According to the modern day rainmakers and soothsayers in Entebbe it may go on till June. Or July. It’s a case of too much of a good thing. In the Rwenzoris, those proud mountains to the west, streams have turned into rivers and rivers have burst their banks.

Nearer in the city where the grey weather is no cause for celebration. Kampala floods regularly that some spots have fun names like Kalerwe creek and Bwaise Bay. On Sunday, it rained most of the afternoon and a little more in the evening. At around 9, with “Game of Thrones. Season 3” about writhing with dragon fire the telly went off. So the evening turned into a candlelit affair with the radio. The next morning the rain continued to pound and the power never returned. And so I tweeted to the electricity monopoly Umeme (@UmemeLtd)

@UmemeLtd I thought our problems were fixed. No power overnight. #restlessinkyambogo

Shortly afterwards with the battery on my computer at 48 percent I received a response from Henry Rugamba in my inbox. Henry is the sophisticated PR man that Umeme hired recently.

The email said

Hi AI

Saw your tweet and consulted, can you respond to me on the questions raised below and see the comments made

Henry

The email was copied to Evelyn Agaba who I don’t know but who shot off a rather efficient sounding response to the tweet, which Henry had forwarded to her. In the past my tweets have resulted in like responses. Umeme tweeted back. So this was taking things to another level so to speak.

Good morning Henry,

We did not experience any feeder outages feeding this area yesterday. We might have to advice the customer to avail us with more details of location and tel contact so we can have the team rectify the problem.

With regards,

Evelyn

The next couple of hours were interesting. I exchanged eight emails with the Umeme call center. Power (and internet connectivity) is essential to my work which increasingly especially on rainy days done at home. So with an eye on the battery this is what happened next.

Good day Sir/Madam

We would be very glad to help and restore power supply to you.

However, we need more details so that our technicians know where to

go.Please avail us:

The account numbers for the respective premises

The telephone contacts for follow up purposes and,

Directions to the specific premises affected.

We look forward to serving you better

Regards

Jane

Jane and I spoke on the phone. And more emails.

Thank you Angelo for the positive response.

I have logged the complaint on reference number 1006279

Serving you is a pleasure.

Jane

I asked what happens next now that I had an important sounding reference almost like a police case file.

Angelo

The technician has been informed and will rectify the problem as soon

as he can.In the mean-time I will follow up and keep you updated.

Regards

 Jane

The folks at Umeme got me to speak to a technician twice. I later met him outside our house. The meeting was short. After speaking to the neighbors about the blackout he surmised it could be an area issue. He then radioed the nearby station and was informed it was a “planned shutdown” which apparently neither we nor the good folks at the headquarters were sufficiently aware of.

Good afternoon Angelo

The technician says the fault on the line has been rectified.

However there is a planned shut down for some on going work,

that may go on to about 6pm then power will be restored.

please bear with us

Regards

Jane

The efficiency at Umeme still reveals some distances to go. But clearly the power monopoly is making an effort. At least in my case. The rains this season are apparently record breaking. I was told later that Lake Victoria from whence Uganda generates its cheap hydroelectricity had risen to its highest levels since 1964 at 12.11 metres up from 9.5.

Seasonal rains in the early part of this year had boosted power from smaller hydros besides the Bujagali power dam. Investments in electricity production have been undergoing the usual drama of procurement graft ( the latest was the signing off of Ayago hydroelectric power dam to a Turkish company Mapa Construction despite years of earlier investment by the Japanese government. In true dramatic fashion technocrats were summoned to seal the deal off at State House after a private jet carrying the Turkish investors had landed much to their consternation and confusion the word goes).

The more interesting aspect of the rains in May is that demand for electricity has actually fallen believe it or not. As I was having my room service moment with Umeme officials from the Water Resources department of the ministry responsible had approached their counterparts in the generation and transmission companies (which together with Umeme form the 3 sisters in the sector) asking them to release water from the power dams. Their request has not been granted because despite the opportunity for more power generation demand was not there (it has shrunk reportedly by 10MW in the last two months). Plus electricity officials are worried that releasing more water ( spilling) may become political with Uganda’s feisty politicians likely to ask embarrassing questions ( Cabinet is considering a report on Umeme in fact)

This throws open the much taunted growth in electricity demand in Uganda. Is demand really stagnant? Is infrastructure to deliver power to new customers the problem? How can a country starving for power have low demand? The last time I raised the question about these projections the Ministry of Energy took out full-page newspaper ads to contest. No doubt cheaper power is necessary but perhaps a more important is to have clarity on real demand alongside the effort being made to keep customers like yours truly satisfied.

Now am off to pay my bill. Over to you.

Useful links

Uganda’s electricity regulator http://era.or.ug/

To put it simply he was not interested or proactively informed. Perhaps this had to do with NSSF’s past and its shyness in scaling new opportunities especially one has potentially dicey like the oil sector. Uganda’s petroleum sector sure has many unique challenges. Emerging out of a government system reeling with corruption scandals it is beset with risks for an organisation like NSSF.

However only if the fund is willing to conduct its business openly and aggressively will it overcome this stigma. The notion of playing safe, as Andrew Mwenda has eloquently argued,  as seems the strategy now is counterproductive and bad for the NSSF and its members. Many promising careers of Uganda’s talented financial minds tend to crash and burn at Workers House.

The inertia creates internal pressures as the one that emerged this week in the dossier to the Ombudsman about the conduct of senior officials from NSSF. Read for yourself.

corruption and misuse of workers money by top managers at NSSF

Most recently,for example, was the heavily debated image of President Yoweri Museveni handing over a “sack of money”. Long time ago when this writer had fresh hands  un-calloused by the bruising of repetitive headlines,  such a story with its visual appeal may have caused a flutter, a rush of blood to the head and some time spent pondering what can be done?

Yes. What sort of imagery does receiving a sack of money carry? Sharing of the loot? Why is presidential charity necessary? And why as we have learned is it so expansive?

As someone who enjoys some of the comforts of state administered services ( my power has been going steady for a while) I can see why I rather partake of the clean road, water and power than the fiction that even with thrift some youths in Busoga will turn their sack of money into a money maker. I suspect that like the golden goose story they will kill the bird – well fritter away the money and put out their hands for more.

There am told is now a demand by young people around the country – to their Mps to set up appointments with the President, for their own sack of money.  The reason this story does not excite nor disappoint is that, as a friend put it, remarkably the same old story. This friend, a graduate of the Kennedy School of Government referred to the serialization of “corruption” as self propelling as the popular TV soap here in the 90′s “Sunset Beach”.

So sacks of money, oil bribes, job bribes, visions of Uganda in 2040 and so forth are simply the rehashing of old plots re-written for the news cycle.

One may ask then where the new ways are of looking at how condition will change? What in the language of tech will cause the disruption? Population explosion? economic collapse? or progress? oil rents? political succession? Perhaps something more basic.

Is there new language to go along with rethinking the orgy of corruption and inertia of the state institutions? Can such a language be progressive, cause folks to look hopefully to the next episode? To digress when UTV, then the only major television station announced the last episode of Sunset Beach, shops closed at 5 as the town evacuated for that turning point event.

Maybe. Moving on. Below is a copy of Uganda’s new upstream petroleum bill. I plan on blogging a bit on the goings on in the sector over the next few weeks as the commercialization negotiations continue between the government and the oil companies.

The last two weeks indicated some common ground. Uganda wants a refinery and the companies want a pipeline. They have agreed in principle to do both but the negotiations for sequencing these investments are a technical marathon so I have taken the view that there is still no deal until some of the investment decisions are finalized.

The bill however is real and will be the frame of reference for the sector. Its worth discussing. Pass it along.

Petroleum (EDP) Act 2013

Over a year ago when I first tried, ever through intermediaries, to get “his side of the story’, it was 2 or 3 weeks shy of the emergence of the M23 movement.

Prior to this episode Ntaganda was on the run in eastern DRC. There was talk of betrayal on all sides, assassination attempts on him and by him. There was also indication that he was in the mind frame to negotiate an exit- through international justice, and a ticket to The Hague, in return of course that he would end up a witness and not an accused in the dock. During a retreat in Dare salaam, on freedom of information, which I spent attempting to negotiate that interview with the man known as The Terminator, it became clear just how little control, he and others around him had of the affairs of that part of the world.

I eventually dropped my attempts soon after the M23 movement bust into the frame and like other rebel coalitions burned bright as if to shine a light on the innards of the Congo. Soon their ambitions came closer to Kampala where delegations came for negotiations.

Years ago when I first took interest in Ugandan involvement in the Congo, I quickly came to the conclusion that the shuffling of the bloody cards there was only possible because responsibility for the killing, looting and raping could never be fully addressed. Later in my professional life I developed a working theory of the problem.

Conflict resolution was trapped in national borders whereas the actors on the ground, like Ntaganda, were stateless in many ways, moving alliances across national borders and the shifting interests of the political-military elite many of who were themselves trapped in nationalism but in fact were ethnic patriots, with specific grievances grounded in historical events.

This is how international justice and international conflict resolution got it wrong. Going after the Ntaganda’s, Lubanga’s and asking them to take responsibility is attacking the agency of the problem not the principal. As agents they can be replaced and they have been.

However national governments and nationalism never addressed the core insecurities of ethnic rivalry, insecurity and suspicion that nestled at the core. Neither did international conflict resolution, which focused on humanitarian assistance, conflict minerals and yes- threat of prosecutions at The Hague. They instead contributed goods like aid, guns and conditions through which a more subterranean struggle for self-determination of some of the most affected ethnic groups, like the Banyarwanda continued apace.

Those celebrating the surrender of “Gen” Bosco Ntaganda should best hope that he accounts not just for his own crimes but for his role in the criminality that is the collective failure of all players in the Congo fiasco.

I have met many who felt, like me, that untangling this problem, is the Holy Grail not just of the Congo and central Africa but also of the African crisis itself.

Just days before he “surrendered” I had been in touch with M23 sources and a fixer who worked closely with Ntaganda and was once a newsroom colleague about interviewing him. Before their split an uneasy bargain appeared to have settled the fate of Ntaganda. If M23 had succeeded in bargaining itself into political power in the east, he may well have secured for himself a haven there. Once a combination of international pressure over its activities including donor sanctions on Rwanda and Uganda gutted its ambitions- Ntaganda’s position became untenable.

Several M23 sources indicated in the past few weeks that their relationship with Monusco, which fought a bitter battle for credibility for its role in the DRC, had warmed up. They would hand Ntanganda over – is what I was told. It was as if Ntaganda would be the sacrificial lamb at the alter of the restoration of the balance of power in the east- an inept government in Kinshasa, an equally ineffective and expensive UN peace keeping effort and for the moment a cessation of the proxy conflict over influence by neighboring governments. No doubt many human rights NGO’s will celebrate his transfer to ICC as a victory for justice and “ a chance for peace” and they would be wrong. A restoration of the status quo is just a pause button.

Until the next episode.

The interview I had in mind with Bosco Ntaganda was meant as part of a deeper profile of the main actors across these borders. In the principal countries now, Uganda, Rwanda, DRC and Sudan- the political-military elite share many histories. Their leaders in particular have emerged from the shared violence that has continued in this basin for much of the last 50 years. Joseph Kabila, Paul Kagame and Yoweri Museveni in some ways were a single military force in the late 90’s early 2000’s. Neighboring conflicts such as the one that birthed South Sudan, a new Burundi and now Somalia involved the commitment of these leaders to a certain way of doing business. Ntaganda is a small part of this story.

Changes over the last 30 years involve not just conflict- which is less today than before but attempts at economic recovery, regional cooperation and more multilateral security.

In the next decade this way of doing business will be an important legacy of the political transitions currently underway in most of these countries. The baton will be handed over to another generation but it is possible that other Ntaganda’s will be reborn out of that process unless of course something gives.

Ntaganda’s surrender may whet the appetite of the peace, conflict and justice community but its value would be in how his story sheds light on the conflict economy he has participated in for much of his adult life. Perhaps for those reasons he may never fully get his day in court and I may never get my interview.

MP Abdu Katuntu [Bugweri] said there was a risk that amendments agreed to would be altered in the final document.

“ We have told the team of lawyers working on the document that they will face a legal challenge for even the slightest deviations,” he said. Katuntu and a group of Mps known as the Parliamentary Forum on Oil and Gas are currently meeting over the 3^rd of the oil bills, the Public Finance Bill.

However the delays in signing the very first bill passed reflect the continual contest over every chapter and verse of arguably the most fought over law in recent years. The first draft of the bill appeared in mid 2010. Almost 3 years later despite the rhetoric from government officials that the law was key to unlocking the sector, there is no law.

To be fair oil itself was discovered in 2007. One industry watcher likened decision making in the Ugandan system to the sitcom “Generations”, popular on the beleaguered UTV/UBC. ” Just when you think you have figured it out, a new twist develops, until the next episode”.

Some sources say the Presidency as well as Ministry of Energy technocrats who felt they lost out to politicians during the highly charged “oil debate” and have expressed reservations about specific clauses after the bill made it out of the House.

“ There is a local content provision for example that says 48% of industry be reserved for indigenes. This is causing discomfort for investors and is a concern of the President” said an industry insider. The delay over the bill presents legal minds with additional headaches.

Under the Ugandan constitution a bill passed by the House should be assented to within two months by a sitting President. In the case of the petroleum law the lull has been created after the bill passed the house but never made it to the Presidency. While there is no legal vacuum in Uganda which has a 1985 law for the sector, the Petroleum Exploration and Production Act of 2012 was meant to give a legal facelift to a sector which has drawn international interests from such global giants as France’s Total and China’s CNOOC.

The two companies together with their partner, UK listed Tullow oil are preparing fields for production, licenses which lawmakers and the industry expect will be issued under the new and not the old law. The legal limbo over the bill also adds to the Ugandan reputation now of procrastination and delays traced to political arrangements that stifle decision-making.

Prior to the claims over corruption in awarding of exploration licenses, a process that led to the “oil debate” of 2011, decisions in the sector were limited to a small but growing technical elite, which also advised the President. Since then however decisions across the sector have been stymied by the fear of political backlash- led by the Presidency which has sought to rekindle public confidence by investing in a political process of consultation through the ruling party’s parliamentary caucus as well as regular press conferences.

It has not helped that tax disagreements have also slowed down what companies like Tullow refer to as a “final investment decision” on how production will proceed.

Uganda is expected by the end of this month to issue a tender for a refinery- a key plank of its policy but disagreements with the oil companies over tax as well as whether a refinery will make investment sense has cast a pall over the process. The midstream (refinery bill) itself was passed but it’s unclear if it can be signed into law before the primary bill. In fact it’s unlikely. Meanwhile Uganda is engaged in legal battles over tax in 3 different tribunals. Its case with Heritage Oil awaits a ruling in a London arbitration court while Tullow oil begins a London hearing this week of its dispute with Heritage Oil in which Uganda has an interest. The company has also instituted arbitration in Washington over Valued Added Tax concerns and reportedly filed a case against Uganda in London in a latest escalation of legal disagreements. The tax issues loom large for the companies especially since no production is taking place to leverage against present tax liabilities. Its unclear what Uganda owes in past tax receipts for VAT but estimates put it at some 40M USd money the government, which is struggling to pay public servants, does not have.

You May Marry When You Want But New Law Resurrects Old Fears.

The Monitor (Uganda)

| October 05, 2009 | Copyright

Byline: Angelo Izama

Marriages made in hell are a common theme in popular culture and movies and the storyline is often that the victims made the wrong material or moral choice in their quest for spousal bliss. The proposed Marriage and Divorce Act of 2009 – the most recent of the 70-year tradition in Uganda with man-made laws meant to mediate between that which, in the main is considered, what God put together, may not be the perfect panacea for domestic conflict burning in some Ugandan marriages but its framers hope it will at least cool matters.

It’s a far cry from the 1904 colonial ordinance which first attempted to bring “African” marriages into the age of enlightenment and gave rise to the “Marriage of Africans Act” the mother of all subsequent marriage laws.

There have been various attempts to sex up the colonial era laws and at least three government commissions on the subject over the last 70 years. The most extended period is from the ’90s to date, with pressure from women’s rights activists. Indeed, the last of two reports on marriage was prepared by the Ministry of Women in Development now part of the Gender Ministry.

The proposed law not only adds a sprinkle of new ideas here and there but attempts to marry all statutes on marriage into a single document and establish among them all some core values derived from the Uganda Constitution.

It’s a moot point whether this law and its modernist stance may not be the most ambitious and therefore controversial project yet. For one, it makes divorce easier and therefore the mantra of “till death do we part” is now a courtroom away. This is in contrast to the period before when divorce was more the exception than the rule. The new law also introduces a hitherto distant aspect of western marriages – where property, the bane of the modern marriage – can be held separately through contract.

This is the concept of ante or pre-nuptial agreements where spouses sign-up to a document which states what will happen to their property in the event of a split.

Since the general Uganda psyche assumes the merging of property when the woman takes up with the man which is a corollary to the feeling that men are responsible for women. This new addition, however, will most likely be a dramatic if not incendiary innovation to the bedrooms across the country.

The law also accommodates “half-marriages” or cohabitation and grants rights to the men and women involved. Long a thorn in the bottoms of Uganda’s religious centre these half marriages are opposed all-around. But morality aside they may also be one of the most common forms of consorting, especially in cities and towns.

All of the present provisions are because the Marriage and Divorce Bill 2009 bill hopes to live up to one cardinal principle; that men and women are equal. Therefore whether of indigenous religious persuasion, Muslim or Christian, Hindu or Baha’i their shared commitments in a marital union must affirm their constitutional right to the same rights or obligations.

Some provisions of the bill, for instance; that impotence in men is a ground for divorce may be seen as a back-hand pass to the female gender which supporters of domestic relations reform have considered a silently suffering mass over the years. One analyst observed that if anything the domestic relations bill has traditionally been “targeted” at men.

This is partly true. It is targeted at the power of men and the patriarchal values which have long determined the nature of relationships between the sexes in marriage and within the community.

A bridegroom fixes a ring on the finger of his bride. The ring is no longer enough to make couples faithful.

“It would be important to consider whether the law provides sufficient safeguards for Christian marriages which constitute a significant number of marriages in Uganda,” said Bishop Zac Nyiringiye, associate Anglican bishop for Kampala. He hopes the Christian communion will make contributions to the final law.

Bishop Nyiringiye who has not seen the draft bill says it should at a minimum attempt to answer “what is a Christian marriage”.

The Bill is still a draft in limited circulation between the Uganda Law Reform Commission, some non-governmental organisations [mainly women's right activists], the media and lawmakers.

Hassan Kirya who speaks for Mufti Sheik Zubair Kayongo of the Kibuli-based Islamic congregation says Muslims are satisfied for now with the direction of reform.

Muslim marriage governed presently under the Marriage and Divorce of Mohamedans Act is not included in the proposed combined bill.

“Islamic teachings are clear on marriage and since we have heard that all Muslim matters will be considered under Sharia law practiced through [soon to be established Khadi courts] we are happy,” he said on the phone this week.

However there are several aspects of the new bill which will likely face active resistance and they draw from the overall approach of the law.

Since the genesis of this reform has its roots in the colonial efforts to modernize traditional marriage the process has been a balancing act between the customs and modern albeit mainly Christian views of marriage [such as the emphasis on monogamy] on the one hand. On the other hand it has also been about accommodating traditional systems and values in managing marriages with modern justice systems introduced with the new state which took over the communities conquered by colonialism.

So while many aspects of traditional domestic dispute resolution which involves family, relatives and the community have not been recognised in the new bill. Instead, modern courts of law have overwhelming power to intervene at all stages of the marriage including at its dissolution.

In this way the law is avant-garde and emphasises individual rights over communal ones. A family is defined in the law as ” a husband and wife; including their children” while traditional customs entertained here even the concept of the extended family.

According to Tess Kawooya Bakayana, a legal officer with the Law Reform Commission arriving at a balance has not been easy.

“That’s why we encourage further debate and the involvement of the public on this,” she says. A sticky area is on property rights and rights of consortium (sexual rights).

The new bill for example tries to find some middle-ground on the issue of bride-price, a prevalent local custom which solemnises marital unions much in the same way as the uttering vows and exchanging rings does.

Long attacked as demeaning of women and rendering them chattels for purchase, bride price has been the staging ground of the war between the traditional and the modern. A case brought by Mifumi, local women’s rights NGO seeks to outlaw it in the Constitutional Court.

But the conclusion of the Domestic Relations Study report 2008 which the ULRC used as a basis to come-up with this proposed new law is that it is an important practice in validating customary marriages. To tame it, the new law redefines bride-price or dowry as “marriage gifts” and states that they are not refundable.

In this way they cease to be transactional and give power to men over their wives simply because of the number of cows, goats and even cash that has exchanged hands. So perhaps gone will be the days when a claim for “sexual services” or a woman’s labour is based on “after all I paid dowry for you”.

Some women rights activists like Jackie Asiimwe Mwesige like to point out these days that women too pay bride price or by extension are breadwinners in their families.

Another area where the proposed law seeks compromise is on widow inheritance defined as a custom “by which a relative of a deceased husband inherits the widow of the deceased husband as his wife”.

This custom which is originally meant as a way for families to continue their obligations to the widow and children of a deceased man by assigning “his duties” to say a younger brother has been abused some say.

One divorce lawyer says it has become contentious especially if the deceased were wealthy. Decisions over inheritance are also less collegial and involving of family members as communities fracture with modern day pressures arising out of the less appealing influences of urbanisation.

The new bill however does not banish widow inheritance completely but makes it contingent upon the “free consent” of the widow and the man involved. In other words it treats it as a new marriage.

It also goes further and criminalises any attempt to enforce the old custom wholesale by establishing a fine and jail term of a year for those who do not act in accordance with the law.

There are some areas in which the law is uncompromising such as on homosexuality which is also a criminal offence under the Penal Code Act.

The new law defines marital union as being between the opposite sexes but also goes further on the issue of homosexuality. It does not recognise same sex marriages even when contracted by Ugandans in other countries where homosexuality may be legal.

It also gives the Ugandan courts “original jurisdiction” over marriages conducted elsewhere which means Ugandan laws are applicable.

The law also expressly states that “Marriage between persons of the same sex is prohibited” and includes sodomy, homosexuality and even pornography as sexual perversion and therefore employable as a ground for a break-down in marriage.

“We were not really consulted over this law” said Anthony Oyuku Ojok, the acting registrar of marriages at the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.

According to Mr Oyuku who performs civil marriages at the Registry’s offices on Amamu House in Kampala, there are some positive aspects to matters like parental or guardian consent that have been excluded in the present proposals.

Civil marriages, one of the forms of marriage allowed, have been growing especially in the city from a monthly average of three to seven in 2003-4 to over 67 monthly today.

They are easier and cheaper and also attract younger couples. But Mr Oyuku says simply because consent under the law is now that of the individual seeking a marriage – all that is required is that they are of consenting age [18 years].

“But consider a girl on campus who is confused by some boy and runs to the Registry to perform a marriage. Will not the consent of her father or guardian provide some protection? What if she is being used?” he asks in an office buzzing with manual typewriters and overflowing with files.

There is no computer on his desk either which brings to mind the question of the integrity of record keeping here.

The registry which looks and feels trapped in a pre-modern period nonetheless has discovered through practice a point worth debating. Under the new law especially with regard to customary marriage it states that the “consent of a parent, relative, clan elder and any other person other than the respective parties shall not be a requirement”.

While claiming ground for individual rights even against some of the negative aspects of customary practice- the abolition of consent goes counter to the general practice which recognises that a family is part of a community and feeds on the social sanction that sustains it once it has been contracted.

These are some of the tensions that show the clash between the traditional and modern in the present draft. It’s ostensibly possible that like widow inheritance and bride price, consent could be required but not deemed necessary for a marriage to be validated. That way Mr Oyuku and others have a way to tend to the needs of younger and freer Ugandans in the modern age.

Highlights of a pre-nuptial agreement as proposed by sections 118-123 of the bill

Two persons in contemplation of a marriage or cohabitation with each other or cohabiting or married may make agreement with respect to the ownership of separate property of each spouse; property acquired during the marriage/cohabitation; or distribution of property acquired during the marriage/cohabitation

Pre-nuptial agreement defining the share of property each spouse is entitled on separation, dissolution of marriage/cohabitation may be oral or in writing. Oral agreements must have a witness and when to be used in court must be confirmed by an affidavit

Agreement to be signed and witnessed by two persons chosen by either party. The agreement may be made as an order of court. If made upon order of court can only be terminated/amended by an application to court, which application must be witnessed by two people.

Courts have jurisdiction to inquire (if one party asks) into a pre-nuptial agreement made within the provisions of the proposed law.

Basing on the findings of such an inquiry court will be able to set aside an agreement if it is deemed that enforcement would be unjust.

Courts can thus declare that a given pre-nuptial agreement shall have effect in full of in part.

Courts can set aside agreement if a party to it alleges that it was entered into under the following circumstances: duress, undue influence, fraud, misrepresentation, illegality, lack of intention, any other factor like unequal bargaining position.

Court can set aside agreement and make another order for the distribution of property.

Pre-nuptial agreement may be set aside on grounds of lack of full disclosure of assets by a party to the agreement.

Court may also set aside a given agreement if it is determined that it is ‘unconscionable’, that is; where it is satisfied that the purpose and effect of the agreement is contrary to conscience or that the agreement exploits the unequal bargaining position of a spouse.

The present draft debated in Parliament may have slight changes

February 27th

I am dusting up on a presentation for a meeting here at Yale University. New Haven is extremely cold and looking outside the hotel window is painful. Wet ice on roofs, a cold drizzle feels like it could be raining small razor blades, the type used to cut finger nails [ thank God for modern clippers] where with every movement the breath is held…

The meeting is on “Corruption, Accountability and Governance, in Africa” organized by the Council on African Studies.

Coming from a blazing hot Kampala where corruption is as Ugandan as apple pie, preparing to speak about the nature of this vice has been very tasking.

Corruption is often spoken of in terms of the regrettable loss of public funds.
Its like the gifted woman and the sieve.

Modern commentators on corruption question the quality of the sieve [ policies] or the skill of the sieve-r [ the government and its capacity]. We can now add to this basically how the seive-r sorts out the grains for various foods [ public goods] and in my case – how the Ugandan sieve-r may do so for black gold or oil in a few years time.

However there is now more talk of corruption beyond the number of grains that escape the sieve or whether the homestead has graduated to modern methods of preserving their harvest.

These days we can also ask what motivates the sieve-r, why he or she chose a particular sieve, how come she gossips all day about doing better sieving but sometimes does not and why despite years of apprenticeship, heckling by her peers our Ugandan sieve-r appears incorrigible.

Uganda’s thieves and deceivers get a lot of public comment. So I will probably talk of corruption and transparency not as wasteful expenditure and laws to convert that but as a political process.

Within my Ugandan correspondence  since I got to this ice cage was this hot e-mail by the blustery priest Father Gaetano Batayenda. Its meant for the newspapers to publish.

He shakes with righteous anger and wags his fingers at Uganda’s elite clergy for their silence. He bristles with worry about their complicity with Ugandan thieves and pretenders. If they are not hypocrites and pharisees why do they not act he wonders?

A good read as usual. How can we say the sieving is bad when the elders in the home shrug their shoulders and suggest all that is needed is time?

The stage belongs here to the angry priest

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE BISHOPS OF UGANDA

One day when Jesus was addressing the crowds and his disciples, he warned them against the hypocrisy and vanity of scribes and Pharisees and he said: ‘’ The scribes and Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses. You must therefore do and observe what they tell you; but do not be guided by what they do, since they do not practice what they preach (say). They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move them? Not they! Everything they do is done to attract attention, like wearing broader headbands and longer tassels, like wanting to take the place of honor at banquets and front seats in the synagogues, being greeted respectively in the market squares and having people call them Rabbi (Lords)”. (Mt. 23: 1-7)

It seems when Jesus made the said warning, he had in mind the Bishops of Uganda, under their umbrella organization-Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC), because of their deadly silence on what is happening in Uganda today-CORRUPTION! Unlike the Bishops in Kenya and Zambia, who came together and spoke with one voice persistently and acted in unison with their flock against the planned evils in their countries, our Bishops in Uganda, regretfully, have consistently become inconsistent and disunited in fighting corruption the enemy of humanity. Most religious leaders in Uganda are timid and selfish. Their timidity and selfishness have ruined the nation because there is no cohesion in whatever you do or say. As a result, most of you have resolved to identify yourselves with the thieves against the innocent and suffering majority of Uganda.

Your Graces and Lordships. I hope you still remember your famous and unprecedented statement you issued on 13^th March 2009 concerning the evils of corruption in Uganda signed by three archbishops; namely Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi and Metropolitan Jonah Lwanga. Your statement was very inspirational. It brought to those who read it confidence and enthusiasm that at last religious leaders had earnestly and courageously joined the battle to fight corruption. But alas!

When I read your statement, what immediately came into my mind was the MANIFESTO OF JESUS (Lk 4:18-19.).I fanatically and uncontrollably jubilated with a lot of excitement at your heroic and prophetic stand against corruption, but little did I know that I had erroneously convinced myself that at last , in Uganda, we have true and courageous ‘’cadres’’ of Jesus who are ready to lay down their lives for the sheep so that they (sheep) may have life and have it to the full (Jn. 10:10-11). Indeed all that glitters is not gold! What is happening in Uganda, concerning some of you religious leaders in fighting the evils of corruption, is what we read in Ezekiel (Ezek. 34: 1-6) where shepherds, instead of caring  for the sheep, they care about themselves.

Your Graces and Lordships. Since the issuing of your statement, what percentage of it has been implemented? Who was supposed to take the lead in publishing, disseminating and implementing it? What impact has it made to you, your fellow religious leaders and your flock? Has corruption increased or decreased?

In your statement, you made six powerful recommendations. I only comment on four with a few questions and observations for you individually and collectively.

The first recommendation states: ‘’We call upon all religious leaders to spearhead the fight against corruption in their institutions and places of worship by sensitizing Ugandans on their rights and obligations.” When you made these recommendations did you include yourselves among the recipients and implementers or you made them for others? How many of you have patriotically spearheaded the fight against corruption and abuse of office in your Diocese(s), in institutions and places of worship and how? Instead some of you, sadly, have been a stumbling block to those who try to fulfill your own recommendation!

Recommendation two states that: “We urge all citizens of Uganda to join hands in the fight against corruption by exposing the corrupt- “name and shame.”If you, who are supposed to be “the light for the world and salt for the earth”(Mt 5:13) have miserably failed to join  hands to fight corruption ,how do you expect your followers to do it? You should lead by example like, Bishop Zac, and not words .That is what patriotism means. You are in a better position to expose thieves, how many have you “named and shamed?” Majority of you fear to implement your recommendations because either you are in the same boat or you are beneficiaries of the system in one way or the other!

In fifth recommendation you state that: “We call upon all Christians not to offer stolen/embezzled funds in places of worship.” I am afraid here you are being selfish and egomaniacal. Why didn’t you restrain yourselves and fellow religious  leaders from  receiving stolen /embezzled   funds in your places  of worship? Any way you know what you would have missed. In any case these thieves don’t offer the looted money in small places of worship,  but in big places where there is usually a Bishop  to receive, greet and introduce the thieves  obsequiously .

Then in your conclusion which I take as recommendation  six, you state that: “We would like to appeal to all our fellow church leaders and other religious leaders in this country to be role models in the fight against corruption. We urge you brethren, to rally your flock to stand up and be counted in the fight against corruption and abuse of office. The battle will not be easy, but it must be fought if we are to secure the future of our children and grand children. We advocate for transparency and accountability in public and private institutions and remain committed to the cause of justice and equity”.

What are the characteristics or qualities of a role model Bishop or any church leader  in fighting corruption ? I totally agree with you when you state that: “the battle will be not easy, but it must be fought if we have to secure the future or our children and grand children”. The battle will not  be easy because of patronage,bribery,intimidation,fear,greed,connivance,manipulation,sychophancy,flaudulent,consipiracy ,sectarianism ,harassment etc. How many of you have tried to resist the above obstacles or challenges? According to you, is Bishop Zac Niringiye and other Activists of Black Monday role models in fighting corruption or villains and scandals? It  is disturbing and demoralizing  to see that up to now the House of Bishops, for the Church of Uganda, Uganda Episcopal Conference, for the Catholics and Orthodox  Church ,either  singularly or jointly, under their umbrella  organization of Uganda Joint Christian Council ,and Inter Religious  Council of Uganda, have not uttered  a word on the arrest of their fellow Bishop  and some of their flock. Bishop Zac Niringiye and some Activists were innocently arrested, humiliated and detained at Wandegeya Police Station for more than eight hours. Crime! They were trying to make the public aware of the evils of corruption. In doing that, they were fulfilling the Manifesto of Jesus and your recommendations. Why have you, Bishops, kept silent? Your silence gives credence to the humiliating action of the government. How should your flock interpret your silence? Are you on the side of those fighting  corruption or those who  support and encourage it?

Your flock, other religious leaders and many people of good will, want to know your stand. Either you are with Bishop Zac and other Activitists or with thieves and government. As Bishops you cannot afford to be neither hot nor cold(Rev.3:16). The government, by arresting Bishop Zac  ,was testing your solidarity as Bishops in the fight against corruption .It wanted to see your  reaction .Now that you have reacted by keeping   silent, you have endorsed its action of perpuating corruption .It is sad! Your silence has greatly facilitated the survival and spread of corruption. Your silence and inactivity is evoking righteous anger and indignation everywhere among your flock and the people of good will.  May be if you had spoken jointly and cohesively,  not only at Christmas and Easter but always, because it is a battle that must be fought rigorously and relentlessly from heart to heart, from house to house, from street to street, from community to community ,from institution to institution like(Makerere University and the streets of Kampala).It must be fought in every sphere of life (like weddings ,burials)whether public or private with a lot of net working, something positive would have been achieved.

Your Graces and Lordships. Do you recall the story of prophet Amos, Amaziah the priest of Bethel and Jeroboam, the king of Israel. Amaziah the chief priest of Bathel, was shaken by prophet Amos and was frightened by his fearless denounciations. (See Amos 7: 12-15) Amos set an example of all of us who are called to proclaim the word of God, especially the year of favor from the Lord. It is extremely dangerous and self defeating to do this and collect handouts and kickbacks for it. Whoever receives these inducements (like the priest Amaziah) is never really free to speak the truth and fight injustices, caused by corruption, as is always tempted to modify and dilute the message not to displease the one who pays him. Many Bishops behave like Amaziah; they keep their mouths shut although they see many evils, injustices and falsehoods because they are afraid of causing displeasure to their friends and get into trouble with the authorities. The powerful of this world will more than often bribe to the prophets (Bishops) in order to silence them so that they don’t perform their prophetic role of exposing injustices and corruption.

Lastly, your Graces and Lordships. Listen to the words of wisdom of one of the greatest human rights Activitist Martin Luther King Jr. “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people (thieves)but the silence over that by the good people”(Bishops).

AD   MAIOREM DEI  GLORIAM

FR GAETANO BATANYENDA

0703212388

batanyenda@gmail.com

Prolonged prison stays, mostly on remand, before one has their day in court are an obscene hallmark of Uganda’s criminal justice system. However thought about in its entirety it raises serious questions about compassionate society in which the delivery of justice and fairness are important measures.

It also begs commitment of Uganda’s leaders to the delivery of public goods- whose efficacy is being presently debated voraciously as the fight “against” corruption.

A look at prisons and prisoners says volumes about the society outside. When seen purely as “case backlog”, the long stays on remand are merely an administrative cog up. In fact what amounts to mass detentions without trial under inhumane conditions are a blight on the society. More so they attack the very presumption of innocence, a cornerstone of our justice system that considers you innocent until proven guilty.

Leaving this unfair system intact is not simply a matter of law to which we shall return. It is an indictment of a society’s indifference, its inability to embrace higher values and its commitment to the neighbor next door.

As a matter of for the law- the flaccid response of the legal community including the judiciary and institutions that hold moral order in trust like the Church to this most obvious of transgressions is even more outrageous.

The presumption of innocence holds that punishment is a result of due process of the law; never arbitrary. Accused persons are protected under the constitution by the right to representation, the option of a plea to ensure the court proceed with determining their culpability, and the right to a speedy trial to spare them any undue discomfort should they claim innocence before the law.

Punishment that arises out of this process may be seen as just and fair. However for the majority of inmates in Uganda’s poorly funded prisons this is not the case. Fifty four percent of all inmates are on remand, lengthy stays that amount to nothing short of extra-judicial punishment meted out prior to when their guilt or innocence has been determined by a court of competent jurisdiction.

We will turn to the prison situation shortly but any hope that prison is a place for rehabilitating those who have offended society can hardly be achieved in this process.

This sort of “detention without trial” is part of a constitutional petition, which remains unheard today – partly because of another administrative hitch; there are no judges to hear it.

According to the head of the Judicial Service Commission, Justice James Ogoola , 5 judges are immediately required at the Supreme Court, 8 at the Court of Appeal, 7 at the High Court and no less than 43 magistrates in the lower courts. The lack of judges is a huge contributor to inability to dispose of cases expeditiously. However even this number recommended by the JCC is conservative firefighting.

One attorney says no less than 50 judges at the High Court will be needed to reverse the backlog. Most replacements at the High Court are basically replacements for overworked justices 2 or 3 of who retire every couple of years. Besides their pay issues burnout ensures that Judges struggle to give every case attention imperiling the very presumption of innocence- a burden that involves both the Judge and the prosecutor.

The principle requires that it is the accuser [the state represented by the prosecutor] that bears the burden of proof, a high standard to erase any doubts about their innocence. As such enabling the burden to be discharged requires a commitment seen by the capacity of the courts and the prosecutor.

The petitioners in No 23 of 2011 are representative of many accused of capital offenses – the more serious cases against the commons.

Barihi Grace Peter and Fred Biryomumaiso are both accused of treason and were arrested in 2002. Both claim to have been detained and tortured in safe houses before being charged. After a year in detention they were granted bail. Since then almost a decade later they have been on bail unable to find work, leave the country or live meaningfully resulting out of the serious but unproven charges against them. They are required to periodically report to have their bail conditions extended never knowing if or when the Director of Public Prosecutions [DPP] will commence their trial or even drop the charges against them.

And they are the lucky ones because with legal representation they have taken advantage of their right to bail, a privilege that politicians want to remove as well.

Not only is their innocence or guilt unproven but being in legal purgatory, their right to a speedy trial has been repeatedly violated. Their petition filed by human rights lawyer Ladislas Rwakafuzi states the matters for the  of law in the following terms;

That requiring that those accused like the two men appear before the High Court only after committal [which involves the approval or not of  DPP, a member of the Executive before a lower court] is wrong. He also rejects the current state of the law in which committal proceedings are mandatory in order to simply initiate a process of trial after accused persons have been on remand for at least a year. During that year [which can extend to several for individual prisoners after committal] one is in limbo, neither guilty nor innocent nor said to be by any authority- simply accused, which is tantamount to being jailed purely on an allegation- which is another name for an unproven charge.

This was certainly true for a huge section of Ugandan prisoners accused of sex with persons underage [below 18]. Interpreted as “statutory rape”, a capital offense, those accused languish in jails even if Judges themselves complained that in a great many cases from the customary countryside marriages were being contracted with those deemed officially underage – and disagreements about things like bride price led to arrests and subsequent jailing.

In other words the huge number of accused persons for statutory rape or defilement had the roots of their offenses in practices or policies out of the reach of the courts.

The petition however challenges the practice of the courts – the notion that a trial of an accused can be done at the convenience of the court-, which is essential to the argument her howe the system rigged against the presumption of innocence. This means after committal to the High Court one can be tried at an indefinite time- at the pleasure of the court. It may make sense considering the work load but its a terrible miscarriage of justice.

There are other problems too.

Committal proceedings, the petition points out,mean the accused often does not know the charge preferred against him or her [the law requires that they know], cannot prepare for their defense, are unable to plea bargain, are not afforded an attorney at the expense of the state and so forth.

Rwakafuzi also makes an intelligent case against the involvement of the DPP, a member of the Executive. If the DPP determines who can or cannot be brought before a High Court judge, he exercises a judicial function, a preserve of the courts ,he argues, whereas the High Court has what the law says is “original and unlimited” jurisdiction.

This is a veiled reference to the ability of politics and plain influence to bear on the DPP and members of his staff [he too is understaffed]. In the past I have argued that justice has been pushed into the black market because of the conditions we are discussing here such as poor pay for judicial staff and police officers – and the bubble to the top of political interference in the Judiciary which suggests that power not due process leads to a conviction or acquittal.

The petition also points out that it does not make any sense to take someone to a magistrates court [where the magistrate does not make any decisions accept listen to the DPP] for offences already known to be triable only by a higher court. Combined these interferences in the process of trial are a severe attack on the presumption of innocence but even more despicable they render punishment without justification, which can only arise out of a trial and offer opportunities for those with “resources” to escape the long arm of the law.

In Lira the prison outbreak was because inmates who had been on remand longer found their names missing on the cause list- the official roster for court appearances. The other lesser-told story about Lira is that the cause list brought was for people who had indicated they would plead guilty in anticipation that this is less bearable than their endless stay in prison.

Plea-bargaining is not official practice but both prison officials and lawyers say pleas of guilty have little to do with one’s guilt but come out of desperation. Prison conditions are worsening with the growth of inmates- some say buoyed by increased resources provided to the Uganda Police Service. Since 2009/10 growth of prison population has almost doubled from 0.38% to almost 0.75% projected for 2012/13. This translates into a prison population of 36,832 projected for this year up from 31, 230 at the end of June 2010.

The largest spike in prison population was in the election year- 2011 according to internal analysis of the service. Holding capacity however has not changed much. Holding capacity of Uganda prisons slightly improved is over subscribed by 20, 413 inmates, a congestion rate of  238% that is expected to get worse.

Uganda has a high incarceration rate compared to the other countries in the region so for a space planned for a single inmate – three share. If innocent people are in jail they share it with potentially guilty violent murderers that top the number of people on remand for capital offences. It may be shocking to many that the budget for prison maintenance is just about 100,000 USD annually or 200 million Ugandan shillings. The shortfall is met by the selling of prison labor which unofficial sources say earn the service 3.5 billion shillings annually or about 2 million dollars [ a bare minimum]

This subsidy may be contributed to by both convicts and those on remand (convicts being fewer than remand inmates). However this distinction itself is deceptive since lengthy stays after committal when the court is unable to hear ones case are effectively a prison sentence no different from a conviction being served.

For a country that debates morality loudly- like the recent kerfuffle over the AHB [ Anti-Homosexuality Bill] it should be noted that most sex between men happens often non-consensually in prison. Indeed for moral reasons apparently condoms are not an option as a public health precaution because of the illegality of the practice in male prisons.

Anyway.

The crowded unhygienic conditions mean that aside from being punished without due process- the punishment is harsh and often results into the death of prisoners from disease [mortality rates from illness tend to be higher in prisons than outside]. Petty offenders tend to top the remand prison roster. Many will return not rehabilitated but trained to offend the law once more. A final note on the disregard for the presumption of innocence is that justice tends to be income dependent. Most people who are jailed for non-capital offences are attempting to make due. Theft and burglaries lead here with other “economic offences” as reflected in the annual police crime reports.

Poor economic conditions are driving crime.

Even if the police have greater resources the welfare of its offices remain wanting creating a political economy of crime that favors those who can bargain unofficially with the system. If we are to show we are a more compassionate society a lot more can be done to cure this broken system faster and to make it fairer starting with appointing more Judges, paying them more and addressing some of the legal issues put forth in the petition discussed.

Incidentally the story of the man without a penis was not because of the length of his sentence whatever this means- it was because he reportedly expected his name to feature on the list meant for pardon under the Prerogative of Mercy exercised by the President by law. Last I heard the committee that constitutes to consider cases has expired two years ago. None has been appointed since.

This may well be an irreversible fact about the growth of cities here or elsewhere. The new city authorities do not lead planning. Not yet. They chase after what is best viewed as the “progressive forces” or perhaps “centrifugal forces” that are shaping and reshaping our lived experience in Kampala. This charming Quasimodo of a metropolis is a nightmare for services like electricity which sits on another national pastime- that of the procrastination of public works as companies (investors) and their local lackeys work out how to game the system for a fee.

When power flickered on Valentines Day it could have been the weak electricity grid, which has been battered by demand that has led to many illegal connections over the years.  Kampala and Entebbe represent over 68% of all electricity customers for Umeme, the local power distributor that is now a listed company on the Uganda Securities Exchange. According to the companies investment plan for 2013, with a small total budget of 73 million dollars, some areas. One of the most notorious areas is the Wandegeya zone which includes Makerere and Nakasero Hill upon which sits the Hilton Hotel.

“ The network is now stressed and will not cope with the new landscape,” says Umeme. Much of the plans of the company on the distribution side have to do with upgrading its lines to cope with new traffic. Its been my view covering this sector that the investment in rehabilitating the grid including the distribution grid is undertaken as a public investment first before it is then divested.

That is what is needed for planning to get ahead of the mosaic of connections generated by “natural growth” of the cities in the metropolitan area. As seen from the obscene delays in all major projects the most prominent being the Karuma Dam project (businessmen with powerful connections have managed to filibuster this deal which is likely to go down in history as a white elephant project outstripped by demand when it comes online in the future), delays breed their own complications. This sort of “political economy” is promising but difficult for investors.

When Bujagali power dam came online for example Uganda had spent hundreds of millions of dollars on “emergency power” containerized solutions run by the firm Aggrekko, enough to provide equity for two similar projects. Now as the 100 MW of diesel generators was yanked out of the system and replaced by clean hydro, demand will once again overtake supply and complications from the stunted grid will lead to load shedding- a political headache for the ruling party.

Companies like Tembo Steel, Roofings Limited and the Namanve Industrial Park outside Kampala require as much as 100MW- or the amount of power equivalent to the thermal taken out of the system. This leaves very little cheap power to go around. The rest of the installed capacity of slightly over 800 MW (just about 600 MW is actually available) produced by small projects scattered around the country is not networked by a proper well-managed grid. The grid is biased towards distribution not transmission one expert said.

So it looks like load shedding will be back sooner than later- to use that Ugandan phrase. For one as Umeme itself complains the grid is spread on a tariff system that is grafted to the years of subsidies including the huge cost of thermal power when power cuts become a very political issue. Currently thermal power companies like Electromaxx are paid a capacity charge (they are being reserved) but not dispatched because there is no money to pay them. The regulator [ERA] has faced public rejection of its attempts to introduce an adjustable tariff that reflects market challenges. If one of the cheaper power units at Bujagali for example goes down or is taken out for maintenance- the resulting shortfall cannot be met without reflecting the cost of thermal in an increased tariff or a subsidy for thermal generation.

Which brings us to a discussion doing rounds in some of the power hills, to the effect that Blackstone, the hedge fund that owns Sithe Global and was lead investor in the Bujagali power project is mulling a sell of its stake.  Sources say that BEL ( Bujagali Energy Limited] is paid approximately 15M USD a month for its power. Given the profile of demand for energy in Uganda it’s a very good business. If true Blackstone is simply shifting its capital elsewhere. Its partner IPS will probably buy its equity (there is more to this scenario) but its possible that a more rational environment for energy projects – one where planning is ahead of ecology of urbanization is better for investors.