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Why I&M Bank phased out old ATM cards

I&M Bank Uganda recently said it will phase out the old Orient Bank-branded Visa debit cards. The bank said its customers will now exclusively use Mastercards.

The bank urged customers to upgrade to the new and improved I&M Bank Mastercards by February 1 because its new banking system will not be able to support the Visa debit cards.

“We are on course to offer the best and most convenient banking services and experience to our customers. Our recent partnership with Mastercard birthed a range of new and amazing I&M Bank Mastercard products.

 The I&M Bank Mastercards will offer seamless payment solutions. We encourage our customers to embrace the recarding process, in order to enjoy more convenient yet secure banking that comes with various benefits,” said I&M Bank CEO- Robin Bairstow.

The issuing of the new I&M Bank Mastercards has been ongoing, and according to Annette Nakiyaga, I&M Bank’s Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications, the exercise has been overwhelmingly embraced by the bank’s customers.

“We are grateful that most of our customers have embraced our re-carding call with great positivity. The replacement process is quick, and the customer will receive their cards instantly. The old cards will cease to be functional effective 1 February 2024.

“The new cards can be activated using the I&M Bank USSD Service (*200#), the I&M Bank mobile banking application- Fastpay, as well as using the different ATM locations. Please visit our website for a step-by-step guide,” Nakiyaga explained.

The I&M Bank Mastercard is designed to facilitate payment for daily expenditures, both locally and overseas, without the risk and inconvenience of carrying cash, as well as conveniently accessing cash from ATMs.  

FIRST LADY THANKFUL TO HUSBAND: Education Minister Janet Museveni Praises President Yoweri Museveni For Always Supporting Capacity Building Programs In Education Sector

The First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, has appreciated her husband, President Yoweri Museveni, for his continuous guidance to the education sector and his availability, whenever they call on him to facilitate their capacity-building programs.

“Your Excellency, you have always emphasized that one of the bottlenecks to development is an undeveloped human resource, a problem that must be addressed in order for us to attain a knowledgeable, skilled, and patriotic population,” she asserted. 

The First Lady was speaking at a function where her husband passed out 413 secondary school Head teachers from greater Western Uganda, Mubende and Kasanda Districts on Saturday 3rd February, 2024.

The head teachers were undergoing ideological orientation training at the National Leadership Institute (NALI) in Kyankwanzi.

She thanked the National Secretariat for Patriotism, for promoting patriotic values in schools and expressed gratitude to the Secretariat for bringing on board headteachers from all regions of Uganda.

“In order to strengthen the efforts to inculcate patriotic values to our youth through the established patriotism clubs in schools, it is very important that the headteachers are empowered to coordinate these efforts.

Through the school system, we should be able to develop youth who understand the purpose of their existence, love their country, and are prepared to defend and transform it,” Maama Janet said.

“Therefore, Headteachers are very important leaders even more because you are the ones who hold the destiny of those schools that have hundreds of young lives in your hands. If you are honest, clean, kind and hardworking, you will surely pass these values on to those young minds. But if you are corrupt, if you lie to those children, then corruption will catch on like wildfire.”

On his part, the President lamented that government cannot pay good salaries to public servants if there's no socio-economic transformation in societies.

“How will the state pay good salaries if there's no socio-economic transformation? Where does it get money from? When we took over the government, we were earning very small salaries for a long time, even now I earn a small salary,” he said.

The President urged that if families undergo socio-economic transformation, they create jobs, people get income, and they will be able to pay taxes.

“When they are able to pay taxes, the government gets more money then it will be able to put up infrastructure, deal with peace and security and also pay good salaries to public servants,” he noted.

The President also reiterated why the government decided to increase salaries of scientists at the expense of their Arts counterparts.

“Recently I was in a small war with you, the teachers. When we got a little bit of money, we decided to enhance the salaries of scientists. That is where the war started. We need these scientists more because we need engineers, medical doctors, among others. I studied Arts but I cannot come with my Shakespeare to put up a bridge,” he said.

Inside Shs52.722 Trillion 2024/25 Financial Year Budget Framework Paper Approved By Parliament

By Misairi Thembo Kahungu

Parliament on Tuesday approved the national Budget Framework Paper (BFP) for financial year 2024/25 with several recommendations to the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to find more money to fund priorities not provided for.

Known for increasing the total budget in the most recent years through supplementary requests, Finance had presented to Parliament in December the BFP with a projected resource envelope of UGX 52.722 trillion. The BFP was passed after Parliament debated and adopted both the majority report and minority report of the Budget Committee.

The resource envelope approved with the BFP includes; UGX 29.957 trillion of projected local revenue; UGX 28.94 billion of budget support; UGX 4.116 trillion of domestic borrowing; UGX 8.876 trillion of external borrowing; UGX 9.455 trillion of domestic refinancing; and, UGX 287.1 billion of local revenue for local governments.

If by the time the Ministry of Finance presents the final budget estimates, the resource envelope remains the same as in the BFP, the national budget for financial year 2024/25 will be just UGX 14.1 billion less the approved budget for the current financial year.

Where money will go

After shifting from the sector based budgeting to program based planning, the Ministry of Finance has allocated funds in the following ways. Development Plans Implementation programs which include debt payment has been allocated UGX18.863 trillion; Human Capital Development, UGX 9.589 trillion; Integrated Transport Infrastructure and Services, UGX 4.491 trillion; Governance and Security, 7.675 trillion; Private Sector Development, UGX 1.911 trillion; Agro-Industrialisation, UGX 1.813 trillion; Sustainable Energy Development, UGX 1.342 trillion; Regional Development, UGX 1.047 trillion; and, Legislation, Oversight and Representation (Parliamentary Commission), UGX 945.76 billion.

Other program allocations are; Sustainable Urbanisation and Housing, UGX 524.46 billion; Sustainable Petroleum Development, UGX 447.03 billion; Administration of Justice; UGX 432.44 billion; Natural Resources, Climate Change, Land and Water Management, UGX 426.65 billion; Innovation, Technology Development and Transfer, UGX 256.66 billion; Tourism Development, UGX 248.70 billion; Public Sector Transformation, UGX 228.53 billion; Manufacturing, UGX 218.81 billion; Digital Transformation, UGX 191.83 billion; Mineral Development, UGX 47.33 billion; and, Community Mobilisation and Mindset Change, UGX 35.08 billion.

The Budget Committee in its report questioned the allocation of meager resources to the key areas that are necessary for the development of the country in order to match the progress made in the region.

The least financially prioritised and yet strategic in nature include the Mineral Development program with only 0.1 percent of the proposed budget. Other programs with decimal shares include; Innovation, Technology Development and Transfer (0.4 percent), Manufacturing (0.2 percent) and Tourism Development (0.5 percent),the report reads in part.

Parliament adopted a recommendation that the Government prioritises funding to the Mineral Development Program so that the country’s mineral potential is fully harnessed through making the sector attractive to large-scale mining companies.

Under the Human Capital Development Program, Parliament adopted a recommendation that the government should consider increasing the budget for health and education sectors if there is to be effective service delivery.

There is a need to devote more resources to education and health care to build a more resilient and healthier labour force. As some infrastructure projects wind-up, more focus should be put on human capital development to support the industrialisation process. More resources are required for recruitment of both primary and secondary school teachers and health workers, read the recommendation.

Key unfunded priorities

During the Budget Committee meetings, all Sectoral Committees presented several requests for additional funding for what is known as unfunded priorities listed by the different Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

According to the Budget Committee report, such priorities were presented to the Ministry of Finance by the MDAs but they were not provided for in the BFP.

While the Budget Committee could not entertain all the requests for additional funding, those considered most pressing were recommended to Parliament and have since been adopted hence the onus is on the Ministry of Finance to find money without stretching the resource envelope.

Some of the key recommendations for additional funding are; Internal Security Organisation (ISO), UGX 42.9b for recruitment of agents to avert several security threats, and, also UGX 26.67 billion for new equipment for on-going classified special operations; External Security Organisation (ESO), UGX 28.88 billion to acquire modern technical and transport equipment; Science and Technology, UGX 44 billion for establishment of Biosciences Park, and, UGX 29.83 billion to support vaccine development projects.

Under the Ministry of Finance, Parliament approved the recommendation for additional funding of UGX 55.96 billion to Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to recruit 1278 new staff for effective revenue mobilization and UGX 9.16 billion for development of an oil and gas monitoring system.

Also benefiting from the recommendations for additional funding is the Office of the Auditor General which needs UGX 30 billion for additional human resources, UGX 7 billion to replace the aging vehicle fleet and UGX 12 billion for operational functions.

To the Judiciary, a recommendation for provision of additional UGX 11.08 billion to finance the implementation of the Automation and Integration of information management system was approved by Parliament. Another beneficiary of the recommended additional funding is the Inspectorate of Government which needs UGX 27.7 billion towards the completion of the head office by June 2025.

Much as Parliament was allocated UGX 945.76 billion for its budget, the House adopted recommendations for additional funding; UGX 83.335 billion for projected budgetary shortfall, UGX 8.176 billion for Committees and UGX 3.252 billion for wage shortfall.

Much as Parliament approved a recommendation to provide additional UGX 25 billion to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to payment of subscription to International Organisations, the Ministry’s budget will likely be cut by UGX41.8 billion which lawmakers want transferred to the Ministry of Finance to clear to settle outstanding subscription arrears.

As Uganda prepares to co-host the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 2027, the Ministry of Finance has not allocated enough funds to the National Council for Sports (NCS) to commit itself before the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Uganda won the hosting rights together with Tanzania and Kenya under the AFCON EAST AFRICA PAMOJA bid.

The Committee recommends that the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development commits additional funding of $30m (UGX 114 billion) for Commitment Fees for Uganda hosting AFCON2027, it was recommended.

Also on the preparations for the AFCON, recommendations were made for; UGX 380 billion to NCS for construction of Hoima, Akii-Bua and Buhinga stadia and UGX 20 billion for the construction of 11 training grounds for the participating national teams.

Under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Parliament adopted recommendation for addition funding for key priorities as; UGX 79.9 billion for payment of outstanding arrears for prisoners’ feeding; UGX 5.6 billion for prisoners’ uniforms; and, UGX8.5 billion to procure a pair of blanket for each prisoner. Another funding gap that Parliament recommended to be provided for is UGX 34.3 billion to the Directorate of Government Analytical Laboratory for DNA data bank construction.

What they said

In the Minority report presented by Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda and signed by three other legislators, Parliament was reminded of the need to play its oversight role in curbing wasteful and avoidable expenditure.

We are also uncomfortable with resource allocation. The Budget for health, agriculture and education is being reduced. At the very minimum, it must be maintained by making deductions in areas where a lot of wastage takes place such as the State House and President’s Office, stated Ssemujju.

The minority report authors raised a red flag on the long convoy of the President and the 81 Presidential advisors that consume a lot of money at the expense of the ailing healthcare system, giving an example of Mulago National Referral Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit which continues to lack 73 critical care nurses, 41 nursing officers and 25 specialist doctors.

Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Joel Ssenyonyi also weighed in on the need to curb wasteful expenditure and also intensifying the fight against corruption. He said that if the government committed itself to ending corruption, the country would not be grappling with poor service delivery.

This animal called corruption. The Inspectorate of Government conducted a survey and revealed that we lose between UGX 9.1 trillion and UGX 20 trillion to corruption per year. If we don’t address this evil called corruption, we will keep having budget shortfalls. We need to roll our sleeves and deal with corruption, said Ssenyonyi.

NO TAXES, NO PAY RISE: President Yoweri Museveni Says Government Cannot Pay Good Salaries To Public Servants If There's No Socio-Economic Transformation Across The Country

President Yoweri Museveni has said the government cannot pay good salaries to public servants if there's no socio-economic transformation in societies.

“How will the state pay good salaries if there's no socio-economic transformation? Where does it get money from? When we took over the government, we were earning very small salaries for a long time, even now I earn a small salary,” he said.

Museveni who is also the patron for Patriotism Clubs in Uganda made the remarks on Saturday 3rd February 2024 while passing out 413 secondary school headteachers from greater Western Uganda, Mubende, and Kasanda Districts who have undergone ideological orientation training at the National Leadership Institute (NALI) in Kyankwanzi.

Museveni urged that if families undergo socio-economic transformation, they create jobs, people get income, and they will be able to pay taxes.

“When they are able to pay taxes, the government gets more money then it will be able to put up infrastructure, deal with peace and security, and also pay good salaries to public servants,” he noted.

The President also reiterated why the government decided to increase the salaries of scientists at the expense of their Arts counterparts.

“Recently I was in a small war with you, the teachers. When we got a little bit of money, we decided to enhance the salaries of scientists. That is where the war started. We need these scientists more because we need engineers, and medical doctors, among others. I studied Arts but I cannot come with my Shakespeare to put up a bridge,” he said.

Museveni further urged the headteachers to work towards the realization of the four principles of the National Resistance Movement which are patriotism, Pan-Africanism, socio-economic transformation, and democracy. The President said these will enable all Ugandans to be prosperous.

The President added that socio-economic transformation has four avenues where Ugandans can transform themselves and these include commercial agriculture with “ekibaro”, manufacturing, services, and ICT.

The Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni appreciated Museveni for his continuous guidance to the education sector and his availability, whenever they call on him to facilitate their capacity-building programs.  

RATIONALIZATION OF GOVERNMENT AGENCIES: President Yoweri Museveni Says Strategic Move Will Help Ugandan Government To Save One Trillion Shillings Per Year, Create Wealth For Ugandans

President Yoweri Museveni, who is also the National Chairman of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), on Friday 2nd February 2024 met the party's parliamentary caucus at State House, Entebbe.

During the meeting, the President and the Members of Parliament discussed the Rationalization of Government Agencies and Public Expenditure (RAPEX).

“This subject we are dealing with is a strategic one. If you don't answer strategic answers correctly, you end up with problems and when you answer them correctly, you win,” he said.

Museveni further informed the caucus members that if the government decides to carry out rationalization now, they will save Shs1 trillion a year.

“When we talk of rationalization, we are talking of first of all, doing things which are rational and save money.”

He added that during rationalization, the whole structure of the government should be geared to support the wealth creators, since they are vital in the development of the country.

“This issue of rationalization is a strategic one and the way to handle it is to start by asking the question that Adam Smith answered in 1776 when he wrote a book titled “The source of the wealth of nations”, the question is where does wealth come from? Because there's no way any group of leaders will succeed if they do not answer that question. That is why you find a lot of chaos in so many parts of the world,” the President said.

“Wealth creation is the issue of enabling families and companies as well as individuals to produce goods and services and sell them and do so with “ekibaro”. Now who are these wealth creators? Number one, the commercial farmers, the second are the manufacturers, the third are the service providers and then ICT. So, what do this need? They need peace, the infrastructure (such as the roads, railways, electricity), they also need capital, skills and technical support.”

The President also advised the legislators that if they want to be successful politicians, they must help the people they serve to create wealth through sensitising them to embrace the four sectors of the economy.

The Government Chief Whip and Chairperson of the NRM Parliamentary caucus, Denis Hamson Obua, said as a caucus they support the rationalization of government agencies and public expenditure through the enactment of legislation in Parliament, sector by sector.

During the same meeting, Bukoto South MP, Twaha Kagabo, who belongs to the opposition-National Unity Platform (NUP), committed himself to work with the ruling party for the betterment of the people he serves.

SMOOTHENING REGIONAL TRADE: EAC Secretariat Is Set To Conduct A High-Level Border Sensitization Mission To Review One-Stop Border Posts

The East African Community (EAC) Secretariat is set to conduct a high-level sensitization mission at selected borders within the region aimed at reviewing the performance of the various One-Stop Border Posts (OSBPs).

Scheduled to commence on 9th April, 2024, the mission underscores the EAC's commitment to fostering cooperation, enhancing trade facilitation, and improving cross-border procedures.

The primary objective of the mission is to follow up on the performance of OSBPs, identify areas for improvement, and assess the implementation of agreed action plans.

Through engagement with various stakeholders including Officers in Charge of the OSBPs; customs, immigration, standards, and port health officers; as well as representatives of other border agencies, cross-border traders, and local government authorities, the EAC Secretariat aims to address challenges and streamline processes at these critical facilities.

Selected borders and mission dates are as follows:

• Nimule/Elegu, South Sudan side – 9th April, 2024
• Mutukula/Mutukula, Uganda side – 12th April, 2024
• Rusumo/Rusumo, Rwanda side – 15th April, 2024
• Kobero/Kabanga, Burundi side – 16th April, 2024
• Namanga/Namanga, Tanzania – 19th April, 2024

The mission will take place at the respective OSBPs ensuring comprehensive coverage and engagement.

The EAC Secretariat underscores the significance of continuous sensitization and capacity-building efforts at EAC borders. Similar missions are planned for other OSBPs in the months of June and July 2024, reaffirming the commitment to enhancing awareness and compliance with cross-border procedures.

UDB Partners With AGF To Agree To Lend To Women And Youth-Affiliated Businesses

Uganda Development Bank (UDB), the country’s national Development Finance Institution, has today signed a Loan Portfolio Guarantee agreement with the African Guarantee Fund (AGF), to scale up lending to SMEs, Women, Youth-affiliated businesses, and green projects in Uganda with credit worth UGX16 Billion (approx. USD5 million).

The announcement was made during an agreement signing ceremony that was held at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel.

Patricia Ojangole, the UDB Managing Director while re-affirming the partnership, said UDB and AGF are working as strategic partners to facilitate and accelerate the development of underserved business segments in key growth sectors including agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism among others.

“SMEs, Youth, and Women play a crucial role in Uganda as catalysts of socio-economic development. They make tangible contributions to solving the country’s most complex and intractable challenges like unemployment and expansion of the tax base.

However, access to affordable financing remains one of their major challenges. As actors charged with the responsibility to appreciate our challenges and to design appropriate interventions that address them, we have today formed this formidable partnership with AGF to establish a sustainable solution that responds to these challenges,” she said.

As a development Bank, UDB is one of the key entities involved in implementing the interventions outlined in Uganda’s National Development Plans (NDPs), particularly those that relate to the provision of affordable finance to facilitate and catalyze private sector investment and support the growth and development of SMEs.

Jules Ngankam, AGF Group CEO hailed UDB as a key player in promoting private sector development.

 “Our partnership with Uganda Development Bank further increases our footprint and impact in the country. By supporting UDB to accelerate SME financing, we envision several development impact indicators, including increasing the number of people employed/engaged in businesses directly or indirectly and growth of enterprises from one stage to another: e.g., from Small to Medium enterprises, through financing and impact of capacity development on their operations and governance,” he said.

Under the arrangement, AGF will also provide tailored facilities specifically the green guarantee for SMEs investing in low carbon and climate resilient businesses; and the African Development Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) Guarantee for Growth program to support women-led and owned businesses.

To accompany the guarantee partnership, AGF is at an advanced stage in structuring a Capacity Development support that will enhance UDB’s capacity to foster financial inclusion for the youth, women, and green SME projects.

In 2021, UBD tailor-made a specific intervention aimed at supporting the growth of SMEs, women-led/owned enterprises, and youth entrepreneurs through bespoke financial and non-financial solutions.

Given that the SME sector accounts for about 90% of Uganda’s private sector and generates over 75% of the country’s GDP, the Bank’s value proposition seeks to propel these groups in all sub-regions of the country towards higher business assets and revenues, while also creating new employment opportunities and redistributing wealth for balanced development.

Uganda vs Cameroon First Leg Fifa U17 Women’s World Cup Qualifiers Encounter Ends In A Stalemate

2024 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup Qualifiers

First Round, First Leg

Uganda 1-1 Cameroon

Uganda and Cameroon played out a one-all draw in the first leg of the first round of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup Qualifiers.

In the game played at St. Mary’s Stadium, Kitende, Uganda led at the break but the visitors got the equalizer in the second half.

Agnes Nabukenya fired Uganda into the lead three minutes after the half hour mark, finishing from close range after Shadia Nabirye set her up.

Esther Nangendo ignited the attack in the middle of the park, releasing Nabirye on the right wing. The latter beat one defender before setting up Nabukenya who fired a low drive beyond the Cameroon goalkeeper.

Uganda went for the mandatory break leading despite the visitors putting up efforts in search for a quick response.

Cameroon returned recharged after recess and eventually draw the game level in the 50th minute through Ernestine Heutchou.

Uganda had a penalty appeal when Slyvia Kabene went down in the area but the Algerian referee waved for play on.

The game eventually ended with no winner. The two teams will face off in the return leg on Friday next week in Yaounde, Cameroon.