NSSF proposal will affect employees

The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has proposed an increase in workers’ monthly deductions from 15 to 30 per cent. Currently, a private sector employee contributes five per cent of their monthly pay to NSSF while the employer contributes 10 per cent, making it 15 per cent.
My fears are: Will employers keep remitting this contribution for their employees, given the increase? Secondly, will workers’ salaries be increased, given that the deductions will rise? What is going to happen when deductions increase yet employers have not revised workers’ salaries. Will our children not drop out of school?
Muyonjo Mugwiri,
Online comment

Govt should be more involved in university operations

By Dr Jerome S. Lugumira
Posted 


Monday, May 4 

2015 at 

01:00

Recently, Prof Mondo Kagonyera questioned the status of Kyambogo University, suggesting the need to revert the University to its former status – as a teacher training institution (ITEK), a polytechnic (UPK), and a special needs education institute (UNISE). Comments have since been made regarding the Professor’s statements and suggestions, and quite recently, Sunday Monitor columnist, Harold Acemah encouraged a critical look at the debate so far started by Prof Kagonyera.
Having had the opportunity to teach in a foreign university (i.e. Washington State University), and having had the chance to engage with some of the world’s leading research minds tenured at Washington State University and beyond, I understand the Professor’s frustration. The dynamism of these institutions in research and teaching compel anyone to reconsider the status of our own universities.
Indeed, to some observers following this debate, it appears the Kyambogo University project is dead. Elsewhere, it has been argued that forging a united vision out of three institutions, with quite contrasting visions and mandates was going to be a difficult task. But the question is, how have others gone around such challenges? The example of the merger involving Maryland State College of Agriculture and Baltimore professional schools, which gave rise to the University of Maryland, College Park, in the US, is testimony that it was not wrong to merge ITEK, UPK and UNISE into one institution. Rather, we need to understand the fact that the expectations were, and still are, that the product of the union has to function like a university – a place for advanced scholarship. The question is whether Kyambogo University has been offered the opportunity and tools to function as a university. For brevity, I will not get into the details of the administration and academic malaise at Kyambogo University, but would like to let the good old professor know that it is pretty much the same elsewhere, save for a few.
Prof Kagonyera will be shocked to find that the rot elsewhere makes Kyambogo University look quite progressive in a number of ways. For example, what will he say when he learns that in a certain public university in Uganda, a staff without a Ph.D., no clear publishing record to talk about, and no record of graduate students supervision was promoted to the rank of associate professor? What will he do when he learns that in the same university, some academic programmes are run without express accreditation by professional bodies? Will he not faint when he learns that in the said university some lecturers teach in departments outside the scope of their expertise? What will be his comment to the chancellor of a certain public university in Uganda when he gets to know that some students in that university sit for end of semester examinations with less than a quarter of the course outline covered? How will he react when he is told that in the said university, there has been no significant infrastructure development since its inception? That in one of the faculties, departments share office space in rooms with very limited working space. That in this university, part-time teaching assistants are an alternative to visiting senior academics, solely because the latter no longer want to participate given the reluctance of this university to pay for their services.
The afore-mentioned and a lot more are truly happening, and have let many people to question the authority of the central government in as far as supervising public universities. A lot has been talked about in regard to corruption in public universities; so much so that the continued silence on the part of the line ministries supervising these institutions is most likely going to suggest collusion – where many of us are tempted to think that the loot is shared amongst them! It is, therefore, time for government to stamp its authority on these universities so as to stem the loss of public funds, including internally generated monies. Beyond this, government needs to look further than meeting the Wage Bill of these institutions. It has to get actively involved in the running of these universities – from programmes development and delivery, to research funding.

Dr Lugumira is a lecturer, Gulu Universityjerlug@yahoo.com

Omar Bongo, not the Gabonese, of Mayuge

Omar Bongo, Mayuge District’s LC5 chairperson during the interview. photos by DENIS EDEMA 

In Summary

Named after the Gabonese Strongman, The Mayuge District chairperson eyes a higher office. We look at his political career so far

The Station Wagon screeches to a halt in front of the Mayuge District administration block.
Extremely conspicuous is the youthful swagger of the man clad in a beige Salwar Kameez (traditional Islamic Men’s suit comprised of a loose fitting tunic with button cuffs and pants) complete with a Kufi, who alights from the vehicle and dashes into the building.

“Who is he?” I ask one of the women with whom we had been standing outside the building.
“Where are you from?” she asks with unmistakable disdain.

The tone tells us that we should have known that the young man is Omar Bongo, the chairperson of Mayuge, a district that has been at war with itself for almost all of its close to 15 years of existence.

Tensions started building up right from the time it was carved out of Iganga District in 2000. The 2001 LCV elections which coincided with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)-led International Security Assistance Force’s invasion of Afghanistan and the ouster of Taliban government heightened the tensions and polarised the populace. Rival factions identified themselves along the lines of the warring factions in Afghanistan. Former Mayuge MP, Sarah Namumbya, led the “Taliban” while Mr Baker Ikoba Tigawalana led the “Americans”.

The darkest point of the “Taliban” Vs the “Americans” conflict that stretched from 2001 to 2009 was the murder, in 2003, of Fred Musiitwa Nume, who had gone to Court seeking to eject Tigawalana from office for lack of academic qualifications.

On January 16, 2003 Musiitwa was kidnapped from the Kityerera County Courthouse in Mayuge and driven to Bujuko Forest in Mityana where he was murdered.

Although he had initially been absolved, on December 17, 2009 the Court of Appeal found Tigawalana and three others responsible for the murder. Tigawalana who was not in court has since been in hiding.

Tigawalana’s faction backed Haji Daudi Isanga, husband to State Minister for Gender, Rukia Isanga Nakadama, while the “Talibans” backed Mr Bongo, who views himself as a representative of his generation.

“This is a generational struggle. I was given a flag to carry, but as a representative of the youth. Whatever I do either elevates them or pulls them down. When I serve well they can say to the rest of the country that give us an opportunity to serve you like Bongo has done,” he argues.

But wait a minute! Bongo! Yes. You heard right. The name is not listed in the catalogue of names from Busoga. So where did he get it from?
It was his maternal grandfather, the late Omar Maluki, who named the 35-year-old after the then Gabonese strongman, El Hadj Omar Bongo Odimba.

“He [Omari Maluki] used to admire him a lot and used to read a lot of his [Omar Bongo’s] articles. When I was born, he said that he wanted me to follow in the footsteps of his role model,” explains Bongo.

Who is Bongo?
Alhaji Bongo is the son of the late leader of the Shi’ite Muslim Sect in Uganda, Sheikh Dr Abdul Kadhir Muwaya.

The third in a family of 10 children born by his father’s two wives, Bongo who holds a Masters’ Degree in Public Administration from the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) was born at St Francis’ Hospital Buluba on February 2, 1979.

He attended Kongoni Primary School and Upper Hill Secondary School in Nairobi before returning to Uganda in the late 1990s to join Tawheed Islamic Institute in Buyemba where he sat his Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) before joining IUIU for his Bachelor’s Degree.

Tororo residents cry for help as diabetes hits hard

Women queue to get treatment during the diabetes and cancer awareness campaign held in Tororo District at the end of April. photo by Pauline Bangirana.  

In Summary

Etyang said as an association, they have recruited members to go into the villages and sensitise others about diabetes and cancer. “We have many people joining the association from districts such as Manafwa, Busia, Bunyole and Pallisa and this implies that there are many people who are sick and are unaware. Also, those who are sick, live far away and cannot regularly seek medical assistance,” Etyang notes

Residents of Tororo District through the Tororo District Association have expressed need for a proper centre for non-communicable diseases.

This was during a cancer and diabetes awareness and prevention campaign in Magola Sub-county in Tororo District by German Pharmaceutical Company, Merck, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, Makerere University and the Uganda Diabetes Association.

The campaign held on Thursday, April 23, focused on sensitising and teaching the public good health-seeking habits in diabetes and cancer.

“The problems are bigger than just having drugs and we want to help in the prevention of diabetes and cancer in Uganda.” Stefan Maron, the managing director Merck, shared. With inadequate resources, this causes a gap in service delivery and dealing with such diseases is hard due to limited funds.

Speaking during the campaign, the State minister for Primary Health Care and Woman MP, Tororo District, Sarah Opendi, urged the public to go for early screening so that if one is diagnosed with a disease, it is treated early.

“The risk factors for cancer and diabetes are very similar, and there are more deaths in the world from cancer and diabetes than from malaria and HIV/Aids combined and through integration and working together, we will help prevent these non-communicable diseases,” David Kerr, professor of cancer medicine from Oxford shared.

Aaron Christian Etyang, the chairman Tororo Diabetic Patients’ Association shared that there are many diabetic patients in the district.

“It is a problem we realised after calling our first association meeting. At the moment, there are about 300 known patients but there are many more in the villages who are unaware of their diabetic conditions and we lack space.”

Etyang said as an association, they have recruited members to go into the villages and sensitise others about diabetes and cancer. “We have many people joining the association from districts such as Manafwa, Busia, Bunyole and Pallisa and this implies that there are many people who are sick and are unaware. Also, those who are sick, live far away and cannot regularly seek medical assistance,” Etyang notes.

The district has allocated land to the association and they are trying to lobby the hospital staff to help them get support so that they can construct a centre for the diabetes’ association.

“We are glad that the Merck Company that is coming in to help and support our association although we are not sure of the amount of funds since they will be determined by the project.” The chairman said.

Dr Nelson Naisye from Tororo Hospital said according to the results analysed on the day of the campaign, diabetes was the major disease diagnosed, followed closely by high blood pressure. “We cannot determine cancer now because it takes long for it to manifest,” he said.

The vice president Merck Rusha Kelej, advised people to eat healthy, exercise regularly, avoid smoking and taking alcohol as abstinence from these, helps in the prevention of cancer and diabetes.

Protecting teeth against decay - Healthy Living

Dear Dentist,
Are there measures (rather than brushing) that can help in preventing decay of my children’s teeth? Dorothy, Busega

Dear Dorothy, brushing is the most common practice many people use to protect themselves from tooth decay. However, there are other measures one can employ. Flossing of teeth is one other good measure but it is not regularly practiced by majority of us. You need to see a dentist to take you and your children through how it works. Once your children get used to it, this will reduce their chances of developing holes in teeth to a certain percentage.

Another key measure is by use of fissure sealants. A fissure sealant is a material that essentially covers the grooves or pits and fissures of teeth. Protecting deep pits and fissures reduces the chance of one getting tooth decay on the top of your teeth.

Most of the time, the teeth at the back (molars and premolars) have the most grooves. However, the front teeth (incisors and canines) have shallow pits and fissures, and this kind of preventive treatment is not always applicable.
These deep pits and fissures are often very difficult to clean, as the bristles on your toothbrush are often not able to get to the deepest part of these grooves.

If the grooves are not cleaned properly, decay will start on the top of the tooth, and the tooth will sometimes need a filling.

Fissure sealants are indicated in;
Children with decay and fillings in their baby teeth

Individuals with deep pits and fissures who also find difficulties in cleaning their teeth
Individuals who are at high risk of developing tooth decay

Individuals with poor oral hygiene
Why are sealants used?
Pit and fissure sealants are designed to specifically offer preventive effects. These sealants occupy the pits and fissures of teeth with a resin material and as they get filled up, the bacteria are not able to go deep into grooves, and this causes less bad bacteria to be present on the tooth. Teeth with fissure sealants are many times less likely to develop decay than those that have not been filled.

Sealants render the pits and fissures easier to clean during brushing and chewing, as food particles do not get trapped as easily when you have deep fissures.

It is always important for you to have or ask about all preventive treatments that can be provided to you and your children as these will help you reduce the burden of dental diseases and the costs associated to them.

The writer is a dentist
krdent@yahoo.com

Is there a cure for squints?

Squints or cross-eyed vision can be corrected with surgery or special eye glasses

Stop punishing pupils over vernacular, Buganda minister warns

Hajj Abbas Kawase addressing the Muslim teachers’ convention in Kampala last Saturday. Photo by Farahani Mukisa 

KAMPALA. The Buganda Kingdom education minister, Hajj Abbas Kawase, has cautioned teachers against punishing students for speaking vernacular [Luganda] at schools.
“We would like to caution all teachers who punish students for speaking Luganda at schools to stop,” Hajj Kawase said. “We studied Luganda during our days at school, aren’t we better products compared to students produced nowadays?” he questioned.
Addressing the 26th Uganda Muslim Teacher’s Association (UMTA) convention last Saturday, Mr Kawase said Luganda as a subject taught in classes, should be like any other medium of interaction among students at school.
Government recently introduced a new thematic curriculum policy dictating that during the first three years of primary education, pupils must be taught using their mother tongue as the medium of instruction, with English taught as a separate subject, before switching to English as amedium instruction in year four.
With more than 50 ethnic groups in Uganda, each with its own dialect, the policy was rooted in the idea that children pick up foreign languages more easily if first grounded in their mother tongue. Prior to the policy change, English was the official language of instruction in all school years.
Mr Kawase said punishing a student for speaking Luganda is illegal given that the Constitution of Uganda has never criminalised vernacular.
“Such schools’ policies banning students from speaking a language they are taught in class, we won’t tolerate them,” he warned. “Besides, in actual sense these languages help students to comprehend subjects more than in foreign languages,” he argued.
Hajj Bruhane Mugerwa, the Kawempe Muslim Secondary School head teacher and the chairperson UMTA National Executive Council, urged schools to promote vocational studies as one way to promote hands-on-skills to help curb the high unemployment in the country.
The minister also advised teachers to promote quality effective and affordable education to avert “issues of a Primary Seven teacher failing a Primary Two exam.”
The convention brought together Muslim teachers from across the country.

fmukisa@ug.nationmedia.com