Kenya's first Olympic alpine skier becomes UN Environment Mountain Hero

Sabrina Wanjiku Simader, Africa’s “snow leopard”, has been designated UN Environment’s first Mountain Hero. The 19-year-old athlete is also set to become the first Kenyan alpine skier to compete in the Olympic Games when she takes to the slopes in Pyeongchang, South Korea next week.

“UN Environment is delighted to announce the appointment of the Kenyan skier Sabrina Wanjiku Simader as the UN’s first Mountain Hero Sabrina’s voice will be important to help draw attention to emerging environmental issues in mountain regions such as climate change, waste, and loss of biodiversity,” said UN Environment’s Executive Director Erik Solheim.

 Who is Simader? She was born in Kenya but grew up in Austria and was trained by her stepfather, who owned a ski lift and would take her out on the slopes. She loves skiing and spending time in the mountains. She also has a passion for species such as the iconic snow leopard, as her racing suit clearly demonstrates.

“Our mountains are changing due to climate change, which is causing glaciers to retreat and threatening biodiversity, including species like the iconic snow leopard. I wanted to become more engaged to protect these fragile and vulnerable regions,” says Simader.

She added by explaining that   “I train in Schladming in Austria, a region that has already witnessed the impacts of climate change, including the shifting of the ski season, which impacts winter tourism.”

Simader will be also lending her support to the United Nations Wild for Life campaign, which aims to end the illegal wildlife trade. Her kindred species: the snow leopard.

She is excited to take on her new role with the United Nations just as the 2018 Winter Olympic Games kick off in Pyeongchang. She will compete in her first event on 12 February.

“It has always been my dream to participate in the Winter Olympics and represent not only Kenya but – alongside other athletes, like those from Nigeria – our beautiful African continent,” Simader says.

 “I hope I can lead by example and inspire other young Africans to also follow their dreams.”

A UGX 36 Billion water project commissioned in Bugisu region

Source Daily Monitor 

President Museveni has commissioned a 200km gravity water scheme in Manafwa District and urged residents to use the water for irrigation farming in order to increase crop production.

The president said while giving his speech at Manafwa District headquarters on Saturday that the district leaders should mobilise the residents to ensure that they use the water for not only drinking but also for irrigation so as to increase crop production in their households especially in the dry season.

“You can not only have this water for drinking, but it can be used for irrigation in your gardens because you don’t need a lot of money to channel water to boost your agriculture production,” Mr Museveni said.

He urged the farmers to create channels and small trenches to divert the water to their gardens in order to have constant food throughout the year.

The president, who was accompanied by ministers, area Member of Parliament and district leaders, said the construction of one of the largest scheme with the capacity of serving three districts of Manafwa, Namisindwa and Tororo, was one of the pledges he made long time ago.

“We talked about having water here long time ago and people thought it was a joke, but now the water has been connected and this water serves 16 Sub Counties and it will be extended to other areas facing water scarcity,” he said.

“I heard you are worried about the cost of water per jerry can, but the price will be lowered further from 50 shilling per jerry,” he said.

The Shs36 billion scheme, which is funded by government of Uganda in partnership with the African development bank, has capacity of 1296 cubic meters of treated water per day with the population design of over 500 households.

The scheme has its source located in Soono village in Bukokha Sub County on river Lwakaka with over 900 connections, 387 in Tororo and 533 in Manafwa.

On encroaching on Mt Elgon National Park, the president asked leaders to ensure that they head the initiatives to preserve the environment so as to protect the water catchment areas.

“You are continuing to undress your mother who feeds and you think her nature will be happy with you. This should stop with immediate effect and if you persist you will see a lot of calamities happening in your community,” Mr Museveni said.

Mr Sam Cheptoris, the minister of Water and Environment, said residents should desist from vandalizing water pipes on the scheme.

“The frequent bad habits of vandalizing pipes will derail the well-meaning intention of this project,” he said.

Eng Joseph Eyatu, the commissioner Rural Water and Sanitation Department in the Ministry of Water and Environment, said the second phase of the project will cover the entire Manafwa and some parts of Mbale District.

“We started the first phase in 2010, which has seen extensions after a successful completion and now we have launched the second phase of the project,” he said.

Mr John Musila, the LCV chairperson Manafwa District, said it was a relief to the community members who have been facing challenges of water scarcity.

“My people have been trekking for long distances to get safe and clean water, but now that is history,” he said.

He applauded the President for fulfilling his pledge.

Government to allocate more resources in Power and Roads Infrastructure in the financial year 2018/2019

Government spending for financial year 2018/19 is expected to rise by UGX 200 billion to UGX29.2 trillion (about $8.1 billion) compared to 2017/18 expenditure according to the Budget Framework Paper being discussed by parliament and the reference source for a majority report compiled by the Budget Committee.

Section 9 of the Public Finance Management Act requires the BFP to be passed by the 1st of February every year. Presentation of Ministerial Policy Statements follow, leading to passing of the budget estimates by May 31, 2018.

Once again like the last three previous years, the energy and works sectors will get the highest allocations. Presenting the majority report, Budget Committee Chairperson, Amos Lugoloobi, said the Ministry of Works and Transport will continue to get the lion’s share of budget. From UGX 4.5 trillion this current financial year it will rise to UGX 4.7 trillion.

On going construction of Karuma Dam such sector (Power ) and Transport will be allocated more money in the coming financial year 2018/2019

This is followed by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, which is tentatively allocated UGX2.5 trillion from UGX 2.3 trillion. The Ministry of Education and Sports is set to suffer a slight reduction from the current UGX 2.8 trillion to the projected UGX2.7 trillion.

However, a Minority Report presented by Muhammad Kivumbi pointed out that the cost of roads in Uganda is inflated, asking Parliament to keenly interest itself in the matter. “It was also noted with concern that unit costs of externally funded roads are quite inflated as compared to costs in the region’, the report stated.

Domestic Revenue, on the other hand, is projected to rise from UGX15.9 trillion to UGX 16.8 trillion. However, Margaret Baba Diri  said the  government should equally lay emphasis on areas of direct social impact other than the near strict adherence to infrastructure.

“I know we need infrastructure, we need roads. But I think we should also invest in human capital. We put a lot of money in roads but over UGX1 trillion is going to be returned to the national treasury, because it was unspent by UNRA (Uganda National Roads Authority],” she said during a committee session during the week.

On alignment of the national budget with the National Development Plan (NDP), the framework paper expresses pessimism about the achievement of the middle income target by 2020. This is because the projections note a gross misalignment with the NDP.

Of the 127 Ministries, Departments and government Agencies, only 31 have fully aligned their budgets to the NDP II; a key indicator of the nation’s preparedness to achieve the much famed middle income Status in 2020. In Local Governments sector, only 33 out of the 157 are aligned to the NDP.

The Budget Committee expressed concerns about the poverty situation, saying the trend points to an upsurge in poverty especially in the rural areas.

‘The rural areas with about 76% of the population contribute 86% of national poverty. On the other hand, the urban areas represent 24% of the population and contribute 14% of national poverty’, the report reads in part.

The rising poverty, notes the report, can only be reversed by balancing allocations between social and infrastructural development. It states, ‘To reverse the worsening poverty indicators; there is need to balance social and infrastructure spending so as to ensure economic growth does not leave anyone behind. Towards this end, the planning and budgeting frameworks need to learn from what has gone wrong and where redirection is required’.

Power and Roads construction to get the lion share in the 2018/2019 Budget

Government spending for financial year 2018/19 is expected to rise by UGX 200 billion to UGX29.2 trillion (about $8.1 billion) compared to 2017/18 expenditure according to the Budget Framework Paper being discussed by parliament and the reference source for a majority report compiled by the Budget Committee.

Section 9 of the Public Finance Management Act requires the BFP to be passed by the 1st of February every year. Presentation of Ministerial Policy Statements follow, leading to passing of the budget estimates by May 31, 2018.

construction of the Karuma Dam on going Power and the roads sector will take the largest share of the National Budget for the year 2018/2019

Once again like the last three previous years, the energy and works sectors will get the highest allocations. Presenting the majority report, Budget Committee Chairperson, Amos Lugoloobi, said the Ministry of Works and Transport will continue to get the lion’s share of budget. From UGX 4.5 trillion this current financial year it will rise to UGX 4.7 trillion.

This is followed by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, which is tentatively allocated UGX2.5 trillion from UGX 2.3 trillion. The Ministry of Education and Sports is set to suffer a slight reduction from the current UGX 2.8 trillion to the projected UGX2.7 trillion.

However, a Minority Report presented by Muhammad Kivumbi pointed out that the cost of roads in Uganda is inflated, asking Parliament to keenly interest itself in the matter. “It was also noted with concern that unit costs of externally funded roads are quite inflated as compared to costs in the region’, the report stated.

Domestic Revenue, on the other hand, is projected to rise from UGX15.9 trillion to UGX 16.8 trillion. However, Margaret Baba Diri  said the  government should equally lay emphasis on areas of direct social impact other than the near strict adherence to infrastructure.

“I know we need infrastructure, we need roads. But I think we should also invest in human capital. We put a lot of money in roads but over UGX1 trillion is going to be returned to the national treasury, because it was unspent by UNRA (Uganda National Roads Authority],” she said during a committee session during the week.

On alignment of the national budget with the National Development Plan (NDP), the framework paper expresses pessimism about the achievement of the middle income target by 2020. This is because the projections note a gross misalignment with the NDP.

Of the 127 Ministries, Departments and government Agencies, only 31 have fully aligned their budgets to the NDP II; a key indicator of the nation’s preparedness to achieve the much famed middle income Status in 2020. In Local Governments sector, only 33 out of the 157 are aligned to the NDP.

The Budget Committee expressed concerns about the poverty situation, saying the trend points to an upsurge in poverty especially in the rural areas.

‘The rural areas with about 76% of the population contribute 86% of national poverty. On the other hand, the urban areas represent 24% of the population and contribute 14% of national poverty’, the report reads in part.

The rising poverty, notes the report, can only be reversed by balancing allocations between social and infrastructural development. It states, ‘To reverse the worsening poverty indicators; there is need to balance social and infrastructure spending so as to ensure economic growth does not leave anyone behind. Towards this end, the planning and budgeting frameworks need to learn from what has gone wrong and where redirection is required’.

Uganda signs deal with GGGI to foster green economy

BY SAMUEL NABWIISO

Government of Uganda has signed a five-year working relationship with the Global green Growth Institute (GGGI) with the aim of supporting Uganda to foster green Economy growth in the country.

The programme will be implemented under the Country Planning Frame work (CPF) which is the strategic frame work for the cooperation between GGGI and the government of Uganda.

The CPF under this frame work have three out comes which the two parties will be implementing for the government to realize green Economy.And these outcomes are  mobilising finances  for the implementation  of the  Green Growth strategy  for Uganda , supporting  improved  planning  in Uganda’s cities  to catalyze  Green  Growth  transformation while reaping  the dividends  of rapid urbanisation  and lastly to  support government  in its efforts  to expand electricity thorough investing in renewable energy.

Speaking at the Launch of the flame work at the Ministry of Finance, planning and Economic Development on Friday, the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury Patrick Ocailap who represented the permanent Secretary Keith Muhakanizi, applauded GGGI for choosing Uganda as one of their development partners in implementing Green growth Economy.

He said the partnership will support Uganda in fighting climate change which has become a big challenge to the country’s economy.

Dexippos Agourides,of  GGGI (L)and Patrick Ocailap of the Ministry of Finance (R) with another officer from Government posing for group photo after the Launch of CPF   

Through the CPF framework, he said, more resources will be mobilized to finance off grid renewable energy projects across the country; this will reduce the incidences of deforestation thus tackling the issue of Pollution.

“When locals have access to off grid renewable energy, it will offer solutions to the increasing cases of deforestation which is rampant in the country. With this program, the government will reduce emissions of greenhouse gases which are destroying the planet. Reducing Emissions is good for our planet our health and the entire country’s economy,” he explained.

He added that through the CPF framework, Uganda will also benefit in technology transfer  because the program will attract more investors to invest in the production of energy from bio- digestible garbage’s that are becoming big sanitation problem in most urban towns in the country.

Uganda in 2017 launched the Uganda Green Development Strategy (UGGDS) with the aim of demonstrating commitment towards attaining sustainable development goals.

Some of the goals in the development plan are to ensure that Uganda reduces the emission of greenhouse gases by 22% by the 2030.

However, to achieve such goals the government need to source for cheap finance to finance green economy projects that can support government to achieve green Economy pathways.

In his remarks, Dexippos Agourides, the GGGI director for  Africa  and Middle East  Portfolio said  GGGI will support  the government of Uganda  to increase  finance  flows  for the projects  that are going to be implemented under the UGGDS  whose  finance gap stands at USD11 billion.

“To fully implement this strategy, we will require an estimated USD11 billion over a 15 years period. As key government partners, we are tasked to participate in the mobilization of these funds through various financing instruments and mechanism,” he said.

He added that if the CPF frame work is fully implement as its programmed ,it will support government to create more jobs to the ordinary Uganda boost the  country’s GDP private sector growth  as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the country.

Expected key outcomes from the CPF

According to the GGGI CPF implementing document, once the programme is fully implemented as designed it will lead to the following:

Under improved planning of cities, the GGGI interventions will lead to promoting of integrated solid waste management by reaching 50% waste separation at source and also a 70% waste collection nationally.

The programme will also support improvement in accessing to safe water, sanitation and improved transports systems.

On Electricity, the GGGI Interventions will support Government targets of expanding the number of new households that have adopted renewable energy for electricity by 2.8 as contribution towards the government target of 30% by 2010 among other out comes.