There is no official national register of pensioners in the country of Uganda:

10 June, 2016

 

By Nelson Wesonga, Kampala

 

Government says it does not have records of pensioners due to “lack of data and personal files.”

According to the ministry of Public Service, many pensioners do not show up for verification thus leading to delays in payment of their monthly dues and the once off gratuity.

The State minister for Public Service, Mr David Karubanga told MPs during plenary that the ministry will, carry out a census and biometric validation of pensioners starting February 20.

“The ministry of Public Service does not have a national register of pensioners,” Mr Karubanga said yesterday.

“Despite the decentralisation of pension management, a number of votes [ministries] have not verified the records on the payroll.”

A day earlier, Aruu Member of Parliament, Odonga Otto had told the August House that many pensioners have not been paid for several months.

Many were, therefore, depending on their relatives – who already have other financial responsibilities – to pay their bills or to buy basics.

Those without relatives are borrowing items from shopkeepers.

Shopkeepers though can only lend them for a few months expecting to be paid once they get their gratuity.

Following Mr Odonga’s remarks, the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga said the government was treating the senior citizens disrespectfully.

On Wednesday, Mr Karubanga also said the Public Service ministry had for the last four years not carried out verification of pensioners “due to funding shortage and lack of clear addresses" [of the pensioners].

The verification of the pensioners will be done between February 20 and March 24 at the district headquarters by Face Technologies.

According to Mr Karubanga, Face Technologies will do the work, which the ministry failed.

However, it is still not clear how much the ministry will pay the company.

Face Technologies is the company that processes driving permits for motorists.

Workers Members of Parliament Margaret Rwabushaija and the Erute Member of Parliament Jonathan Odur said the government should tell Ugandans when it would pay the pensioners all their arrears.

Mr Karubanga said payments are the responsibility of the Finance ministry.

All that Public Service does is to furnish the Finance ministry with the particulars of the claimants.

 

 

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.

 

NRM ELECTIONEERING TO STAY IN POWER 2015

Posted on 7th January, 2015
The idea of building a hospital or school in Buganda is good, but what worries me is how both will benefit the ordinary peasant and his children, most of whom will not be able to afford the fees. Unless the Ag Khan will allow the hospital to provide some basic health services for free or on subsidy.
Up dated by Bobby:
17 February, 2017
What is really missing is the extent to which the Kingdom can run Not For Profit Operations: ie generate income from projects the profits of which go into a pool used to meet identified needs in the Kingdom. This is what is absent at the moment- it seems to me. As you point out, what is the purpose of setting up a good school if the children of the peasant can not afford to attend it?  A school that operates on the same lines as Kings College Budo will not necessarily benefit the ordinary muganda child-just as  a person like myself attended Budo, so will other children from the rest of Uganda attend Mayiga's school if it is of good quality and they can afford the fees.
The Kingdom needs to be a modern institution that addresses actual needs in the society, and not just those of the eleites and the privileged, or those who have connections to the Kabaka.
Who owns the palace? Is it the Kabaka or the people of Buganda?
How much did the developmental Aga Khan pay for the land? Who took this money?
How will this money benefit the ordinary Muganda?
Is the Aga Khan hospital going to be free or will it be as expensive as the AK hospitals in Nairobi and Mombasa?
Why doesn't the Katikkiro get back Buganda land previously leased to UG govt, whose leases have expired and use these to build hospitals and schools on ?
An example of this is the land formerly leased to Radio Uganda which was bought by Mwenda's sister after she sold goats.
Where is the money this man collected as Ettofali ?  
Did he ask for this money to build Masengere or for Kasubi ? 
Apart from hosting Mayiga's TV station what use is Masengere to an ordinary Muganda?
The problem here seems to be that Mayiga thinks that he can pull and tug Buganda to support his businesses, while he is at the same time erasing away the very symbols of Buganda like the Kasubi tombs, the Lubiri and the National Anthem.
He thinks that Baganda are so greedy and stupid to sell their identity for a fake investor's hospital or school, they know that they will not afford.
The Baganda are aware of the grand plans previously created by the colonial  globalisation mafia and the hitherto detailed plan to obliterate Buganda's identity to create the client East African union.
The Baganda know why the Kasubi tombs were burnt, and most importantly why they have never been restored.
They also know why the Lubiri was neglected for 30 years after they started restoring Twekobe.
They know why the Kabaja's palaces are on his private land from his mother's side, and why he is not allowed to stay in the Lubiri.
The Baganda also know why Mayiga especially goes around Buganda and the diaspora shutting down nationalistic Buganda organisations.
The Baganda also know what Mayiga and his cabal are doing in Buganda Land Office.
I am nearly convinced that Mayiga is completely unaware that what Mrs Mpanga hinted on is common knowledge now in Buganda.
The Baganda know they have been stitched up, and by whom exactly.
.They will get out of this somehow but the first casualty will be Mayiga, in the bloody internal purge which will ensue.

 

The Uganda Economy will stagnate in 2015, says an economic expert: 

Traders sell their merchandise at Nakasero Market, Kampala recently.

 Traders sell their merchandise at Nakasero Market,

  Kampala recently. Economic experts predict that

  price stability will be heavily affected by food prices

    and weather patterns in 2015.

PHOTO BY FAISWAL KASIRYE. 

Posted  Wednesday, January 7  2015 

 

Without proper policy coordination, current government actions only make the State a predatory agent in the economy – acting like a virus eating its host says Fred Muhumuza as he predicts Uganda’s economy in 2015.

Kampala. Trust me the economy this year will be playing us games, not as an intelligent opponent, because it is not, but still able to inflict pain on many people as it delivers joy to a few.

While we shall all face some of the economy’s weapons such as prices of common goods and services on their way up, not all of us will be aware of the underlying causes like the financing of government debt and trends in the dollar. Individual political inclination notwithstanding, the manoeuvers by politicians will impact the economy around us not least by diverting attention of the bureaucracy from economic management to political survival and longevity.

The inability to predict both the political and geographical weather makes it a daunting task to attempt even the wildest of gausses on economic trends for 2015. However, because certain things are bound to happen or, should I say not to happen, one is able to sketch an outline of the economy in terms of growth, price stability, jobs creation, trade and competitiveness, and welfare improvement.

Economic growth

Growth will remain subdued as it has been for the last five years mainly on account of constrained effective demand, delays in major government projects, and poor service delivery that affects general economic activity.

According to the revised national account figures, final consumption expenditure declined to 1.6 per cent in 2013/14 up from 12.1 per cent in 2010/11. By implication, inventories, which include goods produced but not sold, increased from minus 1.8 per cent (shortage of production) to 17.8 per cent (excessive production) over the same period.

Similarly, general government consumption declined from 45.8 per cent to 13.9 per cent in the past three years. These trends are bound to persist as government borrowing from the domestic market (call it private sector) continues to crowd out real private sector activity (both consumption and investment). This is not to forget that 63 per cent of Ugandans live on less than two dollars a day. Increased government borrowing, largely on account of anticipated expenditure on elections, subdued tax revenues, and debt service above 10 per cent of the budget, will define fiscal policy contribution to service delivery and growth.

The limited focus on improving the quality of public institutions for greater effectiveness and corruption will continue to limit the anticipated benefits from public sector projects. 

It is important to note that most public infrastructure investments provide one-off growth impacts by way of positive changes in stock of infrastructure, which does not re-occur in the subsequent years. Accordingly, sustainable growth can only come from increased private sector activity, which in Uganda is being constrained by limited demand and high business costs.

Price stability

The common price stability index discussed in development policy discourse is the consumer price or inflation. This is largely because of high prioritisation by monetary policy practitioners arising from adverse potential political and socio-economic impacts in case of high inflation. Otherwise price policies should also focus on exchange and interest rates which affect external and domestic competitiveness of the private sector.

Uganda primarily uses interest rates as a means to an end of inflation control rather than a stimulus of private investment. This policy stance is not expected to change in 2015, when interest rates are likely to remain high on account of the need to remove politically motivated monetary injections as well as issue more fiscal bonds to finance the government deficit.

In view of increased liquidity injections by the public sector and high interest rates, both private consumption and investment will remain subdued. This will contribute towards low inflation and also moderate exchange rate movements.

The demand for foreign exchange will be moderated by reduced pressure to import, resulting in adequate reserves despite slow growth in exports related to low growth in global markets. Government efforts notwithstanding, price stability will still be heavily affected by food prices and related weather patterns.

Jobs creation

It is a pity that Uganda, like many of its peers in the low-income country category, never tracks jobs and related unemployment in a consistent and realistic manner. Wild, and possibly weird samples that are far in-between, are often used and quite often on the basis of bad definitions. I, therefore, find it difficult to comment on expected trends in job creation using official unemployment figures. However, on the basis of the basic economic principle that labor is demanded for purposes of meeting current and expected future demand for goods and services, it is probable to conclude that few jobs will be created in 2015.

External trade

Imports will continue to exceed exports due to failure to resolve key domestic supply constraints leading to loss of Uganda’s competitiveness in regional and global markets. A notable setback has been the civil strife in South Sudan (20 per cent), which had developed as Uganda’s leading export destination country followed by Kenya (11 per cent), DRC (5 per cent) and Rwanda. Going forward Uganda needs to diversify her exports within the region and beyond – a feat that will not happen in 2015.

Thus, international trade, which is one of the recommended drivers of growth and jobs through exports will continue to elude Uganda in 2015. Similarly, Uganda will hardly sell anything to its leading sources of imports like India, China and Japan.

Welfare improvements

The recent poverty figures which show a decline to 19.7 per cent in 2012/13 up from 24.5 per cent in 2009/10 highlight a mix of fortunes. The results also show that 63 per cent of the population remains vulnerable while 79 per cent are not sure of having two meals a day. Livelihoods fluctuations by way of diseases, droughts, and erosion of real incomes through inflation, will see many households retreat to consolidate whatever little they have carried from 2014.

Recent talk of a growing middle class is more of an academic theft of reality that lowered the threshold to a mere Shs160,000 per month. A more strategic approach that links the middle class status to the envisaged middle income status GDP per person of Shs850,000 per month would be more realistic way to track inclusive growth. Unless Uganda’s academia wish to continue feeding on the economics of the 1970s!

The confessions about failure of government programmes for social protection and empowerment such as Naads, means that both poverty and vulnerability will continue in this year.

Economic planning and management

Finally, the economic fortunes of the country in 2015 will remain dependent on the balance and sequencing of policies towards sound economic and financial management. There is no doubt that Uganda focusses more on resources mobilisation and allocation compared to development of strategic and focused project plans.

It will be too early to expect the revised National Development Plan (NDP-2) to resolve the planning weaknesses that are not even well appreciated across government. The continued thinking that rent proceeds from natural resources and increases in the stock of public assets rather than good policies will be the driver for sustainable growth threatens to make 2015 another year of lost opportunities and half harvest.

Additional policies are needed to enable monetary policy promote financial intermediation and private investments rather than mere price stability tool and provision of exceptional returns to interest-seekers in financial markets.

The design and operationalisation of fiscal policy should also be supportive of the growth agenda over the medium term as opposed to the current inclination to spend even when projects are absent or not ready. Economic benefits of growth, jobs and better business environment expected from many public sector projects will remain deferred to a far future beyond 2015.

The bulk of the citizens, therefore, will have to rely on chance events such as weather and good luck to maintain or improve their plight in the New Year. Otherwise, the common and the not so common man and woman will continue to see the old year, 2014, replicated this year.

 

Dr Fred K Muhumuza, is a senior manager at KPMG Uganda working with the Financial Services Inclusion Programme,

fmatwooki@yahoo.com

 

 

In Uganda, the Lost pension cash is now estimated to be, Shs270b. This is cash for the expanded Civil Service.

Uganda has no national state pension for all the eldery people of this country.

 
By Yasiin Mugerwa

 

Posted  Friday, June 12  2015 
 

 

Parliament.

The pensioners’ cash that was allegedly misappropriated by officials in the ministry of Public Service, has increased from Shs165.4 billion to Shs270b after MPs on the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) opened fresh investigations into the scam.

The committee, chaired by Ms Alice Alaso (FDC, Serere Woman), found that another Shs88.2b was taken on the pretext that it was going to National Social Security Fund (NSSF) as workers’ contribution for the years 2010/11 and 2011/12.

However, the NSSF Act exempts pensioners from social security contributions. 

“We have decided to open investigations into the loss of Shs270b through the pension scam because this matter is no longer subjudice,” Ms Alaso said.

“The case was dismissed by court and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has not appealed. Our rules don’t bar us, there is nothing subjudice. We must listen to the pension scam; the country is interested in knowing who stole this money,” she added.

The case was dismissed on April 13 on grounds that the State had failed to bring witnesses to testify against the nine suspects. Later, police investigators were accused of messing up the case amid allegations of bribery.

However, there was awkwardness in the committee after Mr Martin Onya, the acting commissioner pensions, told the committee that even Parliament approved the ministry policy statements with the Shs88.2 billion allocation.

“We didn’t know about it (loss of Shs88b) until the auditors raised it,” Mr Onya said. 

When Mr Onya told the committee that Parliament made no objection to the policy statement containing the Shs88b, Mr Emmanuel Dombo (Bunyole East) said: “They misled Parliament and they think they can use that as a defence.”

Shs15.5b paid to ghost firm

Emerging details have also indicated that another Shs15.5b was paid to a non-existent law firm (Hul and Partners) “purportedly in respect of the pensioners due to delays in payment and was not supported with adequate documentation”. 

ymugerwa@ug.nationmedia.com

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