Thursday, September 30, 2010

Two killed in new wave of city crime



The Police at the scene where a mob killed a suspected robber
The Police at the scene where a mob killed a suspected robber
TWO people have been killed since Monday in a new wave of crime in the Naguru Go-down slums between the Kololo and Naguru hills posh city suburbs. Yesterday, a mob killed a suspect said to have participated in killing Robert Okumu, a bar owner in the area.

Okumu was hit with iron bars and stabbed on Monday as he was returning home from his bar. He died at Mulago Hospital. Chaos ensued as crowds flocked to his bar where the body lay in state. Many wailing residents launched a hunt for the assailants.

The first suspect, only identified as Okenyi, was beaten to death. One of the residents said Okumu named three accomplices, who are yet to be arrested.

Residents attributed the increased crime to the Police which has been releasing several suspects without committing them to court. “They are always set free a day after without charge and upon return, they cause more havoc,” Alex Mutebi said.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

US doctors perform free brain tumor operations



Haglund together with local doctors and nurses carry out a tumor operation on a patient at Mulago Hospital
Haglund together with local doctors and nurses carry out a tumor operation on a patient at Mulago Hospital

By Eddie Sejjoba

A team of neurosurgeons from the United States of America on Monday carried out nine brain tumor and spinal operations at Mulago Hospital. The beneficiaries included one senior government official and two babies.

The 22-man team was led by Prof. Michael Haglund, nurses and other support staff from Duke University in North Carolina. The cases were among the 50 which were scheduled to be done in five days.

They arrived on Saturday and worked closely with four senior neurosurgeons and other medical staff from the neurosurgical and the orthopedics departments of Mulago.

Haglund handed over modern medical equipment worth $1m. The equipment will be used to handle complicated surgical cases.

Michael Edgar Muhumuza, the head of the neurosurgical unit, said one complex brain operation in a US hospital costs over $50,000 minus insurance and transport costs.

He added that the same operation is done at a cost of over $10,000 in Kenya.

“This camp is a huge contribution towards Mulago Hospital and the Government because the 50 cases we are going to handle with the visiting team would cost billions if we were to refer them abroad,” he said.

Muhumuza said the team would also train the neurosurgeons and orthopedics staff how to handle complex cases.

Top Earning web sites

Rank Website Founders Annual Revenue Per Second
1 Larry Page and Sergey Brin $21,800,000,000 $691.27
2 Jeff Bezos $19,166,000,000 $607.75
3 Jerry Yang and David Filo $7,200,000,000 $228.31
4 Pierre Omidyar $6,290,000,000 $199.45
5 Nathan Myhrvold. $3,214,000,000 $101.92
6 Max Levchin, Peter Thiel, and Luke Nosek, $2,250,000,000 $71.35
7 Jeff Robbin $1,900,000,000 $60.25
8 Marshal Vace $1,892,000,000 $59.99
9 Jesse Fink $1,884,000,000 $59.74
10 Added Mark Schroeder $1,447,000,000 $45.88
11 Reed Hastings $1,200,000,000 $38.05
12 Terry Jones $1,100,000,000 $34.88
13 Nick Swinmurn $1,000,000,000 $31.71
14 David Litman $1,000,000,000 $31.71
15 Erik Prince $968,000,000 $30.70
16 Jeff Katz $870,000,000 $27.59
17 Robert Brazell $834,000,000 $26.45
18 Tom Anderson $800,000,000 $25.37
19 Niklas Zennstrom $550,841,000 $17.47
20 Zhang Chaoyang $429,000,000 $13.60
21 Robb Brock $400,000,000 $12.68
22 Eric Baker $400,000,000 $12.68
23 Jack Ma $316,000,000 $10.02
24 Mark Zuckerberg $300,000,000 $9.51
25 Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, $300,000,000 $9.51
26 Mark Vadon $295,000,000 $9.35
27 Stephen Kaufer $260,000,000 $8.24
28 Mark Getty $233,200,000 $7.39
29 Garry Itkin $207,000,000 $6.56
30 Henry Jarvis Raymond $175,000,000 $5.55

Thursday, September 23, 2010

World trade rises by 20% - WTO








THE value of world merchandise trade rose by 25% in the first six months of 2010, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) latest statistics indicate.

Exports from Africa and the Middle East were 35% higher than in the corresponding period of 2009, fuelled by demand in Asia and the US, and higher commodity prices.

“This surge in trade growth marks a continuation of the trend begun in the first quarter of the year,” read a statement posted by WTO this month.

The value of world merchandise trade was around 25% higher in the first three months of 2010 than in the same period of 2009, according to WTO’s figures released in June.

The highest price changes in the last quarter were in metals and crude petroleum, while the lowest were in food and beverages.

Changes in foods and beverages were also lowest in the previous quarter.
According to figures, world merchandise exports increased by 7% in the second quarter of 2010 in comparison with the first quarter.

Available monthly statistics for 70 economies representing 90% of world trade show that merchandise trade declined in April and May 2010, but rose again in June.

Asian exports and imports both rose by more than 35% in the second quarter of 2010, compared to the corresponding period of 2009.

The Commonwealth of Independent States (former members of the Soviet Union), posted a buoyant 44% export growth.

Similarly, extra-EU trade (external trade between the EU and the rest of the world) was more dynamic than trade within the EU.

German national held over drug trafficking



Heinrich after he was arrested
Heinrich after he was arrested
A Germany national, aged 68 years, has been arrested at Entebbe Airport with suspected narcotics wrapped in four small boxes. Peters Volker Adolf Heinrich was arrested on Monday at 7:00am moments after he attempted to check in his luggage for a British Airways flight to London.

After he failed to identify the contents of his luggage as demanded by the security personnel, he was handed over to the Aviation Police, who scanned his property and discovered boxes containing suspected cocaine.

According to the Police, Heinrich said he did not know the contents of the packages, claiming he was requested by some people to carry the “gifts” to someone in the UK.

The boxes were wrapped in two Masai blankets. The officer in charge of criminal investigations at the airport, Josephine Alupo, said Heinrich was the fifth suspected drug trafficker to be arrested at the airport this year.

In March, a South African woman was arrested with five kilogrammes of heroine. In June, another Germany national was arrested after the Police discovered cocaine concealed in two leather bags.

Last week, a Tanzanian travelling from Brazil to Dar-es-Salaam, was arrested while carrying 84 pellets of narcotics in his stomach.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Two more Kenyans charged with terrorism



Awadh and Kimathi at Nakawa court yesterday
Awadh and Kimathi at Nakawa court yesterday
TWO more Kenyans were yesterday charged with terrorism in connection with the July 11 twin bomb blasts in Kampala. They were identified as Al Amin alias Joe Kimathi, 49, a Kenyan human rights activist, and Omar Awadh, 37, a businessman and resident of Halingham in Nairobi.

The suspects were arrested last week with Mbugua Mureithi, a Kenyan advocate, on suspicion of being linked to the al-Qaeda Islamist terror group. Mureithi, who said he was in Uganda to defend terrorism suspects, was over the weekend deported to Kenya.

The three were arrested at Niagara Hotel in Najjanankumbi, off the Kampala-Entebbe highway.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Internet could spur businesses



A participant speaking at the conference that attracted students and enterpreneurs
A participant speaking at the conference that attracted students and enterpreneurs

UGANDANS will be able to boost their businesses or other individual projects by exploiting the immense opportunities offered by the Internet.

This will be made possible by a Google project in six African countries, including Uganda, officials revealed at a two-day web and mobile conference at the Speke Resort Munyonyo last week.

The meeting attracted technology students and business people.

The search giant will engage the creative minds of technology students to focus on mobile development, Google maps for business, website optimisation and online advertising, Julie Taylor, the Google spokesperson for sub-Saharan Africa, explained.

He added that Uganda was chosen for the project because of the its stability, growth and a young educated population.

Through trainings and partnerships, the world’s leading search engine, has designed programmes that should see people move away from just using the search engines get information and sending mails, to exploiting business positioning and related tools for growth, using the almost limitless power of technology.

Through the projects, which are being pioneered in Nigeria in the next few weeks, 200 businesses will also be brought online where they can use Google templates to create websites.

Global experts believe Africa can leap past the broadband generation, and completely exceed the rest of the world in the new mobile Internet generation, which is viewed as the future of the global economy platform.

“Access barriers must be addressed because without solving that, Africa will never have a large number of Internet users. This can act as an incentive,” said Nelson Mattos, the Google vice-president for Europe, Middle-East and Africa, while speaking at the conference.

Africa’s potential, largely remains on paper, waiting to be turned into reality. But there is already a glimmer of hope sweeping across the continent.

Experts argue that any entrepreneur worth their salt cannot boast among peers if they have no presence in Africa. The continent is on the move with great returns, and, yet untapped reserves.

This partly perhaps explains Google’s interest in a new frontier that offers great returns for the future, according to industry observers.

Also, the entry of the undersea fibre optic cables has boosted Internet access because of its broadband size and reliability.

However, prices are yet to drop significantly.

According to Mattos, Internet becomes vibrant when there is local content. This is encourages people to come online and harness the value of net. “He who controls content also controls you,” said an expert.

Mattos says experience shows that people stay online a little longer when they can relate to online content, and thus the need to localise content.

Local content also cuts the cost of paying for international broadband.
“Internet must provide value by providing relevant content,” said Mattos.

Students have been encouraged to view and grasp the country’s numerous challenges as an opportunity and turn into practical solutions for the country.

“Students have to look at the problems of their society and find solutions for them through products that appeal to the people,” said Mattos.

Michael Niyitegeka, a lecturer in the Faculty of Computer Science at Makerere University, said the initiatives, involving students with great ideas, also act as a motivator for them to pursue products’ development.

One way of doing this is to harness a vibrant eco-system of developers, who make products that have a mass appeal to woo people to use the Internet.

However, Uganda, like many African states, still faces the challenge of poor infrastructure, low Internet penetration and widespread illiteracy.

The continent also lags behind in the information age. The disparity is so great that just about 1% of global Internet content is from Africa.

This can also be compared with the gaps in global trade where, despite Africa possessing the vast majority of resources, it controls just about 2% of global trade.

This, however, is changing first with the continent leading in voice penetration and Internet catching fast.

Uganda had 2.5 million Internet users as of August 2009, or about 7.7% of the population, according to the International Telecommunication Union, and 4,800 broadband Internet subscribers as of December 2009.

Monday, September 13, 2010

When misfortune ignites creativity


Robert Kisutu holding the main ford and a break block for Nissan heavy duty vehicles
Robert Kisutu holding the main ford and a break block for Nissan heavy duty vehicles
By David Ssempijja

IN 1993, Robert Kisitu experienced the world of �darkness� as he saw his future being threatened after the death of his father.
This blow shaped him into a very creative individual.

�I was 17 years when my father died. He was not a rich man on whose resources I would depend. I knew it was time to fly by my own �wings�. I had no other option than turning myself into a slave of my works,� says Kisitu.

Now aged 33, Kisitu attained a vocational certificate in motor applied engineering in 2000 and worked in the motor repair induction at Spear Motors.

He later joined the Pioneers Easy Bus up to 2005 after which he embarked on a journey to his own business, leading to the establishment of Pioneer Foundry Technologies (PFT) in 2006 through which he has unveiled the power of innovation.

The level of technological advancement exhibited by PFT workforce is a clear testimony that given the necessary support, Uganda�s appropriate technology would have the capacity to lead the country�s import substitution strategy.

Located on Mambule Road in Bwaise, a Kampala suburb, the company is involved in metal and aluminum casting from scrap, a major raw material for their products.

The firm fabricates motor wheel alignment machines, motor vehicle spare parts like heavy duty main fords for Isuzu and Nissan brands, spring blocks for trailers, heavy duty Fuso door steps, industrial parts like fire bars for tea processors, screen welders and howling plates for coffee and maize factories.

�We are also popular for manufacturing manhole covers, gear drives for concrete mixers, weighing scale stones, sugarcane crushers and gymnasium weights. In most cases, customers name their needs and we do the fabrication,� he says.

�You will be surprised that some of our fabricated parts can be twice as good as the original vehicle or industrial parts can serve,� Kisitu brags.

According to Simon Ssekankya of the Ntinda based giant hardware world, heavy duty customised manhole covers locally manufactured by PFT attract impressive demand from his range of corporate and individual clients involved in construction business.

�All this young man�s business establishment needs is to build capacity such that he produces volumes that can satisfy the available market demand, otherwise his products have consistently received approval from users,� he said.

Other firms that PFT has worked for include Rwenzori Commodities, Castle Estates, Dott Services, Tororo Cement, Sembule Steel Mills, Parambot Breweries, Associated Scale Company and Papco Industries.

Kisitu asserts that he envisages nurturing a company of high productivity, competitive enough to firmly position itself and withstand the challenges in the liberalised East African Community market.

Company products especially weighing scale machines have been exported to Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Enterprise achievements
Kisitu�s biggest achievement has been seeing other people depend on his vision to survive.

The firm directly employs 28 people in addition to the thousands of residents of Bwaise and surrounding areas who sell scrap to the company.

�The original plan was to find a way of how I would secure my future, but in due course many people have earned a living from here, no success will ever be bigger than that,� he adds.

Though Kisitu is a certificate holder, his business establishment has on a number of occasions served as a point of reference to many advanced researchers involved in technological enterprises and various universities have posted their students to PFT for industrial training.

Last year, he won the construction award during the highly competitive annual Young Achievers Awards organised by TETEA Uganda and National Chamber of Commerce and Industry to reward creative young entrepreneurs whose works have been of significant benefit to society.

�We also started talks with Kyambogo University , a deal which is expected to see us establish a mentorship programme for students pursuing technology-based courses,� he says.

Challenges
Given the fact that metal and aluminum scrap is the most important raw materials for fabricators, the advent of exporting it to China and India has hiked its prices.

�We used to buy a kilogramme of metal scrap at sh100, after exports began in 2007, a kilogramme now costs between sh500-sh600. For the sake of protecting local industries, government should put a stop on this trend to save the country from losing more than it gains from the same,� Kisitu advises.

�PFT lacks capacity to establish an automated processing line, which leads to delays in delivering orders. But President Museveni asked us during one of the exhibitions to send him a proposal of what we want to do which we did and are waiting for his response,� said Kisitu.

He adds that it would be developmental if government starts arrangements for exempting promising young enterprises from tax payments in order to uplift their capacities to grow.

Future plans
In the short run, given financial resources, the firm intends to have its own land for expansion and set up a showroom in the city centre.

�We are also planning to venture into glass manufacturing. This is an enterprise whose raw materials are locally available. We have the human capital but the resources like machinery to turn them into finished products are hard to get,� he said.

�If government boosts our capacity, Uganda could easily be an industrialised country because there is no other magic used in industrialised countries like China and Japan than the zeal and passion for working hard coupled with the undying curiosity to learn continuously, says Kisitu.

Bank on wheels, the new face of banking






People lining to bank and withdraw from a mobile bank van
People lining to bank and withdraw from a mobile bank van
By David Ssempijja and Mubiru Kakebe

OVER a couple of years, numerous innovations have been undertaken to create convenience in banking.

For the last 10 years, more Ugandans have benefited from improved banking services after the introduction of services like Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), internet banking, and money transfer systems.

The industry has also been improved with the advent of mobile telecom firms� involvement in electronic money transfer. Now the industry has introduction systems that involve moving banks in vans.

The system is designed to extend banking services in very remote and hard to reach areas where commercial banks would definitely consider unfeasible to establish permanent branches.

Juma Walusimbi, the director of communications at Bank of Uganda says that Bank on Wheels is among the central bank- approved systems of commercial banks� mobile banking services.

These are some of the innovations we need to ensure that the country increases the number of the banked population, it introduces people in the hard to reach areas to the benefits of banking,� he said.

He however, added that banks involved in this type of services have to ensure that there is sufficient security to avoid losing customers� money.

�Security would also tally with the Central Bank�s requirement of modern risk management procedures that commercial banks must undertake,� he said.

Michael Odong is a traders in Kikuubo, a Kampala busy trade area, he hails from Napak district. Sending money to his aging mother was always very difficult. Where as he could regularly send money by bus, his brother Jacob would ride over 60 miles from Bokora sub-county to Lokopo trading centre to access the money, yet at times some messengers would misbehave and deduct some of the money.

Fausia Eperu, Odong�s mother now receives money from her son through her own bank account, courtesy of Post Bank�s mobile bank moved in vans from place to place.

�My mother must safely and quickly access money at the end of the month, thanks to the new modern technology,� Odong noted.

Code-named �Bank on Wheels�, the system that begun in 2008 has bailed out over 25,000 people in 17 districts out of the traditional systems of keeping money in tins and pots as well as difficulties in sending and receiving money.

Mobile banking is currently done in the districts of Bududa, Mbale, Napak, Kotido, Moroto, Nakapiripit, Abim Amuria, Soroti and Kumi.

According to the bank�s marketing manager William Alemi, over eighty units have been created where the vans make programmed stop-overs for withdrawals, deposits, account opening, loan acquisition, payments and applications. Other services include; money transfer through Western Union, effecting standing orders among others.

�The vans are as equipped as banking halls, backed by technology to access customer accounts� information. The system is also fitted with ATMs,� says Alemi.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Business -supplier of Data capture software wanted and On site traing wanted

1. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) has received funds from United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to be used for the acquisition of Information Technology (IT) equipment, soft ware and training as support to the preparation for the 2012 National Population and Housing Census (UPHC). This is a readvert for the tender that appeared in the New Vision of 29th April 2010. Those who had applied earlier are encouraged to re-apply.

2.The Uganda Bureau of Statistics invites sealed bids from eligible bidders for the supply and delivery of:

Lot I-
-Automatic Image Scanner
-Barcode Reader/Scanner
- Automatic Data Capture Software
-Native Barcode Generator Software
-Onsite Training

3.Bidding will be conducted in accordance with the open domestic bidding procedures contained in the Government of Uganda’s Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act, 2003 and is open to all bidders from eligible source countries.

4. Interested eligible bidders may obtain further information from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics Procurement and Disposal Unit and inspect the bidding documents at the address given below from 8:00 am-5:00 pm.

5. A complete set of Bidding Documents in English may be purchased by interested bidders upon payment of a non-refundable fee of UGX 100,000 (Uganda Shillings One Hundred Thousand only). The method of payment will be by use of a Bank Payment Advice form to be obtained from the Procurement and Disposal Unit office in Room G.8 during working hours. The document will be picked from the address below. No liability will be accepted for loss or late delivery.

6. Bids must be delivered to the address below at or before 11:00am on All bids must be accompanied by a bid security of UGX 3,500,000 in the format provided in the Bid document.

Late bids shall be rejected. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below at 11:30pm on 10th September 2010.

The Executive Director
Uganda Bureau of Statistics,
Plot 9 Colville Street
P.O. Box 7186 Kampala.

e-commerce Tourism in Uganda

What is e-tourism about?
Electronic (e)-tourism is the use of technology in managing and marketing tourism. It’s not just about having websites or taking occasional e-mails from potential clients but it’s about using technology to manage and sell your business. You attract visitors to your business not just through your website but other social media like; Facebook, Twitter and YouTube videos and photos on flicker and through online travel reviews. It also involves being able to take a booking and payments in real time completely online without any human interaction. This is the way most tourism is being sold around the world.
Why should the industry players adopt e-tourism as opposed to business as usual tourism?
Half of all the tourism marketing globally is being done online from point of research to point of sale. In some of those critical markets like the United States or Western Europe, that goes up to 70 per cent. So the challenge for Africa and most emerging markets is the little tourism that we are selling. Uganda sells less than 2 per cent of its tourism online. Compare that to 50 per cent global average or 70 per cent in the US. What we (E-tourism Frontiers) do to our advantage is try and change that by educating people in emerging markets about e-marketing and how to increase the use of technology so that they can get payments online and increase their sales online.
In monetary terms, how big is the e-tourism industry globally?
Globally, it’s about $130 billion (Shs286 trillion) in sales. It’s the number one selling commodity, trading more than music downloads books and other commodities. For instance, in the US last year, the number one online spend was travel at 40 per cent and was followed by electronics at 11 per cent of all money spent online.
What would be the cost implication of adopting e-tourism for players in Uganda’s tourism industry?
The cost of marketing is a lot cheaper than conventional marketing. If you think about the cost that goes into printing a brochure, getting photographs taken, text written, get the printing done, and post those to markets it can be incredibly expensive whereas if you update your Facebook page, it costs almost nothing. If your clients are taking videos and photos of your products and sharing them with their friends on Facebook or YouTube and you are linking to that, there’s content of much more value there. So, there’s a huge cost saving.
So, how can Ugandan tourism companies take advantage of the e-tourism opportunity?
Well some are already doing it to some degree. People are starting to use websites and critically looking at social media because just about everyone is on Facebook now. It is a great example of how powerful social media can be. But there’s a long way to go. One of the critical problems we face in this region is the lack of e-commerce. And even if you do everything right to get somebody to come to your website, they want to book and pay but they cannot do it. Luckily, we have a conference coming up in Nairobi and Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) will be launching, for the first time, products for tourism businesses. This will cater for reservations that would allow tourists to make online bookings and make payments directly to KCB accounts. That’s huge for the tourism industry but that’s probably the most important thing they need to do. The financial sector needs to recognise that this is probably the strongest source of foreign exchange in any country. They need to create supporting solutions like KCB has done.
Which players in the industry do you recommend for fast-tracking the transition to e-tourism?
The hotel industry is the most obvious because if you look at the distribution of the industry globally, it’s almost entirely online. It takes them out of that commission relationship they used to have with agents and tour operators and they start direct selling and it’s so easy for them to start selling and making reservations. Tour operators and agents can be cut out of business and so they must think of how they can make themselves relevant and valuable. And that value can be in providing local content about the tourism industry.
The internet is a critical factor in e-commerce but in this region, reliability remains a major challenge. Isn’t that a limiting factor?
Yes it is a challenge but we have no option and you cannot use that as an excuse. It’s an issue but we have to find solutions. When you are in business saying there’s no electricity is not going help you. If you have clients abroad there are certain expectations they have. So, it’s about having backup systems in place. It’s about building websites and offering content that can respond to low broadband speeds. But speeds are becoming less of an excuse because we have fibre optic cables like SEACOM and TEAMS here. And increasingly, there’s need for less bandwidth to upload content on websites.

Selling a service

Selling a service involves creating a positive feeling in the prospective customer. Take the example of a well dressed person’s appearance. It says: Here’s an important person; intelligent, prosperous, and dependable.
In a tour business, the operators use graphic descriptions in words and pictures of what awaits you in the sites that you are being persuaded to visit - printed with state- of -art technology in brochures.
The sales person who may have been there himself/herself shows these places, highlighting their most attractive features with the kind of enthusiasm that entices you to give it a try. When you decide to book a tour, what you buy is a promise; as seen by your eyes and believed by your heart.
That promise is of; a good feeling, probably a lifetime experience, and real value for your time and money. Because you don’t touch, feel or taste a service before you consume it, a strong feeling of anticipation must be aroused in a prospective customer for him or her to make a buying decision.
You must provide the prospect, reason and logic for buying! Like the well dressed fellow, if he is male, the lady he asks out is persuaded by his appearance and manner of his dress.
The catch phrase thus in making money in services is: Become a master at creating anticipation of good and memorable experience when people choose to consume your service. That anticipation must be matched with reality. When your client buys, he or she must get what was anticipated and more.
If it’s a restaurant, the client must get “please have great day salutation” after the meal, for a tour; the client must get, “It has been great keeping company with you”, and so forth… The seed of money is service. Putting service first is an attitude that creates wealth. Put service first and money takes care of itself.

Selling a service

Selling a service involves creating a positive feeling in the prospective customer. Take the example of a well dressed person’s appearance. It says: Here’s an important person; intelligent, prosperous, and dependable.
In a tour business, the operators use graphic descriptions in words and pictures of what awaits you in the sites that you are being persuaded to visit - printed with state- of -art technology in brochures.
The sales person who may have been there himself/herself shows these places, highlighting their most attractive features with the kind of enthusiasm that entices you to give it a try. When you decide to book a tour, what you buy is a promise; as seen by your eyes and believed by your heart.
That promise is of; a good feeling, probably a lifetime experience, and real value for your time and money. Because you don’t touch, feel or taste a service before you consume it, a strong feeling of anticipation must be aroused in a prospective customer for him or her to make a buying decision.
You must provide the prospect, reason and logic for buying! Like the well dressed fellow, if he is male, the lady he asks out is persuaded by his appearance and manner of his dress.
The catch phrase thus in making money in services is: Become a master at creating anticipation of good and memorable experience when people choose to consume your service. That anticipation must be matched with reality. When your client buys, he or she must get what was anticipated and more.
If it’s a restaurant, the client must get “please have great day salutation” after the meal, for a tour; the client must get, “It has been great keeping company with you”, and so forth… The seed of money is service. Putting service first is an attitude that creates wealth. Put service first and money takes care of itself.

Advancing business through technology

Ms Rosemary Akello has been running a hotel in downtown Kampala for about five years now. Over the years though, her customers have had to endure torrid times as they access her hidden restaurant. She told Smart money in an interview recently that she has time and again painfully lost potential customers who find it difficult to access with ease the location of her cosy restaurant as it is overshadowed by several other buildings in the middle of the town.
In a similar predicament is Mr Ivan Bwambale, who runs a supermarket and a hotel on the outskirts of Kampala. In an attempt to turn his fortunes around, he decided to offer a discount every Wednesday, ranging from between 7 and 10 per cent on every item bought in his store while every Friday his restaurant makes more offers just to lure that extra client.
Despite the attractive offers, Mr Bwambale fortunes remain crest fallen as customers are still hard to come by. The two are now considering massive investment in advertising, a move experts object to, saying that the two - businesses will have to ‘break the bank’, something that will instead open up what the experts call a “Pandora box”.
In plain terms, this means that they will need a lot of money to finance their business and this could get them into trouble as their capacity to sustain that kind of financing is unsustainable. “To sort out challenges like that, we have developed an online portal service for businesses to market their services,” the founder of Maswali Limited Mr Christopher Kanabi-Mulinde told Smart Money in an interview recently.
According to Mr Kanabi, the online portal services which operates pretty much like an online business directory, provides instant searches for all kinds of services and locations in a given distance. He says: “If you want to find suppliers of products and services in your local area Maswali.com comes in handy, you don’t need to physically move to look for anything anymore, save your time and just click the mouse and you will be sorted out.”

With Maswali.com buyers and sellers are brought together through an integrated collection of simple but cost effective tools, an innovation, which if well embraced by SMEs will certainly make a difference in their businesses.
The Maswali.com services or other related services are important for an SME because the world is increasingly turning away from the conventional way of doing business to the use of Information Technology. Analysts now fear that local SMEs, which do not have the capacity to use modern methods of doing business, could be left out as the world increasingly becomes a global village.
According to Mr Kanabi, Maswali.com gives more than a business name, including postal address, and a telephone Number. It provides useful business information about what the business does, its Website and e-mail contacts, price lists, special offers or coupons, opening times, maps and locations, parking information, business calendar or events schedule, photo galleries, video adverts, and a business network for sourcing excellence and competitive tender opportunities for products and services. He says Maswali.com the services portfolio includes, without limitation, classified listing, enhanced listing, super listing, and banner advertising services.
A list of items in each service offer is provided on the ’advertisers’ page. From time to time other Services may be added, and others removed when neccessary. He says: “Our listings include category tags, which may describe your business, products and/or services, which enables your business details to be displayed on the Maswali.com website to users who perform a search using these category tags.”
Its important to note that Maswali.com reserve the right to refuse or remove any category tags from your business listing or banner that it believes does not in any way describe one’s business, products and/or services and/or may mislead users of the maswali.com website.
In terms of cost, he says it is not only affordable but negotiable too, given that they offer a wide range of services, including special arrangement for schools and SMEs among others. However the price range is between Shs50,000 and Shs250, 000, depending on services one needs to access. He says each client is given an own account with a confidential security code. For those who can’t create their own accounts one in relation to their business can be created.

Advantages of internet to SMEs



Small and Medium Enterprise with information-based products have a real advantage in the net worked world. Not only can web sites display product information and take orders, but they can deliver the end-product immediately and at a low cost.
These benefits accrue to among others music, video, software companies, lawyers, accountants, stockbrokers, consultants, restaurants and super market retailers. SMEs have never had an excellent time such as these where they can form more-or-less informal global networks, so that they can provide support around the world at very low cost and obtain expertise on local issues and problems. In many cases, consumers prefer to deal with smaller firms. This means that there are benefits in terms of image to position a small firm as part of a network of local experts.
Niche marketers can be big beneficiary in this era of internet. Though in Uganda there are no many real examples of small firms that have successfully used the Internet to exploit niche markets, online based company like maswali.com now want to ensure that Ugandan services and products in particular are known around the world.
With online transaction and a niche market, competition is significantly less, customers are far less likely to engage in price comparisons (and far more willing to tolerate delays and product imperfections), and relatively high freight charges are not so noticeable.
Risks
Companies with physical products may be at a disadvantage. They must deal with the complexities and expenses of international order fulfilment something which has so far prevented even amazon.com from obtaining a profit from its widely utilised online book store operations.
The issues of distribution, warehousing, timely delivery, order tracking and (above all) return of unsatisfactory goods are such as to make most small companies pause before they decide to go into business on a global scale (business over the Internet).
Small companies competing in standardised product areas face serious challenges. Products such as CDs or DVDs - which are effectively identical, and for which only service and price can differentiate sellers - face enormous competition and frequently do not last long. Customers of online stores are notoriously fickle and disloyal.
One example of poor service can be enough to send an online shopper to a rival store, while order fulfilment and product returns are difficult, expensive and logistically complex. It is already becoming apparent that successful online purveyors of CDs, books, DVDs and videos are comparatively large companies which can absorb freight costs, and can offer speedy and efficient returns service for imperfect products.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

ICT Sector Growth Averages 38% Over the Last 4 Years


Over 3.5 million users connected to mobile phone networks
Telecommunication Coverage in Uganda
BackgroundUganda’s Informationand Communications Technology (ICT) sector is dynamic and vibrant. The sector has registered double digit growth since 2000 and grew by 33% in 2006/2007. Investment inflows
have been very strong and in 2006, the sector attracted in excess of US $73 million. Direct employment stands at 6000 while over 350,000 people are indirectly employed. Sector dynamism is a result of Uganda’s
good ICT legal and regulatory framework, a stable micro economic environment and economic reforms
pursued since the early 1990s. The telecommunications sub-sector, formerly dominated by a single national
operator, has been progressively liberalised over the last 10 years. Infrastructure capacity is rapidly improving. Most national and regional transmission links are digital. Optical fiber links connect major economic centres, with expansion in progress. There is extensive use of
microwave in the backbone infrastructure and Vsat Services. International gateways are satellite based but
                                                           
connection to the world optic fiber network is eminent.
This dynamism is a result of a good legal and regulatory framework, a stable micro economic environment
and economic reforms pursued since the early 1990s. Although still small, export of ICT services has
started generating foreign exchange inflows. With Number of telephony Customers and Teledensityvirtually no earnings in 2001, the sector now earns over US $ 10 million per annum.
Improving tele-density
Tele-density as given by percentage of population owning a fixed and or a mobile phone increased from 8% in June 2005 to 13.3% in July 2006. Over the last year (July 2006 to June 2007), Uganda’ subscriber base grew by mores than 1.5 million new contracts, reaching a total of over
3.5 million, representing a 68% annual growth rate.
than 40 percent of the population access telephony using
public pay phones. Additional 10,393 public payphones were installed during the 2006/2007 financial year;
this number represents the phones installed by the three operators and excludes phone kiosks set up by
private businesses.
Expanding the national infrastructure backbone Uganda has launched a US $ 30 million National Data
Transmission Backbone Infrastructure (NBI) and Electronic Government Infrastructure (EGI) project.
The NBI is intended to ensure that affordable high bandwidth data connection is available in all major
towns of the country by 2010. The EGI is designed overhaul government communication infrastructure and
to reduce the cost of doing business in government
Telecommunication Industry Operators – 2007
National Telecom Operator (NTO)-2
Cellular Telecom Operator (CTO)-1
Public Infrastructure Providers (PIP)-4
Public Service Providers (PSP)
- Capacity Resale only-4
PSP- Voice and Data only-10
PSP- Voice and Data plus Capacity resale -2

Investment Opportunities
A wide range of opportunities are available due to Uganda’ geographical location which favours businesss
process outsourcing and low licensing and entry cost. Other positive factors include a strong market
potential across most service areas, a skilled labour force with specialized ICT training, a population that fluently speaks English, low factor costs including land, good quality support infrastructure and a young population suitable for ICT.
Postal Courier Services
68 % of the Ugandan population lives in rural areas and post courier services are still an essential mode of information and services delivery. The postal business has expanded and attracted new investments. The national target is to have a postal access inany areas with more than 250 inhabitants.
 Private Courier services.The need by customers for faster, more secure and efficient mean of goods distribution and delivery has
become more demanding. Whereas substantial volumes of mails are delivered through the
traditional postal systems, same-day or overnight door-to-door delivery services are expected. Private
Licensed courier operators fill this gap. The license authorizes them to carry and convey articles by land
.air and water within Uganda for local licensees and beyond for regional and international licensees.
Indicative Business Opportunities in the Sector
Coverage of servicesThe activities of the private couriers are mainly centered within and between the major urban
centres, while Posta Uganda covers a much wider area of the country. Currently UPL has a network of
11 Regional Head Post Offices, 51 Departmental Post Offices, 255 Sub-Post Offices, over 1623
Stamp Vendors and 70,865 installed private post office boxes. While only a very small proportion
(about 5%) of UPL mail is delivered to home or office addresses, the rest of the deliveries are made through private letterboxes located at Post Offices.
Business Process Outsourcing
Call Centre Services and Business Support
E-Commerce & M-Commerce Solutions and B2B   solutions
Software Development and Training Opportunities
Software testing & Assurance
Data Integration
Data Warehousing and data warehousing
Integrated Solutions Planning
Hardware Equipment Assembly
Multimedia Development
Internet Applications & E-Translation Services
Rural Communications
Broadband Service provision
Software Solutions for Financial Sector
Network Computing /Management software
Intranet Internet &Extranet Applications
Professional Solutions for Manufacturing Industry
IT Education and Training and setting up of ICT  virtual zones



Monday, September 6, 2010

Users of financial statements and Their Information Needs

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The users of financial statements include present and potential investors, employees, lenders, suppliers and other trade creditors, customers, governments and their agencies and the public. They use financial statements in order to satisfy some of their different needs for information. These needs include the following:
(a) Investors. The providers of risk capital and their advisers are concerned with the risk inherent in, and return provided by, their investments. They need information to help them determine whether they should buy, hold or sell. Shareholders are also interested in information which enables them to assess the ability of the enterprise to pay dividends. (b) Employees. Employees and their representative groups are interested in information about the stability and profitability of their employers. They are also interested in information which enables them to assess the ability of the enterprise to provide remuneration, retirement benefits and employment opportunities.
(c) Lenders. Lenders are interested in information that enables them to determine whether their loans, and the interest attaching to them, will be paid when due.
(d) Suppliers and other trade creditors. Suppliers and other creditors are interested in information that enables them to determine whether amounts owing to them will be paid when due. Trade creditors are likely to be interested in an enterprise over a shorter period than lenders unless they are dependent upon the continuation of the enterprise as a major customer.
(e) Customers. Customers have an interest in information about the continuance of an enterprise, especially when they have a long-term involvement with, or are dependent on, the enterprise.
(f) Governments and their agencies. Governments and their agencies are interested in the allocation of resources and, therefore, the activities of enterprises. They also require information in order to regulate the activities of enterprises, determine taxation policies and as the basis for national income and similar statistics.
(g) Public. Enterprises affect members of the public in a variety of ways. For example, enterprises may make a substantial contribution to the local economy in many ways including the number of people they employ and their patronage of local suppliers. Financial statements may assist the public by providing information about the trends and recent developments in the prosperity of the enterprise and the range of its activities.






Saturday, September 4, 2010

Delay in oil exploration is welcome








WAY TO GO: Men at work at Exploration Area 3A near Lake Albert where Heritage drilled the King Fisher well in Hoima

WAY TO GO: Men at work at Exploration Area 3A near Lake Albert where Heritage drilled the King Fisher well in Hoima

By Paul Busharizi

LAST week, our very own locally-produced soap opera, went into an ad break. The show, which trickled into our collective conscience as a rumour at the beginning of the last decade of oil finds in western Uganda, steadily gathered momentum three to five years ago as front page headlines of oil finds literally rained on us, this was proof of billions of barrels of oil under our very feet.

We were rich!
But the plot begun to falter last year when oil explorer Heritage opted to sell their interests in the oil fields after all, they are an exploration company and their job had been done.

Hollywood could not have conjured the cast of characters – bickering government officials, Italians dressed to the nines offering a deal we could not resist, a motley crew of journalists dizzy from being bounced off one side or the other and a hodge podge of do-gooders; MPs, environmentalists, NGOs all also trying to muscle in on the action.

Tullow made a last ditch offer and paid $1.5b for Heritage’s stake in the oil fields to snatch it from Italian firm ENI.

This Kinauganda production would have ended there – and we would have all bumped off (potholes) into the sunset were it not for the small little issue of $404m in taxes Uganda felt was due from the transaction.

But wait a minute!
Heritage who were liable to pay tax had already fled, “Having offloaded its stakes in the Lake Albert fields, Heritage declared it would not be paying $404m capital gains tax due on the deal.

(Heritage CEO Tony) Buckingham… cleared his men out of Uganda with military precision,” the Financial Times wrote this week, leaving Uganda empty handed and Tullow holding the bag.

Like a slighted lover Uganda lashed back repossessing the most lucrative oil fields from Tullow and hinting that since she did not recognise the transaction between Heritage and Tullow even one other oil field’s fate was up in the air.

That is the current state of play.

Oil was supposed to be gushing out of our wells and its proceeds sealing our potholes, furnishing our primary schools and stocking our hospitals in 2009.

In hindsight, we see that Uganda was truly out of its depth and the current impasse, which has put pause to progress is blessing in disguise.

Maybe now we can take a step back and re-examine ourselves – what do we want to achieve and how do we want to achieve that, set up the necessary conditions before we can jump back into the fray.

Of course, people in the know argue that Uganda has a very progressive oil policy (which somehow did not work as seen above) and that we will not know how ready we are until oil production begins.

The suggestion being that we should jump into the pool and find out whether we can swim once inside.

Abraham Lincoln once said that if he was given eight hours to fell a tree he would spend the first seven hours sharpening the axe. Uganda should do likewise.

The risk that we can go the way of Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea or any number of countries that have squandered their natural resource in a blaze of corruption, consumption and white elephants is a very real one for Uganda regardless of what our government says.

To begin with, let’s look at how much money will accrue to Ugandans, as it stands now taxes and a few shillings on the side seem to be all. But that need not be the case.

In the Middle East and Asia,
governments negotiate a stake in the oil producing companies so that beyond taxes they can also benefit from retaining a share of the profits.

At a later stage, these same stakes can be floated on the Uganda Securities Exchange so regular Ugandans benefit too from the spoils of the land.

The Government’s insistence that a refinery should be built in the country is a laudable one, and one that should be supported by all of us. Refining our own oil rather than export crude oil can spawn beyond the oil refining, fertiliser, pharmaceutical and other petro-chemical industries.

The feasibility of this endeavour is still under review but commonsense dictates that we extract maximum benefit from our own resources.

But because even our billions of barrels will run out sooner than later, that’s why we need to plan assiduously for this resource.

The lull in excitement, until the next episode, is time we badly need to prepare.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Uganda Institute of Information and Communications Technology


1. Uganda Institute of Information and
Communications Technology (UICT) has allocated
funds to be used for the Supply, delivery,
installation and commissioning (including
training of the users) of Electronic /
Telecommunication and Laboratory
Equipments.

2. Uganda Institute of Information and
Communications Technology (UICT) invites
sealed bids from eligible bidders for the Supply,
delivery, installation and commissioning
(including training of the users) of Electronic /
Telecommunication and Laboratory Equipment.

3. Bidding will be conducted in accordance with
the open international bidding procedures contained
in the Government of Uganda’s Public
Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act,
2003; and is open to all eligible bidders.

4. Interested eligible bidders may obtain further
information from Uganda Institute of
Information and Communications Technology
(UICT) and inspect the bidding documents at
the address given below at 7(a) from 8:30am
to 4:30pm on working days.

5. A complete set of Bidding Documents in
English may be purchased by interested bidders
on the submission of a written application
to the address below at 7(b) and upon
payment of a non-refundable fee of UGX
100,000 (Uganda Shillings One Hundred
Thousand only). The method of payment will
be by deposit on the Uganda Institute of
Information and Communications Technology
account against a bank deposit slip issued in
the Procurement and Disposal Unit (PDU) at
the Institute, located on Plot 9-21 Port Bell
Road, Nakawa. The document will be picked by
the bidders from the address given in 7.0. A
pre-bid meeting shall be held on Friday
August 27th, 2010 starting at 11:00am at the
address in 7(b).
6. Bids must be delivered to the address below at
7(a) at or before 11am on October 1st, 2010.

All bids must be accompanied by a bid security
of UGX 12,000,000 (Uganda Shillings Twelve
Million only). Late bids shall be rejected. Bids
will be opened in the presence of the bidders’
representatives who choose to attend at the
address below at 7(b) at 11:30am on October
1st, 2010.

7. (a) Address documents may be inspected at,
issued from and delivered to:
The Head, Procurement and Disposal Unit
Uganda Institute of Information and
Communications Technology
Plot 9-21Port Bell Road, Nakawa
Tel: 0414-220490
(b) Address of Bid Opening:
The Board Room
Uganda Institute of Information and
Communications Technology
Plot 9-21Port Bell Road, Nakawa
Ground Floor, Administration Block
PRINCIPAL

UGANDA INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION
AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
BID NOTICE UNDER OPEN INTERNATIONAL BIDDING
SUPPLY, DELIVERY, INSTALLATION AND COMMISSIONING (INCLUDING TRAINING OF
USERS) OF ELECTRONIC / TELECOMMUNICATION AND LABORATORY EQUIPMENTS
UICT/SUPLS/09-10/00007
1. Uganda Institute of Information and
Communications Technology (UICT) has allocated
funds to be used for the acquisition of
Consultancy Services for the development of
a Strategic Plan and Business Plan for UICT.
2. UICT invites sealed bids from eligible bidders
for the provision of Consultancy Services for
the development of a Strategic Plan and
Business Plan for UICT.
3. Bidding will be conducted in accordance with
the open domestic bidding procedures contained
in the Government of Uganda’s Public
Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets
Act, 2003; and is open to all eligible bidders.
4. Interested eligible bidders may obtain further
information from Uganda Institute of
Information and Communications Technology
(UICT) and inspect the bidding documents at
the address given below at 7(a) from 8:30am
to 4:30pm on working days.
5. A complete set of Bidding Documents in
English may be purchased by interested bidders
on the submission of a written application
to the address below at 7(a) and upon
payment of a non-refundable fee of UGX
50,000 (Uganda Shillings Fifty Thousand
only). The method of payment will be by
deposit on the UICT account against a bank
deposit slip issued in the Procurement and
Disposal Unit (PDU) at the Institute, Plot 9-21
Port Bell Road, Nakawa. The document will
be picked by the bidders from the address
given in 7.0. A pre-bid meeting shall be held
on Friday August 13th, 2010 starting at
11:00am at the address in 7(b).
6. Bids must be delivered to the address below
at 7(a) at or before 11am on September 3rd,
2010. Late bids shall be rejected. Bids will be
opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives
who choose to attend at the
address below at 7(b) at 11:30am on
September 3rd, 2010.
7. (a) Address documents may be inspected
at, issued from and delivered to:
The Head, Procurement and Disposal Unit
Uganda Institute of Information and
Communications Technology
Plot 9-21Port Bell Road, Nakawa
Ground Floor, Business Development Centre
Room
Tel: 0414-220490
(b) Address of Bid Opening:
The Board Room
Uganda Institute of Information and
Communications Technology
Plot 9-21Port Bell Road, Nakawa
Ground Floor, Administration Block
PRINCIPAL
UGANDA INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION
AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
BID NOTICE UNDER OPEN DOMESTIC BIDDING
CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A STRATEGIC PLAN AND A
BUSINESS PLAN FOR UGANDA INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION AND
COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY (UICT)
UICT/SRVCS/09-10/00102


UEDCL - Tender

UEDCL - Tender
Thursday, 19th August, 2010
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1. Invitation to supply and deliver a pole handler tractor Procurement reference number: UEDCL/SUPLS/2010/10713
The Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited has allocated funds to be used for acquisition of a
pole handler tractor.

Bidding will be conducted in accordance with the Open Domestic Bidding procedures contained in the
Government of Uganda's Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act No1 of 2003 and the
Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets regulations No. 70 of 2003 and is open to all eligible
bidders.

Interested eligible bidders may obtain further information from Uganda Electricity Distribution Company
Limited and inspect the bidding documents at the address given below from 9.00am to 12.00noon and
2.00pm to 5.00pm on working days.

A complete set of bidding documents in English may be purchased by the interested bidders on the submission
of a written application to the address indicated below and upon payment of a non-refundable fee of Ug.Shs.50,000 or its equivalent in USD. The method of payment will be upon presentation of banking slip.

Documents will be delivered by hand or post. No liability will be accepted for loss or late delivery.

A pre-bid meeting will be held on 6th September 2010 at UEDCL Lugogo Pole Plant & Stores at 11.00am.
Bids must be delivered to the address below at or before 10.00am 23rd September 2010.

All bids must
be accompanied by a bid security of UGX 5,000,000 (Uganda Shillings Five Million only).

Late bids shall be rejected. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders� representatives who choose to attend at the address below on 23rd September 2010 at 10.30am.

Documents may be inspected from Room C408 Amber House, 4th Floor

Documents will be issued from Room C408 Amber House, 4th Floor

Documents will be delivered to Room C408 Amber House, 4th Floor

Bids will be opened from Room No. C410 Amber House, 4th Floor
UEDCL IS NOT BOUND TO ACCEPT THE LOWEST BID OR ANY BID
ACCOUNTING OFFICER

2. Invitation for construction of distribution power lines Procurement reference number: UEDCL/WORKS/2010/10709
The Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited has allocated funds to be used for construction of distribution
power lines..
1. Nakigo, Bulubandi, Bugabwe, Kabira, Nawanzu, Buseyi, Butankeire and Wairama power line UGX.3,700,000.

2. Nawanjovu Sub County Headquarters, Bingo, Bubalya, Budembe, Kaiti and Nasingi UGX.5,400,000
Bidding will be conducted in accordance with the Open Domestic Bidding procedures contained in the Government
of Uganda's Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act No1 of 2003 and The Public Procurement and
Disposal of Public Assets regulations No. 70 of 2003 and is open to all eligible bidders.

Interested eligible bidders may obtain further information from Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited and inspect the bidding documents at the address given below from 9.00am to 12.00noon and 2.00pm to 5.00pm on working days.

A complete set of bidding documents in English may be purchased by the interested bidders on the submission of
a written application to the address below and upon payment of a non-refundable fee of Ug.shs.50,000 or its equivalent in USD.

The method of payment will be upon presentation of banking slip. Documents will be delivered by hand or post. No liability will be accepted for loss or late delivery.

A pre-bid meeting will be held on 7th September 2010 at UEDCL Boardroom Amber House 4th Floor Room
C410 at 10.00am.

Bids must be delivered to the address below at or before 10.00am 21st September 2010.

Late bids shall be rejected. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders� representatives who choose to attend
at the address below on 21st September 2010 at 10.30am.

Documents may be inspected from Room No. B.502, 5th Floor, Amber House

Documents will be issued from Room No. B.502, 5th Floor, Amber House

Documents will be delivered to Room No. B.502, 5th Floor, Amber House

Bids will be opened from Room No. C410, 4th Floor, Amber House

UEDCL IS NOT BOUND TO ACCEPT THE LOWEST BID OR ANY BID
ACCOUNTING OFFICER

Maxwell Stamp PLC - TENDER

Maxwell Stamp PLC - TENDER
Monday, 16th August, 2010
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Call for Expression of Interest for the Evaluation Component of the Uganda Cash Transfer Scheme - Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (SAGE)

Deadline for Submission: 5PM Uganda time Monday 13th September 2010

The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MoGLSD), with support from UKaid/DfID and Irish Aid, is implementing the Expanding Social Protection Programme (ESPP).

The ESPP is a five year programme coordinated by the Social Protection Secretariat within the MoGLSD and
includes a pilot cash transfer scheme, the SAGE programme that will provide regular cash transfers to vulnerable families living in chronic poverty.

SAGE will work initially in fourteen districts, reaching 15% of households in target districts, with the aim of subsequent national scale-up.

The management contract to support implementation of this project has been awarded to Maxwell Stamp PLC who are now seeking an organisation - or consortium of organisations - to undertake the evaluation of the SAGE Programme.

The purpose of the Evaluation Component is to provide a comprehensive evaluation on the impact, efficiency and effectiveness of the SAGE cash transfer programme. Proposals are invited from qualified organisations and consortia to provide this evaluation function.

A fair and transparent procurement process will be used to select one Service Provider based on their compliance with the requirements and score against the assessment criteria.
Any interested party wishing to participate in the prequalification
procedure is invited to contact the following e-mail address for a copy of the Note on Expression of Interest Requirements and other relevant
documents: ESPP@maxwellstamp.com with the e-mail subject line containing the words: EoI/Impact Evaluation

The completed Expression of Interest can be sent to the above e-mail address, or delivered by hand to the
following physical address 5PM Uganda time Monday 13th September 2010. An organisation or consortium missing this deadline may not be considered by the bid panel.

The Finance & Procurement Manager,
Maxwell Stamp PLC
Plot No 9, Lourdel Hill,
Nakasero Road, Kampala, Uganda
Ref: EoI/Impact evaluation

The purpose of this call for EOI is to identify appropriate bidders (whether an organisation or consortium) who could be selected to make proposals to
Maxwell Stamp PLC; it does not constitute an invitation to tender. A consortium of organizations
requires one lead organisation with whom the contract can be signed.

This lead organization can only appear in one bid.

Supporting organizations may bid though more than one proposal.

Maxwell Stamp PLC will adjudicate on the pre-selection of bidders according to criteria which will be set out in the Note on Expression of Interest Submission
Requirements.

Ministry of Works and Transport Telegram - Tender

Ministry of Works and Transport Telegram - Tender
Thursday, 19th August, 2010
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Ministry of Works and Transport Telegram: �MINIWORKS, Telephone: 256-41-320101/9, Telex: 61313 WORKS UGAFax: 256-41-320135, E-Mail: MOWHC@imul.com, Headquarters, P O Box 10, ENTEBBE, Uganda.

Invitation to Bid for Rehabilitation Works of Paraa-Pakuba Road (22km) In Amuru District

1.The Government of the Republic of Uganda has allocated funds in this fiscal year�s budget (2010/11) for works to improve the conditions of priority roads in the oil prospecting areas of the Albertine region.

2. The Government of the Republic of Uganda represented by Ministry of Works and Transport, hereinafter referred to as �the Employer� wishes to receive bids for the rehabilitation of Paraa-Pakuba road(22Km) in Amuru district

3.The Ministry accordingly invites sealed bids for the execution of the rehabilitation works whose scope includes: bush clearance, heavy grading, major drainage improvements, and gravelling.

4. Bidding will be conducted in accordance with the Open Domestic Bidding procedures contained in the Government of Uganda�s Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act, 2003.

5. The bidder is obliged to visit and examine the site of works, its surroundings and obtain all information that may be necessary for preparing the tender and entering into contract for execution of the works. The cost of visiting the site shall be born by the bidder. Failure to submit a site visit certificate duly endorsed by the Amuru District Local Government Engineer will lead to disqualification of the bid on account of being non responsive.

6.Bidding documents (and additional copies) may be purchased from the office of the: The Head, Procurement and Disposal Unit, Ministry of Works and Transport, Headquarters. Airport Road, Plot No. 4/6 P.O. Box 10, Entebbe at a non-refundable fee of U Shs. 50.000/= or its equivalent in a freely convertible currency for each copy.

7.For any clarifications or information,please contact:The Head, Procurement and Disposal Unit,Ministry of Works and Transport,Headquarters.Airport Road, Plot No. 4/6P.O. Box 10, Entebbe.Tel: 041-320101/9Fax: 041-320135/321364Telex 61313from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm from Monday to Friday except on Public Holidays.

8. A Prebid meeting shall be held as follows: Venue: Ministry of Works and Transport, Headquarters. Airport Road, Plot No. 4/6 P.O. Box 10, Entebbe. Date: Thursday, 2nd September 2010 Time: 11:00am

9. Bids shall be valid for a period of one hundred and twenty (120) Calendar days after bid opening and must be accompanied by a security in form of a bank draft or bank guarantee amounting to Ushs.10, 000,000/= (Ten million Shillings only) for this lot in the names of Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works and Transport.

10. Bids must be delivered to:The Head, Procurement and Disposal Unit,Ministry of Works and Transport, Headquarters.Airport Road, Plot No. 4/6P.O. Box 10, EntebbeOn or before 11:00am. on Thursday 16th September 2010 at which time the bids will be opened in the presence of bidders� representatives who may choose to attend.C. Muganzi
PERMANENT SECRETARY