October 2022 – Page 2 – Prime Time Communications

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch MPs could give their ‘maiden speeches’ in the languages they understand

#OutToLunch MPs could give their ‘maiden speeches’ in the languages they understand By Denis Jjuuko Sometime back, I was invited to an official meeting at a certain district’s headquarters. The room was full of officials from education and health departments. These were largely civil service officers with only one secretary of something, a councilor, being addressed as a Minister attending from the political side. Some people made presentations and the chairperson opened up the meeting for comments on the issues that had been raised by the presenters. A few hands were raised and they made their comments. A few issues, nothing serious at all. Then, as the chairperson was about to close the meeting, somebody raised their hand. The person chose to speak in a local language. All of a sudden, those who had kept quiet started raising their hands and making their contributions. Another two hours or so were spent debating. The speakers were animated and passionate about the issues they were raising and English was relegated to the back corner. I kept on wondering whether it was English stopping people from debating the issues they were now raising in their local language. Two things happened in quick succession that reminded me of this district meeting. First, some people sat somewhere over some oversized snacks most likely samosas, tinned black powder disguised as coffee, and some milk and water branded as African tea and decided that Swahili is now an official language in Uganda. They even said kids must take compulsory lessons in school. There is absolutely nothing wrong with people learning Swahili or whatever language they choose. Learning different languages is actually a good thing. But how many people actually speak it? How many teachers in Uganda can teach Swahili beyond the kamata, karibu and asante sana? Even in the Uganda military where Swahili enjoys some form of officialdom, many soldiers simply speak a word or two. A friend who teaches at one of Uganda’s universities and works in broadcasting was once asked to get a Swahili news reader. She called the university’s Swahili lecturer who recommended his best student for the job. The candidate failed an oral Swahili interview! He only knew how to read and write it! Not to speak it! Strange things still happen. Anyway, the second thing was about the Member of Parliament from my home town (or is it city?) of Masaka. Armed with a written text, she moved to the centre of parliament to give what the Deputy Speaker called her “maiden speech.” She couldn’t read coherently what was written on the paper she was holding. She couldn’t also pronounce certain words correctly. Was it stage flight? Maybe “maiden speeches” could be that tough! I believe this MP campaigned for the job and she was considered worthy. Obviously, she campaigned in the language her constituents understand. And the language she too understands. After her “maiden speech” went viral on social media, I highly doubt she will ever speak again in parliament. She will become like the majority of her colleagues who simply sit and WhatsApp and wake up to vote for their party’s positions. Had this been in Cape Town, with the MP representing one of those constituencies in South Africa, the honorable member would simply have walked to the dais, pressed a button and spoke in any of the republic’s 11 official languages. Those who don’t speak her language, would simply have ear plugged themselves to follow the proceedings through an interpreter. So instead of some committee only going for Swahili as another official language, they could have chosen a few others languages as well, learning from the South African example. MPs wouldn’t be embarrassed to debate in a language they don’t understand. Some district officials would plan better for their communities. Recommending indigenous languages as official languages wouldn’t make some regions or languages superior, it would give people options to fully understand and appreciate the issues at hand. Some people argue that Swahili is the most dominant language in the region and understanding it would enable us trade better. Perhaps true but how many Ugandan traders who frequent to China speak Mandarin? They have never failed to get whatever they want because they don’t speak Madarin. Trading starts at home. You can’t trade with Kenyans or Tanzanians before you get to understand the local market. Luganda for example is the dominant trade business in Uganda even outside Buganda. It can become an official language just like Runyakitara, Acholi, Ateso, and Lusoga among others. No MPs would be embarrassed while giving their “maiden speeches” thereby ensuring inclusive representation. Small time traders wouldn’t fear to bid for government jobs because they could present their proposals in a language they understand thereby leading to their growth. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

October 21, 2022

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch Massive Kabaka Birthday Run turn out key in unlocking Uganda’s potential

#OutToLunch Massive Kabaka Birthday Run turn out key in unlocking Uganda’s potential By Denis Jjuuko When the Kingdom of Buganda first announced that they had procured 80,000 kits for the Kabaka Birthday Run, I was a bit skeptical. Not that I doubt the Kabaka’s popularity and the work that his team at Bulange have put in over the last few years, but I thought the number was a little bit too high. We hadn’t been physically involved in the run since 2019. Virtual runs due to Covid-19 had been the norm. I thought there could have been a need to transition a little bit slowly and if we could get the number of 2019 of around 60,000 people, that would be massive. Then on Friday before the run, I started receiving phone calls from friends. They wanted to know where they could get kits so they could participate. I would direct them to all the selling points only to call back that they couldn’t find them. Not that they were finding selling points closed, the kits had sold out. On the run day, I saw many people around the Royal Mile that links Bulange to the Mengo Palace and indeed others around the ring road that were simply waving and didn’t have vests on. I don’t know whether they were part of the last-minute participants that missed out or not. Most likely, you can’t just wake up early and go around Mengo to simply cheer those who are participating. One could argue that Mengo should have anticipated and brought in 100,000 kits but as I have said, and having been involved in organizing marathon events before, having 80,000 people in Uganda running is a milestone. Having 80,000 people participating means that had it been a soccer event, the kingdom would have needed two Namboole stadiums or the Camp Nou in Barcelona. Once the Kabaka flagged us off, and in the 10km route that I chose, the message had been clear. Delivered constantly in a humorous way by thousands of participants was that they can’t wait for 2030 again so they could discard the use of condoms. I don’t how many times I heard this same message constantly and how ‘grateful’ people were that Katikkiro thought about them and the need not to eat “sweet drops in their wrappings.” It was sexual innuendo par excellence but at the end of the day, I believe people got the message. See, the Kabaka is the UNAIDS Ambassador for Male Engagement on HIV/AIDS and the run was pushing male engagement or involvement in stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS. UNAIDS, whose Executive Director is Winnie Byanyima who doesn’t need much introduction to Ugandans, has set an ambitious target of eliminating HIV/AIDS by 2030. Hence the gratefulness to Katikkiro that after 2030, people won’t have to use condoms as HIV/AIDS would have been eliminated! The fun stuff aside, the Kabaka’s birthday run once again proved that Ugandans can respond to a call to do something. This isn’t obviously the first time we have seen this. Just a few months ago, a friend called me and said her mother was at Bulange for a Covid-19 vaccination jab. I asked her what had changed because I knew her mum had refused to take a vaccination jab yet she is in the age group that is vulnerable. My friend, a persuasive communication executive in one of those UN agencies, had tried and failed to convince her mother. So she asked her what had happened when she found out that she was now vaccination ready. She said the Katikkiro has told us to go and vaccinate and he can’t be doing anything that is bad for us. Katikkiro didn’t directly call her. She just saw him on TV and heard him on radio and that was enough. Bulange was full to the brims with people including some who had been as skeptical as my friend’s mother. Kabaka himself once turned polio upside down when reluctant parents in the 1990s saw him dropping a polio vaccine in a child’s mouth in Mawokota. Polio, needlessly to say, was kicked out of Uganda (thanks to Rotary as well and of course the Ministry of Health and other partners). So how can this energy people have for their Kabaka and his appointed leaders be translated into every other little activity? We could push more for education so parents can ensure that every child attends school. I have always asked myself what makes America a superpower? And usually everything points to its famous universities. China’s progress can be linked to the millions that graduate from its universities every year and so are other developed countries. Innovation is possible with education. Sustainable meaningful jobs are a result of education. Better health is only possible if people are educated. In case Buganda is grappling with what to run for in the years ahead, education could be it. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

October 21, 2022

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch River Kafu cassava could be a popular foodstuff across the country

#OutToLunch River Kafu cassava could be a popular foodstuff across the country By Denis Jjuuko A trip to northern Uganda for many motorists is punctuated with a stop at River Kafu, at the border of Buganda and Bunyoro. A small but popular roadside market exists at the banks of this river. As soon as the vehicle stops, like on all major roads in Uganda, vendors accost the passengers with roast chicken, meat, plantains and cold beverages. The difference with the River Kafu stop is its famous roast cassava. It is perhaps the most delicious in the world. The women who roast it at River Kafu have mastered the art of doing so. It remains white both on the inside and outside. Until it is broken to be savored, you may not even tell it has been roasted. That is how skilled they are. This type of cassava is only found at River Kafu. If you go around the market anywhere in Uganda, you won’t be able to find this particular variety. Its deliciousness could make it a popular foodstuff across the country and turn it from one that is associated with poverty. Ever since President Yoweri Museveni advised the nation to turn to cassava instead of imported wheat, I thought that maybe there is a need to grow this variety in other parts of the country. But also in numbers that can significantly turn cassava into a much more loved foodstuff than it currently is. In some parts of Uganda, there is some perception that cassava is for the poor as it has always been associated with poverty — or food eaten during droughts and hard times. There is need to change this perception so that varieties such as the River Kafu one are grown on a large scale. But if you marketed cassava so well and people in urban areas adopted it instead of Ukrainian wheat, there would be a crisis in just a few weeks perhaps bigger than the cost of expensive wheat. There won’t be enough quantities to tame demand. One of the problems for Uganda’s agriculture is that not enough of almost anything is grown. Many people grow food for their own consumption or what they call subsistence farming. This is problematic because Uganda is rapidly urbanizing with many people increasingly turning away from farming for elusive jobs in towns. Yet every day on social media platforms, you see somebody swearing not to invest in agriculture again after burning their fingers for several years. How do we make agriculture an investment destination for people’s savings? A friend leased 100 acres near Gulu town and planted cassava a few years ago. During every harvest time, he struggled to find a buyer. He was advised to dry it and sell it in Kampala for those who need cassava flour. He did that but by the end of the day, he had lost more money and abandoned the business. Transporting it and storage among other costs ate away what would have been his profit. After several years of trying, he abandoned the business. He had employed many young people at the farm who also lost jobs when he abandoned the business. Another friend told me that he has abandoned his maize growing business. He says he finds it cheaper to buy maize for his school than growing it on his vast piece of land near Kampala. Many farmers talk of losing money than making money in agriculture. How could they be helped not to abandon the sector? All businesses make losses and it isn’t possible that you would start an enterprise today and within a year or season you are making profits. The challenge with agriculture is that the losses can be huge thereby dispiriting people from getting involved. Access to affordable long-term credit that is tailored to the peculiarities of agriculture is key so that farmers’ assets aren’t always threatened to be auctioned whenever they delay to service the loan due to losses that they may have incurred. Popularizing agriculture insurance could help as well. Like for my friend who struggled to sell his 100 acres of cassava, creating markets is important to reduce on post-harvest losses. Many farmers struggle to sell their produce during harvest time. In Luweero for example during the pineapple season, each fruit could be sold for as little as Shs500. And that is the price by a middle man. Imagine what the farmer gets. How do we stop talking about value addition and put practical solutions in place? The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

October 21, 2022

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch VAT should be paid after cash received policy should be extend to all sectors

#OutToLunch VAT should be paid after cash received policy should be extend to all sectors By Denis Jjuuko There is a story that didn’t make newspaper headlines or even trend online but very crucial for small and medium enterprises or as we have learnt over the last few weeks even for ‘big’ businessmen. The story, published by Daily Monitor in its business pages reads that “goods (and I believe services) supplied to government will, beginning July 1, not be subjected to value added tax (VAT) before their invoices are cashed.” It added that “the policy shift is contained in the new tax amendments 2022 that were passed by Parliament but still awaiting to be signed by the president.” I hope the president doesn’t even take a day to sign this into law. I am not sure why this didn’t make the main headline or at least be on the front page but as somebody who has never edited any newspaper, I would certainly never know. The way VAT has been collected is prohibitive and deters growth for especially SMEs which are the heartbeat of the economy, any economy anywhere in the world. Currently, the Uganda Revenue Authority expects you to pay VAT at the point of delivery, invoicing or payment. This has been problematic for SMEs because you have been expected to pay money you aren’t sure you will ever receive. Usually, upon signing of a contract or receiving the purchase order, government expects you to deliver and then invoice even though there are some cases where a certain small percentage is processed upon signing the contract or receiving the purchase order. In many cases, even where a percentage is paid, it isn’t enough to deliver the goods or services. So in order to deliver on your side of the contract, you approach the bank or informal money lender for a loan at huge interest after which you start the protracted game of chasing payment from government. The promised working days before your payment is processed can turn into months and sometimes years. But within 15 days of invoicing, URA has been expecting you to pay failure of which they would institute penalties. So as a businessman who is already in debt, you take on more debt to pay URA the VAT. This can easily make you a bad debtor and have your assets advertised for auction. The move to demand VAT after somebody has been paid is a good move. One doesn’t have to take on unsustainable debt to pay VAT to avoid penalties or even closure of your account. Money can be paid whenever government pays. At least this doesn’t tie up capital to do some other work as one waits for government payment. Though for many smaller businesses, the tax amendments would have made more sense if the amended law included other businesses. Although the issue of delayed payments is more rampant with government, it is also endemic in non-government organisations and the private sector. Many times, people who are supposed to pay don’t do anything to ensure suppliers are paid on time even when for the case of NGOs money is idly lying on their account. It could be due to lack of understanding and appreciating the pressures in the private sector or simply a bureaucratic system. Many times paper invoices are deliberately misplaced or supporting documents are kept away. An officer goes on leave or decides to attend a workshop for weeks without assigning anyone else to handle their work thereby further delaying payments. This is one of the reasons government owes suppliers an estimated Shs2 trillion some of which hasn’t been paid in five years. Imagine as a small and medium enterprise having your invoices unpaid for five years! Litigation is costly for SMEs and it can also take many years as the case is assigned one judge after another who keep on adjourning it for extended period of time. As a businessperson, you sometimes return to prayer or unsustainable debt which curtails growth. Employees will be affected, businesses will close. Government would lose revenue. Now that the issue of when VAT is paid when supplying government is sorted pending the president’s signature, the issue of the 18% need to be worked on as well. In Kenya, VAT is 16%, in South Africa it is at 15% while in Ghana 12.5% and 7.5% in Nigeria. A reduction in the rate in Uganda would also help boost business and incomes especially given the ongoing economic disruptions. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

October 21, 2022

#OutToLunch Here is how to be a successful Ugandan businessman

#OutToLunch Here is how to be a successful Ugandan businessman By Denis Jjuuko Wake up every day with the media on your mind and do anything possible to appear in the media being promoted as the biggest thing ever to happen to Uganda since independence. Don’t necessarily say exactly what you do. Businessman is enough. Just dress the part and drive a nice car. Ensure that your children, wife and even siblings live large, sometimes larger than even yourself. Their friends can throw a party at your hotel or house any time. Holidays in the most exotic of places are a must. Kids should go to school at St Andrew’s Turi or St Andrew’s in Grahamstown after which they can join some university in Europe or north America. When they return, start them some businesses and get them condos in Kololo so the parties can continue. For cars, throw in a BMW X6 or Merc with BlueTec fuel systems. Introduce them to your friends’ children so that they marry “right.” Then join the motivational speaking circuit and give ted-talks on how to raise entrepreneurial children. Appear at Yiiya Ssente shows and castigate everyone for not being smart in their works. Refer to the 1970s and 1980s and how life was hard. How Amin’s soldiers ransacked your mother’s stall in Wandegeya and left the family so poor that you ate one cup of porridge a week that didn’t even have sugar. Mention how you had to grow up fast so you could look after your siblings including those who were older than you. Invoke God’s name and how lucky you have been to be where you are but also mention that it is because of integrity and honesty that you have made it in life. Speak all the good English in the world. When you visit the bank, spend a few minutes asking the teller how much they make and whether they wouldn’t fancy a job abroad that pays five times what they earn. Once they have your ear after a few more visits, ask them to give you the money so you can process their passports and visas. Keep on asking for more money until you realize that they can’t give anymore and then abandon that branch and bank. To insulate yourself, pose for photos with some military generals! Hold meetings only in 5-star hotels and fancy restaurants. Arrive there with a driver-cum-personal-assistant who after parking your sleek European or American brand car comes to the restaurant where you are seated and after your next victims have taken their seats to deliver your designer leather bag that has your iPad and note book embossed with the initials of your name. Order for sushi or dishes with exotic names or the most expensive stuff but ensure your bill is paid by the guys you are about to defraud. When it comes to flying, only business class makes sense and ensure everyone gets to know about it by frequently walking from business class to economy (in planes where it is possible) to talk to someone there for a few minutes. Talk as big and loud as possible. Thrown in quotations from Warren Buffet or Jeff Bezos or Barack Obama. Mention your last meeting at State House. Have an idea about the war in Ukraine and its impact on food prices. Know a thing or two about the Kenyan elections or the depreciation of the shillings against the dollar. Take a photo with anyone with a big name you can ever meet. Create a huge following on social media. Arrive at public fundraisers late. You are the guest of honor after all. Recall how you didn’t want to attend but your wife reminded you of how lucky you are and you felt so guilty. Mention a colossal sum of money as your family’s contribution. And as you leave, grant permission to everyone who wants a selfie. When payment time comes after a few months of hide and seek, invite a few members of the fundraising committee to your office and inform them that the figure you mentioned was simply to spur others to contribute more. It was part of fundraising tricks used the world over, you are even surprised they didn’t know it. Swing in the chair in your wood paneled office and intercom your secretary to give these guys just 10% of what you had promised and what the newspapers had reported. Next step is the bank or lenders with tonnes of money. Inform them about your projects, show them all your newspaper clippings. It could be a fancy hotel or soccer stadium. Make sure they are foreign. Once the money is in, cut off contact and when they go to court, use a loophole in the law that they lent you money illegally as they were not legally registered in Uganda. When you are cornered, quickly issue a statement calling them fake people who want to spoil your reputation and good name, which you swear to dying protecting. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

October 21, 2022

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch Training bus drivers as a business opportunity

#OutToLunch Training bus drivers as a business opportunity By Denis Jjuuko Sometime back, while on a trip to northern Uganda, in a vehicle that belongs to some agency, I noticed that the driver waved at each bus we found along the way. Midway the journey, we stopped for a break to refill our coffee cups and such other things. We found many buses at the place we stopped. My driver, I will call him my driver, went to greet all the bus drivers that were parked there. He seemed excited to see them and they were also happy to greet him as they embraced and had animated conversations. When we resumed the journey, I asked him how he knew all these bus drivers. He told me he started out as a conductor in a taxi that was owned by his elder brother. His brother was the driver. Eventually, his brother bought another taxi. By this time, my driver had learnt how to drive and started driving one of the taxis. After buying several taxis, he got an opportunity to buy a used bus that plied some routes between some major towns in northern Uganda. This growth was financed by him selling the taxis so my driver became a conductor again. But my driver’s brother always wanted to play big and his dream was to ply the Kampala route. He eventually bought a newer bus that would allow him to live his dream. After one bus, he bought another one. My driver became a bus driver as well plying the Kampala route. Today, my driver’s brother company has several buses hence the excitement he always had whenever he saw one of the buses. His brother of course stopped driving buses to concentrate on management, acquisition of buses and the expansion of his company. By this time, I had one burning question. Why did he leave his brother to get a job in an agency in Kampala? He said he was being paid per a trip to Kampala. He would earn Shs100,000 per a trip. If he made a return trip, he would earn Shs200,000. So, making more trips came at the expense of his wellbeing. He had no leave days; he had no weekend. If he had decided to take a day off, and another driver was sick, he would be called in. To make ends meet, he wasn’t resting enough. As he became older, he could no longer make many trips a month. He started looking for a much more stable job that allowed him recuperation time and landed one in the agency as a driver. I asked him why many buses are driven badly, he said many drivers want to make return journeys so that they are paid double in a day so they tend to move faster. So they disable speed governors, but where they can’t, they put the car in neutral gear during downhill and the bus just moves freely at an unbelievable speed. He also told me that the most important skill a bus driver must have is anticipation — euphemism for the ability to judge that you can take a corner or overtake without braking. Buses, he told me, don’t break like small cars and because they are big, you can’t simply swing it as you wish in case you realized a problem ahead. So to “anticipate” what lies ahead is key, he said. Anticipation is a recipe for disaster and one of the reasons for many accidents because one can’t always tell what lies ahead. I must confess that I don’t know whether that is the case with all bus drivers but ever since my driver told me that, I have noticed that is how many bus drivers behave on the road. It points to a lack of bus driver training. My driver never told me that he had been to any school that taught him how to drive a bus. He simply graduated from a taxi to a bus driver. So, where do bus drivers train? I don’t know of any school that offers bus drivers training but I might be wrong. Many companies that sell buses, do some orientation of bus drivers especially when some new technology has been introduced. Indeed, some even have simulators but many times, guys who have just been driving taxis and lorries are simply graduated to bus driving. Isn’t this a business opportunity? A track can easily be built and simulators installed in Kayunga where Kiira Motors plans to establish an automotive industrial park. I believe they are open to this kind of collaboration. Government can give the right incentives for the interested qualified investor. Also, Uganda can ban buses built on lorry chassis. Buses as built as buses today have technology that doesn’t allow the roofs to curve in during accidents and have other safety measures meant for protecting passengers. Unlike buses built on lorry chassis. A bus costs on average USD150,000 (approximately Shs530 million) so why don’t bus owners think about this cost by providing better employment terms for their drivers? A bus can have a flat bed at the back where one of the drivers can sleep and half the way the journey, another driver having rested enough can complete the journey. This is the case in many countries. Bus owners can use that as a start but also ensure that their most prized asset isn’t driven by guys devoid of sleep. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com *The Kayoola Coach by Kiira Motors

October 21, 2022

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch The pitfalls of a culture of pretending to work and pretending to pay

#OutToLunch The pitfalls of a culture of pretending to work and pretending to pay By Denis Jjuuko Over the weekend, I entered a furniture shop in Kampala and I was blown away! I had come in with my cousin to look for a gift for somebody. What we wanted was something small but they say curiosity killed a cat! After not getting what originally we wanted, we started moving around hoping something would catch our eye. The more we moved, the more we realized that we were in a wrong shop. Some furniture looked nice. Others looked too extravagant and wondered what all the fuss. Then I moved to a corner to see more furniture. Even though the prices I was seeing were out of this world for me, I hadn’t prepared to see what looked like a wrong figure. In the corner, there was a set of sofas with a matching dining set. They didn’t have all the unnecessary ornaments I had seen on some other chairs and I actually liked them because they were not too decorated with all sort of stuff I had earlier seen. They looked like furniture you can love. I could see a price tag and looked at it for a few minutes. I thought something was wrong. The price was Shs150,900,000! I moved closer to be sure I am seeing the figures correctly and that was the price. I smiled wondering who buys such furniture in poor Kampala! When I posted on my Facebook account, many people like me where surprised but many others said they too had been to that shop and had the same questions. Others even mentioned people’s homes where they had seen such furniture. Of course there are places in Kampala that sell a bottle of beer at Shs12,000 and that too surprises many people. Anyway, we had entered the shop towards their time of closure so I hang in a bit to see how workers were driving out. Indeed we were the last people to leave and as we were walking out, some of the workers were leaving too, jumping on boda bodas and I saw one negotiating taxi fares with a conductor and only succeeded at the second attempt. I wondered how a sales agent selling furniture at Shs150 million can then be negotiating taxi fares. Are businesses exploiting workers? I wondered whether such an employee caters for the business or they are simply there because jobs are scarce. Do they even love what they do? What is the impact of low pay to the business? Poor pay was largely more associated with public service but is this creeping into the private sector? When we walked into this shop, the sales agent didn’t come running to us to ask what we needed. They seemed disinterested. Maybe they know their customers so well that we looked exactly who we were — “window shoppers.” When I saw them at the end of their shift, I realised it may have been a motivation issue but this is a private business that has been in existence for years. Maybe their model works. In many countries, the private sector has always been the epitome of excellent customer service. But then we moved to supermarket just across the road and the workers went out of their way to see if there was anything we liked. The comparison of workers in a shop that sells stuff at Shs150m and another for every day products stayed in my mind for a while. I remembered a story I read somewhere that a public servant had told a visiting UN agency director that at the office where they work, “they pretend to work since government pretends to pay them.” The result is poor performance and in places like health care facilities, it leads to mortalities. Even though the government is focusing on increasing pay of scientists, if salaries aren’t evened, others will “pretend to work.” One of the challenges in public health facilities is for example infections that are a result of cleanliness. What will happen to cleaners when their salaries are ignored? Aren’t we going to see more infections? Will accountants and other administrators not considered scientists be motivated or they will process millions as payment for their scientist colleagues and then rush to the taxi stage to negotiate fares? This is a trap that government must avoid. Huge disparities in payment will create unhealthy camps at the workplaces and lead to more people not working than working. Of course I am not saying that doctors should be paid same rate as cleaners but people in “non-science” jobs should be considered too. That way we will have people working and not pretending to do so. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

October 21, 2022