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#COVID-19: Kampala Sheraton Hotel resumes business

By
Simon Kabayo
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Sheraton Kampala Hotel has opened doors to guests with strict adherence to standard operating procedures like wearing masks while the hotel has also deployed technology to counter the spread of any sort of viruses.

The five-star hotel has also set new hygiene and cleanliness protocols, trained Cleanliness Champions who will be responsible for the hotel’s cleanliness program through pull-through leveraging standards and tools.

A press statement released by Ms Jacqueline Nalubega Mugisha, the Sheraton Kampala Director Sales and marketing, indicated that facilities such as the lobby, restaurant, conference centres and meeting rooms have been re-arranged to maintain social distancing protocols.

“We have increased the frequency of cleaning and disinfection at highly frequented areas and regularly touched surfaces such as the counter at front desk,elevators,public bathrooms, room keys and gym equipment as an initial step of combating the virus spread,” Mr Jean Philippe Bittencourt,the Sheraton Kampala General Manager, said according to the statement.

Mr Bittencourt added that pending the lifting of international travel restrictions, the hotel has created various packages that are focused on re-connecting friends and families to catch up on the lost time.

The packages include Family escape, friends’ getaways, close circle celebrations, cozy weddings, and love birds’ getaways.
For food services, deliveries will be done through orders on Apps such as Jumia and SafeBoda

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Kutesa, Kavuya sued over alleged flouting #COVID-19 rules

By
Isaiah Mwebaze
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Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa and city tycoon Ben Kavuya have been dragged to court over the violations of restrictions put in place to contain the spread of the #Covid-19 pandemic.

A Soroti-based lawyer attached to M/S Otee Associated Advocates, dragged Minister Kutesa, businessman Ben Kavuya, his wife Barbara Kavuya and their grandson Isaiah Tiba Byabashaija, to court over violating restrictions on international travel.

A complaint on oath that was filed at the Buganda Chief Magistrates court states that the grievance relates to the breach of Public Health (Prohibition of Entry into Uganda) and subsequent instruments related to the containment of the #Covid-19 pandemic.
“On the 24th day of March 2020, the Minister of Health, in the exercise of powers conferred upon the Minister by s.36 of the Public Health Act, Cap 281 passed into law, an Order prohibiting the entry into Uganda of any person, article or thing with effect from Monday 23rd March, 2020,”the complaint reads.

It added that: “That said Order was to remain in force until 23rd April 2020 but was extended by subsequent orders and statutory instruments and remains in force to date”
There was public uproar when Minister Kutesa granted Mr Kavuya exclusive permission to fly in his family from the United States, circumventing a ban on international flights that has been imposed the government to contain the spread of the #Covid-19 pandemic.

However, Mr. Kutesa told Eagle Online that the case was more of blackmailing him.
“It is blackmail because who is a complaint in that case. Just ignore”

Mr Kavuya told this website that the whole purpose of the case is targeting money. That is stupid of whoever filed that case because it wasn’t only his family on the flight.

“How do you sue a three months baby who is under age?, why target three when they were more than 10 people on the flight”. Mr. Kavuya said.

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Wazalendo sacco donates to the national response #COVID-19 fund

By
Our Reporter
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Wazalendo Savings and Credit Cooperative Organization (WSACCO) has donated Shs10 million to the National Response #COVID-19 Fund.

The Minister for General Duties in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Mary Karoro Okurut, received the cheque at OPM premises in Kampala on behalf of the Prime Minister, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda.

Karoro lauded WSACCO for standing with Ugandans in times of difficulties posed by the #COVID-19 pandemic and hailed the organisation for upholding all the core values expected of SACCOs.

“WSACCO is not only an accountable and transparent organisation but also very exemplary in its operations. It is for such reasons that it has excelled in the country and is able to contribute towards the health of Ugandans,” she said.

She noted that the successes of WSACCO is founded on the discipline of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces and the committed service of the mother Ministry; Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs.

“Wazalendo is one example of a successful story portraying the discipline of the UPDF. We thank President Yoweri Museveni for the fundamental change he brought about in the history of Uganda’s military,” she said.

Ms Okurut called upon other SACCOs in Uganda to follow in the footsteps of WSACCO in order to contribute meaningfully to the wellbeing of their members and the nation at large.

Handing over the cheque on behalf of WSACCO, Col John Nuwagaba, the Political Commissar for the Organisation, thanked the #COVID-19 response team for the good work done so far in ensuring Ugandans are safe and are helped to cope with the challenges brought by the pandemic.

“There is no doubt that Uganda is globally recognized for its effective response to this pandemic; thanks to the President and an effective response team,” he said. He said WSACCO is the biggest SACCO in the country and continues to grow due to not only a committed membership comprising of UPDF personnel and MODVA staff but also the good leadership at the helm of the UPDF.

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Meet Eng. David Luyimbazi the KCCA Deputy ED designate

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Eng. David Luyimbazi

David Ssali Luyimbazi is from Luwero District, Katikamu county and sub-county, Busula village. His late grand father was called Mwami Chrysostom Lule Kafero and his father is called Mr. Mwami Chrysostom Ssali Lule. He is of the Nkima clan in Buganda Kingdom.

By way of training, he has an Undergraduate Degree in Civil Engineering from Makerere University (Upper Second degree). He also holds a Master of Science in Highway Management & Engineering with Distinction from the University of Birmingham (UK) where he earned the J. Kolbusweki Prize as best student. As part of his research at master’s level, he developed a framework for multi-criteria analysis in the Highway Development and Management Model of the World Bank used project investment appraisal. David further holds a Master of Science in Major Programme Management from the University of Oxford (UK). The University of Oxford is the highest graded University in the world and its highly selective in the applicants it admits with less than 5% making it to admission.

This is testament to the technical and academic aptitude Eng. Luyimbazi possesses to get admitted in this highly coveted university to pursue one of the most prestigious courses in infrastructure management. The course he studied pertains to Major Programmes whose features are that they are large scale, transformational, involve multiple stakeholders, complex ventures and impact millions of people (same as the challenges Kampala Capital City Authority possesses) . As such, it calls for a different skill set and experience background to successfully manage a Major Programme akin to a situation where you need a jumbo jet pilot license and not a mere car driver’s license to partake.

Government has over the years also invested substantially in David’s specialization by funding him to attend numerous professional development courses in contract management, public private partnerships, innovative project financing, etc.
David joined the Ministry of Works and Transport over 20 years back in 1996 as a pupil engineer and grew through the ranks to the position of Principal Engineer around 2003. He was seconded to join the Road Agency Formation Unit (RAFU) of the Ministry in 2005 as a Senior Project Engineer, a position he held until April 2008. In April 2008, he was appointed the Director of Planning in UNRA and he held this position until June 2015 when his contract was ended.

As Director of Planning, his primary responsibilities were to (i) Initiate projects, prepare plans and designs for all highway and bridge projects in UNRA; (ii) facilitate the financing of all development projects, (iii) manage the compensation of persons affected for road works on all road projects; (iii) monitor and report progress of all UNRA activities.
From the foregoing, as Director Planning, he had to be involved in every project especially the initiation and planning. This explains his central role especially in the early times for each of the UNRA development projects whereby he had a role in the preparation of all projects as guided by the NRM Manifesto.
Figure 1 – Project Cycle

It is evident from his employment under the Ministry of works, that Government provided him a platform to specialize in planning transport projects, designing highways, investment appraisal of projects, preparation of multi-year transport plans, public private partnerships, managing large programmes etc. He possesses skills that one can confidently say right now very few Ugandans possess including experience and exposure.
As a testament to the work he did while in UNRA, by the time he left the organization, the following are some of the other major achievements as a direct result of my role as Director Planning: –

• Spearheaded the design of 2,400 km of roads for Upgrading from gravel to tarmac and 441 km for old paved roads for reconstruction;
• Spearheaded the designs of major flagship projects that include Kampala – Entebbe Expressway (52 km), Kampala – Jinja Expressway (75 km), Kampala – Bombo Expressway (35 km), Kampala – Mpigi Expressway (40 km), Southern Bypass (15 km), Outer Beltway (40 km), Kampala Flyovers (15 km)and the Very Very Important Persons (VVIP) Route (25 km);
• He also spearheaded the preparation and design for the New Nile Bridge at Jinja as well as Karuma and Masindi Port Bridges;
• He spearheaded the preparation, financing and contracting for the 1st Expressway Project in Uganda (Kampala – Entebbe Expressway) and the 1st Cable Stayed Bridge in Uganda (New Nile Bridge); etc all totaling US$ 600 million;
• In liaison with the Finance Ministry and Development Partners (World Bank, African Development Bank, European Investment Bank, JICA, China EXIM Bank, BADEA, Islamic Development Bank, European Union, Trademark East Africa, etc.), he spearheaded the UNRA team that supported the negotiation of loan agreements up to the tune of US$ 2.0 Billion for various road and bridge projects.
• He is conversant with traditional concessional financing from multilateral development institutions like the World Bank, African Development Bank, European Union, etc; non – traditional financing from export financing agencies like China Exim Bank; private financing using public – private partnerships; innovative financing models like blending loans and grants; etc.

FACTFILE
• Parents: Mr. Ssali Lule and Elizabeth Nalunkuuma Ssali Lule (RIP) of Makerere Kavule.
• Education: Makerere College School (O and A-level);
• Makerere University (civil engineering).
• Masters in Highway Management and Engineering (University of Birmingham).
• Master of science in Major Programme Management (University of Oxford).

Work Experience:
• Victoria Construction Company,
• Kagga and Partners,
• Ministry of Works and Transport
• Uganda National Roads Authority
• Basic Group Limited
Having left UNRA four years ago, Eng Luyimbazi is the CEO of Basic Group Limited, a multi-disciplinary company with offerings that span engineering, construction, real estate, manufacturing, energy, oil & gas, agriculture, education, commodities trading, technology and financial services.
He has been the Deputy Project Manager of the Owner’s Engineer on the project for construction of infrastructure for the Kampala Industrial Business Park where Basic Group Ltd is in a consortium with Joadah Consultants, Turner & Townsend and Roughton International Ltd.

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Blame fake #COVID-19 results on counterfeit culture

By
Guest Writer
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Mr. Muwema

By Fred Muwema

While responding to the reading of Uganda’s 2020/2021 national budget on the 11/6/2020, President Museveni revealed that some of the 697 people tested recently, had been erroneously classified as having tested positive for #COVID-19 whereas they were negative. I don’t know why the President was surprised by this phenomenon of false positives (read fake positive results) and false negatives (read fake negative results). Those two concepts have graced the cover story the #COVID-19 pandemic since January, 2020. Perhaps the only thing that beats fake #COVID-19 results to smithereens is the fake #COVID-19 news.

Fake news has stood out as the spindle on which the #COVID-19 story went crazy and wheedled millions of rumor thirsty people around the world. Many fake stories about #COVID-19 have refused to go away despite the best efforts to sanitize the public information space. For example, some people in Africa still believe that drinking alcohol or inhaling hot steam can protect them from catching #COVID-19 whereas not. In hindsight, even the fake #COVID-19 results which the President complained about constituted fake news at the time they were delivered by the Ministry of Health. This is the counterfeit culture that I am talking about and fake news has become its new front runner.

It must be common knowledge by now that many countries in the #COVID-19 hotspots like USA, France, UK, Italy, Spain, China, South Africa have reported more fake positive#COVID-19 results than Uganda. The only difference is that the other countries have also reported fake negative #COVID-19 results which we have not. This is what should surprise the President and all of us because generally speaking fakes do not discriminate, they cut across. I suspect that someone was being fake in holding back the fake negative #COVID-19 results. Medical experts tell us the positive and negative results have an equal preponderance of occurrence, so why do we have one and not the other.

The President believes that the fake #COVID-19 results were caused by the negligence and fatigue of some of the health workers. This may be true and excusable to a point if say one worker was forced to operate a machine which is ordinarily handled by 5 people or he or she worked without food or rest for days on end. However, a flip of the coin should have the concerned health workers agonizing about a possible 5-7-year jail term for their efforts. This is if they should wake up one day and fail to answer to charges of neglect of public duty or charges in relation to negligent acts likely to spread infectious disease. That should be the case if they were unprofessional and negligent in collecting and handling the test samples or if they were simply clumsy when they mislabeled the test results. Nevertheless, in such a case, I would still say that their negligence would be symptomatic of their incompetence which is associated with the rampaging examination malpractice in Uganda and is known to uncover numerate fake academic qualifications.

The situation is so dire that sometimes one should be forgiven if they think that fake academic papers are the general rule rather than the exception. This is how far we have sunk in the inglorious counterfeit culture and we are still counting. The culture of counterfeiting is so deep-rooted in Uganda that even when we had not registered a single #COVID-19 case in March 2020, some incredible Ugandans still made it to the international news for administering a fake Coronavirus vaccine. ( http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/world/2020-03-10-Ugandans-arrested-for-giving-fake-Coronavirus-vaccine )

Right now, Ugandans are ruminating about an uncertain future which is caused by the #COVID-19 instigated lockdown of the economy. With a projected growth rate of only 3 per cent this year, the only predictable…

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Aceng, Atwine fighting us over #COVID-19 money -Makerere / Mulago cries out

By
Geoffery Serugo
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U.S. Ambassador to Uganda Deborah R. Malac, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Health, Dr. Diana Atwine, and Minister Dr.Jane Acen.

Health Minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng and her Permanent Secretary Dr Diana Atwine have reportedly declared war against Makerere University over #Covid-19 testing money Eagle Online has learnt.

At the centre of the clash between the Health Ministry top honchos and Makerere University is the cost of running Covid-19 tests.

This website has learnt that the Health Ministry wants to run the costs at $65 (Shs234,000)while Makerere University says the tests can be done at $30(Shs108,000).

The issue of the Heath Ministry inflating the costs of running Covid-19 tests was first raised by Kampala Central MP Muhammad Nsereko.

MP Nsereko revealed that the Health Ministry is conducting Rapid Diagnostic Tests(RDT) at $65(Shs 234,000) while the same tests can be procured at $3.65(Shs14,400) on the open market.

MP Nsereko further revealed that the Health Ministry tests 3000 truck drivers per day,at a cost of $195,000(Sh721m daily).

The Health Ministry released a press statement dismissing Nsereko’s revelations.

The clash over the cost of testing #Covid-19 samples took a turn for the worse when the Health Ministry leadership met President Museveni and told him that some tests that were conducted at Makerere University are inaccurate.

A source told Eagle Online “Those so called negative results they informed the president were some of the negative propaganda they (ministry) have started on us and it is basically about $30 testing kits that we are using against theirs of $60. We pray that truth will come out one day”.

The Ministry of Health Senior Public Relations Manager, Emmanuel Ainebyoona told Eagle Online that Makerere/Mulango should own and apologise to the country about the mistakes committed instead of going defensive.

“That is what they are saying but it is not correct. This money they are talking about was from a certain university which the ministry also received. However, we what to know what method they are using that costs $30. If they made an error, they should own up but the minister is responding to all these allegations shortly in a detailed statement”

A source from the National Health Taskforce that attended the meeting indicated that the Health Ministry is determined to completely discredit Makerere University.

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Museveni appoints new KCCA Executive Director as Eng David Luyimbazi bounces back

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Former KCCA Acting ED Eng. Andrew Kitaka

President Yoweri Museveni has appointed Ms Dorothy Kisaka as the new Executive Director for Kampala City Authority replacing Eng. Andrew Kitaka who has been in acting capacity ever since Jennifer Musis left.

Eng. Kitaka has been in acting capacity for a period of one year and half. The president further appointed an accomplished engineer, David Luyimbazi as Deputy Director. Eng. Luyimbazi is credited with the designing and construction of Entebbe Express Highway and Jinja new bridge. He was maliciously sacked from Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA). He was eventually set free after an inquiry that established he didn’t participate in the said allegations.

KCCA Executive Director and Deputy Director are appointed by the president on the recommendations of public service commission.
Mr. Museveni further appointed Dr. Daniel Okello Ayen as Director Health and Environment, Ms Sarah Knayike as Director Gender, Community Service while Ms Grace Akullo as Director Human Resources and Administration.

Senior Presidential Press Secretary Don Wanyama confirmed the development but told Eagle Online that these were mere recommendation to Public Service Commission by the president as the nominees await confirmation by the commission.

“Media colleagues, on proposed changes at KCC, for now we can say they are nominees who have to go through vetting by PSC.” Mr Wanyama said.

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Sudhir tasks Fatboy to name Manager who incited strike

By
Our Reporter
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James Onen, better known as Fatboy, makes no apologies for his different views

 

City tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia has put James Onen, popularly known as Fatboy,to name the Manager who allegedly incited him to lead a staff sit-down strike.

Sudhir met some staff on Friday who claimed that Fatboy had misled them into participating in the sit-down strike.

Staff went on strike after rejection a proposed 25% salary cut.

The sit-down strike forced Sudhir Ruparelia to fire the entire staff of Sanyu FM.

It has since emerged that Fatboy was himself incited into the strike by one of the managers at Sanyu FM.

For staff who gave since seen the light and want to be reinstated on their jobs,Mr Ruparelia has told them to re-apply.

However, Fatboy has been told to name the Manager who incited him to lead the sit-down strike.

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Maj.Gen Kasirye Gwanga buried

By
Our Reporter
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Maj Gen(rtd)Kasirye Ggwanga has this afternoon been laid to rest at his ancestral home in Nkene Village, Busunju County, Mityana District.

Maj Gen Kasirye breathed his last at Nakasero Hospital on Tuesday morning where he had been admitted for weeks.

A post-mortem is being carried out to establish the exact cause of death.

Due to restrictions put in place to contain the spread of the Corona virus,Maj Gen Kasirye’s burial was restricted to the public.

Only close family members and selected UPDF officers were allowed access.

Gen David Muhoozi,the Chief of Defense Forces (CDF) was the chief mourner.

.

His children,led by Nagitta, eulogized him saying he was their best friend and a ‘wonderful man’.

“Daddy had a humble beginning in life and he made the best of it,” she said.

They lauded the UPDF and President Museveni for always working closely with their departed father and giving him an opportunity to serve his country.

Maj General Kasirye,an eccentric soldier,was loved and loathed in equal measure.

Those who loved him said he was a tough environmentalist while those who loathed accused him of impunity.

From burning a grader to deflating the tyres of musician-cum-NRM activist Catherine Kusasira,Maj Gen Kasirye was never far from controversy.

What always irked those who fell victim to his high-handedness was that law enforcement agencies could never bring him to order.

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Museveni mourns Nkurunziza

By
Our Reporter
-

 

President Museveni has sent condolences to the people of Burundi upon the death of President Pierre Nkuruzinza.

The Burundi government announced on Monday that President Nkuruzinza had passed on .

In a tweet posted on his Twitter handle, President Museveni wrote that:”My condolences to the people of Burundi, on the demise of H.E President Pierre Nkurunziza who died earlier in the week.”

“May his soul rest in peace”,the tweet concluded.

Following Nkuruzinza’s passing, the Burundi government declared 7 days of national mourning.

The Burundi government statement said President Nkuruzinza had died of cardiac arrest but Kenyan newspaper The Star, quoting diplomatic sources, reported yesterday that he died of Corona virus.

Mr Nkuruzinza was due to hand over power in August, having led the small country since 2005.

The Speaker of the National Assembly will take over the presidency,in acting capacity.

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