Information and communication technology is developing at an unprecedented pace sweeping us into a digital era, where information has become a more important resource than raw materials and energy. The information economy is characterized by processing and developing data, instead of industrial production. Access to information is now essential for individuals’ development and national inclusive and sustainable growth.

The African Union Agenda 2063 has acknowledged the importance of digital inclusivity to bring the continent on par with the rest of the world as an information society. Many African countries have embarked on their individual digital transformation journeys, by providing government services digitally and expanding access to ICT to cover more areas.

However, there are still many people on the continent especially from rural areas which still lack basic access to information. According to the GSMA, in 2017, the number of unique mobile subscribers reached the symbolic mark of 5 billion, with 3.5 billion of them using mobile networks to access the internet. Despite this achievement, there are still 3.8 billion people who remain offline, out of which 1.2 billion are not covered by a broadband capable network – the vast majority of this uncovered population lives in the rural areas in developing countries. Africa is home to the largest number of developing countries. On average, 69 percent of the African population do not have access to internet, with many of those unconnected living in rural areas.

A few months ago I travelled to Zambia where I visited Mushindushi, a small village 300 kilometres from Lusaka. There I heard that people usually climbed 2-story high ant hills to get network to make a call. Due to poor coverage, locals don’t usually carry their mobile phones with them including teachers at a local primary school. Since we were planning to cover the area, I talked with one of the teachers and asked him what he was expecting the future to be with adequate network and access to Internet, he hesitated for quite a while without eventually giving me an answer. This reminds me of a survey conducted by Facebook in 11 countries, which found that over two thirds of people who are currently offline did not know what Internet is, let alone how to benefit from this powerful tool.

Rural coverage is an universal challenge not only for countries in Africa; deploying infrastructure in remote areas can be twice as expensive, while revenue opportunities are as much as 10 times lower, a combination that deeply affects the business case for carriers to deploy communication infrastructure. In other words, high prices of deploying infrastructure in rural areas, combined with a relatively weak demand for mobile internet services, results in a supply-demand equilibrium with low population coverage.

Governments usually require carriers to cover specific locations in rural areas from the perspective of social development and realization of basic human rights. It is true that it is a social obligation to cover rural areas, but it is also true that there must be a sustainable commercial imperative for rural coverage.

According to GSMA’s report titled Enabling Rural Coverage, coverage obligations that are too ambitious and disregard the realities of the market will be impossible to attain, “without creating any incentive to expand coverage”.

To break this vicious cycle and help carriers go the last mile for rural coverage, Huawei leveraged its global R&D resources and come up with a site solution called RuralStar. With this innovation, a base station can be deployed within one week, shortened from one month, with total costs reduced by around 70{0945c2a372ac1e8bbfe7cc3e10f9b82eb0b8ae872b07368d754f0396b6ef2afe}. Moreover, it uses special equipment to cut down the power consumption to about 200 watts, equivalent to the power of about five regular light bulbs. This allows it to use solar panels in areas with little or no electric power.

For carriers, this innovation means that instead of covering a wide area including those sparsely populated places with costly base stations, operators can now flag and cost-effectively target relatively populous areas, where there is a larger user base for revenue generation; the payback period of investment in rural coverage can be shortened by up to 70{0945c2a372ac1e8bbfe7cc3e10f9b82eb0b8ae872b07368d754f0396b6ef2afe} from 10 years to less than 3 years. This makes rural coverage a profitable business which in turn will benefit rural areas socially and economically.

This transformation means dynamic economic performance stimulated by active flows of information, goods and capital; it means agricultural produce can be sold in time and at good price, and teaching materials can be available at any time in any place; it also means health workers which are usually scarce resources in rural areas can be just a phone call away.

Innovation opens a door for the unconnected and under connected people to a world of numerous possibilities for development. With this innovation-driven connectivity comes opportunity and the potential for more inclusive growth and sustainable development.

The show however, features a lot more. It will be a cultural festival, where all tribes and cultures from the west will be represented through music and cultural drinks and other forms of entertainment. According to Paul Edyau, MD of Legends Ventures and Marketing Agency, the organizers of the Mega Fest, the lineup is being led by diva and dance hall queen; Cindy Sanyu, Vampiino, Washington, comedian Swengere and the best comedy export from the East, Emma Napoleone.

“The event will be about three aspects. It will be an avenue for OB’s and OG’s from all the traditional schools in the East to meet up and network. People from schools like Mwirri College, Butiki, Jinja College, Ngora SS, Nabumali SS, Namasagali, Tororo Girls, Teso College and many more will reunite at the festival. Secondly, it will be a chance for everyone in the East to share culture. A reason traditional performances are being prepared to the same cause. Expect a lot of Embaile, Kadodi Drums, Adungu, Malwa, Millet, among a panoply of things that symbolize the different tribes in the East. It will also be a platform for domestic tourism promotion, “ relayed Edyau.

The event, which was hosted to empower Ugandan artists, musicians and producers, follows the successful partnership launch between TIDAL, a global music and video streaming platform, and MTN Uganda, the leading communications operator in Uganda offering mobile & fixed telecommunications.

According to Munyaradzi Chanetsa, Head of Operations at CCA, the conference aimed at empowering participants on the latest trends in the digital space that can be used to advance careers and commercial success of musicians and artists alike.

“The advancement of technology has positively impacted the global music industry. Musicians are now able to produce their music faster, cheaper and at better quality. At the Artists Collaboration Conference, we have seen Ugandan musicians eager to turn their talent into long term commercial success using digital channels”, said Munyaradzi Chanetsa.

CCA is an independently owned media and content business based in Johannesburg with extensive experience in the African entertainment industry.

The core of CCA’s offering is digital distribution of audio and visual content and through a seamless and specialized technical process, music and videos are submitted, digitized and ingested to platforms that deliver content products to millions of consumers across the World.

Jason Kpana, Senior Vice President Artist & Label Relations, explained how TIDAL came back to Uganda hot on the heels of their recent partnership launch with MTN.

“Our arrival in Uganda was met with so much excitement from consumers and artists alike. TIDAL will continue connecting with local musicians, producers, engineers and other players in the music industry to share all the tools necessary to take advantage of all we have to offer!”

On their part, MTN Uganda has been at the fore front of empowering musicians and advancing the music industry in Uganda, as told by their Chief Marketing Officer Olivier Prentout.

“Our twenty year strong existence in Uganda has seen us support musicians in various ways. With the Artists Collaboration Conference we have moved from just sponsoring their shows and launches to giving them the tools and expertise to earn money even when they are not on the stage performing” said Olivier Prentout.

Throughout the day long conference, musicians learned about the evolution of music, the impact of the digital revolution in the music industry, how to choose the right digital business partner, rights management and how to take advantage of digital marketing to advance their careers among many other topics.

Sodamola Oluseye Desmond – aka DJ SPINALL – and Kemar Donaldson popularly known – Kranium – made an appearance at the conference where they addressed the participants and networked freely with them.

Speakers at the conference included Aly Allibhai (CEO Talent Africa), Manny Teixeira (General Manager Digital Media & Services MTN Group), Susan Kayemba (Senior Manager Digital Services – MTN Uganda), Tom Mbalu (Business Unit Director & Head of Digital, TBWA Uganda) and Warrick Percy – Head of Licensing, CAPASSO SA.

Over 40 mothers check into the hospital every month for delivery. The hospital took a bold decision to accommodate only expectant mothers because of space constraints. The rest, with varying ailments, were referred to other health centres for management.

Today, a new block stands tall at the health centre ready to usher in patients who say they have been incurring heavy expenses and losing a lot of time traveling to Kasese for treatment. Hima Cement has built a new General Ward at the health centre. The ward, worth Shs 260 million, will help to ease access to medical services for the people of Hima and the wider Kasese community.

Hima Cement CEO Mr. Nicolas George said that this project is part of Hima Cement Corporate Social Responsibility to the communities where the company operates. He said that the communities have given Hima Cement the limestone to make cement but also an opportunity to create thousands of jobs and employ people in Kasese, Kampala and across the country.

“The least we can do is to give back to the community where we work. We will continue to contribute as much as we can in health, education and environment protection, which are key focus areas.”
He said this during the handover of the health centre to the community members and management of Hima Health Centre III in Kasese on 24th September.

Dr Manasseh Baluku, the in charge at Hima Health Centre III says while the hospital has enough staff to handle and manage patients, they do not have the equipment to diagnose many cases.
With a new facility in place, he says government should construct a theatre.

“It will be unfortunate to have all these facilities when we don’t put them to use. Now that we have a newly constructed ward, we call upon government to construct a theatre. We need to give our people proper services. You have put up this structure and we promise it will not remain empty. We have reached out to Ministry of Health to have it operationalised,” said Dr Baluku said.

Speaking during the handover event held at Kirinya Catholic Primary School, Vincent Omoth – Marketing Manager Fresh Dairy said, ‘Fresh Dairy has for two consecutive years run a schools program aimed at educating children on nutrition with an inclination towards encouraging the consumption of 1-Yoghurt-a-Day as a healthy and nutritious snack. This year’s Fresh Dairy’s School Program which started on 15^th March 2018 successfully reached at least 300,000 primary school pupils as well as teachers and parents in over 350 primary schools across Kampala, Wakiso and Mukono districts, a time during which free yoghurt was given out to all students for sampling to further re-emphasize the 1-Yoghurt-a-Day nutrition message.’

Omoth further added that donating the classroom desks to Kirinya Catholic Primary School will aid a better learning environment because the learners spend an average of eight hours seated each school day while attending class lessons. These desks will also better concentration in class, as the students don’t have to bend their backs anymore to write classwork, but instead sit in an upright healthy position.’

The desks were commissioned by the Assistant Town Clerk of Bweyogerere Division – Kira Municipality – Kavuma Ronald who applauded Fresh Dairy for the donation thanked the school staff and pupils for using their efforts to win the desks. ‘As Government, we can’t do everything on time because of resources and schedules. The Municipal council had already set up new structures at Kirinya Catholic Primary School without desks. Fresh Dairy has answered our call and at least one of the structures has acquired desks. This is what everyone out there ought to do. Thank you for honoring that aspect of Corporate Social Responsibility and giving us desks.’

Omoth added, ‘Yoghurt as one of the products we produce at Fresh Dairy is an ideal nutrition booster for children because it is a healthy and nutritious snack that is rich in Vitamin A, B, D, E, Calcium and Potassium. School going children not only require adequate nutrition in order to meet their growth milestones and lead healthy lives but also need to learn best  health and nutrition practices at an early age that they keep as they grow.’

Head Teacher Kirinya Catholic Primary School – Nalongo Settimba Christine thanked Fresh Dairy for the new classroom desks and said that in today’s modern world, there is need to be creative to out beat the market. ‘Fresh Dairy has given our children the opportunity to be creative. We used to see yoghurt but we didn’t know the values it had but these days our students demand the people in the school canteen to stock Fresh Dairy yoghurt.’

Settimba added, ‘Kirinya Catholic Primary School has a total of 981 students and this year we collected 3,000 Fresh Dairy yoghurt cups which we used to make a dress and a water tank for a period of one month and a half, a model that earned us the second runner-up position.’

Champion Teacher Muyombya Patrick who teaches Primary Six said, ‘We decided to make the dress and water tank because the water tank is unique while we made the dress because no one can go around naked.’

Kituyi Peace, a Primary Seven pupil at Kirinya Catholic Primary School said, ‘Thank you Fresh Dairy for the desks. Before we got the desks, we used to at times write from the floor or squeeze between 4 to 5 students on the few desks we had. But now Fresh Dairy has given us a new look. During the Fresh Dairy schools program 2018, I learnt about nutrition and the different nutrients in yoghurt like calcium which makes bones strong. It was also fun making the models with my classmates.’

The 1^st Runner-Up of the 2018 Fresh Dairy School’s Program – Murchison Bay Primary School – Luzira Prisons was rewarded with a newly renovated multi-purpose hall from Fresh Dairy while the overall winning school Mutungo Primary School will receive a newly constructed permanent nursery classroom block from Fresh Dairy. Omoth concluded by noting that Fresh Diary will continue running the Fresh Dairy School Program next year in order to reach out to more schools with its health and nutritional message.

Some of the new features added include contributions payments for voluntary savers and employers whose payments are less than shs4m monthly, member contacts update, retirement benefits projections, employment history, e-statement and direct contact to Relationship Manager.

Addressing media and selected members at Café Javas, Patrick Ayota, the Deputy Managing Director, said that the app was an affirmation of the Fund’s commitment to transparency to its members by giving them access to monitor their NSSF accounts anytime, anywhere.

“Our plan is to improve our business processes to make them more efficient & convenient to members through innovations by 2025.The new app not only increases efficiency and service delivery to our customers, but also puts the power and control of their money in their hands” he said.

The upgraded app also gives members an opportunity to track their savings in a more detailed way and hold their employers accountable regarding their contributions.

“We expect to increase the compliance levels now that members are able to access more details of their account statement easily, like when last contributions were made, how much they received in a particular month, total contributions made by each of their employers including the first and current ones.” Ayota said.

In future, more features will be added to the app to include both member and employer registrations without having to NSSF offices. This will be through partnerships with the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) and Uganda Registration Services Bureau. I

n addition, eligible members will be able to initiate their benefits claims and track progress using the NSSF Go app.

The NSSF Go App is part of a variety of electronic channels the Fund introduced to improve its service delivery.

Other e- services channels include; The E-collections portal that allows employers to remit their employees’ contributions directly to their NSSF accounts through the Bank, within 24 hours, Mobile money payment platform, NSSF Payway and SMS alerts.

“When I moved on to Kampala, I planned to come and continue with my education, get empowered with life skill that would help me sustain my life even when not behind the mic” Said Jenneth Prischa, the Pe-Apore gospel hit marker and co-founder of Rockstar Edutainment.

According to Prischa she has enrolled for a two-year training in fashion and design at COWA centenary vocational training school, located in the premise of Nsambya catholic parish, a school dedicated to skilling the next generation of entrepreneurship with basic life skill for improved livelihood.

She further noted that, in between she will be seating for her Directorate of industrial training (DIT) craft exam soon a move which will see her join YWCA for further studies.

Prischa who had initially studied garment cutting and making from Northern Uganda Youth Development centre in Labora, Koro sub-county, Omoro county in Gulu district urged that she realized whatever she studied was insufficient. “The fashion and designed world keep on getting new trends every day, so one needs to be creative to remain relevant in this business, being passionate about fashion I did the obvious by returning to class to find a befitting skill for a better future”

And your music? I am still in game and not about to give up soon, I am just busy but slowly releasing great songs like my latest on corruption dubbed, Corruption anthem, Gang Myel, Tim Pa kongo and Simple Gyal which just need on air promotions. Meanwhile, “I wanna be Jesus’s follower, Mony Polo and Take me home under my gospel collection have been recorded pending mastering and release soon they too will be dropping out”

Prischa noted it was her prayers to go back to school because there is no future without a firm foundation and self-realization.

Whereas music fetches money at any given time its occasional but with a permanent job you will always be sure of bread in your house than anticipating gigs and surviving on hands out. I think a permanent job regardless of home small is an opportunity for a sustained life than being unemployed.

“as a musician you don’t know when you get a gig most of the gigs are on the peak time of the year based on calendar of events so its equally hard to know when you will get one or not.

This for me as a woman is petty survival that does not define my true meaning of being a celebrated. She appealed to her true fans and those who love her music to continuing enjoying the few she has to offer with a promise to make a mega return when the right time comes.

I however write with a heavy heart because of the recent developments especially regarding the taxes that have been heaped on Ugandans in the most haphazard manner.

One of the most unfortunate narratives that have been hawked around has been to suggest that Ugandans don’t want to pay taxes and are therefore overzealously trying to oppose it for opposition sake.

On the contrary, Ugandans are willing to pay any taxes as long as they are imposed in good faith and at the same time have a deliverable return on investment in terms of service delivery.

After all this Mobile money, social media and rental tax will not be the first taxes that Ugandans have endured to pay.

The Historic Perspective

For instance during the colonial days the Britons imposed the hut tax, poll tax, the gun tax and the graduation tax.

But most Ugandans were majorly concerned about the graduation tax not because it was too much but because the manner of its collection was brutal and inhuman. The Britons through their agents (the muluka chiefs) used to chase the defaulting Ugandans around and tie them on ropes like slaves or thieves.

Actually one of my grandfathers used to prank the tax collectors by waiting for them to get very near him then he would takeoff at break neck speed!. After making them chase for a few kilometers he would stop and show them his graduated tax, phew!.

You see my grandfather’s prank was a message that many Africans could afford the tax but there were better ways to collect it than humiliating them!

As a result of this brutality in the collection of this graduated tax, the Ugandans became bitterly opposed to the colonialists and compelled most Africans to agitate for self-rule.

The problem is that the post-colonial African governments that inherited power from the Britons also maintained the same tax to the chagrin of their citizens mostly because they were a greedy lot.

I however think that we (Ugandans) were lucky that it (graduated tax) became a political issue when one of the presidential candidates Dr Kiiza Besigye vowed to scrap it if he was elected into power in 2001.

I think I should thank you Mr. President for having been humble enough and made a decision to scrape it with immediate effect.

Ugandans however continued to endure so many other taxes without complaining. These taxes were mostly consumerist in nature i.e VAT, PAYE are all being paid by Ugandans without any complaint

Although there was some small resistance about VAT upon its introduction, it easily evaporated on account of the fact that its opponents were motivated by ignorance rather than genuine reasons.

Ugandans have since been paying all the other taxes which have been imposed on them.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

It simply means that Ugandans are willing to pay taxes, but they are put off by three factors;

1; the brutality of the tax collection, like we saw with the graduated tax

2; the malicious intention of the govt in imposing the tax i.e you justified the imposition of social media tax to stop rumor mongering!

This made it appear as if it was imposed out of malicious intentions but NOT out of the patriotic desire to collect revenue for developing the country.

3; Ugandans also resist taxation because they don’t normally get value for money out of it.

 Instead they see it being swindled by government officials and wasteful govt polices like the recent directive you gave to the finance minister authorizing him to disburse on trillion shillings on armored cars for the MPs!. Many concerned Ugandans are praying hopefully that you reverse it to save them such a burden.

 And this brings the issue of the high cost of public administration which could and can be easily avoided if you decided, to the fore as an important instrument of disciplined resource allocation.

This high cost of public expenditure obviously makes any new tax appear like another burden to Ugandans.

Nevertheless, if your government had demonstrated frugality and spent the resources wisely, Ugandans would never think of resisting any tax imposed on them. But since they don’t get value for money, they are in defiant moods.

The Narrow Tax Base

However we must admit that much as we as Ugandans complain about taxes, the tax regime in most of the western countries is tighter and more unforgiving than ours here.

Am not going to quote figures (they are normally used for propaganda) but I can give examples which attest to the fact that in Africa our tax per GDP is much lower than any other part of the world.

In the western world tax evasion is a very big crime.

We saw Lionel Messi taken to court for tax evasion.

Actually, one of the reasons why Christiano Ronaldo opted to go to Italy was because of the unforgiving tax regime in Spain.

But the citizens of those countries don’t resist taxes because their govt put them to good use.

Broadening The Tax Base

I actually agree with you Mr. president that in Uganda we have a narrow tax base and allow tax collection per GDP (which you put at 14{0945c2a372ac1e8bbfe7cc3e10f9b82eb0b8ae872b07368d754f0396b6ef2afe})

But this is mostly because of the laxity of govt and its failure to accurately read the trends of the economy leaving so many taxable initiatives untapped.

As a result of this, your people end up haphazardly imposing taxes on the wrong sectors attracting the wrath of the citizens.

It’s safe to suggest that your NRM govt doesn’t seem to know what should be taxed and what should not be taxed. That’s why your NRM govt has managed to unashamedly come up with the tree different taxes in three months (rentals tax, social media tax and mobile money tax in just three months!)

Mr. President you know very well that a good tax must be imposed gradually (at least one every financial year).

For instance the mobile money tax works against your aspiration for middle income status for Ugandans because it impedes progress and profit accumulation.

It appears like an attempt to impede progress than aid it.

But most importantly the easiest way govt can broaden its tax base can easily be achieved if it first introduces tax holidays as a precondition for every new business startup.

How will it work?

Once you promise Ugandans that they are entitled to a tax holiday for two years (the time frame can be adjusted accordingly) as long as they register their businesses they will not evade taxes.

They will initially be compelled to register their business without fear so as to enjoy the benefit of not paying immediately after starting a business.

After the end or expiry of the tax holiday , govt will not struggle to search or look for them because they will either be in position to pay or close since they are already on the radar of the Uganda revenue authority.

Mr. President its important to note that the policy of compelling Ugandans to pay taxes immediately after starting their small business has made it inevitable for them to evade the said taxes.

You find a poor woman tasked to pay immediate license fees for a small saloon even when the business has not taken off!  So she would rather bribe the collector rather than pay to the national coffers!

This has led to collusion between the business owners and the tax collectors in evading taxes hence loss of revenue to govt.

Therefore tax holidays will introduce so many Ugandans to the tax paying club as long as you prioritize all the registration of all taxable initiatives in the country. The tax holidays will work as a bait or decoy.

Simply encourage Ugandans to register their businesses in return for a tax holiday; you will see the rate at which people will log into the tax cue.

By the way, Mr. President why give tax holidays (of five to ten years) to foreigners but deny the same to Ugandans? Why really?

Your counterpart president of Liberia, President George Weah recently waived taxes from 80{0945c2a372ac1e8bbfe7cc3e10f9b82eb0b8ae872b07368d754f0396b6ef2afe} to 40{0945c2a372ac1e8bbfe7cc3e10f9b82eb0b8ae872b07368d754f0396b6ef2afe} of all imports to save his poor citizens from the biting cost of living and inflation.

Mr. President you boast of having increased power generation by a huge margin but the power tariffs are the highest in the country!

This has made the cost of doing business in Uganda to be one of the highest in the world.

I therefore request that you consider looking at the issue of tax holiday for Ugandans, the reviewing of the current taxes especially the power tariffs and scale down taxes on fuel to create a business friendly atmosphere in the country.

The author, Fred Daka Kamwada is journalist and a blogger, catch him on [email protected]