Muha-kanizi on spot over Shillings 90b farmers' cash:

By Yasiin Mugerwa

Posted 29 September, 2014

 

 

The Secretary to the Treasury, Mr Keith Muhakanizi who kept calling himself “ born again Christian” was today pushed on the wall and forced to apologise for the “inefficiencies” in the running of a Shs 90 billion facility meant for helping the poor farmers access cheap credit.

The Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee noted “gross inefficiencies, conflict of interest and lack of supervision of the funds” on the part of Bank of Uganda and Ministry of Finance. Because of lack of supervision, PAC Chairperson Ms Alice Alaso said, the money has gone to the well-off farmers at the expense of the poor farmers and written off more than Shs499 million in bad debts.

On December 3 2009, the Governor Bank of Uganda Prof Emmanuel Mutebile wrote to Ministry of Finance, saying that Bank of Uganda could not monitor the implementation and evaluation of the facility, citing conflict of interest however to date, Mr Muhakanizi had not taken action. The ST apologised for “inefficiency” saying “he is also human”.

The committee expressed concerns about the possible risk to the funds and ordered Muhakanizi to streamline the monitoring of the scheme within one month. Officials from BoU told the committee that they signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ministry of Finance and clearly STATED that monitoring of the agriculture 

credit facility will not be their mandate.

Mr Muhakanizi returns to PAC next week.

 

But The suffering goes on without any social welfare in this poor African country:

 

Nakasango nga asindika kitawe bagende okusabiriza ssente.

 

Taata Omusoga ava e Iganga ate nga mulema oluusi antuma okumugulira bamalaaya wano mu Kampala:

 

By Lawrence Kitatta

 

Added 21st September 2016

 

Nakasango anyumya bw’ati:

Nzuukuka ku makya ng’obudde tebunnakya ne tutegula ebikunta oluvannyuma taata bw’aba yeetewuulizzaako mu kaveera nkakwata ne nkasuula mu kipipa kya Kcca ekiri e busukkakkubo. kyokka oluguudo ndusala mmagamaga emmotoka zireme kunkoona.

Bwe tuba twasuze n’amazzi tunaabako mu maaso era tunywako oluusi ne njolekera Kiswa gye nsoma mu P1.

Taata eyandibadde ampa ssente za bodaboda okuntwala ku ssomero ate nze mba nnina okumusindika ku kagaali nga tuva e Lugogo we tusula ku mulyango gwa GTZ.

Olumu ku ssomero anzigyayo ssaawa 4:00 ne tugenda ku kkubo gye tusabiriza. Olumu nsoma naye olulala nnemererwa.

Olusoma oluwedde nakola ebibuuzo era okuva olwo saaddayo kusoma. Buli lunaku tuzunga ekibuga kumpi okukimalako ne mpulira nga n’obugere bunfuuyirira.

Kasango ng’azingako akaveera akakola nga bulangiti e Lugogo okumpi ne siteegi ya New Vision, we basula ate Nakasango nga yeetereza batandike olugendo lw’okubuna ekibuga nga basabiriza.

 

Naye taata bw’atuuka ku kaserengeto olwo ng’anteeka mu maaso ng’akagaali kayiringita. Taata yangamba nti maama wange ye Nasim Namulondo abeera Iganga era gye yanzigya okundeeta e Kampala okutandika okusabiriza ku luguudo.

Enkuba bw’etonnya mu budde obw’ekiro olwo ne tuyimirira ku lubalaza we tusula olumu n’okutukuba etukuba naddala ng’erimu kibuyaga.

Obudde buli lwe buziba mba mu kweraliikirira. Taata oyo talina nsonyi antuma okumuyitira bamalaaya ekiro!

Omanyi bwe tuba twebase nsula ku ludda kw’assa ebigere wabula olumu ngenda okusisimuka nga mpulira anninnya mu maaso, ngenda okulaba nga mukazi.

Olumu mpulira n’amaloboozi ekiro naye nga sirina kyakukola. Bw’aleeta bamalaaya nga sinneebaka olwo nsituka busitusi ne ntuula ku kkubo mu kayumba ka siteegi ya New Vision okutuusa lwe bamaliriza naye ate olumu nneekanga nsuze awo. Olumu antuma e Nakawa ngule sooda.

Wano nga beetegeka okugenda.

 

TAATA YANZIBA AWAKA

Bwe yali yaakandeeta okunzigya mu kyalo ng’annyambaza nnyo engoye z’abalenzi nga tayagala bamulaba kumanya nti ndi muwala naye kati nange nnyambala ngoye z’abawala.

Nzijukira nali mbeera ne maama wange ne jjajja, twali tuzannya ne baganda bange be twabeeranga nabo awaka, abakulu tebaaliwo kw’olwo taata yajja awaka n’anzibawo n’antwala ewa jjajja omulala.

Ono kirabika ye maama we amuzaala wabula nga naye saamwetegereza bulungi era simumanyi. Taata bwe yawulira nti gye yanzigya baali batandise okunnoonya kwe kunzigyayo n’andeeta e Kampala.

Kye nzijukira twatuuka kiro era ekkubo eryatuleeta sirimanyi naye angamba nti ewaffe Iganga we wali ekyalo kyaffe.

Wabula okuva lwe natandika okubeera ne taata embeera tebeerangako nnyangu kuba ennaku ezisinga tusiibirira capati n’amazzi emmere tugirya lumu na lumu ate tugirya Kataza Bugoloobi kuba we wali eya layisi gy’asobola okugula.

Eno ku 1500/- tufuna ebijanjaalo n’akawunga ate ennyama ya 3,000/- naye ennyama emirundi gye nnaakagiryako mbala mibale ate essowaani tugigabana.

 

Muha-kanizi on spot over Shillings 90b farmers' cash:

By Yasiin Mugerwa

Posted 29 September, 2014

 

 

The Secretary to the Treasury, Mr Keith Muhakanizi who kept calling himself “ born again Christian” was today pushed on the wall and forced to apologise for the “inefficiencies” in the running of a Shs 90 billion facility meant for helping the poor farmers access cheap credit.

The Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee noted “gross inefficiencies, conflict of interest and lack of supervision of the funds” on the part of Bank of Uganda and Ministry of Finance. Because of lack of supervision, PAC Chairperson Ms Alice Alaso said, the money has gone to the well-off farmers at the expense of the poor farmers and written off more than Shs499 million in bad debts.

On December 3 2009, the Governor Bank of Uganda Prof Emmanuel Mutebile wrote to Ministry of Finance, saying that Bank of Uganda could not monitor the implementation and evaluation of the facility, citing conflict of interest however to date, Mr Muhakanizi had not taken action. The ST apologised for “inefficiency” saying “he is also human”.

The committee expressed concerns about the possible risk to the funds and ordered Muhakanizi to streamline the monitoring of the scheme within one month. Officials from BoU told the committee that they signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ministry of Finance and clearly STATED that monitoring of the agriculture 

credit facility will not be their mandate.

Mr Muhakanizi returns to PAC next week.

 

But The suffering goes on without any social welfare in this poor African country:

 

Nakasango nga asindika kitawe bagende okusabiriza ssente.

 

Taata Omusoga ava e Iganga ate nga mulema oluusi antuma okumugulira bamalaaya wano mu Kampala:

 

By Lawrence Kitatta

 

Added 21st September 2016

 

Nakasango anyumya bw’ati:

Nzuukuka ku makya ng’obudde tebunnakya ne tutegula ebikunta oluvannyuma taata bw’aba yeetewuulizzaako mu kaveera nkakwata ne nkasuula mu kipipa kya Kcca ekiri e busukkakkubo. kyokka oluguudo ndusala mmagamaga emmotoka zireme kunkoona.

Bwe tuba twasuze n’amazzi tunaabako mu maaso era tunywako oluusi ne njolekera Kiswa gye nsoma mu P1.

Taata eyandibadde ampa ssente za bodaboda okuntwala ku ssomero ate nze mba nnina okumusindika ku kagaali nga tuva e Lugogo we tusula ku mulyango gwa GTZ.

Olumu ku ssomero anzigyayo ssaawa 4:00 ne tugenda ku kkubo gye tusabiriza. Olumu nsoma naye olulala nnemererwa.

Olusoma oluwedde nakola ebibuuzo era okuva olwo saaddayo kusoma. Buli lunaku tuzunga ekibuga kumpi okukimalako ne mpulira nga n’obugere bunfuuyirira.

Kasango ng’azingako akaveera akakola nga bulangiti e Lugogo okumpi ne siteegi ya New Vision, we basula ate Nakasango nga yeetereza batandike olugendo lw’okubuna ekibuga nga basabiriza.

 

Naye taata bw’atuuka ku kaserengeto olwo ng’anteeka mu maaso ng’akagaali kayiringita. Taata yangamba nti maama wange ye Nasim Namulondo abeera Iganga era gye yanzigya okundeeta e Kampala okutandika okusabiriza ku luguudo.

Enkuba bw’etonnya mu budde obw’ekiro olwo ne tuyimirira ku lubalaza we tusula olumu n’okutukuba etukuba naddala ng’erimu kibuyaga.

Obudde buli lwe buziba mba mu kweraliikirira. Taata oyo talina nsonyi antuma okumuyitira bamalaaya ekiro!

Omanyi bwe tuba twebase nsula ku ludda kw’assa ebigere wabula olumu ngenda okusisimuka nga mpulira anninnya mu maaso, ngenda okulaba nga mukazi.

Olumu mpulira n’amaloboozi ekiro naye nga sirina kyakukola. Bw’aleeta bamalaaya nga sinneebaka olwo nsituka busitusi ne ntuula ku kkubo mu kayumba ka siteegi ya New Vision okutuusa lwe bamaliriza naye ate olumu nneekanga nsuze awo. Olumu antuma e Nakawa ngule sooda.

Wano nga beetegeka okugenda.

 

TAATA YANZIBA AWAKA

Bwe yali yaakandeeta okunzigya mu kyalo ng’annyambaza nnyo engoye z’abalenzi nga tayagala bamulaba kumanya nti ndi muwala naye kati nange nnyambala ngoye z’abawala.

Nzijukira nali mbeera ne maama wange ne jjajja, twali tuzannya ne baganda bange be twabeeranga nabo awaka, abakulu tebaaliwo kw’olwo taata yajja awaka n’anzibawo n’antwala ewa jjajja omulala.

Ono kirabika ye maama we amuzaala wabula nga naye saamwetegereza bulungi era simumanyi. Taata bwe yawulira nti gye yanzigya baali batandise okunnoonya kwe kunzigyayo n’andeeta e Kampala.

Kye nzijukira twatuuka kiro era ekkubo eryatuleeta sirimanyi naye angamba nti ewaffe Iganga we wali ekyalo kyaffe.

Wabula okuva lwe natandika okubeera ne taata embeera tebeerangako nnyangu kuba ennaku ezisinga tusiibirira capati n’amazzi emmere tugirya lumu na lumu ate tugirya Kataza Bugoloobi kuba we wali eya layisi gy’asobola okugula.

Eno ku 1500/- tufuna ebijanjaalo n’akawunga ate ennyama ya 3,000/- naye ennyama emirundi gye nnaakagiryako mbala mibale ate essowaani tugigabana.

 

In Tropical Uganda, it looks like the low-income earners in Africa have all to gain, from solar energy generation technology:

30 July, 2018

Written by Justus Lyatuu

One of the biggest contradictions in Uganda’s energy sector is the low demand for electricity yet 80 per cent of the country has no access to it.

To understand the illusion, you have to look at the alternative sources of energy and the obvious one is solar energy, which is gaining a foothold in rural areas. A recent visit to my home village of Kirongero in Bugiri district after several months opened my eyes to the immense impact of solar energy and how it has transformed communities.

To start with, there is hardly any electricity pole in Kirongero or any sign that electricity will reach there. But there is hardly anyone agitating.

On that Saturday afternoon, the World Cup season was about to reach its climax and the fever was palpable among the youth, who analyse the stars and flops as they look forward to the final. I wondered how nearly everyone here could be a football expert in this remote village.  It didn’t take long to understand the enigma.

Solar panels at Soroti solar power plant

Belgium was due to play England later that afternoon but everyone was sure of where to watch from. “We all have access to football here,” said Daniel Mafabi, an England supporter who operates a pub.

“You people from Kampala think you have it all but we are also up to date with whatever goes on in the world.”

It soon dawned on me that several households have access to solar power, which they use for lighting at night on top of powering televisions as well as charging phones. This settled the worries I had before setting off for the journey.

GAME CHANGER

In the past, such privileges used to be in the hands of a select few people in the area.

Indeed, I watched the match from Mafabi’s pub, crisp clear like I was in Kampala. How times change! Only a decade ago, this was unheard of in the area. “Solar has greatly empowered us to do business here,” Mafabi says.

“I got this solar package and it includes two solar panels, led lights, charger and even this television. My business depends on solar to attract customers,” he says. “Can you imagine I paid only about Shs 200,000?”

I was left bewildered but Mafabi couldn’t hide his excitement. He says he bought the set just four months ago and whereas it cost Shs 2.3m on the market. But then again, I wondered how he could afford it.

“You see, I have an arrangement to pay in instalments. I only pay a daily rate of just Shs 3,000 and within two years you own the whole set. I make the Shs 3,000 within minutes and I don’t feel the strain at all.” This sounded too good to be true.

Later in the night, a quick observation in the area shows that solar power has gained a foothold. Several homes can be seen with security lights.

justuslyatuu89@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

Red Moon Meets Red Planet in Longest Total Lunar Eclipse of the Century 2018:

Not only will the Moon will be totally eclipsed this Friday, but Mars will be at opposition and shine in tandem with the red Moon all night!

 

104 minutes. That's the length of the longest lunar totality of the 21st century. And it happens Friday, July 27th, when the Moon creeps into Earth's umbra like some thief in the night.

 

Just going through phases

During a lunar eclipse, Earth's shadow envelops the Moon, as shown in this sequence taken through a small telescope on September 27, 2015.
Jamie Cooper

 

If my dad were still alive, he'd probably watch for 10 minutes and be done with it. "Enough's enough," he'd say. But for his son and fellow skywatchers, staring down the length of Earth's shadow is never a waste of time.

How lunar eclipses happen

 

A total lunar eclipse occurs during a full Moon when the Sun, Earth, and Moon line up exactly in that order. Light from the Sun passes through the Earth’s atmosphere, which refracts the red and orange colors into the umbra to tint the Moon. The outer part of Earth's shadow, called the penumbra, is only partially dark because it's a mixture of shadow and sunlight. It's visible as a gray smudge on one side of the lunar disk starting about 20 minutes into penumbral eclipse.
Starry Night with additions by the author

2018 began with a total lunar eclipse on January 31st nicely split between Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Friday's eclipse is primarily an Eastern Hemisphere affair, visible from Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and parts of South America . Unlike a total solar eclipse, a total lunar is visible across half the planet wherever the Moon is up in the sky. Just wish my half of the planet was included!

Moon meets Duluth

The author photographing the total eclipse over the Duluth, Minnesota, skyline at dawn on January 31, 2018. A low Moon makes for scenic sweetness. 
Mike Sangster

From far western Europe, the Moon rises in total eclipse around sunset and will be difficult to see at first in a twilight sky. As darkness deepens, contrast will improve, and the Moon will become a stunning sight against the deepening blue. Have your camera ready to capture a scene that includes the local skyline or a special landmark alongside our colorful satellite.

For a complete guide to lunar eclipse photography visit Fred Espenak's site MrEclipse.com. A digital SLR camera is best, but even mobile phones do a surprisingly good job. They work best in early to mid-twilight when moonlight is balanced with skylight in a deep blue sky, and you can still clearly see the landscape.

Where to go to see the eclipse

This map shows where the eclipse will be visible either in full or in part. 
Fred Espenak

 

The further east you go, the more of the eclipse you'll see with the Moon higher up in a darker sky. The entire event — from the first hint of penumbral darkening to the last shadowy stain — will be observable from the eastern half of Africa, Turkey, the seven "Stan" countries, India, and Madagascar.

A unique set of circumstances brands this eclipse with the longest totality of any total lunar eclipse for the rest of the century — 1 hour 44 minutes, or 27 minutes longer than January's eclipse. Though still 2 minutes shy of the July 16, 2000, eclipse, that time will hold until June 9, 2123, when totality clocks in at 1 hour 46 minutes.

 

Bulls-eye!

 

The Moon's central passage through the Earth's umbra ensures a longer-than-normal totality Friday. UT times are shown for the various phases of the eclipse. To convert UT to your time zone, use this handy converter.

 

So what makes Friday's eclipse so long?

 

First, the Moon crosses centrally through the umbra. The closer to a perfect bull's-eye, the longer the totality. Friday's Moon passes just a fraction north of center. Second, the farther the Moon is from Earth, the slower it moves. And the slower it moves, the more time it takes to cross the umbra. In a fortunate coincidence, lunar apogee (greatest distance from Earth) occurs on the very day of the eclipse. Third, Earth reached its greatest distance from the Sun or aphelion on July 6th. The farther a planet orbits from the Sun, the greater the diameter of its umbral cone and the more time it takes the Moon to ford it.

Moon hoax for real?

Mars and the Buck Moon will be in conjunction Friday evening. They'll also both be in "full" phase and at opposition. 
Stellarium

 

Add 'em up and you've got a memorable eclipse. But wait, there's more! The full Moon joins the planet Mars which reaches opposition the very same night, shining a brilliant magnitude –2.8 or better because of the current dust storm.

Now, it's one thing to see a bright Mars and another to see the Moon in totality, but the sight of the two ruddy bodies rising together just ~6° apart should be nothing short of amazing. Will someone fall for the Mars hoax and mistake the Moon for Mars as one reader suggested? I try to imagine what special significance our distant ancestors might have read into this rare pairing of colorful orbs. An omen of war maybe?

Astronaut view

This simulation shows how the Earth might look from the mid-northern latitudes of the Moon during Friday's lunar eclipse. The landscape is bathed in sunset colors from sunlight refracted by Earth's atmosphere. Stellarium with additions by the author (Well explained and illustrated dear)

 

There's nothing so dreamy, so 3D as seeing the Moon soaked in blood orange sunlight while surrounded by dozens of stars during totality. Robbed of its radiance, the full Moon stands on par with the stars. And that color! Sunlight seeping around the circumference of the Earth and refracted by the atmosphere sheds all its colors but the warm ones. These beam to the Moon and paint it with the light of countless sunrises and sunsets. If we could stand on the lunar surface during totality we'd look back to see the big, black disk of Earth, its edge vibrant red, slowly cover the Sun in a total solar eclipse.

 

Moon and Milky Way

The stars returned in full force when the Moon (lower left) was totally eclipsed on September 27, 2015.
Bob King

A total lunar eclipse is perfectly safe to look at and offers different viewing experiences depending on your instrument — naked-eye, binoculars, or a telescope. Have all three on hand! I enjoy watching the shadow slowly cover the disk through the scope but also pay attention to the first penumbral darkening and later, the first hint of umbral red, with just my eyeballs. Seeing the stars and Milky Way return as the Moon treads deeper into the umbra borders on the spiritual and remains a favorite aspect of eclipse-watching. That's why I recommend viewing the event from a dark-sky site.

Other observers use total eclipses to watch occultations of fainter stars that would otherwise be impossible to see in the glare of the full Moon. Dozens of stars in Capricornus will be occulted Friday night, with 5.9-magnitude Omicron (ο) Capricorni the brightest. For details, check out this sitecreated by David Dunham and Eberhard Riedel with the International Occultation Timing Association(IOTA).

 

Gianluca Masi

 

Eclipse aficionados in the Western Hemisphere and those socked in with clouds in the Eastern can still watch the eclipse via live streaming thanks to the efforts of Italian astrophysicist Gianluca Masi on his Virtual Telescope website and the folks at Bareket Observatory in Israel. Masi goes live starting at 18:30 UT on July 27th from the Roman Forum on Palatine Hill in Rome. Baraket starts at the same time and will stream for 5 hours. A reminder — those times translate to Friday mid-afternoon / early evening for the Americas.

 

Eclipse experiment

 

The Danjon Scale is used to estimate the color of the totally-eclipsed Moon. Astronomers and climatologists use that information to determine how clean or “dirty” the stratosphere is. 
Alexandre Amorim

Would you like to do some easy science during the eclipse? Using just your eyes, you can estimate the brightness of the fully-eclipsed Moon during totality. Astronomers rate lunar brightness and color using the Danjon Scale, numbered from 0 (a  dark, brown-red eclipse) to 4 (a coppery-yellow eclipse).

Danjon Scale

L=0: Very dark eclipse. Moon almost invisible, especially at mid-totality.
L=1: Dark Eclipse, gray or brownish in coloration. Details distinguishable only with difficulty.
L=2: Deep red or rust-colored eclipse. Very dark central shadow, while outer edge of umbra is relatively bright.
L=3: Brick-red eclipse. Umbral shadow usually has a bright or yellow rim.
L=4: Very bright copper-red or orange eclipse. Umbral shadow has a bluish, very bright rim.

Key in the Danjon scale on your cell phone and compare it to the Moon, then share your L-number estimate with me and other readers in the Comments area below. This seemingly simple exercise can reveal much about the state of the atmosphere, including contributions by volcanoes and forest fires to darker eclipses.

The next total lunar eclipse swings back to the western hemisphere on the night of January 20–21 with a brief, 62-minute-long totality. I suspect few will complain about its short duration given the time of year!

 
Nb

Blood Moon July 2018: Longest Lunar Eclipse In A Century Expected This Month

Look to the skies on the 27th July, 2018

By Thomas Tamblyn

 

For almost 2 hours on the 27th July, stargazers will be able to watch the Moon turn the colour of blood red in a phenomenon that usually takes place once every few years.

KACPER PEMPEL / REUTERS

What is a blood moon? A blood moon is essentially another word for a total lunar eclipse. This happens when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon.

During complete totality (the moment when the Earth is completely obscuring the light from the Sun) the Moon will turn a deep orange colour.

The reason for this is that the only light reaching the Moon will have been passed through the Earth’s atmosphere. The Earth’s atmospheric composition will then greatly determine just how blood-coloured the Moon becomes.

BY NASA

wWhat you’ll see during the whole phase of the lunar eclipse will be the Moon steadily getting darker and darker before it quickly turns a dark red colour.

Once it passes back out of the Earth’s shadow it’ll then switch back to being its normal colour and steadily increase in brightness again.

If you’re curious about what causes this, NASA has a really helpful video here:

When is the blood moon?

In the UK, the blood moon will take place on the night of Friday the 27th July 2018.

It’s believed that the phenomenon will start at 8:49 pm and will carry on for around an hour and 23 minutes depending on how east you are in the UK.

Those in East Anglia and on the east coast will have the best chance of seeing it for longest, while those in the west will still see it, but it’ll pass quicker.

If you’re in Europe then it’s likely you’ll have the best view, while those in America sadly won’t see the phenomenon at all.

If you miss this one don’t panic as there’ll be another long blood moon in around 80 years. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.