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29/06/2020

IF I WERE YOU MR. PRESIDENT (Part II).

A simple Note, to my Rwakitura Friend Yoweri Kaguta Museveni

By: Alexander Kyokwijuka

Mr. President,

I greet you and thank you for braving through these difficult times when “Ugandans are at risk with this -19”. You and your team have managed so well and I was checking only to realize that out of 859 confirmed cases, 794 are already recovered and we thus have only 65 confirmed patients in the various select health facilities. I picked interest and tabulated these figures on my calculator and realized that this accounts for 0.0002% of our population.

So, Mr. President, 0.0002% Ugandans have . Anyway, I am not a public health expert to made a serious case on how much risk 65 patients can pose to over 40 Million people, neither am I an expert on economics to make sense out of these figures and later relate to the looming development “pandemic” that is resulting from this lock down, and this one is already here. This is not what I came to tell you though.

If I were you Mr. President, in light of the above, I would stand to be counted among the greatest historic leaders in Africa who enhanced development by supporting the most special category of people-the young people for the recovery of Uganda’s economy. I am sure you are aware that pre-COVID19, approximately 400,000 graduates have always come out of our educational institutions every year. According to the Uganda investment authority, only 150,000 jobs are created every year. Automatically, the destination for the remaining 250,000 graduates is the private sector, either to look for employment or to start business enterprises and employ themselves. The unfortunate bit is that majority don’t take the last option for a number of reasons. The cost of starting a business in Uganda is not that high, but the cost of maintain g it is rather unbearable.

Now, has affected young people so much and in my previously note to you, I mentioned that you have declared a silent war against young people because of your continued apparent blind eye and deaf ear on the plight of young people. As we talk, in addition to over 80% of youth in Uganda who were already either unemployed or underemployed before COVID19, there are other young people who have lost their jobs because of this pandemic, there are those whose small start-ups have closed shop because they cannot handle the effects of the pandemic and lock down and as I talk, the situation they are in, my not be the best.

If I were you therefore, I would direct for the creation of Job Creation Youth Centers (JCYC’s) to operate these centers in all districts, run training programs at parish level and drive the young people into innovation and job creation, direct the Uganda Export Promotion board to collaborate with the JCYC so that once some of these young people get into production and form groups to enhance their capacity to export, they can be helped to export and it will help. Mr. President, you already know about the Buy Uganda, Build Uganda ( ) Policy that is in force by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, to ensure consumption of local content on the Ugandan market, I am also sure you have the Local Content Bill that was recently passed by Parliament (I am not sure whether you have assented to it) but I still feel that the content on the market is still insufficient for the local consumption. This is therefore an opportunity to engage the young people into constructive activity, to earn a living, create jobs, and expand the tax potential of the country.

Mr. President, the local government structures in place, presents an opportunity for mobilizing the young people for the future of this country. Once rolled out beginning with the next financial year, by 2025, more than Four million young people will have been trained and this will translate into Four million enterprises. If each of the enterprises creates ten (5) jobs, we shall have created more than Twenty (20) Million jobs by 2025. This will reduce the unemployment rate from 83% to 12% (this is estimation on assumption that Uganda’s population will have grown to approx. 50 Million People by then.

If I were you Mr. President, I would also direct for the amalgamation of the Youth Livelihood program, Youth Capital Venture Fund and all other Government-supported Youth empowerment programs, get massive support through the Uganda Development Bank to the youth, and have an integrated program to facilitate a youth – led development agenda given their demographic strength. This way, Uganda can easily achieve Sustainable industrialization for inclusive growth, employment and wealth creation.

Bottom line, something is not adding up between the situation at hand, the reality we see, and the policy interventions by your government sir. Let us employ simple development studies and make sense of the basic statistics and facts that we have at our disposal. Also give an equal opportunity to young people to run for office rather than locking them out by banning political rallies, asking for exorbitant fees for nominations and academic certificates verification, among others. All these are happening under your watch Mr. President, yet there are better interventions you can take.

Until my next note, Greetings from Kigarama!

22/06/2020

IF I WERE YOU, MR. PRESIDENT!
A simple Note, to my Rwakitura friend Yoweri Kaguta Museveni

By: Alexander Kyokwijuka

Mr. President,

Receive my greetings! It has been a while, and we haven’t got an update about the “enemy” who I am sure we should have already identified and laid strategies to defeat smartly. But I am sure that our scientists are doing a great job to actually relieve us from this enemy. No doubt though, the enemy will definitely go. I however still have a few concerns and I think you would have addressed them like yesterday.

Mr. President, just to remind you that the Masks promised to Ugandans took longer than expected and as I talk, I am not sure that the border districts have got already because they were supposed to wait longer before they get out of lock down. So, for us in Kabale, Ndorwa East, Kigarama specifically, are still waiting on your instructions sir.

The scientists are doing great to save us from this COVID19, but I think they are also doing a lot of misleading and because of that, we are suffering much more especially we, the wanainchi. Mr. President, thank you for allowing the taxis and they are now back on the road, but I am still not sure whether the scientists convinced you that Taxis, which are enclosed and carry more than 5 people, are actually safer than Boda Bodas, which are not enclosed and carry only 2 people (the rider and passenger). Whereas I am not a scientist, this does not seem to make sense. I find Boda Bodas safer, faster and more suitable to beat the Kampala jam especially us who struggle looking for money in town.

I have noted with concern that the people who advise you, may have even never sat on a Boda Boda, they apparently enjoy privileges including right of way, and they earn big from tax payers money. They have no idea about what it means to toil looking for money in Kampala. The same people, whose children don’t actually study from here, have been earning big allowances during this lockdown and they were facilitating their children in the schools abroad because they don’t have faith in our education system.
Mr. President, it is unfair therefore to keep children home yet we are not doing much to plan for them so they can resume school soon. If I were you Mr. President, I would direct for the immediate reopening of the Education Institutions (both Tertiary and lower level Institutions) and then instruct the Ministry of education to show cause by ensuring that SOPs are followed religiously. This is what they are supposed to do as the line Ministry.

Mr. President, I have also noted with concern, that whereas you have continuously asked Boda Bodas not to carry passengers, I have seen them carrying them and trust me, both the riders and passengers love their lives more anyone else can claim to. The danger is that whereas they carry the passengers, they know you have not allowed them so they cannot do it comfortably. They are always in fear, and this puts their lives at risk. By continuously instructing Boda Bodas not to carry passengers yet they do carry them is strategically not cool. You would lose nothing by allowing them and then enforcement authorities just ensure that the SOPs are followed to the latter. If I were you, this is what I would do.

Curfew time is just unrealistic and I am sure you also know this. Our road network in Kampala especially cannot serve us to ensure that we get home in time. Most of us spend more than 3 hours on the roads both in the morning and evening. This means that we must leave home before 6 AM in order to spend less time to reach office, spend a reasonable time of the day working, and leave around 5 or 6 Pm and go home at leisure without worrying about an encounter with the LDU chaps at the next road block (they are many on the roads these days). If I were you Mr. President, I would extend Curfew time to be between 11:00 Pm – 5:30 Am.

Bars, Betting halls, and other entertainment centers are not as crowded as people in down town. The last time I heard you say you were going to send your men to the down town to silently confirm whether people were over charging us. I hope that when you sent them, they also told you that that place is overcrowded. I am not sure how many people have contracted the virus from down town, and this information would be good for decision making. Mr. President, we now know that it is key to do physical distancing (what many keep calling social distancing), it is key to wash hands, it is key to sanitize, and it is key not to touch our soft parts. You used to emphasize these basics and I thought it was very good for our people. May be that is how we have come to keep healthy up to this level. If I were you Mr. President, I would start emphasizing these basic things again, I would also remind Ministry of Information and National Guidance to put the Billboards that they were asking for 3 Billion Ugx. for, because now that people are out of their homes, they can see these guidelines, and I would then allow bars, lodges, cinema Halls and other entertainment centers to open because you know what?

What matters now is not who is open and who is closed, but who is observing the SOPs (both the providers and the client). At the end of the day, our emphasis should be individual responsibility. The same would be for weddings, burials and other crucial gatherings because as Africans, we are naturally celebrant. We celebrate life and that is how we practice “UBUNTU”.

It will be bad if these things start to happen even without you allowing them, it will be a sign of insubordination and as a father, I know how it feels to tell my son not to do something but he goes ahead and does it simply because I am insensitive to his needs. Mr. President that is what Boda Bodas will do. That is what Bars will do (or are already doing), and that is what those who want to marry will do, those who lose their loved ones will be forced to go against your directives because they must passionately send off their loved ones. Saloons will not wait any longer but to choose to operate even when not allowed to.
If I were you Mr. President, I would be a smart leader and not die in my own movie.

Until my next Note, Greetings from Kigarama!

15/06/2020

MR. PRESIDENT, WHOEVER IS ADVISING YOU ON EDUCATION SHOULD BE FIRED NEXT!

A simple Note, to my Rwakitura friend Yoweri Kaguta Museveni

By: Alexander Kyokwijuka

We are slowly but surely getting along with the new normal even when some things are still disturbing my mind as a progressive thinker and citizen of this country. We the "Wanainchi", (especially in Kigarama) as still not able to understand why some things are still happening in this 21st Century. Even the way we are responding to this COVID 19 Pandemic.

Mr. President, I thank you for spearheading the fight against Corona Virus and we must be proud of you as a country. Because of your wisdom and good steps, Ugandans have cooperated and stayed home for almost three months so that we can identify the enemy and strategize how to attack the enemy. Thank God no one has been killed by the enemy yet, and we are all glad we still have life, save for the few who may have died due to other illnesses that are equally dangerous but our people have chosen to tell the world about those things like how many people still die of Malaria every day, but i am not a public health expert and i will stick to education because that is what i studied in Makerere University.

Mr. President, in your recent addresses to the nation, you have consistently hinted on the fact that schools and tertiary institutions must not open because they are a dangerous zone for the virus and we would be risking lives of 15 Million Ugandans. And I AGREE WITH YOU. However, i am disturbed though, by the measures that we seem to be putting in place to cater for these 15 Million Ugandans, particular, the plan for Government to provide radio sets to 10 Million Households, a venture that will cost the country over Uganda shillings 380 Billions, and on this, add 137,466 Television sets, which may cost us over Uganda Shillings 100 Billion, given that some villages have never dreamt of Hydro- Electric power, and so we may have to ensure Solar Power connectivity. I am not sure how households like mine which have over 4 radios in the house are going to be handled.

Mr. President, let me remind you that over a month ago, you promised to give every Ugandan aged 6 years and above a free Mask, and I wrote to you and told you that these Masks would not come, and had you not allowed us to get our own masks, see we would still be locked up in our homes waiting for the free Government Masks. Mr. President, Over 79 Billion Uganda Shillings has been spent on this venture and I am not sure more than 5 million Ugandans will get these Masks. Had you let each Ugandan get their own mask, we would have saved this country 79 Billion Uganda Shillings.

Mr. President, while we were under lock down, not allowed to get out of our homes, Government spent a whopping 3 Billion Uganda shillings on Billboards to create awareness for , and until now, I have never understood the rationale for these billboards when we were all under lock-down. I don’t know if this is not wasteful expenditure of public funds, then I dint know what to call it.

Back to education,

Whoever is advising you to buy two Television sets for each village and one radio for each house hold, is either on a mission to steal public funds and take away this money through the corrupt public procurement process and later distribution, or is utterly incompetent and should therefore be fired with immediate effect, since I have seen you fire a few Chief Executives in Government Departments and Agencies for either corruption or incompetence or both, in the recent weeks. The Ministry of Education should have been smarter and seek for innovative ways of cushioning the school going children from this pandemic.

I wonder what the end result of the teaching being done on Television and radios is going to be. I am not sure how the teachers are going to assess learning after these lessons on TV and Radio. I wonder whether we have really thought through this idea very well and thoroughly before we can enable a corrupt, unrealistic, and limiting idea of teaching children on TV and Radio, in addition to realizing that is something that will not bring any results, not even 10% of it.

I am not a prophet of doom, but some people will go to jail because of this TV/Radio scheme, but we shall have already lost money, and the negative effects of this will definitely outweigh the positive ones. Unless you tell me that you are just planning for your election next year since you already hinted on possibility having campaigns on radio and TV, but then my disappointment would still be how we can reduce the importance of education to that level.

Anyway, what do I know? I am only a village citizen here in Kigarama.

11/06/2020

NOT TOO YOUNG TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN!

To all fellow young people in Uganda, it is high time we purposed to take to the occasion and lead efforts to better our society. It is not until we actively charge our passion and put our energy to all the causes we believe in that we shall see the kind of society we wish to see.

Like my friend Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who has proved to the world that no one is too young to influence society, i believe we surely can get things done by ourselves.

If our nation's ambition is job creation, wealth creation, industrialisation, social justice, entrepreneurship and innovation, among others, is it not possible that we can surely be at the helm of all these causes?

Think about it, lets connect for a purpose!

07/06/2020

STARTING AND MANAGING A BUSINESS POST COVID-19

More than ever before, many people have come to the realization that they can not rely on one single source of income. Many are scratching on what they can do besides their jobs. Others have totally lost their jobs and they will have to start a new journey. More and more people are pondering about starting a business but have several unanswered questions.

How do I start? When do I start? What do I need to start? What business will be right for me? How do I find capital? How do I register my business? These and more questions are on several people’s minds.

It is upon this basis that we bring you a zoom discussion in our on-going personal finance mastery series to discuss about Starting and Managing a Small Business in the post COVID-19 era. Our guest is Alexander Kyokwijuka – A Consultant, Trainer and Author. His book, How to start a business in 10 Days is helping several people get over the hurdles of starting and effectively running their businesses. He is a Director at Brookings Institute, Founder and Executive Director at Youth Aid Africa.

Join us in the discussion this Sunday on our chat via Zoom. See the details below:

Topic: STARTING AND MANAGING A SMALL BUSINESS POST COVID-19

Date and Time: Jun 7, 2020 05:20 PM Nairobi

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2813793906?pwd=dFVvd2dWVXJuZU9KOTZ2TFBSSlI5dz09

Meeting ID: 281 379 3906
Password: BCG55N

You can also follow on Facebook Live via the Personal Finance Mastery Group. Join the group by following this link https://bit.ly/2Ufj2oU