HOW WE SHOULD RUN UGANDA AIRLINES .... IF WE MUST

President Yoweri Museveni has made a revival of a national carrier a major target for his cabinet in the coming five years.
My opposition to this development is well documented.

Going by our history the proposed carrier will end up being a drain on our treasury, shifting valuable resources away from key services and infrastructure development for years into the future. I have argued that the project is unnecessary, asking what can a state owned carrier do for us that other airlines are not already doing for us?

If it is cheaper fares that we want it would be cheaper to give concessions to airlines flying into Uganda – lower fuel taxes, cheaper landing fees etc in exchange for lower fares than to try and set up our own airline.

The $300m we are supposed to have earmarked for the project is a drop in the ocean. Ask our neighbours whose airline’s losses are being carried by the state and which are in hundreds of millions of dollars over the lifespan of the carrier.

But since we are hell bent on going ahead with the project maybe we can still save the project, or at least give it a chance of success.

For starters I am not opposed to a national carrier but I am opposed to a state owned one. If we helped a private sector player set it up with minimum loss to ourselves I have no problem.

In line with that I propose a model for the new Uganda Airlines.
First of all let us recognise that starting up an airline is not like starting up a taxi company. We do not have the expertise and it would cost us hundreds of billions of shillings to bring our skills up to scratch.

Keeping that in mind it would be useful to partner with an established player, who brings the managerial competence and we provide the capital.

This would help smoothen the expected sharp learning curve and also help us feed into that airline’s existing network.

Of course our officials and representatives on the board have to be seasoned businessmen or managers who will ensure we don’t get the short end of the stick. With this model we will ensure our concerns are addressed within reason and our people and institutions will develop the capacity we need to run an airline.
In this way we share the risk with a partner who has a material interest in the airline’s success.

I shudder when I hear comments like, “Parastatals in emerging economies play a bigger, liberating role beyond balance sheet profitability” advanced by the proponents of setting up the state owned airline.

In not so few words such people are saying that the Ugandan tax payer should forgo better health and education services as a minority indulge their egos.

It also suggests that the laws of economics can be suspended because we are a developing nation.

Neither the economics nor the mathematics favour a state owned airline now.

People who have set up airlines – and we have a few in our midst, will tell you that  you would have to brace yourself for losses in the tens of millions of dollars for years before you can have a hope of turning a profit. Particularly with a none air faring population like our own. Of course the proponents argue that the reason we don’t fly more often to our villages is because of the high airfares. They are high for a reason, and a lot of it has to do with our regulatory, legal and tax regimes.

For one thing those with experience will tell you it takes a while before you get the confidence of the flying public. One way to get is to fly the plane as scheduled regardless of whether there are passengers or cargo or not. Veterans of Uganda Airlines, Alliance Air and Africa One will tell you horror stories about the crew flying virtually alone to London, Johannesburg and Nairobi and not for free, as the crew’s salaries, fuel, various fees and the aircraft’s wear and tear have to be catered for.

I would be the first one to be proud that we have a functional airline but not at the cost of more essential services, but if we must have it now let us be prudent about how we set up, if only to minimise the losses to us.

A better use of our hard earned money would be to beef up our aviation infrastructure and afford airlines better concessions to attract more traffic in and out of Uganda.

ONDUPARAKA AND THE SPORTING SUMMER

West Nile soccer team Onduparaka has taken the Uganda soccer scene by storm. A few weeks ago they achieved promotion to Uganda’s premier league. And then as if to prove that it was no a fluke they qualified for the Uganda Cup final, putting Entebbe to the sword with a 4-0 aggregate victory over two rounds in the semi-finals.

By the time you read this the Uganda Cup final would have been decided and you know whether the Onduparaka fairy tale will have run its course or has grown even bigger.

In Europe summer is sliding in and with it the seasonal flurry of sporting activity.

The European Football Championships are in full flow, cyclists are about to start the tortuous Tour de France, the grass court tennis season is looking to peak at the hallowed grounds of Wimbledon and the British Golf open will tee off in the west of Scotland in the middle of July.

One cannot help but marvel at the incredible facilities in which the sportsmen compete, the thousands of the paying public who turn up to witness these contests and the amounts the sportsmen win for the effort – the Wimbledon winner will pocket £2m (sh9.5b).

"If you go beyond your-jaw-hitting-the-floor and examine what it has taken to raise sport to such a lucrative endeavour, that sportsmen have found it fit to acquire the bare minimum of education before going off to travel the world and make a living, maybe teams like Ondurapaka will have a sustainable future...

Essentially the growth of sports in Europe went in parallel with the growth in those economies. The sports facilities started off as a deployment of surpluses drawn from those economies. These surpluses date back to the agrarian revolution, swelled into the industrial age and have literally exploded in the information and now, the conceptual age.

Of course sports have their place in the management of society. The more cynical will say sports is a useful distraction for the masses away from the more pressing issues. Sports of course has health benefits, necessary because our lives are more sedentary we are not out half the day chase our food around the savannah.

So clearly attaining national sporting excellence requires a robust economy sustained over years even decades.

In addition there have to be patrons willing to back these teams. The history of Europe’s top soccer teams is littered with rich businessmen supporting the clubs and setting a strong foundation for their eventual glory years.

We have had our share of sporting patrons but their initiatives have died with them or floundered with the patrons falling fortunes.

"What the European teams have been able to do, to varying levels of success, which our teams have failed to do, is build a corporate structure that can not only support the teams but ensure they outlive the original patrons...

In short our teams have to become businesses in order to sustain themselves.

Using Onduparaka as an example, while it has no stadium from which it can collect revenues, it has a passionate following that contribute to its finances.

There is the usual company structure that can be employed, with shareholders and a management that oversees the club’s running or they can adopt a cooperative structure like Barcelona FC’s , where the club belongs to the fans who contribute to its up keep regularly and may enjoy a return on their “investment” every so often, depending on the surplus the club can generate.

With either structure egos will have to be set aside and strict corporate discipline adopted.

This template, which can be used for any other sports team and association is not rocket science but it will not be smooth sailing as well as differences in opinion between the owners, management and  fans will inevitably rock the ship occasionally. This will test the credibility of the club’s or association’s vision and mission and depending on how deeply ingrained these are will make the difference between success and failure.

"The point is, developing a viable sporting infrastructure like you find in Europe is not impossible but we will have to break our way from the self-destructive ways of our current business owners, harness our existing assets and embrace a long term view going years, decades even centuries into the future...

It can be done. The question is have the right conditions of growing economy, savvy business promoters and sporting challenge come together yet to make it happen?

Only time will tell.

WITH THE CABINET ARE WE BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE?

This week a double take was necessary on news that NRM members of parliament were sulking over not being appointed to the cabinet and went further to task President Yoweri Museveni to explain  his selection criteria.

Museveni ever the consummate politician, it is reported, listening to their griping, said he would take their concerns under advisement and would get back to them.

"The strongmen of yesteryear would not have stood for such impudence, would have dished out a tongue lashing or worse and put the revolting MPs in their place...

There was grumbling too in the public, the opposition were scrambling to react to this raiding of their own stables and many detractors were at loss at how to respond to the latest cabinet list.

At the heart of the confusion was the enlisting of three opposition members, all women.

Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) Betty Amogin, party leader James Akena’s wife, Uganda Federal Alliance’s Betty Kamya and Democratic Party (DP)’s Florence Kiyingi were the ladies in question.

With the appointment of these opposition politicians, the first time since Omara Atubo was sent to the lands and housing ministry in 2006, Museveni has truly thrown the cat among the pigeons. Atubo had run as an independent in 2006 after falling out with the UPC ruling clique.

As we were reminded during the budget reading, the constitution lays all executive power in the person of the president who appoints a cabinet to which he delegates these powers. The president has the discretion to appoint any Ugandan to position.

"Commentators argued that the election had left the county badly divided and there were even calls for a government of national unity to douse the flames. It was hard to see what leverage these sections commanded, given how soundly Museveni had won the election and his NRM retained a stranglehold over parliament...

It is one thing to try to create a narrative that tries to cast doubt on the reality, it is another altogether to leverage that manufactured reality to overturn the situation. And one can argue you have a narrow window of opportunity to organise that coup after which when the novelty has worn off, the general public accept the status quo and the momentum is lost.

In co-opting these opposition politicians Museveni has essentially called their bluff and calls for a national unity government were diffused.

This action also reminded those who had forgotten or informed those who did not know what the cabinet is about.

The cabinet is a political tool by which the president rewards his allies and, in this case, placates his detractors.

You don’t have to be specifically competent to be a minister, in fact it is more useful if you have an important or sizable constituency backing you than string of academic qualifications or tested experience. And this is not only true here.

The heavy lifting in ministries is done by the technocrats, with the minister needed as the face of the ministry and to provide political cover for his technocrats to do their work. A minister provides leadership, a vision. But these are not his independent creations as he takes direction from the president or the ruling party.

"It has been useful that Ugandans see the elevation of their sons and daughters to ministerial position as a benefit to them, but even a cursory audit will show there is very little benefit that accrues specifically to the “minister’s people”...

So in judging the cabinet while it is desirable that we look at the competence of the ministers but it is more realistic to look to how cabinet appointments help retain power for incumbents.

And while we are at it let us not forget that despite their angry protestations, politics is about getting to power and retaining it. And often by any means necessary.

And which politician worth his salt does not recognise that a cabinet position is a step nearer the real power? And now since the President has shown that cabinet positions are not the monopoly of the ruling party doesn’t this blunt the opposition’s opposition to a seating government?

WORRY ABOUT UGANDA DEBT … OR NOT?

Last week’s budget stated the obvious, that Uganda’s economy continues to grow and that we intend to keep it growing by emphasising infrastructure investments.

However shorter shrift was given to how we intend to spread that economic growth around. And recently there has been some worry about Uganda’s increasing indebtedness, especially of the less concessionary kind to finance its infrastructure ambitions.

The debt discussion is focussed too much on whether we can or will afford to repay the debts when they come due rather than what we are using the debt for.

"Debt is not a bad thing unless it is used for the wrong things, spurious consumption, instead of investing it on income generating activity, which activity should eventually pay for the loan. But even if you use the loan on investments instead of consumption, overpaying for the investment will reduce the margins you make. It’s important that you get the best value at the cheapest price possible...

To illustrate.

Say you have been out of school for a few years. Hard work, enhanced qualifications and good office politics ensures your earnings have been growing steadily. After a few years pressure mounts for you to get your own home. Despite your improved salary it would take years to save up to build or buy your dream home.

So you decide to borrow to build the house. With the added pressure on your income some consumption will have to suffer at home. Out goes the buffet breakfasts, the second family car, the annual holiday. There will be grumbling at home, regardless that money has been shifted to the building site.

If your contractors are good and upright, they will compete the build on budget and on time. If not the project will become a black hole for your money beyond what you borrowed and will not seem to end, prolonging the silent treatment at home.

Of course scared of the lowering of your lifestyle you could have decided to postpone building and just eat the money. But when the money is gone you will have nostalgia for the good old days as you still have to do something about your living conditions when building is more expensive and in an area that is not as ideal as if you had built earlier.

On a larger scale Uganda is facing the same challenges.

"We have to invest massively in infrastructure because of the huge deficit caused by years of non-investment and the current need to keep up with the growing population. Because we are behind schedule we cannot rely only on our savings to make these investments. So we borrow...

Honourable Matia Kasaijja during the budget reading said our current debt stands at about sh30trillion ($8.5b) which accounts for about 34 percent of our GDP. The figure to watch though is how much we will be repaying annually, about sh2trillion – sh431b for external repayments and sh1,592b locally. The expectation is that the foreign debt repayments will rise in coming years as the grace period on some of our non-concessional loans expires.

Thankfully our debt is committed to roads, dams and railways not subsidies on fuel, food and booze.

The idea is that once the infrastructure is in place it will spur more economic activity – through faster movement of people and goods, greater automation and longer working hours because of more power and cheaper transport through the use of the railway. The greater economic activity will lead to higher taxes and repaying our loans will not look so daunting.

We have done it before.

Our economy at about $30b is two-and-a-half times bigger than it was a decade ago at $12b. As a result – and of course because of improved tax administration, our revenues have jumped more than three-fold during the same period to sh11 trillion from sh3.2trillion.

Interestingly our external debt repayments have almost risen three fold to sh431b from sh157b in 2007/08.

"Our debt remains sustainable as long as the infrastructure expansion has a corresponding or greater effect on national output...

However, if these investments are overinflated, delayed or stolen all together, we can expect that we will be hard pressed to meet our obligations in the future and the pain will be felt all around.

So as citizens we need to scrutinise what our government is borrowing money and when they finally get the money are the projects executed on time and on budget.

What is happening now is we are forgoing the good life – breakfast buffet, holidays in the sun and annual shopping spreees, to invest for the future.

Some people say there is a danger that we are overinvesting, that for instance where will we put the more than 800MW that will co me with the commissioning of Karuma and Isimba dam?

A genuine concern but we have seen with telecommunications, roads and even power that there is pent up demand we do not readily have a grip.

When private investors took over the power distribution in 2005 there were about 300,000 power consumers a decade later this number has exploded to 790,000 at the beginning of the year. And Umeme is signing on 16,000 new customers a month or just under 200,000 annually. You wouldn’t be able to fathom these numbers just by looking at the grid in 2005. And still less than one in five Ugandans has access to power.

In 1998 when MTN came to Uganda they had a contract which stipulated that they should add an additional 89,000 lines over the five years of the contract. On day one their 14,000 line switch collapsed under the weight of the people signing onto their network.

Up to that point there were about 4,000 mobile lines and 50,000 land lines.

UGANDA BUDGET DOWN THE AGES

This week’s budget speech maintained the heavy emphasis on infrastructure development, saw dramatic increase in the agriculture budget against the backdrop of slower than projected economic growth.

The budget allocated to the works, energy and ICT ministry accounted for one in every four shillings of the sh26trillion budget. The agriculture budget jumped by 65 percent to sh823b. The economy grew by 4.6 percent a percentage point lower than was projected last year.

The expectation is that the budget will grow by 5.5 percent this year.

There was a lot more detail of course. The trick is how do you make sense of the budget these days, especially since the finance minister is no longer in charge of raising or lowering milk and bread prices.

Beyond spelling what government priorities are – putting money where their mouth is, the budget is an indicator of progress or lack of thereof of the economy.

So to look back ten years to the budget speech of then finance minister Ezra Suruma reminds us where we are coming from and could help us see the forest from the trees.

In the 2007/08 budget Suruma was gleefully rubbing his hands at the opportunities that abound and counselled the country that we needed to step up to take advantage of these.

"He listed the opportunities then as coming from the transition to peace in northern Uganda – Joseph Kony and his dreaded Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) had been flushed out of northern Uganda and were being harassed by the UPDF in the DRC...

Relatedly Suruma talked of the dividends of regional peace. The World War of Africa in the DRC had cooled off and South Sudan civil war had come to an end, so with peace returning to the region it was realistic to expect an uptick in economic activity as people settled down.

The rise in commodity prices was another opportunity he pointed out. Commodity prices were hitting record highs as China was in the throes of an economic boom, driving demand for everything from oil to fish gall bladders. That year oil would cross the $100 a barrel mark fuelling spending binges in the oil producing countries and make more remote oil fields – like in Uganda, viable.

And finally he reported that the breath taking developments in information technology would be harnessed to drive the next stage of our growth.

He said that growth had risen to 6.5 percent from 5.1 percent the previous year but was unimpressed as the country needed to be growing by seven percent consistently to make a significant dent or eliminate poverty all together.

"First forward to today and the picture of opportunity could almost be a mirror opposite of that bright June afternoon a decade ago...

Peace prevails and northern Uganda has not missed a step in taking advantage. While there have been significant growth in economic activity in the region more importantly we have seen school enrolment, immunisation and mortality levels improving in the last decade there. The absence of regional animosity has seen regional trade flourish to the extent that for a brief moment South Sudan was our biggest export market before all hell broke loose at the end of 2013.

But since then there has been the global financial crisis where capitalist greed tripped over itself bringing the US and Europe to their knees and the contagion spreading to China, whose economy has since cooled down with the unwelcome effect in plummeting commodity prices. Oil prices bottomed at $26 a barrel in February unthinkable a decade ago when the price of a barrel peaked at $140.

And yes Sururma’s prediction about the benefits of information technology have come through. 

During Sururma’s speech Facebook had only just nine months prior been opened up to the public, Twitter was still finding its feet  and Whatsapp was yet to be founded. And there were only 4 million mobile users in Uganda, none of whom could access the internet via their phones.

The explosion in communication in the last decade has lowered the cost of doing business (everyone is available now), speeded up processes and created a whole new financial infrastructure, mopping up our smallest savings and bringing them into the formal financial sector.

In 2007 Safaricom’s Mpesa, the precursor to our mobile money, was launched in Kenya. Last year more than sh30trillion changed hands in all mobile money platforms in Uganda.

This last figure is interesting because it was seven times the size of Suruma’s sh4.35trillion budget a decade ago. The technology dividend Suruma foresaw has come with its potential not within the realms of our conceptual capabilities.

Just one more thing.

"Uganda’s economy is estimated now at about $30b two and half times the size of the economy reported in 2007 of $12b interestingly the population growth has not kept pace with economic growth now reported at about 35m compared to 30.7m in 2007...

It was around that time ten years ago that we shifted our emphasis towards infrastructure. We have a new dam and a few more kilometres of tarmac to show for it. Imagine where we would have been if we had built more road – in 2008 Uganda National Road Authority (UNRA) became operational and had another dam – Suruma was talking of starting on Bujagali and fast tracking Karuma then.

The growth in the economy is concrete the challenge now is to spread the love more evenly.

BUY UGANDA A GOOD IDEA, EXECUTION MAY BE THE PROBLEM

President Yoweri Museveni during this week’s state of the nation address exhorted Ugandans to buy local over imported products.

For starters he pledged that uniforms for the security forces and health workers will be sourced locally, barring any quality issues.

The call could not have come too soon, in fact it should have been a mantra for a country looking to ensure that the economic growth of the last three decades is spread more equitably.

This directive it is expected will have the knock on effect of increasing demand on our local textile industries, forcing them to invest more and hire more labour.

The industries will develop capacity. Then the next directive should be for a public service uniform to be supplied by our local textile industry. Imagine if we had all our 300,000 public servants dressed in kaunda suits or kanzus to work, how many jobs that would create.

By the time our local industries are supplying the army, nurses and public servants they will have proven their capacity and their ability to scale up that capacity to then make clothing for the general public.

"Some preferential treatment can then be given to locally produced textiles over imported ones – banning second hand clothing for one, preferential tarrifs are another....

We might have to get drastic.

There is a reason why the Indians wear the khadi – a long sleeved collarless shirt and pants and saris and the Chinese have their Chinese collar suits. The long and short of it is that in an effort to boost their respective local textile industry, a simple uniform was designed that would not over tax the nascient textile industries of that country. People were encouraged or compelled to wear the uniform in order to create the demand for local industry.

I can just hear the human rights activists jumping up and down at this proposition.

In order to spark transformation sacrifices have to be made --- in this case we might be forced to be a colourless, dour society, dressed in earthy colours, as our textile industry develops the capacity to provide the variety we are accustomed to.

Interestingly Chinese collar suits, the Indian Khadi and Sari are considered fashionable around the world.

And that’s only in clothing.

In the Kenya in the 1980s the government started providing milk free to all primary school going kids as a way to increase the protein in their diets, spurring a dairy industry that is second to none in the region. Our eastern neighbours produce at least 5 billion liters of milk a year and are exporters of UHT milk, milk powder, butter and ice cream. And we haven’t even started to talking about beef production.

We produce less than half the Kenyan output at about two billion liters a year.

"The challenge of course is how to do this in an orderly fashion, which will not benefit just a few Ugandans but will benefit everybody up and down the value chains in whatever sectors we seek to promote...

Agriculture is the obvious starting point as at least seven in every ten Ugandans derive their livelihood from the sector.

The knee jerk reaction when it was announced a ban on second hand clothes was announced or when the president directed that the army’s uniforms be done locally is that we don’t have capacity to meet our needs and that we would be depriving hundreds of traders of a livelihood.

The answer to that is in the question, how do you develop capacity if you have no demand? And secondly, won’t the hawkers of second hand clothes find a place in selling locally made clothes?

But as they say every one want to go to heaven but no one wants to die.

We yap a lot about building a self-sustaining economy without wanting to pay the price. When we say our industrialisation is not taking off we need to know it’s unrealistic to develop industry without springing off robust local demand.

MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR UGANDA DAMS IN DANGER OF STALLING

Dam building contractors are taking advantage of Uganda’s desperate need for power to inflate costs, turn in shoddy work and jeopardising the multi-billion dollar Karuma and Isimba dam projects in the process, experts have said.

Work on the $1.7b Karuma power dam kicked off at the end of 2013 – more than nine months after it was supposed to have started.  A protracted procurement that involved many competing interests, roped in the Inspector General of Government (IGG), Attorney General, the cabinet and there was an attempt to dupe President Yoweri Museveni to short circuit the procurement process in favour of one firm.

It was in and out of court several times before Museveni stepped in to resolve the issue.

Chinese firm SinoHydro was contracted to build the 700 MW Karuma dam and China International Water & Electric Corporation (CWE) was awarded the 183MW Isimba dam.

And one would have thought that would have been in the end of the saga.

In the hurry to get construction running the energy ministry signed on SinoHydro and CWE, and contracted a single engineering firm Energy Infratech pvt ltd (EIPL) of India to supervise construction on the ministry’s behalf, which was irregular practice giving two such big projects to one firm at a go.

Once these contracts had been locked in the energy ministry then signed a memorandum of understanding with Uganda Electricity Generation Ltd (UEGCL) for them to oversee implementation of the two projects.

"But that undertaking was on paper only as the energy ministry has never – two and half years after the memorandum was signed in December 2013, handed over the two projects to UEGCL...

Months into the project and after several monitoring reports UEGCL complained that works on the dams were not going according to the specifications and requested a second opinion on the projects.

Austrian firm, ILF Consulting Engineers – hired by UEGCL, did an audit of the project and issued a damning report. 

The Austrian firm reported that there project organisation structure was confused, there was conflict in the roles between the energy ministry and UEGCL, the project was running out of money, questioned the competence of the supervising engineers and warned that these shortcomings, among others, would “impair the quality, cost and progress of the projects”.

Some shuffling of staff to appease the auditors were done between the reports release in June last year and the end of 2015 but UEGCL’s newly hired project managers – SMEC for Isimba and AF-Consult for Karuma raised serious doubts about the quality of work on the projects.

Press reports earlier this year highlighting the mess forced the energy minster Irene Muloni to carry out a snap visit to the sites and report her findings to the president.

"Among other things huge cracks were found in both dams that raised obvious concerns about the integrity of the dams...

As a result in April Museveni directed that the projects’ implementation be handed over to UEGCL, suspended three ministry officials – Commissioner Paul Mubiru, Henry Bidasala Igaga and Cecelia Menya and ordered immediate remedial works on the dams’ problems.

Two months after Museveni’s directive work has been suspended on the Karuma dam and an adhoc committee to investigate the failings of the contractors and the supervision g engineers is ongoing.

At the end of April the finance ministry’s permanent secretary Keith Muhakanizi wrote to his counterpart at the energy ministry Kabagambe Kaliisa informing him that following the presidential directive all funds earmarked for the two dams should be transferred to UEGCL.

“The purpose of this letter therefore, is to request you to urgently advise this ministry on the resources in your budget to be transferred to UEGCL for this purpose to enable us appropriately programme and plan for disbursement of funds during the execution of the FY 2016/17 budget,” Muhakanizi wrote  on April 27^th .

In his response Kabagambe Kaliisa unleashed a barrage of conditions that have to be met before his ministry hands over control of the sites to UEGCL including, amendment and termination of certain contracts, establishment of what is being handed over, licensing of UEGCL to comply with the Electricity Act 1999 and an orderly hand over of works in progress.

“Given the need to expedite H.E. the President’s directive, I am seeking a legal opinion of the Solicitor General in order to execute the directive I a non-disruptive and lawful manner,” wrote Kabagambe Kaliisa.

"However, experts familiar with situation worry there is no sense of urgency being shown by the energy ministry in remedying the situation which may escalate the costs of the projects and burst initial timelines...

“If things continue the way they are going these projects may not give the required power, durability will not be guaranteed, maintenance costs will jump and we can expect extended shutdowns once the dams are commissioned,” one dam engineering expert told the Business Vision.

Attempts to contact energy ministry permanent secretary Kabagambe Kaliisa proved futile.

The source also criticised the close relationship between the owner engineers, EIPL and the contractors at both sides, which they said is not good for the oversight role they are supposed to play.

One report that was presented to the adhoc committee listed several incidents where the contractor, SinoHydro in an attempt to reduce costs for himself without passing on the savings to the Karuma project, did substandard work on the dam, neglected to install a cooling plant, skimped on building employee facilities and installing an onsite communications network.

The savings from the contractor’s tightfistedness were estimated at more than $45m (sh157.5b).

In addition questions were raised about the use of lower quality cement than was specified in the contract. The tender design called for concrete grade C60 but SInoHydro are using C40 and the owner engineer has looked the other way.

The higher grade concrete sets faster – useful in structures which will come up against water, and can take more pressure than the lower grade concrete in a given time.

Other incidents that suggest a more than cordial relationship between the SinoHydro and EIPL are the use of designs that were not in conformity with the feasibility designs.

"The experts warned that because the works are so below standard especially at Karuma that, “The repairs required are so extensive that they cannot be done in the remaining two or three years of the project.”...

However the engineers said the projects can be completed in time.

“But only if the status quo is changed immediately and work is done properly with proper supervision otherwise these projects are accidents waiting to happen, costly accidents worth hundreds of millions of dollars,” he warned.

Uganda has an installed power generation capacity of about 800 MW but with demand rising by 22.7 percent one can expect power demand -- now at about 510 MW during peak periods will outstrip supply within three years.

ANATOMY OF A TERROR ATTACK --- THE DAY TERROR WAS VISITED ON KAMPALA

On July 11, 2010, near simultaneous explosions – heard as dull thuds around Kampala, went off at Ethiopian Village Restaurant in Kabalagala and at Kyadondo Rugby Club grounds in Lugogo, in Uganda’s worst terror attack.

Revelers had gathered at the two venues for the televised showing of the football World Cup between Spain and Netherlands.

The shock waves and shrapnel from the bombs accounted for seventy-six people. Many others were maimed, scarred for life; physically and mentally.

The next day, an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), was discovered at a bar, Makindye House, in Makindye a city suburb. Rigged to explode when the detonator, a phone rang but it malfunctioned.

Subsequently, Uganda Police sought assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and a probe commenced. Various people were then apprehended in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania and tried over four years in a Kampala court.

On Thursday 26^th May – 2146 days after the bombs went off, Justice Owiny Dollo passed judgement on the 13 suspects, bringing to a close a tale of international intrigue, terrorist conspiracy and misguided youth.

How plot was weaved

When was the attack on Kampala conceived?

It is hard to say but it is almost certain that the plot was hatched in Somalia, that occupies the horn of Africa with Kenya and Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the north and the Indian Ocean to the east.
A largely barRen land about two and half times the size of Uganda, it has been racked by civil conflict since the overthrow of Siad Barre in 1991, by a coalition of clans backed by Ethiopia and Libya.

Out of that intractable civil war has emerged the Al Shabaab, a Islamic youth movement that started as an offshoot of Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which for a time was in control of the country before the Ethiopian army and Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) routed them in 2006.

Since 2007 Al Shabaab has been waging war against the Africa Somalia Mission (AMISOM) – a UN sanction peace enforcement force manned by Ugandan and Burundi troops, and the Somali government.

With their back against the wall Al Shabaab put out an international distress call and set up training camps in its areas of operations to train fighters from all around the world.

It against this background of larger forces swirling around the globe, moved by events in as far flung places as Afghanistan and Washington DC and beyond their control or comprehension that Mahmoud Mugisha and Isa Ahmed Luyima, a former librarian at Kampala International University, met for the first time in an Al Shabaab training camp in the hot sands  of Somalia 2009.

Isa was known by the code name Basayevu, and was a member of the militant outfit.

Isa and Nsubuga were trained in hand to hand combat, fire arms and explosives in bases in Baidoa, Barawe and Kismayu, and engaged in several attacks on African Mission to Somalia( AMISOM) positions during the duration of their stay in Somalia.

The two would eventually become the Ugandan arm of a four man team tasked with leading the terror attack on Kampala.

On return to Uganda in February 2010, Isa, who was born in Kawempe, a northern Kampala suburb, was tasked with finding suitable Al Shabaab targets in Kampala.

Isa instructed Mugisha to rent a house in Kampala, to serve as the base point for the teams that would be involved in the mission.

Going by court testimony it is clear that Issa had seniority over Mugisha, who he carefully cultivated into Al Shabaab, convincing him that he had a religious obligation to wage Jihad, holy war against the tormentors of Somali Jihadists fighting to wrest their country from the clutches of the infidels.

With Mugisha and seven others, training continued for the Kampala attack in a rented house in Namasuba, a southern surburb on Kampala, on the only road leading to the country’s international airport form the capital.

Previously Issa had rejected a house rented by Mugisha in Nakulabye.

In April Mugisha and Habib Suleiman Njoroge travelled to Nairobi to collect the explosives, from a house in South B.

The house in South B was registered in the name’s of Mohammad Ali Mohammad, who was part of the four man team leading the attack

The items; four green plastic bags, were loaded into the boot of the Land Cruiser, under the watchful eye of Nyamandondo, who then proceeded to Uganda.

Before returning to Kampala for the final mission Mugisha  made a quick detour to Somalia  and fought in several fierce battles for Al Shabaab in which they they attacked several AMISOM bases, and also contended with retaliatory attacks.

On May 9, 2010, Seleimani Hijar Nyamandondo, a henchman of the Mohammed Ali Mohammad of the Kenyan wing of the operation, and Mugisha brought explosive material and the suicide vests into the country.

Issa in a statement to the police said he had received the suicide vests from Nyamandondo following an advance called from one Hanif from Nairobi who alerted him that they were on the way.

Nyamandondo was driving a green Toyota Land Cruiser, with Tanzanian registered license plate number T595 ADH, which car would lead to his eventual arrest months down the road.

They met at National Theater, drove to Java’s Café Bombo road where they had tea, before they went to Namasuba.

 The explosives were kept in the house of Edris Nsubuga, Issa’s friend.

The two had met in 2004, when they both served in the Kampala International University library. They struck up a relationship which came in handy when Issa was helped Edris through a rough patch with his wife, who had known Issa before they were married.

Nsubuga, claimed he did not know that explosives had been deposited at his house until a month later.

“The day he came to pick his “things” packed in a plastic bag that I had kept all along, thinking they were his domestic items brought by his friend form Kenya in May, I got terrified,” Nsubuga wrote in a rambling confession to President Yoweri Museveni in which he blamed Issa for roping him into the murderous plot.

“He called me to the room where they had been kept and I found him seated on the floor, with the items laid on the floor. He seemed to be checking, sorting and confirming what was in the bag. He told me “Eno y’esonga (this is the issue)”



THE GENESIS

On July 11, 2010, near simultaneous explosions at Ethiopian Village Restaurant in Kabalagala and at Kyadondo Rugby Club grounds in Lugogo.Revellers had gathered at the two venues for the climax of the televised football World Cup match between Spain and Netherlands.

Seventy-six people perished, several others were maimed, some for life; physically and mentally.

The next day, an Improvised Explosive Device, was discovered at a bar complex, Makindye House, located in the city suburb of Makindye.It was rigged to explode when the phone rang but it malfunctioned. Police bomb squad recovered it the next day.

Somalia’s militant outfit Al shabaab, with strong links to global patron All Qaeda, claimed responsibility. It was the outfit’s maiden attack beyond Somalia’s borders.

The attack was a show of intent and a push for a credit rating to showcase ability to implement its threat to strike internationally and receive approval and recognition from Al Qaeda.

Al Shabaab has sought the affections of Al Qaeda’s central leadership since early 2008  The group champions the same philosophy, and Al Qaeda, has constantly issued many public statements and pledging allegiance to the global  outfit.

In June 2008, Al Shabaab supremo, Mukhtar Abu Zubair, outed a propaganda video, exalting Al Qaeda principals Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahiri, and Abu Yahya al Libi.

In September 2009, Al shabaab released an attention seeking  propaganda video titled, ‘At Your Service, Oh Osama’ with incessant voices in the video speaking glowingly of the now slain supremo.

In February 2010, the outfit justified its threats and attack strategy, saying in a statement: “Jihad in the Horn of Africa must be combined with the international jihad led by the al Qaeda network’.

The Afghan trained Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Ali, set up the first militant training camps in Somalia, and was behind the radical and aggressive communications strategy, calling for massive recruitment.

The propaganda videos, carefully crafted with professional precision, with promises of better life and abundant rewards.

To attract international appeal, it has strategically broadcast English language videos and audios, imploring youth on essence of Jihad. A franchise designation is an invaluable tool, giving credibility and a known brand name to groups seeking to attract aspiring Islamist militants.  Additionally, it buffers their financial muscle, as they benefit from the logistical and financial generosity of Al Qaeda’s deep pockets.

The main weapons and tactics synonymous with Al shabaab include suicide bombs, roadside improvised explosive devices, and mortar attacks.

But AMISOM troops have responded, securing a big portion of the land, and minimised the threats.

Nsubuga said on seeing what Issa identified as explosives, he was badly shaken, though he denied this when Issa asked him.  Nsubuga couldn’t help noticing though that Issa was cool, calm and collected that day, before he left with the explosives.

According to his confession Nsubuga was instrumental in scoping the terror targets. A regular man about town, despite his Muslim faith, Nsubuga knew what to look for when Issa was looking for suitable sites for his nefarious plans.

Among the places they looked over were several bars and restaurants in Kabalagala before the settled on the Ethiopian Village, Kyadondo Rugby ground and Makindye House for their lax security.

Nyamandondo spent the night at Naigara Hotel, off Entebbe road, a few meters away from the Najjanankumbi mosque, and departed the next day. Isa booked into the same hotel, a single floor affair, with a brick wall lined with old palm trees, under the pseudo name ‘Moses’.

Investigators were later able to ascertain that Issa had been at the hotel when a handwriting expert analysed a specimen of his handwriting with that of the queried guest registration book that had the name ‘Moses’, and found that they were a match.

Shortly after the explosives arrived in the country three Kenyans – Kaka, Kakasule and one other whose name he could not remember came into the country, who Issa were informed were part of the plot.

Kaka and Kakasule lived with Issa for a week before Kaka and the unnamed Kenya returned to Mogadishu via Nairobi. They were restless and had got tired of waiting.

A Somali boy, maybe in his mid to late teens, Morsul, came in from Nairobi to replace Kaka.

Another operative Hanif made his way to Kampala around the same time and it turned out he was the man who made the final connections before the bombs were dispatched to the target sites.

Issa singled out the Ethiopian village for attack because the Ethiopian had dislodged the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) had continued to fight the Al Shabaab.

He had expressed some reluctance to attack sites where Ugandans patronised but was accused of nationalism and of being insensitive to the havoc the UPDF had wrecked in Mogadishu.

However on the eve of the bombing Issa discovered that he was understaffed. The Somali and Kenyan bombers did not know their way around so he had to conscript locals to deliver them to the bob sites.

Out of desperation he called upon his brother Hassan and Nsubuga. The two were introduced to each other days before the operation, when they were carrying out surveillance on Makindye house.

On the eve of the attack Issa at a meeting at Majestic Plaza, on Williams street, he gave both Hassan and Nsubuga the keys to the Namasuba house, which they were to use to access the house and clean it out after the attack.

Issa’s instructions to the duo were short and succinct: Haruna’s job was to transport one of the suicide bombers, Kakasule, to Ethiopian Village Restaurant, and also drop off the explosive bag at Makindye House.

While Nsubuga was supposed to take the Somali teen, Morsul to Kyadondo rugby club.

He also instructed Nsubuga, but not his brother, to blow himself up in the event that security agents were about to arrest him.

Before they proceeded to Namasuba, they made a stopover at Mutaasa Kafero Plaza, and purchased two mobile phone handsets; a Nokia 3510 and an MTN Kabiriti, which were to be used as detonating devices in the mission.

On the eve of the blasts, Haruna took Nsubuga to the Namasuba Safe House and introduced him to the suicide bombers as a brother in the struggle.

Issa left for Mombasa on the eve of the terror attacks.

On the fateful day at 4pm, Haruna, who had purchased snacks for the suicide bombers, met Nsubuga at Kenjoy Supermarket along Entebbe Road. Nsubuga was told to report to the Namasuba house at 6pm.

A demonstration on the assembly of the explosives, was arranged for an already afraid Nsubuga but Haruna comforted him, with reassurance that all that was required was to make a phone call to the wired mobile device, that would be triggered to explode.

Haruna ordered Nsubuga to blow himself up in the event of detection by security personnel. Thereafter, Nsubuga proceeded to Kyadondo Rugby Club, with the other suicide bomber, Mursal.

Nsubuga and the suicide bomber Mursal had contrasting feelings about the mission. While Nsubuga was a nervous wreck, and wanted to abort the operation, Mursal was ecstatic that it was the perfect opportunity to strike because of the multitude of merry making revellers.

Nsubuga had no choice but to place two bags on the table nearby with the laptop bag containing the explosives.

Mursal became impatient and signaled to Nsubuga that it was perfect timing to detonate But a quick-thinking Nsubuga cautioned him that Police officers had upped their patrol.

Mursal heeded, and the first half ended with singer Bebe Cool coming onto the stage.

They later concurred that the detonation be executed at 11:15pm.

Mursal then gave Nsubuga a thumbs-up to signal that all was set. Nsubuga responded with the same sign in acknowledgement, and headed towards the main entrance, to avoid becoming a victim, since he had rejected suggestions that he become a suicide bomber.

Time check 11:15pm, and the nerves got the better of Nsubuga, who instead called another friend to chat about the match. Shortly thereafter, a loud bang reverberated from the side where the giant screen was stationed. Some boda boda riders, stationed at the main entrance, speculated that a transformer could have blown.

Nsubuga knew that there was no turning back. He immediately made the much dreaded call to the phone that was connected to the carefully-wired device, which then ignited the second explosion.

He got on a boda boda, which headed to the taxi park, from where he boarded a taxi to his Najjanankumbi residence.

Nsubuga heard breaking news on the blasts from one of the radio stations relaying the live match commentary.

******************


The 2010 World Cup was a particularly special one for Africa as it was being hosted by the continent – in South Africa, for the first time.

And the final was interesting too. In finalists Spain and the Netherlands we were assured of a first time winner. The last time such a final happened was in 1978 when again Netherlands was pipped to the top honours by Argentina, the host nation.

The sense of history that surrounded the event was probably lost on three young adults, who with their friends went to Kyadondo Rugby Club and the Ethiopian Village to witness the televised finale.
Yusuf Kiganda testified that on the day he and five other friends – Brian Kivumbi, Brian Kawooy, Nicholas Kyambadde, Brenda Nabachwa nd Trevor Mawejje boarded a taxi, outside the Bank of Uganda on Kampala club at around 5 pm.

At the club Kiganda remembers that they were among the first to arrive and had were spoilt for choice in where they could seat. They sat a few seats from the front not far from where Morsul would blow himself up.

The match described by BBC’s Paul Fletcher reporting from Johannesburg, was tense and bad tempered – 14 yellows were shown and a Dutch man sent off. Though Spain dominated possession, the match had few moments of real quality and went deep into extra time. The winning goal was scored by Iniesta in the 116^th minute.

But Kigadanda and his friends did not get to see the goal as around the 75^th minute all hell broke lose when the first bomb went off at Kyadondo grounds.

“Suddenly, there was a big bang, and I could not tell what had happened.I found myself lying on the ground. My friends were also down. I did not realise they were dead, and I never knew what had happened to me,” Kiganda recalled.

Apparently he had been flung out of his chair by the bombs shockwaves, his body lacerated by the shrapnel and he had lost all sense of hearing.

David Muwemba a few meters away may have been saved by his drink.

“As I reached for my beer under the chair, I raised my head, saw smoke, and thought there was a power interruption.I felt drops on my shoulder, and thought it was rain but realised it was blood,” he testified before Justice Owiny Dollo.

He had the presence of mind to grab his friend Bonita Nakato’s hand head … stumbling and tripping over fallen revellers towards the main entrance of the club.

His other friends, Frank Mukwaya, Peter Oye and Peter Byekwaso were felled where they sat.








HOW MAKINDYE BOMBING BACKFIRED

At about 9:30pm, waiter at the Icelink bar Joseph Buzoya, served drinks to his boss was, madam Charlotte and her husband. Shortly thereafter, he heard a phone ringing and I saw a black bag on the tiled floor.

He did not touch the bag because people were many, as he feared to be mistaken for a thief. Buzoya worked as a cashier for the day, since the cashier was away.’

The following day, at about 3pm, out of curiosity, he unzipped the bag after co-workers who had kept the bag, pressured him into doing so to ascertain ownership and demand money from the owner.

The workmates Fiona and Joseph Tembo, convinced him to ascertain the contents, since many patrons usually forgot property at the bar.

Buzoya speculated that it could be a bomb because of the devastating twin attacks of the previous night. But Fiona and Tembo dismissed it as a joke. They were determined to ascertain the owner of the bag, as they hoped to be given a reward.

When the black laptop bag was unzipped, it contained a cable, the size of a laptop charger, a torn cloth, a wooden object that had started decaying, and white masking tape. Buzoya hurriedly zipped the bag and looked for the manager, after realising that his workmates were anxious and querying why he was rummaging through someone’s property, while other patrons watched, and wanted to be attended to.

But since the manager was not around, Buzoya sought advice from a obne Moses, worker at the nearby Hakuna Matata pork  joint, who  said the prudent thing was to call the Police. Thereafter, one of the customers,only introduced as Kabuye, called the Police.

Shortly, security personnel from Katwe Police station, cordoned off the area, and demanded for the bag. After about 20 minutes, Counter Terrorism Police arrived and combed the entire area with three sniffer dogs.

The bar was evacuated, and  an 100-metre no go-zone was instituted at the crime scene. But curious people gathered and were hesitant to leave. Police chased them away.

After 30 minutes, Police issued a statement that they had discovered a second bomb. The told us that they found it hidden in the hedge.

The workers were sent home, and summoned to Katwe Police station the next day where they recorded statements.

 NSUBUGA CONFESSION TO MUSEVENI 

The following is an abridged version of the confession statement of Mohamed Ali Mohamed. Although court rejected it on the premise that it was recorded irregularly, prosecution relied on its contents to incriminate the accused.

Nsubuga writes to Museveni, begs for pardon

Self-confessed Kyaddondo Rugby Grounds bomb detonator Nsubuga, pleaded guilty after a soul-searching talk with slain prosecutor Joan Kagezi at Luzira prison.

He volunteered information and asked President Yoweri Museveni for forgiveness.

Contents of Nsubuga’s letter, dated October 27, 2010, were highlighted during mitigation, after he was  sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Nsubuga Edris,
Luzira Upper Prison,
Remand Section,
27 October 2010

HE Yoweri K Museveni,
The President, Republic of
Uganda
President’s Office, Nakasero
Kampala,
Uganda.

Dear Sir,
Re: Request for Forgiveness and Pardon
It is only through the power of God that I have this opportunity to write to you, taking into account the many tasks that are keeping you busy. However, I feel very humbled at this opportunity.

Your Excellency, it is very absurd that I was involved in the acts that tragically shook the nation that you lead, on July 11, 2010. I have always felt obliged to apologize and ask for forgiveness from you, the President of this country.

I am a man of sound mind, who honestly just happened to be caught in a web of delusions, deceit, manipulation, hatred and spite towards everything that was going on in my life as well as threats from a trusted friend who happens to be a member of Al Shabaab.

At the time, I had domestic problems with my wife and I took him in as a confidant because he happened to know her before I did. He often helped me out by talking to her and fortunately, sometime we would get along.
I believe he realised my weakness at that time and he took advantage of the moment to delude me and sow that evil seed in me. He intensely swarmed me, always telling me to change and better my ways, and rarely did he miss talking about issues concerning Somalia.

He often called me early in the morning to tune in to Al Jazeera [television news network] and watch the new developments in Somalia, if there were any. When I look back, I believe he was just inducing hatred and bias into me at the time because he had never mentioned his mission.

I was totally ignorant and less concerned about the Somalia issues as I had my problems to solve. Once, I informed him about my intended trip to Rwanda, to try to find a job, and he stopped me from going, the reason being that he wanted to meet me urgently before I left.

I did meet him and that is when he revealed his mission to me, though concealing the details for his own [benefit]. He started by quoting some verses from the Qur’an, emphasising how I had to answer this call from God; employing a lot of silver tongued, confusing and bewildering promises.

It is through his tireless efforts, [and]repeated exhortations that I succumbed to this conviction, not knowing how grave it was and the consequences that lay ahead – all because of ignorance.

Your Excellency, I acknowledge that I made a very irrational decision of accepting to help him. However, I believe anyone under my situation would have been susceptible to such confusion and conviction, unconsciously.

He asked me to move with him around any hangouts that I knew that were frequented by whites – since I am an outgoing person. He said that was my simple role in answering this call from God.

His aim was to punish the Americans for their support against his colleagues and to intimidate the Ugandan government out of Somalia as well.

This was around June 19 because on June 21, he informed me that he had received visitors from Kenya to help him with his mission, so we had to visit the places as soon as possible since his superiors had grown impatient.

His interest was places without tight security and indeed, he was pleased with Kyadondo Rugby Club, which we did visit around June 26. All this time, he was still concealing the details of his mission and spoke little to me.

Once again, I informed him about my intended trip to Rwanda, but he told me that I could not go because there was no way he was going to explain that to his bosses, who, to my understanding, were always coming in from Kenya. He emphasized that they could not take that excuse and he reminded and reassured me about how my role was so simple.

The day he came to pick his “things” packed in a plastic bag that I had kept all along, thinking they were his domestic items brought by his friend from Kenya in May, I got more terrified.

He called me to the room where they had been kept and I found him seated on the floor, with the items laid on the floor as well. He seemed to be checking, sorting and confirming what was in the bag.

He told me in Luganda “eno y’ensonga”, meaning, “this is the whole issue”.
He told me they were explosives to be used in his mission. I complained that all along, I thought that I had been keeping household items.

He responded by asking me whether I was scared. I told him I was not, although I was trembling and very scared. He seemed so strong willed, determined and firm, and again assured me that I shouldn’t be scared. He left with his explosives, and the following days were full of uncertainty.

I became hesitant to answer his phone calls until we met in town and he gave me a dire warning that his bosses were not at all pleased with my behaviour.

I told him I had made my final arrangements to leave for Kigali and my wife was at home as well, so I could not help him anymore. He responded by speaking to me seriously, in a soft tone, that I could not leave, lest I am treated as a traitor.

He said a traitor is punished by beheading. I realised the true gravity of the whole matter. Without tasking your patience, briefly that is how it started and was carried out, as per what I stated.

However, I want to affirm that I value life, peace and harmony, even though I cannot explain much about this one fateful moment when I took this emotional decision of accepting.

Sir, however much I was under strict orders, I got some courage under all that fire to defy some orders. I was able to convince and stop the suicide bomber from entering the crowd with the bag of explosives and I tried my best to leave it somewhere far from the crowd, without informing him.

Even then, I had not imagined how lethal these explosives were because I had been lied to that they were simply for intimidation. I was also seriously cautioned to blow up myself in case any security official closed in on me in order not to fall into their hands, which would hinder future plans and plots.

I did detonate the explosives in the bag just to save myself; I did not want these wretches to hold me accountable for not doing as told, but I tried my best to place the bag far away from the crowd.

After the incident, I was full of anxiety, anguish and uncertainty. However, when I got arrested, I voluntarily revealed how everything had happened. Honestly, I was not tortured to do so by the men whom I had been seriously cautioned not to let myself fall into their hands.

I did so because I did not and do not believe in that cause. I revealed the whereabouts of my contact and also information about his friend and would-be partner, Mugisha Mahmoud, who was supposed to blow himself up originally, but was at large.

I also revealed information about the movement of funds and the style of communication to one another. I have learnt a lot through stories during the time I have been in custody, about how the organization of Al-Shabaab conducts its work.
I know how they recruit, who they recruit, how they communicate, and their disguise in public, and how they successfully propagate their evil doctrines.

I am totally averse to their aggressive acts and this is why I am begging and requesting, with all due respect, to be given chance to redeem myself by giving back to the nation and people that I harmed, wronged, transgressed and put in such indescribable grief when I involved myself in these acts.

Your Excellency, we are yearning for a solution, but the big question is, ‘is there one?’ Of course yes; if you would let me now substantiate what I assert.

Through my study and analysis, the strategy I have devised to achieve this great purpose requires the [least] of means, yet there will be astounding results. My strategy is similar to the one you employed when combating the AIDS scourge when you assumed the leadership of this country. This strategy is AWARENESS and indeed, you succeeded significantly.

The task calls for tremendous fortitude, but I get the inspiration from yourSowing the Mustard Seed, where the idea to liberate this country was just in one man’s mind, but it later became a significant reality.

First of all, the problem arises from feigning tolerance towards these few, determined individuals who pause as Sheiks in our midst and are busy propagating these evil ideologies just because there is freedom of speech and worship that you allowed, Sir.

These individuals have ventured in translating the Qur’an with their interpretations greatly influenced by their own prejudices and bias. They have a sickness that has let their egos overshadow their sense of logic and understanding.

They are fully inflated with pride and lack genuine humility, only being hungry for violence just to whet their appetites. They have also resorted to foul means to subvert the religion and have cultivated a predilection for promises that inevitably strike, bewilder, confuse and convince the poor, ignorant listeners.

They are merely winking on flimsy pretences based on prejudiced and misinterpreted verses of the Qur’an, thus succeeding in propagating their philosophies and keeping their audience under the much needed subjugation.

From their eloquent speeches and deportment, they are able to draw attention anywhere and win the hearts of ignorant youth. They have imputed that the Sheiks preaching against their evil ways are traitors.

They do mock democracy, yet the smugly wink with gratification at their unnatural ways of violence. These aggressors will never be satisfied with their relentless assaults, attacks and attempts on people’s lives.

Your Excellency, we have a more sombre responsibility of extricating our ignorant young Muslim and non Muslim youth from the spiritual quagmire into which they are wallowing.

By employing the help of young Muslim and non-Muslim scholars who are without fear or favour and are ready to suffer obloquy for their convictions, we can be able to debunk the lies of these wretched men and prevent the youth from pandering these many prejudices.

There are genuine Sheiks who have tried to preach right, but their timidity cannot permit them to do so anymore, citing loss of their lives, as the topic of jihad has become too provocative.

We should not make half-hearted and skimpy efforts in this cause; we should endure greatly, and I believe that in tackling this issue publicly through organized seminars, TV and radio talk shows, and so on, the youth easily get an insight and they will not refuse to acknowledge the truth and facts.

The hearts that are hard will be melted and the tender, doubtful and ignorant ones that require support will be diverted from falling into the snares of evil.

More regeneration and religious reform will be achieved and all the doctrines of these evil men will ultimately crumble to dust. Prejudices die hard and none of these wretches would like to lose their adherents, but with endurance, we will win the would-be adherents from such conviction.

As a victim of manipulation, I’m ready to set forth and grasp fully the enormity of this task in order to limit the scope of propagation of evil and terrorism and prevent our country from living in fear and trepidation inflicted on its people at the behest of these aggressors.

Your Excellency, you have led this nation from ruins to its much enjoyed peace and happiness. The people of Uganda owe you gratitude and a debt they cannot repay.
It is the same treasure I am humbly requesting to preserve, and I am strongly convinced that this era of panic, terror, hatred and spite caused by these men will end.

Your Excellency, once more, I affirm that I am totally and honestly averse to these acts and I condemn them. It is that I only feared for my life and was left with no choice but only a small opportunity of avoiding to harm more people.

I hope you are heeding to my plea to fulfill my endeavour. I also pray and hope that in you, I will find the [abounding] grace and mercy you have always possessed as a generous patron, parent and leader, even during times of anger, to personally forgive and pardon me as a delinquent who acknowledges and regrets my mistake.
May God bless and guide you in the forthcoming general presidential elections.

Yours faithfully,

Edris Nsubuga