Emmanuel Okwi netted twice in the first leg of the game

Uganda Cranes overcame the Southern Africa country 3-0 and 2-0 at Mandela National Stadium, Namboole and at Setsoto stadium in Maseru respectively to collect 10 points after 4 games in the campaign, leaving Uganda in need of just a point to qualify to the 2019 finals that will be held in Cameroon.

Emmanuel Okwi netted twice and Faruku Miya (penalty) were on target in the Namboole game as Miya carried the day with a brace in the return leg played on artificial surface in Maseru.

The Uganda Cranes contingent to Maseru traveled by a chartered flight offered by President Yoweri Kaguta Mueveni which helped a lot the national team to travel with ease within three days of the return leg after the Namboole success.

Uganda Cranes XI vs Lesotho in Maseru

Here is the First Lady’s detailed message:

I must begin by thanking God for his goodness and for empowering our boys and leading them as we now see. Then, of course, I congratulate them for emerging victorious during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier return match against Lesotho 2-0 on Tuesday, 16th October 2018 in Lesotho, after the previous win of 3-0 at Mandela National Stadium on Saturday 13th October 2018. Our national team’s performance has been very impressive putting us on the verge of qualifying for the 2019 AFCON Championships due in Cameroon.

On behalf of Government, my Ministry and all the people of Uganda, I salute the Uganda Cranes, Coach Sebastien Desabre and his Technical Team, FUFA, National Council of Sports, and the fans for the observable progress we have registered in performance and development of Ugandan football, and indeed Ugandan sports in general.

As we celebrate our recent performance, I call upon the players, technical officials, fans and supporters to remain humble, focused to the very end. For I believe that this is merely the beginning, the best is yet to come.

In a very special way, I thank the President of Uganda, Cabinet in its entirety and Parliament for supporting sports in general, but the president especially for providing quick means of transport to Lesotho and some support for our pocket expenses to the team. We, at the Ministry, remain committed to provide all the prayer back up, logistical and financial support to Ugandan sports teams within available resources.

May I wish the Uganda Cranes team, continued blessings and a successful AFCON 2019 qualification campaign, therefore, as we look forward to an even brighter future for Ugandan sports.

God Bless us all!

Janet K. Museveni

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President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni with Uganda Cranes Captain Denis Onyango and Head coach Sebastien Desabre

In a jolly mood, the President discussed football matters with the contingent before he announced his offer of a chartered flight to fly the Cranes to Maseru for the reverse fixture against Lesotho to be played on Tuesday 16^th October, 2018.

President Museveni also offered the Uganda Cranes contingent to State House a financial boost of UGX 200M (Two Hundred Million Shillings).

President Museveni congratulated the team for posting results that have kept the Cranes on top of the group in the campaign but urged them to work harder against Lesotho on Saturday.

“I have been following you of recent and I thank you for the performance but we need to work harder for better results. I have offered you a chartered plane to Lesotho and UGX 200M to help you get good results” said President Museveni

Speaking on behalf of the players, team captain Denis Onyango appreciated the President and the First Lady Janet Museveni (Minister of Education and Sports) for the recent support towards the Cranes and football.

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in a deep discussion with the Uganda Cranes and FUFA Contingent to State House on Tuesday in Entebbe

“The support from the President is a sign that he follows and loves sports. Football has been picking good results partly because of such support from the fountain of honour and office of Education and Sports. This offer will help the team fly in time to Maseru for the game” said Justus Mugisha.

The Uganda Cranes Technical team led by head coach Sebastien Desabre was also in attendance.

The delegation to State House was led by FUFA 1st Vice President Justus Mugisha, accompanied by 2^nd Vice President Darius Mugoye, FUFA CEO Edgar Watson and the FUFA Finance Director Decolas Kiiza.

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Hon. Anifa Kawooya (Uganda) on the right during discussions

YAOUNDE, CAMEROON: There is renewed interest by academics, civil society and legislators over the continent’s extractive sector and want a common mining law. The legislators are concerned over natural resource governance and economic development on the African continent and are pushing for legislation that addresses issues of transparency and accountability by the governments and mining companies.

They noted that Africa finds itself in a paradox of plenty where its abundant endowment in natural resources does not lead to equivalent levels of prosperity, development and industrialisation.

Meeting in a continental conference in Yaounde, Cameroon, on Thursday, African legislators sought to adopt and ratify a model law on a new development approach to natural resource governance in Africa.

“The model mining law would give pointers that would, for example, strengthen the negotiating capacity of Parliaments; ensuring meaningful collaboration between key players and providing support for the required social dialogue,” Dr. Paul Jourdan, one of the panelists, said.

He elaborated that the African Mining Vision, adopted by African heads of state during their July meeting in 2009 in Kigali, is seen as a solution to the poor governance, lack of strong institutions and weak policies in African states. He explained that the AMV framework is currently being used in several countries such as Mozambique, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Tanzania and provides for a transparent, equitable and optimal exploitation of mineral resources to underpin broad-based sustainable growth and socio-economic development.

Jourdan noted that AMV is also supporting countries to develop world class geological survey system so that they can negotiate from a point of knowledge. He said they hope to work with the Pan African Parliament to train parliamentarians on contract negotiations.

While legislators appreciated the need for a model law to regulate mining on the continent, they noted that there are some hurdles that need to be overcome.

Honourable Geoffrey Lungwangwa (Zambia) was concerned that some colonial land laws still obtain in Africa.

“If you have title to land, you are only confined to the surface and anything under the surface belongs to the state. That land law still prevails in our countries today and it is a contributing factor to poverty,” he said. “Many of our people are being removed from land once minerals are discovered. They are not even given shares in the mining companies. Is this really socio-economic transformation?”

He said there is need to have a model law that eventually will empower local communities to have shares in the mining companies so that they are economically empowered.

According to Hon. Bernadette Lahai (Sierra Leone), who comes from a diamond mining area, exploitation and child labour is rampant in mining areas and legislators often have no information on agreements entered by the mining companies and the state.

“Children as young as six years work in the mines. We don’t want mining to affect education,” she said adding that “Mining agreements are conducted between government and the mining companies leaving MPs and the local population in the dark.” She argued that there is need for capacity building for MPs to monitor and oversee the mining activities in their countries so that they can approve or reject mining deals that come to Parliament.

According to the African Development Bank, minerals account for an average of 70 percent of total African exports and about 28 percent of the gross domestic product. It notes that earnings from the recent oil, gas and mineral discoveries in Uganda, Mozambique and Tanzania could lead to an increase in government revenues of between 9 percent and 31 percent in the first 10 years of production.

Legislators noted that because of the structure of Africa’s extractive industries, most countries remain exporters of unprocessed commodities. They proposed that Africa needs to add value to her exports so as to unlock the full economic potential of its natural resources.

According to Hon. Anifa Kawooya (Uganda), the diversity in Africa may not be in asset in having a uniform law.

“We have different land laws and policies. Having one unified model will be complicated,” she said. “There is also the issue of who owns the land where the minerals are found. The land tenure in African countries in different. Some land is owned by the government, individuals, and others owned customarily. We also don’t know how much of our natural resources we have,” she added.

In an attempt to reverse the curse of resources, the East African Legislative Assembly is in the process of adopting a mining law for the East African region. The East African Mining Bill, 2017 will provide a legal framework to harmonise and regulate mining operations in the region and ensure environmentally friendly and sound mining practices. The bill was presented for First Reading in March this year.

The four-day conference on the theme “The issue of political and socio economic integration of the African continent: The role of the Pan African Parliament” is taking place in Yaounde, Cameroon from 22-25 August 2017 and has attracted legislators, civil society and academics from Africa.

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The contingent of 34 players and Lesotho football officials arrived at Entebbe international Airport aboard South African Airways.

They were received by the URA team manager, Sam Okabo and among many other football officials in Uganda.

The URA FC coach Alex Isabirye is confident that his side will perform well against Lesotho Correctional Service because his players are ready to maximize their home advantage.

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