By Peter Uzoho

Peter Uzoho writes that some youths from Makoko, a slum fishing community in Yaba, were trained on modern fish processing by the Economic Empowerment Team of the Carrington Youth Fellowship Initiative, a dynamic youth-based project sponsored by the U.S. Consulate in Lagos

When the Economic Empowerment Team of the Carrington Youth Fellowship Initiative (CYFI), was sent to Makoko, a slum fishing community in Yaba Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Lagos State, about three months ago, the four-man team was saddled with the responsibility of finding out what was lacking in the community so as to tailor its project towards tackling it. The team made up of Ms Kate Ekanem (Leader), Mr. David Bamidele, Mr. Best Okoduwa and Mr. Moses Adetosoye, was to select 10 youths in the community through an unbiased screening process, train them on a skill (both in the theoretical and practical), and empower them with tools and finance so that the 10 will in turn empower other people in the community as part of their appreciation and commitment to the project.

“The whole idea of ‘Project Empowered’ (the CYFI project), was to choose youths and send them to communities in Nigeria to create a sustainable environment; create jobs; develop youths to become resourceful in their country,” Ekanem told THISDAY.

After its first visit to the community, the team discovered that fish processing in the community was done in crude, irritating and unproductive methods and this captured its attention. “We discovered that they’re into fishing and fish processing and they use traditional way of smoking fish, so we decided to train them on a more advanced way of drying fish which is to use oven. The project ensures that the youths are trained so that instead of using fire wood or the traditional way of fish processing, they will use a more advanced oven to dry their fish. It is to make sure that while smoking the fish; you don’t have to have smoke all over your eyes which is dangerous to health, and you don’t have to look dirty and irritating,” she explained.

After a successful selection of the 10 persons from about 500 applicants, they were trained on weekly basis by experts in the field on different skills of fish processing and marketing, ranging from the handling of the advanced fish-drying oven to business management; how to sell the product, how to approach people to buy the fish; the use of online and digital marketing method, branding, and even cleanliness in the operation. The passion of the team leader in the project led her into using her outfit, Kate Tales Foundation, to facilitate the coming of the resource persons used during the programme.

At the graduation ceremony held recently in the community, the youths were presented with their certificates of participation and were subsequently declared ambassadors of the CYFI project having been certified worthy. The 10 Makoko youths were also given one advanced fish oven each as a supporting tool to begin their businesses in a modern way. They were also promised seed capital which was to be given to them in the shortest possible time.

“These 10 youths were chosen out of about 500 applicants. They were around for the project; for the business management, the marketing, and all the sessions, and they also took part in the practical. So these are people that we believe that will go into Makoko, not only to represent this project, but to empower other people so that there will be an advanced way of processing fish in Makoko in a more safe way. So thank you very much for your time in the project. We’re very proud to have you as our ambassadors and we love you. We thank the U.S. Consulate for this support to Makoko community and we hope that the project will not just end here. It’s something that when we look back after much time we’ll thank you and we’ll be proud of what you have done here,” Ekanem said.

The project targeted at the youths was not without a long term purpose, as according to the team leader, youths are the future. “They’re the people that we look up to as the future when the parents are no more. They’re the leaders; they’re the people to become senators and governors. So we’re training the youths not because of today but because of the future so that they can stay and stand in and train the other generations yet unborn,” she explained.

While congratulating the beneficiaries for their patience and perseverance; and their thoughtfulness and willingness to become self-employed, one of the partners of the project and indigene of Makoko community, Hon. Abel Enikanologbon, advised them to use the opportunity given them to better the lives of people around them.

“So today CYFI has deemed it fit to empower you; the government of U.S. has thought it wise to empower you and to bring this to your door steps. Please, I want to beg you to use it for the betterment of this country; use this to better the lives of the people around you, and use it to also improve your own standard of living,” Enikanologbong advised.

He pointed out that the reason for embarking on such kind of skills acquisition and empowerment programme was for people to be self-employed and increase their earnings, adding that the effect of the empowerment in the long run was that people in the community would have access to good smoked fish. “Those beneficiaries as well will be able to empower themselves. Whatever they were doing before, with this they can add more value to their lives- they will make more money easily. The community will experience more people coming down to buy smoked fish that is smoke-free and that is well-packaged.

“Also, in the long run, the Lagos State Government will experience another form of empowerment because the 10 beneficiaries are also going to be training people in the community. Each of them will train at least 10 people before the end of the year. We’re going to give them the support. So the effect will be numerous and will be positive,” he noted.

Also speaking on measures to ensure the sustainability of the programme, Enikanologbon assured that all the partners in the project would be calling the beneficiaries on weekly and monthly basis to know how they are doing, their challenges, and proffer possible solutions, stressing that sustainability was one of the core aspects of the project.

“Because we want to see how they’re improving; we want to see how they’re working and how they’re empowering people. So sustainability is one of the core aspects of this programme. They have guarantors and they signed a bond that they are going to work on this project without abandoning it. From experience we’ve seen people abandoning such projects after being empowered but this is going to be different because they’ve been mentored; they’ve been tutored very well; they went into series of training both conventional and digital.”

In his excitement and appreciation for being a beneficiary in the empowerment programme, Mr. Dairo Peter described the programme as “a life-changing” one. “To me if you’re not here you’ve missed out. I never thought this could be possible. I could remember when I came for the interview and I said many programmes have come and gone. The organisers never kept to their words. But to my surprise today this has become a reality. So I thank CYFI for giving me this opportunity. May God continue to bless you,” Peter said.

Another beneficiary, Ms Ojobo Olufunke Omokesi, said she had gained a lot and can never forget it in a hurry. “We grew up smoking fish in a traditional way and getting dirty. But this is a programme that has taught us how to smoke fish in a modern way. We’ll now be doing it in an advanced way so that when you package your fish it will be distinguished from others. And we learnt other things that can be added to the fish that will make it stand out in the market. I’m just so grateful to God Almighty for enabling me to be part of this programme as one of the beneficiaries. I say thank you to U.S. Embassy, to Hon. Abel Foundation, to Kate Tales Foundation, and every other person that has contributed positively to this programme,” she said.

On his part, Ogodonla Oluwole Austin, who narrated the challenges of the people of the community with respect to fish processing, said they didn’t have the opportunity of drying fish in a modern way, noting that they used to dry fish the way they met it since childhood.

“I thought this would not be possible because since my childhood with my grandmother, I’ve been drying fish using firewood and I thought there would be no other way it could be done differently. So when I saw this one I found out it’s a very unique way of drying fish; that you can dry fish in another way without getting dirty. The way our elders have been doing it here is by wood, by saw dust, and sometime we have challenges in cooking. We have to use hot water to remove smoke and dirt from the fish,” Austin revealed.

He enthused: “With this new way of drying fish and with a well-packaged product that we’re going to have from now in Makoko, I believe people will start patronising us more”. Assuring the benefactor of their ability to deliver on the expectations from them, Austin said: “they should be coming to see what we’re going to do with this oven. With these things I believe Makoko will be a better place where people can come and buy good fish.”

By Mark Keith Muhumuza

Kampala — Government has secured funding for the construction of the first logistics hub at the Gulu Railway station, targeting the markets in South Sudan through Alegu and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through West Nile.

South Sudan and DRC are Uganda’s largest export markets.

According to Mr Benon Kajuna, the director transport in the ministry of Works and Transport, the hub will be constructed on at least 24 acres – provided by the government.

The project will cost $8.6m (Shs30.96b) of which $5.6m (Shs20b) is available with funding from DFID and TradeMark East Africa.

“In October 2016, we completed a pre-feasibility study for the project, with designs expected at the end of this year. Currently, a consultant is working on the proposed design for the project. We expect construction to commence by end 2018,” he told delegates attending the Joint Oil and Gas and Logistics Expo 2017 at Kampala Serena Hotel Conference Centre last week.

A logistics hub is a designated area that deals with activities related to transportation, organisation, separation, coordination and distribution of goods for national and international transit, on a commercial basis by various operators.

Gulu is one of the four areas designated in Uganda where there is a planned logistics hub.

The Gulu hub is expected to serve the two export markets for Ugandan goods but also for re-exports destined for DRC and South Sudan.

It will be a Private-Public Partnership (PPP), with some private sector players expected to come on board.

According to Mr Mark Pearson, a consultant with TradeMark East Africa, that construction will not only require logistics services but will also promote logistics services in Uganda. He said that Uganda could even reach the markets as far as the Central African Republic if the hub is commercially viable.

“There is an opportunity for Uganda here if it targets the Eastern DRC market and South Sudan. For South Sudan, it will need almost total reconstruction so will need to import large volumes of food, construction material, and capital equipment,” he said at the expo. Trade between South Sudan – without war – and DRC is nearly estimated at $1.3b.

Already, research conducted by TradeMark East Africa indicates that the Mombasa-Kampala-Juba route is a cheaper route for goods compared to Mombasa-Juba. “What do you think will happen when the Gulu Logistics Hub is completed? There is a real opportunity here,” Mr Richard Kamajugo, the regional director, trade development told delegates.

Withholding tax

Estimates indicate that logistics in Uganda employs about 200,000 people with the potential of this number doubling by 2030 when oil and gas come on board and the country grows its export capacity.

By George Omondi

Kenya has suffered a blow in its effort to change East Africa’s market access rules to allow duty-free sale of edible oil manufactured from imported raw material.

Kenya, with the support of Burundi, has been pushing for the review of East Africa Community’s rules of origin to give tax-free access to products even if imported raw material constitutes up to 70 per cent.

At the moment, edible oils only enjoy duty-free access to member states if wholly made from locally grown oil seeds like palm, soya bean, sunflower or cotton.

Kenya argues that preferential terms would safeguard the 9,000 direct jobs and $55 million worth of investments put in edible oil manufacturing across the region.

A team of experts appointed by the bloc to review Kenya’s case however warned that the region must keep its eye on the thousands of farmers who are likely to lose market if local firms get the free hand to import raw materials.

Protect farmers, manufacturers

“The current rule is necessary to encourage more production and to support flourishing palms plantations, sunflower, soya beans, cotton and other oil seeds in our region,” the team says in its recommendations released last week.

The observation is set to harden the position of Tanzania and Rwanda which have argued that changing the bloc’s rule of origin to recognise edible oil made from imported products could hurt farmers and small-scale manufacturers “the same way second-hand clothing destabilised textile industry.”

Going by information filed with the team of experts, Kenya has a 25,000 out grower farmers who supply around 2500 tonnes of soya bean oil, 3000 tonnes of sunflower seeds and 15,000 tonnes of maize germ per year.

That level of production cannot meet market demand. Kenya’s Kapa Oil, for instance, obtains 75 per cent of its sunflower from Ukraine with the remaining 25 per cent being sourced from Uganda. The firm which obtains all its corns locally also imports 50 per cent of its soya beans.

Hoima — Masindi High Court has cleared another eviction for families in Rwamutonga village, Hoima district, where a US firm wanted to set up an oil waste treatment plant.

An order dated April 4th 2017 signed by the assistant registrar Acio Julia cleared Ochika Julius, a court bailiff, to give vacant possession of the land to Tibagwa Joshua and Kusiima Robinah and to demolish any illegal structures on the land.

The land is on certificate titles under VRF 10521, Folio 6, Block 44 measuring 103.553 hectares located at Rwamutonga village, Katanga parish, Bugambe sub-county in Buhaguzi County.

“Whereas the above mentioned land is in possession of Abwoli Mukubwa Beatrice, Uromacan Martin, Ausenge Petero, Onita Quinto, Latim Alex, the applicants, their relatives, agents or servants was decreed to Tibagwa Joshua and Kusiima Robinah,” the order reads in part.

“You are hereby directed to put Tibagwa Joshua and Kusiima Robinah in possession of the same and authorized to remove any property/persons bound by this decree that may refuse to vacate the same,” the order stated.

The order, which was kept a secret from the families facing eviction, became known on April 20th when it was served to Hoima district security committee members.

The order has sparked tension and fear among the families who were evicted from the same land on August 25th 2014.

The families that lived in a makeshift camp near the land for about three years returned to the land in March this year (2017)after being permitted by Robert Bansigaraho who is in a land dispute with Joshua Tibagwa.

IGP clears eviction

In a letter dated April 19th, addressed to the Albertine regional police commander, the office of the Inspector General of Police cleared the eviction.

“The purpose of this letter is for you to comply with the court order. If any person feels aggrieved by the court order, the remedy is to appeal or cause review of the matter at hand,” Nairuba Diana, an official in the Police’s Legal department wrote for the IGP.

According to Nairuba, the applicants applied for a review of the court order which was clearly denied by the learned judge. The trial judge was Justice Simon Byabakama who has since been appointed Uganda’s Electoral Commission chairman.

“A court order is a court order and cannot be replaced by an administrative decision, thus be advised to comply with the order as guided by the commandant land protection unit in the attached forwarding letter,” the letter referenced PLS 62/211/01/VOL 56 read.

Mr Atich Nelson, LC111 Chairman Rwamutonga village talks to ActionAid’s Extractives Project Officer Flavia Nalubega during a visit to the displaced persons in Rwamutonga. Photo by Francis Mugerwa.

Prime Minister had blocked eviction

The Prime Minister’s office had previously blocked the eviction of the families. This was directed in a letter dated March 6th 2017 signed by the First Deputy Prime Minister Gen Moses Ali and addressed to the Albertine regional police commander Police:

“Please ensure that no eviction takes place, with a view of enhancing peace and tranquility. By a copy of this letter, the minister of internal affairs is hereby informed and so is the Inspector General of Police (IGP),” stated Ali who is also a deputy leader of Government business in parliament.

Gen Ali reminded police about the ruling at Masindi High Court in which Justice Simon Byabakama declared their eviction as wrongful on October 22nd 2015.

Judge petitioned to halt eviction

The centre manager at Justice Centres Uganda, Mr. Tiyo Jonathan, wrote on April 21st 2017 to the Masindi resident judge asking him to exercise his supervisory powers and halt the execution of the eviction and investigate anomalies in the court process.

He said the bailiff had been directed to put Tibagwa and Kusiima in possession of the land from where the families were wrongfully evicted.

He stated that the lawyers are preparing to file an application for a judicial review to quash the warrant and prohibit the intended execution so as not to cause injustice and inconvenience to the families.

Much as the eviction has not yet taken place, it can be executed anytime from now. The eviction order will expire on May 4th 2017.

Rwamutonga displaced residents shortly after the return to their homes on the land from which they had been displaced in 2014. Photo by Francis Mugerwa

Background

Robert Bansigaraho who in 2014 entered into a consent judgment and surrendered his title covering 103 hectares to Tibagwa has since withdrawn from the deal and allied with the families.

He argues that the families have suffered enough as a result of displacement which prompted him to allow them back on the land.

Mr. Tibagwa sued Mr. Bansigaraho accusing him of grabbing his land. However in a turn of events, Mr. Bansigaraho entered into a consent judgment with Mr. Tibagwa in September 2013 in which Bansigaraho surrendered a title covering 103 hectares to Mr. Tibagwa.

Mr. Bansigaraho, however, says he regained his land after Mr. Tibagwa failing to give him an alternative 350-acre piece of land, compensating squatters and fully compensating him.

Mr. Tibagwa insists that Mr. Bansigaraho surrendered to him his title and signed the title transfer forms.

Mr. Tibagwa consequently applied to court for an eviction order to evict Mr. Bansigaraho and occupants of the land which he obtained in July 2014. The over 250 families were then evicted in august 2014. The eviction was later declared unlawful and should not have happened in the first place, Masindi High Court ruled.

The Federal Government has reiterated its determination to stop the importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol by 2019.

The Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru disclosed this to newsmen on the sideline of the ongoing Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas, U. S.

Baru, who was represented at the conference by the Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power, Mr Saidu Mohammed, said the feat was achievable.

He said that all the nation’s three refineries were producing petroleum products between five and six million litres of PMS daily.

“That is part of what is making the PMS market in Nigeria stable today, we believe that the set target of exiting PMS importation in 2019 is achievable.

“As a result lack of turnaround maintenance over the years, it will take more years to get the refineries fully back to their nameplate capacities.

“We will also bring in new refineries that will co-locate with existing ones, we are on course and I see us becoming a net exporter of products,” he said.

He said in line with its transformation agenda, the corporation was aligning its 12 Business Focus Areas with the Federal Government’s 7-Big Wins as championed by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu.

Baru had earlier told newsmen that the corporation’s power supply was the most reliable and the cheapest. (NAN)

By Edward Ssekika

Members of Parliament and human rights activists have asked government to enforce the laws in the mining sector to protect the right of women in the sector. The MPs and other stakeholders said women in the minerals sector face a lot of challenges, which need to be addressed.

The call was made during the National Dialogue on Land and Extractives, under the theme, “Harnessing citizen participation for good governance and sustainable livelihoods,” at Hotel Africana on Wednesday, April 26, 2017. The conference was attended by government officials, artisanal miners, district leaders, cultural leaders and civil society representatives among others.

Nivatiti Nandujja, Human Rights Coordinator at Action Aid Uganda (AAU), said the extractives sector is male dominated and women participation is wanting. She explained that the few women employed in mines are working under inhuman and poor working conditions with meager pay.

“Women working in mines do not enjoy the entitlement provided for by the law. They don’t get maternity leave or sick leave, but instead, when they get pregnant, they are simply laid off,” Nandujja said. She said despite the good policies and laws on gender based violence, the position of women has not improved and advocated for other interventions in addition to enforcement of policies and laws in order to ensure gender equity in extractives sector.

Catherine Nyakecho, the principal Geologist in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, disagreed with Nandujja that the minerals sector is male dominated. She quoted a research by African Center for Energy and Mineral Policy (ACEMP) that revealed that of the sites visited, women are more into stone quarrying, salt mining, marble, limestone, and sand mining – the low value minerals, while the men are where the money is.

Catherine Nyakecho, Principal Geologist, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development speaking at National Dialogue. Photo by Francis Emorut.

However, she said women in mines have been exposed to more poor working conditions than men. For instance in stone quarrying, she said women and children are engaged in crashing stones with their bare hands, which exposes them to accidents and a lot of dust, which affect their lives.

Despite spending a whole day crashing stones, women get meager pay. “Stone quarries lack toilets and therefore women during menstruation periods have to travel back home for health break – wasting a lot of their valuable time and when they fall sick, they get no payment,” she said.

Nyakacho explained that in salt mining, men wear condoms to prevent salty water from entering their bodies through their private parts, but in contrast, though women need protective gears too, they are normally not provided for, and thus enter salty water without protective gears, which has negative consequences on their health.

In gold mining, women are exposed to dangerous chemicals like mercury. Whereas the men get the ore or gold sand out of the ground, Nyakecho said women are exposed to mercury during panning for gold which affect their lives. Weighing in on mercury, one of the participants from Amudat district said there is a worrying trend that feet/legs of women working in goldmines are swelling, due to what she suspects could be prolonged exposure to mercury.

Deborah Ariong, the Natural Resources Officer, Amudat district, said she had witnessed breast-feeding mothers panning gold with mercury and then breast-feed babies thereafter. She called for strict enforcement of health and safety measures in mines like ensuring all workers wear protective gears.

Betty Atiang, programme Manager at Saferworld Uganda, told the extractives sector in Uganda is expanding, and as it expands, it is worsening existing tension and exposing new conflicts. The sector, she explained, is faced with land conflicts in form of land grabbing, contention over surface rights, conflicts that relate to allocation of royalties, environmental degradation and gender based violence among others. She observed that conflict is an impediment to good governance and implored participants to make a contribution towards promoting conflict free extractives sector, transparency, accountability, citizen’s participation in decision making.

Plenary discussion at National Dialogue. Photo by Francis Emorut.

Drawing from his experience as an artisanal miner in Mubende district, Emmanuel Kibirig said women of today can do mining, though by their nature they can’t go inside the pit. Therefore, in the pit, miners don’t employ women. He explained that in gold mining, the value chain is that men dig and go inside the pit in order to extract gold ores/sand on the ground for women to their work in the value chain.

Mukitale Mukitale, the MP Buliisa, said women artisanal miners need to form strong cooperatives or associations, through which they can demand for more protection and seek help. Weighing on the discussion, Adong Lilly, Woman MP Nwoya district, told in order to protect women rights, there is need to amend the laws and policies governing the minerals sector to cap a percentage of jobs and contracts to be given exclusively to women. This will ensure that women in the sector are empowered.

By Emma Okonji

MTN Nigeria has laid off over 280 workers, from its workforce in a major job cut that affected about 15 per cent of the company’s entire Nigerian workforce.

According to Premium Times, those affected by the move include some 200 permanent employees and about 80 contract staff across various cadres, ranging from new graduates to senior managers.

Most of the affected workers were the pioneer staff of MTN who joined the telecoms company in 2001 when MTN started business in Nigeria and they have been with the company till they were sacked on Friday.

But a source close to MTN who confirmed the exit of some staff, however said it was not a sack, but a voluntary exit by the affected staff, based on the Voluntary Severance Scheme (VSS) packaged by MTN and presented before its staff.

The source also said the number of affected staff was far less than 280 as reported by online media.

“Nobody was sacked, it was a Voluntary Severance Scheme put together by MTN for any of its staff that want to retire voluntarily. It is a new scheme introduced for the first time, based on staff feedback,” the source said.

THISDAY gathered that most staff that have served the company for more than five years and were willing to retire, were asked to apply for the voluntary severance scheme package and they did so on their own volition.

Based on staff feedback, MTN Nigeria had early last month introduced a voluntary severance scheme for its staff members that were willing to leave the services of the telecoms company, but were afraid to do so because they were not going to get their gratuity paid. So most preferred the scheme, which comes with some good package to fall back to when they exit the services of the company. But just as some staff members are exiting, MTN Nigeria is also opening job opportunities for managerial positions in its employment, THISDAY learnt. Those who decided to leave under the VSS were to be paid the equivalent of their three weeks gross salary for every year they worked with MTN.

But according to the report, the affected workers were given a dismal severance of 75 per cent of their gross monthly income multiplied by the number of years with the company.

“Given that the company is about 16 years old in Nigeria, the severance package brought pain and discontent among the affected staff,” a source said.

“With the payoff structure, senior managers with 15 years of service were left with about N15 million. Most of the staff got less than N5 million.”

MTN Nigeria recorded nearly $1 billion in profit in 2016. However, the telecoms firm was heavily fined N1.04 trillion by the Nigerian government for failing to disconnect 5.2 million unregistered subscribers. The fine was however negotiated to N330 billion, and MTN had since commenced installment payment.

By Joseph Hanlon

Parliament accepts & legalizes secret debt

Parliament effectively legalised the remainder of the $2 bn secret loans and accepted them as legitimate government debt when it approved the state accounts for 2015 on Wednesday 26 April. This ends any attempt to refuse to pay on the grounds that the loans were illegitimate, and blocks any prosecution of those who signed the original illegal guarantees, according to Mozambican lawyers.

The vote was taken before the forensic audit by Kroll was completed, and thus accepted government responsibility for loans which are likely, in part at least, to be considered dubious.

Legal advice to this newsletter and the view of the Public Integrity Centre, CIP, is that by approving the accounts in this form, parliament legalised the previous illegal and unconstitutional debt guarantees, and that comments to the contrary made to parliament by Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario on 13 April were not correct.

In 2013 two bond issues for $850 mn were made for Ematum and in 2013 and 2014 three secret syndicated loans were made for $1187 mn for MAM and ProIndicus. All three were new private companies controlled by the security services, SISE. The loans and bonds were to the private companies, but had state guarantees signed by the Finance Minister or Treasury Director. Both the auditor general (Tribunal Administrativo) and a parliamentary commission ruled that the guarantees were illegal and unconstitutional, because only parliament can guarantee loans.

In March 2016 parliament approved the issue of new government bonds replacing the Ematum bonds, accepting state responsibility for the Ematum debt. Only afterwards did the three secret MAM and Proindicus loans become publicly known, leading to a cut off of both the IMF programme and donor budget support, precipitating a financial crisis. The three loans were included in the 2015 state accounts presented to parliament, and parliamentary approval of the accounts had the effect of retrospectively approving and legalising the guarantees.

In presenting the accounts to parliament, Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario said that mentioning the loans and guarantees in the accounts did not commit the government to anything, and that inclusion of information on the guarantees in the accounts “was necessary to guarantee control and monitoring of the guarantees by the auditor general (Tribunal Administrativo)”. This view was also taken in Newsletter 367. But Mozambican lawyers advise us that the Prime Minister was not correct. Saying in the accounts that the original decision was illegal did not reserve the matter for future consideration, and instead it did just the opposite, and asked parliament to rectify this by retrospectively legalising the guarantees. This has now been done. This is also the position taken by CIP: http://www.cipmoz.org/images/Documentos/Anti-Corrupcao/Legalizacao_de_garantias_da_MAM_e_Proindicus_CIP_comunicado_final.pdf

Furthermore, this severely limits legal action against those responsible. Because the debt guarantees are no longer illegal, those responsible for signing the guarantees can no longer be called to account. Action can only be taken where it can be proven that people acted with intent to defraud the state and or if money went into their personal accounts.

The 2015 state accounts were approved by the Frelimo majority. Renamo boycotted the vote and MDM voted against. MDM pointed out that the 2015 accounts legalised another illegal loan made that year, $200 mn for the Chimuara-Nacala electricity line which had never been approved by parliament. For Renamo, Ivone Soares said “it is unacceptable that the Mozambican state accepts private debts that all Mozambicans are now obliged to pay.”

Kroll delayed again – to 12 May

The independent audit of the $2 bn secret debt has been delayed for the third time, this time until 12 May. The audit is formally commissioned by the Attorney-General’s office (Procuradoria-Geral da Republica – PGR). The appointment of Kroll, one of the world’s best known international forensic auditors, was announced on 4 November and the audit was to take only 90 days. The selection was agreed by the IMF, which demanded the audit, and by Sweden, which is paying for it. Even at the time, 90 days was seen as too short, and it was predicted that double the time would be necessary; after three delays this will be the case.

The most recent deadline was Friday 28 April, but on Wednesday Kroll told the PRG it could not meet the deadline and said it would hand in the report on 12 May. The PRG had no choice but to accept, and said the extra time was needed for “reverification works and a competent translation into Portuguese.” (AIM Pt 27 Apr)

The report will be in three versions. A summary will be released quickly. The PRG has 90 days to launch further investigations and any prosecutions, and it is only required to release a redacted version (without names) within 90 days – by 11 August. The full version, with names and bank account details, will remain secret, but is widely expected to be leaked.

At the AGM of Credit Suisse Friday 28 April in Geneva, Thomas Kesselring of shareholder group ACTARES made a statement criticizing the bank’s role in the secret Mozambique loans. Chair Urs Rohner defended the Ematum bonds as of benefit to Mozambique and declined to comment on the ProIndicus syndicated loan due to commercial secrecy. There is a recoding of the shareholders meeting on. Kesselring’s intervention starts after 2 hours, 17 minutes and the discussion lasts 11 minutes. The video is in German, but there is an option for an English translation.

Harder debt talks

Accepting the entire $2 bn debt as legal and the responsibility of the Mozambican government will make debt negotiations much more difficult. Repayment has already stopped, and payments are unlikely in the near future. Gas production will not start until 2023 at the earliest and there will be little money until then. So negotiations are essential, although serious talks may not take place until next year.

Creditors will probably aim to reschedule the entire debt repayment. They would accept more money over a longer period – perhaps over 25 years with no repayments for the first 10 years. Creditors will want government bonds with the same value (technically called “net present value”, NPV) as the current bonds and loans.

Mozambique will want bondholders and lenders to accept some reduction in the value, and to take some responsibility. Bondholders and lenders will have signed what are colloquially known as “big boy clauses” – that they are “big boys” and professional lenders who know what they are doing, and in particular did their own research, known as “due diligence”. Any proper due diligence investigation would have shown that the guarantees were unconstitutional and that income projections unrealistic and there was no chance of the loans and bonds being repaid by the companies. Bondholders, in turn, will say they trusted the banks, VTB and Credit Suisse, which must take some responsibility.

Mozambique would have been in a stronger position if the government had continued to not accept liability, and said that these were only loans to three private companies. But it can still argue that bondholders and lenders took a risk and must take a loss, known as a “haircut”. The banks, in private, will make the political response – that the Frelimo leaders were personally compromised by the loans and thus would be forced to accept them, and thus the risk was not great. And, as expected by the banks, party leaders ordered Frelimo in parliament to do so last week.

Mozambique will continue to argue for a reduction in the value of the loan, and probably will gain some small concessions. But it does seem likely that long after the current Frelimo leadership has retired, part of the gas money will be paying the debt rather than developing Mozambique. jh

Government troops leaving Gorongosa

Government troops have abandoned two bases in Gorongosa, Sofala, and have been told to leave the third, at Namadjiua, which was once a major Renamo base, President Filipe Nyusi told journalists Thursday 27 April. This has been confirmed by Lusa, the Portuguese press agency, who say local people report troops moving out and that remaining troops are circulating unarmed. (AIM En 28 Apr, Lusa 29 Apr)

The current cease fire runs out on Thursday 4 May, but the withdrawal of government troops is seen as further confirmation that Renamo head Afonso Dhlakama will make an announcement this week extending the cease fire or making it permanent.

Nyusi said the truce was holding. There had been no attacks except for one case “where someone entered the zone of the others without informing them first. Nobody knows why, but we think it was a communication failure”.

Nyusi revealed that the government and Renamo have decided to set up two centres to observe and verify the truce, in Maputo and in Gorongosa. The Maputo team consists of four officers – two from the government (Air Force Brigadier Aguia Abdula and police Chief Superintendent Jose Machava), and two from Renamo (Col. Martinho Macambula and Lt-Col Jose Vergonha).

The team in Gorongosa will be larger. Operating out of Namadjiua, it will consist of four government (Col. Borges Nortedino, Chief Superintendent Raul Uamusse. Lt-Col Zeca Cebolinha, and Viriato Tamele) and four Renamo (Col. Joao Buca, Lt-Col. Brito Caetano, Maj. Carlos Chumbo and Capt. Augusto Martinho).

Arrest warrant issued for Nini Satar; killer of Carlos Cardoso accused of kidnapping

An international arrest warrant has been issued for “Nini” Satar (Momad Assife Abdul Satar) in connection with the wave of kidnappings since 2011, the Attorney-General’s Office (PGR) announced 25 April.

The announcement follows the escape on 24 April under very suspicious circumstances of Jose Aly Coutinho. He is one of the three men accused of the 11 April 2016 murder of prominent Maputo prosecutor Marcelino Vinanculos, who was investigating the kidnappings. Another of the three accused, Abdul Tembe, escaped from Maputo central prison on 24 October 2016. Nini Satar and Jose Coutinho are charged with working together on at least two of the kidnappings, according to the PRG.

Nini Satar was one of the three business figures convicted in January 2002 of ordering the November 2000 murder of the country’s foremost investigative journalist, Carlos Cardoso. Nini was sentenced to 24 years and six months imprisonment, but was improperly released on parole in 2014 after serving half his sentence, on the ground that he had shown “good behavior” while in the Maputo top security prison.

AIM and Savana (27 & 28 April) detailed the history: Far from being a model inmate, Nini Satar had been active, from his prison cell, in planning other crimes, including the kidnappings of business people. Nini never had any problem in acquiring mobile phones, even though they are banned inside prisons. On 6 February 2012, a year after the first kidnappings, the director of the Criminal Investigation Police (PIC), Dias Balate, ordered the transfer of Nini Satar, and two of his accomplices in the Cardoso assassination, his brother Ayob Abdul Satar and former bank manager Vicente Ramaya, from their cells in the top security prison (known as the BO) to cells in the Maputo City Police Command. PIC believed that the kidnappings were being coordinated from the BO. Although labelled as “top security”, in reality the security at the BO was always lax.

Two months after Nini had been moved to the police command, Balate ordered the arrest of three other family members, Danish Satar, Rachida Abdul Satar, and Sheila Adao Issufo – the nephew, sister and wife of Nini Satar – in connection with the kidnappings. But a few days later a court ordered their release on the grounds that the police had not provided enough evidence against them.

In April 2012, the police arrested seven members of a kidnap gang, who named Danish Satar as one of those who ordered the kidnappings. Shortly afterwards, Danish fled from Mozambique, ignoring a court order for him to remain in the country.

Police believed that Danish was a middleman between the kidnappers on the ground, and the men ordering the kidnaps. One of those men giving the orders was thought to be Danish’s father and Nini’s brother, Asslam Abdul Satar, last heard of living in Pakistan. Asslam and Nini were among the masterminds of the gigantic bank fraud of 1996, in which $14 million was siphoned out of the country’s largest bank, the Commercial Bank of Mozambique (BCM), on the eve of its privatization.

The investigations into the seven detained kidnappers were concluded by May 2012, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office charged Nini Satar as well. But a Maputo city court judge, Aderito Malhope, refused to indict Nini. The trial went ahead with the seven kidnappers but none of the people who had given them their instructions.

On 5 September 2014, Nini Satar was released on parole, after serving just half of his sentence for the Cardoso murder, despite not paying any of the compensation to the children of Carlos Cardoso which the court had ordered, and despite having a further prison sentence for the bank fraud. The judge who signed the parole order – against the will of the Public Prosecutor’s Office – was none other than Aderito Malhope.

Nini apparently never went to India. In detailed reports on his Facebook page, he claimed he went to London instead and travelled to Geneva, Paris and Lisbon. Malhope’s dispatch allowed Nini to leave Mozambique for 90 days, but he has never returned and until last week no attempt was made to re-arrest him. Also last week, under pressure from the Attorney-General’s Office, the City Court finally rescinded Nini Satar’s parole.

Meanwhile Nini’s nephew Danish was located by Interpol in Rome in November 2015, and he was returned to Maputo. The Supreme Court ordered his release in June 2016, because the 90 day legal period of preventive detention had been greatly exceeded; the police had held Danish for 158 days. Three days later, Danish was snatched from the streets of Maputo in what seemed, at first sight, to be another kidnapping.  But there has been no word subsequently from the alleged kidnappers, and Danish has not reappeared, living or dead. Police suspect that this was not a kidnapping at all, but just a way to spirit Nini’s nephew out of the country.

4000 miners evicted to protect ‘responsible sourcing’ of rubies

Police say that since February they have expelled over 4,000 artisanal miners from the Namanhumbir area of the northern province of Cabo Delgado. (AIM, Noticias 24 Apr) “The defence and security forces have clear orders not to allow anyone to practice illegal mining. The playing about is over, and illegal mining will no longer be tolerated,” the spokesperson for the Cabo Delgado provincial police command, Malva Brito, said. The Namanhumbir rubies are officially exploited by Montepuez Ruby Mining Ltd, which is 75% owned by the British company Gemfields. The concession covers 33,600 hectares.

“Gemfields is a world leading supplier of responsibly sourced coloured gemstones, specialising in rubies from Mozambique and emeralds and amethysts from Zambia,” its website says. “Our approach centres on facing up to the very real challenges of mining in countries where bribery and corruption, land rights, environmental impacts and sustainable development are either endemic or require extremely sensitive handling.”

By Ali Twaha

The Africa Pulse report 2017 by the World Bank has cautioned sub-Saharan governments against the risk of developing huge infrastructural projects using borrowed funds, and instead called for institutional reforms that could attract private sector capital.

World Bank chief economist for Africa Albert Zeufack and the Bank’s lead economist Punam Chuhan-Pole said sub-Saharan countries have to undertake the much-needed development spending while avoiding increasing debt to unsustainable levels.

“When you read the Pulse, you realize that reforms that increase government efficiency include procurement; and procurement in the infrastructural sector is one of the evidence where corruption is actually widespread,” Zeufack told journalists in a televised video conferencing from Washington DC.

Chuhan-Pole added: “The gap in infrastructure is just so huge… The impact of public investment on economic growth can be improved if countries implement policies that make investment more efficient.”

Economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is set to rebound in 2017 after registering the worst decline in more than two decades in 2016, according to the World Bank report.

Overall, the report calls for reforms to improve private sector growth and develop local capital markets. Other reforms that the economists noted are in the areas of fiscal discipline.

Donors remain keen on how recipient countries spend money, assessing how aid affects government spending, tax revenue and domestic borrowing.

“When countries are increasing fiscal adjustment, they need to limit wasteful expenditure and increase revenues… Countries could actually emphasize on taxing land speculation in capital cities than increasing revenue using consumption-related taxation [Value added tax on commodities],” said Zeufack.

Last year, the World Bank withdrew funding for the construction of key road projects in the oil sub-region and eastern Uganda. BoU says aid inflows have an effect on public spending.

The country’s external debt has grown rapidly, according to experts. As of October, the debt levels were estimated at $10bn, according to information from Bank of Uganda. Uganda’s public debt has risen by 12.7 per cent from 25.9 per cent of GDP in 2012/13 to 38.6 per cent in 2016/17. It is projected to rise to 45 per cent by 2020.

According to the 2017/18 financial year budget proposals, at least 12 per cent of the budget will be diverted towards servicing debt. Fitch, an international credit rating agency, said last year the debt-to-GDP ration for the region was shooting up to unprecedented levels.

According to the Pulse report, seven African countries including Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal, Mali, Cote d’lvoire and Ethiopia continue to exhibit economic resilience, with annual growth rate above 5.4 per cent in 2016/17 supported by domestic demand.

The report indicates that the global outlook is improving and should support the recovery of a number of sub-Saharan African countries. It shows that the continent’s aggregate growth is expected to rise to 3.2 per cent in 2018 and 3.5 per cent in 2019, reflecting the recovery in the largest economies.

The report warns of risks that could hamper this growth. The report points to the slow pace in reforms, rising security threats, and political volatility in some countries heading for elections, as some of the issues that could hurt growth prospects.

“As countries move towards fiscal adjustment, we need to protect the right conditions for investment so that sub-Saharan African countries achieve a more robust recovery,” Zeufact said.

By Bassey Udo

About 15 commercial banks were on Tuesday barred from dealing in foreign exchange through the recently created small and medium enterprises, SMEs wholesale forex window.

The decision by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to wield the big stick followed persistent complaints against the erring deposit money banks, DMBs, that they were deliberately frustrating efforts by many of the SMEs to access foreign exchange through the new window.

The CBN spokesperson, Isaac Okorafor, who confirmed the action by the apex bank said the decision was based on field monitoring reports, which found eight of the banks not culpable.

Mr. Okorafor did not mention any of the banks involved.

However, a highly-placed source, who requested that his name not be disclosed, identified the eight to include seven of the 22 commercial banks and one non-interest bank.

The banks found not culpable include Access Bank, Diamond Bank, Fidelity Bank, Heritage Bank, Sterling Bank, Unity Bank, Zenith Bank and Jaiz Bank.

The source said these were the banks that have been allowed to sell forex to the SMEs segment since the inception of the new window.

The 15 banks sanctioned, the source said, included Citibank, Ecobank, Enterprise Bank, First Bank, First City Monument Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Key Stone Bank, MainStreet Bank, Skye Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, SunTrust Bank, Union Bank of Nigeria, United Bank for Africa, and Wema Bank.

Mr. Okorafor said the CBN frowned at the action of the banks that refused to sell foreign exchange to SMEs to enable them import eligible finished and semi-finished items, despite the availability of forex from the CBN wholesale intervention window.

“All banks that had refused to sell FOREX to the SME actors after accessing over $300 million offered to the SMEs wholesale forex window since its creation last month will be sanctioned accordingly,” he said.

Urging all stakeholders to play by the rules for the benefit of the entire country and its economy, Mr. Okorafor warned that the CBN would not sit back and allow any form of instability in the interbank forex market through the actions of institutions or individuals.

Meanwhile, the CBN continued its intervention in the foreign exchange segment of the financial market by injecting a total of $196.2 million into the various segments on Tuesday.

The CBN offered about $100 million to authorised dealers at Tuesday’s FOREX wholesale auction.

A breakdown of the other interventions indicated that about $52 million was made available to the SMEs segment, while Personal/Basic Travel allowances as well as allocations for medicals and tuition fees received $44.2 million.

Mr. Okorafor also announced interventions in the retail auction window, which he said would be computed when the bank received requests made by customers to the CBN through their respective banks.

He also disclosed that the bank would continue its weekly sale of $20,000 to dealers in the Bureau de Change (BDC) segment this week.

“We are confident that the continued interventions by the CBN will continue to guarantee stability in the market and ensure availability to individuals and business concerns,” Mr. Okorafor said.