Government of Uganda . – Prime Time Communications

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Favourable interest rates are good for everyone, not just government

By Denis Jjuuko Now that the hullabaloo about the government takeover of Umeme is over, there is a need to ask some questions. Questions that affect most people. As you might be aware, many businesses survive on loans whether to expand, acquire new technology, or service their customers. Usually, the big businesses easily walk into a bank and get whatever money they need. Some even advertise calling lenders who would like to lend them money to bid. The lenders sometimes fall for themselves to do so. Government does the same. It even sets the interest rate it will borrow at and many times even refuse some of the money people are desperate to lend to it but to this, we shall return later. For the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), it is a totally different story. You have to chase the lenders to give you money. Their instinct is to refuse. They claim SMEs, even when collectively are the biggest contributors to the economy, are risky. Chances of not getting their money back are high. They may not be entirely wrong. The lenders especially the formal ones usually take their time, making the borrowers even more desperate sending them to underground sharks. Some times some staff of the formal lenders are not any different from the sharks. They deliberately slow the process and demand stuff that are as difficult to get as those usually required by witches. Once they realize the borrower is super desperate, they pounce many times asking anxious SMEs for a commission. Imagine borrowing money at interest rates in their mid-twenties and somebody is asking for a commission on it. The commission is usually euphemism for a bribe. Desperate SME owners give the bribe in fear of losing out. Doing business in Uganda is like living in the wild, always looking over your shoulders for predators. Yet the say that what is good for the goose should be good for the gander too. Let us look at how government paid off Umeme. We heard that they borrowed money from a commercial bank to pay Umeme. The lender didn’t quote them the usual rates. It lent them at 7% annually. I am not sure if they presented any collaterals. I believe they didn’t. Currently, the average interest rate on dollar loans is 13% in many commercial banks. So, the government negotiated itself a bargain at 7%. When they are borrowing from the masses through the treasury bonds, they are giving an average of 15% on long term bonds (10-20 years) and much less on those with short tenures (five years and below). Like mentioned earlier, they many times refuse to take all the money people are willing to lend it. They perfectly understand that high interest rates are not good for them. But if they are not good for them, how can they be good for businesses and individuals? Newspapers these days seem to be deriving most of their income from adverts putting borrowers’ assets on sale by auction for failure to pay back loans. The majority of those assets are for small businesses and individuals. It can’t be that they all misused the money and went for life or made extremely wrong decisions. Some could have been because the government itself has not paid them for supplies and services rendered for years, prompting lenders to send the toughest auctioneers their way. With the Americans closing agencies like USAID, many businesses in Uganda are going to collapse if they have not collapsed already sending thousands of workers and business owners home. At their homes, auctioneers will show up to do foreclosures on mortgages. Imagine somebody who acquired assets to service the thousands of NGOs that were getting grants from USAID? Such businesses had not yet recovered from the closure of the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) by the Ugandan government. We had not yet recovered from COVID-19 for God’s sake. And as we prepare for elections in 2026, many investors will be watching from the sidelines to see what happens. This means investing less money and therefore less jobs or income for small businesses that could have supplied them or gained contracts from the value chains. Regardless of what happened with USAID, DGF or what will happen during elections, government needs to rethink seriously the interests on loans and work out a long-term solution. They can’t be borrowing at favourable rates while sending the rest to borrow at astronomical figures. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

April 24, 2025

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: A world of opportunity awaits UEDCL as they take over power distribution

By Denis Jjuuko On 31 March this year, something that doesn’t usually take place in Uganda happened. A contract between the government of Uganda and private electricity distributor, Umeme, ended as stipulated in their agreement signed more than 20 years ago. Usually, there is an extension after an extension to review something or enable to finalize the transition or something similar. Even more strange, Umeme acknowledged in a statement published in newspapers that it had received USD118,385,603 as the buy out amount recommended by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG). Usually, payments from the government of Uganda take months and months, lobbying, threats to sue and even sometimes suing. Not this time. The speed at which government has worked is akin to a spouse eager to divorce their partner so that they can enjoy the warmth of their new lover. If this lightning speed is extended to all contracts and services, Uganda would surely be a better place. Although Umeme claims that its figure is USD234m and not the figure recommended by OAG, by the time of writing this, I hadn’t heard of anyone struggling to pay for Yaka or postpaid services. Nobody claimed had been switched off from electricity. Was this a case of both partners so eager to see the back of each other and willing to first each grab what they can and agree on some marital property later? Perhaps so. In fact, Umeme indicated that it would go for arbitration somewhere in London. At least, both former lovers were not punching each other and making life difficult for each other. Arbitration is always better than physical fights. The exist of Umeme ushers into almost uncharted waters for the Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL). Although UEDCL has managed distribution in some areas where Umeme didn’t have presence, the scale at which they have to now operate is huge. One can only wish them the best. They aren’t particularly unique in this though. They can learn from the guys who issue driving permits. They took over from an efficient company and even became more efficient. As one of the final acts from its divorce, Umeme decided to leave by showing how much they loved their erstwhile partner and spared no coins in paying for a colorful centerspread infographic in the newspapers that showed their impact. One of their key celebratory figures was that they inherited a paltry 250,000 customers and are now handing over a base of 2.37 million customers. This is akin to a partner telling the other in a divorce case that I made you better. The 2.37 million figure made me sit up, lean back a bit in my chair, grab a mug of Ugandan coffee, sip and stare at particularly nothing. I wondered whether to celebrate or cry. We are a country of 49.5 million people according to the chaps at the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) as per the 2024 National Population Census. Also, there are 10.8 million households in Uganda. On average, Uganda’s household size is 4.4 people. And since the 2.37m customers included factories, offices and buildings, it means that the majority of households in Uganda have no access to electricity. I know that some households are connected to solar power especially in rural areas but usually that is for charging a feature phone, watch some TV on a screen of the size of tablet computer and some basic lighting. Good but not good enough. And that is where UEDCL and the government of Uganda need to work. How do they make electricity accessible and affordable to all? Electricity, not just for households, leads to development and job creation. When a small town is connected to the national grid, many young people are able to set up small businesses some of which grow into large enterprises over the years. It is not uncommon to find a village where there are powerlines but the people too poor to connect their houses. Transforming agriculture would lead the majority of the folks in rural areas to afford installation and service fees as well as buying Yaka units. The UEDCL will have to be more efficient so that power is reliable and doesn’t go off whenever it rains or every time a bird plays on the wires. They will need to invest significantly in the network, modernize it to reduce losses, and nip corruption in the bud so that there is more money to generate, transmit and distribute. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

April 22, 2025

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: If girls can learn to shoot a gun, they can learn to code too

By Denis Jjuuko A young girl in a school uniform surfaced on a video over the weekend. Perhaps in the lower ages of her teens, she walks majestically in an open field. It is some kind of event. The person on the microphone is ecstatic. The crowd is roaring with joy. They have probably seen this girl before do some performance. Whoever is shooting the video only focuses on the teenager. It is not clear where the video was taken but somewhere in Africa. Somebody said it was South Sudan. When she reaches the middle of the field, she confidently picks up one of the deadliest weapons ever made — the AK47 gun. She points it in the air as if she is going to shoot but she doesn’t. She instead starts to disassemble it. The crowd roars at every part removed. Within no time, she re-assembles the AK47 gun. The crowd has never cheered like this before. Her mission is done. Puts the gun down and walks away. The video ends there. I would have wanted to watch more to get the context of the entire event and what drives an entire country to gather to watch teenage school girls disassemble and reassemble automatic assault rifles. Is it about defending their country which in most cases means keeping politicians in power? Is it self-defense? Or building a significant base of future innovators that can go make better guns than the AK47? Unfortunately, it was hard to get answers to such questions from the video clip. But it keeps one thinking about the education policy of some of these African countries. Previously, African leaders had such courses branded patriotism and empowering the masses to defend themselves. The gun, particularly the Ak47, had been used to terrorize people and there was a need to demystify it, the African leaders argued. They enrolled thousands of post-primary students in such courses. The countries remain largely poor decades later. I am not so sure how long it takes to teach a kid how to learn the intricacies of assembling an AK47. It must be some good training and some good resources. Military trainers, securing a suitable venue, guns, bullets, and all that. And then much more money to organize the “graduation” event where the learners showcase their impeccable skills with the AK47 and perhaps other types of guns. The majority of these AK47 graduates will most likely not finish their formal education like is the case in Africa. Very few kids who enroll into primary make it to university or other tertiary institutions. Many actually don’t complete their secondary education. And looking at that girl in the video, perhaps the only skills she will ever have are those to do with the AK47. What is she going to do with such skills? Unless she joins the military, she may end up in a militia that seeks to topple those who trained her or into some law breaker of repute. There are many 21st century skills that young girls need to acquire ahead of learning how to shoot a gun. Digital skills are crucial to make young people competitive and if they can learn to assemble a gun, they can learn to code too. They are more likely to earn better coding than shooting guns. They are more likely to contribute to the development of their countries with digital skills than impeccable gun skills. That doesn’t mean that there is no need to secure a country but that should be left to those who are recruited into the armed forces. The majority of people don’t need military education. They need skills that can land them jobs to feed their families, pay taxes to run the country and ultimately fulfil their potential. The politicians need to think beyond themselves. Look at South Sudan where the video is said to have been made. Two old men can’t control their egos so they decide to fight each other instead of using their massive natural resource endowments to create a prosperous country. Countries don’t develop because the masses can shoot a gun. They do when the masses have skills necessary that make them competitive in the world. Imagine if that girl instead of an AK47, she was displaying coding skills?

March 27, 2025

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch Amalgamate saccos to provide women with patient capital

By Denis Jjuuko On 8 March, Uganda marked yet another women’s day. Several activities were carried out. High profile people gave lofty speeches once again. Promises were made. As is always the case in Uganda, group photos were taken. Meals I believe were served. And of course, some dancing. Reminders must have been made of what has been achieved and how grateful the women should be. But the majority of Ugandan women probably didn’t even notice the day. They were too busy eking a living or trying to survive to even notice. Women emancipation is still a pipe dream for many. There have been a lot of emphasis for women empowerment and some milestones have been achieved. Still, more needs to be done. One key area that can transform women’s fortunes is formal education. Averagely, the more educated one is, the higher the chances of better incomes whether as a salaried person or through entrepreneurship. There is usually some talk on education or the lack of it where many people point to one successful entrepreneur without formal education and present it as standard for wealth creation. Those outliers will always exist. Even among those with high formal education qualifications, outliers exist. But the majority of people without formal education don’t earn better than those with formal education. Many studies have been done on this by institutions like the World Bank. Households, communities and governments must ensure that girls stay in school for as long as possible. The minimum education should be completion of secondary education. Educated girls will value education and therefore will ensure their children go to school too. They will most likely not give birth to 10 kids they can’t look after. They will not easily think that the only pathway to success is marriage. And they won’t look at bride price as the route to their own success as parents. That way they will avoid becoming grandmothers at age 35. Formal education should be complimented with regular refresher courses on emerging issues. Today, everyone is talking about artificial intelligence and how it is disrupting everything. How can ordinary women get basics on artificial intelligence that is relevant to the work they do? Is there artificial intelligence that is relevant to a market vendor? Let them know about it. Digital training is necessary from time to time. Look at WhatsApp and its potential to connect millions and provide access to markets at almost no cost. Women leaders at the lowest level can be empowered to pass on skills to their people on what is working and how they can use emerging technologies for their own good. But so are a plethora of other applications that can enable people connect, promote their enterprises, seek for work or workers. There has always been a lot of talk on access to capital for women in entrepreneurship or to pay for needs such as school fees for their children. Some programs exist in that regard but sometimes the conditions are never favourable. High interest rates and short loan periods making it hard for women to borrow money to grow their enterprises or pay for their needs. Many women don’t own land which is the most common asset they can offer as collateral to banks and other lenders. Many women have had to rely on their own collective savings or saccos which lend at rates even higher than commercial banks though without the burden of collateral and paperwork. And lenders have observed over many years that female borrowers usually pay back more than male ones. A case, therefore, exists for a more long-term fund for women to access patient capital at low interest rates with less paperwork. Alternatively, how can many of the thousands of women saccos be amalgamated into a fund that has the organizational and operational capacity to provide fellow women patient capital? The Bank of Uganda and the government can guarantee the members protection of their money by providing oversight and insurance, similar to what they do with commercial banks or depositors’ money. The money raised by these saccos could be invested and the returns used to create an endowment fund that lends patient capital to millions of women. Women empowerment would move from being part of beautiful speeches and footnotes of studies into something ‘tangible’ that can truly transform the lives of the majority of women. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

March 27, 2025

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: High temperatures and what districts could learn from Buganda

By Denis Jjuuko Kampala used to be known as the city of seven hills but that was long ago. As the city expanded, so were the hills. If you get a chance to stand at the top of some of these hills, you will see many more hills in now what is considered the greater Kampala metropolitan area. Many people are increasingly settling onto these hills. It can be spectacular and probably a future source of tourism revenue for enterprising business people. All they need is a good high-rise structure on which telescopes could be mounted for people to see what Kampala has got to offer. The problem though is that some of these hills may end up embarrassing us. Take the example of a hill that you face when driving from Masaka to Kampala. Around Maya, you will face the Nsangi hill, full of houses that explain our lack of proper planning. One house faces this side, another faces the other side. One is multi-floors and another is the size of a poor man’s single room hut. But they all have one thing in common— a lack of trees. At least the original seven hills that formed Kampala have lots of trees. The ‘new’ ones? Something needs to be done. They were all originally well treed. Then land entrepreneurs showed up with graders. Cut down the trees and subdivided the hills into plots measuring 50×100 feet in size or less. They heavily advertised them as “organised” housing estates. Kampala’s middle class rushed to acquire them and started competing on who puts up the ugliest structure. Some built houses almost the size of the entire plot leaving absolutely no space to plant a tree or even some grass. The hills have ended up of what one once called a concrete jungle! Outside Kampala, forests were cut down for timber and charcoal and we didn’t think much of replacing the trees. Certainly, we had never heard of sustainable logging. Deplete everything and blame some faceless mafia. The trick works on the masses. That perhaps explains the high temperatures we are experiencing in Kampala and across the country today. If you drive through the countryside where the significant majority of the population depends on rainfed agriculture, a hunger crisis looms even though this is expected to be the dry season. Although harsh weather events or even changes in the climate that affect Ugandans can’t be entirely blamable on Ugandans, there is much that we can do ourselves. One of the easiest things to do is planting trees, many of which wouldn’t require much effort to grow. Perhaps the tree should be one that offers benefits to people regularly such as fruit trees from which income could be derived. The people at the helm of Buganda Kingdom understood this and initiated a tree planting plan at every betrothment (kwanjula) and last funeral rites ceremonies and this could further be escalated by the district local governments. At least in urban areas, everyone who builds a house is supposed to have an approved architectural plan. Urban planners should ensure that each plan presented for approval has trees as part of it. And before occupation permits are issued, there must be trees already planted. When urban authorities visit rental properties to determine and/or collect property service tax, they should check whether the trees exist and if not, a penalty could be administered. The Uganda Revenue Authority could do the same when collecting rental income tax. Where commercial building in the city can’t have trees, they can commit to maintaining trees on the streets on which they are located or a nearby public park. Failure to do so, they would receive a penalty. Real estate dealers who subdivide land into the so-called organised housing estates would be required to plant trees along the main roads within that estate as part of their license and this could be done well before the land is sold. No trees planted; no land titles issued. The land registry would have to work with the district local governments on this. Those who buy the land would be required not to temper with the trees. They can only maintain them. Enforceable penalties for those who fail to adhere to this. Of course, for this to work, the districts and urban authorities would have to be intentional with supervision to ensure compliance. It should not be too difficult to enforce. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

March 27, 2025

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: With America freezing aid, Uganda should quickly utilize Shs14.6 trillion in unused loans

By Denis Jjuuko It is 10.00am somewhere in Abidjan or Washington. The boardroom is well set up. The temperature is on point, to use Kampala language, and with the press of a button, the microphones become red hot and the giant screen is switched on. In the room, are several government officials from Uganda. They are meeting executives from the African Development or the World Bank to convince them to lend money to Uganda to implement its various development projects that will improve people’s livelihoods and catapult the country to some level of middle-income status. The Uganda delegation did their homework as exhibited in the colorful spreadsheets, graphs and photos in the presentation. Using persuasive language, the Uganda delegation is making an impassioned plea to the lenders to advance the money as soon as possible or else millions of people will become poorer than they are today. The executives from the lending institutions nod their heads. The Uganda delegation has been impressive. It doesn’t surprise them though. These are some of Uganda’s brightest minds. They know their stuff. They are passionate about their country. The only thing missing is money. You know, some people say money is not everything, it is the only thing! If the money is advanced, the country would indeed consolidate the gains made already over the last few years. At the end of the question-and-answer session, the lending executives propose a break followed by a breakout session for themselves. The Uganda delegation can wait a bit in the executive lounge as they take in the executive views of the city and catch up with their families and work emails back home. Within a few minutes, the lenders have made a decision and have called the Uganda delegation back to the boardroom. The Uganda delegation is a bit anxious but they know the loans will be advanced. The lender is also in business, they will be earning interest. The problem is usually on interest rate, loan period and payment terms. Small issues that could be easily agreed upon. Anyway, in the boardroom, the lenders agree to advance the loan. Terms have been easily agreed upon and with consultation back in Kampala, the agreement will be signed within a few weeks. Indeed, the loan agreement is signed and the lenders advance the money. All is good for Uganda, right? Not really. And that is where as an ordinary Ugandan you should get concerned. According to the Auditor General’s report, Uganda’s unused loans have jumped 12.95% as of June 2024 to a monstruous Shs14.6 trillion. Yep, Shs14.6 trillion or nearly US$4 billion. In the last six years up to June 2024, Uganda has been spending a cool Shs78.2b annually on such loans. That is some Shs469 billion on unused loans. Yet many infrastructural projects such as roads are stalled because, we are constantly reminded, that there is no money. Projects that would have been completed on time take years because there is no money yet we have Shs14.6 trillion in some bank vaults waiting for us to collect and pay off contractors. Suppliers to the Uganda government have had their assets sold by commercial banks because we have failed to pay their invoices. Their workers have become unemployed. Kids’ education has been affected. The suppliers can’t be paid but Shs14.6 trillion of loans is not being utilized. If projects are not ready, why do we go and beg for these loans? At least if we don’t get the loans we are not ready to utilize, we would save Shs78.2b annually, which we would use to work on our projects debt free. How can a poor country be enriching the lenders? Imagine a businessman who goes and borrows money from a commercial bank and then leaves it there while paying annually to have the money on their account and not utilizing it. And then that businessman wouldn’t stop there, he would still go to another lender in another city and borrow and leaves the money on account unutilized. Imagine what would happen to that businessman over the years. Imagine if the Uganda government was a businessman, they would have collapsed already, assets sold on auction and the businessman dead of heart attack or somewhere in intensive care. Even though the Uganda government isn’t a typical businessman and can survive for years by borrowing money they don’t utilize, it will still affect it and more so the citizens. With the Americans freezing their aid, it is time the government of Uganda utilized the Shs14.6 trillion to spur economic growth. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

March 27, 2025

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: The time to throw away an apple for a kiwi after a single bite is over

By Denis Jjuuko We are living in a world where digital maps have become so essential. A tap on the app on your smartphone, like Google Maps, would tell you the route to use from one place to another, showing you the amount of time required per transport mode. When it comes to road transport by car, you will even see in real time whether there is traffic jam or not. These apps are not without challenges. Sometimes they can take you through a back route or recommend roads that long closed depending on how the mapping was done. Nevertheless, these apps are really handy. However, even when the app or even people direct you to wherever you are going, if it is a government of Uganda facility such as a local government office, there is usually one significant indicator that you have arrived. And it is the number of vehicles and equipment rotting in the compound. Some of these vehicles and road construction equipment look new or still in fairly good conditions where they may have needed some minor repairs. It talks a lot about wastage. If we can’t repair or maintain vehicles and equipment, maybe they should be sold off before they are declared scrap so government can get some money back. Or if the project for which some of the equipment is intended isn’t ready to be implemented, there is no need to procure the equipment in the first place. And it isn’t just vehicles and road construction equipment only that these are the ones that welcome you to a government facility. If you enter the building, depending on what they do, there will be equipment being neglected. If it is a hospital, it could be some laboratory or theatre equipment. A computer that has been abandoned. Chairs that are repairable but being piled in a corner somewhere and providing 5-star residence to rodents. Then meetings don’t start on time or rescheduled without informing those who are supposed to participate. One drives hundreds of kilometres only to be informed on arrival that the meeting won’t be taking place some times for flimsy reasons such as taking children back to school. Time and money wasted, which means that something that was supposed to be done will have to wait. Some times the waiting takes years. If you have a non-political case in court, you know what I mean. This modus operandi of some of government officials is going to face its limits. We have learned that the United States that funds a lot of government activities or those of NGOs that compliment government efforts has announced a review of its foreign aid for at least 90 days. It is not clear what will happen after or within 90 days but life may not be the same again especially for ordinary folks without the resources for example to buy lifesaving drugs. Three months is a long time when you need a pill a day to survive. It is not clear that Europe won’t do the same. It is not only people who depend on the services offered through aid such as antiretroviral drugs that will suffer. Businesses will close. Hotels that survive on NGO workshops, Nasser Road printers that rely on NGO work, transporters taking staff to the field, consultants and researchers and lots more will face it rough. The value chain of foreign aid in Africa is significant and affects almost everyone without access to the public till. African economies will have to stop behaving like a rich man’s child who eats an eighth of an apple before throwing it away to eat a kiwi. They will have to understand that if they throw away the apple after a single bite, there will be no other fruit to eat. In fact there will be nothing else to eat. It is time African governments realized, like a child who was throwing away the apple for a kiwi, that their father was simply a beneficiary of some benevolent man and that man has decided to cut off the flow of funds. Going to school is no longer possible by chauffeured SUVs. It is time to join the rest of the kids to walk to school or beg to occupy the kameeme — space behind the driver in the vans that work as commuter taxis in Uganda. Many people can’t afford that adjustment but there is no choice. It is time we stopped the wastage, nipped corruption in the bud, developed and implemented policies that enable the private sector to thrive and wean ourself off foreign aid. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

March 27, 2025

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Treasury bonds, unit trusts provide pathways to real estate and business capital accumulation

By Denis Jjuuko Many people in countries like Uganda have no pension or any form of retirement savings. Like we saw during the pandemic, most people are a missed payment away from poverty. It probably explains why some people especially in public service are said to be swearing affidavits to lower their age. The thought of retirement sends a chill down their spine. Some have trauma from their past experiences as children of people who retired to poverty in the 1990s following massive retrenchment. It could also be one of the reasons for the rampant corruption in Uganda today. So, it is always refreshing when a debate on where to invest comes up. Like it has been over the last few weeks on the social media platform X. The issue of debate was whether people should invest in real estate, treasury bonds, bills and unit trusts. Some said real estate (rentals) and others were in for treasury bonds, bills and unit trusts. Others said let people do business. This is a good debate that gives people options of where to save and invest and avoid the YOLO (you leave only once) mantra that some young people subscribe to. YOLO is a one-way ticket to poverty during retirement. Uganda has one of the world’s youngest populations so to tell them to invest for retirement sometimes looks and sounds extreme. If somebody is 25 years old, they look at retirement at age 60 which is 35 years away as something that can be handled at a future date. The challenge is that if you start saving and investing for retirement at age 45 or 50, you will have to put aside lots of money every month. If you start at 25, you can put small amounts aside which grow into something huge over time. It is what some people call the snowball effect. Long term treasury bonds (10-20 years) return an average of 14 percent per a year while bills and unit trusts return around 10 percent annually in net income. Real estate may also be around 8-10 percent annually but in gross income. These returns are sometimes discouraging. The proponents of business say the returns are so low in real estate and bonds. Those who propose bonds and unit trusts argue that it is net income and therefore very few businesses make such net profitability. The real estate advocates talk about appreciation. All those arguments are probably correct. The issue is that many people usually have more money on them than they need that they aren’t investing anywhere. And if that money is available and accessible, it is easy to use it on stuff that are not that critical. I have been to places where strangers have bought me drinks just because their favourite team in the English premier league has won a game or the one, they hate has been defeated. There are even people who dress up nicely, go to a bar, sit down and drinks are sent their way by strangers. Although that may make life interesting and worth living, it isn’t because the majority doing so have a lot. Many have no savings and sometimes are the ones claiming that they have nothing to save or that 10% interest annually on Shs1m is so little. For many people, Shs1m is also little to start a meaningful business. What do some people do? Eat it. If you are a young person and your dream is to invest in real estate, one of the easiest pathways is through bonds, bills and unit trusts. Let us make some assumptions here. Suppose you need Shs10m to invest in a plot of land where you will build rentals, it may take you a long term to have that money as a lump sum. But if you invest Shs100,000 every month and that money grows at about 10% annually, you will hit the target in 6.5 years. You would actually have Shs482,000 more. If you wait to have a lumpsum of Shs10m, you may take forever to get it. Same model can be used to raise business capital. Most Ugandans who invest in real estate do so over a long time but in a way that sometimes doesn’t make them money. They start building with little money and spend years building incrementally. Bonds, bills and unit trusts could still be an alternative using the same model mentioned above. Instead of starting construction with little money, they could invest it over time and withdraw it when it is significant enough to complete the project. That way, construction doesn’t become a lifetime drag. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

March 27, 2025

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Violence – Lessons for musicians from Ugandan soccer

By Denis Jjuuko A few decades ago, Ugandans would turn up in large numbers to catch a soccer match at Nakivubo Stadium or wherever some of Uganda’s top clubs were playing. The rivalry between SC Villa, Express FC and KCC (precursor to KCCA) was unrivaled. It was tense. None of those teams wanted to lose against the other. Fans were worked up, each leaving no stone unturned in their fervent support for their respective clubs. At some stage, the fanatism turned violent. Unhappy about a referee’s decision would see stones being hurled at him. Rival fans would turn to each other. It became bloody. Increasingly, fans started keeping away. At the time, UTV (now UBC) had started broadcasting Football Made in Germany but the German Bundesliga wasn’t much competition for the Ugandan league. Then TV stations were liberalized in the early 1990s leading to the establishment of privately owned stations. In order to lure audiences, they started broadcasting the English Premier League for free and on a loop. If you missed a match over the weekend, on Monday morning it was being repeated. We had moved from black and white television to color. We could tell the color of the jerseys and enjoyed the aesthetics that the English Premier League TV production brings. We didn’t realize that a 14- or 21-inch screen was such a small thing to enjoy football! Ugandan soccer has never fully recovered from that even though the numbers of fans that watch the Ugandan league is improving. Masaza Cup and Uganda Cranes matches have huge turn ups, so there is hope. The dip in numbers and the suffering Ugandan soccer has gone through partly because of violence should not be oblivious to Ugandan musicians. During the festive season, Alien Skin introduced violence perhaps unheard of in the Uganda music industry. At several events, he would arrive with a gang who would force off whoever they found singing on stage and take over. At one stage he asked where his fans were standing and his gang jumped on those who either didn’t put their hands up or booed him. It was chaos. Some people must have been injured. Unlike musicians like Lydia Jazmine who didn’t fight back whenever Skin attacked, Pallaso would have none of it. And the fight was extended to the home with rival gangs attacking each other. Cars were destroyed. Like the violence that happened in soccer, if the musicians continue fighting and beating those who are perceived not to be their fans, the revelers would find better options to spend their time and money. The losers would be the musicians. Like sportsmen, the career of a musician is about 10 years, for those who are lucky to make it that far. Otherwise, the majority don’t go beyond five years. The musicians who go beyond 10 years are the exception and they are always in their minority. In fact, after a musician attains the age of 45, most likely they cease producing hits and only rely on their old songs with a mix of a few new one to attract audiences. Fans attend partly for nostalgic reasons. That is why Fred Ssebatta who used to fill Nakivubo Stadium now performs at Serena for under 1,000 people who are his loyal fans. This is a global phenomenon. Otherwise, when did Stevie Wonder or Lionel Richie or Madonna last produce a global hit? They still produce music but the songs receive lukewarm receptions. Like sportsmen such as Michael Jordan or David Beckham, they rely on other investments. Their personal careers as musicians and sportsmen ended long ago. The same will happen to the current crop. Bebe Cool released a new song the other day but it is yet to gain traction. It might not. He is past the age that produces music that attracts large audiences. Afrigo relies on its decades-old music. Chameleon may never be able to compete again with the current lot that is making the waves. Bobi Wine already understood this and quit music for politics. Ragga Dee tried politics, failed and is now an always in Gulu lobbyist!! The musicians who didn’t understand that their careers are short lived have been camping in Gulu looking for the opportunity to beg Gen Salim Saleh, who has now turned to issuing hand written notices that they should leave him alone. Perhaps tired of issuing these notices, he rebuked them publicly the other day. He sees no value they bring to him. Musicians earn more money than average workers during their short careers and they can use it to build real wealth. If they turn to destroying their 15-year-old cars that they are driving during their prime, what would they drive when their careers end in a few years? The kind of apartment that I saw where Skin lives during his prime shows the kind of life he will live when his bubblegum music stops paying. He had better save whatever money he is making now. He could attack Pallaso or whoever by composing lyrics that wow his fanbase and endure him to more people. He would earn more from that and spend less on gangs and repairs on already old cars. But the entire music industry should take lessons from soccer. Violence will not endear fans to the musicians. It will keep them away. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

January 29, 2025

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: The 2025 money guide to survive Uganda’s high dependency ratios

By Denis Jjuuko The year has kicked off with graduations for thousands of students both at Makerere University and Muteesa I Royal University. Many other universities will be holding similar ceremonies throughout the year. Graduation is one of the major pathways to employment. These ceremonies come at a time when Uganda Bureau of Statistics has just released a report that indicates a high dependence ratio for Ugandan workers. Apparently, the dependency ratio for persons aged 14 to 64 years stands at 83.8 percent. This means that “for every 100 working persons, there were 84 dependents,” according to a media report quoting the study. That is such a huge number. Ugandan workers largely work for dependents and that isn’t about to change. The average pay for a Ugandan worker is a meagre Shs200,000 per a month. So how does one survive in such an environment? There are many things that one would have to do to be able to celebrate another New Year’s Day in one piece. Since the year has just started, here is a 2025 money guide. Hopefully, it helps. Donations – There are a lot of expectations and sometimes entitlement. Some parents and guardians and people who fall in that category will frequently quote the 10 commandments particularly the one on honoring them. You will be expected to look after them, to share some money with them. In the informal sector, they may even demand that they receive the salary on your behalf especially in cases where they helped you get the job. The religious people will quote the Bible for some 10 percent. Many people will expect you to donate something but remember you can only give what you have. But since we are a social lot, set a certain amount to donate every month and live by it. Save and invest – Since you can only give what you have, you will need to save but saving alone won’t do much. You need to invest. That way you may have what to donate or actually nothing much to give. You would have to set aside a standard amount of money whenever you receive an income so that it goes into this. Unlike in the past, there are now many options such as unit trusts and treasury bills and bonds among others that allow you to accumulate money that you may invest elsewhere with time or leave it to grow. If you don’t have the discipline to save, identify five or so friends who are honest and do it together. Bank standing orders may be another solution. Emergency fund – But when saving and investing, remember there will always be some emergencies. You may fall sick or somebody you care about might. An emergency fund helps you not call everyone for a bailout. You draw money outside your main savings and investment account to cater for this. By emergency fund, I don’t mean money to attend a brunch at some hotel on Sunday. Debt payments – One of the advantages of living in a country like Uganda is that debt is many times avoidable. Commercial banks hardly issue out credit cards for all sorts of things like food and clothing. If they do, it is to their high net worth customers, who are very few in Uganda. It is fairly easy to only eat what you can afford. And since many people who pretend to sell designer clothes import fake ones, there is no need to spend money on such. But fintechs have made it easy to borrow using your phone. Only borrow when you can’t avoid it and pay it back as soon as possible to avoid high interest rates over a very long period unless if you are paying for your home or investing in a business. A personal car is great but it doesn’t have to be so expensive. There are lots of broke people selling off their cars, buy from them instead of going to the “bond” in Nakawa or Kyambogo. Skillset improvement – The biggest way to improve your income is through skills. Employers are looking for people with particular skills, who are good or can become good at what they do. By just watching YouTube tutorials, there are lots of things one can learn depending on their chosen profession or career interest. Watch, learn, practice. Be innovative—not by necessarily creating new things rather finding different ways to do something. Date within your means – If you are a man living in Kampala and of average means, you will have to date within your means. Not somebody who wants to drink whiskey by the bottle in Kololo or Bugoloobi bars. Not somebody who is pressurizing you to buy a Subaru, rent a fancy apartment in Kyanja and fund her holiday (read photoshoot) in Dubai. If she is inviting 50 friends for her Kukyala, that is a red flag! The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

January 29, 2025

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Saudi Arabia 2034 World Cup great opportunity for Ugandan workers

#OutToLunch: Saudi Arabia 2034 World Cup great opportunity for Ugandan workers By Denis Jjuuko On a recent flight to Entebbe, I met a sizeable number of travelers who were, by their conversations, Ugandans returning from some Middle Eastern countries where they are deployed as largely domestic workers. Many were returning home I think either for Christmas or their break after working for two years in the Arabian deserts. They were excited to be returning to their motherland. Before boarding in Doha where they were connecting from other parts of the Middle East, they called relatives who were to pick them once we landed at Entebbe. They spoke to each other very loudly. Their experiences, the type of bosses they had, who they wanted to see first once they are in Uganda, what they wanted to do and some who they wanted to fight etc. Unlike the flights from Entebbe to the Middle East, where female domestic workers dress in abayas that are of the same color and design, walk in line and politely as if they are about to receive the holy communion, this time they were on their own. There was no leader giving them instructions. The abayas had been replaced with skinny jeans, leggings and tank tops. Wigs or caps were now their preferred head gear. There was something about many of them. They didn’t have much regard to other passengers sharing the same boarding area spaces. I thought they were a little bit uncouth. But I was happy that they were returning home at least for their holidays and seeing their family after a few years away. Uganda, like many countries in Africa and even Asia, is a source of domestic workers for wealthy families in the Middle East. Uganda has a labour cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia. However, the labour agreement talks largely of domestic workers. Most of the domestic workers don’t have much skills and are therefore not contributing much to Saudi Arabia or learning a lot of skills they can use on their return home. I actually wondered how many of those domestic workers returning home will be able to do something else? Especially in situations where they won’t be able to return to their previously jobs in the Middle East. The majority will become poor again given the stories we hear of how relatives fleece them of the little money they make. But there is a great opportunity in Saudi Arabia that the Uganda Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development must take advantage of. Saudi Arabia, one of the biggest destinations for Ugandan domestic workers, won the rights to host the 2034 edition of the FIFA World Cup. Saudi Arabia is going to outdo itself in organizing this event. Of the 15 stadiums required to host the soccer extravaganza, only four exist. They are going to build 11 mega stadiums. They will build hotels, expand the airports, railway and road infrastructure. There is going to be a lot of construction in all the major cities. Remember, the Saudis want to outdo Qatar that hosted the last world cup. They are also on a mission to take the limelight from Dubai which has seen unprecedented growth with their focus on building massive infrastructure projects that support tourism and business. Like Qatar, they will need workers to pull off their world cup dream. Skilled workers or those that can easily be skilled. First, workers will be needed at the construction sites. Engineers, masons, surveyors, accountants, welders, project managers and the lot that works on construction sites. Secondly, they will eventually need workers to manage the infrastructure. We have already seen this in Doha. At the airport, the most common languages among workers are Luganda and Swahili. In hotels, it is the same. But because we are not very strategic, many of our workers are supervised by Indians and Filipinos. How do we get our people from lowly to middle and high-level jobs? They will need to be skilled. Some of the domestic workers could be moved to work in hotels. They can start as room service attendants and those who become good at it, will eventually become supervisors and managers. That way they will learn specific highly needed skills that can be very helpful in our tourism and hospitable industry when they eventually get tired of working abroad. Some may even invest here in small bed and breakfasts or restaurants. Engineers we send will gain experience in doing mega infrastructure projects. Welders will gain specific skills that are so needed here. Some may become partners or build businesses in Saudi Arabia just like Jews and the Dutch did in New York. However, this won’t happen on its own. We must now lobby the Saudis to take on our people beyond domestic work. I understand that there is a lot of argument against youths being shipped out to work abroad but there is absolutely nothing wrong with migration. Everyone is a migrant. If the jobs are in Saudi Arabia, let Ugandans go. The Ministry of Gender should not miss this golden chance of Saudi Arabia hosting the world cup. They should turn their domestic labour agreement into a general labour agreement to support the 2034 world cup. That way, the conversations of workers at airport lobbies will eventually be different. Happy 2025. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

January 9, 2025

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Opportunities for young people in the forthcoming political season

#OutToLunch: Opportunities for young people in the forthcoming political season By Denis Jjuuko Just like that, we are in 2025. It was just the other day when politicians were all over the place, crisscrossing our beautiful country telling stories and endearing themselves to the voters. The season for political stories is here again. With general elections set for early 2026, those vying for various offices are already making alliances, breaking off some and ensuring they are in our faces. It is plausible that politics is one of the most paying jobs in Uganda and there are many positions to vie for. From parish level to the presidency. In between, the most clamored is the position of Member of Parliament followed by that of District Chairperson (LCV). Thousands of people will campaign for these positions. Because the monetary reward is allegedly huge, many candidates will not leave any stones unturned. They will spend the money leaving some on the verge of bankruptcy but for purposes of this article, that should not be ‘our’ problem. As a young person, perhaps without the resources to compete for political office, how do you benefit from this political season that comes once every five years? By positioning yourself for some of the opportunities that come with political campaigns. So let us look at some of the areas where young people could make some money from politicians. Graphic design – Every candidate will have to create a master artwork of their campaign. In Uganda, this largely means a portrait of a candidate with a few words like unity, peace, prosperity, development and all those things politicians say but don’t mean. You don’t need to be a super talented designer here. Just download Canva and start designing. The paid version will do wonders for you. It costs less than 400,000 a year. But the money is in printing. You could even offer to design for free as long as they give you the contract to print the posters, calendars, flyers etc. they will be displaying in every little trading centre. For those who have mega resources, you could also print for them the cheapest of t-shirts with the thinnest microns in their party colors. Photography – As faster affordable internet spreads across the country, many people have smartphones and are able to consume content online even in some of the remotest villages. Crowds at campaigns help sway public opinion about a candidate. But crowds at campaign rallies are only important for a politician if they are captured on camera. Photographs and videos are going to be important. You will need a drone camera to capture this content so it can feed the candidate’s social media channels. Social media manager/influencing – Many political candidates are old school and social media disturbs them. You can manage the social media channels of the candidates, curating content and manage the accounts. TikTok which may not have played a key role in 2021 is going to be critical in 2026. So, ability to create compelling videos will be necessary (learn how to use KineMaster, CapCut etc.). Candidates will want to be on TikTok alongside other platforms particularly X and Facebook especially for those in urban constituencies and at the national level. WhatsApp will be another one. Learn what you can do with it for your client. Sound system – Music plays a key role in political campaigns. Many times, political candidates have moved with musicians who work up the crowd before they appear. Some like President Museveni even did some rap song an election or two ago. You don’t necessarily have to be a musician to tap into this. You can own the sound system that the politicians are willing to hire from you. You could also be the link between musicians, dancers and all those people that entertain crowds at the rallies. Communication strategist – Some candidates especially in urban big constituencies and at the national level will need experts in communications to help them put their messages across, schedule media interviews and support the communication aspects of their campaigns. Many candidates especially those joining politics for the first time and not used to media interviews, coaching and preps will be required so that they don’t simply go and mess themselves up. The communication strategist will work hand in hand with the digital and social media team mentioned already. Research assistant – Those vying for the presidency will require some researchers on their team even though it is an important role for other candidates too. For example, a researcher would inform the campaign strategy team on the messaging in particular areas and finding information that empowers the candidate. They could manage polling to assess the candidate’s messaging, popularity and help the campaign make informed decisions. Lastly and most importantly, many politicians are known not to honor their word. Make sure you get some advance payment for the work being done. Wishing you a happy 2025. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

January 9, 2025