By Staff Writer

Some things make you obsessed. Some cannot stop using a football betting Uganda site, others cannot give up smoking. And almost every famous person is familiar with compulsive stalking by obsessive fans, which often turns into a direct threat to life. These are the most terrifying stalker stories.

Kendall Jenner 

In an interview, Kendall Jenner revealed that she encounters this phenomenon almost every month.

In 2016, 25-year-old Shavon McKenzie broke into the model’s home and hid in the driveway of her garage, and when she pulled out of the garage, he started banging on the car. 

McKenzie was sentenced to six months in jail for the home invasion, but was acquitted of the stalking charge.

In 2018, the star had a new obsessive fan, John Ford. He broke into her home four times in three months. The stalker ended up getting a five-year ban from approaching the star.

Harry Styles

In 2019, Spanish citizen Pablo Tarazaga-Orero stalked actor, singer and TikTok user favorite Harry Styles for months. The musician said he met his stalker while he was sleeping at a bus stop. Stiles took pity on him and offered to buy him food or pay for a hotel. Tarazaga-Orero said he was a vegan and asked to be fed Japanese edamame beans. Stiles brought him lunch from a vegan cafe. That’s where the obsession began. 

The man set up a tent near Stiles’ home in north London and followed him around for three months. Tarazaga-Orero put money and notes in the celebrity’s mailbox, followed him everywhere, and once tried to grab the actor as he walked to the pub.

At the trial, Tarazaga-Orero said that Stiles himself offered to have sex with him. Stalker was sentenced to a year of community supervision, a small fine and a month of psychological treatment, and was banned from interacting with the singer, posting posts about him on social media and coming within 250 meters of him. In late 2020, he violated the ban – posting to Stiles on Facebook. The case for violating the restraining order is now pending in court.

Keira Knightley

In 2017, British actress Keira Knightley and her husband, former Klaxons musician James Wrighton, encountered an extravagant stalker. He was obsessed not only with the star family, but also with cats. Mark Reville, 50, sent the Knightley family notes and postcards with cats, and once sent a thumb drive with the song “The Fuzzy Kitty Waltz” in his own performance and asked the star to appreciate the song and perform it on stage. Another time, a man came to Knightley’s family home and started meowing into her mailbox. The actress’ spouse chased him away.

Reville commented on the story on Twitter, “If Wrighton plays the devil, I have to play the public punisher, right?” He also posted nude photos of Keira Knightley on social media.

In December 2016, the man was arrested. A psychiatric evaluation revealed that he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. It turned out that he had repeatedly committed inappropriate acts in the past: taking nude pictures of children, sending letters with threats or obscenities to various people, and once nakedly climbing into a nurse’s house. The court ordered him to undergo compulsory treatment, sentenced him to a fine and eight weeks in jail, and forbade him to approach members of Knightley’s family.

The post 3 Most Terrifying Star Stalking Stories appeared first on BigEye.UG.

Anna Reismann, the Country Director Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung gives her remarks during the Uganda Social Media Conference on Wednesday.

By Our Reporter

Governments, especially on the African continent, have been urged to forge diplomatic ties with the Big Tech companies such as Facebook and Apple.

This was during a panel discussion at the Uganda Social Media Conference that was held on Wednesday at the Kampala Serena Hotel.

The discussion is timely as it comes when Facebook is currently banned in Uganda. The ban on the social media platform was in retaliation to a takedown of several pro-government accounts on the platform which were accused of trying to manipulate voters online during the general election that was held early this year.

Awel Uwihanganye, the Founder and Senior Director LéO Africa Institute, emphasized that African governments need to be intentional in their diplomatic efforts towards building vibrant relationships with Big Tech companies.

“Government or any other institutions can’t actually disregard the idea of building a vibrant sort of diplomacy with big tech companies,” Awel Uwihanganye said. “The level of how much influence these companies increasingly have on our operations, activities, and now informing public perception is huge.”

He further cited how governments are losing a lot out in revenue as they have failed to secure concessions with these tech giants and thus are not part of the financial transactions happening on their platforms.

“We don’t have much of a choice. We need to find strategic ways of engaging these companies in a way of protecting ourselves, but also making sure we are pushing our own interests.” Uwihanganye added.

The significant role played by these tech companies in our day-to-day lives was reechoed by Anna Reismann, the Country Director Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, who revealed that social media today is being used to inform audiences, increase business opportunities as well as advocating for good causes and seeking support.

She, however, advised users to apply caution while on these platforms. “Data has become a valuable source, and the way we use the data can empower or destroy.” Anna Reismann said. “We should teach everyone in society to be critical with what they do and see online. I think this is the only way to know where their data goes, who uses it and for what.”

Commenting on the social media censorship, Moses Owiny, the ED Centre for Multilateral Affairs Uganda said, “Content regulations should not imply censorship. Good regulation must be able to take into account the competing and diverging interests and requirements of all actors and not be biased and intrusive.”

However, Neema Iyer, the Founder Pollicy Org expressed skepticism on how governments can create effective regulation for emerging technologies as technology is fast changing.

“I think that the way the current legal system is set up does not work with the speed at which technology moves. The legal process to make these laws takes a long time, and by the time you make the law, the tech has changed and the law becomes irrelevant.” Neema Iyer said.

The Uganda Social Media Conference, now in its 6th edition, is organized by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in a bid to bring together key stakeholders from the government, civil society, academia, media and the general public to exchange ideas on the state and impact of social media on politics and society, highlighting both the opportunities and challenges it brings.

The post Why governments should build diplomatic relations with Big Tech companies appeared first on BigEye.UG.

By Our Reporter

In March this year, MTN Uganda launched an exciting Tik Tok bundle offer that gives Tik Tok users unlimited access to the App for 24 hours at only Shs.2,000. This followed the success of the “Tik Tok Free” that was launched last year, giving customers free 5minutes for Tik Tok upon a purchase of 15mbs daily data bundle.

As a growing entertainment channel that is fun yet data intensive, MTN’s Tik Tok data bundle is a move that has been welcomed by many users of the application.

Tik Tok is the new way to consume bite sized fun videos for the youth. The social media platform is used to make a variety of short-form videos across genres like dance, comedy, education, Finance, crypto currency, fashion, cookery, fitness and health among a plethora of topics. The videos that have a duration from 15 to 60 seconds and the nature of its vast and unpredictable content is what makes them more appealing.

MTN has gone into partnership with Tik Tok to promote the service among its customers. The Tik Tok bundles are available to all MTN Prepaid and Postpaid customers with compatible handsets. The Tik Tok bundle can be conveniently purchased via the MyMTN App, MOMO App, Pulse App and Mobile Money.

Harold Mubiru, an ardent Tik Toker says that the heavy data requirements for one to use the app are forbidding yet the app is loaded with lots of entertaining and educative content.

“I personally used to love spending more time on Tik Tok but I couldn’t because it is very heavy on data. I would end up going a few days without posting content due to lack of data,” Mubiru said, adding that he used to spend anywhere between Shs.5,000 and 15,000 on data per day to keep his Tik Tok account active.

However, the introduction of the dedicated Tik Tok Data bundle from MTN changed his narrative.

“Now I can stay on the App as long as I like to create and monitor my posts while also looking out for the trends that I can hop on to without worrying about data,” says Mubiru, “The best part is that for just 2k, I can post heavy videos and even hold a Tik Tok Live session which used to cost me 10,000 back then before the MTN Tik Tok Bundle offer.”

Mubiru explains that the affordable MTN Tik Tok bundles have helped him to be consistent with content creation, something that is helping him grow his following further. Now with over 60K followers and counting.

Commenting about the offer, Onyait Odeke, the MTN Uganda Manager Digital Services GTM said that, “We realized that Tik Tok is a growing entertainment platform that was fun but data intensive. That is why we decided to create a bundle that is time based as opposed to volume based to enable our customers spend more time creating and viewing content on this platform.”

Odeke further noted that since majority of the Tik Tok users are young, data would be an issue thus the need for a more affordable bundle that gives them unlimited access for 24 hours at only Shs.2000.

Opportunities:

Although many people simply use Tik Tok for entertainment purposes, Mubiru who also joined the App for fun has overtime started earning from his content.

Since 2019 when he joined the platform, Mubiru has garnered a following of over 60K followers, giving his content a big reach, which has in turn attracted business towards him. His clientele is mostly artistes who pay him for his choreography services based on the dance videos that he posts on Tik Tok.

“So, you can say Tik Tok has given me a platform to showcase my dancing abilities and I am earning from that as I wait for university to reopen so I can go back and carry on with my studies,” Mubiru says.

Yvonne Namakula known as @Thisoctoberfairy on Tik Tok is also an ardent Tik Toker who joined the platform less than a year ago and has grown her following to nearly 200K in a matter of months. She is currently one of sought after Tik Tok influencers, which has not only left her Tik Tok famous but has also ensured she smiles her way to the bank.

Like Mubiru, she is also a student who only discovered Tik Tok during the thick of the lockdown last year. So far, she has turned what would have been redundant days to productive days that have also put money in her pocket during the pandemic.

“This implies that by making the bundle affordable, we are not only providing infotainment for our content viewing customers, but we are also supporting our content creating customers to earn seamlessly from their efforts,” Odeke said.

Whether you are a content creator like Namakula and Mubiru or a content viewer who loves to binge watch Tik Tok videos in your free time, the MTN Tik Tok bundle will give you 24 hours’ access to the app for only Shs.2000.

The post How MTN solved the data dilemma for Ugandan Tik Tokers appeared first on BigEye.UG.

By Our Reporter

With more people working and studying from home since the insurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for reliable and fast internet in homes has grown more than ever. With the multiple virtual meetings and online classes, more people are increasingly becoming aware of the need for home internet solutions that offer fast and reliable, yet affordable connectivity to the entire household.

Lynette Nabwire, a communications executive and mother who has been working from home since April 2020 attests to the need for a more practical internet source if one is to have a seamless work-from-home experience.

“Back in the day, I only needed my mobile data on the phone to be able to browse social media, read a few online articles and occasionally check my work email and nothing serious. However, when it came to meetings and sharing heavy work documents,” says Nabwire, “I started to get frustrated with how with the inconvenience that came with using my phone as a hotspot for myself and the kids.”

However, all that changed when Nabwire got herself an MTN Wakanet Max kit which she says has simplified her work-from-home experience a great deal.

“I have had a seamless work from home experience since then. All I do is power my laptop, attend all my day’s meetings and deliver all my work on email in the comfort of my home. And the best part is that the data bundles are affordable and they do not expire,” Nabwire says.

According to Somdev Sen, the MTN Uganda Chief Marketing Officer, MTN WakaNet MAX is a home Internet solution that offers affordable and reliable 4G data connectivity to up to 32 gadgets, with a single WakaNet MAX router, making it ideal for families that need to use it for work, study as well as entertainment.

The MTN WakaNet MAX starter kit comes at an initial cost of UGX 245,000 which includes the one-off cost of the router and 35GB data bundle with no expiry, while recharges start from as low as UGX55,000 for 20 GB which has no expiry meaning a customer can use the data for as long as it lasts, based on his or her consumption.

But that is not all. If you happen to be a heavy data user who may not find the MTN Wakanet MAX data bundles appealing enough, then Somdev recommends the MTN Wakanet PRO, which is essentially Fiber to the Home (FTTH), a fixed Home Internet solution delivered using fiber optic cable directly to your home.

“MTN Wakanet PRO provides a reliable high-speed internet connection with no cap on data volume to meet your home entertainment, education, surveillance, and home office needs,” Says Somdev.

However, MTN WakaNet PRO is currently available only in specific locations that are listed on the My MTN app. To get this service, simply go to the My MTN app, go to Buy, select WakaNet PRO, then follow the prompts to request for the service.

Oswald Nuwagaba, a graphics designer who recently got Wakanet PRO connected to his home is now a happy employee working from the comfort of his home with superfast internet.

“I chose the MTN Wakanet PRO because I’m a heavy data user by the nature of my job that involves sharing heavy files,” Nuwagaba says, “And like they say, all work without play… Well, after a long productive day, I love to unwind with my Netflix series that I can now happily watch without any worries.”

Somdev highlights that the maximum speeds are 20Mbps on the Standard package and 40Mbps on the Premium package. The packages go for a monthly charge of UGX 195,000 and UGX 295,000 respectively with an initial installation fee of UGX 100,000.

In addition to enabling your work and study from home needs, both MTN Wakanet MAX and MTN Wakanet PRO are home internet solutions that are designed to cater to all your home internet needs ranging from home surveillance, entertainment, video streaming and powering all the internet enabled gadgets and devices in your home. All you have to do is choose what works for you.

The post How MTN has improved the work from home experience for customers appeared first on BigEye.UG.

Ibrahim Senyonga, the GM MTN Enterprise Business Unit.

By Ibrahim Senyonga

The pandemic has ceased to be news and is now part of our lives. However, what still catches the ears of the public is the impact the pandemic is creating in our society. For businesses especially, some have suffered the wrath of the ever-changing economic landscape occasioned by the virus. The tough punch dealt to potential customers’ incomes through job loss doesn’t help the situation. However, a firm and determined business should have the agility to adapt to the situation.

One of the ways to remain afloat and beat the virus is to digitize.

Since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a paradigm shift towards digitization of business operations across the 21 sectors. We are witnessing an extreme reliance on ICT solutions as businesses seek for alternative ways to remain productive during and after the pandemic. A plethora of businesses have shifted operations to digital platforms. Host platforms have reported an increase in merchants and evidently the rationale is to boost sales even during the lockdown. This is also evidenced by the increase in demand for stable internet connection especially working at home as well as mobile money payments for businesses both in Kampala and outside Kampala.

Effective and frequent communication

However digitization ought to be coupled with effective communication if your business is to succeed. At MTN, we offer customized three in 1 packages including voice, SMS and internet to enable you effectively run your online business.

Expose your business widely

One of the concerns with the pandemic is the reduced disposable income amongst the public. But the beauty with digitization is the endless pool of markets.

Digitization opens your business up to markets in Uganda, across regions and globally. This is important because whereas one market could be affected, another market presents an opportunity for your business.

Endeavor to scale your business operations online. Do not limit your business only to in-country operations, have a presence and representation through website, phone contacts among others on not only national but also international level.

Look for value pockets

As a small business, it is also important to carry out a post-mortem during this period to understand your value pockets. It is important to understand who is currently driving your revenue. Your current client base might be different from over 6 months or even two years ago.

Once you have figured that out, create a strategy on engaging those currently driving your revenue and the future prospects of the client base and ensure discipline to follow through with the strategy to the letter. Focus on that strategy and ensure you have the technical capability to effectively execute it.

One of the tenets of the strategy should be to examine the way a business can redefine its products and services to suit the demand or situation caused by the pandemic. In MTN’s case, prior to the pandemic, investment of large scale internet majorly targeted large corporations in central business districts but that has since changed to cater to residential areas and smaller businesses as working from home persists.

Standing out on digital

And as more businesses digitize, your business needs to set itself apart. The first step is to ensure your business is digitized with great connectivity. MTN has fibre from border to border across over 50 major districts in Uganda and we have channel partners to support the digitization process. MTN also has fibre close to over 300 estates in the central business districts available to support work from home.

As a business, you also ought to have a number of payment options to enable customers to pay from anywhere at their convenience. Through mobile money, one of the commonest means of money transfer in Uganda, MTN enables businesses to ease the payment process through MoMo for Business solutions which can be accessed at talk business on the MTN website.

About Author:
Ibrahim Senyonga is the General Manager Enterprise Business Unit at MTN Uganda.

The post Tips to drive sales for your business amid the pandemic appeared first on BigEye.UG.

Betty Tiisa Asalirwa

By Our Reporter

In Uganda about 37% of the of the pupils who complete primary school education do not progress to secondary according to World Bank’s 13th report titled: Economic Update on Human Capital in Uganda released in 2019. This is due to a number of reasons such as failure to meet the set performance target, as well as various social and economic factors.

This is not any different from Betty Tiisa Asalirwa’s story ten years ago. With a pocket full of dreams, the then 13-year-old from Kyengera Parents Day and Boarding Primary School, who had scored aggregate 4 in Primary Leaving Examinations, saw her dreams crash before her when she failed to raise tuition worth UGX 875.000/-.

Tiisa who is the last born in the family of four children knew that if miracles, which she still believed in, didn’t happen soon, then she would not have a chance to join secondary school despite her excellent results. Her mother, Noerine Nantongo – who was already separated from her father – was only a bread vendor in Kyengera. And her father, Christopher Sentongo, a peasant in Rakai. Together, they were struggling to send her three siblings to school.

Worried that her vacancy at her first-choice school St. Mary’s College, Namagunga would be forfeited, Tiisa together with her aunt, Christine Nakamatte Kato (who had taken her under her care from the age of two), reached out to a local newspaper to appeal to well-wishers who could stitch her niece’s already breaking dream and make it whole.

On 13 February, 2011, her story was published in a local daily and it caught the attention of CiplaQCIL, just three days before the beginning of a new term. CiplaQCIL reached out with an offer to meet all the costs of Tiisa’s secondary and university education.

“When we reached CiplaQCIL, they offered to meet all the costs associated with her education. That very day we were also taken to the market to buy all the school requirements. It was indeed God at work,” said Nakamatte blissfully.

Tiisa went ahead to attend her dream school St. Mary’s College, Namagunga for both O’ and A’ level and thereafter attended Makerere University on full scholarship to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Chemistry.

Today she is working as a production trainee at CiplaQCIL for six months and is excited for her future with the company.

“We did not stop at giving her a chance to education. We have been apart of this amazing journey by giving her an opportunity to work during her senior six vacation, internship placement and employment immediately after graduation,” said CiplaQCIL management.

The post How CiplaQCIL enabled Tiisa Asalirwa’s dream for a chance at a better life appeared first on BigEye.UG.

By Staff Writer

Life has never been so full and demanding. But it’s still the same 24 hours in a day. When do we have time to both read a book you want, work, and go out with friends? With such a rhythm of life, it is almost inevitable that we find ourselves under stress, even when we just don’t know what to expect fromsports results at 22Bet Uganda or are going on a trip for a couple of days. Chronic stress leads to burnout, in which your personality seems to “turn off”.

But what if worrying and experiencing acute stress is not necessary and one can allow oneself to live differently? That’s what mindfulness, a focused, non-judgmental perception of reality, makes possible.

What Is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is the practice of focusing purposefully on the present moment, a skill one develops through meditation or other training.

Hard to understand? But think about it…

When you drink tea in the morning, where are you, where are your thoughts and feelings? Maybe you’re thinking about a new project and worrying that you won’t finish it on time? Or maybe you are arguing with your co-workers or fighting with your boss? Or having an internal dialogue with a relative or acquaintance?

Mindfulness is the ability to simply drink tea. Here and now. Feeling its taste, temperature, warmth in the chest and stomach. The ability to feel joy, satisfaction and happiness from it, because it’s no accident that we drink tea.

How Mindfulness Helps Us Live Happily

Once we set a goal, we start and run without looking back, not noticing the landscape, what’s going on around us, or how we feel. Often, when we get to the goal, we are already completely devastated, and even achieving it cannot return the energy spent and the parts of our “self” lost along the way.

Mindfulness allows us to choose to go into freeze mode, to be in the moment, as in slow motion. In this moment we don’t aspire, don’t evaluate, don’t plan, but live, feel what we are, live our feelings.

What This Freeze Frame Gives Us

• Impulse control. We are very impulsive, we often act “on impulse,” and then we wonder how we got to where we are, and how we can get out of here.
• The ability to rest fully. Just let yourself sit in a chair and breathe, relaxed, for ten minutes. Saves from burnout, chronic fatigue and nervous breakdowns.
• The talent of not snapping at others. To stop a second before our anxiety, anger, resentment, anger at ourselves spills out with a harsh word to a colleague, a yell at a child, an unrestrained scolding at a car owner who carelessly “cuts off” you on the highway.
• Self-care. In moments of awareness and slowing down, we can avoid comparing ourselves to anyone else, not peer to any goals, but finally listen to our own needs and values. This is an invaluable moment of self-acceptance and goodwill toward ourselves.
• The feeling of a full, fulfilled, vibrant life. Suddenly catching yourself feeling happy, excited, piercingly sad, and overflowing with energy is the very meaning of life that constantly “eludes” us.

The post How to Start Living in the Moment: Practicing Mindfulness in Everyday Life appeared first on BigEye.UG.

By Our Reporter

As gambling takes on the world by storm, we have seen all manner of regulations arising within the industry. Regulators seem to be in a hurry to assert control as much as they can. Luckily, some of these regulations do more good for the gambling industry than we give it credit.

Whether you are a beginner or have been in the industry for a long time, you will find it beneficial to gamble at a legal real money baccarat casino than an illegal one. Doing so helps you feel secure throughout your gaming encounter and gives you the confidence that your money will not just get lost.

As far as these regulations are concerned, each country seems to have adopted some set of things that a genuine casino must meet. The gambling sites that meet these requirements often tend to offer the best gaming experiences. Keep reading to learn more about the common forms of legal gambling, their benefits, and how these regulations compare across different countries.

Countries with the Best-Regulated Gambling Industry Laws

As we make significant progress in the gambling world, different countries also develop varying regulations for the available legal games. Certain countries such as Australia do not come out clearly on their approach to gambling. Whereas you may openly play games like bingo in Australia, the country is reputable for other strict enforcements.

1. Canada

Canada is divided into ten provinces, all of which are self-governing. Significant changes to the existing powers to governors are granted by the federal government calls for a change in the country’s constitution. This is an important point to consider because, by extension, it implies each province has its laws regarding gambling. A common baseline is that the existing laws favor the industry and foster successful gambling throughout Canada.

Most conversations about gambling in Canada typically reference Ontario. That does not come as a surprise considering that it has the highest population in the country. It has over 25 land-based casinos and offers different games and gambling events that cut across slot machines, horse racing, sports betting, lottery, and charitable gambling. Lotteries, slot machines, and horse racing appear to be the standard games throughout Canadian provinces.

Currently, no Canadian province has developed regulations around fantasy betting. Similarly, skill games and competitions that are not subject to chance do not face any regulation.

2. France

Gambling is legally recognized in France and even has a legal age for the practice. Whereas there were higher age restrictions in the past, the country adjusted its laws by 1987, lowering the minimum age to gamble from 21 to 18. Slot machines also gained legal status in 1988, which marked a deviation from the previous ban.

The country has two main state-owned bodies with the mandate to regulate gambling – Française des Jeux (FDJ) and Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU). PMU focuses on lotteries and betting games, while FDJ regulates horse racing. Française added online games to its list of regulated gambling games and tasked the Regulatory authority for online games (ARJEL) with this role.

The mature regulations for the gambling sector in France mainly come about due to a long history of gambling. In addition, many experts cite France as having fostered the creation of popular casino games.

3. Singapore

Singapore is among the few countries that rank gambling as an important recreational activity and does not overemphasize the financial side of the practice. The country recognizes social gambling as an acceptable practice, and this does not violate any laws. That means you can comfortably play your favorite games with family members without worrying about any restrictive requirements.

Even as gambling is acceptable in social events like funerals, it is illegal to gamble in dens or publicly. The Common Gaming Houses Act bans all kinds den gambling. The Betting Act also prohibits underground betting, while the Private Lotteries Act bans jackpot machines unless the casino is legalized.

Online gambling is the only bit that may give you the most challenges regarding betting in Singapore. The Remote Gambling Act essentially prohibits online gambling. However, players in the country circumvent these restrictions using VPNs.

4. Monaco

Monaco’s gambling landscape is unique compared to most countries. For a start, the country’s largest population comprises mostly foreign nationals, who account for 80% of the population.

From the regulatory point of view, existing laws do not allow Monaco citizens to gamble in their famous casinos. However, foreign nationals can do so without the restrictions. However, that does not stand out as a major issue owing to the large percentage of the foreign nationalities.

Historically speaking, Monaco may have had its first taste of gambling ban in the 1800s when the Prince of Monaco, Charles III, banned it due to the fiscal crisis. The prince studied the economics of surrounding countries and determined that allowing his citizens to gamble would not bring in money as he wanted. Instead, he came up with a gambling plan that targeted the English upper class. The plan was a success, and Monaco successfully settled its debts and even earned more to the extent they managed to abolish taxes.

The five major casinos in Monaco are self-regulated, while there are no formal regulations for online gambling. The country initially attempted to ban gambling on foreign casino websites to make the most of the Monaco market. However, the said plans did not go through, ensuring that residents can freely gamble online.

Benefits of Betting Legally

Legalizing gambling is generally a good thing both for the players and the industry at large. The following are some of the benefits that you can expect:

1. Sets in motion responsible and fair gambling

Most of the people who champion the criminalization of gambling do so out of ignorance. They think that all forms of gambling are bad and that punishing gamblers can deter them from the practice. The truth is that gamblers are clever and will always devise ways to circumvent any form of criminalization that authorities may establish.

That calls for a change in tactic. Instead of establishing so many barriers that motivate gamblers to devise their way around blockages, it would be best if they knew that they have the option of choosing to play either legally or illegally. Of course, legal gambling would have its numerous benefits, including the ability to enjoy a gambling session that’s created in a fair environment. Furthermore, through the legalization, the player would be motivated to adopt a responsible gaming approach.

When gambling is legalized, as is the case with France, professional bodies would manage the various casinos and game types that a player chooses. That gives you the peace of mind that authorities are in charge of any misconduct – both from the player and the casino. Consequently, it reduces scamming cases as well as the risk of losing money in unexplainable ways.

2. Can help deal with addiction

Professional gamblers understand the essence of working within a budget and know when to call it quits. However, not everyone has this ability and easily gets addicted if they do not play responsibly. That is where legal gambling can prove helpful.

The legal entities that are appointed to regulate gambling have roles that go beyond just regulation. They may also take on the mandate of providing resources that help deal with addiction. Since gambling would have been legalized and deemed acceptable, the player can easily seek help when they feel that they have overdone it.

Some of the resources that countries with legalized gambling provide include means for self-regulating and counseling services.

In addition, when playing real money slots at a regulated casino, the platform could include informative pieces that advise against irresponsible betting. Such casinos understand that it is illegal to encourage practice which only pushes you to lose more money. Instead, they are all about helping you enjoy your favorite games without feeling that you no longer have control over when to stop wagering.

3. An avenue for job creation

Through the legalization of gambling, the industry gains an authoritative status in which people can seek employment. The gaming sector is estimated to create as many as 1.8 million jobs worldwide, both online and physical casinos. Apart from this direct job creation, gambling also indirectly provides job opportunities.

At the moment, not so many countries consider this to be a form of employment. However, when legalized, it sets the path for some players to attain the professional tag and even make this their primary source of income. As such, they get to fend for their families and alleviate poverty.

4. Safe and secure playing

Modern online casinos require players to either game for free or for real money. In either case, you will need to create an account on the platform. During the account creation process, you get to provide details such as your full names, addresses, and government-issued identification. Additional details such as credit cards and other means of funding your account are required when gaming for real money.

These are important personal details that need to be handled properly. A casino that does not commit to keeping your information safe puts you at the risk of attack from hackers. In the long run, the losses would be much more than envisioned.

That is where the need for legalized gambling proves helpful. The appointed authorities take on the mantle of evaluating existing casinos to ascertain that they have strict measures that keep player’s information safe. Furthermore, the established laws guide how to handle sensitive data, including not sharing it with third parties.

5. Source of tax revenue

Any government will always find tax revenue to be helpful to its overall functioning. It forms the basis of increased economic development and provision of resources that were not possible before.

Legalizing gambling means that casinos get to adopt acceptable tax modules that help benefit the economy at large. For example, New Jersey recorded a massive increase in tax revenue in 2020 of about $50 million, all of which was attributed to legalized gambling. Pennsylvania equally benefited by generating $40 million from legal gaming within the same period.

This is revenue that would have never been collected had the mentioned states continued banning gambling. When both the states and private businesses like gambling companies win, it does not make sense why gambling should not be conducted legally.

Consequences of Betting Illegally

When authorities mark gambling as an illegal activity, it does not necessarily mean that players stop visiting their favorite casinos. Authorities need to appreciate that players will never lack tricks to access these games and casinos, whether or not they mark gambling as a legal activity. Technologies such as VPNs prove helpful here.

But doing so is illegal and proves detrimental. Various disadvantages arise from illegal gambling:

1. Increase in scamming incidences

One of the biggest setbacks associated with illegal betting is the exposure that a player has to scammers. As the global online casino game industry continues to thrive, the lack of legalization forces players to look for dubious ways to enjoy their favorite games. The problem with that is they end up playing on unregulated platforms that easily take advantage of them.

Scammers understand that players are eager to access different betting sites, despite restrictions from respective authorities. As such, they present you with platforms that appear a legit satisfaction to your gaming desire. However, most of these platforms disappear as soon as the player loads funds into the account.

2. Risks to an addiction problem

Many of the online players normally do so out of love for the game. However, as one plays over a specified period, they increase their chances of getting addicted to betting and find it hard to control themselves. That’s because gambling tends to make you hooked, and you would need self-discipline plus control to avoid addiction.

It is easy to avoid betting addiction on legal betting platforms. That’s mainly because these platforms are not just focused on making you spend more money or keep betting for the longest time. Instead, they understand that they need to abide by certain regulations, which involve informing you of the dangers of betting.

The same does not apply where betting is illegal. As mentioned above, illegalizing the practice translates to people finding other unregulated platforms to play. Unfortunately, these platforms are not interested in assisting players in any way. Rather, they share messages that motivate addiction and continued overspending on betting.

3. Lost revenue for the government

When betting is illegal, the government cannot impose taxes. Unfortunately, that denies it vital revenue that would have helped grow other sectors of the economy besides improving the overall status of gambling.

Countries such as Monaco value the revenue generated from gambling. Before legalizing betting for foreign nationals, Monaco struggled with massive debts. However, its fortunes changed when the country realized that betting could serve as a significant source of revenue. In the long run, Monaco has successfully cleared its debts and even managed to remove most taxes to lessen the economic burden on its citizens.

Best Options of Well-Regulated Games of Chance and Skills

The following are the best options that a player can consider when choosing legal gambling. Some of these games are games of chance, while others require skills to win:

1. Social gambling

Social gambling entails playing with the primary goal of having fun and socializing. It mainly involves playing against family members, friends, co-workers, or neighbors. To qualify as social gambling, the participants must play in a private setting, not a public or commercial one. Additionally, social gambling requires that the players be of legal age (typically 18 or 21, although it varies per country).

The conversation around social gambling typically becomes confusing to most people who belong to particular clubs. Generally, if you play with your friends from the club, it would still classify as social gambling, provided the club does not sponsor the game.

While engaging in social gambling, there are some tenets that you need to maintain a keen eye on. First, no one would profit by setting up, hosting, organizing, or running the game. Secondly, the organizer does not charge any entry fee, nor does the house take any cuts on bets. Additionally, everyone has a level playing field. That is, both the house and the player have equal chances of winning.

2. Bingo

Bingo is a game of chance where the player attempts to match the numbers printed on a card with the host’s, also known as the caller. The player calls out “Bingo!” when their numbers match the caller’s, making them the winner after verification. The game host starts a new round after declaring a winner.

Bingo games are generally considered legal. The United States Department of Justice made sure of this in 2011 when it changed the implication of the Wire Act to gambling activities. Among the important changes introduced was awarding states total control on their approach to the legalization of bingo. As a result, most states have opted to allow their citizens to play the game within their borders legally.

You need to pay close attention when it comes to online bingo. Generally, online bingo remains legal for most countries. However, U.S. players may find it a bit challenging to access these games considering the legality involved and challenges with payment means.

3. Lotteries

The lottery is a game of chance that features low odds and in which winners are randomly selected. Besides just serving as a source of enjoyment and winning real money rewards, lotteries can also help make crucial decisions. For instance, you can draw lotteries to allocate scarce medical treatment and in sports team drafts.

Lotteries seem to have taken a major hit amongst players as a gambling option and encourages people to pay a small amount of money for a chance to win a major jackpot. Federal or state governments typically administer these games.

4. Horse race betting

Horse racing betting is one of the oldest forms of gambling and has existed since horses started racing. Placing these kinds of bets is often a straightforward process. It typically involves placing your wager, receiving a ticket, and tearing it up when it does not actualize.

Horse race betting is a game of skill and requires you to make a sound judgment to become victorious. You can place your bets from different perspectives. For instance, a winning bet means the horse must win. A place wager requires the horse to finish first or second, while a show bet requires the horse to get the first, second, or third.

How to Check the Casinos’ Fairness and Legality of the Operation?

There are some key things that you can consider as you get ready to play at a real money baccarat casino to determine its fairness and legality. These include:

1. Reasonable account creation requirements

When playing at a casino that involves staking money, you must first create an account with them. After account creation, you need to deposit funds for you to start enjoying your games. Next, the casino will typically need to verify your identity. Ensure that you pay close attention to the kind of details they ask for the verification. Legal casinos ensure a seamless process and only seek relevant details. More importantly, they ensure a thorough verification that is not just meant to hoodwink you into thinking they are genuine. Ingenuity in the verification points to a casino that may not play fair.

2. Payout speed

Legit casinos support major payment options such as e-wallets, bank transfers, debit cards, and credit cards. Additionally, players can access their funds within a reasonable timeframe. Avoid playing at casinos that take overly long to release your winnings.

3. Game practices

A trustworthy casino that plays fairly uses special Random Number Generator (RNG) software that ascertains all your games’ randomness. Thus, even though you may not win each casino game that you play, this randomness gives you the confidence that you can potentially win at one time.

4. Live customer support

Getting customer support from your chosen casino is a key requirement. Focus on live support, which ensures your issues are addressed within the shortest time possible and by an expert. Illegal casinos are known for closing accounts for no apparent reason and will often offer bots as the source of support.

5. Licensing

When legal casinos are subject to the required auditing and pass, they often receive a license to prove their legitimacy. Check the regulatory body that audits your casino and evaluate whether or not it has attained its respective certification.

Conclusion

It is a good practice to engage in legal gambling. Through legal gambling, you can positively contribute to the economy through revenue generation. Additionally, it guarantees that the casino has fair rules, makes prompt payouts, and keeps all your details safe without sharing with third parties.

The post The Common Forms of Legal Gambling appeared first on BigEye.UG.

By Staff Writer

Prolonged work in the office can lead to unpleasant and even dangerous disorders or pathological conditions. The main ones are visual impairment, dehydration, back pain, and other problems. Here’s how you can minimize these risks.

Organize Your Workplace

This begins the prevention of many disorders caused by office work. So what do you need to consider when organizing your workplace?

The lighting should be even and moderately bright. It is unacceptable that the light source should be directed at the monitor, in this case you will have to strain your eyes to see the screen.

The flicker frequency must be over 60 Hz and not more than 100 Hz for all your activities. This factor is essential not only when you are working but also when you are watching movies or betting on 22Bet Uganda. The optimal distance to your eyes is about 60 cm when you work on a standard-sized monitor. If your monitor is wider, the distance should be greater. You are expected to look slightly up at the screen when you work, so position the monitor so that the top frame is at eye level. Screen brightness is also important – too high will tire your eyes, too low will strain them.

The head and neck should keep their natural position. So it is important that the office chair has a comfortable backrest, headrest and armrests. The legs should stand completely on the floor and the knee and thigh should form a right angle.

Combat Dehydration

The air in the office is always too dry. Computers are chiefly to blame. In summer, the situation is aggravated by air conditioning, in winter by heating. This can lead to the development of dehydration.

Place a humidifier near your workplace, and drink plenty of fluids. It is better if you always have a bottle or at least a cup of water at hand.

Dehydration is also dangerous for your eyes, as they dry out as they blink less frequently. This happens when you focus on something for a long time, like a document or a monitor. That’s why you should leave yourself a reminder on your monitor, like a sticker that says “Blink”.

Take Breaks

To give your eyes a rest, it is recommended to take breaks every 20 minutes. It is enough to close your eyes for 20 seconds, blink or shift your gaze to an object in the distance. This will reduce the strain on the visual apparatus.

Longer breaks – up to 5 minutes – should be taken every hour and a half. During this time, take a short walk around the office and look out the window. But you should not switch to mobile gadgets, otherwise the eye muscles will not be able to relax.

Breaks will help you stretch, which will have a positive effect on your joints. And the main thing is that your performance will increase, because pauses with the opportunity to switch your attention will spur the brain to find new solutions.

Establish a Sleep Schedule

Your habits outside of the office have a direct impact on how your body copes with work stress. That’s why it’s so important to get enough sleep and ensure you get plenty of rest.

Observe sleep hygiene – if possible, go to bed and get up at the same time every day, including weekends. Remember that the minimum recommended length of sleep is 6 hours, the optimal length is 7-8 hours.

Use Special Glasses

You may have noticed that after a long time working at the computer it is sometimes difficult to fall asleep. The reason for this is the blue color emitted by the monitor. It causes the destruction of melatonin, the enzyme responsible for the cycles of life.

As a result, sleep patterns become disrupted, chronic fatigue accumulates, and it becomes increasingly difficult to work.

To avoid this, use special glasses that block the rays of the blue spectrum. In just a few days, you will not only start to fall asleep faster, but you will also feel better overall – glasses also fight eye fatigue and relieve them of unnecessary strain.

The post How to Work in the Office Comfortably: 5 Simple Rules appeared first on BigEye.UG.

By Reporter

The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), the leading philanthropy empowering African entrepreneurs from all 54 African countries, has selected 4,949 entrepreneurs from across Africa for its 2021 Entrepreneurship Programme. Of these, 296 entrepreneurs have been selected from Uganda.  The 212 female and 84 selected Uganda entrepreneurs will each receive non -refundable USD 5,000 seed capital.

The 2021 beneficiaries were selected from a pool of over 400,000 applications, based on their innovation, performance, and growth potential to create jobs and eradicate poverty on the continent. Consisting of both new start-ups and existing small businesses, the 2021 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs have undergone world-class business training, mentorship and coaching and will have a life-time access to the Tony Elumelu Foundation alumni network.

Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu shared, “To you young African entrepreneurs – work hard, dream dreams, and be very disciplined. You must continue to think of impact. The entrepreneurship journey is not linear – there are ups and downs, but by staying focused and resilient, ultimately success will come your way. The future of our continent is in your hands. What you do as entrepreneurs will go a long way in lifting Africa out of poverty. I am happy that our female entrepreneurs are doing very well, with 68% representation this year.”

He added: “To our African leaders – these young, intelligent, energetic hardworking, resilient Africans are ready to go. We need to keep creating the right enabling environment to enable our young ones to succeed. We must realise that their success is success for all of us on the continent. We must prioritise them because nations and continents that prioritise their people, succeed. To my fellow business leaders, let us realise that in the 21st century and beyond, it is about impact, legacy and about how we work together to power people out of poverty. It is such a great feeling to see 5000 young Africans also commence their own entrepreneurial journeys today.”

Speaking at the event, Director-General, International Cooperation and Development, European Commission, Mr. Koen Doens stated: “I remember very well, a few years ago in Brussels when I first met Tony Elumelu at one of the events his Foundation was organising. Both of us were struck by how there was such a clear match between his vision on how he could support African entrepreneurship and the European Union’s own vision on how we wanted to support African entrepreneurship. Ever since, our partnership has embodied this same spirit that ultimately African growth cannot neglect the huge potential, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit that harbours so many Africans, especially young people and women. I am extremely glad our partnership is moving into this active stage, and I am very glad that over 2400 women will benefit from the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s training programme, and will get seed capital to support their ideas. I am extremely happy that at the European Union, we are able to be part of this great endeavour and to support it.”

Also speaking at the event, Assistant Administrator, UNDP/Director, UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa, Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa stated: “Our partnership with the Tony Elumelu Foundation on youth entrepreneurship is informed by our belief that Africa will only succeed when young Africans are given the opportunity to excel. This is what has inspired us to invest more than $20 million in emerging African entrepreneurs since we entered into our partnership with the Tony Elumelu Foundation. Our joint ambition is to empower 100,000 young African entrepreneurs over the next ten years across Africa, recognising that entrepreneurship is the only way dreams can be realised.”

Speaking, Secretary General, OACPS, H.E. Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti stated: “On behalf of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), I would like to heartily commend the Tony Elumelu Foundation for this extraordinary achievement. We are proud to have partnered with the Tony Elumelu Foundation and our longstanding partner, the European Union to unlock the potential of 2420 young African women through this TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, providing mentorship and funding, to grow and sustain these small businesses.”

Speaking on the panel with Mr. Elumelu, 2015 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur, Hauwa Liman, Founder of Afrik Abaya, shared: “I am always proud to say that I am from the inaugural cohort of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme. My business is located in Kaduna, Nigeria. I benefitted from this Programme in 2015, and it opened up lots of doors and opportunities. It is not just about the seed capital, but what really fascinates me about the Programme is the knowledge. I call it a mini-MBA programme, because from the ideation stage it teaches you how to really articulate your business, and it gave me my first business plan. The network, visibility and opportunities are endless. My entrepreneurship experience cannot be complete without the Tony Elumelu Foundation. I will start exporting soon courtesy of the Foundation. We now employ ten permanent staff and an additional eight staff on a commission basis.”

Tony Elumelu Foundation CEO, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, concluded the event stating: “Today, we have trained ten times more young African entrepreneurs than we have trained from 2015 to 2019 combined. Today in 2021, we will be paying out a record US$24,750,000 directly to the hands of African entrepreneurs from all 54 African countries. This is impact.”

Since its inception, the Tony Elumelu Foundation has now funded a total of 15,847 entrepreneurs who have created more than 400,000 direct and indirect jobs and counting. Through TEFConnect, the Foundation’s proprietary digital platform, it has provided capacity-building support, advisory and market linkages, to over 1.5 million Africans.

The post Tony Elumelu Foundation funds 296 Ugandan SMEs from its 2021 Entrepreneurship Programme appeared first on BigEye.UG.

By Reporter

Because you love to participate more, club Pilsner has extended Club Beat Coin promotion for an extra month until December. The campaign that has been running since 20th September, 2021 was supposed to to come to an end in November but Nile Breweries has pushed the campaign upto December.

How It Works

* Simply purchase a bottle of Club Pilsener beer

* Check under the crown for a UGX 300 Beat Coin

* Exchange the Beat Coin for a discount on your next Club beer purchase.

* The more coins collected, the bigger the discount

New Deadline

In the past weeks, consumers have been urged to redeem their coins before the deadline set earlier for 20th November, 2021. However, they won’t have to worry about their Beat Coins expiring until 18th December, 2021 which has been set as the new deadline.

Nile Breweries Limited encourages it’s clients to take part in the promo and enjoy the exciting discounts while they last.

Different other prizes are also being won in the promo including Club Pilsener merchandise like T-shirts, bags, beanie bags, etc.

The post Club beat coins campaign pushed to December appeared first on BigEye.UG.

By Reporter

The annual Ekyooto Ha Mpango festival is back this year and unlike the previous editions, this is anticipated to ne the biggest ever given the many empowering partnerships attached for this year. Set for the next weekend, all partners NBS, Nile Special, Plascon, Talent Africa, Movit among others are pumped up for the event.

According to the organizers, the festival that is designed to become Africa’s premium cultural tourism event was launched by King Oyo Nyimba IV on the eve of his 26th Coronation Anniversary under the theme, Experience Tooro and Harness.

Organized by Tooro Kingdom, the 4-day inaugural cultural and music festival will be happening from 25th all the way to 28th of November at the heart of the Kingdom’s palace.

With only few days to the long awaited ‘Ekyooto Ha Mpango’ festival, all roads lead to Fort Portal Tourism City for the much anticipated event.

Here is what to expect at the Festival -the main event features include;

• Royal Tours as Royals from different Kingdoms visit key Tourism destinations in the region.

• Business clinics from the 24th- 28th November, with a focus on Tourism and related businesses.

The participants will learn from facilitators like Laura Kagame of TravelNeza, Amos Wekesa of Great Lakes Safaris, Owek. Joan Kantu of Let’s Go Travel, Justus Koojo of Ultimate Sports, Dennis Aguma of NASE-Africa, Jimmy Otim from Brac, Steve Williams of Kyaninga Lodge and Diary and Daniel Kigozi (Navio) of Navcorp and Zuri Model Farm.

• Tourism and Cultural Trade Expo on the 25th and 26th November

• Ekyooto high level discussions on the 25th of November

• Royal Dinner Gala on the 26th of November with a fashion showcase by SKP featuring Mrs Uganda World Sylvia Namutebi Allibhai, Miss Elite Africa Judith Heard and Miss Uganda Earth Ahlam Ismail (Lamu).

• Movie Premiere of ‘Rwenzori Mountains of the Moon’ documentary featuring Ms. Lilly Ajarova, Joshua Cheptegei and Golola Moses.

• Sporting activities on the 27th of November, including a Boat Regatta, Adventure cycling and Marathon. These will not only entertain and keep participants fit but also showcase the beauty of natural geographic features in the region.

• Virtual Music Concert on the 27th featuring leading artists from Tooro region and special guest artists including Janzi Band, Spice Diana, Aziz Azion, Beenie Gunter, Draei Bitsc, Pearl of Africa Stars, Ayesiga Muzamil, Kigambo Araali, Sagio Mhza, Carol Kay and Tony Blackman among others.

• Inter- religious thanksgiving service and closing ceremony on the 28th of November.

• CSR activities including the ‘Pet A Tree’ greening campaign, Save River Mpanga and ‘Clean Up Fort Portal’ campaign Owing to the prevalent pandemic, the festival will be live on NBS TV, with limited physical elements and major virtual features to ensure people from all over the world can take part in the festivities ahead of the Kingdom’s celebration of 200 years of existence next year.

The post Ekyooto Ha Mpango cultural festival ready for next weekend appeared first on BigEye.UG.

By Reporter

Gorreth Mary Nagganja, Miss Tourism Buganda was selected recently to represent the pearl Of Africa, Uganda in the Miss East Africa Beauty Competitions that will be hosted in Dar es salaam, Tanzania on the 17th of December 2021.

Miss East Africa is an annual competition with the strategic remit to empower women, Tourism, and The African Culture. The pageant will feature over 16 countries including – Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Malawi, Somalia, Mauritius, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Comoros, reunion, Seychelles, Djibouti, Madagascar, and Eritrea.

Gorreth holds a bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications Engineering and has been working in tech since 2018. She currently works with Lyca Mobile Uganda.

Gorreth is passionate about girl child empowerment, aspiring young girls to take on roles in male-dominated fields. She aspires to advocate for girls affected by teenage pregnancies, availing them with opportunities, a platform, and a second chance at education.

Queen Gorreth started her Ambassadorial duties recently as a tourism queen under the Miss Tourism Buganda Organization Managed by Nsubuga Ronnie who is also her manager. 

Gorreth was born in Masaka district and is the 3rd of seven children. She has an art appreciation and loves to swim.

The post Gorreth Mary Nagganja,27 years to represent Uganda at the Miss East Africa Beauty Competitions this December appeared first on BigEye.UG.

By Ojok William

There is a general presumption and saying that capital has no home but within realistic parameters the home of capital is its place of origin because it always goes back with its profits or returns on investments.

Capital holds much more value in countries like Uganda where fixed deposits have monthly interest returns of up to 15% and 25 – 30% if invested in loans through commercial Banks as compared to developed countries where interest on loans is as low as 5%, 1% or even 0.5%. In some countries deposits actually accumulate a charge instead of earning interest.

Once foreign capital is brought in Uganda, it’s a requirement as provided under section 117 of the Financial Institution Act that a Financial Institution should acquire authorization from Bank of Uganda for regularization of such Financial Institution business meaning equally such Financial Institution Business attracts income Tax liabilities that should be paid to the Ugandan government for collective National development.

Foreign loans are very healthy for the economy as they attract capital, however, they should be done within parameters of the law where both the banks and Uganda as a nation benefit with government taxes paid instead of the current unlawful transactions in commercial banks where both the principal capital and profits are all fully repatriated without any taxes paid leaving the economy in absolute poverty.

Majority of commercial Banks in Uganda operate with foreign Capital, make huge profits as a result of high interest rate charged on loans, repatriate all the profits and all the principal back to its place of origin with zero Taxes paid. Unregulated foreign capital is more of a liability than an asset to the economy. As a result, Ugandan local businesses are heavily taxed with many collapsing simply because the existing Tax burden in the country is not evenly distributed as the huge economic players like Commercial Banks are paying less or nothing at all.

Every independent sovereign state protects its financial boundaries within parameters of both local and international laws to facilitate national growth.

However untaxed, uncontrolled and unregulated foreign capital, Case in point Uganda, sweeps the economy dry leaving the country in a constant state of absolute poverty.

Majority of Ugandans are not poor because they are weak, they lack capital to start anything reasonable in line with their individual progress or to invest towards national development. All capital is being repatriated out of the country by foreign commercial banks in the disguise of unregulated foreign exploitative oneway capital.

Uganda holds a population of 46M people with a limited narrow tax base of 2M registered taxpayers. The growth in population doesn’t reflect growth in our tax base because of lack of capital to start developmental projects that require huge capital investment.

Growth in population calls for growth in the national budget every year, however, with such a narrow tax base and given dynamics at hand how then can the government provide the required collective services like more roads, hospitals, educational services etc. to meet the population growth. That’s why URA keeps on revising tax rates upwards for the already existing few taxpayers to meet the budget which has seen so many small businesses collapse yet the solution would be in widening the tax base through making more Ugandans productive. This has equally proved hard due to limited capital as a result of unregulated profit repatriation through banks and foreign investors.

Secondly that’s why the Government keeps borrowing and looking up to donations to support our national budget every year.

Government equally heavily borrows from commercial banks as well yet it’s the same funds that have exploitatively been taken off Ugandans through high interest rates on unregulated foreign capital. Commercial banks heavily invest huge in government treasury bills and bonds for effective national exploitation with reduced risk as compared to lending to individual Ugandans.

As an effect of unregulated foreign capital, this has led to an increase in government borrowing, that’s why our national debt grows at a higher rate than national development. If this is not addressed as a matter of national interest in time, at a given future point in time the country shall stand too deeply indebted to save.

Foreign capital has to be controlled, regulated and taxed within parameters of both local and international laws for national collective development as a matter of national interest.

Regulation 13

Commercial Banks smuggled regulation 13 of the Mortgage Act into law which requires a person with a financial dispute with any Bank to first deposit 30% of any disputed amounts with such Bank before one can be heard by courts of law, which regulation stands repugnant and inconsistence with Article 21 of the constitution that provides for equality before the law and freedom from discrimination and Article 28 that provides for the right of fair hearing before courts of law. Why should Ugandans be subjected to payment before they can be heard by courts of law as if justice is for sale to Ugandans when it comes to commercial Banks. This condition has seen many Ugandans unlawfully lose their properties to these Banks. This regulation should be outlawed as a matter of National Interest.

About the author:

Ojok William is a Ugandan Financial Analyst based in the US. Email: williamojok36@gmail.com

The post Foreign Capital and Taxation as a matter of national interest appeared first on BigEye.UG.

Our Reporter

Ugandan women entrepreneurs have been urged to formalise and ensure consistence in both quality and quantity, to tap into the opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). 

According to the Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UNCCI) acting secretary general Blessing Immaculate Owomugisha, women account for 70% of entrepreneurs in Uganda but only 40% operate formally.  

She said this has deprived them the opportunity to tap into big markets and also stand to lose bigger opportunities under the 1.4 billion people AfCFTA market. 

Owomugisha who was speaking during the 2021 Women’s Entrepreneurship day celebrations held in Kampala, recently said informality has seen almost 90% of women-businesses collapse before celebrating their first birthday. 

The event was organised by the Women Entrepreneur Day Organisation (WEDO) Uganda ambassador Damali Ssali, supported by HiPipo, Stanbic Business Incubator, UNCCI, and Met Media. 

The WEDO founder and president, Wendy Diamond said the non-governmental organisation seeks to encourage women worldwide to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams, with the goal of inspiring hope and alleviating poverty.  

She noted that historically women worldwide have been under-paid, undervalued, underrepresented, underfunded and underestimated and thus the movement seeks to correct this historical global imbalance.  

WEDO uses ambassadors to spread the its mission and message to empower women and girls to become active participants in the economy by igniting a network of women leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs to initiate start-ups, drive economic expansion and advance communities around the world.   

This is done through building and catalysing of the vital networks of like-minded individuals and organisations that women business leaders need to realise their full potential and change the world.  

“It is inspiring to see women across the globe unite for a single cause. By donating their time, effort and resources to WEDO, they are not only celebrating, supporting and empowering women in business in over 100 countries but also contributing to global unification,” Diamond said.  

Building on the successes of WEDO, the ambassadors across the globe are set to initiate programs, campaigns and mentorship programs with regions adopting entrepreneurial support programs that showcase new business ventures in technology, food production, fashion, retail, environmental and educational enterprises being launched.  

Diamond said that empowering women worldwide and investing in their futures helps to drive and promote economic vitality and security locally and globally.  

Diamond said this year’s focus is on the impact of Artificial Intelligence, Fintech and Blockchain Technologies, the disruption happening globally, and the important, pivotal role women play.  

The WEDO Uganda ambassador Damali Ssali alluded to how the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on Ugandan women entrepreneurs, saying that majority lost their working capital, businesses and livelihoods. 

Ssali, who is also the Ideation Corner author and founder, noted that while informal cross border traders, 70% of whom are women, exported goods worth $500m in 2019, all this was lost following the border closures as governments instituted lockdown measures to curb the spread of the pandemic. 

“Today we celebrate and recognise women entrepreneurs who have fought hard and strived to keep their businesses afloat during this period. These women have demonstrated resilience, tenacity, courage, adaptability and unwavering persistence to ensure that their businesses survive,” Ssali said. 

Women Entrepreneurs celebrated.

Among the celebrated women was Laura Nakigozi, a poultry farmer who at the peak of the lockdown had to sell eggs at a loss due to lack of demand. 

Unlike other poultry farmers who quit the business, Nakigozi later managed to bounce back into business with the continued easing of lockdown measures. 

Shamim Nirere, the Izere education founder and team leader on the other hand was forced to resort to start imparting critical thinking, leadership, problem-solving skills and communication skills to pupils using an online platform due to the uncertain future of reopening schools. 

As for Ephrance Eunice Namugenyi, the Business Store Manager Kuzimba Services resorted to an online web application to aids estate, site/ home building by providing fast engineering solutions and online purchases of building materials. 

The post Women Entrepreneurs tipped on Business Formalisation and Quality Assurance appeared first on BigEye.UG.

By Reporter

Mr Sulaiman Kiyimba winner of Paint & Win 4th motorbike

Kansai Plascon Uganda launched the 10th Edition “Paint & Win” Colours of Celebration 10 week promotion on Friday, 1st October 2021 ending Sunday, 12th December, 2021.

On the weekend of Saturday 27th November, 2021 Plascon had the 8th winners of the ongoing Paint & Win promotion. The winner of the motorbike was Mr. Sulaiman Kiyimba a painter. He said, when he woke up this morning it was raining so hard he did not even feel like leaving his bed. But something told him to just go and see what he would win. He further stated, that he kept getting the scratch cards and would just throw them on this dashboard and scratch at the end of the week. But everytime he would scratch the cards he would get pens, pens, pens; but he looked on the bright side since children will be going back to school in January the will have something to use. He was further blessed on the same morning to find out his wife had given birth. God Is Great!!! Mr. Kiyimba walked off with 1,000,000/= plus the motorbike.

Mr. Chris Birungi, painter from Kasese who won 2 million shillings

On Saturday 4th December, 2021 the lucky winner of the 9th Paint & Win draw Home Makeover was Mr. Brian Muwanguzi, a painter from Mityana. He was overjoyed and kept saying people this is real, Plascon does give away this money and Home Makover, do take part you too could win.  Mr. Chris Birungi, a painter from Kasese was so ecstatic since he had won 2,00,000/=. He said, “this year did not start so well, but I have won 2,000,000/= Christmas will be great for me and my family. You know I won pens that I would use to scratch the cards! If you are a born winner, you remain a winner.

Paint & Win winners of the 9th show celebrating their win

The weekend of 12th December will mark the 10th weekend for the Paint & Win winners for 2021.

To enter the draw one has to:

1. Buy Plascon paint worth 100,000/- or more

2. Get a voucher and SMS the code to 7197 and stand a chance to win 1,000,000/- every day

3. Instant prizes will include airtime and pens and during the activations, t-shirts, caps, keyrings, drawstring bags and umbrellas.

4. Daily winners will get a chance to compete for a motorbike or a home paint makeover through the weekly TV engagements.  

The post Plascon announces 10th Anniversary of Paint & Win week 8 and 9 winners appeared first on BigEye.UG.

Samuel Gitta is the General Manager Risk and Compliance at MTN Uganda.

By Samuel Gitta

It has been a rollercoaster of events during the pandemic. Just as the dust seems to be settling, comes a new variant, armed with the power to wreak havoc. Lockdown after lockdown. But the business environment, unpredictable as the weather, needs to be governed. That is why the gospel of businesses invoking business resilience and sustainability plans has been one of the most pronounced in a span of a year.

Businesses ought to create business resilience and sustainability plans to sail through the effects of the pandemic. If you have a business, or are thinking of starting one, here are some of the key considerations they should have in mind.

It is important to understand that resilience is being able to deal with shocks. Life is unpredictable and any business, small or big should prepare to deal with any shocks thrown at it. That is the essence of a resilience plan. Simply put, a plan B for businesses.

The right time to create a resilience plan

One challenge we have seen during the pandemic is that businesses wait for the shocks to plan for them. A resilience plan should be created the minute a business is set up. In the telecom industry, a resilience plan can be based on a product or project. If a business has partners in a project, the business ought to understand the continuity risks with that partner lest you risk failure. That is why the resilience plan needs to be done at the initiation of a project or product and needs to be refreshed periodically.

You can set a minimum as to when you must review a plan. It is recommended annually, but should also be revised as and when the shocks are emerging or there has been a material change in the process.

How to create the plan

A resilience plan has two fronts; Internal and external.

The Internal aspect of a plan deals with features inside a company for example staff and technology. In regard to technology, a business needs to have a resilience plan for loss of data or information through for example a natural disaster ie earthquakes. This can be mitigated by disaster recovery through possession of a backup.

The other aspect is staff for example critical staff deemed important to the resilience of the business.

It is paramount that a business is designed to have redundancy if person A isn’t available, B can take on the role. The same applies for service providers; always have a buffer such that if one has challenges, the other can take up the service.

The external aspects are even harder to predict as you may not have control over them. These may not be predictable, but there are those that are. For instance, forex. It is common for many businesses to spend quite a bit in investment and operational expenditure using forex. Whereas you can make short term plans, you have to keep watch of changes in the exchange rates because they can affect your business plans.

A resilience plan, often created on an annual basis, should bear points at which it can be invoked for example; when a covid-19 wave evolves, you invoke certain aspects of the plan.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, MTN had already developed a robust business continuity or resilience plan to ensure uninterrupted service delivery to its customers in times of adversity. We tried out the WFH (Work-From-Home) model by positioning some of our call center staff in a different location outside their work premises just as a preparation plan way before Covid-19. Therefore, when the pandemic emerged, we seamlessly adopted the WFH model primarily to protect the staff from infection exposure, as well as in compliance with the government of Uganda guidance and directives. On average 70% of staff are currently working from home.

The plan is to be used as and when those shocks happen or for certain shocks you can see in the horizon, for example forex depreciation. It often comes gradually meaning you can set in points at which you invoke your plan for example if it gets to this rate, this is what we do.

Monitoring is critical

You need to have a means of monitoring the micro and macro environment to determine when to invoke the plan. One of the tenets can be the positivity rate for staff. It can help you plan for worst case scenarios for example when someone resigns, there has to be a period of transitioning. There are exits of critical employees, you need to invoke the plan.

There are international standards on both resilience and sustainability however, the big three big are people, process and technology. As you design any business resilience plan, look at it on the people side, processes side, then from a technology side.

These can be distilled further eg liquidity/cash flow plans. A business ought to have a solid cash flow plan for sustainability. While it is important to have a resilience plan, monitoring and refreshing cannot be neglected. Most of these shocks trend over time before they create impact.

Resilience feeds into sustainability. Sustainability can be affected by ability to innovate. Eg Kodak, Yahoo. You might be doing well now, but oblivious to changes from emerging competition or way of life of your customers. So if you don’t have a good innovation framework to introduce new products or agility in delivery, you might not have a sustainable business. If you had sit in arrangements for your restaurant and the pandemic hit, yet you were without an online delivery solution, then the business might not be sustainable. If you don’t innovate and the competition does, then you might not be sustainable.

As a business, sustainability and resilience plans are provisions for longevity, but it is key to remember that without the technical capacity and frequent reviews, the plan remains yet another document in your stock pile.

About Author:
With 15 years of experience and a strong bias towards ICT risk management, Samuel Gitta currently leads the Risk &Compliance division at MTN Uganda where he serves as the General Manager Business Risk Management and Compliance.

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By Our Reporter

Dr. Moses Ssemusu, a medical practitioner with skills in clinical research wants to use technology to ensure availability of blood all year-round. It is for that sole reason that MTN chose him as one of the 100 participants in the inaugural MTN Foundation youth skilling program.

The program created by MTN Foundation in partnership with Ubunifu Systems seeks to solve challenges in the society through innovation.

In his application for the program, the 32-year-old doctor from Kasangati attached a proposal to solve the challenge of limited blood reserves in the country. The proposal was influenced by the incessant women mortality rate at delivery as well as accident victims.

Having previously worked for a non-government organization driving advocacy, Dr Ssemusu hoped to take the front wheel in his quest to solve this challenge and hoped that the MTN program would be instrumental to his cause.

“I saw the advert for the MTN Foundation Youth Skilling program on facebook after my former roommate at University shared it on his timeline for interested parties. Then I submitted my proposal and thankfully joined the program,” he narrates.

Revolutionalising blood donation through technology

Dr Ssemusu’s proposal rallied around a plan to address the challenge of limited blood in hospitals by leveraging technology through geographical information systems to map out locations of potential blood donors and donation centers.

“My idea was to have a regular volunteer blood donor program. I thought of it because child birth was becoming a matter of life and death in Uganda given that about 16 mothers and more die from preventable causes stemming from excessive bleeding during delivery. My idea hopes to ensure there is blood all year round in blood banks across the country,” he says.

“Those that are eligible to donate blood will be doing it on their birthdays and it will be done via a digital platform. They will be able to flag off a blood bank and get pre-directed to a donation center; either physical or a mobile one to be able to donate blood. The idea rides on the grounds that every day is someone’s birthday so that will ensure quick and real-time notification for eligible donors whenever they have to donate blood,” he explains.

With the goal to realize this dream, Dr Ssemusu joined the MTN Youth Skilling program to acquire necessary skills that would drive him closer to its realization.

He is part of the twin cohort of the first edition of the MTN Youth Skilling program which graduated its first cohort mid this year.

Lessons learnt

According to the doctor, for the 12 weeks he has spent at the program, he has attained computer skills as the program covers the first phase of the training which focuses mainly on the international computer driving license (ICDL).

“I have learnt to use collaborative tools for learning. Previously, I had very limited knowledge of the full potential usage of a computer but now I have discovered so many new things and tricks of productively using a computer. I have learnt time management and have been tested on resilience. I have also greatly improved at team work and knowledge sharing with teammates,” he says.

On how the training is helping him attain his goal of an abundant pool of blood donation, he said he has been enlightened.

“My mind has been opened by this program. I have gained insight into the possibilities of achieving my dream of the volunteer blood donor program. The training has directed my focus to what issues I should be working on step by step,” he explains.

Dr Ssemusu also hopes to become a business leader and he said he will utilize the skills he has attained from the program to carry out extensive research which will be pivotal to his entrepreneurial ambitions.

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By Our Reporter

Schools are finally re-opening. This follows the presidential address on New Year’s Eve, where he announced that schools would be reopening in January, but also emphasized the need to adhere to SOPs to avoid a surge in Covid-19 infections.

In line with mitigating the spread of coronavirus, MTN MoMo is providing a safe and convenient solution for school fees payment especially for the parents. The solution covers more than 5,000 schools and institutions across the country.

Stephen Mutana, acting Chief Executive Officer, MTN Mobile Money Uganda said using MTN MoMo, parents can pay for their children’s school fees conveniently and securely and receive a notification with a transaction ID to enable them reconcile with the schools.

“Through telecommunications solutions such as MoMo school fees payment, MTN is always looking to simplify and improve the lives of its customers. Parents can simply pay school fees for their children using their phones without enduring the long lines or even leaving their workplace to queue in line to make a payment,” he said noting that the mobile payment solution saves money that would otherwise have been used for transport.

“Travelling long distances to pay school fees is very challenging for parents who have 8am to 5pm jobs because some financial institutions close at 5pm in the evening. For those in the villages, travelling to the nearest financial institution could be very costly coupled with the waiting time in long queues. That is why the mobile money payment solution for school fees is very important for MTN because it makes the life of our customers easier, convenient, and cheaper in cost,” Mutana explained.

In addition to convenience, paying school fees through MoMo mitigates the spread of Covid-19 by preventing congestion of people as they wait in line to make payments.

Mobile Money also mitigates the exchange of cash between different parties, which was one of the ways highlighted as possible causes for transmission of the virus.

How to pay school fees using MTN MoMo

To pay school fees using MTN MoMo, simply dial *165*80# or use MyMTN app.

Enter the student number provided by the school. It will show you the student’s name and class plus outstanding balance.

Once you have confirmed the student details above, you can then enter the amount you want to pay and follow the remaining prompts.

At the end of the entire process, you will receive a text message confirming the success of the payment of school fees to the school.

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By Reporter

As most of the bars organise their official reopening, the management of Nexus Lounge in Najjera has promised one of the best reopening. Like the President states in his speech a few weeks ago, the economy has fully reopened today with Ugandans most excited about nightlife and events.

Nexus Lounge that was closed for two years and only the restaurant running for few hours and closing before curfew time has today opened the bar section but on the low.

According to the management of Nexus Lounge, the bar will not put any cover charge as it wants its patrons to enjoy the reopening of bars after two full years. The reopening will have performances from Abeka band together with top Djs and surprise performances from top Ugandan artistes.

The reopening will be broadcasted live on NTV who recently entered into a working partnership to promote the bar. Management during an interview said that the bar has enlarged its parking area which now comprises of strictly entrance and exit routes and no cars will park outside. The bar also improved their sound proof system that disables sound from reaching Najjera Hospital which is exactly opposite the bar. For sports lovers, the bar has also gazetted a sports bar that has more than 5 big LED screens.

Nexus will also not only provide bar services but rather they will also been into events service provision with their state of the art sound lighting and stage.

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