Be aware of this URA job fraud

Some people have decided to take advantage of job seekers to defraud them. Graduates seeking employment are so desperate that they have become prey to fraudsters. They do this by availing them dubious in lucrative firms like URA. However, they end up asking them to deposit money on personal accounts which may be hard to raise hairs of desperate job seekers. Below is how a friend of mine fell victim.

It began with a face book inbox from one of his many friends who calls himself Ruth Kayle Nyaiti (Hilary Semaana Rugema). Following are the opportunities promised

UGANDA REVENUE JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Eligibility

URA does not marginalize some people basing on physical, racial, national backgrounds.
All competent candidates are entitled to all job opportunities.

JOB STATION: Kampala

Job title: procurement assistant (6 posts) S/N:URA/0900

Duties

Under close guidance, coaching and mentoring of Procurement Officer,

Works and Services, the Procurement Assistant, Works and Services

shall be responsible for carrying out of procurement activities in

accordance with the Rules and Regulations and any special requirements of Development Partners.

Reports to the Procurement Manager.

Key duties &responsibilities

1.To carry out Procurement and Disposal Planning based on requests

from User Departments and consistent with PPDA

2. To propose appropriate procurement methods as provided for in the

PPDA Act and Regulations for final review by the Procurement

Manager, Works and Services and Director of Procurement before submission to the Contracts committee;

3. To prepare notice of invitation for Tender/Bids for advertisement and

follow up its placement on appropriate media;

4. To prepares Solicitation Documents for each procurement requirement;

5. To provide Bid clarification/ addenda during tendering/bidding period;

6. To organize Tender/ Bid closing and opening, pre-bid meetings and site

Qualifications

Applicants must have a minimum qualification of a diploma in procurement and supply chain management.
Possession of membership in chartered institutes for professional procurement practitioners is an added advantage.

Accountant Assistant (10 posts) S/N:URA/0901

Accountant Assistant Duties and Responsibilities

He or she will be responsible for maintaining the balance sheets of the company..

He or she shall prepare and manage budgets and maintain them..

He or she shall assist the senior accountants and help them..

He or she will be responsible for entry of investment data and as well as in entry on gains and loss.

He or she shall to do all the basic works of an accountant such as reconciliation of balance sheets accounts, petty cash payments, payroll related payables, loan and notes receivables and deferring of income accounts.

He or she shall do the compilation entry, and posting monthly adjusting journal entries.

He or she should have to prepare profit and loss accounts.

He or she will assist senior accountants in preparing audit schedules and working for the auditing also so closely with the auditors to ensure that auditing is completed in time.

He or she will have to assist with closing the books and in producing monthly accounts showing profit and loss statements.

Accountants Assistant Skills and Requirements

He or she should have the skills of good writing and spoken communication.

He or she should be very good in scheduling and monitoring skills.

He or she should be initiative and innovative with the work.

He or she should be very good at problem analysis and problem solving.

He or she should have the ability to work in a team and relating well with other staff members.

Junior Accountant Education and Qualifications

The candidate should have at least a diploma but a bachelor’s degree in Accounting shall be an added advantage.

The candidate should be very proficient in use of accounting software like workbooks, Microsoft Excel.

As it is the job of an accountant knowledge and proficiency of finance and accounting principles is very necessary.

Job Title: Human Resources Manager (9 posts) S/N:URA/0902

Human Resources Manager Job Duties:

Maintains the work structure by updating job requirements and job descriptions for all positions.

Maintains organization staff by establishing a recruiting, testing, and interviewing program; counseling managers on candidate selection; conducting and analyzing exit interviews; recommending changes.

Prepares employees for assignments by establishing and conducting orientation and training programs.

Maintains a pay plan by conducting periodic pay surveys; scheduling and conducting job evaluations; preparing pay budgets; monitoring and scheduling individual pay actions; recommending, planning, and implementing pay structure revisions.

Ensures planning, monitoring, and appraisal of employee work results by training managers to coach and discipline employees; scheduling management conferences with employees; hearing and resolving employee grievances; counseling employees and supervisors.

Maintains employee benefits programs and informs employees of benefits by studying and assessing benefit needs and trends; recommending benefit programs to management; directing the processing of benefit claims; obtaining and evaluating benefit contract bids; awarding benefit contracts; designing and conducting educational programs on benefit programs.

Ensures legal compliance by monitoring and implementing applicable human resource federal and state requirements; conducting investigations; maintaining records; representing the organization at hearings.

Skills/Qualifications:

Must possess a bachelors degree in human resource management

Must have knowledge about:

Hiring, Human Resources Management, Benefits Administration, Performance Management, Communication Processes, Compensation and Wage Structure, Supports Diversity, Classifying Employees, Employment Law, Laws Against Sexual Harassment, Organization

Job title: I. T specialist (15posts) S/N:URA/0903

Duties

Network management, software development and database administration.
IT specialists will also provide technical support to employees and train non-technical workers on the entities information systems.
Advanced information technology specialists will design systems and assess the effectiveness of technology resources already in use or new systems that are being implemented.
Additionally, they will determine the practicality of changes and modification of systems.
Skills and qualifications
Typically, analysts shall qualify for entry-level positions with a bachelor's degree in in Information Technology, candidates holding a bachelors degree in computer science accompanied with professional skills in CISCO are on an added advantage .

Salaries and Benefits:

Appointments will be made on very attractive, negotiable monthly salary packages plus

a range of benefits.

How to apply

Download an application form by logging onto www.ura.go.ug, and go to 'Notifications' for quick view , fill in the provisions given and send it back to email below :
humanresourceura1@gmail.com

Send your Curriculum vitae accompanied by:

A capability statement detailing the applicant’s general qualifications.

Detailed curriculum vitae duly signed by the applicant on each and every
page.

Note: URA uses no agents to hire its personnel.

Three referees, Postal addresses and day telephone contacts of applicant should be strictly sent on-line, via this email: humanresourceura1@gmail.com addressed to:

Uganda Revenue Secretariat
P.O. Box 7279, Kampala (U)
Email: humanresourceura1@gmail.com
To reach the secretariat registry not later than Friday 7th September 2012 at 17.00 hours

For GENERAL INQUIRIES please email us at: humanresourceura1@gmail.com Or call on Tel :0414258882. Mobile : 0703686142

Note: shortlisted candidates shall undergo a professional course training of East African customs clearing and Forwarding which will be accompanied with awarding of certificates of completion by Freight and Excise Department (FRED) before other recruitment stages are administered !

After doing all the application steps he received the email below

Dear,

Thank you for your recent application for employment with Uganda Revenue Authority, Kampala duty station.

And we bring to your attention that your resume was one of that kind and surely it impressed the personnel evaluation panel.

An interview is scheduled for you on Monday 17th/09/2012 at 10:00am in our board room, this will be accompanied with a two days East African Freight Forwarders Practicing Certificate course (EAFFPC) training that has been scheduled for you on 21st Friday-22nd Saturday September 2012 at 9:00 am – 12:00pm whose accomplishment will be accompanied by an award of EAFFPC certificate of merit that is the basic requirement in this career. Your interview code is: URA/908/043

Attached on here is an EAFFPC job training form that an applicant is required to fill in only section (A) ,B and C are to be filled by ‘URA’

Download and print this attached form, fill in the provisions and return it to our offices as you come for interviews.

Note: URA does not solicit for any monies in the course of any recruitment for the job.

However, the management has approved that applicants shall be required to pay thirty thousand shillings (30,000/=) through CRANE Bank A/c Number: 0140074020300 A/c Name: VERNASIUS NUWAGABA (Senior Training /personnel development officer) only for the training.
Endeavor to come with the original of the required documents (i.e. academic credentials, EAFFPC application form and attached with the bank pay in slip)
Obtain a valid receipt from Accounts office for your payment verification on Monday 17th/09/2012 and proceed to the board room for interviews.

For more information contact directly our offices in Nakawa, Kampala (U) during working hours Monday-Friday
Or Call the office line: 0414258882
Yours;
Vincent Turyamureeba
Assistant, HRM
Good Luck!

He paid in money to the given account but to his dismay, when he reached URA offices at Nakawa they had no idea about all that. So all job seekers watchout.

Sports betting becoming more than a pass-time

The sports betting craze has taken a lot of Ugandan youth by storm. Betting was not so common about 10 years ago in the country. Only gambling spots like Kampala Casino existed for the rich to pass time. Of recent there has been a wave of sports betting companies opening up in the country. A lot of young people have taken on sports betting with a lot of enthusiasm. It has become more like a source of employment as a visit to any sports betting center will reveal.

Sports betting in Uganda started with only one company SBA,but currently there are more than 10 other betting companies. For example Gemex, Gaming, Gal's Sports Betting, Bingo, Kings Sports Betting, Victory and Royal Sports Betting. The profitability in this business has put pressure on the competing companies themselves to become more innovative. Now one can even bet using his mobile phone, free internet access to on-line betting guides and putting up large TV screens for their customers to follow their favorite matches live.

The popularity of sports betting can be attributed to the state's legalization of gambling. Uganda is the second nation in Africa to legalize betting activities. More so there is a high market potential especially in suburban areas of the country. High unemployment rates also answer for the high cases of sports betting. The betting stakes are as low as 200 Shs that every one can afford to participate

The prospect of staking about 1000 shs and winning more than 400000 shs rings high in any of the betters' mind. Many youths spend entire days or their lives at betting spots and it has become their source of livelihood. Losing today does not mean that he will not win the next day. Ironically this has worked in favour of the betting bosses who bag millions in a single day. Betting centers used to open by 8 in the morning and could close by midnight. However, concern was raised in the parliament about the growing trend of youth towards sports betting instead of more gain-full employment. The last reading of the budget for next financial year saw a 20% levy on betting companies. And the working hours were reduced, now betting centers have to begin operating at mid-day.

Technology has helped improve the betting environment with the introduction of on-line betting platforms. Further, there are internet based betting guides on which people can base to stake their money. Soccer matches are the most preferred but virtual games like horse racing are also taking shape.

Bloody smart phones

The world's most neglected emergency, according to the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, is the ongoing tragedy of the Congo, where six to seven million have died since 1996 as a consequence of invasions and wars sponsored by western powers trying to gain control of the region's mineral wealth. At stake is control of natural resources that are sought by U.S. corporations-diamonds, tin, copper, gold, and more significantly, coltan and niobium, two minerals necessary for production of cell phones and other high-tech electronics; and cobalt, an element essential to nuclear, chemical, aerospace, and defense industries. To confirm this was the massacre of striking miners in South Africa for better pay.

Columbo-tantalite, i.e. coltan, is found in three-billion-year-old soils like those in the Rift Valley region of Africa. The tantalum extracted from the coltan ore is used to make tantalum capacitors, tiny components that are essential in managing the flow of current in electronic devices. Eighty percent of the world's coltan reserves are found in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Niobium is another high-tech mineral with a similar story.

Sprocket reports that the high-tech boom of the 1990s caused the price of coltan to skyrocket to nearly $300 per pound. In 1996 U.S.-sponsored Rwandan and Ugandan forces entered eastern DRC. By 1998 they seized control and moved into strategic mining areas. The Rwandan Army was soon making $20 million or more a month from coltan mining. Though the price of coltan has fallen, Rwanda maintains its monopoly on coltan and the coltan trade in DRC. Reports of rampant human rights abuses pour out of this mining region. Coltan makes its way out of the mines to trading posts where foreign traders buy the mineral and ship it abroad, mostly through Rwanda. Firms with the capability turn coltan into the coveted tantalum powder, and then sell the magic powder to Nokia, Motorola, Compaq, Sony, and other manufacturers for use in cell phones and other products. Keith Harmon Snow emphasizes that any analysis of the geopolitics in the Congo, and the reasons for why the Congolese people have suffered a virtually unending war since 1996, requires an understanding of the organized crime perpetrated through multinational businesses. The tragedy of the Congo conflict has been instituted by invested corporations, their proxy armies, and the supra-governmental bodies that support them.

The process is tied to major multinational corporations at all levels. These include U.S.-based Cabot Corp. and OM Group; HC Starck of Germany; and Nigncxia of China-corporations that have been linked by a United Nations Panel of Experts to the atrocities in DRC. Extortion, rape, massacres, and bribery are all part of the criminal networks set up and maintained by huge multinational companies. Yet as mining in the Congo by western companies proceeds at an unprecedented rate-some $6 million in raw cobalt alone exiting DRC daily-multinational mining companies rarely get mentioned in human rights reports. Sprocket notes that Sam Bodman, CEO of Cabot during the coltan boom, was appointed in December 2004 to serve as President Bush's Secretary of Energy. Under Bodman's leadership from 1987 to 2000, Cabot was one of the U.S.'s largest polluters, accounting for 60,000 tons of airborne toxic emissions annually. Snow adds that Sony's current Executive Vice President and General Counsel Nicole Seligman was a former legal adviser for Bill Clinton. Many who held positions of power in the Clinton administration moved into high positions with Sony. The article "Behind the Numbers," coauthored by Snow and David Barouski, details a web of U.S. corruption and conflicts of interest between mining corporations such as Barrick Gold (see Story #21) and the U.S. government under George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, as well as U.S. arms dealers such as Simax; U.S. defense companies such as Lockheed Martin, Halliburton, Northrop Grumman, GE, Boeing, Raytheon, and Bechtel; "humanitarian" organizations such as CARE, funded by Lockheed Martin, and International Rescue Committee, whose Board of Overseers includes Henry Kissinger; "Conservation" interests that provide the vanguard for western penetration into Central Africa; and of course, PR firms and news outlets such as the New York Times.

Sprocket closes his article by noting that it's not surprising this information isn't included in the literature and manuals that come with your cell phones, pagers, computers, or diamond jewelry. Perhaps, he suggests, mobile phones should be outfitted with stickers that read: "Warning! This device was created with raw materials from central Africa. These materials are rare, nonrenewable, were sold to fund a bloody war of occupation, and have caused the virtual elimination of endangered species. Have a nice day." People need to realize, he says, that there is a direct link between the gadgets that make our lives more convenient and sophisticated-and the reality of the violence, turmoil, and destruction that plague our world. Update by Sprocket There are large fortunes to be made in the manufacturing of high-tech electronics and in selling convenience and entertainment to American consumers, but at what cost? Conflicts in Africa are often shrouded with misinformation, while U.S. and other western interests are routinely downplayed or omitted by the corporate media. The June 5, 2006, cover story of Time, entitled "Congo: The Hidden Toll of the World's Deadliest War," was no exception. Although the article briefly mentioned coltan and its use in cell phones and other electronic devices, no mention was made of the pivotal role this and other raw materials found in the region play in the conflict. The story painted the ongoing war as a pitiable and horrible tragedy, avoiding the corporations and foreign governments that have created the framework for the violence and those which have strong financial and political interests in the conflict's outcome.

In an article written by Johann Hari and published by The Hamilton Spectator on May 13, 2006, the corporate media took a step toward addressing the true reason for the tremendous body count that continues to pile up in the Democratic Republic of Congo: "The only change over the decades has been the resources snatched for Western consumption-rubber under the Belgians, diamonds under Mobutu, coltan and casterite today." Most disturbing is that in the corporate media, the effect of this conflict on nonhuman life is totally overlooked. Even with a high-profile endangered species like the Eastern lowland gorilla hanging in the balance, almost driven to extinction through poaching and habitat loss by displaced villagers and warring factions, the environmental angle of the story is rarely considered.

The next step in understanding the exploitation and violence wrought upon the inhabitants of central Africa, fueled by the hunger for high-tech toys in the U.S., is to expose corporations like Sony and Motorola. These corporations don't want protest movements tarnishing their reputations. Nor do they want to call attention to all of the gorillas coltan kills, and the guerrillas it feeds.

It is time for our culture to start seeing more value in living beings, whether gorillas or humans, than in our disposable high-tech gadgets such as cell phones. It is time to steal back a more compassionate existence from the corporate plutocracy that creates destructive markets and from the media system that has manufactured our consent. It is not just a question of giving up cell phones (though that would be a great start). We must question the appropriation of our planet in the form of a resource to be consumed, rather than as a home and community to be lived in.