Pakasa panel agrees on 10-point judgment criteria

The panel of judges for the Pakasa Youth Awards competition has agreed upon scoring points to select the 10 winners of the competition.  

The judges agreed that an enterprise shall be considered for scoring only if it is been in existence for not less than three years.

They also agreed that the enterprise should be viable and sustainable if it is to warrant their time.

"Enterprises should be profitable, sustainable and have the ability to create jobs," said Maria Odida, the chief executive officer of Bee Natural Products Limited and chairperson of the five-man panel of judges.

It was agreed that the enterprise should have evidence of financial management, record keeping, taxation and registration and should ideally possess a Tax Identification Number (TIN).

Pakasa editor Sebidde Kiryowa (R) consults with one of the judges Kivumbi

The enterprise should have a brand and produce value added goods as opposed to goods in the traditional raw material form. There must be a sign of value added to the goods.

They also insisted on ethical conduct and good business practices.

"The entrepreneur should be in position to produce high quality products and services, take into account customer and employ concerns," explained John Walugembe, the Executive Director, Uganda Small Scale Industries Association (USSIA) and one of the judges.

The judges agreed that the enterprise should exhibit a commendable of innovation and be able to follow a specified business model.

The panel unanimously agreed that to qualify for scoring, a business should have social impact. The enterprise should positively impact the community in which it is located.

The team observed that for an enterprise to qualify, it should have a business plan and strategy; a formal or informal business plan.

But they are also out to award an entrepreneur who is passionate about their business. This, they however said, would be considered in the final stages of selecting the best 10.

Grading
The judges who received the second batch of profiles of contestants (January to February, 2016) for review and scoring, created an assessment sheet/score that would be used in grading the contestants.

The profiles appeared in Pakasa (New Vision) and its sister vernacular papers between October 1, 2015 and February 2016. The rest appeared on Vision Group's electronic platforms.

Categories

The judges agreed that Instead of creating categories, each of the 10 regions would have a winner who would be recognised by their strongest attribute as per the selection criteria.

Odido and Ntamu proposed attributes such as the most Inspiring business story and Most Successful Woman Entrepreneur be created.  

It was agreed that other attributes will be identified in the final stages of selecting the 10 winners.