Anti-corruption protests in Uganda
Protests by young people and numerous arrests took place again on Thursday in the Ugandan capital Kampala. On Tuesday, mainly young Ugandans had already gathered in Kampala to protest against corruption at the highest level of government, for the resignation of parliamentary speaker Anita Among (National Resistance Movement, NRM) and three other MPs involved in corruption scandals, as well as for an audit of the MPs’ income during a march to parliament. In response to the protests, the Speaker of Parliament announced on Wednesday that the sessions would be suspended until 30 July. The demonstration, which was organised via social networks and predominantly by Generation Z under the hashtags #March2Parliament and #StopCorruption, had previously been banned by court order. The military and police presence on the streets of Kampala was correspondingly high on Tuesday. Although the police did not use tear gas against the demonstrators, the media reported arrests, some of which were violent. According to the non-governmental organisation Chapter Four Uganda, which is providing legal support to the detainees, at least 73 people were arrested.
In the run-up to the demonstrations, Uganda’s long-term president Yoweri Museveni announced in a televised address on Saturday evening that protests like those in Kenya would not be tolerated in Uganda and warned that demonstrators would be ‘playing with fire’ if they went ahead with their plans for an anti-corruption march to parliament on Tuesday. The Uganda Police Force (UPS) also reiterated its warning of the previous week against unidentified individuals who took part in the mobilisation campaign via social media. As a result, arrests were made on Monday and the headquarters of Uganda’s largest opposition party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), was cordoned off by security forces, as former presidential candidate and NUP party leader Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as Bobi Wine, reported on social media. High-ranking party officials had also been illegally arrested. He emphasised that the NUP supported the demonstrations but was not responsible for organising them.
Although the demonstrations in Uganda appear to have been inspired by the weeks of protests by young people in neighbouring Kenya, which forced President William Ruto to reverse planned tax increases and dissolve his cabinet, frustration over corruption has been simmering in the country for months. In February this year, the #UgandaParliamentExhibition campaign was launched on social media, exposing the misuse of public funds, irregular spending, cronyism and corruption in parliament. Allegations were also levelled against parliamentary speaker Among. The United States and the United Kingdom subsequently imposed sanctions on the Ugandan speaker of parliament and three ministers, and investigations into the origin of Among’s wealth are also currently underway in Uganda. Meanwhile, Among denies all accusations and speaks of a smear campaign by Western countries due to her driving role in the adoption of harsh anti-LGBTQ legislation last year. Museveni, who announced after his re-election in 2021 that he would step up the fight against corruption in the country during his sixth term of office, has also been repeatedly criticised. His government has long been accused of protecting corrupt but influential party officials from prosecution. It remains to be seen whether this week’s protests were just the prelude to ongoing demonstrations similar to those in Kenya and whether these will be successful despite the iron fist with which Museveni rules the country.
Joint free trade area of the EAC, COMESA and SADC enters into force
The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) of the three regional communities East African Community (EAC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) came into force on Thursday. The launch of the free trade area, which is to include a total of 29 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, was announced at the 37th Tripartite Task Force meeting last week, which took place on the margins of the sixth African Union Mid-Year Coordination Meeting in Accra, Ghana. Angola was the last country to ratify the agreement on 25 June this year, reaching the minimum number of 14 ratifications required for the TFTA to enter into force, announced Elias Mpedi Magosi, Executive Secretary of SADC and current Chairperson of the Tripartite Task Force. The countries that have signed the free trade agreement so far include Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Eswatini, Egypt, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, which together account for around 75% of the TFTA’s gross domestic product (GDP) as of 2022. Djibouti has now also informed the COMESA Secretariat that it has ratified the agreement, Magosi announced. Meanwhile, ratification by the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania is still pending.
The free trade agreement is based on three pillars. The first is market integration and liberalisation, whereby customs tariffs are to be completely abolished and non-tariff barriers to trade removed. As a first step, 60-85% of tariff lines are to be liberalised when the TFTA enters into force and the elimination of the remaining 15-40% is to be negotiated over the next five to eight years. The TFTA thus goes one step further than the African Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The latter provides for tariff liberalisation of 90% for non-sensitive and 7% for sensitive goods. The free trade area is also intended to facilitate the free movement of business people. The second pillar is the development of infrastructure. Among other things, connectivity is to be improved and business costs reduced. The third pillar is industrial development. The aim of this is to create supportive conditions for the economy, for example by improving regulations and the legal framework, diversifying industries, increasing productivity and creating regional value chains.
According to Veronica Nduva, Secretary General of the EAC, important milestones have already been achieved in the TFTA free trade agreement. In addition to the successful ratification process, the modalities for implementing the free trade area have already been developed, the majority of the various aspects of the Rules of Origin have been finalised and the Tripartite Protocol on Competition Policy has been drawn up. There has also been continuous dialogue on the tariff offers. In addition to political advantages and gains, the consolidation of the TFTA could also strengthen the position of its member states within the African Free Trade Area. In order to achieve this, however, a number of challenges still need to be overcome. These include, in particular, the lack of a dedicated TFTA Secretariat and institutional structure to coordinate and implement the programmes and activities. This is currently done on a rotating basis by the three regional organisations and their structures. Another hurdle is the financing of the implementation of the free trade area. To date, only the first pillar has received external financial support from the African Development Bank (AfDB), which is significantly slowing down negotiations in infrastructure and industrial development.
The TFTA free trade agreement was signed in 2015 and, with its 29 member and partner states, covers 53% of the members of the African Union, over 60% of the continent’s GDP of USD 1.88 trillion (as of 2019) and a population of 800 million people.
In other news
The 10th Liputa Fashion Week ended on Sunday in the eastern Congolese city of Goma with designers from a total of eight different countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, the US, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) itself taking part. The aim of the Fashion Week is to promote the African fashion industry and place it more strongly on the international stage. This applies above all to the local fashion industry, which is demanding its place on the internationally despite the escalating conflict in the east of the DRC. Liputa Fashion Week, which takes place in a region characterised by armed conflict, is also a sign of the resilience of the local population and the desire for peace and everyday life.