campaign.
In overall terms, the only area in recent years that the majority of Ugandans can say they have had it good has been with the falling cost of mobile phone sets and calling rates. The rest of the year will remain as bleak economically as it has been in recent years. This year 2011 will see the culmination of China’s emergence as the new America of the world.
Chinese influence
China’s rise and complete dominance of the African, Latin American, Asian and Middle Eastern markets means that the days of Ugandan manufacturers’ modest efforts at developing home-grown industry are numbered. From toys, shoes, clothes, suitcases, travelling bags, plastic containers, flasks, and most other items basic to the average house, ‘Made in China’ is the label Uganda will see much more of.
The small Ugandan businesses will consequently be reduced to importer of and traders in Chinese merchandise. It is already happening and more of this can be expected.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug – Timothy Kalyegira

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DA NAIROBI A KAMPALA, PIÙ TRASPORTI PUBBLICI CONTRO L’INQUINAMENTO
2 gennaio 2011

Più mezzi di trasporto pubblici, meno automobili e tante zone pedonali: è la ricetta per uno sviluppo sostenibile della mobilità urbana che anima un progetto avviato dai governi di Kenya, Uganda ed Etiopia con la collaborazione delle Nazioni Unite. L’iniziativa è stata presentata ieri contemporaneamente a Nairobi, Kampala e Addis Abeba.
Joan Clos, direttore dell’ente Onu Habitat, ha sottolineato durante l’incontro keniano la necessità di sostituire a una concezione fondata sull’“offerta di mezzi di trasporto” un’altra che metta al centro la “gestione della mobilità”.
L’idea condivisa con i governi di Kenya, Uganda ed Etiopia è che nelle metropoli africane lo sviluppo delle reti del trasporto pubblico possa garantire ricadute vantaggiose anche in termini economici e occupazionali. Evidente poi il contributo positivo che una graduale riduzione del numero di automobili garantirebbe alla lotta contro il riscaldamento planetario.
Secondo Peerke de Bakker, del Programma dell’Onu per l’ambiente, “servono soluzioni attraenti a basso regime di emissioni inquinanti in grado di costituire un’alternativa alle politiche tradizionali dei trasporti”.
fonte www.misna.org

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UGANDA, PER LA PRIMA VOLTA UNA DONNA A CAPO DI UNA BANCA
5 gennaio 2011

Edigold Monday è stata nominata amministratore delegato della partecipata ugandese del Gruppo panafricano Bank of Africa. Monday è la prima donna chiamata a ricoprire il ruolo di numero uno di un’istituzione finanziaria in Uganda.
Il nuovo AD ha iniziato la carriera da impiegato, ricoprendo via via i ruoli di archivista, contabile e contabile capo. Nel 2002 ha ottenuto il riconoscimento di miglior esperto nazionale in pianificazione strategica e controllo di gestione. E ha raggiunto il traguardo di amministratore delegato in quindici anni.
fonte www.agi.it

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SHILLING CONTINUES WEAK TREND IN 2011
6 January 2011

The Uganda shilling has continued its weak performance against the dollar registering a record low of an average of Shs2, 333 since the beginning of 2010. Market dealers told Daily Monitor that the shilling is expected to keep volatile until the February 18 elections.
“There has been some volatility. Unless the Central Bank intervenes, the instability will continue” a dealer at Crane Forex Bureau told Daily Monitor yesterday. Uganda’s exchange rate was volatile for most of 2010 largely because of the uncertainty in the global economy coupled with the related sluggish growth resulting from the 2008 global food, economic and financial crisis.
This has resulted into a weak growth, which has seen the shilling lose against major currencies including the Dollar, Euro and the British pound among others.
At the beginning of 2010, the shilling traded at an average of Shs2,060 against the green back, however, it has kept an upward trend throughout 2010, closing the year at an average of Shs2,319.
BoU director of research Dr Adam Mugume said: “The shilling’s stability will depend on global currency market trends during 2011.” According to Dr Mugume, the shilling might weaken further due to anticipated strengthening of the dollar against other currencies. He said: “BoU’s intervention in the foreign exchange market ensures market stability in the country’s foreign exchange regimes.”
The weakening shilling has impacted on the performance of importers especially as they open their stock books for the New Year. Many have cut down on new orders while others have had to plan a shift of strategy.
Mr Samuel Kiguli an importer operating in Kampala told Daily Monitor yesterday: “I am yet to bring in new stock due to the high exchange rate against the dollar“. He said: “It makes no business sense to spend so much money yet customers will not buy because of high prices.”
The anticipated growth in exports is yet to be realised. Data from BoU indicates that formal exports have declined precipitated by poor performance of non-coffee exports.
Total export receipts for June 2010 declined from about $135 million to about $123 million in July 2010.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug – Dorothy Nakaweesi

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UGANDA, NEL 2010 BOOM RIMESSE DALL’ESTERO (+56%)
10 gennaio 2011

Nel 2010 le rimesse degli ugandesi emigrati sono state pari a 980,9 milioni di dollari, il 56 per cento in più rispetto ai circa 551 milioni di dollari del 2009.
In conferenza stampa, il direttore esecutivo della Banca centrale dell’Uganda, David Kihangire, ha spiegato che la cospicua crescita delle rimesse è dovuta all’aumento delle dimensioni della diaspora e al successo economico degli ugandesi impegnati in attività all’estero.
Kihangire ha quindi esortato i connazionali espatriati a “investire una proporzione sempre piu’ grande dei loro redditi nella terra d’origine“.
A livello mondiale, si stima che le rimesse degli emigranti per il 2010 saranno pari a 440 miliardi di dollari, contro i 416 miliardi dell’anno precedente.
fonte www.agi.it

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YELLOW FEVER VACCINE FINALLY HERE
14 January 2011

After long weeks of waiting, the yellow fever vaccine finally arrived in the country with five districts; Abim, Agago, Pader, Kitgum and Lamwo set to first receive the drug. One million doses arrived on Wednesday and if all goes as planned, vaccination is to start on Janury 22 targeting all people above six months.
The received amount of drugs is, however, less than the 2.5 million doses that the ministry had earlier said it needed to carry out a mass vaccination in 26 districts in northern Uganda.
Five to wait
While addressing the press in Kampala yesterday, the Assistant Commissioner National Disease Control Dr Issa Makumbi, however, said the country will only require more drugs if the disease is confirmed in the remaining five districts that were feared to have the disease. These are Gulu, Arua, Kaabong, Kotido and Lira. “We are still carrying out tests in the other districts. Once the laboratory tests confirm yellow fever, we shall mobilise for more drugs” Dr Makumbi said.
He, however, said if there is need for more vaccination, the surrounding districts to the five will be the next in line. The vaccination exercise is budgeted to cost $3.5 million; yet to be released to the ministry. Junior health minister Richard Nduhura said the public should be calm and follow advice to avoid contracting the disease.
fonte www.allafrica.com

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GOVERNMENT WANTS 3,000 YOUTH FOR ICT JOBS
15 January 2011

The Government is to employ about 3,000 graduates in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector this year. The ICT minister, Aggrey Siryoni Awori, said the jobs will be created from the government’s new initiative in developing the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector.
The programme, which begins tomorrow, will initially start with training 500 out of the 1,400 youths identified through interviews. The training, he said, will be at the Makerere University Faculty of Computing and Information Technology.
Awori said adverts were placed in the media and over 4,000 responded from which the 1,400 youths have been identified to participate in the programme, fully sponsored by the Government. The programme is a partnership between the Government and private sector, which will involve the setting up of a call centre.
The call centre is an initiative of the Uganda Youth Convention (UYC) and other Ugandan entrepreneurs to address the problem of job scarcity, especially for the youth. “We expect that by the end of this year some 3,000 youths will be employed and earning higher than they would elsewhere. The individuals will work at least five hours a day with a pay of $2-3 (sh4,500 – sh7,000) per hour” he said.
The minister yesterday said the Government had injected sh5b to promote the sector. Other funds would come from the Job Stimulus Programme which is in the Ministry of Finance and the private sector, he said. This, according to the minister, is one of the strategic intervention being implemented by the Government through the ICT sector to create employment and improve people’s income.
If well-implemented the initiative will create opportunities for investors and the business community to make money while providing jobs to the youth like it has happened in India, Awori said. Business Process Outsourcing is the strategic use of the third party service providers to perform activities traditionally handled by internal staff. It is common in the airlines, insurance, banking and energy sectors.
Awori said there is a growing demand for ICT outsourcing in Africa that Uganda needs to capture. “BPO has two categories including; back office outsourcing which involves internal business functions such as billing or purchasing, and front office outsourcing which includes customer-related services such as marketing or technical support” Awori said.
He said the programme cuts cost and improves efficiency by outsourcing services of a distant skilled work force. Awori said the ministry and National Information Technology Authority-Uganda (NITA-U) have already developed a road map for the implementation of BPO model for Uganda.
Awori noted that with only 40% of the graduates being absorbed in the formal job sector, the BPO would be able to employ a large number of graduates both for basic routine functions and specialised services.
fonte www.allafrica.com

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AFRICA’S INFORMAL ECONOMY CAN BOOST INNOVATION
16 gennaio 2011

For half a century, science and technology (S&T) have promised to bring prosperity to Sub-Saharan Africa, but little progress has been made. This is in part because the African way of making and trading is largely informal, and Western industrialisation has failed to respect informality.
The word ‘informal’ may conjure images of illicit black market activity or harmful ritualistic practice the darker, rarer side of informality. But the informal economy legal businesses that are largely unregistered and unprotected comprises a much broader spectrum of activity, from piecing together scrap materials in makeshift workshops to extending credit to loyal customers.
Most products are simple goods like furniture and kitchenware but a select group of advanced craftsmen has developed complex agricultural and tooling machines.
In Kenya, the latest survey of microenterprises, published by the National Bureau of Statistics in 1999, suggests that over three-quarters of non-agricultural employment occurs in the informal economy. If technological interventions are to have impact, they must adapt to this informal mode of making and trading.
Resourcefulness, relationships and reason
The informal spirit, known in Kenya as ‘jua kali’, has produced clusters of economic activity throughout Africa’s cities and rural market centres. Producers and traders set up shop in close proximity, attracting competitors, labour, customers and support services such as credit providers. This positive feedback loop has bred some of the largest manufacturing clusters in the world Gikomba in Nairobi, Kenya, for example, and Suame Magazine in Kumasi, Ghana.
These flourish due to three elements: the resourcefulness, relationships and reason (or knowledge) of the entrepreneurs. Resourceful engineers make treasure out of trash from oil lamps made of soup cans to grass cutting machines made of scrap sheet metal and at the end of their useful life, these items are fed back into the web of production by scrap pickers, closing the cycle. In the absence of formal institutions, relationships take the place of contracts.
Yet entrepreneurs manage to pool machines, labour and savings without lawyers, cutting out the middleman. An understanding of the local context is deeply embedded in informal business.
Engineers continuously adapt production methods to available materials and product quality to customers’ wallets precisely the flexibility needed to thrive in that context, however frowned upon by regulators. But despite the promise of informal clusters, little innovation has emerged in terms of new products that meet local demand tools that boost agricultural production, for example.
Leveraging the informal
Western science and economics can drive technological advances in the developing world but work better in a system where processes are formalised. What happens, for example, when governments or multilateral institutions introduce factories and corporate parks? Not much. A factory might employ a dozen skilled workers, but the investment rarely trickles down to the ‘indigenous’ economy. And enterprises may only import raw materials and export the resulting goods, creating a closed loop with no links to domestic industry. But we can leverage rather than fight the informal economy.
The main barrier to innovation and growth for entrepreneurs is risk they must ensure that every investment yields a return. We can reduce this risk by improving access to resources like credit, tools and skills. And we can increase the willingness to take risks by promoting a culture of innovation by using market intelligence, working with customers to co-create products and improving the design process.
But simply reducing risk is not enough: in Kenya, a UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) project provided power and equipment to rural jua kali business owners only to find that they used the new tools to make the same products at the same quantities.
Maker Faire Africa, a festival for craftsmen, has sparked a social movement around informal innovation by rewarding those who demonstrate inventiveness and risk-taking. This movement has incubated new technologies for local consumption, such as a machine for making rope and a tea maker activated remotely by SMS messages.
Bridging the formal
Though resourceful on its own, the informal economy is inextricably linked with the formal economy. For example, factory waste provides materials, and the most reliable commissions are subcontracted from formal enterprises. And formal systems can have a broader impact.
The explosion of access to mobile devices and cloud computing is making a difference in Africa allowing small businesses to make payments more easily and securely using Safaricom’s M-PESA, for example, to contact large groups using technologies such as Kiwanja.net’s FrontlineSMS, and maintain virtual homepages using IBM’s Spoken Web.
Vast potential remains to use formal technology to empower entrepreneurs in a way that respects decentralised, informal enterprise. Scientific institutions too are finding value in informal economy research. For example, researchers at the University of Nairobi have formulated surveys and censuses for the sector. And a number of engineering schools are piloting co-creation workshops with local jua kali. Yet much more can be done to expand these programs and bridge the gap between the formal and the informal.
Though the informal economy on its own may not yield prosperity for Africa, technological and scientific interventions that leverage informality will be more likely to succeed.
fonte www.afronline.org – Steve Daniels

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UGANDA, UCCISO ATTIVISTA GAY, AVEVA DENUNCIATO GIORNALE OMOFOBO
27 gennaio 2011

Il più importante attivista ugandese per i diritti dei gay è stato ucciso a Kampala. Il suo nome e la sua foto erano apparse lo scorso ottobre accanto a quelle di altri 100 omosessuali su una sorta di lista nera 1messa a punto da un quotidiano omofobo, il Rolling Stone.
David Kato, 43 anni, è stato ucciso “verso le 13“, ha riferito il suo avvocato John Francis Onyango. Un uomo sarebbe entrato nella sua abitazione e lo avrebbe colpito alla testa. Kato, ha spiegato Human Rights Watch, è morto mentre veniva trasferito in ospedale.
L’organizzazione per il rispetto dei diritti umani ha chiesto al governo ugandese di avviare “un’inchiesta imparziale e urgente sull’omicidio” di colui che si guadagnò l’odio omofobo anche per essersi opposto al progetto di legge che prevede la pena di morte per il reato di “omosessualità aggravata“, un testo definito “odioso” da Barack Obama. Già oggi l’omosessualità è punibile con sette anni di prigione, e le carceri ugandesi non sembrano rassicurare sul rispetto dei diritti fondamentali del detenuto.
David Kato era stato ospite a Roma lo scorso novembre ai lavori del IV Congresso dell’associazione radicale ‘Certi Diritti ‘dove aveva raccontato delle persecuzioni e di veri e propri linciaggi di cui sono vittime le persone lesbiche e gay in Uganda. Molte Ong internazionali si erano mobilitate in diversi paesi del mondo contro questa barbarie. Durante le udienze in Tribunale era protetto da volontari delle Ong internazionali che seguivano il processo e difeso da diplomatici di ambasciate occidentali che lo avevano salvato da diversi tentativi di linciaggio perchè riconosciuto dalla folla inferocita.
Il Parlamento Europeo, grazie alla campagna internazionale di ‘Non c’è Pace Senza Giustizia’, aveva approvato una Risoluzione di condanna nei confronti dell’Uganda e Kato era stato anche audito dalla Sottocommissione Diritti Umani di Strasburgo. L’attivista aveva avviato una iniziativa legale contro la rivista Rolling Stone e lo scorso 7 gennaio l’Alta Corte ugandese aveva condannato la rivista per violazione della legge sulla privacy, difendendo le persone gay perseguitate.
L’Alta Corte aveva dichiarato che nessuna delle persone la cui foto era stata pubblicata aveva commesso reati, previsti dal codice penale ugandese per le persone omosessuali. Gli Stati Uniti hanno espresso “shock ed orrore” per l’omicidio: “Siamo inorriditi e rattristati” ha commentato Johnnie Carson, il sottosegretario di Stato agli affari africani.
Condanna anche dal Parlamento Europeo, e in Italia da parte delle associazioni per i diritti dei gay. Questa sera l’Ong radicale ‘Non c’è pace senza giustizia’ ha convocato una veglia a Bruxelles, domani iniziative a Roma e a Milano, con fiaccolata alle 17,30 da piazza Duomo fino al consolato ugandese.
fonte www.repubblica.it

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Cambio valuta: in data 01/02/2011 1 dollaro USA è pari a 2310 scellini ugandesi, 1 Euro è pari a 3193,828 scellini ugandesi

UGANDA INVESTE SU ENERGIA E TRASPORTI
5 novembre 2010

WOMEN LESS ENGAGED IN UGANDA’S GROWTH
5 november 2010

CEMENT PRICES DECLINE BY 18 PERCENT
8 november 2010

GLOBAL FISCAL DEFICIT TO FALL TO 5 PER CENT
8 november 2010

UGANDA, IN 5 ANNI QUADRUPLICATI INTROITI TURISMO
9 novembre 2010

OUR CHILDREN SHOULD LIVE TO CELEBRATE THEIR FIFTH BIRTHDAY
12 novembre 2010

CRISI E CLIMA FANNO AUMENTARE IL PREZZO DEL CIBO. E DOVE C’È FAME ANCORA PIÙ CARO
16 novembre 2010

UGANDA, OPERAZIONE “QUATTRO STELLE”: LA MISSIONE DELLE FORZE ARMATE ITALIANE
18 novembre 2010

ABORTION: 67,000 DIE ANNUALLY
21 november 2010

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN STILL HIGH
23 november 2010

AIDS, ARRIVA LA PILLOLA PREVENTIVA CHE ABBATTE I RISCHI DI CONTAGIO
23 novembre 2010

GOOD AND BAD NEWS IN NEW REPORT ON HIV
24 november 2010

RIBELLI UGANDESI, DAL PRESIDENTE OBAMA UNA STRATEGIA PER I GRANDI LAGHI
25 novembre 2010

Energia, trasporti e risorse minerarie. Sono i settori principali su cui insiste il programma elettorale di Yoweri Museveni, presidente dell’Uganda dal 1986 e fresco candidato alle elezioni presidenziali di febbraio.
Per il prossimo mandato Museveni ‘sogna’ di “portare la luce elettrica a un numero sempre maggiore di ugandesi“, e per farlo assicura che aumenterà in cinque anni la capacità di generazione elettrica nazionale a 3.800 MW, a fronte gli attuali 600.
Museveni promette anche di mettere mano alla disastrata rete ferroviaria, pressocchè ferma al tracciato di inizio 1900 costruito dai colonizzatori inglesi. A questo proposito ricorda i recenti accordi siglati con il Kenya per la costruzione di una linea ferroviaria tra i due Paesi che dovrà garantire uno sbocco per le merci locali fino al porto keniano di Mombasa.
Ovviamente, prosegue Museveni, si investirà anche sulla rete stradale, nonché sullo sfruttamento delle risorse minerarie, con un occhio di riguardo al petrolio.
fonte www.agi.it

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WOMEN LESS ENGAGED IN UGANDA’S GROWTH
5 november 2010

A new World Bank book has shown Uganda’s labour gap between men and women standing at a difference of 17 per cent makes women less active participants in the country’s development. The book published by the World Bank says there are concerns that gender inequalities have remained a critical factor in Africa. However it varies from one country to another.
Uganda’s labour gap, according to the book puts men at 78.3 per cent compared to 61 per cent for women. The household data collected from 18 African countries in early 2000, analyses gender dimensions in employment, unemployment, pay gap, as well as the role of educational attainment.
Women participation
The data collected shows women’s participation in the labour market range from under 40 per cent in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda, to 80 per cent and above in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole, women’s employment ratio over the survey period is 25 per cent lower than that of men, standing at 53 per cent and 70 per cent respectively.
The book released on November 1 was published under the World Bank’s stewardship titled, Gender Disparities in Africa’s Labour Market.
Representative survey
The underlying study for the book is to provide a comparative analysis based on a standardized, national representative survey from 18 countries. The data extracted from multi-topic integrated household surveys from Africa in 2000, was recently harmonised as part of the World Bank Survey-based Harmonized Indicators Programme. The 18 countries surveyed included: Burkina Faso, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Zambia.
Data sets indicate that in a number of African countries, women are almost twice as likely as men to be in the informal sector and about two times less likely to have a public or private formal job. Gender pay gap is high, but varies a great deal among countries. The ratio of average female-to-male weekly labour income ranged from 23 per cent in Burkina Faso to 79 percent in Ghana.
According to the book segmentation by sector of employment shows that 70 per cent of women work in agriculture (64 per cent for men), 6 per cent in small industries (13 per cent for men), and 23 per cent in the service sector.
Underrepresented
Overall, women were underrepresented in the industry and service sector. “What we found is that these disparities are caused mainly by very limited job prospects, differences in education, power dynamics in the household, and other human capital variables” said Mr Jorge Arbache, a World Bank senior economist and one of the book’s editors. He said we found little evidence to support the idea that labour market discrimination is a key explanation for gender gaps in underdeveloped economies.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug – Martin Luther Oketch

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CEMENT PRICES DECLINE BY 18 PERCENT
8 november 2010

Cement prices have dropped by 18% in the past one year. The East African Cement Producers Association (EACPA) attributes the decline to an increase in local cement production.
Recent dealer price trends in Kampala show that the price of cement fell from sh27,090 for a 50kg bag in August last year, to sh22,200 in October this year. The price includes 18% value-added tax and the sh500 per bag excise duty. The earlier high prices of cement were largely attributed to huge demand and inconsistent supply coupled with huge production costs, especially for electricity, heavy fuel and transport. According to David Njoroge, the EACPA chairperson, the steady fall in prices was due to the heavy investment by local cement firms over the period to boost production.
Last July, for example, Hima Cement established a $120m factory in Kasese, increasing production capacity from 350,000 tonnes to 850,000. Tororo Cement is also undertaking a $50m investment project to enhance production. Its completion will optimistically force prices downwards. Njoroge warned that cement prices would increase if there are no efforts to support local production or promote local competition. Apart from boosting the local construction sector, increased investments in the local cement industry will have a hand in reducing the country’s unemployment rates. However, amidst the excitement created by the slumping prices, manufacturers are concerned about the cheap cement imports from Asia where production is subsidised.
Njoroge revealed that the comparative production costs in Asia and the Middle East were much lower than in Uganda.The cost of transport in Uganda is between 12 and 15 US cents per kilometre per tonne compared to 3 US cents in China and much of Asia. Electricity costs $90 per megawatt per hour (MW/h) in Uganda compared to $30 per MW/h in much of Asia. It is even lower in the Middle East, according to Njoroge. This is a serious stumbling block as we try to compete with products from these regions that have, in addition, enjoyed a wide range of export incentives since the global  economic crisis begun, says the chairperson.
Faced with a similar situation, Nigeria recently imposed a 35% tax on imported cement in the spirit of safeguarding the local industry from undue competition and accelerating the growth of local capacities as well as provide possibilities for eventual export of cement to other African states and beyond. Local manufacturers say it is about time that similar measures are taken in Uganda and East Africa to enable a level playing ground and to safeguard the local industry which recently faced collapse due to influx of cheap cement from Pakistan, Turkey and China. In 2008 EAC governments reduced the Common External Tariff (CET) on cement from 40% to 25% citing production gaps brought about by unforeseen factory breakdowns for some local producers.
Today, local manufacturers under the auspices of EACPA confirm that at 10 million tons, their capacity now exceeds demand in the region by 3 million tons and the EAC governments need now to move to guard the local industry from competing with subsidised imports. Recently the manufacturers petitioned government to reinstate the CET at 35 percent or $50 per ton, whichever is higher, in order to level the playing field and protect the region from negative effects of dumping.
They argued that Uganda would lose sh131bn and a further sh80b to sh100b in tax revenue if the industry collapsed.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug – David Ssempijja

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GLOBAL FISCAL DEFICIT TO FALL TO 5 PER CENT
8 november 2010

As economies start to fully recover from the global financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund has projected the global fiscal deficit fall to 5 per cent by 2011. The deficit fell from 7 per cent of world GDP in 2009 to 6 per cent in 2010 and will by 2011 have fallen to 5 per cent. A fiscal deficit refers to when government’s total expenditure exceeds the revenue that it generated from taxes and other sources excluding money accumulated from borrowing.
Improved policies
In its edition of the November Fiscal Monitoring document, the IMF said the decline is a result of improved economic policies. The Fund said: “About 90 per cent of countries are projected to record low deficits next year compared to 2010, as a result of countries tightening policy guide lines.” The IMF is optimistic that as the global economy continues to mark steady recovery, the projected pace of tightening is broadly appropriate, striking a balance between addressing fiscal concerns and avoiding an abrupt withdrawal of support to the nascent recovery. However, the IMF cautions: “Nevertheless, fiscal risks remain elevated in advanced economies where public debt ratios as percentage of GDP are still rising rapidly.”
Fiscal tightening
The study, released twice a year, sees fiscal tightening becoming broader and driven by discretionary measures in 2011, in both advanced and emerging economies. However it underscores the need for more clarity on exit plans and reforms to address long-term fiscal costs. In Uganda, the central bank said Uganda’s fiscal deficit is at 5 per cent of the GDP excluding grants. However if grants are included it increases to 7 per cent. In the Sub-Saharan Africa region as a whole regarding the fiscal deficit, the IMF said the overall balance is expected to improve in 2010 by 0.75 per cent, which it says the tightening partly reflects expenditure measures, including the reversal of stimulus measures in countries that implemented policy reviews in 2009.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug – Martin Luther Oketch

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UGANDA, IN 5 ANNI QUADRUPLICATI INTROITI TURISMO
9 novembre 2010

Negli ultimi cinque anni l’Uganda ha registrato la quadruplicazione degli introiti dal turismo, passati da 100 a 400 milioni di dollari.
In un intervento a un incontro sulle prospettive del settore, il direttore esecutivo dell’Ente per il turismo, Cuthbert Baguma, ha precisato che, nello stesso periodo, il numero dei turisti è passato dai poco più di 500 del 2004 al milione del 2004. Baguma ha aggiunto che “la tendenza si è confermata anche nel 2010, anno che ha visto un numero ancora superiore di turisti, in gran parte provenienti da Regno Unito, Germania, Paesi Bassi e Sudafrica, attratti soprattutto dal patrimonio naturalistico del paese, che comprende laghi, fiumi e parchi naturali che ospitano una fauna rara e interessante come i gorilla di montagna“.
fonte www.agi.it

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OUR CHILDREN SHOULD LIVE TO CELEBRATE THEIR FIFTH BIRTHDAY
12 novembre 2010

“In Africa, we understand how fragile life is. Too many babies die from diseases that take our children before they even reach the age of five. One of the biggest killers is pneumonia – and soon, we will have a vaccine that can help stop it in its tracks.
I anxiously wait to see when the latest vaccines already in use in Europe will reach our children. Typically it can take 15 to 20 years. But this week, as we mark World Pneumonia Day, I am optimistic that we’re moving faster than ever before toward getting a vaccine that will help save our children’s lives.
In January, Kenya will begin providing infants with pneumococcal vaccines through a ground-breaking mechanism called the Advance Market Commitment (AMC).  The GlaxoSmithKline vaccine, Synflorix, was introduced in Europe less than two years ago. This is the first time that African children are receiving a new vaccine so quickly. Not only will the AMC get pneumococcal vaccines to African countries in record time, but it will also reduce the price of the vaccines by approximately 90 per cent on average.
This was made possible by a coalition of international donors, including the GAVI Alliance, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and five countries – the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia, Norway and Italy. Immunisation is by far the most effective strategy we have to prevent children from dying of pneumococcal disease, a leading cause of pneumonia.
In my home country of Kenya, I have seen too many children die because they couldn’t get to a health centre in time. By the time they arrived, their breathing was laboured and slow, their bodies dehydrated and listless. I knew what to do, but sometimes I didn’t have the oxygen and IVs at hand to save them. I know this is all too common in many parts of Africa. Without the vaccine, pneumonia will continue to kill children worldwide, claiming a life every 20 seconds. Most will be African children.
Over the next decade, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer will provide about 600 million doses of their pneumococcal vaccines to the world’s poorest countries. More vaccine manufacturers are expected to join over the coming years.
All in all, the AMC is expected to help save seven million lives over the next two decades. We must work together to get the vaccine to every child who needs it without delay.In Uganda, about 64 per cent of children receive routine immunisations. Let’s set a goal to increase this number and reach every child with lifesaving vaccines. We’ll need to prioritise the training and retention of health workers, and we need to create inoculation clinics that can reach children in remote areas of the country. African countries will also need to step up – as Kenya has done – to request pneumococcal vaccines through the AMC and make preparations to deliver them to every child.
Globally, we need even greater commitments from donor countries to ensure these vaccines reach all children who need them without delay. This is an historic moment for us. In a matter of weeks, the first African babies will begin receiving new lifesaving pneumococcal vaccines. In my 20 years as a paediatrician, I am optimistic for the first time that we will be able to protect our children against this disease. I can imagine an Africa where all our children live to celebrate their fifth birthdays. ”
[Dr Fred Were is national chairman of the Kenya Paediatric Association. He is also a member of the Sabin Vaccine Institute’s Pneumococcal Awareness Council of Experts (PACE).]
fonte www.newvision.co.ug – Fred Were

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CRISI E CLIMA FANNO AUMENTARE IL PREZZO DEL CIBO. E DOVE C’È FAME ANCORA PIÙ CARO
16 novembre 2010

Mangiare costerà di più. E se nell’opulento Occidente l’aumento dei prezzi della materie prime sarà avvertito meno, nei paesi più poveri o in via di sviluppo questo fattore avrà importanti ripercussioni sul tessuto sociale. L’allarme viene dalla FAO, l’Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l’alimentazione, che questa mattina a Roma presenta il rapporto sulle commodities alimentari. «Prevediamo - dicono gli esperti della Fao – che al termine del 2010 il costo delle importazioni alimentari aumenterà dell’11 per cento per i paesi più poveri e del 20 per cento per i paesi a basso reddito con deficit alimentare. Il costo totale delle importazioni alimentari a livello mondiale con tutta probabilità supererà nell’anno in corso il tetto dei mille miliardi di dollari, in linea con il record registrato nel 2008».
Previsioni
L’agenzia dell’Onu avverte la comunità internazionale che si annunciano tempi non facili, a meno che nel 2011 la produzione delle principali colture alimentari non aumenti in modo significativo. Infatti, anche a causa di sfavorevoli condizioni atmosferiche e contrariamente alle previsioni precedenti, la produzione cerealicola mondiale sembra avviarsi verso una contrazione annuale del 2 per cento, a fronte di un aumento previsto dell’1,2 per cento solo lo scorso giugno. Gli stock cerealicoli potrebbero così ridursi notevolmente.
Secondo la Fao, le quantità di cereali immagazzinate nel mondo caleranno del 7 per cento, quelle di mais del 12 per cento, di grano del 10 per cento, mentre l’orzo subirà un crollo del 35 per cento. Solamente le riserve di riso si prevedono in aumento, con una crescita dei volumi nell’ordine del 6 per cento. Inevitabilmente queste variazioni di quantità si rifletteranno sui prezzi, sia all’ingrosso che finali. Secondo la Fao «il volume della produzione del prossimo anno sarà cruciale per la stabilità dei mercati internazionali».
I picchi dello zucchero
Sotto osservazione, oltre ai cereali, anche altre derrate, come i semi di soia, lo zucchero e il cotone. In particolare lo zucchero è stato nei mesi scorsi una delle prime ragioni dell’aumento dei prezzi del paniere alimentare globale, tanto da superare i massimi da trent’anni a questa parte. Ma sui massimi livelli di prezzo c’è anche la manioca, un tubero coltivato in Sudamerica, al massimi da 15 anni, mentre in misura più contenuta, ma ugualmente preoccupante, è cresciuto anche il livello dei prezzi dell’intero settore ittico.
Nel dettaglio, la produzione cerealicola è attesa a 2.216,4 milioni di tonnellate, in calo dalle 2.263,4 milioni di tonnellate della raccolta precedente (-2,1 per cento), con stock finali pari a 512,5 milioni di tonnellate in flessione dai 552,4 milioni di tonnellate precedenti (-7,2 per cento). Colpisce la parabola dello zucchero, che tocca i massimi di prezzo a fronte di una produzione in crescita sostenuta (+7,75 per cento) a 168,8 milioni di tonnellate, con la produzione che supera i consumi e i prezzi ugualmente in tensione.
La Fao avverte del pericolo: «I prezzi internazionali potrebbero ancora salire se la produzione l’anno prossimo non aumenterà, in modo significativo, per mais, semi di soia e grano». Anche il prezzo del riso, la cui offerta è al momento più che adeguata rispetto ad altri tipi di cereali, potrebbe risentirne, se i prezzi delle altre principali colture alimentari dovessero continuare a lievitare.
fonte www.corriere.it – Stefano Righi

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UGANDA, OPERAZIONE “QUATTRO STELLE”: LA MISSIONE DELLE FORZE ARMATE ITALIANE
18 novembre 2010

Medici e infermieri dell’Esercito, della Marina, dell’Aeronautica e dei Carabinieri saranno per la prima volta insieme in una missione umanitaria in Africa. L’hanno chiamata “4 stelle per l’Uganda”, come quattro le forze armate che vi prendono parte e nasce da un progetto di collaborazione tra il Ministero della Difesa italiano e la Fondazione AVSI, una Ong italiana impegnata con oltre 100 progetti di cooperazione allo sviluppo, soprattutto nel campo dell’educazione e della promozione della dignità umana, in 38 paesi del mondo di Africa, America Latina e Caraibi, Est Europa, Medio Oriente, Asia.
Nel Nord del Paese
Il gruppo – composto da 20 militari tra medici, paramedici e addetti alla logistica, oltre medici civili – partirà sabato mattina con un C-130J dell’Aeronautica Militare dall’aeroporto di Pratica di Mare e, dopo uno scalo tecnico in Egitto, arriverà domenica 21 a Gulu, la seconda città ugandese ed unica testa di ponte per raggiungere in aereo il nord del paese. Da lì, con mezzi messi a disposizione dalla Cooperazione Italiana allo Sviluppo del Ministero Affari Esteri, la missione raggiungerà l’ospedale St. Joseph di Kitgum, circa 100 chilometri a nord-est di Gulu, tre ore di fuoristrada in questa parte finale della stagione umida.
A centinaia già in cammino
A bordo del velivolo, oltre alle attrezzature mediche e ai farmaci necessari per gli interventi, ci saranno più di dieci tonnellate di materiale regalato da industrie farmaceutiche ed alimentari italiane e da privati, che verrà donato alle strutture e agli operatori locali.
Il programma della missione, concordato con l’AVSI e la direzione dell’ospedale prevede, a partire dal 22 novembre, visite ed interventi di chirurgia generale, endoscopia, ginecologia, ortopedia ed attività di laboratorio analisi. Secondo fonti locali, sono già centinaia i pazienti in cammino dai villaggi limitrofi per essere visitati. L’ospedale St. Joseph, che proprio quest’anno festeggia 50 anni di attività, è stato uno dei punti di riferimento per la popolazione durante i venti anni di guerra civile che hanno sconvolto il nord del Paese, e continua ad esserlo contro nemici purtroppo ancora forti come malaria, epatite e soprattutto AIDS.
Scambio d’esperienze
La missione, coordinata dalla Direzione Generale della Sanità Militare, è stata pianificata dal Comando Operativo di Vertice Interforze (COI) dello Stato Maggiore Difesa, che ne detiene il comando operativo. Durante la missione verrà sviluppato un progetto di formazione grazie al quale i numerosi giovani medici militari italiani e il personale dell’ospedale, potranno ampliare la propria esperienza lavorando al fianco di colleghi militari e civili più esperti. Uno scambio professionale importante, questo, non solo per i medici italiani, ma anche per i locali, soprattutto infermieri ed assistenti, figure sanitarie preziose per i pochi medici che normalmente è possibile trovare negli ospedali africani.
Parla il generale, capo della missione
“Essere vicini ad AVSI per alleviare le sofferenze della popolazione locale è ovviamente la nostra priorità - dice il generale dell’Aeronautica Ottavio Sarlo, coordinatore della missione, oltre che direttore della sanità militare – ma vogliamo anche dare continuità nel tempo al nostro intervento. In questi contesti formare un infermiere – ha aggiunto – un ferrista o un anestesista può voler dire salvare molte vite umane in futuro“.
fonte www.repubblica.it

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ABORTION: 67,000 DIE ANNUALLY
21 november 2010

When Nalubwama’s 15-year-old daughter conceived, she had no idea until the girl started getting morning sickness. Worse still, the girl declined to reveal who was responsible for the pregnancy. Nalubwama, a resident of Sekanyonyi in Mityana district, was willing to look after her grandchild but her daughter had another plan. She had a traditional birth attendant carry out an abortion using crude methods, an act that almost claimed her life. Nalubwama took her to Mityana Health Centre III, where she was referred to Mityana Referral Hospital.
Abortion is the termination of pregnancy before the 28th week of gestation. It can be spontaneous or induced. Whereas some women abort using crude methods and survive, many die. Dr. Fred Lwasampijja, the Mityana district health officer, says the number of abortions in Mityana has risen from 231 in 2008/9 to 273 in (2009/2010). Abortion contributed to the rise in maternal deaths in the district that recorded 43 deaths (2009/10) up from 19 in 2006/7.
The number of abortions and maternal deaths could be even bigger than what we got since there are many women who do not report to health facilities. Lwasampijja says many of the 59,772 women of childbearing age in the district prefer to go to traditional birth attendants to deliver or abort. Nalubwama agrees, but argues that women fail to go for antenatal care due to transport constraints. “The high costs in health centres and the social stigma that comes with abortion in society also force many women to hide and die silently.”
A 2006 report by the US-based Guttmacher Institute reveals that the more highly trained a practitioner, the more costly the abortion. On average, physicians charge more for an abortion (sh40,000 to Sh140,000), while nurses and nurse midwives charge between Sh22,000 to Sh50,000, and traditional healers, herbalists and lay practitioners charge sh19,000 to sh54,000). Pharmacists charge between Sh8,000 and sh22,000.
Abortion is, however, illegal in Uganda and this is the reason many women do not want to discuss it in public, making a silent killer. Every year, according to the World Health Organisation, 67,000 women of childbearing age, die from complications resulting from abortions performed by untrained and unskilled practitioners. Half of these are in sub-Saharan Africa. The Guttmacher report reveals that a survey done in 1997 of men at institutions of higher learning in Kampala found that six in 10 people believed that women most likely to have abortions are prostitutes, and seven in 10 said abortion is wrong.
In Uganda, induced abortion is permitted only when a pregnancy endangers a woman’s life. Legal abortions is, therefore, rare but the practice is widespread. In a national study conducted between 1992 and 1994, 63% of the people interviewed said they knew  someone who had had an abortion. Unintended pregnancies, which are common in Uganda, especially among the poor and uneducated women, are underlying causes of abortion. Each year, about 15 of every 1,000 women of childbearing age – a total of 85,000 women – are treated in medical facilities for abortion related complications. The report reveals that over the course of her lifetime, the average woman has a 50% chance of being treated for complications of induced abortion.
Reproductive Health Uganda spokesperson Martha Songa says abortion contributes to the maternal mortality rate of 435 deaths per 100,000 live births, contributing to about 6,000 women dying annually due to pregnancy-related causes. Six in 10 Ugandans who experience complications from abortion are believed to receive treatment within the formal healthcare system.
Unfortunately, with all these disturbing figures, there is still stigma about abortion, lack of informed and open discussion about unsafe abortion as well as the burden it places on women, families and the healthcare system.
fonte www.allafrica.com – Chris Kiwawulo

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VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN STILL HIGH
23 november 2010

Violence against women is still high in the country despite the commendable strides that have been taken to fight the vice, a United Nations agency has said.
Anna Mutavati, the senior gender-based violence coordinator at the United Nations Population Fund, said the situation is so “grave” that stakeholders cannot just sit back and watch the vice unchecked. “In Uganda, 60% of women aged 15 and above have experienced physical violence. Fifteen percent of these report that they face violence during pregnancy” Mutavati said. She noted that the aggression was not only limited to physical and psychological torture, but to sexual violence as well, with 24% of women reporting that their first sexual encounter was a forced one.
“Media reports show that many women continue to lose their lives at the hands of their supposed loved ones daily. We cannot continue to be spectators while lives are lost, families are torn apart and dreams are shattered” she said. She was speaking at the launch of the 16 days of activism against violence against women at Mayuge district headquarters on Monday.
Mutavati commended the Government for passing the Domestic Violence Act 2009, the Female Genital Mutilation Act of 2009 and for the development of the National Action Plan for Women Peace and Security, which if implemented, will go a long way in fighting violence against women. She urged the Government to ensure that the domestic Violence Act is operationalised.
The state minister for gender and culture, Rukia Nakadama, who presided over the function, said Mayuge was chosen to host the event because findings from the 2006 demographic and health survey revealed that violence against women was highest in the eastern region. At a public dialogue that preceded the function, participants called on the Police to ensure that perpetrators of violence are arrested and taken to court to restore public confidence in the judicial system.
They also called for the equipping of health units so that they can effectively handle emergencies such as rape.
fonte www.newvision.co.ug – Frank Mugabi

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AIDS, ARRIVA LA PILLOLA PREVENTIVA CHE ABBATTE I RISCHI DI CONTAGIO
23 novembre 2010

Una pillola blu nata dalla miscela di due farmaci è riuscita a ridurre del 44% i casi di infezione da Aids in un campione di popolazione maschile ad alto rischio di contagio. Il farmaco si chiama Truvada e, secondo i risultati dei test, la sua assunzione quotidiana fa crollare i rischi di infezione da Hiv di oltre il 70% fra gli uomini che ne hanno fatto un uso regolare per due anni. Secondo gli autori della ricerca, è la prima volta che si riesce a dimostrare che il rischio di contagio del virus può essere ridotto attraverso un farmaco preventivo.
L’annuncio della scoperta è stato dato sul New England Journal of Medicine e confermato dal National Institutes of Health americano. Sollevando un un entusiastico commento del presidente Obama: “Sono incoraggiato da questo annuncio di una ricerca così dirompente nel campo della prevenzione dell’Hiv. C’è ancora da fare, ma questo tipo di studi segnano l’inizio di una nuova era nella prevenzione“.
Il test è stato condotto da un team internazionale di scienziati in varie parti del mondo su un campione complessivo di circa 2.500 gay, transgender e maschi bisessuali. Il Truvada è il frutto della combinazione di due altre molecole della Gilead Sciences Inc, tenofovir e l’emtricitabina, già usati nel trattamento delle infezioni da Hiv. Lo studio, chiamato iPrEx, ha preso in considerazione un campione molto ampio. Gli scienziati della University of California di San Francisco hanno infatti condotto per due anni – dal luglio 2007 al dicembre 2009 – una sperimentazione su 2.500 uomini (bisessuali e omosessuali) provenienti da sei paesi: Stati Uniti, Sud Africa, Brasile, Thailandia, Ecuador e Perù.
“I risultati – spiega Anthony S. Fauci, capo della divisione del National Institutes of Health, che ha finanziato lo studio insieme con la Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - fanno ben sperare, soprattutto perché il farmaco in questione funziona, non ha mostrato resistenza ed è già in commercio“. I ricercatori temevano che assumere il Truvada desse un falso senso di sicurezza e che, per questo, rendesse gli uomini meno propensi a usare il preservativo con i propri partner. In realtà è successo il contrario: non solo il farmaco ha funzionato, ma ha anche ridotto i rapporti a rischio.
Lo studio avverte, però, che il livello di protezione varia notevolmente a seconda dell’aderenza alla terapia. In altre parole, più gli uomini rispettavano le dosi prescritte dai ricercatori, tanto più aumentava l’efficacia della molecola. Chi usava correttamente il prodotto, rispettando la terapia nel 90% dei casi, vedeva ridursi il rischio di Hiv nel 73 per cento dei casi; in quelli che avevano un’aderenza inferiore al 90 per cento, il rischio è sì diminuito, ma solo del 21%.
Secondo i ricercatori, questo tipo di protezione, chiamata Prep (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis), potrebbe essere utile soprattutto per quegli uomini che, prostituendosi, non usano il preservativo; per quelli che sono a rischio di violenze sessuali, come accadere a detenuti; per chi perde le inibizioni perché sotto gli effetti dell’alcol. Il tenofovir, uno dei due principi attivi del Truvada, aveva già mostrato di funzionare come barriera contro l’Aids. Alla Conferenza internazionale di Vienna sull’Aids, dello scorso luglio, gli esperti avevano mostrato che grazie alla combinazione con un gel, il farmaco antiretrovirale dava una copertura al virus nel 39% dei casi, una percentuale che salirebbe al 54% con la massima aderenza alla terapia. I risultati, si leggeva nei risultati dello studio pubblicato su Science, parlavano chiaro: il gel battericida riduce del 50% la percentuale delle infezioni dopo un anno di utilizzo, del 39% dopo due anni e mezzo.
“Il Truvada – dicono ora i ricercatori di San Francisco – ha una marcia in più rispetto al gel microbicida: è già disponibile e prescrivibile in molti paesi, mentre il gel c’è, ma in piccole quantità ed è utilizzabile solo per le sperimentazioni cliniche”. Il test non è concluso. I 2.499 uomini coinvolti nella sperimentazione continueranno ad assumere il Truvada e ad essere controllati. In questo modo sarà possibile controllare la resistenza al farmaco e verificare l’eventuale presenza di effetti collaterali nel lungo termine. Finora, come conseguenza fastidiosa si è registrato solo il mal di testa.
In merito al Truvada, il ‘Center for Disease Control and Prevention’ ha pubblicato le linee guida provvisorie per gli operatori sanitari.
Eccole: 1) Il Prep ha dimostrato di ridurre l’infezione da Hiv tra gli uomini che hanno relazioni sessuali con altri uomini. Non ci sono dati in relazione alla sua efficacia tra gli eterosessuali o consumatori di droghe iniettabili. 2) Il farmaco sperimentato è il Truvada che è già in commercio. Tuttavia i pazienti devono sapere che la prevenzione rispetto all’Hiv non è attualmente indicata fra gli usi sull’etichetta del farmaco. 3) Il Prep deve essere utilizzato solo tra individui che sono Hiv-negativi. Prima di sottoporsi alla terapia è necessario fare il test. 4) Il Prep non dovrebbe mai essere visto come la prima difesa contro l’Hiv. Anche perché non protegge dalle altre malattie sessualmente trasmissibili. 5) Il punto cinque ricordare le regole basilari di prevenzione per gli uomini che fanno sesso con gli uomini, dal test sul partner all’uso del profilattico. 6) Il farmaco ha dimostrato di essere efficace solo se si rispetta il regime giornaliero. 7) Il Prep deve essere assunto sotto controllo medico.
fonte www.repubblica.it – Adele Sarno

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GOOD AND BAD NEWS IN NEW REPORT ON HIV
24 november 2010

The number of new HIV/Aids infection has fallen globally by 19 percent, but a cap in HIV funding could reverse this trend, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids (Unaids) has revealed in its annual report.
The report rates Uganda as a country that is not making progress but where the epidemic is not yet becoming worse. The report says funds available to fight HIV/Aids in 2009 totalled $15 billion, but this is $10 billion short of what is needed in 2010. Since the epidemic peaked in 1999, the report says its prevalence in some countries has declined by 25 per cent or more. Expanding access to anti-retroviral treatment, which has now reached 5.2 million people living with HIV/Aids, has yielded a 19 per cent decline in deaths since 2004, but 10 million people — mostly in developing and low income countries — still do not have access to lifesaving drugs.
The report, based on a survey of 182 countries, also found that the epidemic was increasing in seven countries; in 23 countries, including Uganda, the epidemic was stable, and cases declined by 25 per cent or more in 33 other countries. The report shows that Uganda’s Aids prevalence has stabilised between 6.5 and 7 per cent since 2001. “We have halted and began to reverse the epidemic. Fewer people are becoming infected with HIV/Aids and fewer people are dying from Aids” said Michel Sidibe, the executive director of UNAIDS. “However, we are not yet in a position to say mission accomplished” he added.
Fight still on
Instead, recent achievements are being threatened by flattened funding for HIV/Aids worldwide. The report shows that demand for Aids treatment and care is outstripping supply. To keep Aids-related deaths declining, countries should adopt a new and simplified HIV treatment platform called Treatment 2.0.
Treatment 2.0 is a new approach of using treatment to increase prevention, making available cheaper and simplified diagnostic tools, and a low-cost community-led approach to delivery of HIV services. This new treatment plan, according to the UN body, could bring down costs and make treatment regimens simpler compared to current approaches. If adopted, it could also avert up to 10 million deaths by 2025 and one million new infections every year.
Declining deaths
According to the report, the expansion of ARV treatment has contributed to a 19 per cent decline in deaths between 2004 and 2009. Some 1.2 million more people also had access to ARVs globally by the end of 2009, representing a 30 per cent increase. In Uganda, the number of people accessing ARVs stands at 200,000 people, but this is far below the 322,000 who require the drugs currently. With more than 130,000 new infections occurring every year, according to the Uganda Aids Commission, meeting a growing number of people who will need treatment will be a huge challenge.
fonte www.monitor.co.ug – Evelyn Lirri

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RIBELLI UGANDESI, DAL PRESIDENTE OBAMA UNA STRATEGIA PER I GRANDI LAGHI
25 novembre 2010

“Protezione dei civili, rimozione dei comandanti della ribellione dal campo di battaglia, disarmo delle milizie armate e aumento dell’assistenza umanitaria alle popolazioni”: sono i quattro punti fondanti della strategia presentata dal presidente Barack Obama a senatori e deputati delle commissioni incaricare della questione relativa all’Esercito di resistenza del Signore (Lord’s Resistance Army, LRA).
Dopo l’approvazione al congresso, nel Maggio scorso, del ‘Lord’s resistance army disarmement and Northern Uganda recovery act’ il presidente ha presentato – in una lettera indirizzata ai rappresentanti delle due camere – la sua “strategia di sostegno politico, economico e militare al governo ugandese e a quelli dei paesi dei Grandi Laghi interessati dalle incursioni dei ribelli”, comprensiva di una “politica di protezione e assistenza prioritaria” da fornire alle popolazioni civili vittime dei massacri.
“Sconfiggere l’LRA non è un obiettivo facile - ha osservato Michael Poffenberger, direttore esecutivo di ‘Resolve’ organizzazione non governativa che si batte per contrastare le ribellione ugandese nella regione – poiché Kony e suoi comandanti hanno fatto degli attacchi nei villaggi più remoti e marginalizzati un strategia vincente, in quanto capace di non attirare l’attenzione della comunità internazionale e del resto del mondo”.
Nonostante la realizzazione del piano proposto dall’amministrazione (i cui dettagli non sono ancora circolati) dipenderà dai fondi stanziati, “certi aspetti del progetto possono essere portati avanti senza grandi difficoltà – osserva ancora l’esperto – come quello che prevede la costruzione e moltiplicazione di infrastrutture per le comunicazioni tra la popolazione e un maggior coordinamento tra le forze militari”.
Dopo vent’anni di guerra nei distretti del nord Uganda, la ribellione guidata da Joseph Kony - protagonista di negoziati di pace con il governo di Kampala più volte naufragati – si è allontanata dalle sue basi tradizionali per installarsi nell’estremo nord della Repubblica democratica del Congo (che registra il più altro numero di vittime, oltre 1500 dall’inizio del 2009) da dove lancia attacchi anche in Sud Sudan e Repubblica centrafricana.
Il mese scorso, i governi di Kampala, Khartoum, Bangui e Kinshasa, hanno raggiunto un accordo per la creazione di una forza militare comune allo scopo di contrastare la ribellione.
fonte www.misna.org

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Cambio valuta: in data 30/11/2010 1 dollaro USA è pari a 2310 scellini ugandesi, 1 Euro è pari a 3007,0294 scellini ugandesi