Aggrey makes a valid observation and I agree with him that it requires a comprehensive strategic approach; legal social,etc. But most important is the fact that there is always a solution to anything that has to be done or we can work around these issues; a strong political and social lobby is what what is required. I take an example of the United States where interest groups influence US policy to a very big extent e.g the Wall Street Monguls, Jewish Lobbies, Latinos, Red Indians, Private interest groups, etc. In our case the power of the pen and though can be very powerful and can be used to advance information and there are always ways to get the ears of the powers that be to listen to the voice of the people,the only thing is that we have to be skilled in nicely packaging the message to get what we want and focusing on the purely economic point of view advantages is a justification that should be provided. At this time we now have to actually be working towards our common broader strategic interests as a region, an area which in my view is still in its infancy or lacking in adequacy ! The point is the strategy that would have to be employed; there can be public pressure through advancing and involving the discussion to the highest authorities and decision makers because perhaps most of the time the message may not penetrate through to the top managers ! I,however, don't see the need monopolies from a rapid development and businesses standpoint; businesses can thrive and co-exist inspite of the competition, so a second power plant can equally be tenable. I have also not seen any attempts to promote any meaniful rural electrification projects; sometime back I had an opportunity to visit Fort Portal and was pleasantly amazed to see electricity in almost every remote village location and even in homesteads that are not well developed in terms of infrastracture. We have a number of industries that need this resource e.g Uganda Baati, Cotton ginneries, tobacco factories, maize mills, local artisan industry (those folks engaged in making non-metallic and metallic windows, louvres, doors,etc),etc and more businesses will automatically come to West Nile immediately there is reliable power supply, as these are key to industrial development. Anguyo
--- On Thu, 9/20/12, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: From: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: WestNileNet Digest, Vol 49, Issue 32 To: [email protected] Date: Thursday, September 20, 2012, 7:29 PM Send WestNileNet mailing list submissions to [email protected] To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to [email protected] You can reach the person managing the list at [email protected] When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of WestNileNet digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: Does the recent Commissioning of the Nyagak solve West Nile's demand for the energy needs? (aggrey adrale) 2. Re: Does the recent Commissioning of the Nyagak solve West Nile's demand for the energy needs? (Caleb Alaka) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2012 11:29:24 +0100 (BST) From: aggrey adrale <[email protected]> To: A Virtual Network for friends of West Nile <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [WestNileNet] Does the recent Commissioning of the Nyagak solve West Nile's demand for the energy needs? Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Dear Vincent, ? Thank you for your suggestions. However, one strong element might be to lobby for the concession agreement with WENRECo to be brought to light. Our own legal experts may need to study and review it with the hope of identifying any leagal bottlenecks in that agreement. Such would be?one basis?to lobby for perhaps rescinding the government's?concession agreement with WENRECo, if there is that option. ? Any lobbying with development partners would require us to know aforehand if there is any opportunity to apply the funds immediately for the cause?once we hit the mark. Otherwise if according to the rumours I have ever heard about any power developments in the region that would be subject to the concession agreement between Uganda government and?WENRECo then we only have one avenue; to demand for improvement of the service through advocacy (and organised lamentation) within the scope of the concession period! And more so?we are onle demanding for our right to be served like other regions?by our government be it through investors the government has licensed. ? It may help to recall what went wrong with previous attempts by West Nilers (including a very prominent spiritual leader), the Italian government donation and other issues surrounding Nyagak Hydro Power Project and ponder over the proposed water project for Arua City, for which there were willing investors/friends of the region! ? Aggrey Adrale ? --- On Wed, 19/9/12, vincent adeangu <[email protected]> wrote: From: vincent adeangu <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [WestNileNet] Does the recent Commissioning of the Nyagak solve West Nile's demand for the energy needs? To: "A Virtual Network for friends of West Nile" <[email protected]> Date: Wednesday, 19 September, 2012, 17:49 There westnilers, i think time has come for us to prove to our people of west nile that we, their sons and daughters in the despora are abreast with what is affectting our region. Instead of lamenting on how this government is treating us like destitutes we should come up with clear solutions and sugestions. I would like to suggest that westnile foundation members to start lobbying with development partners to secure funds to put up another dam (at olewa) and to fund the cost of connecting westnile to the national grid. Other modalities of how this can best be done can be discussed further. It is even more ashaming to see that our own politically highly placed brothers and sisters have kind-of looked aside as the government continues to systematically and progressive push us into an abyss! What can 1.75MW for 4 hours a day do for a region with such a huge potential? ? Over to you westnilers --- On Sun, 9/16/12, Vasco Oguzua <[email protected]> wrote: From: Vasco Oguzua <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [WestNileNet] Does the recent Commissioning of the Nyagak solve West Nile's demand for the energy needs? To: "A Virtual Network for friends of West Nile" <[email protected]> Date: Sunday, September 16, 2012, 2:35 PM http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Museveni+switches+on+Nyagak/-/688334/1508300/-/32bm7z/-/index.html Dear Ladies and Gentlemen and sympathizers of the West Nile region I came across this article above which was in the monitor about the commissioning of the Nyagak by the president. Based on what the information in the article, I wonder if the years of the squabbles about Nyagak has any value to the region even after commissioning the power station. In my personal view there is a deliberate neglect and undermining of any development prospects in the region with the intent of letting the region slide backwards than trying to meet the challenges of 21st century. The 4 hours of electricity supply which they have indicated in the paper, the 1.5 million shillings per pole for the transmission and the 1.75 MW power production they have mentioned will be supplied makes me wonder if there is a deliberate intent to keep the people of Wes Nile in the dark ages. Unfortunately, there was no reason given to as to why Nyagak can only supply 4 hours of electricity to the region when the hype about Nyagak was that it would solve all energy problems of the region, let alone now talking of connecting Moyo and Adjumani to the National grid without even mentioning when that will be. Why is this government playing "yoyo" with the people of West Nile in such a deliberate manner. It is as if the region does not need power and the government is only doing the region a favour to provide 4 hours of electricity. The interesting thing is the elected officials in government both local and national seem to be content with this kind of treatment. What kind of development can the region achieve with 4 hours of electricity. If the small diesel generator of the 60's and 70's could provide 24 hour power supply why is it impossible to supply 24 hour power supply to West Nile in this 21st century technology era. What is wrong with us we people of West Nile that we allow ourselves to be treated in this beggarly manner when we contribute equally well in aspects of production of the country. The other day I read the dilapitating situation in hospitals in West Nile where they specifically mentioned the situation in Moyo and Adjumani Hospitals . The next day I read that the Pakwack ID inspection have again started. Why are we treated as if we are not a part of Uganda. even foreigners are treated with respect than we the people of West Nile. Why are we docile about all these issues. If our elected officials do not see any problems with all these issues I think it is our responsibility as the civic society of West Nile to take up these issues. These issues really make me feel the agony of the rural population in West Nile. If we the educated sons and daughters of West Nile can not stand up for the development of our region who will help us to develop our region! -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ WestNileNet mailing list [email protected] http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. _______________________________________________ -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ WestNileNet mailing list [email protected] http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. _______________________________________________ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://orion.kym.net/mailman/private/westnilenet/attachments/20120920/0ec96e34/attachment-0001.html> ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2012 16:28:33 -0700 (PDT) From: Caleb Alaka <[email protected]> To: aggrey adrale <[email protected]>, A Virtual Network for friends of West Nile <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [WestNileNet] Does the recent Commissioning of the Nyagak solve West Nile's demand for the energy needs? Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Thanks Aggrey, we shall endeavor to get the concession agreement and other relevant agreements asap -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://orion.kym.net/mailman/private/westnilenet/attachments/20120920/d94958db/attachment.html> ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ WestNileNet mailing list [email protected] http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet End of WestNileNet Digest, Vol 49, Issue 32 *******************************************
_______________________________________________ WestNileNet mailing list [email protected] http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. _______________________________________________
