Nankwanga Eunice Kasirye

By Nankwanga Eunice Kasirye The United Nations Development Program’s   staff blundered when they characterized environmental risks related to Bidco as “ Moderate ” and indicated that Bidco was a strong candidate for membership in Business Call to Action BCtA , Part of the  Social and  Environment Compliance Unit SECU report, faults staff   for pursuing limited due-diligence approach while engaging with Bidco.   The UNDP form used while engaging Bidco for membership in Business Call to Action BCtA, contravened with the Risk Assessment Tool RAT directive to provide details for the criticism against the Candidate Company as well as obtaining public statement on how the candidate companies address the issues raised and how the same scenarios are prevented from reoccurring. Instead , the UNDP form used to asses Bidco,   requested   for limited disclosure but still   some relevant risks were listed by the UNDP staff but they did not fol...

By Nankwanga Eunice Kasirye  The Dr Peter Mwesige Review committee on Uganda Broadcasting Corporation UBC has released its report on the company indicating that UBC is marred in debts and cannot afford to pay salaries and benefits of its staff. The company has been mismanaged, chronically underfunded and not treated like a public institution of strategic value… part of the report reads. The report reveals that the public takes UBC as ruling party mouth piece instead of the state broadcaster. Government commitment to UBC has been half hearted with limited effort to guarantee secure predictable funding that can allow medium and long term planning. The broadcaster itself has done little to secure independence and remain relevant in the eyes of the pubic According to report the regulator, UCC, has discredited UBC as completely irrelevant and dysfunctional and it is just for giving people addresses The committee recommends that UBC is very important public institution wit...

By Nankwanga Eunice Kasirye President Yoweri Museveni has lashed out at critics    who claim that he has personalized oil and Gas discovered in the western part of the country over a decade back.   The   president was addressing delegates at the   2016 Uganda International   oil and Gas   Conference where he pointed at the civil society   for the promoting the Museveni's oil agenda Museveni assured the critics that he is not intoxicated with the talk on oil and gas like other people. He   went ahead to clear the air saying that Agriculture has been here   for years and will stay therefore the idea of depending on oil and gas alone is not rational, after all countries like Japan have developed without   oil and gas but Human resources President Museveni went back to his rhetoric of using the oil money to build a sound country economy, develop electricity from Hydro, and renew energy, Solar, fund sciences and innovatio...

By Nankwanga Eunice Kasirye Government has received a number of new investment interests for the oil refinery construction with hope of conclusion by February 2017. According to the minister of Energy and Mineral Development Irene Muloni, the refinery hit a snag after the lead investor issued unfriendly conditions to the government of Uganda. Through Public Private Partnership, government is seeking for a lead private investor with 60% stake in the refinery construction. Kenya is said to have agreed to invest 2.5% stake, Tanzania 8% while Total is settling in for a 10% stake. The minister who was addressing the 2016 Uganda International Oil and Gas conference also revealed that new exploration Licenses for the 60% of the Albertine Graben 3000 square mile oil field will be issued before close of this year, applications and bids are currently under evaluation. The Minister is optimistic that oil will be flowing by 2020 and with a plan for companies to add value through t...

By Nankwanga Eunice Kasirye  Government of Uganda has issued five Petroleum Production Licenses to Tullow Uganda Operations Pty limited and three other licenses to Total E&P Uganda B.V.  The eight Petroleum Production Licenses have been granted over oil fields in the Exploration Area 2 operated by Tullow and exploration area 1 operated by Total. The licenses were granted after the two companies earlier submitted their applications over the two areas.   The areas for which the licenses have been granted for Total and Tullow are equally shared with CNOOC Uganda Limited  The  granting of these licenses also  launches  the operation of an  implementation plan which was jointly  developed by  government of Uganda and the  oil companies in furtherance to the memorandum  of understanding  for sustainable  Development  of oil and gas resources discovered in the country. The plan provides for the three commercial...

 Fighting in South Sudan that broke out on 8 July between rival factions loyal to Salva Kiir and Riek Machar has to date forced 37,890 people to flee the country to Uganda. In the past three weeks there have been more refugee arrivals in Uganda than in the entire first six months of 2016 (33,838). Yesterday (25 July) an estimated 2,442 refugees were received in Uganda from South Sudan. 1,213 crossed at the Elugu Border Point in Amuru, 247 in Moyo, 57 in Lamwo, and 370 in Oraba. Another 555 were received in Kiryandongo Settlement. The majority of arrivals – more than 90% - are women and children. People are coming from South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria region, as well as from Juba and other areas of the country.  Inside South Sudan the intensity of the violence has subsided since early July, but the security situation remains volatile. The new arrivals in Uganda are reporting ongoing fighting as well as armed militias looting and burning down of homes, and murdering civilia...

By Nankwanga Eunice Kasirye  Betty Kamya  Betty Kamya is now the minister for Kampala City Authority in President Museveni’s fifth term, such a controversial appointment given her last ten year political life. Doubts and rumor about her  shaky a llegiance   to the political opposition started early this year after she started criticizing her most recent boss Dr Kizza Besigye’s approach of defiance against President Yoweri Museveni’s government. But who is this outspoken woman of surprises: She became a household name in the 2001 elections as the spokesperson of the Reform Agenda, a political group formed by Dr. Kizza Besigye months before the elections. She remained the face of Reform Agenda and later Forum for Democratic Change party at the time when a number of leaders of the group went into exile, including its leader Kizza Besigye and spokesperson Anne Mugisha From 2005 until 2010, she served as the Special Envoy of the FDC president Kizza Besigy...