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Court quashes Bamugemereire’s Land Commissions’ application to stay payment of Shs9.7b to land owners

By
Our Reporter
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Justice Bamugemereire

The Court of Appeal has dismissed with costs an application lodged to it by Justice Catherine Bamugemereire’s land probe to stay court consent where government accepted compensate owners of the land it had acquired from them to the tune of about Shs9.7 billion.

President Museveni on February 21.2017 swore in the Lands Inquiry Commission led by Justice Bamugemereire as Chairperson with the responsibility of evaluating the effectiveness of Law, Policies and Processes of land acquisition, Land Administration, Land Management as well as land registration in Uganda.

In the application, the Commission claimed the land deals were dubious and that if government paid the money, it would lose much more in the future.

However, in their written ruling delivered on April 17, 2019, Justices Kenneth Kakuru, Stephen Musota and Christopher Madrama said they found no merit in the application, noting that orders issued by the executive however well intended cannot legally stay decisions of any Court of Law. Interestingly, Bamugemereire is a member of same court though now she doesn’t execute court work as she is she chairs the land commission.

“We find that the orders sought to be stayed are not capable of being executed and we declined to grant them,” part of the ruling based on the application lodged in by Dr. Douglas Singiza, Secretary to the Commission of Inquiry into land matters…in November last year, seeking to stay all court orders related to government paying land owners in deals that are questionable.

They also added that judgments of the court cannot be stayed, reviewed or otherwise compromised by orders issued by the executive, noting that would a blatant constitutional error, further stating that the constitution requires the legislature and executive arms of government to uphold the independence of the judiciary.

The three justices also ruled that government consented to compensate the payees in civil suit No 550 of 2016 and as such the consent cannot be stayed except in an application to set is aside, noting that the application was misconceived by the applicant.

The justices further rubbished the application, saying that the judicial processes are corrected with the same judicial process where reviews, revision, appeals and even disciplinary measures are taken to ensure that errors made are corrected.

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Under pressure IGG makes U-turn, admits I am investigating corruption at BoU

By
Geoffery Serugo
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IGG-Irene-Mulyagonja

The Inspector General of Government (IGG), Irene Mulyagonja, has revealed that the inspectorate is investigating central bank over misappropriation of funds.

This is after a whistleblower filed a complaint claiming the Bank of Uganda officials (BoU) have mismanaged government funds over the past years.

The 350 pens BoU purchased at Shs125 million for their golden jubilee celebrations in 2016 and the billions of shillings paid to external layers on top of the nine fully paid and facilitated bank lawyers, are among the issues that compelled the whistleblower to petition IGG to investigate the central bank.

The whistleblower wants BoU to account for the sums of money printed in the past years. The bank is also accused of printing over Shs1 billion and handed it over to an individual in past elections. He also wants central bank to account for the sums of money received at the sale and of seven commercial banks

In an interview with Eagle Online, Justice Mulyagonja said the investigations into BoU commenced last year and soon the report will be filed and handled to the whistleblower or BoU if it is found no fund was misused as per the allegations.

“Culpable staff members will be taken on individual basis to account for any missing funds and probably be prosecuted in Courts of law,” She said.

She also said they are investigating former Director of Supervision in bank of Uganda, Justine Bagyenda over accumulation of wealth. She said Bagyenda will be required to explain basing on the salary she was receiving in the central bank and possibly other authentic sources of income.

Recently, Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) investigated Bank of Uganda over the sale of seven defunct commercial banks starting with Teefe Bank in 1993 to Crane Bank in 2016.

The inquiry exposed BoU staff as exhibiting corruption tendencies as well as allowing conflict of interest in the transaction. For instance the inquiry established that BoU sold Global Trust Bank Uganda (GTBU) and CBL to Dfcu Bank well knowing that BoU Staff retirement benefit scheme owns 0.59 shares in Dfcu bank and as such stood to benefit from the two transactions.

It was also established that some banks were sold under dubious circumstances by Bagyenda without inventory reports. While others were sold on a phone call.

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William Ssekabembe moots exiting Dfcu bank, as clients complain of mistreatment on social media

By
Our Reporter
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William Sekabembe Dfcu-Bank-Uganda’s-Chief of Business and-Executive Director-William-Sekabembe

Dfcu’s Chief of Business and Executive Director at the bank William Sekabembe is said to be contemplating leaving the bank, according to sources close to him.

The sources say Sekabembe can no longer stomach the fact that Dfcu bank board declined to offer him the job of Managing Director after the departure of troubled Juma Kisaame left yet they had promised him.

Kisaame was instead replaced by current MD Mathias Katamba, who joined the Bank in January 2019 after resigning from Housing Finance Bank.

Sources say the Dfcu bank board had earlier promised to give that job to Sekabembe after KCB Uganda came asking for his services as MD of that bank. Sekabembe declined the job offer in a letter dated September 5, 2018 which Eagle Online has a copy.

Meanwhile the Managing Director of Arlanda Tours and Travel Limited Ahmed Hidaya has accused Dfcu bank of causing inconvenience to her while trying to operate her dollar account.

Ms Hidaya on her Facebook accuses Dfcu bank staff at Acacia branch in Kampala for mistreating her, and tossing her around when she wanted to know whether her client’s money, a tourist from Germany had reached her company’s account so that she could secure a Gorilla tracking permit for the client expected in July this year.

“Problem here is that I do confirm a tour with my client from Germany and they decide to send through the money for Gorilla trekking safari likely to take place in July. They did the transactions and in our business communication is very crucial. Client kept asking if I had received the money, I keep following up with the bank and guess what?! These chaps can’t give me details of the account until I provide the source of the money,” she says.

She says she tried to provide all the necessary details as requested but at the end of it, they had sent back the money to her client in Germany.

She asks: “If at all the bank is uncertain the company is not authentic, or never trusted the company documents, why in the first place did they accept to open up the account?”

She says Dfcu bank’s action has harmed her company and fears that the client may never send the money again to the company due to loss of trust.

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World Bank scales Up emergency support for Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe in the wake of Cyclone Idai

By
Agencies
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Cyclone in Mozambique

The World Bank has announced that it has mobilized over half a billion dollars in new resources to help people in Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe affected by the assessed impact of Cyclone Idai.

The World Bank is activating the International Development Association (IDA) Crisis Response Window (CRW) to provide up to $545 million in total for the three affected countries. This is in addition to nearly $150 million in resources that have recently been made available from existing projects. Together, total World Bank support to the three countries’ recovery reaches around $700 million.

“Cyclone Idai caused catastrophic damage earlier this year that affected millions of people, and this tragedy has been compounded by Cyclone Kenneth,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass, following a tour of Beira’s affected areas. “The World Bank Group is working closely with our partners to help the population recover from these terrible storms, build back stronger than before, and improve countries’ resilience to natural disasters.”

Mozambique, the country hardest hit by the cyclone, will receive $350 million in CRW financing to re-establish the water supply, rebuild damaged public infrastructure and crops, and support disease prevention, food security, social protection, and early warning systems in the impacted communities.

For neighboring Malawi, the CRW will provide $120 million in financing to restore agricultural livelihoods, reconstruct priority infrastructure, and support disease surveillance.

In addition, the World Bank intends to provide an exceptional allocation of up to $75 million to select UN agencies to support the people of Zimbabwe also affected by Cyclone Idai. Funds will go toward a harmonized multi-sector livelihood support and recovery operation focused on social welfare and community interventions.

President Malpass was in Mozambique as part of his first official trip as head of the organization. Prior to Mozambique, Malpass travelled to Ethiopia and Madagascar to visit several World Bank Group-funded projects; meet with government leaders, private sector representatives, and other stakeholders; and hear from beneficiaries and local partners.

Attachments area

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Of public commissions that should be disbanded for lack of relevancy to citizens

By
Richard Wanambwa
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Mr Medi S.K. Kaggwa, the chairperson of Uganda Human Rights Commission.

Government has set up different commissions in the country, which use billions of shillings of the taxpayers’ money but have nothing significant to show for those annual expenditures. Ugandans are asking the relevance of those commissions and we look at them as;

Uganda Human Rights Commission

The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) recently presented a Ministerial Policy Statement to parliament presented by the Acting Secretary to the Commission Ms. Margaret Lucy Ejang which gave brief highlights of the budget performance for the current financial year to date and projected budget allocations to UHRC for the period from financial year 2019/2020 to 2022/2023.

In the ministerial statement, the critical emerging policy issues at the Commission Ms. Ejang made a case for included unfunded priorities by the UHRC totaling to over Shs35 billion which government had not availed to UHRC to fund core activities including staff salary enhancement; approval of expanded staff structure; civic education programmes; procurement of motor vehicles for mobility; investigation and resolution of complaints and opening countrywide offices that are intended to take services closer to the people.

But UHRC has failed to step up its monitoring function of detention centers especially those at Police stations to ensure that suspects are not detained for long periods before being produced in courts of law. UHRC only barks but does not bite. For instance the recent abuse of rights of journalists and opposition leaders in the country have happened without UHRC saying a word. The Commission is absent in many parts of the country and few Ugandans know it exists.

The Education Service Commission

The Educations Service Commission is supposed to ensure government recruits qualified teachers into public schools but this is not the case. Most schools in the country have teachers who are not qualified to do the job. They have forged academic papers obtained from the streets of Kampala. The Education Service Commission seems to have left the recruitment of teachers to districts and that is why we have pupils and students in upcountry districts performing worst year in year out.

Equal Opportunities Commission

The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) which was formed recently has nothing big to show for the money it receives. The civil service continues to be dominated by particular groups even when one considers recent recruitments in government offices. University admissions and loan schemes are dominated still by those groups.

Health Service Commission

The mission of the Health Service Commission is to build a fundamentally strong and competent human resource base for efficient and effective health service delivery. That mission is poised to fail because many hospitals and health centres don’t have enough medical personnel, with most of the public health facilities depending on student nurses and doctors to do the work at no pay in case of student nurses. Its vision is to establish a fully resourced health workforce that is responsive, efficient and effective in Uganda socio-economic transformation process but this has challenges as those recruited are involved in corruption-stealing government drugs and mistreatment of patients. Some health facilities use unqualified personnel to deal with patients.

Public Service Commission

The Public Service Commission is established under the provisions of Article 165(1) of the 1995 Constitution. In fulfillment of its functions under Article 166, the Commission is required to make a report to Parliament in respect of each year’s performance of its functions.

However, the history of the Public Service Commission of Uganda dates as far back as 1947 when the Holmes Salaries Revision Commission was set to review the structures and remuneration of the civil servants in East Africa. The 1953/1954 Lidbury Salaries Review Commission report recommended the establishment of the Public Service Commission. On September 1, 1955, the Public Service Commission of Uganda was established.

This commission has not performed as expected due to corruption in the recruitment of government staff especially at district levels where we have district service commissions recruiting relatives, asking for bribes from job seekers. The public service commission also is to blame for the current situation where districts have many unadvertised jobs.

One wonders whether its vision of an institution at the helm of a competent, motivated and highly performing Public Service will be achieved and whether its mission of providing government with Competent Human Resources for effective and efficient Public Service delivery can be realised given the poor service delivery by public officials.

Judicial Service Commission

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is composed of members with powers to facilitate improving the efficiency and effectiveness of Justice administration in Uganda. However, this is not being done as justice in Uganda is for the rich. Poor people hardly win cases in court because corrupt judicial officers including registrars, clerks and judges. The commission has no mechanism of following up cases in court and does not care when a poor people lose cases.

Uganda Land Commission

The Uganda Land Commission (ULC) was established by the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda with the objectives to; .ensure the effective and efficient management of all government land and property thereon, develop and maintain an updated inventory and database for all government land and property, ensure that all government land is titled and secured, ensure proper use and accountability of Land Fund and enable bonafide and lawful occupants acquire registrable interest. An analysis shows that ULC Commission has failed in all those objectives as identified by the Auditor General in his report as of June 30, 2018. The Auditor General in his report mentioned some agencies and districts that have not secured government land by way of getting land titles for the properties. So one wonders why ULC should continue receiving government funding.

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Is the Public Order Management Act serving Ugandans with more order or chaos?

By
Guest Writer
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Mr Muwema

By Fred Muwema

There is a thin line between order and chaos. This thin line can be seen under the Public Order Management Act 2013 (POMA) if you have ever witnessed the Uganda Police do battle with activists and protesters who are accused of holding illegal meetings, demonstrations or processions.

Since the last general elections of 2016, several disruptive political demonstrations and riots have graced our political scene. I have seen some orderly political meetings, assemblies or demonstrations during that period, but these have not been able to redeem the negative image of the POMA. As a result many people are left wondering whether the POMA and its enforcement is serving us more chaos than the public order it promised.

From the perspective of legislative intent, it is not a comfortable claim to say that the POMA achieves its purpose of safe guarding public order if destruction ,chaos ,teargas and bloody faces perennially show up whenever it is invoked by the Police and military to quell protests .On their part ,prominent political actors like Hon. Kyagulanyi a.k.a Bobi Wine and Colonel Kizza Besigye take the championship of receiving the most wrath when the Uganda Police and security apply the POMA to their events. Government maintains that the duo are up to no good as they are simply defiant but the duo also assert that they are exercising their constitutional freedom to assemble and demonstrate.

To juxtapose the need for a government to maintain public order and balance it against the universal right of citizens to protest and demonstrate is something that has eluded many governments around the world .Even mature democracies like France where the government is still confronting the yellow vest protests, it has not escaped criticism for high handedness or use of excessive force in some instances. The only difference between France and Uganda is that the former has employed various political and consultative approaches to engage the protesters instead of using the brute force of the Police frequently.

Generally speaking the use of brute force has the potential of generating violence which begets even more violence .I would like to assume that this is the reason we have ended up in a gridlock of regular and cyclic violent protests in Uganda . It is debatable whether might is always right but it is not debatable that all Ugandans irrespective of their ethnic ,religious ,political or socio-economic standing deserve to live and work in a peaceful and orderly country.

I therefore, believe that it is time for us to take stock and audit the effectiveness of the POMA as a law which is supposed to serve the public interest to maintain public order before that law delivers another bad story. Uganda desperately needs some good stories which when they appear, often do a considerable repair job of our national image. It does not make sense for us to have good story about Uganda Airlines in the same month we have local and international media buzzing with ghastly images of the Police battering protesters .This gives the country a sweet and sour image, basically a distorted image which undermines our efforts to promote Uganda as a peaceful country which is ready for business.

I have singled out the POMA for fault because under S.8 thereof, it gives Police discretionary powers to stop or prevent the holding of a public meeting which is surprisingly defined to also include processions and demonstration. This is the provision of the law that most opponents find very repugnant. The repugnance bellies in the fact that the provision is prohibitive and not just regulatory of a constitutional right to assemble and demonstrate under Article 29(i) (d) of the Constitution. Established principles of constitutional interpretation maintain that the constitution reigns supreme over subsidiary legislation like the POMA.

Under the said S.8 of the POMA, the Police can stop a public meeting if they think that the venue where the public meeting is to be held is unsuitable for purposes of the traffic or crowd control or that the meeting will interfere with other lawful businesses. The law does not provide the specs for a suitable venue, traffic or crowd against which the exercise of the Police authority can be measured. This has become a breeding ground for fierce contests about the interpretation of that provision. The skeptics argue that the powers granted to the Police under the above section are vague, open ended and liable to abuse and political machinations.

Because of the obvious difficulties of enforcing the POMA by the Police, we appear to have sowed the seeds of defiance and unwillingness to obey the directives of the Police especially with regard to political meetings and demonstrations. The Courts have offered some guidance on the matter but their decisions like that in Muwanga Kivumbi Vs AG constitutional Petition No.9 of 2008 which nullified Police powers under S.32 Police Act cap 303 have come to nothing because the aforesaid nullified provision was re-enacted under S. 8 of the POMA . The Constitutional Court is yet to pronounce itself in Constitutional Petition No. 56/2013 Human rights Network and 2 others Vs Attorney General which is challenging the constitutionality of S.8 of the POMA. So for the moment, the confusion around the application and enforcement of the POMA continues. This is the kind of background which has ensured that the enforcement of the POMA is gaining the reputation of serving us with more chaos than the Public order it was designed to deliver.

It is therefore my considered opinion that the ubiquity of the chaos we are experiencing in Uganda during political demonstrations is an indicator that the POMA labours under a design defect. I think it is time for us to reach a new consensus as a country on which POMA works best for us. I dont see any problem with changing a law if it creates more problems than it solves especially if that law creates more political and governance problems which our history abhors.

We should follow the example set by the handling of the Sugar Bill 2016 which has recently caused a revolt and demonstrations by stakeholders in the sugar industry. I hasten to add that these demonstrators have been fortunate enough not to be met by the wrath of the violence associated with enforcing the POMA .The contested bill was withdrawn from Parliament to allow for more consultations with stakeholders. I believe this was the right thing to do. If we can withdraw a vilified bill that relates to sugar, how then can we fail to withdraw or change another vilified law which affects the governance of the whole country. It is time to put on our thinking caps.

For God and My Country.

Fred Muwema
Managing Partner
Muwema& Co. Advocates
fmuwema@madvocates.com

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UN Secretary General, ADB President agree to strengthen ties and push development agenda in Africa

By
Agencies
-

United Nations (UN) Secretary General António Guterres and African Development Bank (ADB) President Akinwumi Adesina has agreed to push for development impact on African continent and security in the Sahel.

Both leaders agreed that current efforts must succeed in Africa, or risk failing globally, and emphasized the need for deeper collaboration between their institutions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Guterres signaled his strong support for the African Development Bank’s flagship ‘Desert to Power’ initiative, which is expected to provide electricity to 250 million people. He also offered to convene a special global meeting on Lake Chad, in consultation with Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari.

The “Desert to Power” program, a $10 billion initiative to build a 10 GW solar zone across the Sahel the largest in the world, aims to develop and provide 10 GW of solar energy by 2025 and supply 250 million people with green electricity including in some of the world’s poorest countries.

According to Adesina, “Secretary General Guterres and I had a highly productive engagement and committed to enhance strategic and operational partnerships between the UN and the African Development Bank. I am encouraged by the Secretary General’s generous support for the Bank’s development initiatives, which we are certain will bear fruit across the continent.”

The two heads of institutions met following Adesina’s trip to the United States for the World Bank’s annual spring meetings held in Washington DC.

Adesina also briefed the Secretary General about ongoing discussions on the Bank’s General Capital Increase (GCI-7), designed to address Africa’s growing lending demands. The Secretary General committed to advocate “for the mobilization of adequate resources in order to further the Bank’s development goals.”

Guterres and Adesina also discussed the Bank’s inaugural Africa Investment Forum, held last year in Johannesburg, South Africa, where projects worth US $38.7 billion secured investment interest. The Secretary General accepted the Adesina’s invitation to participate in the 2019 edition of the event, to be held in November in South Africa.

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Diplomats slam UCC and police for restricting media freedoms and harassing opposition

By
Geoffery Serugo
-
Amb. Attilio Pacifici head of the European Union to Uganda.

Diplomats in Uganda have castigated the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) for recently ordering private broadcast media houses to suspend their senior staff on account of allegedly failing to adhere to the set minimum broadcasting standards.

In a joint local statement on restrictions to freedom of expression and assembly in Uganda, the European Union Delegation, the Heads of Mission of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom and the Heads of Mission of Iceland, Japan, Norway, Republic of Korea and United States said they were deeply concerned with the restriction of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly in Uganda.

“We are deeply concerned with a series of recent incidents restricting the freedom of expression and freedom of assembly in Uganda. Of particular concern to us is the Uganda Communications Commission’s decision, on April 30, to suspend senior staff members of 13 radio and television stations on allegations of breaching minimum broadcasting standards,” they said in their statement of May 3, 2019.

“We are also concerned about the excessive use of force by Ugandan police and security services against peaceful protesters and political opposition,” they added.

The diplomats said Uganda’s Constitution, as well as regional and international standards, guarantee both freedom of speech and expression as well as freedom of assembly. “We urge the Government of Uganda to ensure the implementation of all the relevant laws and regulations in a way that allows all Ugandans, regardless of political affiliation, to exercise fully and without fear their basic democratic rights enshrined in the Constitution,” the said.

They underlined the importance of upholding judicial processes and stress the importance of full respect for the Rule of Law and the right to a fair trial as set down in the Constitution.

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Uganda Cranes to face Lesotho in 2019 COSAFA quarter-finals

By
Our Reporter
-
Uganda-Cranes

Uganda will be the guest country at this year’s COSAFA Cup tournament that will be staged in the South African coastal city of Durban from May 25th to June 8th, 2019.

The Cranes have been drawn to face Lesotho in the quarter finals and will use the tournament to serve as vital preparations for the upcoming 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

According the organizers, the top six ranked countries will kick start the tournament at the quarter final stage. These are; Lesotho, Uganda, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana and Zambia.

Zimbabwe has won the most titles (six) since the tournament inception in 1997. South Africa and Zambia have four championships apiece. Angola follows with three whilst Namibia has won it once.

Other countries that have been invited as guests previously are Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Madagascar and Tanzania.

Uganda was also invited for the COSAFA Women championship last year where they finished third.

The 2019 COSAFA Cup will be the 19th edition of the COSAFA Cup, an international football competition consisting of national teams of member nations of the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA).

Group A: Angola, eSwatini, Comoros, Mauritius

Group B: Mozambique, Namibia, Malawi, Seychelles

Quarter finals:

Lesotho Vs Uganda

Zimbabwe Vs Group A Winner

South Africa Vs Botswana

Zambia Vs Group B Winner

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Wakiso Giants gain promotion to the Uganda Premier League

By
Our Reporter
-
Wakiso Giants players

Wakiso Giants Football Club have become the first team to be promoted to the 2019/20 StarTimes Uganda Premier League from the FUFA Big League.

This was after their 2-1 win against Entebbe FC in a game played at Kyabazinga stadium on Thursday afternoon. Norman Ogik and Ivan Kiweewa scored for Wakiso while John Wesley Kisakye scored for Entebbe.

The victory moved the Purple Sharks to 40 points, four above second placed Kyetume FC with just a game left to play.

The result also meant that Entebbe Football Club was relegated to Buganda Regional League after gaining 16 points from 19 matches played.

The FUFA Big League was started in 2009 as the second tier of Ugandan football and three clubs are promoted each season to the Uganda Premier League.

It consists of two groups; the Elgon and Rwenzori group where the table leaders in each qualify directly.

The other four (those finishing second and third in both groups) are engaged in promotional play off.

Wakiso Giants have been promoted as the Elgon group leaders while the Rwenzori group will go down to the last matchday where Proline FC are in good position to secure automatic promotion.

Proline lost a chance to seal promotion after drawing 1-1 against second-placed Kansai Plascon. Their final game is against Kabale Sharp FC.

Ndejje University FC, Nyamitobora FC and Paidha Black Angels SC are the three clubs that have been relegated from the 2018/19 Uganda Premier League and will play in the Fufa Big League next season.

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