EBISOLO MUNSI NYAFFE NGA BWEBILAMBIKA OBULUNGI EBIKA BYA BUGANDA

The first bank in The Ganda Kingdom:

By Henry Lubega

Posted Sunday,1 st March, 2015

Before 1906, there was no banking institution in Uganda until November of the same year when the national Bank of India opened its first branch in Entebbe, and four years later it opened the first bank in Kampala, although it was later taken up to become Grindlys Bank.

The National Bank of India was followed by Standard Bank of South Africa Limited when on September 19, 1912, it opened its first branch in Kampala. And a few years later it opened another branch in Jinja.

Barclays

Barclays followed in 1927 when it opened two branches in Kampala and Jinja. In 1954 three more banks; Bank of Baroda, Bank of India and The Nedelandsche Handel-Maatschappij M.V (Netherlands Trading Society) opened in Uganda.

According to Saben’s commercial directory and handbook of Uganda, as early as 1949 the banking system had been established in Uganda but did not control much of the financial liquidity that was in circulation across the board in the country.

“Much of the money was controlled in the bazaars and other channels which were predominantly controlled by people of the Asian origin. These people played a key role in the buying of cotton.

However, areas where banks were non-existent, merchants in those areas played the part of the banks. This was through taking drafts in exchange for cash or physical items in exchange for hard cash,” Saben wrote.

By 1950, it was realised that to bring more Africans into the business there was need to provide them with credit. Unfortunately, the commercial banks at the time would not extend credit to Africans because of the nature of their securities.

Under Ordinance number 20 of 1950 the Uganda Credit and Saving Bank was created purposely to extend credit facilities to Africans with the aim of furthering agriculture, commercial building and co-operative society purposes.

On October 2, 1950, the bank was opened and by 1961 it had spread to places like Arua, Fort Portal, Jinja, Soroti, Gulu, Masaka and Mbale, taking only African deposits.

Building Society

Two years later, the first Building Society in Uganda was opened as a subsidiary of a Kenyan owned firm Savings and Loans Society Limited.

More financial institutions continued to open up in Uganda with Lombard Bank from Kenya, in partnership with Uganda Development Corporation, opening the Lombank Uganda Limited in 1958. It was this bank which first introduced the hire purchase system of shopping in Uganda.

It was not until 1966 that through an act of Parliament that Bank of Uganda was created. Prior to this, issues to do with money were handled by the East African currency board which had its head offices in Kenya.

WILD LIFE

KAMPALA - A detailed investigation by Sunday Vision has revealed that Rhino Fund Uganda (RFU) is making profits from rhinos imported by the Uganda Wild Life Authority (UWA) and yet the money is supposed to be collected by the Government of Uganda.

RFU is the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) set up in 1997 to repopulate Uganda with both black and white rhinoceros breeds which are globally endangered and is currently headed by a South African national Angie Genade.

The matter was first raised before the commission of inquiry investigating alleged mismanagement of US$ 38m World Bank loan and grant as well as sh1bn from the Government of Uganda, by UWA chaired by retired Supreme Court judge, George Kanyeihamba in 2011. The Commission was told that UWA recruited, trained and deployed staff at the ranch and still pays them though no returns are realized from the ranch.

When Sunday Vision visited the Rhino sanctuary, all the receipts being issued both for tracking the rhinos and other activities at the ranch were in RFU name. However officials from UWA who spoke to on condition of anonymity revealed that they had failed to account for the moneys collected.

Sunday Vision has learnt Ugandans are charged 30,000 as entry fee and while foreigners are charged $40.RFU also charges between $5000 to $10,000 for a rhino to be named and this amount of money is paid yearly. Each Rhino at the sanctuary has a sponsor. The RFU has also introduced other activities at the sanctuary which include bird watching in which one is charged $20 while Canoe riding $10, nature walk $10, bird watching among others popular with tourists. Records at the sanctuary also revealed that they received over 50 visitors per week.

A senior Board Member privy to the operations of RFU revealed that some senior Government officials in UWA and Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities could be aware about this anomaly but had kept it under carpet. Efforts to get a comment from the Ministry of Tourism proved futile.

The board member revealed that the RFU raises billions of shillings through park entry fees, naming of baby rhinos at the sanctuary which is a fundraising initiative aimed at helping raise annual income. Other funds have been secured through donations from well-wishers abroad.

The endangered rhinoceros species were imported in Uganda in several batches from South Africa, the US and Kenya, from around 2005. It was a pilot project to restock the herds that had been extinct. The rhinos were put on Zziwa Ranch, a 70sq. km expanse which later became Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary. The sanctuary was identified for safe breeding, after which the rhinos would be released back into national parks.

The sanctuary, initially a ranch, is owned by Captain Roy. Sunday Vision has established through interviews and documents that, Rhino Fund Uganda (RFU) was formed as a Non-Government Organization (NGO) in 1997 by one Yvonne who was instrumental in convincing Capt. Roy to reintroduce Rhinos into Uganda after they had been wiped out by poachers.

A management team was then appointed later that year to oversee and guide the implementation and management of the RFU to achieve its aim of reintroducing Rhinoceros, a highly endangered species across the globe, back into the National Parks of Uganda through a breeding and release program.

Out of this emerged the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, which Captain Roy granted 7000 hectares (16,000 Acres). A land usage license was agreed on between RFU and Captain Roy, giving RFU sole usage rights for a period of thirty (renewable) years. The first six rhinos were introduced to this habitat during 2005/2006.

The Rhinos which have now grown to 24 have since been left on the ranch which has grown into a full-fledged tourist destination with the rhinos attracting foreign visitors.

In an interview with Sunday Vision, Bonnie Wendy who is a daughter to Captain Roy said in 2002, they were approached by Yvonne who introduced to the family the idea of reintroducing Rhinos to Uganda and have them housed at the ranch. “She persuaded by father to become a conservationist and then he had to buy another ranch in Kiryana in order to relocate over 7000 animals from the current home of Rhinos at his own cost,” Wendy said.

Captain Roy, Subsequently built a perimeter fence at Nakitooma where the current Rhinos are being kept and also organized an international fundraising for an electric fence and also transferred the initial 4 Rhinos from Kenya and another 2 from the United States of America. Capt. Roy and his family became part and parcel of the initial board and recruited the previous 4 Executive Directors of RFU and was key in its decision making and Rhino management. He also drilled boreholes, put in place water dips and also constructed all the houses at the sanctuary and also constructed a community primary school.

M/s Angie Genade

Board disbanded

Last month, Sunday Vision published a story after a series of interviews indicating that the fate of over 24 Rhinos at the Zziwa Rhino ranch sanctuary in Nakitooma village in Nakasongola district appears to hang in balance following a rift between Captain Charles Joy Roy the owner of the ranch and RFU.

Sunday Vision has learnt that because of the conflict between the two, Angie had in May last year controversially announced a new board of directors throwing out Capt. Roy and a staff of Zziwa ranch while several other Ugandans appointed on RFU Board had decided to quit under unclear circumstances.

Some of those who have since quit include Lt. Gen Ivan Koureta, while source revealed Senior Commissioner of Police Abram Sagal had been asked to resign from the board. The fate of other local Ugandan Board members remained unknown because they didn’t want to comment when Sunday Vision contacted them.

Sunday Vision has learnt that no ex officio members from the Ministry of Tourism or UWA attended the AGM in which the board changes were effected. A senior board member revealed that two of the board members recently appointed had taken over the daily management of the sanctuary and this was questioned by Koreta and Sagal.

In an interview with Saturday Vision, Koreta admitted he had quit the board citing personal reasons and lack of time. Sagal declined to comment over the matter but noted that he had also received reports that he had been replaced. While Roy confirmed he had been forced out of the board by the Executive Director and a team of his cronies.

When Sunday Vision Contacted Angie, she briefly replied to some of the questions put to her on phone but insisted that we also sent her an email. Three weeks after we sent an email she declined to answer the specific questions we had raised and said the board had taken them and would respond.

In the earlier phone call conversation, Angie claimed the new board members had been appointed during an AGM. However board sources revealed that no communication of the meeting to replace board members was served to them.

Workers living under tension

Sunday Vision interviewed several workers who feed and help the UWA staff guard the animals and they revealed that the new board members had put them on one year probation despite the fact that most of them had spent most of their youthful years guarding the Rhinos. The workers also revealed that they had been subjected to a series of humiliating lie detector interviews and that some of them had been threatened with sacking.

“They want to dismiss us. There is tension everywhere. Some of us have worked for several years and known this animals personally. They know our smell and easily bond with us,” one of the staffers who didn’t want to be revealed said.

A board member told Sunday Vision that majority of the locals who work as guides in the ranch relied on this jobs for their survival. “When there is tension they get tempted and it would not be so long for us to hear a rhino has been killed in that same ranch. The morale of the boys is so low they even don’t know what the future holds,” the source revealed.

Sources privy to the happening at the ranch also revealed presence of strange drones hovering over the sky.

Impasse over evictions

Captain Roy’s lawyers from Omongole and Company Advocates told Sunday Vision that besides throwing Capt. Roy off the board, he had been denied access to the ranch that the RFU is using police who are illegally deployed and that even though they have brought the matter to the attention of the director of operation in the Uganda Police force, no action has been taken.

In April 2018, the family through a letter reference OR/CV/17/534 petitioned Asuman Mugenyi to intervene after the Officer in Charge of Nakitooma Police post continuously blocked them from accessing their property. However there was no response from police even when the latter was received.

On May 21st 2018, Captain Roy’s family petitioned the newly appointed Executive Director of UWA Sam Mwandha indicating that RFU was using its warders to block them from inspecting their own property at the ranch. “The purpose of this letter is to request you to exclude UWA or any rangers from conflict in the matter between Amuka Lodge and Zziwa Rangers and our clients should have free access to their home and other properties in the ranch,” the lawyers indicated.

On May 24th 2018, Mwandha wrote to Angie informing her she had received a complaint from Capt. Roy of the unnecessary use of UWA rangers based at the sanctuary to restrict his access to the property. “I would like to let you know that the UWA rangers at the sanctuary are strictly deployed to ensure the security of rhinos on the sanctuary and should not in any way be involved in conflicts between Zziwa Ranchers and Rhino Fund.

I urge both parties to find ways of amicably settling their conflicts without necessarily involving UWA rangers based at the sanctuary,” Mwanda said. He directed the Deputy Director in charge of Field Operations to let the staff based at the sanctuary know about this position.

Documents seen by Saturday Vision indicate that in 2010, Captain Roy gave a concession agreement to D&D International a company owned by Angela’s late husband to operate a lodge. The lawyers insist that D&D never paid any coin to them and proceeded to create another company Amuka Limited to run the activities of the lodge.

“The issues of non-payment forced Capt. Roy to terminate the concession with RFU and D&D in November 2017 and Angela refused the termination and run to arbitration as provided for by the agreement,” Omongole told Sunday Vision.

She also placed a caveat on the entire stretch of land.

Capt. Roy’s lawyers in a letter dated August 29th 2018 petitioned the Chairperson of the NGO Board indicating that Angie was using her NGO’s work permit to actually do business in Uganda.

Sunday Vision has also learnt that Angie is in the process of winding up Amuka lodges. In a brief interview she noted that Amuka lodges ltd was introduced into the ranch because D&G was a company that belonged to her late husband and she was not involved in the day today running of it. “It was only proper that I bring in a company that I knew and that was why Amuka lodges was formed,” she said.

What next

Captain Roy’s family insists that Angie is trying to drum up public support and sympathy in order to grab the land. “They are portraying my client as somebody who is no longer interested in the Rhinos being on the ranch and that he wants them out and yet that is not what he intends to. He volunteered his land. He has passion for conservation. Capt. Roy wants the animals to remain at the ranch. He has already developed a management plan and obtained a license from UWA to be able to bring into the country other additional rare species of animals that are extinct here. But all this cannot be effected because he has cannot access his land,” the lawyers said.

Saturday Vision is also in possession of a letter written by the former Executive Director of UWA Andrew Seguya in which UWA appreciated his spirit of conservation. In the letter dated March 2018, UWA granted Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary the right to offer protection of rescued pangolins which had been brought to the farm.

He also noted that the plan to reintroduce the endangered species at the sanctuary was still on and UWA had passed a budget to help facilitate this.

6 July, 2018

By Franklin Draku

Illegal global wildlife trade continues to threaten the existence of the endangered species, more particularly as demand for wildlife products increases.
A recent report by the Uganda’s Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) said the country loses about Shs2b annually in wildlife offences ranging from commercial poaching to hunting for daily subsistence.
The report said Uganda serves mainly as a transit route for wildlife trafficking, especially ivory. Over the years, authorities in Uganda have continued to arrest wildlife traffickers at the entry and exit points both at the border posts and the country’s only international airport, Entebbe.
In 2015, court records in the country showed that most of the culprits involved in ivory smuggling were Asians of Chinese origin and other eastern countries, whose penchant for ivory and other wildlife tokens has continued to drive the crime.
While poachers and those with small quantities of wildlife species are often arrested, the real beneficiaries, often playing at the background, are never apprehended and continue to pump in hundreds of millions of dollars into the illicit trade.
The FIA report said many central African countries have unregulated domestic ivory markets, including the DR Congo, Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, and Cameroon. Ivory bought at these markets may be trafficked through road and air links to Uganda and onward from there for processing and export.
In neighbouring Tanzania, the situation is not any different. In 2014, visiting Chinese government officials to Tanzania were accused of smuggling ivory and other wildlife species in their diplomatic planes, a claim the Chinese government denied.
A year later, a Chinese woman, nicknamed Queen of Ivory, was arrested in Tanzania, further lending credence to the involvement of Asian nationals on the trade. Yang Feng Glan, 66, was reportedly arrested with ivory worth $2.5m.
The civil wars in the DR Congo, CAR and Chad have also had adverse effects on the wildlife. Uganda’s notorious warlord, Joseph Kony, who reportedly operates in DR Congo and CAR, is said to be engaging in illegal trade in ivory for buying arms and ammunitions, killing hundreds of elephants in the process. The same happens to other warring factions operating in these countries.
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the world is dealing with an unprecedented spike in illegal wildlife trade, threatening to overturn decades of conservation gains.
According to WWF, in 2011, ivory estimated to weigh more than 23 metric tonnes, a figure that represents 2,500 elephants, was seized in the 13 largest seizures of illegal ivory. Since that seizure, big consignments have continued to be seized globally, with most of it coming from Africa.
The organised crime groups behind wildlife crime target high-value animal and plant specimens, and operate through complex global criminal networks. Driven by profit, the activities of these groups can have devastating economic, social and environmental impacts.
Ben Janse van Rensburg, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) secretariat chief of enforcement support, said: “No one country, region or agency can tackle illegal wildlife trade alone. Collective action across source, transit and destination states is essential. On behalf of all ICCWC partner agencies, I commend the excellent work done in member countries.”
Some of the global “wildlife trade hotspots” include China’s international borders, trade hubs in East/Southern Africa and Southeast Asia, the eastern borders of the European Union, some markets in Mexico, parts of the Caribbean, Indonesia and New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands.
The illegal trade is not only limited to ivory. Tigers in Asia, leopards, pangolins and other species have all suffered the wrath of poachers and wildlife traffickers.
The WWF says wildlife crime is a big business, run by dangerous international networks. By its very nature, it is almost impossible to obtain reliable figures for the value of illegal wildlife trade. Experts at TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network<https://www.worldwildlife.org/initiatives/traffic-the-wildlife-trade-monitoring-network>, estimate that it runs into hundreds of millions of dollars.
An estimate by nature communications, an international organisation, puts the cost of tourism losses as a result of poaching of elephants alone in Africa at about $250m. The figures could be higher if other species are included.
International pronouncements by China and other global power houses has done little to stop the illegal trade in wildlife products. While at government levels the trade may have stopped, but the reluctance by the same governments to prosecute their citizens and stop the trade continue to inflict heavy terror on the wildlife.

International law enforcers strike criminal racket
Baffled by this large scale illegal trade, global enforcement agencies in May launched an international operation against the illegal trade in wild animals and plants, including timber, seizing hundreds of species worldwide, as well as arresting many suspects.
Code-named “Thunderstorm” and targeting criminal networks behind global wildlife crime, the operation involved police, customs, border, wildlife, forestry and environment agencies from 92 countries and resulted in millions of dollars-worth of seizures.
According to CITES, the month-long operation, that started on May 1 to May 31, led to1,974 seizures, with 1,400 identification of suspects, triggering global arrests and investigations.
According to INTERPOL, 43 tonnes of wild meat, 1.3 tonnes of raw and processed elephant ivory, 27,000 reptiles, almost 4,000 birds, several tonnes of wood and timber, were seized.
Also 48 live primates, four big cats (tiger, lion, leopard and jaguar), the carcasses of seven bears, including two polar bears, were confiscated.
The operation saw eight tonnes of pangolin scales seized worldwide, including almost four tonnes by Vietnamese maritime authorities on board a ship arriving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The CITES says two flight attendants were arrested in Los Angeles attempting to smuggle live spotted turtles to Asia in their personal baggage. Both suspects have been charged with smuggling CITES-protected species and a transnational investigation has been opened between the countries concerned.
A man was also arrested in Israel and awaits deportation to Thailand after his hunting photograph on social media led to the seizure of multiple wildlife items at his home, including fox, jackal and mongoose bodies. Follow-up inquiries have revealed that the suspect was also engaged in people smuggling and illegal employment.
Canadian authorities intercepted a container holding 18 tonnes of eel meat arriving from Asia. Thought to be poached from Europe originally, the juvenile glass eels had been reared in Asia before being dispatched to North American markets for consumption.

An integrated global response
The second in a global ‘Thunder’ series initiated by the INTERPOL Wildlife Crime Working Group, Operation Thunderstorm was coordinated by INTERPOL and the World Customs Organisation (WCO), in conjunction with the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), which includes the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Secretariat, UNODC and the World Bank.
“Operation Thunderstorm has seen significant seizures at global level, showing how coordinated global operations can maximize impact,” said INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock.
Senior officer Grant Miller of the UK Border Force and head of the UK national CITES enforcement team, said: “Through Operation Thunderstorm, criminals have seen the products they need to ply their trade seized and their illegal profits targeted. Organised crime groups engaging in wildlife crime will feel the impact of this operation for a long time.”
“By revealing how wildlife trafficking groups use the same routes as criminals involved in other crime areas – often hand in hand with tax evasion, corruption, money laundering and violent crime – Operation Thunderstorm sends a clear message to wildlife criminals that the world’s law enforcement community is homing in on them,” added the Secretary General.
An intelligence-driven operation
An investigative crime intelligence was gathered ahead of the operation to help target specific hotspots for action, including land and airport border points and wildlife parks.
Cars, trucks, boats and cargo transporters suspected of moving illicit products were also targeted with searches carried out by officers, often with specialist sniffer dogs and x-ray scanners.
“By leveraging the global network of worldwide environmental law enforcement experts and customs community’s commitment to protecting wildlife, World Customs Organisation and its partners have clearly illustrated the power and effectiveness of international cooperation in keeping our natural heritage safe,” said WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya.
“Operation Thunderstorm clearly demonstrates that by pooling our transnational law enforcement collaboration in the field, WCO and INTERPOL firmly contribute to making sure that borders everywhere divide criminals but connect customs and law enforcement as a whole to make the world a safer place,” added Dr Mikuriya.

Ensi ya Queen bweyegomba ebisolo ewaffe ebitwaala e Bungereza mu kifo ekiyitibwa Zoo:

1st March, 2017

Enfudu nga erya omudo mubusibe bwa zoo

A British zoo is facing closure and its owner prosecution after nearly 500 of its animals died of poor nutrition, cramped conditions and hypothermia over four years, it emerged Wednesday.

A damning report into the South Lakes Safari Zoo in Cumbria, northwest England, found that 486 animals had died in the past four years, putting most of the blame on its owner David Gill.

The zoo had over 1,600 animals in 2016.

Describing the conditions as "appalling", inspectors reported finding poor levels of veterinary care, cleanliness and pest control, as well as inadequate food.

"The conditions that these animals are being held in, is quite frankly appalling, and has led directly to the death of a number of them," they wrote in the report.

They recommended Gill be prosecuted under the Animal Welfare Act.

In 2016, 123 animals died including a West African giraffe which was euthanised a day after collapsing.

Post-mortem images raised concerns over nutrition.

A red kangaroo also died following a head trauma and six lion cubs were euthanised because the facility was not big enough to house them.

The report notes they were "healthy cubs and nothing wrong with them".

An African spurred tortoise was electrocuted on an electric fence, while a leopard tortoise died from cold.

- 'This zoo has failed' -

Keepers told the inspecting team they had been informed to dispose of the animals' bodies and not tell anyone about them.

Inspectors also flagged the owner's poor duty-of-care towards its staff.

It was fined £255,000 ($316,000, 299,500 euros) last June for health and safety reasons following the 2013 death of one of its zookeepers, Sarah McClay.

She was mauled by a Sumatran tiger.

Gill is currently applying for a fresh licence for the zoo after the local council, Barrow and Furness, rejected his application for an extension of his previous licence back in July 2016.

Applying for a new licence allows the zoo to remain open until the application is processed.

Inspectors are recommending the council reject his application and close the zoo stating that the standards maintained by Gill "fall far below the standards required in a modern zoo".

The animal welfare charity Captive Animals' Protection Society applauded the recommendation.

"We feel that the many instances of suffering and unnecessary deaths of animals go to show that this zoo has failed and will continue to fail the animals in their care," it said in a statement.

The first bank in The Ganda Kingdom:

In Nakasongola district, an investor's land project is in trouble with the District Council over the promotion of animal game parks in African residential villages:

The Privatization of the National Game Parks of Uganda by the NRM government is currently putting the African wild game animals in real danger:

How a private firm is making money from Uganda’s rhinos without much care for the safety of animals:

The global “African wildlife trade hotspots” continue to include all of China’s international borders and South Asian. With Indonesia, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. There is trade on the Eastern borders of the European Union. Then, there is also trade in Mexico and the Caribbean Islands:

6 July, 2018

In East Africa, for Uganda and Tanzania, Animals and plants are at risk from oil mining and human hunting especially around the famous Albertine Rift valley:

21 March, 2018

Ensi ya Queen bweyegomba ebisolo ewaffe ebitwaala e Bungereza mu kifo ekiyitibwa Zoo:

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