Managing Uganda's Oil Discovery (19th Joseph Mubiru Memorial Lecture)

“Those with phones from the generation that can’t be silenced should switch them off (completely)!” the MC started with an amusing request to the eager guests. From crying babies to grey haired seniors, the Victoria Ballroom at Speke Resort Munyonyo was incredibly filled on Friday 28th October 2011 by all generations of Ugandans plus some white guests. Many of the previous lectures were also given by whites as evidenced by the video that greeted us as we walked in. Seats were added outside in the balcony area but still spilled over. Rain fell close to the end of the lecture but it didn’t matter. What mattered most was the topic of discussion during Bank of Uganda’s 19th Joseph Mubiru Memorial Lecture. Started in 1988, the annual lecture honours Joseph Mary Mubiru, the First Governor of BOU (1966 to 1971).



(Current Governor) Professor Emmanuel Tumusiime - Mutebile was the first speaker. He was glad to give his welcome address after three milestones in the bank’s history namely: the Introduction of new banknotes in 2010; the Triumph of the new 50,000 note - voted as the Best Design in the World; and his own Triumph - named the Best Central Bank Governor in Africa 2011. “Bugalo!” (Hands Clap), he ordered and the crowd laughed. He’s the one who introduced the Finance Minister.

Maria Kiwanuka (famous for starting Radio One and Two - Akaboozi) was gracefully comprehensive in moderating the discussions. She impressively noted and reiterated the good points.

The Main Lecture though was presented by Professor Paul Collier, Professor of Economics and Director at the Centre for the Study of African Economies, Oxford University. Below are some of the ideas he shared: Oil belongs to the entire nation and not only Mining Companies nor the Locals from whose area it is mined though they must benefit or they will riot. “Money corrupts but Oil money corrupts absolutely.” We need to avoid the curse that plagued Sierra Leone because of its diamonds. We need Peace like Botswana that had a similar public lecture after discovering diamonds. Despite the fast tracking of the East African Federation, Uganda’s oil should not be claimed by the other four members of the community just like England’s oil is England’s oil, not Scotland’s. Germany used to be the Worst Performing Economy in Europe until the Germans said, “Never Again!” and they turned the tables. Now they are the Best. Uganda can do that. About 30 developing nations once asked Norway for advice on how to develop like her and they were told to invest capital outside their countries. Norway already had enough capital at home and so for every worker in the country, more was added outside. Uganda cannot use the same strategy because “Uganda is very poor” in capital stocks at home. So oil revenue must be invested within Uganda. There should be Rules and Instructions, Transparency and Accountability. Instead of secretive deals, there should be Auction where the Best Bidder gets to explore Uganda’s Oil. A good leader creates systems that have no use for leadership.

Godber Tumushabe, who critiqued Collier’s paper compelled the audience to himself by speaking without fear that Politicians shouldn’t run the oil economy but leave it to entrepreneurs and trained experts. He remarked that the paper was shy in tackling that aspect. He believed he was suitable for this task because he had read Collier’s books. “I don’t work in government” was the reason he gave for speaking his mind. By the way, he also felt Universal Primary Education (UPE) doesn’t add much to pupils and New Districts should become Centres of Production, not just for Political Votes. “We have boarded a train and it will take us to either Botswana, Sierra Leone or Monrovia…” Despite cries from the public for him to be added more time, Godber agreed to use his remaining five minutes to deliver his arguments. He confessed that Africa never develops because we don’t responsibly use the Time and Resources we are given.

During the audience responses, a miner who descends from a Kisoro family with over 30 years of mining experience blamed Greed for the ruin in Uganda’s Mining Industry. “What happened to copper and other minerals?” he passionately inquired. Check greed and we won’t have an oil curse! Another respondent mentioned human resource as greater than oil and shouldn’t be ignored. Ken Lukyamuzi wowed the attendees with his humourous language and fearless criticism like in ages past. This time he respected the occasion and didn’t repeat his trademark phrase – “What are you talking about? – but threw in a legal term “estopy” that amused many. MP Lokeris and another from Vurra, Arua also spoke, just to mention a few.

The Finance Minister blamed parents for killing children’s dreams. Why can’t someone study history? Why force them to do biology simply because they pass Biology yet their interest is elsewhere? It’s the carpenters and entrepreneurs who will push the economy forward. Maria proclaimed that she got access to some interesting data in her new Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED) office that revealed that for five years before 2009, Uganda was listed among the Top 10 Fastest Developing Countries in the World. What do you think will happen when Uganda’s oil is mined, taxed, the money is saved and invested?

[DISCLAIMER: Everything is paraphrased from memory so some ideas may not be exactly what was said but that’s how I grasped them.]

Stone Cold (2011 Film) and Film-financing Tips

Kargo Cinema brings you Stone Cold, a tragic movie about child labour, written by Michael Wawuyo (who plays the role of the man who buys away Kosai’s elder daughter as a babysitter leaving behind the injured daughter) en directed by Ugandan TV icon Irene Kulabako Kakembo who also directed All Our Children (2008). She seems to have a heart for Children. Well, she surely influenced me a lot while I was growing up watching UTV (Currently UBC). The movie was produced by Tri Vision, a company co-founded by Irene’s husband Joseph Kakembo. If this movie doesn’t make you cry, I promise it will move you somehow. It premiered at Alliance Francaise on Friday 17th June 2011 (World Day against Child Labour). Shot for one week in Kampala en 10 days in Kumi, the rain scene at the beginning was engineered artificially but made very believable and so was the bloody climax when stones fell on the main character’s two boys Yeko en Mariko. Imagine Special Effects in UG, those rocks falling on the boys in the gorge are actually sponges (like in a mattress) though they were painted to look like rocks. That’s why the one DSR 250 camera they used wasn’t damaged. During the shooting of this sad scene, a glass was also placed above the camera to minimize the dust falling from the sponges. You just have to watch this to believe me. The sound was also amazing, recorded alongside the video instead of separately, according to Shantos Sekitto (the Sound Man) who also doubled as an actor in the bar scene talking about how to “… turn stones into beer.”

A workshop on Camera, Lighting for film and Film-financing was held the following morning (Saturday) before another mass screening on Sunday, (both events) at the National Theatre en it was very ‘door-unlocking”. In the audience was a jeweler, animator, film maker, accountant, cartoonist, etc. Irene advised, “We (meaning her Crew, though the Actors/Actresses are paid) don’t pay ourselves. We each come once a year to bring something (in form of skills or any other value) to the table… Costs are fuel, food and so forth. Get into groups and work on a project!”

Joseph added, “Money will discourage you… Shoot in phases (even for many weeks)!”

Someone commented that he wished the sad parts were longer so that he could mourn more.

Edu asked Irene the challenges she faced as a director and she said it was during auditioning and casting actors, “Females were few.” Maureen Kibuuka (who acted as Kosai’s one armed wife) was found a week before shooting. They had almost given up on finding the leading actress and Irene, four or five months pregnant then, was contemplating playing the role. Then through someone who knew Maureen, the lady who had always wanted to act in a movie got her first role ever.

Personally, I was mesmerized by the water reflection technique used to film the four kids returning home after breaking rocks. As they get closer to the camera, it pans from filming the water reflection to capturing the upright kids.

After Lunch, the lovely Miss Barbra talked about “How to Keep More of the Money You Make”. Her business presentation defined what being Rich really means. It’s not all about Big Salaries, Cars or Bank Accounts but rather: spending wisely, making money work for you instead of working for it, hiding behind companies, setting goals, managing free time (first 8 hours of your schedule for Jobs, second 8 hours for rest [5 PM to 2 AM] en third 8 hours for your Business), working to learn instead of to earn only, investing in shares plus tithing. Andrew, the animator almost got the squares question right. They looked 16 at first sight as Peninah thought, for me I thought they were only 17 while Andrew counted till 23 en gave up but Barbra revealed that they were actually 30 squares meaning, “Wherever there is a Problem, some people see many opportunities. Instead of complaining about garbage in the city, form a company to collect all of it (en benefit from the problem)!” Irene introduced the participants to a Fixer, someone who finds everything needed in a film project, a job created using this principle since UG lacks professional fixers. Recommended reading was Robert Kiyosaki books. Good Luck!

Four Thumbs Up

I’m a Gooner but strongly believe Manchester United’s football (read Alex Ferguson’s Philosophy) is very efficient every year even if not the Most Beautiful. Expectedly though, on Saturday 28th May 2011, Pep (Josep) Guardiola, the Best Passer of the ball during his playing career, with the help of his "L'equip Blaugrana" Catalans showed the Red Devils why the simple but hard (Spanish) Tiki - Taka Pass and Move is the Most Exciting Game Plan today by winning Barcelona’s fourth Champions League trophy in their second finals appearance against Man Utd (2 – 0 in 2009 and 3 - 1 in 2011). Not only is it easy on the eyes of spectators but also very efficient like the famous Total Football popularised by Johan Cruyff from Netherlands (The Orange Team). One of his best quotes is, "You always have to make sure that you score one goal more than your opponent."

Four days prior to that, (arguably the Team with the Best Facilitation in Uganda) URA FC beat KCC 2 -1 and were crowned for the fourth time in six years as the Eco Bank Super League Champions. The tax collectors clinched the season title in a year when their parent body (who celebrate their 20th Anniversary in September) was praised as “operating at 100 percent efficiency” though one of the departmental commissioners modestly confessed that it is actually 80 percent with room for “more improvement”. Banks and Traders now use their e-Tax Payment System, so heaven is the limit. URA's Tuesday game was like a super precursor of the illusive Pedro, lethal Rooney, gifted Messi and world class Villa spectacle at Wembley on Saturday.

Meanwhile at Casablanca Bar on Acacia Avenue in Kololo (a Kampala Suburb) on the same Sabbath, Orange was showing telecom users that its Lifestyle Portal is the Best in UG. Personally, I’m mesmerized by the ingenuity of the useful business idea and entertaining content on their Lifestyle Webpage (http://lifestyle.orange.ug/). “The future is bright, the future is Orange!” Choice and Today surely changes with Orange as it bridges the digital divide in UG from Koboko to Busia. Together, we can do more.

No wonder, even the colour Orange itself is amazing, though not my favourite. Green would do for me but Orange is a warm, vibrant and flamboyant color like energy combined with fun, the color of the risk-taker, the extrovert and the uninhibited. In Color Psychology it means adventure, optimism, self-confidence and sociability. It's used extensively by Al-Jazeera TV, Fanta Orange Soda, Splash Drink, etc.

Physiologically, orange vitalizes, inspires and creates enthusiasm. It is stimulating to the appetite and social conversation and therefore works well in restaurants and other food outlets. This can be achieved by using some form of orange in the décor, such as in the furnishings or the lighting. An up market restaurant will look more elegant with subdued versions of orange. Combine with aubergine, purple, or blue for a unique, contemporary and classy look!

Psychologically, orange gives the impression of affordability, depending on the shade chosen and its combination with other colors. Gentler than red, it's the energy of creation.